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🌸 A N E E L A 🌸
Aneela had always been quite good with stealing herself away. Nobody noticed when she slipped out of the Grande Palace in the early hours of the morning. She couldn't sleep very long and decided to stroll down to the stables. If she was lucky, the stable boy from last time was still working there and might give her a horse for a morning ride.
Back then, it had taken a lot of persuasion until he allowed her to take the gelding Sterling onto the riding area right behind the stables. At first, he refused to make the horse ready because he hadn't gotten the order from anybody to do it. But Aneela could talk her way into the boy's heart in explaining him why she was already awake and needed to take her mind off things with some exercise.
She hadn't been lying when she explained to him that worries kept her awake in the morning. On the evening of the third day last season, she had realized that her time in Ravka was a waste because the prince had already set his eyes on Princess Ehri. Her thoughts kept wandering off, asking herself what she could have done or said to take herself out of the competition and was wondering if she was a letdown to her family, not getting any sleep.
The daily morning rounds on Sterling helped her to clear her head and after a week, she was sure that it hadn't been her fault – How could it, the prince had only spoken three sentences to her, no matter how she was trying to get into a conversation with him. Frustrated and angry, she talked to her entourage which witnessed everything going on between the prince and the princess and nobody could tell Aneela to try one more time – because it was obviously unnecessary.
So, she turned her attention away from the courting season, only attended the mandatory gatherings and occupied herself otherwise. After her secret ride, she would get Sterling back into the stable, freshen up and appear for breakfast, only to excuse herself into the library for the rest of the morning. After lunch, she would take part in an activity but leave early for some sketching in her journal or walks with Yaniya in the royal gardens. In the evening, she was joined by her entourage for some card games and discussions about which food was the most disgusting while the other ladies still tried to win the prince's attention at the small balls he hosted.
Luckily, this time, the boy didn't need a whole lot of persuasion. He greeted her with a sad smile, thinking she must have failed a second time, and fetched the gelding right away after she kindly asked if she could borrow the horse for an hour.
It was good to sit in the saddle again after the long journey by ship and carriage, she had missed the horse's movements underneath her. Sterling seemed to appreciate the early hour of riding and it didn't take long until both were working together like they did last year. It was the first time Aneela felt relaxed after returning to Ravka and she was sure that her old routine would settle in back quickly, passing the time she had to be on the other continent.
