The Remembering

Princess Katalina Shane

After a day and night of riding, I can finally see the castle from afar as we enter the central city. I run a hand through my tangled hair, trying to get out the knots that formed overnight.

 As I look around, small shops decorate the sides of the road as children run and play in front of them, waiting for their parents to finish with their shopping. I smile as I see a little girl offer her food to a starved and dirty dog, I open my satchel and take out some bread. 

"Hey, kid!" She turns to me wide-eyed as I lean down to give her the food. "You gotta eat too, don't forget to share with your family they might need it." She smiles at me with teary eyes, her ragged dress making me realize that things are no better here.

Quil sees the girl and comes up to us, and she looks to him in fear. "Young lady, how old are you?" The little girl gulps and lets out a strained breath.

"I'm thirteen" She barely stands, shaking, and her brothers come along and stand in front of her, then they lead her away. I turn to Quil, who is following the children's movements. "Let's keep going; they are waiting for your arrival at the palace."

That was very strange. Why was the girl so scared to say her age? It's probably just that he's a soldier. All the children kept laughing and playing, but they seemed worried about the soldiers, and as we passed by them, they would run to hide. Something strange is going on here. Does it have anything to do with my return?

As we leave the market, the sounds of life starts to fade, and the only thing that remains is the quiet sound of the forest and light steps of the horses. Little by little, the castle gets closer and my freedom farther away. "They are all waiting for you at the front of the castle." I turn and see that Daniel had spoken, and he gave me a small reassuring smile.

"Who exactly are they?" he looks ahead and moves his horse closer to my left side. "Everyone that currently live's in the castle." He chuckles, shaking his head, "I bet you're gonna give them quite the surprise."

I smirk and move further ahead of him. "That's the plan."

We move towards the entrance of the castle, three men in front of me, and three behind. As we enter, everything goes quiet. I don't look at anyone, just straight ahead to where the soldiers have stopped and began taking down bags from their horses. 

I ride right up to them, stopping at the path to the main entrance of the castle. Only now do I let myself look at the people around me. To the sides of the trail, stand noble men and women followed by the servants and on the path stands the royal family.

I see my sisters' bright smiles. Zariah and Melany have been the only ones in my family to visit me. My Father stands in his royal robes and crown with a smirk on his face, which I reciprocate. 

Finally, the Queen, she scowls and glares at me, which only makes me smile. She had adorned herself with so much jewelry that she seemed to reflect the sun, and I could no longer bear to look at her.

I get off Storm and remove her saddle, giving it to the surprised servant that seemed to be waiting for me to hand my horse. "I will be taking my mare to her stall, give me a moment so that you may take me there." He nods and stands there, waiting for further instructions.

I turn and nod to the soldiers in a gesture of thanks, which they return. I walk in a straight line right up to my family, noticing some other royal families are standing behind them, looking quite surprised.

I then look back to my parents, "Father, Mother, it is nice to see you after all these years. Zariah, Melany, what has it been? Three weeks?" My sisters try to hold their smiles back as my mother continues to scowl.

"Darling, it's...good to see you. You have grown into a fine-looking young lady. May I present you the royal families of..." I interrupt her putting on the most boring face that I could muster.

"Oh, I'm afraid that introductions must wait. I wish to be settled and spend some time training, as you know, routines are important to stick to. I will see all of you at dinner. Zariah if you wish to speak with me about you know what, you know where to find me. Zariah glares at me as I turn and walk up to Storm taking off her brittle. "Can you please lead the way to the stalls I wish to fix Storms accommodations myself.".

He nods and leads me down the main path and off to the right side as I feel everyone's eyes on me.