○●Veritas Castle, Summer, 3rd January 1389●○
□■Ulf’s P.O.V.■□
Adriaan sat on the horse beside me, his head of thick dark brown curls cut short against his head bobbed up and down each time the horse stepped. His molten gold eyes seemed trained off into the distance taking in the scenery. He’d been my friend for as long as I could remember and I knew he was worried about something. I wasn’t sure weather to say anything yet when he reached out and stroked the strong head of his grey stallion. His horse was beautiful and wild, a free spirit purely coloured in the lightest of grey. The horse had a thick black mark running down the front of its face. Adriaan loved his horse and its spirit, which is why he'd named him appropriately, Spirit. It was a unique name, I doubted anyone else would name their horse the same. At the moment we were both going for one last ride on our horses before we left for the tournament tomorrow. I looked down at the chestnut mare beneath me, she was also a beautiful strong horse, I'd named her Ivory, mainly because I just liked the name, it was a beautiful name that I though would suite the mare.
Suddenly Adriaan turned to me, "what happens if you don't get along with the Princess?" I didn’t need him to clarify who he was speaking of, I knew perfectly well who he was implying to. I shock my head,
"it does not matter, my father and brothers want me to marry her." I stated matter-of-factly. Adriaan looked even more worried for me, he was a kind and caring friend, more than I could ever ask for.
"But your in love with Lowri, maybe, maybe..." Adriaan trailed off, he was the only person who knew I cared for the lady, but he was also the only one who didn’t know that Lowri was in love with him, he didn’t seem to have feelings for her. So there was no point in me being jealous towards him. I was about to reply when he cut me of with a shocking statement.
"If you do not get along, since I am the next highest ranking bachelor I can offer to take her off your hands?" Adriaan looked me dead in the eyes. By God, he was serious! Did he care so little about himself? I was shocked, surely there was a limit to how selfless someone could be!
"Adriaan, her families practically ridding their hands of her, what if she’s like a Pig?" Adriaan was shocked at my reference to the Princess, but composed himself quickly and let no room for doubt with his reply,
"for you, my best friend, and Royal Highness, I would do anything." I stared at my best friend, he was still deadly serious, he would rather me marry the woman I loved and be happy, than see me miserable and in a marriage with no love.
"Adriaan, my friend, please do not throw your happiness away for the sake of mine," seeing Adriaan ready himself for an argument I cut him of with a statement that he would at least be content with,
"but if I do feel I can not marry the woman, I promise to let you know."
He did seem content with my answer but not fully happy either. "So, how do you think you'll go in the sword competition?" I asked changing the subject, he seemed all to happy to leave our argument behind.
"I’m aiming to win! Though beating you brother Seff will be a problem." I laughed, the two were constantly competing against each other, they were almost even in skill,
"what's the score at now?" I asked, humour brimming my voice. Adriaan grumbled,
"165 vs 167, to Seff. I'm not far behind, I’m sure if I win this tournament ill be ahead of him by 1!" Adriaan was starting to get excited about the idea of being in the lead. I just laughed at my friends excitement as we both headed back to the castle stables to return and care for our pets.
We started making quite the ruckus when we returned, play fighting with buckets on our heads, pretending the horse brushes were swords, of course Adriaan won, he was quite skilled with his 'sword'. We were dramatically fighting going from one end of the stable to the other, climbing the stairs to the second floor with all the feed, and rolling dramatically threw it like a pair of children rather then twenty something year olds. Adriaan was only one year younger than me, but he still liked to make me feel like I was some old fart whenever we spoke of age. We were so distracting that the stable hands called for my brother to drag us out.
"Rafe! Come on! Stop dragging me by the collar! I'm not a dog!"
Rafe was fuming as he led Adriaan out of the stables, literally dragging me behind him by the collar. "ha! You're a child, you even had a bucket on your head! What same, mature twenty three year old does that? Your a Prince, you should be setting an example, you shouldn't be hindering other but helping them instead!" Rafe was really laying into me, making me regret the fun I'd just had. Adriaan smirked at me behind Rafe, almost bringing a snicker to my lips. I was able to stifle it before the laughter erupted out of me. If id laughed I'm sure Rafe would of lost it.
"Instead of wasting your time, come inside and help pack your clothes for the next three months!" Rafe dropped my collar once we reached the castle stairs, I stumbled to my feet and raced inside away from the ticking time bomb, Adriaan in tow.
I turned to Adriaan mockingly, "shouldn't you go pack too?" I smirked at him, but Adriaan just innocently grinned at me,
"Ulf, I've already packed, I have even loaded my cart ready for the trip, your the only one yet to pack." this just irked me, he already packed? But he knew I wasn't but was still willing to waste my time and cause me trouble. There goes my kind thoughts about him earlier. He was cunning, a fox, hidden well under that innocent gaze. I glared at him and pushed him away from my chamber door before he could enter. I squeezed past him and slammed the door in his shocked face. Yelling to him through the door I made my way to my wardrobe,
"If your already packed, then leave me to pack on my own, I don't need any distraction from you! I've had more then my share of lectures for the day thanks to you!" I heard Adriaan bark out a laugh as he walked away from my door.
********
The sun glumly light the early morning sky as the birds chirped their greetings. I loved the early morning, everything and everyone was so calm, not even thinking about the harsh day coming. I was perched onto Ivory's back saying my good byes to the workers of the castle, to my mother and friend Lowri. Our large progression was readying to leave. I was traveling with a rather large party. It would take two and a half weeks to reach the first tournament. After that it’ll only take two weeks to travel to each other tournament. This first progression would be the longest and hardest. I was dreading the trip as well as anticipating the arrival. I hadn’thasn’t been to Farnfoss in over fifteen years. Since it had been taken over. Farnfoss is the leading country in agriculture, it is also has the most beautiful countryside. I would enjoy this trip the most. We soon set off and my excitement grew, what wonders would I encounter on this long journey.
