Riders

Not So Princess Like

Advanti, a young girl but of a marriageable age, lay on the castle lawns a light wind blowing through her dark brown hair. This was her type of day. A warm temperature and a clear, blue sky. Above her, a large figure momentarily blocked out the light. It's silver body reflected her relaxed stance in the grass. The object then past, it's wings causing the gentle breeze to take a sudden violent turn but then settling down again. Advanti laughed as it continued on its path towards the near town.

Dragons were her dream. She wished to fly one but as her mother always said, "being a woman of noble standing, you must not do such frivolous things as to be astride a dangerous beast. Those matters are better left to the towns people. Let the Riders be Riders and let you be the one who rules over them." She said the last part out loud mocking her mothers high pitched with an unladylike laugh. How could her adventurous spirit be battered down by something so stupid as rank? As far as she was concerned, being a Rider had more thrill in it than the lessons she received daily.
Who really needed to know how to embroider their pillow? Certainly not her! Suddenly, a loud chime broke the quiet that surrounded her.

"Bunk!" She screamed to the sky. The chime was followed by four more. These were the tolls of the towns old clock tower. One chime for every hour. It also meant that she was going be late for the Rider training. Advanti always made it a part of her day to travel down the steep path that ended at a cliff near the back of the castle gardens (which was more like a forest if you asked her). Bellow that sheer cliff lay the Rider's grounds. A mouth dropping arena surrounded by lodging houses, a dinning hall, and the indoor training buildings. Four of those to be exact. It would make any traveler stop and stare. It had certainly had the same effect on Advanti when she had first discovered it as a small child.

Now, she was sprinting with all of her might through the smartly designed garden and down the not so managed pathway. Dirt sprayed around her, staining the light blue dress that had lace lightly embroidered on the bottom hem. She might have been a princess in name but certainly not in spirit. Actually, that noon she had placed on a pair of boy's britches underneath her dress. Later, her governess would scold her thoroughly about what such poor manners she had, but right now that was not what held the most importance in her mind right now. She screeched to a halt at the edge and plopped herself onto the ground, sighing in relief to see that the Riders had only just begun their precession onto the grounds. The riders varied in age but never in gender. Males, all males, but that never wavered Adventi from her one true desire. She had kept her breath held as they came out, but released it in one great gasp as the dragons came out.