Young and Foolish

Spring's Gate

Seraphina leant over panting. It had been two days since she left the castle. By tomorrow, the public serach would start. Never once in her life had she walked this long. Sweat was dripping off her face and her dark black hair was clung to the sides of her face.  Maria, on the other hand, hadn't even broken a sweat. The princess frowned. "Why aren't you tired?"

Maria looked up, "Huh? Oh," she looked at herself, then at Seraphina. Smiling, she looked at her friend, "Should we slow down?"

The princess gave an irritated sigh. They could only see a brief outline of the castle now.

"We can take another carriage," her friend suggested.

Seraphina shook a head. "A carriage?!  That!? I swear it was just a piece of wood with some wheels!"

Maria nodded reluctantly, "We're travelled too far from the castle, so things aren't as.....comfortable. Besides Seraphina, if you ever bothered to learn how to ride a horse, we wouldn't had have to take that 'carriage', would we?"

"Ok whatever, let's walk a bit more slowly shall we?" the princess urged.

Maria sighed but nodded. As they walked, they enjoyed the scenary, field of flowers with butterflies, soft green grass and clear streams. If there wasn't the risk of being found, Seraphina would've wanted to spend more time in the country of spring instead of heading straight to the gate. Being brought up in the castle, all she had to look at was the royal garden. It too was beautiful, but it could never be compared to this. She smiled, pulling out silver pocket watch. It was a bit past noon. They had already eaten breakfast and lunch so they were not hungry. The food outside, was different to the food in the castle, but it had a more homely feel to it. She wished that they would stop trying to serve massive dishes of exotic food all the time in the castle. She liked the small snacks they sold in the streets. Along the way, they had lodged at a few places and so far, no one recognised her. It was expected. Last time she had made a public appearance she was nine. It had been six years. Of course she looked different. Soon, they would reach the Gate

The Gate was a massive castle like building situated in the centre, where the borderlined of all the countires: Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter intercept. It was shapped like a diamod, so that there was a gate, facing each country. To get to another country, you had to pass through the gate. This is beacause, there were empty streched of land between all the countries that were used for war. These areas been known for being impossible to live in. Due to the drasictic changes in weather and lack of life, it was impossible to travel through alone. Seraphina had seen drawings of the gate, each had made it look more majestic than even the royal casle of Spring. It was building full of elite guards who have been trained since brith. It was rumored that upon the creation of the gate thousands of years ago, each country sent their most talented warriors to live there. They were only loyal to the Gatekeeper. Having never paid attention in history, Seraphina didn't know who the current Gatekeeper was. 

"Seraphina, don't they check your details or something when you enter the Gate? I mean, can we just go through? It shouldn't be that-," Maria stopped midsentence as she saw Seraphina had stopped. Following her friend's line of vision, she could not help but to be awed too.

Even from the distance, Seraphina could see the massive stone wall. It was so big that she didn't know where to start looking. Eventually, she settled on the top right corner. From the top to the bottom of the wall, there was at least 200 metres. Even higher than the castle walls in Spring. The wall couldn't be described by huge alone, it was beautiful, the stone bricks were near white and laces with small flowers and vines. It wasn't until they got closer that her eyes began too look further down. When she saw it she couldn't prevent her jaw dropping. A bronze arched shape gate taking up most of the wall, it shone like gold in despite the afternoon sunlight. Every inch was covered with intricate carvings about the history of Spring. She had seen pictures of it, but they couldn't compare to this. She knew what it was. Spring's Gate. It was their side of the Gate. She was also aware that each country had their own unique gate. 

When she finally snapped back, Seraphina realised she was being dragged by her friend. She was about to protest when her brain came to a realisation. They couldn't enter through Springs Gate. It was way to big. The gate was only opened every once a hundred years, when the rulers of the countries came together. Now that she thought about it, the last time the gate was opened was in her great grandfather's time.

After a while, they came to a stop. A humansized steel door. Strangely, there wasnt and locks.

Maria stepped forward, looking uncomforatble. Seraphina nodded, urging her on, and so,

she pushed open the door.