Navalla

Chapter 2

"Lola," I heard Maeve call me by the nickname she only uses, "why don't you come with me? I thought we would go into the lake together. Don't tell me you are scared. You're the future queen, queens are afraid of nothing."

"Evie, you know I'm not afraid. The water is just too cold. And what if my mother found out we were sneaking out again? You know she'll make me stay inside for like weeks."

"Sounds to me that you are afraid," Maeve said smiling, "just do it, you only live once right? And also, we're just thirteen years old, what does your mother expect you to do? Act like your age for once, Lola." Her words always convinced me, so I just jumped into the water with her holding my hand.

Suddenly Maeve began to disappear while she was screaming my name. I called out her name, hoping she would come back. But she never did.

I woke up from my dream with a gasp. Why do I always have the same dream? I know it was like one of the worst days of my life, but I would rather not relive it again. It had been a reoccurring dream for the last five years, or since the accident happened. You would think that after five years the memories would just fade, but we are talking about the disappearance of the love of my life. The guards looked for her through the whole forest, but never found her. My mother blamed me and said I had some magical powers that could make someone disappear when the sun doesn't shine anymore. She also says I have some other powers that I have yet to get to know, they'll come out when I become the queen, which will be in less than a year.

Even though her disappearance was five years ago, I never found someone that I loved more than her. I haven never even found someone as interesting or attractive as her. Her parents blamed me of her disappearance and took away all I had of her. Luckily, they didn't know about the painting we made together, it's truly the only thing I have left of her, except for our memories.

All of a sudden, I felt a tear on my cheek which caused me to full on start crying. I have no idea how I could be a queen of a whole country when I can not even forget about an event that happened more than five years ago.

After what felt like hours of overthinking about everything and remembering Maeve, the sun started to shine through my window. The maroon and other hues of red and orange lit up my room, causing my mood to immediately bright up. I decided to go out and take Aspen out on a ride through our kingdom, making sure to not go through the forest. I wouldn't want to come across pixies or the person from yesterday all on my own. Nobody is yet awake, so it'll just be Aspen and I and the birds who began to wake up.

While I was making my way to the stables, I noticed it was quite chilly. Luckily, I brought another cape to cover me on my ride, it had a lavender colored hood which made me even warmer. As I got to the stables, I found Aspen already awake waiting on me as if he knew we were going on a ride together. Next to Aspen's stable stood Nuala, Hjalte's white as snow horse, the total opposite of my horse. They both correspond to our personalities, Hjalte is as sweet as anything, he'd do anything for anyone, especially for the people he loves. While I am vengeful and would hate anyone who would do something bad to me.

After I tacked Aspen up, we went for a ride. The sky had already changed colors and was now more hues of orange and yellow. We went out of the gates of the palace, and I made sure not to go through the forest, so I just went the other way. After about half an hour of riding, we were at the beach. I sat down on the sand while I was thinking about everything and nothing.

I love the beach more than anything and especially the sea. I sometimes like to think that my mind is like the sea and my thoughts are like the waves, they come, and they go. Sometimes they come silently and other times they come like a storm, all at once and then there's chaos. But like the sea there's always some kind of noise. I just want it to stop and think about nothing for a while like when it is windless. Sometimes my thoughts wash everything away and other times they bring stuff back like when I was still with Maeve. I don't know what would be better, never thinking about her at all and forgetting about her, or to think about her but feel remorse and grief every time I do.

Maybe I just need to find somebody else who will make every memory of her go away. Actually, that's a pretty good idea, I can't let that one moment five years ago decide the rest of my life. When I get back to the palace, I will find my mother and ask her to host a ball inviting all the bachelors and bachelorettes in the whole world to find me my perfect match who will make me forget about Maeve.

I was so deep in thought that I didn't even notice that the sun began to fully shine now. This caused me to panic and pack my stuff because this morning I decided to just go without telling anyone making people probably worried about me. Aspen went as fast as he could and when we finally arrived at the palace, I saw a lot of commotion going on. I got off of Aspen and gave him to some guards, after I went to look for my mother.

"Princess Willow where were you? We thought some enemies took you." Lana, a maid said. "Your mother was worried sick for you."

"I'm sorry Lana, I just wanted to get out and figure my thoughts out. I apologize that I didn't say anything to anyone. In the future I will. Do you have any idea where my mother is?"

"Yes, she is upstairs in the dining room with your father having breakfast. There's probably some left for you as well." After I thanked her, I went to go see my parents.

When I arrived in the dining room, my mother immediately ran over to me and embraced me. "Oh, my goddess! Where have you been? We've looked everywhere for you. Why didn't you tell anyone where you would go to? You know what kind of things could happen to you. You need to be way more responsible if you are going to be the future queen of Navalla."

"I know mother, and I apologize. Next time I will definitely let someone know where I am going. Now, if you will please listen to me, you too father, I have an announcement to make."

"Oh goddess, you aren't pregnant, are you?" my father asked.

"No father, who would have impregnated me? Anyway, I think it is finally time for me to get over Maeve. I would love to hold a ball and inviting all the bachelors and bachelorettes in the world withing the age range of 18 and 24. This way I can find someone perfect for me and someone who is still alive. Maybe then I will finally get over Maeve and stop sulking. What do you two thinks?"

"What a marvelous idea! It really is time for you to get over that girl. I never even knew what you saw in her anyways, you deserved someone so much better than her."

"I agree with your mother, although I think that girl would have been perfect for you. I knew how much you loved each other. Veronika dear, I think we should start immediately by sending out invitations to everyone we know. Rodriguez, tell all the servants to prepare for a big ball at the end of next month. Well Willow, I think it's time for you to find the perfect dress for your perfect ball."

I thanked my parents and went to my brother's bedroom, hoping to find him there to tell him the exciting news. He was as excited as me and told me he wanted to help planning the ball and decorating the ballroom. I also asked him when he was going to go on a date with Rodriguez and he told me they'd go tonight. I wished him good luck and went away to my room.