1460 Days

Chapter 1

"Hello?" Leila asked as she knocked on Jacob's door.  There was no answer. Once again she was visiting Jacob, crowned Prince and next in line for the throne of the kingdom of Alessandro. It might have been four years since they met but it felt like just a couple of days. 

A couple of years ago Leila's uncle brought her to the palace with her for a meeting with the king. Her uncle was a commoner but soon enough was thought to be a noble. Leila and her family were raised in the kingdom along with a simple life. In fact, she was a millers' daughter. And technically she still was though she wasn't born into that. She was an orphan. Left at her father's doorstep at merely the age of one. She never really minded, either way they might have not been her family when she was born, but they are her family now. Her family was poor and they also never really hated it, with the exception of her uncle, Marcus Di Achille. Her uncle was a bit greedy at times so after a terrible fight with his brother, Leila's father, Marco Di Achille, he left. Leila then lived with her parents in the mills, still with the thought that he would be coming back soon enough. They thought that he couldn't survive a day without his family with him. They were so wrong.

Just a few weeks later he met up with some nobles and was declared a businessman. Just like that he turned from being a simple commoner to being with the people of the upper class. One day he decided to bring her along learn something that she would actually need. He always saw potential with her and decided to give her a brief understanding of what her future could look like. She started spending more time with him and she was fine with that. He was kind and happy and generous, at least to her she was. He wanted the best for her. Once they arrived, little eight-year-old Leila decided to wander off into the vast empty halls of the castle. Soon enough, she entered the prince's room and ever since that moment they've been friends, maybe even  more than friends.

"Jacob?" She knocked once again. Still no reply. She sighed, she'd already been to the garden, his father's room, the throne room, and the dining room. She turned around to go back home. She sighed. Hopefully she would see him another day. Suddenly, the door swung open with Jacob behind it. Before she could say anything he took her hand and pulled her into the room.

He closed the door behind him.

"Thank goodness you could make it. This is going to be great," he said excitedly. He was wearing a white short sleeved shirt and blank pants along with short brown boots, the usual. And like always his big, bright smile. He had a few freckles on his cheeks and a mix of gray and blue eyes. Like every royal from Alessandro he had a simple blue streak through his hair. A royal tradition in every kingdom. Leila was wearing a simple light pink dress with some flats. She had long hair a few inches after her shoulders with some curls in the ends and green eyes. Though surprisingly she also had a blue streak though lighter than his which was pretty rare. It really depends on the situation, some people were descended from royalty, except that she was the only one in her family with the streak and that her family was extremely poor. there was no possible way that they could have been descended from anyone at the royal court. Luckily for her it was covered with a small amount of dirt from her long hours of working that most people wouldn't notice it.

His bedroom was basic. One bed, a small mirror on the wall, a table in the corner with some parchment, a quill and ink, near the balcony, and a closet on the other side of the room with a dresser on its side.

As she walked in she noticed parchment on his bed with some writing and pictures on it.

"Why did you think I wasn't coming?" She asked him. There wasn't an actual time that they arranged to meet. It was whenever they could really, mostly in the morning, though. There wasn't really a schedule, any time was great, especially since Jacob rarely got out of the castle, with the exception of Leila.

"I don't know, I guess I just wanted you to come a little earlier," he told her while putting his hand on the back of his neck a little bit embarrassed.

"Yeah, I'm sorry. I just didn't know where you were. I looked almost everywhere," she explained.

"It's fine. I mean you're here now and that's what counts," he said eagerly.

"So, what's this new idea of yours? You look like you just discovered something big. What is it?" she asked

He walked closer to his bed where the parchment was laid out. It had a picture of a bow and arrow and a few sentences. He looked at her.

"Tell me Leila, how long have we known each other?" he asked her. Leila was a bit confused about where the conversation was going especially with that type of a question.

"Uh, four years?" She answered questionably.

"Exactly," he said.

"In these past four years what would you say was the biggest scheme we ever pulled?" he said. They always did something out of the ordinary. Though nothing really major so she couldn't think of a response. They pulled a few schemes here and there but everyone knew it was all fun in games. Either way they were still kids.

"Absolutely my point."  We've had fun but now we're old enough to have some real fun." he stated proudly. Apparently, at the age of twelve you get some more responsibility.

"What do you mean by real fun? What are suggesting?" Leila was a bit confused. they always had fun together but tried not to go too far, especially since Leila's uncle and Jacob's father were both very strict.

"We need to do something extreme. But not too extreme to make a scene just extreme to have fun", he said with joy in his young sweet voice.

"Like what?" Leila said, joining the excitement.

"Archery," he said while putting his focus on the parchment. "It's perfect. It's strong, can go really far, is really fun and can do a whole lot of damage which we have to be careful of. See? It has enough positives to balance out with the negatives. What do you think?" He was already loving the idea and counting the moments until he had the opportunity to try it soon. He just hoped that Leila felt the same about it as he did.

She'd seen people play archery and it could cause some real damage. It was a weapon, and if used incorrectly could actually kill someone. She'd known from experience. It was used in war and battle to destroy their opponents. Though if used carefully there would be no harm. it was worth a try. She didn't know if it worth it and Jacob could see the tension in her thoughts.

"Hey," he started. He took her two hands in his. She looked down at his in hers and then back up again at him.

"If this is too dangerous, I agree. I mean someone could get hurt or even killed. Just say the word and I'll put this behind us."- He let go of one of his hands' and used it to take a few strands of hair away from her eyes and put it behind her ears-"I won't force you to do something you don't want to. I understand if you think this is a bad idea."

She always loved that about him. How he would always listen to her. She couldn't help giving out a small smile

She saw the negative side about it and was starting to worry if it was worth risking. But the urge to try it outweighed the urge to not try it.

"Oh no, no, no, no it's perfectly alright," she said happily. She really did want to try it, though was still worried about the outcome.

"Are you positive?"He asked. He really did care for her and never wanted to make her uncomfortable. He wanted her to make her own decision.

She thought about it more and made her final decision.

"I think this is either going to be the best or worst day of my life."  She said with a small giggle and smile.