text: [Themes: grimdark fantasy, grimdark, female protagonist]
  
  -Year Twenty-
  
  Sophia Nevermore saw it fit to expand her reach throughout two of the territory's she now had in her control. In the span of two years, so much had changed. Once a sheltered princess, many were now calling her,
  
  Queen. And if her title was going to be updated, she figured Juliette go from being a simple attendant to her main advisor. Honestly speaking, she would have given her an even grander title if the woman hadn't argued so much against it. The teachings that were so very ingrained in her was certainly tough even for her to crack.
  
  Such things were often as irritating as it was amusing.
  
  Moving on, Paul finally did get his new hand, It was made out of the toughest silver, and was imbued with magic so that it can move as good, if not better than his old. All in all, many people were happy to see him escape the clutches of death. Especially none other than the advisor Juliette Forthwight, and Evie Fayre.
  
  Roy was happy to be appointed students to train in the magical arts. A little known secret to nobody, not even Juliette, was that the queen herself was a student of his after dark.
  
  No, no, no. Nothing improper was going on between the two of them.
  
  Roy was simply just amazing at magic. And through conversations, Sophia had found out he was younger than her. By a few months, but it was something to keep in mind.
  
  Currently, she had enough aptitude to create one spell.
  
  That was one more than she could ever do before.
  
  There was still Caspar, who may or may not be dead. She had sent delegates weeks ago to the Holt Kingdom, it wouldn't be long until they've returned with the much needed information that she would need to make her next move.
  
  "Queen Nevermore, the delegates have returned." It's the voice of one of her assistants that tells her this information.
  
  The days in which only Juliette alerted her to such things had long been gone, as the woman had her only responsibilities that took her away from her side even more. Sophia had a feeling that although even she was away from her, she was working as efficiently as ever to re-join her side. She looks forward to being able to recount the different experiences of their day, but first there was pressing business to attend to.
  
  "I'll be right there," Sophia responds as she pushes herself away from her study.
  
  "We weren't able to make contact with Caspar Holt, or the king, Eldred Holt. The man that is the acting king is the father of the king, Reginald Holt. He has requested that you travel out to personally meet him, so that he could supplement our forces with his!" The delegate recounts.
  
  There are excited murmurs that make up the sound of the room as Sophia thinks deeply on this. Why had no contact with either Caspar, or even his father have been unable to be made?
  
  So many elements to worry about, and did she really have to worry about them?
  
  At this point, Sophia Nevermore feels like she's more than proven that she could handle her own against anynoe that feels to take advantage of her. But another element that leaves her at a loss of just what to do exactly with this information is that she doesn't believe her older Noel or Rosemary would ever outright attack her.
  
  They've only shown her kindness throughout her life. None of their troops had sent warnings of a war. But still, there were so many questions left unanswered.
  
  To find those answers, she would have to take the path of most resistant.
  
  Even after absorbing everything her recently departed siblings had to offer. Their funds, military, strength, infrastructure, she was sure that Noel and Rosemary had more in bulk.
  
  The two of them was always so clever. Was she ready to risk life and limb again, or was there a different path she could take?
  
  > Path of Traveling
  A Traveling Queen
  
  Sophia Nevermore looked at her options that were on the table, and she figured that she wanted nothing more to do with the responsibilities that piling up for her to take care of. Even more so when one of those responsibilities involved her having to possibly engage in outright conflict with even more of her family.
  
  As long as they didn't bother her at this point, she really didn't even care to try. Sophia would just forgive them if they had something to truly do with her father's death, that's what she tries to tell herself. But as long as she doesn't pursue the path in which those questions receive definite answers, then she was fine with dropping everything and leaving it to someone who had a more of a mind for wanting to run a kingdom.
  
  Noel and Penelope were doing a fine enough job of leaving her alone for the most part, and thus she was able to pack up all of her belongings with a clear conscience.
  
  "Your highness, are you making a trip?"
  
  Juliette asks upon spotting the queen.
  
  "Something of that sort. I'm leaving, but I'll leave a note so that Paul can be in charge."
  
  "Is there any reason why you're leaving, your highness?"
  
  Sophia seriously contemplates this again when Juliette questions her reasoning. Well she didn't find joy in killing, and she also didn't find much joy in being trying to kill her. If she could lead a life in which both of those things could be avoided, she would gladly lead that one than the one that she was currently in.
  
  "Yes. I think we should find somewhere and settle down. Somewhere far away."
  
  Juliette is shocked, but she doesn't look at all put off or unhappy with the words the princess was telling her. In her mind, the princess had more than earned the right to live as she pleased. From the moment she was born, Juliette would say that the woman that stood across from her deserved that life. And wherever that life was, Juliette would follow until the other woman told her otherwise, or death unfortunately separated her away from the princess.
  
  "If it's as you wish, then please, allow me to accompany you on this journey."
  
  It's never made clear what happens between the two women after they leave.
  
  Some sightings say they spot two women at a theater, one of them looks like the princess Sophia Nevermore herself walked out of a portrait and donned the clothes of a normal woman her age.
  
  Other sightings detail two women, enjoying a nice picnic, and one of them looks like the princess Sophia Nevermore.
  
  Or in a desert somewhere, in the middle of a great pilgrimage. Or on a boat crossing the sea, feeing the hungry, and so forth.
  
  It is said that whenever these two women are spotted, they couldn't look any more happier and refreshed from life if they tried. If anything, they look like two women free of a great weight and responsibility.
  
  Fin.