Little Red Riding Hood and the Prince

Chapter 1- The Beginning of a Fateful Day

Once upon a time a mischievous boy saved a little girl...

"Prince Darin!" The words echoed loudly through the castle corridors with an angry screech.

Darin sniggered to himself. Another successful prank played on his snotty tutor Ms. Harlpin. This time he had removed all the lesson books from the teaching room, and he figured it would be a while before anyone discovered them out in the knights' stables.

"Prince Darin!" This time there was a menacing growl to the call, meaning that it was probably time he made himself scarce for the day.

Hopping out from behind the front salon's curtains, he quickly made his way through the room until he came to a spot he had recently discovered- a false paneling. With an excited grin, he opened the panel by twisting the nearby cabinet knob 180 degrees and stepped through.

The darkness once he closed the door behind him would be almost absolute- good thing he was prepared! Taking a quick minute, he lit the lantern he had stashed by the door some time ago and began his journey down the cold stone steps in front of him.

After about 50 or 60 steps (he had never really counted the exact number), the familiar damp passageway turned into one long corridor with occasional branches off to other staircases. In the several times he had been down here he had explored many different routes and found that the nearby staircases led to other rooms within the castle. Today though, he planned on making his way outside.

It took him probably another 20 minutes to reach his desired exit point near the stables. He wasn't really sure- time always seemed to do funny things in the dark. When he found his way out, however, the sun seemed even brighter than he remembered. It fairly blinded him through the tree canopy on the very edge of the forested area.

Taking a moment to get his bearings again, he put out his lantern and placed it on the last step before closing the hatch built right into the ground. Gathering nearby fallen leaves, he once again covered the area until the hatch was invisible to the eye. There were other ways to make it back into the castle and he really wanted to keep all of his exits a secret. If Ms. Harlpin knew about the passageways, then she'd be able to get someone to catch him for sure!

Aright, next step, getting his horse! Err, pony. Surely he'd have a true horse soon, but Fallfa had been his faithful companion since he began his riding lessons six years ago at age four. The idea of giving up his sweet gray mare made him both excited and sad, but he shook off the thought and turned his attention to watching the riding stables some distance away.

Things looked fairly quiet today, nothing out of the ordinary. He watched for another minute to make sure and scanned his surroundings. All clear! He made a dash for Fallfa's stall and found her looking as gentle and loving as ever. At his approach, she gave a soft nicker in greeting.

"Ah ha!"

Startled Darin fell backwards as a tawny head popped up from the 'empty' stall next to Fallfa.

"Tom! You scared me half to death!" Darin said in a loud whisper.

The stable boy grinned, feeling quite pleased with himself. "Well once I heard what you'd been up to I just knew that you'd end up over here and I simply couldn't resist. After all, what are friends for?"

"Ha-ha. Alright, you certainly got me good. Do you want to help me get Fallfa ready? I think that's what friends are really for." Darin said with a thread of amusement.

"Sure, my good fellow. I would be happy to help you."

Between the two of them, Fallfa was saddled and ready in minutes.

"Alright, go already, but don't let the Mr. Harris see you or I'll get another lecture for helping you."

Darin grinned. "No promises, but I'll try. See you later, oh, and I hid some books in the hayloft across the way if you wanted to tip off a certain tutor."

Tom shook his head. "Nope. I see what you're doing, trying to get the heat to die down. It's your prank, and I don't want to get punished for helping you again. I still remember the whooping I got when we got caught putting frogs in the dining hall. Go now. I'll make sure Mr. Harris shouldn't see you as long as you don't make a scene."

"Alright. Thanks Tom, I owe you one."

With that, Darin quietly led Fallfa out by the reins until they reached the tree line. There he mounted, and they swiftly rode off to find adventure.