"That's not fair! You can't do that!" I yelled out to my father, upset.
"Tough. You will be wedded to Prince Miguel Rodríguez, and that is final. We need this Diana. We could form an alliance with Spain through this" King Raymond said sternly.
I scoffed and stormed off. I can't believe this! Father is making me marry some stuck up looking boy from Spain, so Greece can have an alliance with Spain.
It isn't even that important! I don't want to marry whoever this 'Miguel' person was.
But apparently father doesn't care about how I feel. Clearly.
I shook my head and started to head outside. I walked a little bit further over the hill our castle rests upon, to see the royal horse stables.
I smiled upon seeing my most favourite horse. A beautiful, dark horse named σούρουπο, meaning dusk in Greek.
One of the horse carers, Evangeline, walked over to me. Her sparkling green eyes looked into mine and she grinned.
"Hi Diana! Going on another journey?" her honey-like voice asked.
I shook my head and laughed. "No no Evangeline, just a small ride around the village." It wasn't a complete lie.
The short woman smiled and nodded. "I'll go and prepare σούρουπο for you, will only be a minute your majesty" she bowed before running to gather σούρουπο.
After a short while, she returned, holding the long leather lead. She quickly dusted off the silver encrusted saddle with her hand and offered me the lead.
"Here you are Diana, enjoy your trip" she smiled warmly.
"Thank you, have a lovely day" I smiled at her, before quickly hopping onto σούρουπο.
I held onto the reins and positioned myself properly.
I gently put my heel up against his side and gave him the order to go ahead.
As he started galloping, I directed him off the path of the village, to a small side path around the village, leading to a deep forest.
Father forbade entering the forest due to how deep it was, but who was I to obey?
As me and σούρουπο began nearing the forest, σούρουπο stopped.
"What's wrong boy?" I asked the horse, petting his head.
'He never usually stops like this..?' I thought to myself.
From that point I decided to just lead him from the reins on foot.
Hesitantly he started trotting again. I was so confused. Why won't he let me travel on him?
We made it to the forest, but because of the unclear path onwards, I had no choice but to get back on σούρουπο.
He was a little defiant at first, which I was still confused about. He was never hesitant or defiant with me. He had been well trained, and we've entered the forest multiple times before..
We continued into the forest, coming to a clearing a few miles in.
It was a beautiful meadow, with a large hill hidden in the middle of it. Flowers scattered the grassy plains and trees were dotted around the hill.
This was my favourite place to go to unwind after a hard and difficult day.
We rode on up the hill, and stopped after we reached the top.
I smiled as I petted σούρουπο's nose, giving him an apple I carried in my satchel.
As we were watching the sunset, I heard a twig snap and a pair of hooves galloping towards us. I panicked and looked around, until I realised that a small looking horse with no owner on its back appeared from the forest.
It looked panicked and scared so I held onto the rein it was attached to, gently calming it down.
Just as I grabbed it, I heard a softly spoken voice call out from the distance.
"Azula?! Azula where are you?" Suddenly, a girl came up the hill.
She.. she had probably been the prettiest girl I'd ever come across. She had an accent, one of which certainly wasn't Greek.
She had smooth red hair, and a face full of freckles. She looked like perfection.
She ran over to me, holding onto the other side of the reins.
"I am- so sorry miss. She escaped after she was startled. I didn't mean to disturb you" she quickly rushed out, stroking her horses mane.
"My name is Theodora! Yours?" She asked, putting her hand out. She certainly was overly excited.
"What does it matter to you?" I asked. Despite her prettiness, for all I know she could be a peasant. And I don't speak to those.
"Anyway it's getting dark and you shouldn't be out here. Take your horse and go back the way you came" I warned her.
"Why?" She asked. She seemed to be overly curious, and I didn't have time to answer silly questions.
I sighed and shook my head. "Just get on your horse and follow me. I know the way out" I rambled.
She looked at me full of joy. "Alright!" She smiled, gently getting on her horse.
I led her and her horse all the way down the hill and back through the forest.
"Thank you! I-" she began. I cut her off. "I'm a bit busy right now and I need to head home, so if you'll excuse me, I'll be on my way"
She looked at me disappointingly but smiled once again. "Have a safe journey"
I just rolled my eyes and started heading home, her being the only thing on my mind the whole way back.
