The Peasant Princess (A Dark Henry Love Story)

Chapter 1: The Not-So-Sweet Escape

    Among a village in the enchanted forest, everyone is happy. Each person loving, and kind. All except the family of bakers, in a medium sized cottage, in the middle of it all.

   “Go to hell, Aria, I never wanted you, you horrible waste of a life!" A large man with a deep voice yells from inside the cottage. Startling most of the villagers nearby. The door to the cottage opens and a girl is thrown out of it and the door slams.

  She scrambles to get up and brushes herself off. As tears fall down her face, she reaches in her small bag for her silver and copper. She sighs in relief that she still has it. She has just enough for some food.

   She walks to the next village over, where the better marketplaces are and buys a pear. If she had the choice, she would have gotten apples, however all apples were banned because of what happened between the former Evil Queen and the late Queen Snow White. Aria doesn't know how it went down, but she heard that Queen Snow was poisoned by the Evil Queen, back in the days of her youth.

    After Aria pays for her food she runs off to a quiet spot in the middle of the forest. She finds a tree stump, and sits on it. As she's eating her juicy pear, she thinks,

   “Maybe I should run away...If I run, I'd have a chance...right?” She sighs, “If only someone cared about me." After she finishes eating, she takes a small nap, waking up just as the sun starts to set. She hadn’t realized how late it had gotten, and a deep feeling of fear stirred around in her stomach. She fears her father would hurt her for taking so long.

   Panic builds up as she runs back to the cottage she lives in. She could never call it home. For a home is a place you feel at peace with. Where she lives, she only feels at war. As she's running, she trips, scraping her knee and cutting her head open, drawing a small amount of blood from both her knee and forehead. She gets back up and continues to run.

    When she reaches her destination, she’s out of breath. She walks in quietly, thankful that her father didn’t notice her. She bends down to a corner in her room and takes the loose floorboard out and grabs the rest the money she saved up over the past 17 years of her life.

    “This should be enough to buy me a boat ride to another land, I hope.” She murmurs under her breath. She puts all the money in her bag and speeds out of her room, where she's met with her so called “family.”

    “And where are you going?" Her older brother, Elliot questions her. Immediately, cold chills and a feeling of dread fill Aria’s body.

    “I’ve, um, decided to leave. You'd all be better off without me," Aria says quietly, taking small steps towards the door. Unfortunately, her father heard her brother and began walking towards her. 

    Her father laughs at her, "You'll never escape us, we will always win." He reaches out to grab her arm, but Aria moves away quickly and slapped him.

    “Not today," She raises her voice. She follows that with a kick to her father's groin and runs.

   “Son of a-! What are you looking at, boy? Get her!" She hears her father yell, which only makes her run faster. She doesn't look back, she only runs forward. Tuning out the world around her, only focused on her escape.

    She notices someone in front of her and tries to stop, but she can't stop in time and ends up running into the person, both of them falling to the ground. She groans in pain, her ankle twisted and her side now bruised.

   “Are you alright King Henry?" Someone asks and Aria widens her eyes both in shock and fear, silently hoping that he won’t be too angry with her.

    “I'll be fine. You, girl. What is your name?" King Henry, now towering over the scared girl, says with venom in his voice.

    “I am so sorry your royal highness! I am Aria, the bakers daughter," she apologizes quickly.

    "The baker..." King Henry mumbles with a worried tone, "Your father. He is the one we have received complaints about. He yells and hits you, correct?"

    Aria sighs, "Yes, he does. I was sick of it so I decided to run. But my brother was chasing me, it's why I was running so fast and couldn't stop in time."

    King Henry holds his hand out, "Come on, let’s get you back to my castle, we can talk more there." Aria, forgetting about her twisted ankle, nervously takes King Henry's hand and tries to stand. She nearly screams as her ankle sends shooting pains throughout her leg. As she's about to fall again, Henry quickly picks her up, bridal style.

   “Don't worry, I've got you," he says with a quick smile. He puts Aria on his horse then get on, himself. "Hold on to me so you don't fall," The king says, grabbing the reins. Aria wraps her arms around his torso and they ride off to the castle, where a new story begins for the two~