Royals

She walked through the woods the leaves crunching under her boots; she held her hood close to her face covering it up. She stopped walking and bent down, she put her basket on the ground and laced her boots back up, her head shot up as she heard the sounds that had terrified her ever since she was a child.
She grabbed her basket and ran, she hid behind a fallen tree and watched as the kings horses ran down the path through the woods, she kept herself hidden from them, her mother had always warned her to never be caught near the king’s castle, especially since she was a peasant in their eyes.
She slowly stood up and dusted the dirt off of her dress, she watched as the kings men and horses disappeared off into the distance, she walked back onto the dirt road towards the village. She held the basket containing the items she had gathered during her trip, she kicked rocks as she walked; she was off in her mind thinking about how her mother was doing with her gone, that she didn’t pay attention to what was going on around her.
She looked up from the ground to see a white palace horse running towards her, her eyes widened and she ran into the woods and hid behind a tree. She heard the horse come to a halt and a loud thud as its rider hopped off of him.
“I saw you,” He called out, she could heard his footsteps getting closer, she held her hand over her mouth trying not to make a sound, “Show yourself now!” He demanded, she peeked from behind the tree and noticed he had out his sword.
She stepped out from behind the tree revealing herself, she let out a gasp as she came face to face with the king’s eldest son. She had really gotten herself into trouble now, she had heard many stories about Prince Beau Bennett, he was ruthless, he didn’t care about anyone, why would he, he was next in line to be king.
“What are you doing in these woods alone?” He asked, he lifted his sword and placed it just under her chin, her eyes widened as she felt the cold blade against her skin.
She took a deep trying to calm her nerves, “I need to collect some supplies, my mother is ill and couldn’t do it herself.” She explained, she carefully lifted the basket in her hand showing him that she was telling the truth.
“And your father?” He asked still towering over her, his sword just inches away from severing her skin.
“My father was an honorable man and when your father’s kingdom was attacked he was one of the few brave men to volunteer to fight, he and my older brother Sidney had gone to war, but only my brother had made it back.” She explained.
Beau’s eyes softened, he lowered his sword and placed it back to his side, “I’m sorry for your loss,” He apologized, “What is your name?” He asked.
“Kassidy.” She introduced herself and bowed as a sign of respect, she lifted off her hood letting her hair flow out; she moved it away from her face and flipped it over her shoulder.
“It looked better the other way.” He stepped towards her and grabbed her hair placing it back in front of her instead of behind her.
“Thanks.” She looked down at her feet using her hair to cover up her flushed cheeks.
“Are you heading back to Arille? I can give you a ride back on my horse.” He offered.
Keirstyn shook her head, “No, I’m from Neilath” She explained, Neilath was a small village just outside the Kingdom of Arille.
“You’re a peasant?” He spat in disbelief, he took a step away from her as if she had some sort of disease, if anyone had known he had spoken to someone who wasn’t royalty he would be ridiculed, they’d never let him live it down.
“My family lost everything after my father died fighting for a kingdom he never wanted to be a part of!” She snapped.
“How dare you speak to me that way, I can have you killed! Have some respect; I am your future king!” He hissed.
“You will never be my king; in my family we honor the noble Toews, king of Orion.” She spat, she snapped her head to the side as she heard the familiar sounds of horses.
Beau and Kassidy both looked at each other, “Run,” He spoke, Kassidy looked at him confused, “Go, get out of here before they get here!” He demanded.
Kassidy grabbed her basket and started running, she looked back at Beau who was watching her, she continued running jumping over fallen branches and only stopped once she had reached Neilath, she walked through her village greeting the familiar faces.
She stopped at Kamila’s house asking her to come over to her place, Kamila happily obliged and told her brother she’d be back later. As they walked towards Kassidy’s home she explained to Kamila about her run in with Prince Bennett.
“Are you crazy? He could have killed you!” Kamila shouted, this was so typical of Kassidy, she was always putting herself in dangerous situations, she didn’t care about what happened to her.
“He’s not like how everyone describes him, he was actually a decent person, well until he found out I wasn’t royalty.” Kassidy scoffed, she entered her home kissing her mother hello and waving at her brother.
She made her way over to the small kitchen and began unpacking the things she had gathered from her trip, her mother walked over joining the two girls in the kitchen.
“How was your trip? Did you run into any problems?” Vivian asked, she had been worrying sick about Kassidy, every time she let one of her children go off on their own she was worried they’d never come back.
“Nope.” Kassidy lied.
“She ran into the Prince, Beau not Patrick.” Kamila told, her heart raced just at the mention of Patrick's name, she has had a crush on him since the day she first laid eyes on him.
Kassidy glared at Kamila for selling her out, “It was nothing mother, he was a gentleman.” Kassidy reassured,
“Just be careful, I can’t lose you too.” Vivian frowned; she pulled her daughter into a tight hug.
“You never will.”

Notes