1 One
Elizabeth had everything neatly laid out in her life. Who she would date, what she would do with her business, how many kids, even how her socks were perfectly laid out every morning. She never left anything up to fate and never took a chance that seemed too risky. She was the very idea of a thought out woman, and her life was only just coming together.
That is until feral goblins raided her village and burnt everything right to the ground.
The village of Quiet Wood where she was raised was named very aptly. It was a quiet town off the path of the Dark Woods with enough room for small farms, smaller shops, and simple lives. Only when the seasons turned did anything of consequence happen within the boundaries of the town, with the leaves either budding or falling and the farmers beginning the sowing or harvesting process.
Hardly a face bore a scowl in the beginnings of this harvest season, with most of the inhabitants of the town celebrating the prosperous season. She was one of them, floating about the bustling crowd as she made her way about her daily chores.
Her fathers shop was busier than normal, filled with townsfolk whose pockets were heavy with harvest coin looking to buy the finest pearls for their significant others or children back at home. Gems and jewels practically flew off the shelf, and she kissed them goodbye as they went.
She loved this time of year, not for the coins filling her fathers bank account, but for the life that sparked in the eyes of those around her. With all their hard work coming to fruit her and her father could give them a bauble to commemorate their work. They even made sure to keep the prices down at this time of year, a suggestion Elizabeth had given her father in order to remake their image with the town after a disastrous season years ago where half the town had come to them looking for refunds after they overspent.
It was all worth it in the end. They got a better image and sales, and the townsfolk were happier than ever with their shiny trinkets.
In the late hours of the morning her friend, Mary Sue the mousy brown haired bookshop worker, had stopped by to pick up a few deliveries her boss had ordered for his newest young mistress. She always told her friend to let the old cadge come pick up his own gifts for his grossly young fixations, but Mary simply was not that type.
For some reason her friend always chose to do things the hard way, made even harder by her seemingly endless clumsiness and forgetfulness.
When they met years before Elizabeth had been confused by just how the girl made it through daily life. At every twist and turn the girl would get herself into trouble only to miraculously make it out in the end, typically saved by her father or a passing boy. At some point Elizabeth had suspected the clumsiness was merely a ruse to call as much attention to her as possible, but she had never been bothered enough to confront her friend about it.
As long as she didn't mess with the man Elizabeth was tending to be her beloved they didn't have any qualms in her book. Who was she to deny a woman the right to use a man's savior complex to her benefit?
Besides, Elizabeth had her own life to worry about. Between tending to her golden looks and setting up the path of her life she had little time to worry about the small dramas in world around her.
This was the turning point in her life. She could practically feel the family business in her clutches, her father slowly securing her future as everything seemed to fall into place at once. She had the job, the home, and the perfect man waiting for her to claim for her own.
Eric, her suitor, had been giving her hints for the past couple of weeks that he had been intending to pop the big question, even coming directly into the shop and asking her ring size right in front of her father. It was the first time he had ever truly made her blush, a fact with which rejuvenated her excitement to be with him.
Though he was not quite the muscle bound adventurer she had wanted when she was young and foolish, she would survive. Besides, those dark little fantasies could easily fizzle out in the coming years as she grew content with the life she built herself.
Or at least that's what she hoped.
When the crowd had lulled and the lunch hour was upon them, she slid the closed sign into the shop window and breezed soundlessly into her father's office on the top floor. Her father was exactly where she had anticipated, and with a couple of steps she had her arms wrapped around his shoulders in a tight hug
"How is the business, Father?" she chirped in his ear.
Her father, a red cheeked plump man, spluttered coffee through his thick white mustache, visibly caught off guard by his daughters sudden appearance. The action resulted in the official looking papers in from of him getting drenched with the dark liquid, making the ink blurr against the pristine white paper.
"Elizabeth! Haven't I told you to be more careful?"
She tittered out a laugh, letting him go to move and perch cheekily on the sunny bay window beside his desk. The afternoon sun heated her back pleasantly as her father gave her a sharp look and began to try and salvage the papers before him.
"Oh, come on, things happen father. What's life without a little excitement? Now tell me about our profits this season. Have we passed our expectations?" she asked him, knowing it was exactly what he wanted to hear.
There was nothing more in this world her father loved than to be asked about his work, and if the curling of the corners of his lips told her anything it had worked to distract him from her little entrance. Despite originally wanting a son to take on his business when he grew old and soft like he was now, her father hadn't put up a fuss to involve her in taking the reins when he retired. For the last five years she had worked tirelessly in order to learn all the ways of their business, from mining to trading until she knew her father would be proud of her craft.
Now, at the tender age of twenty, she was finally beginning to feel the weight of the trade settle on her shoulders and she couldn't be happier.
"We've more than passed, my love," he told her cheerily. "We blew them out of the water! With the Samuels selling their new fruits to the neighboring kingdoms the wife and daughter practically cleared us out of stock these last few weeks."
It was good news, both for them and the Samuels. Now that they had surpassed their yearly goal they could relax and focus on stocking up before winter hit. That, and the other thing she had been quiet excited about.
"That means I can invest in that new mare then right, Father?" she asked, putting on her best puppy dog pout.
She hadn't begged her father for anything like this since she was sixteen years old, but she was prepared to put her dignity on the line for what she wanted.
She had wanted that mare since the moment she saw her shiny back body with that glistening golden horn. So rarely did a real unicorn come this far into the Mystic Woods that seeing one up for sale in the town stables was enough to draw the attention of buyers for miles around.
She knew this was her one and only chance to snatch it up before another merchants daughter stole it before her.
Pressing his lips in a tight line, her father pushed away from his desk and stood to go to his wall safe. "I already told you that if you managed to get our sales up I would grant you that and more. You don't need to beg. You're a lady now."
His scolding tone made her straighten self-consciously. "Right, father. Mother always said a good lady takes what she's owed and doesn't let anyone get in her way."
"Precisely," her father replied, appearing satisfied with her answer.
Pulling a leather bag of coins from the safe, her father crossed the room to press the weighty bag firmly in her hand. By the feel of it there had to be at least enough to buy a decent sized house along with the price of the mare.
"Father, this is too much," she told him, confused.
He shook his head at her, keeping it pressed firmly in her hands. "No, my love. This is precisely what the new owner of the Shrouded Jewel is owed."
