Royally Rebelling - A Goldric Story

The walk

I woke up for the first time ever with a smile on my face. Even the morning drowsiness didn't mess with mood, in fact this was probably the best I'd ever slept too. Just thinking about last night made my heart speed up.

I felt like wearing something not too extravagant so I just picked out a pair of black ripped jeans and a white dress shirt. I wore a few plain gold rings with matching stud gold earrings.

Just as I was finishing combing through my messy hair I heard a knock on the door, I set down the brush on the white countertop and walked to the door. When I opened it my uncle was staring at me with unfriendly eyes.

Before I could even say hello he started talking, "today you will be accompanying Emria Blight in a walk in town at noon". I internally groaned, I thought I could spend some time with Edric today, it was him I wanted to walk around with.

I suppose this my punishment for sneaking off yesterday so I simply nodded to show I understood and would go. Belos left without another word and I was left just standing there.

I looked outside and figured had a bit until noon. I pulled on a jacket and made my way out the door, I had explored a lot of the rooms inside the castle but not the outside.

I made my way out the doors and inhaled the fresh air. I was thankfully able to recall where the garden was due to my night visit so it didn't take long for me to be standing in front of the tall black gates.

I wasn't able to make them out in the darkness the night before but the flowers looked stunning in the morning sun, some were hanging down from little baskets attached to hooks in the ground, the rest were spread along the ground following little dirt pathways.

I crouched down to get a better look at some red-orange flowers as a soft voice spoke, "hello". I let out a small noise of shock and fell to my side. I looked up to see a girl in a short yellow dress, gray tights, and brown boots. Her moss green eyes behind big round glasses staring at me.

"Oh sorry" she said quickly, helping me up. I dusted off the pants, "it's fine, I'm alright, you are you?"
"I'm Willow Park, one of the royal gardeners". I gave a small nod, "who are you?" she asked.

"Hunter Wittebane, prince of the Golden kingdom". She nodded and pushed her blue-gray hair behind her ears and stuck out her hand, I shook it. "Nice to meet you" I said, she smiled "you too".

We walked around for a little longer, looking at the different flowers until I figured it was probably time I should leave for my "date". "See you around" I said as I walked back towards the gates. "Bye!" She said.

I walked to the front of the castle and saw my uncle and Emira standing there. She gave me small smile while Belos on the other hand gave a scowl. "You too will be back here before nightfall, do you understand me?" He declared, glaring at me.

We both nodded then quickly walked off. Emira laughed a bit, "he seems harsh" she noted. "Yeah, you're not the first to say that" I said.

We walked a little farther in town and I turned to Emira, "I have no idea where anything is, where do you want to go?" I asked. She intertwined her hands and spoke, "I was wondering if we could visit my girlfriend, she runs a pet clinic and shelter. I shrugged "sure".

She grinned and basically dragged me to the shop. We very quickly approached a small blue building, Emira pushed open the door and we heard a small ring from the bell.

A girl sitting behind a small desk heads shot up, she saw Emira and immediately stood up. They wrapped there arms around each other, "Em! I missed you so much!" The girl yelled. Emira laughed "it's been like two days"

They separated and the brunette girl gripped Emiras shoulders. "Yeah, two days too many". They grinned at each other for a long time and I realized I was kinda just standing there. I let out a small cough and they both turned towards me.

Emira blinked for a few seconds like she had forgotten I was there and swiftly pulled me by my arm towards the girl, "Viney this Hunter, Hunter this is Viney" the brunette looked at me then smiled, "always nice to meet a friend of Emira, want to see the animals?"

I beamed, "yes". She lead us both to a back room where the walls were lined with animal cages. "This is our recovery room, we take in any animal that needs healing or doesn't have a home and take them here."

I walked around a bit until my eyes landed on a cage with a small cardinal in it. It was a vibrant cherry red with black around its eyes and beak, although the most notable feature was the small scar running down its left eye.

Viney followed my gaze and started talking "that's a new one, came around here with that small scar and we made sure to heal him up" she laughed "it's quite a rambunctious little fellow, flies everywhere and tweets all the time."

"Does he have an owner?" I asked. "Nope, he came here on his own, and no one has gotten him yet". I turned to Emira "does your mom allow pets?". "Uh I would think so, Amity usually has this little white cat around and Edric is always trying persuade our parents to get a bat"

I snickered "he does?". She rolled her eyes, "I swear he had an obsession with those things". I fought back my smile and turned back to Viney, "do you think I could adopt him, I promise I can take good care of him and maybe Edric could help me out".

She shrugged, "sure, you'll probably need a cage and some food first and I'm not sure you should rely on Edric for pet care, he's come in here at least ten times for healing even though I keep telling him I'm a VET."

I gathered everything I needed and Viney opened the small birds cage, it flew out and landed on my shoulder, I tried to not faint from cuteness overload. I walked out with Emira as she said bye to Viney. "So you have a bird now, what are you going to name him?"

"Im not sure yet, I might have to think about for a while". I looked the bird sitting on my shoulder and grinned. "Viney seems nice, when did you two meet?". Emira blushed, "yeah, she really is sweet, we met because she's one of the best healers around and my brother is a walking disaster zone, so it didn't take long"

"Edric doesn't seem that bad, his magic looks strong from as far as I can tell and I think he's nice and caring". She raised her eyebrows at me, "when did you both have a chance to hang out and why?"

I felt my ears heating up, "he gave me a tour around the castle yesterday, we talked a bit then". I smiled shyly at the ground, "he's quite friendly".

She looked even more shocked "are you being serious right now? He didn't play any pranks? He didn't immediately get himself hurt doing he knows he shouldn't have done?"

"Nope, well unless you count conjuring a bird to mess up my hair a prank" I responded. She glanced back at the pathway and muttered a small "wow".

We walked in silence for the majority of the stroll back. Viney definitely wasn't lying about the bird being loud, it chirped so much I think I have the sound engraved in my mind.

When we got back I walked straight up to my room and set my stuff down. I hastily set up the cage and placed it right next to my bed, I hoped it wouldn't be too loud at night or that decision would be a huge regret.

I put the food on my nightstand but took some out snd laid it in his cage. He rapidly started eating as I leaned back on my mattress and let the tiredness from last night consume me, I didn't even realize how tired I was until I closed me eyes. I muttered a small "night lil rascal" before letting the exhaustion take over.