Damsel

There are many stories of chivalry

where the heroic knight saves the damsel in distress.

This is not one of them.

There it is.

Form up!

Let's kill the beast.

For glory! Hyah!

Be on guard.

Form the line!

Hold!

The last I could find.

Did you take the tapestries into town like Father asked?

This morning.

We should take the furs too, and the drapes.

Not the drapes!

You hate that pattern in your room anyway.

They serve a purpose.

Floria, our people are freezing.

And starving.

Who'd come this far north?

Elodie, why are they leaving?

There's nothing left for them here, Floria.

I don't have enough. Please, I'm hungry.

For food, join the line!

- Keep to one side. - I'm starving.

All right then.

Get off! It's mine!

-Hey! Give me back my food. -Get off of me, old man!

You've had enough!

Share this with your sister. Go on.

-Could you see who it was? - A stranger, my lady.

They may take whatever wood they can carry.

-I'll see to it. -Come on, Flor.

- Move on. - Yes.

- Get in line. -Give it to me.

- I want to meet her first. -Father?

You must be Elodie.

I am.

She will do.

- We await your decision. -Thank you, Your Holiness.

Please, this way.

Father, what's happening?

Who is that?

Stepmother?

Well, what is it?

From the Queen of Aurea.

A proposal.

-Oh, my goodness. - Huh…

-I have made a match. -May I?

Uh-huh.

He is a prince.

A prince?

I know you've always wished to travel, as did your mother.

Go. See the world.

This man, he has a fleet of ships, carriages full of gold.

That's no reason to marry.

We need this.

Our stores are empty.

We will not make it to the thaw.

Your people need you.

Hey.

This is who we are.

Get to the port side.

Port side.

Elodie, what's the matter?

Nothing.

Father says it's natural to be nervous

about meeting your new husband and his family.

They're strangers.

I've never heard of the Kingdom of Aurea until Father sprang this on me.

Mind the lines.

Oh!

Are you crazy? What are you two doing up there?

Come down here.

Come on.

This is how you want your prince to meet you?

Scared, cold as a corpse.

Nose all drippy and wet.

What have I been telling you this entire trip?

- First impressions are everything. -Hmm.

Come on, lift up.

- -

Look at that.

I have good news, girls.

The captain informs me we approach Aurea's coastline.

It should be any time now.

Father.

What in the world?

Looks almost… almost like a--

A dragon.

-It's okay. -

Oh, my heavens.

It's magnificent.

My lords, my ladies,

be welcome to the Kingdom of Aurea.

The royal family is at prayer,

but word has been sent of your arrival.

In the meantime, your rooms have been made ready.

If you will follow me.

Is this a dream?

If so, can I move in and never wake up?

If you want these people to think we belong here,

you can't act so easily impressed.

What do you think, Ellie? Hmm?

I think I had a rather limited definition of wealthy.

I pray this is to your liking, my lady.

A bath has been drawn

and supper has been carried hence.

At first light, I shall return to convey you

to meet His Royal Highness.

Henry, Prince of Aurea.

Floria, stop touching everything.

Is something wrong?

-I just hope he's kind. -Hmm.

-And well-read. -Yeah.

Handsome.

Let's all give Elodie some privacy.

She can use the time to settle in, as we all could.

Oh, indeed.

Come.

M'lady.

Everyone's waiting.

Ellie?

I can't sleep.

I still can't believe you're going to live here from now on.

You and me both.

I keep thinking, if only Mother were alive,

I could just talk to her about all of this.

Perhaps you could talk to Stepmother.

She means well, even if she is a bit…

-Exhausting? -

It'll be fine. You'll see.

You're Elodie. You can do anything.

What is your greatest strength?

I always tell the truth, Your Majesty.

Some might call that a weakness.

Do you know your heart?

I believe I do, Your Majesty.

And what is it telling you now?

In truth, it is beating too loudly for me to hear much of anything, Your Majesty.

Arise, Elodie.

I'm Henry.

Very pleased to finally meet you, my lady.

We all are.

My son understates our joy.

And if I may say so,

your father has understated your beauty.

I've never known my father to understate much of anything, Your Majesty.

I see she arrives with some wit.

Should you want it or not, Your Majesty.

And you must be Floria.

It seems even a harsh clime can grow the fairest flowers.

I love your castle.

I mean, I really love it.

Like, a lot…

Your Majesty.

You are to make yourself at home, child.

We elders have some trivial matters like weddings to attend to.

Yes…

Your correspondence made mention of some particulars

you wish to discuss in person.

-The two of us can confer in private. -Yes.

It's nothing to bore our young people with.

They have a far more important task at hand.

They must get to know each other.

Do you have any questions of me?

Questions of what subject?

You may choose the subject.

What do you think about me?

Pardon?

Well, you seem disinterested at best, which is your prerogative,

but I'd like to know if the person I'm being guilted into marrying

truly likes me or not.

If my attitude offends you, I do apologize. It was not my intent.

However, I was unaware that, um, you were being guilted into anything.

The land where I come from is exactly how your mother explained.

Harsh and barren.

This union will save us.

I've made my peace with it.

My happiness is a small price to pay for the future of my people.