This chapter is mainly background and setting the scene, things will pick up next chapter!
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"I... I don't. I have to go."
That's the phrase that started my new life. It was probably not the best timing, I will admit, but I said it. And I don't think I would go back and change it if I could. Should I? Maybe. Did I make possibly the worst mistake of my whole life? We will see, I am still young. I still have a lot of mistakes to make, who is to say which will be the worst.
But I should explain what I said, and more importantly, why.
This happened about ten days ago, at the royal wedding. My wedding, in fact. It was less of a marriage ceremony than it was a buisiness agreement. We, of course, did not love each other. We hardly knew each other. A marriage for love is not a luxury everyone gets, it seems.
When I was a child, my mother told me that she and my father were arranged to be married and that they happened to fall in love. I used to believe her. And since they got their fairytale ending, I had expected I would too. I was so naive.
They did not have that storybook love I so idolized when I was young. When you love someone, you do not sneak younger women into the royal chambers while the queen is away. But my Mother was not stupid. She knew about all my father's exploits, she simply needed to believe it was love. It was what kept her sane in this kingdom of strangers.
That does not, however, answer why I was to be married off to an absolute stranger. My kingdom, while it is not small, is not incredibly large. Nor are we incredibly wealthy. Our lands are plagued, not much will grow, cattle becomes sick, even our water is no longer clean and clear. To add to the joys, we are constantly threatened by neighboring invaders, pirates, and ever raising trade tariffs.
My father told me that if I wanted our kingdom to survive, it was to be my duty to form an alliance with the neighboring kingdom of Fairnheim. Which essentially meant getting married to their prince, lucky me. There was no talk to signing a treaty, no consulting the royal surveyor to fix the dying land. They jumped immediately to "Let's marry off Penelope! Fairnheim will fix everything for us!"
I thought I could do it, I really did. I went through all the preparations, all the trials, learned all their history, customs, and culture. Everything! I was the perfect princess. I did everything that was asked of me without complaint or hesitation. But when I stood there, at the altar, I ran.
Do not get me wrong. It was not the prince's fault. He was good looking enough, I suppose, and we seemed to get along at the one meeting we did had. One day I may even have grown to love him. But I had to run. Something inside of me just could not do it, something was wrong. So when the royal priest asked if "I do", I did not. And I never will.
Those days of lessons are gone now. Now I'm no longer Princess Penelope Hazel Altair III, crown princess of Talfkar. I am simply a fugitive. Wanted dead or alive. That may be an exaggeration, I am sure my father, the King, would much prefer me dead. I would have thought I was worth more than just the 500 gold pieces being offered for my capture, but that is all my bounty seems to be worth.
I am an exile of my own kingdom and may have potentially started an immensely destructive war that further doomed my people. Just a regular Tuesday around here, I suppose. I know, I should try and apologize, beg for forgiveness, and find a way to fix this. Try to avoid an all out war that will decimate my people. I am just so tired of doing what everyone tells me to do, being who they tell me to be. Is it so wrong for me to want to be happy and make my own decisions? I never asked to be princess, I never asked to get married! I have my own dreams and now I may actually get to live them. I just wish it were not at my peoples expense.
I have been branded as a criminal and an embarrassment to my kingdom. I am not going back to the castle, there is no possible way that I could even if I wanted to. If I went back they would probably throw me in the dungeon or make a public example of me without hearing my side or apology. So I guess this forest is my home now. At least until I can throw together some way to escape the kingdom without being spotted. The ports are all closed and there are guards on all the main roads. You are very welcome traders and travellers.
I need to find a way to get in contact with the one palace guard I can trust, Adrienne. She can help me, I'm sure of it. I mean, she is the one who suggested running away in the first place. She was my only friend in the palace. I wish she were here, she would know what to do.
A few days before the wedding, she told me she had a plan for us to escape the kingdom. She even said she would come with me! I need to get a message to her, somehow. I just know she can help me. She has to.
We always spent the evenings in the garden together, perhaps she still goes there. There was a hidden grove full of wisteria, it always was her favorite. If she is wait for me anywhere, it will be there. I will have to find a way past all the guards and the gardeners, though. They may not take too kindly to the now disgraced princess sneaking onto castle grounds right after I doomed this kingdom and all its inhabitants. I'll just have to survive in these woods until she can help me.
Snap.
"Hello? Is someone there" I ask, hoping for silence.
I crouch in the bushes. Maybe it was just a rabbit, I was lucky enough to be taught to track them when I would go hunting with Father. That may just be dinner tonight, if I am lucky.
Suddenly, three men walk into view.
"Well, well, well. What do we have here? Don't you know better than to be wandering these woods alone? There are dangerous people out here, after all."
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I hope u all enjoyed! All I ask is that if u have criticism, it at least be constructive!! Love yall <3
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Between Two Vines
Aventura(Formerly The Forest of Life) Saviors aren't always as expected. They're people too. They make mistakes. But how they choose to live with those mistakes is what matters.
