-Chapter One-

"The sky couldn't be any clearer if someone painted it." I remarked, pulling on Fuego's reigns and slowing down the black mare.

"I didn't think you noticed at the speed you were going!" teased Alice, as her own horse came to a stop next to me. Alice fetched a rather large carrot out of her small apron's pocket and broke it in half. She handed one half to me.

"And you really shouldn't be riding a regular saddle in that marvelous dress, Bella." said Alice, feeding her carrot to her brown stallion, Alfonso. I took a bight out of mine before feeding it to Fuego, who gobbled it up.

"Oh, but Alice, you can go so much faster if you're not riding side saddle." I whined, kicking my feet in the stirrups, making Fuego stir.

"Fine, just make sure you switch the saddles back before your father sees you. Lord Charles would throw a fit if he saw his little angel riding like a demon." Alice waged her head at me, making her black hair waggle in her tightly nit bun.

"Ha. If he saw me riding like 'a demon' he'd have the whole Spanish armada here just to teach me a lesson." I laughed, but Alice just looked at me with her burning blue eyes, "Besides," I continued, "When have I ever forgotten something important like that?"

Alice looked as if she would say something against my statement.

"Don't answer that, Alice." I added, kicking back the stirrups quickly, making Fuego give a great howl and ride off in front of Alice and Alfonso. I half knew that Colette wouldn't want me to be so stubborn, but I only had one riding lesson from her a week and I didn't want to waist it talking.

I was surprised that father wanted Alice to teach me how to ride a horse, but it seemed that Alice had taken a few lessons herself and when given the choice of Alice or a strict teacher, I knew the answer right away. Alice had her moments when I just wanted to stuff grass in her trap to make her stop nagging me, but we had been friends for so long, I don't think I could've anyway…

"Bella! Bella, you're going too fast!" I heard Alice yell, but over the stomping of Fuego, I don't know if she said anything else. I do recall she said something about 'Tripping your vest'..? I continued to ride through the tall, grassy fields. In the distance, you could see my father's proud mansion. Built in 1698 by my great, great grandfather, it has been passed down for generations (over two hundred years!), and it is one of my fathers pride and joys; The Swan Estate.

I turned my head around, not bothering to slow down, trying to see how far away Alice was, passing the vividly colored flowers. My brown, long, and stupid hair got in my way and suddenly, I heard a great ripping sound. I winced and gave a great haul on Fuego's reigns, stopping him dead in his tracks. I quickly got off the horse.

"No, no, no, no, no!" I mumbled, looking at my dress. Alfonso was suddenly right behind me, carrying Alice on his back. Alice gave me her Look.

"I said 'You're ripping your dress'!" Alice scowled. No! Not my birthday dress! I screamed in my head.

"¡¿Por que yo estoy muy stupida?!" I yelled, letting my first language get the best of me. It always seemed to slip when I would be frustrated.

"You're not stupid, Bella, just very ignorant." Alice saw that I couldn't take her stare, so she changed her expression from angry to sympathetic.

"Maybe your father won't notice…" she said in a soothing voice. I looked down at my light blue, long dress. It was a dress I had gotten for my seventeenth birthday a few months ago. It was one of my favorites, for it was the first dress father had gotten me that didn't have a neckline that went up to my clavicle, just below my actual neck. The sleeves were my favorite part of the dress, because they fell just below my shoulders. It was a dress that father knew I wanted for awhile then, as I saw it in a store window in Madrid a few months before the party.

It had a long, large tear in the back of it, reaching to my knees, showing off my white drawers. I quickly put my hands behind me, trying to smooth it out to make the rip look smaller. It wasn't that we couldn't just as easily have it sown up; it was that father would be terribly disappointed with me. I just couldn't let him down like that… again.

"Oh, Alice, what should we do?!" I whined. Alice continued to examine the tear.

"We? I believe you got yourself into this mess. Like you always seem to do." Alice bent over and looked at the dress.

I gave Alice a horrid look. She wouldn't really leave me to suffer my father's wrath? My father can be a kind and gentle soul, but when he gets angry, he can be the fiercest I've ever seen. I stepped out of my brown riding boots and felt the grass squish in between my toes.

"Alice!" I pleaded, now, "You know I can't help the things I do! I just love the wind on my face and I couldn't stop, I really couldn't and I just hate to see you angry at me like this!"

Alice sighed, mumbling something to herself in French, her first language, and then smiling at me.

"I guess I could sow it up myself."

I jumped and gave Alice a huge hug, rapping my arms around her neck.

"But don't think I'd do this for you any time, Bella. If your father finds out that I sowed this thing back up, he could very well fire my father and I would be gone, yes?" Alice pushed me off of her.

"Yes! Sí! Oui! Or whatever you say!" I smiled.

"We're going to have to sneak into my bedroom for the cloth and thread…" she said to herself, thinking of a plan, "And no one should know about this, so it has to be the exact same color blue…" she looked me up and down, "And you owe me for this." I smiled. It felt so good to know Alice was on my side.

We arrived at the stables, to the side of the house. A large wooden barn-like building with horses inside and hay that lay about the ground. When my father asked me to pick a horse for myself, there was really only one I could think of, and that was Fuego, who I was holding by the reigns and walking him in at the moment. Fuego was a fiery soul, hence the name I had chosen for him; Fuego, which meant Fire in Spanish. I opened up a small gate and put Fuego inside, while Alice put Alfonso inside a gate as well. It came as no surprise that I picked the most dangerous horse and Colette picked the safest. It took a miracle to convince my father into letting me have Fuego. Alice and I might be two very different souls, but we are souls meant for one another.

Alice's mother and father live in The Swan Estate, her father and mother are both from France and knew my father before I was born. When they needed a house to live in, my father, Charles Swan, offered them jobs and a place to stay. Alice's mother is a housekeeper and Alice's father is the cook. We hold many events in our estate, most held for very important people. I've lived here, in Madrid, Spain, for most of my life. I've taken many courses at home, being taught by only the best. How can my father afford this? Well, he owns a major trading company named Swan and Sons Trading Company. Yes. I do have two brothers. Both which live in the big city, not like me. I live with my father out in the countryside until I find someone to wed. It's not fair, but I'll wait till the time comes.

My father has always been protective of me since my mother died of a fever. I've met few people and only visited the city to visit my two older brothers. Alice is the only real friend I've ever had. She's only two months younger than me, and doesn't have much family outside of ours. I envy her, for she's been to Paris. We've talked many nights about her boat ride across the Bay of Biscay and her trip to Paris in a carriage. She tells me that it' not all that it's talked to be, but what I wouldn't give to leave this cramped estate…