Not born to be a princess

Part 2

Two days passed and not a single word from 'her highness' about Heron. I'd named him happily after one of the poor boys who used to go running in the woods with me before my mother had found out and forbade him from coming back for fear I would fall for him instead of a prince she chooses.

Simplistic teacheings for Heron, but still he couldn't understand how to glide without getting scared and flapping to right himself, usually ending with him hitting a wall in his attempt. I'd blown off classes, still acing every exam I was put in front of in minutes. Nothing a challenge except skirting my mother at every corner.

I was getting creative about avoiding her now. The most effective being to shift minutely my face. I couldn't change my entire face, but if I gave myself blue eyes and smaller eyes she barely even glanced as we passed. It rarely lasted more than an hour though, even if I concentrated it was a temporary fix. Eventually I would have no choice but to face her head on.

It wasn't until I forgot that she was due to the gardens to speak with a visiting noble from Shale did I absolutely have to speak to her. She was dressed in vibrant purple, gowns so large she had trouble coming down the stairs correctly.

"Come with me, Lilly." She snapped spotting me rounding the corner in a rush to avoid her. I sighed loudly and followed her outside. Diplomats from neighboring countries usually had sons who my mother loved to set me up with for the day. I'm willing to be that whatever spawned of Shale's diplomats is not going to think teaching a hawk to fly correctly would be a good pastime.

"Master Wallow. How nice of you to..... Drop in. My daughter Lilly." She introduced, looking at his robes distastefully.

"Your highness, my traveling companion Ignis." He nodded to a boy beside him about my age looking around with his arms folded alike to mine. Realizing we were both standing the same i switched to fiddling with the belt of my simplistic dress or flicking chunks of mud form under my short nails.

"Lilly show this young.... Man the waiting room." She ordered making me roll my eyes and bob my head for the boy to follow me. He was stiff and looked around everything in quick flashes as we passed.

"Let's go ahead and get this out of the way, don't flirt with me. I'm not going to sit like a lady or even sit here at all. Bye." I grunted showing him tot he sitting room right off the door, but he just stared with his brows pinched together like he was trying to figure a hard problem out in his mind.

"Is your bum not working or do you just fancy staring aimlessly?" I tapped my foot softly and folded my arms as he tirned to me to speak.

"I smell something odd. Do you have a hawk nearby?" He asked still the confused expression on his face even as my scowl dropped to disbelief.

"Sort of. Upstairs, i'm teaching him to fly..... How did you-" I started but cut off short hearing a tiny crash from upstairs. Instead of explaining or telling him everything was alright, I flat out sprinted up the winding stairs into my room to check on Heron.

"Sorry! Sorry! Sorry! Sorry!" He shouted, cowering as I found a glass figurine smashed on the ground.

"Easy Heron...... Not mad." I cooed, putting out a hand palm to the heavens and stepping over the glass shards not caring for the expensive glass horse that was a gift from mother last year.

I checked him all over, opening the window for light as i found a few small shards in his feathers dangerously close to cutting him.

"Easy Heron, i'm going to take you down to the sewing room to pick these out alright?" I cooed, tucking him into my chest protectively before skirting downstairs carefully but quickly searching for a set of tweezers my mother had given the seamstress for the embrordiary of her new gown half finished ont he other side of the room.