Heir To The Throne

The Grove

Its finally silent, there's no cranky old teacher nagging me, neither a father lecturing me. Not even the slight 'click' of a maid's heel can be heard, just the rustling of the leaves in the wind and the pitter patter of small animal's feet. It took me forever to find this hidden grove just behind the castle. Not many people come to the southside forest of the kingdom anymore, making it the perfect spot to get away from everything. I rarely have time to take a breather these days, and as soon as I finish one task another must be started. With father and mother aging and my eighteenth birthday just around the corner, it will soon be time for them to step down from their position and pass all their duties on to me. Being a princess and the next Heir to the Throne is a lot of hard work. It's not a perfect life in any way, even as royals we still have our ups and downs. Mistakes are still made, and although I do love a good ball it's a lot more than just dancing and socialization. So, when the stress has become too much for me to handle and when the expectations tower over me, I make my way here to my escape from reality.
My hair whips me in my face as the wind suddenly switches direction. In annoyance, I reach for a ribbon to tie my hair back so that I can see. When I finish I hear someone approaching as the wind slows. My heart stops in fear of someone discovering my hideaway. "Amaris! There you are, do you know how long I have been looking for you? Your parents will have my head if we don't get back to the castle soon!" My heart returns to normal as I take a deep breath realizing it's just Beth. At the castle Bethany is my personal maid, she helps me with all sorts of things from getting dressed, helping me with my duties, giving me life advice and being a friend I can depend on. "Hey there Beth, sorry I worried you. I'm surprised it took you this long to find me, you know this is my favorite spot." Bethany is the only other person that knows of my hideout. I trust her with that, she's my best friend after all, so why wouldn't I tell her. "Yes, yes I know. Although, you are spending a lot of time in the library these days." She smirks teasing me, knowing how much I study and all work I do. I sigh, I get tired just thinking about it. "And this is only the beginning- you know you aren't even queen yet." she continues, more serious this time. "I know right! How am I even going to be able to sleep?!"  Beth giggles quietly at my sarcastic outburst. "Of course, you'll get sleep Mari, if there's one thing you won't have much time for its riding Ceil." Oh yeah, that's right I should groom him today. Another task to add to my list of things to do, great.

Ceil is my 'Gallant steed' as some might put it. He is a large black Andalusian with an easy go personality and harsh past. Ever since I was a child I've always had a special connection with the horses at the stables. Hence, I started to learn how to ride as soon as I was old enough. My father was originally against the idea of me riding horses, he thought it was 'unfit for a princess such as myself and that I should direct my efforts elsewhere'. My mother supportive as always, argued about it with him for days. The argument always ending with my mother saying something about how I should make my own choices, which I totally agree with. This is eventually going to be my kingdom, I'm not a child anymore. Eventually my father reluctantly agreed to let me train. I was ecstatic and a couple of days after my tenth birthday, he and my mother took me out to go look for a horse. Since I didn't want any of the horses that we had at the stables. While I loved them with all my heart I wanted to have my own designated horse that was mine. While he and my mother looked at the gentle and friendly mares, I had my eye on the black Andalusian separated from the rest. He seemed quite lonely over there and I felt bad for him. While I was studying him I saw many scars all over his body, I didn't know what made them but I wanted to. My childish curiosity got the best of me and I snuck away to go see the stallion up close. I made it inside the pen easily enough but getting close to him was a whole different experience.
At the time, he had a hard time trusting anyone and could be aggressive, I later learned the reason for that was because he was abused by his previous owner. The scars I saw along his body now making sense. His aggressiveness and distrust towards humans was one of the main reasons he hadn't been sold yet. Aside from his bad personality, he was a beautiful and capable horse. His interesting past motivated me further to take him home with me. I didn't want him to be alone and unwanted for the rest of his life. The beginning of his was obviously terrible, but I thought that I could make his life worth living. My father thought that it was a lost cause. That the horse 'was not fit for riding of any sort'. But, I didn't give up. I visited him every day for what felt like forever before I finally managed to get him to trust me enough so that I could pet him. All the time and effort was worth it in the end. My heart was racing in anticipation, the horse could probably sense my unrest as he backed way a little when I reached him. I was trying to think of something soothing to say but the best that came out of my mouth was "Believe me this is nerve-wracking for me too, but if it means anything I won't break the trust that you've given me."  I wince slightly, I wanted to say something a little different but I guess that works. From facing sideways, he abruptly turns to face me. The thought of being trampled- as I've seen happen many times before... it's not a pleasant sight-had me put my hand up in defense, frozen in fear. Yet, before I could think that everything I did was in vain, I felt something warm and soft touch my hand. At first I was confused, was it the grass, mud?
When I slowly opened my eyes, the horse had moved so that his nose was touching my hand. My mouth dropped as I read the situation and a chuckle escaped my lips as he leaned in when I began to pet him. After a while of me standing there in shock while petting him I laughed out loud, happy that he finally trusted me. "Well bud, looks like you're finally coming home with me." A huge grin formed on my face as I  motion him to follow me beginning to move towards the gate of the pen. Before I could let the both of us out, the owner of the stables come running out. "You! Get out of there this instant! This is my property and you are trespassing!" Oops, this is not good at all. Whenever I would sneak out to see the horse I always made sure to stay hidden until the salesman left for town; to advertise. I don't want everyone bowing down in my pretense or attracting too much attention if they knew the princess was here. Plus my mother and father believed I was in my room studying at the moment. If he was there then that meant I had lost track of time. "Hey you! I thought I told you to get out!" The salesman is furious now as he stalks over to me and enters the pen. By now the man is mumbling foul words under his breath and quite frankly I'm terrified. What if mother and father found out what I've been doing instead of my duties! Or, what if I get thrown in jail for this! No, I can't be put in jail for something like this, a commoner would but I am a princess after all. I sigh in relief. But Princess or not, I could still be punished by my parents.
I'd completely forgot about the horse behind me at this point, all I was focused on was making sure mother and father didn't know of this. I hated getting in trouble so I avoided anything that associated with trouble at all costs, but this was an acceptation. "I'm really sorry sir, it was not my intention to be on your land without your knowledge, but I have every right to be here." I begin to use my trump card. Normally I don't like using my authority to get people to do thing or listen to me. But right now I have to. I don't understand why he hasn't regegnized who I am yet, I'm the kingdoms sweet heart. Princess Amaris of Magnolia, loved and respected by all. So, I look down at my appearance and remember that I've dressed in commoner's cloths to hide my identity. If I walked around town wearing frilly dress and tiara, word would spread that the princess is in town, and I would never be able to get to spend time one on one with the horse. Not only that, but my parents would know that I'm not at home. That was something I wanted to avoid. The man aggressively grabs my arm and begins to drag me out of the pen. To heck with keeping my identity unknown, he had no right to grab me like that. "Dumb teenagers, thinking they are all high and mighty these days!"  Quite frankly I'm furious now, I try to break free, extremely uncomfortable and becoming more angered about his actions towards me. "Ow! Let go of me! D-do you know who I am?" I tried to stay calm and assertive but I'd never been in a situation like that before, after all I was only a child.
Before I could pry my arm from his grasp I heard loud footsteps moving closer rapidly. I looked behind me to see the Andalusian galloping towards us. My eyes widened as I studied his body language, having realized that the horse was angered.  Watching the guards train their horses comes in handy after all. If I didn't move he was going to run me over. "S-sir! The horse!" The man scowls as he turns around, his face going pale as he notices the horse beelining towards us. He drops my arm instantly and stumbled backwards, falling. The salesman scrambles on the ground attempting to get up and out of the pen. I move to the side quickly, just in time to miss being hit. The Andalusian rears up as he neighs down at the terrified man. The stallion lowers to all fours, his front hooves barely missing the man's crotch as they touch the ground. Eventually the man breaks out of his trance and begins to run away, yelling back at me to 'just take the damn beast' as I ask him if I can have the stallion. The horse makes his way towards me, blocking me from the man intentionally. "Huh, wow. Thanks bud!' I beam at the horse in front of me, grateful for his efforts. As we start walking back to the palace, I realize I haven't given him a name yet. I study his features once more, and his personality. "What about Ceil? I think it suits you. Your all strong and scary on the outside but on the inside your just an overprotective baby, aren't you?" I giggle quietly as the horse snorts and nudges my back slightly in response. "I'll take that as a yes then. Come on let go home Ceil."
I love Ceil with all my heart, sometimes I feel as if he really understands what I'm saying and its comforting. While I do love talking to Beth about my issues, she walkways has some witty comeback. It's going to be difficult to not be able to ride him as much, I sigh sadly at the thought. "Mari? Mari? AMARIS?!" I'm broken from my train of thought when Bethany shouts in my face. "Huh? What?" she rolls her eyes at my response. "Come on Mari, you got to stop spacing out when people are talking to you. Anyways, I was telling you before you went off into 'Amariland' that dinner is soon and your parents won't be happy if you show up for dinner looking like that." She gestures to my attire and scrunches her nose in disgust. "You stink Mari. Come on its time to go get cleaned up." I laugh at her antics while I take the hand she offered me. Standing up we begin to make our way towards he castle. My bubble of solitude floating away as we walk further and further from my secret grove.

I hope you enjoyed the first chapter everyone! I tried really hard to create a good atmosphere and develop the character properly. If you have any tips, questions or concerns, please comment!!! I will try to get back to you as soon as possible. Let me know if you would like to see more of this. Till next time my lovelies! Buh-Bye!♥️