His Girl

Chapter 5

Having changed into a different dress, Eldred sent me out into the forest to collect some supplies for a new remedy he was conjuring up. I hadn't been out side the castle since I arrived; and it was dark when I had begged for someone to let me into the doors. At least I'm safe for now. I walked along the clean cobbled streets that had been polished with the recent down pour. The houses in front of the castle belonged to the richest in the village and the poorest lived down town and behind the castle. The houses were magnificent and made up of large oak beams and white plaster, some even had more than one floor. I soon passed through the castle gates and onto the track that lead up and out of the village. The track was filled with traders driving their carts towards and away from the village. Afraid of getting run over I walked off the track and began walking directly towards the forest. I picked the list that Eldred had written me, it was full of detailed descriptions of plants and herbs that I had never heard of before. I continued hiking up the hill, the wind tearing at my face, hair and clothes. My dress billowing like a balloon behind me. My strands of hair twisted around one and other creating a mesh on top of my head. I climbed up the steep slope until I reached the edge of the forest. The trees shone bright green with glistening drops of water glimmering on their leaves. The forest was wildly over grown in parts yet there were several paths running through at at the crossroads and there were signs showing you the way. I trekked through the midst of the trees, my dress trailing among the damp moss and mud. It didn't take me long to scavenger for the herbs that Eldred had asked me to find, so instead of going back I decided to remain in the forest, after all woods and forests were my favourite places. I found myself getting deeper and deeper in the forest, completely lost in thought, I had managed to stray so deep in that a path was no where to be seen. I panicked and looked around me, everything looked the same, branches, leaves and moss swirled around me as I ran through trees. I suddenly stopped. I had found myself in a clearing and in the centre was the most enormous tree I had ever seen. Its branches were not only thick but extremely long and spanned up the whole of the tree. The trunks was wide and must have been an incredibly old oak tree as it stood there with strength and majesty. Realising that I would have to climb the tree in order to have any chance of finding my way out of here, I reached for the first branch. I managed to climb up over two branches before I tripped over on my dress and fell down onto the soft mossy ground. I had no chance of scaling the tree with the dress on, and since there was probably no one around for at least three miles I decided to take it off. I heaved the muddy dress off me to leave me wearing my undergarments. Climbing the tree was a lot easier after then, and reached the top in no time. I was miles away. I had no clue how far away from not only the edge of the forest but also the village. Knowing which way to go to get back to the castle I climbed slowly down the tree, being careful not to fall to my death. I reached halfway when I suddenly heard the galloping of hooves. I cursed loudly and tried to scramble out of eyesight without falling down. Soon a group of twenty or so men on horses appeared in the clearing. They wore navy blue and silver cloaks with the crest of which looked like a royal family. I cursed under my breath again. Why does this always happen to me? The men jumped off their horses and sat down.
"Quite a nice little patch this is isn't it?" One said sitting down at the base of the three. Several more followed him until one said.
"Guys someone seems to have forgotten something." I shut my eyes and started mentally punishing myself for my idiocy. The man picked up my dress and laughed.
"What is it." A man with authority in his voice said, I didn't dare look down to see who he was.
"Some lady has left her dress behind your majesty."
Oh god I am in real trouble. I am barely dressed and in front of a king of some type. I began to plot my escape. I attempted to clamber down the back as all the men were around the front. I was only a few metres away from the ground when a huge blast of wind sent a massive branch straight into my face. I momentarily lost focus and fell down from the tree. It would have been fine had I fell onto the ground as it was soft and made no noise, but as I had no luck what so ever I fell down on top of their bags. The bags were not filled with clothes but armour and made an almighty clash as I landed forcefully on top of them. I didn't even bother to move as all the men gathered around me. I shut my eyes and prayed that some invisible force would just whisk me away from this horrendously embarrassing situation. As per usual no hero came to my rescue. I am here barely clothed in the middle of a group of middle aged men. I shivered at the thought.
"You alright my lady." One said. I opened my eyes. A dozen or so young men surrounded me, thank god they weren't old, I thought.
"I take it that this is yours." The man whose voice I recognised as being 'his majesty's '. I had expected a really old king but was met with a kind and extremely handsome man who must have been only a few years older than myself.
This is so embarrassing I thought. The men around me laughed. I frowned at them, then I realised I was speaking aloud again.
"Come on get up and we will give you a lift to where ever you are going. And you can enlighten us as to why such a pretty girl is up a tree." The king laughed and handed me my dress. The king beckoned the men to turn around and give me some privacy, which they did, and I quickly got changed. I walked over to the king and said.
"I'm terribly sorry your majesty," I said curtsying, the king chuckled his dark green eyes sparkling. His eyes reminded me of the forest in my kingdom, were I used to play when I was a child, the trees were such a beautiful emerald that they practically hypnotised you to go there. His hair was a very dark shade of brown, he was tanned and had such an incredible smile.
"Call me Carsen, and don't worry, it's all forgotten, any way what's your name and where are you going." He asked me grinning while patting his majestic looking horse.
"I'm Tania and I'm from Lothelor, I was out collecting herbs when I got lost and I couldn't climb the tree with my dress on to get a good view." I explained.
"It's no problem," he said jumping into his horse " Care for a ride." He grinned holding out his hand. I smiled at him, ignoring his helping hand I climbed onto the horse. I held onto him with all my might as the horse galloped away and began its journey out of the forest.
*
"So where's your house my lady?" The king asked as we crossed through the gates.
"I live in the castle, I'm a servant you see." I admitted. Carsen laughed.
"So your a servant under the eye of the great Audric."
"I've only seen the king once, but I'm the servant of his son."
"Aah the infamous Prince Jackson." The king smirked and cursed slightly under his breath as he rode up the cobbled stones to the entrance courtyard.

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