AN: Hey guys so this is a new story I've been working on. Hope you like it!
Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyer owns everything in here related to twilight. I thought up everything else.
I walked down the corridor towards my rooms slowly. I loved this hallway with its lattices of windows looking out towards the front of the castle. I gazed at the sweeping views of the valley and mountains behind them. The purple horizons invited me to take off and explore. The adventurer in me responded eagerly. I wanted to leave; escape the monotony of this castle. This prison disguised with painted stone walls and gilded columns trapped me; prevented me to follow the urges that I suppressed time and time again. Oh how I envied my father; the man who I had idolized in my youth.
I leaned against one of the many marble pillars supporting the archways which lined this corridor. I gazed at the beauty of the green haze in the valley and the deep shadows between the peaks of the far off range. I could almost hear my father telling me stories about the places he had ventured to. The many monsters he had fought, the places he had seen, and the people he had met. I had sat at his feet and looked at him in awe, my active imagination producing colorful images in my dreams. My dreams depicted the tales my father had told me but with me at his side fighting the battles with him.
I sighed and pushed myself off the wall. It was past the time where I entertained such fantasies. I was crown princess. I had no time for such childish delusions as this. Besides my father had disappeared months ago, most likely killed on one of his many adventures, leaving me at the mercy of my mother.
I looked at the sun, which was dipping below the horizon and turned quickly. I was supposed to be changed and in the dining hall before the sun went down. I had spent too long dawdling, mother would be furious if I was late again. My uncomfortable heels clicked as I hurried down the maze of halls towards my rooms.
I was ready in record time. Most of the time I refused the help of the small army of servants that my mother required me to have, but tonight when I was running so late I had unwillingly accepted the help of the ever present Cory. She was my personal maid, and helped me fasten the ties of my dress and fix the shoes on my feet.
A loud knock echoed around the entry room of my spacious suite. I nodded to the herald and he went to the door. Walking back to my bed chamber he said "My Lord Jacob is here to escort you madam."
"Thank You Douglass," I smiled at him and he bowed. "Come Cory, It is time to go and see if we can please my mother."
She giggled and replied, "My princess that could not be hard for one such as you!"
"Cory, how many times must I ask you to call me Bella?"
"Sorry. It has been a difficult day to be sure," she told me.
"For us both, the queen has had me following her all day. It was torture!" I walked through the doors towards the entryway. Cory standing the respectful 3 paces back that we used in public.
The man sitting on the couch stood quickly when I walked in. He was grinning at me. "How many strings do you think I pulled to get your mother to let me escort you to the evening she has planned for tonight?"
I laughed, "Not many I would think! You know she absolutely adores you. It is part of the reason she dislikes me so much. You are the only person who gives her less attention than you give me."
"True, but you can't say you don't appreciate me being here."
"Of course not Jake! Now I might actually enjoy the evening. I don't have to make light conversation with a stuffy courier mother is trying to force on me." I shuddered at the thought. Just last week at the ball I was made to do that. The man she sent to me had to be 60 years old. I grimaced, thinking of the Dancing I had had to do that night.
"Well, are you ready to go my lady?" Jake asked me, mocking the tone of a normal courier.
"Why certainly, my lord. Won't you offer me your arm?" I replied, trying to hide a smirk. I laid my hand on his arm and my heart flip flopped. Jake was my best friend, but I had harbored feelings for him that I told to no one but Cory and then only late and in my most private chambers.
I felt his arm flex through the thin fabric of his shirt. The white material made for show not endurance. "You clean up well Jake. I don't remember the last time I actually saw you in more than breeches and a shirt!"
"You know I try to avoid most state functions, but I decided to dress up a little for your sake."
I blushed a bit but hid it by ducking my head and covering my face with my brown curls. We walked through the labyrinth of the palace halls talking and laughing. I relished what time we spent together. When we were young and my father, Charlie was still here we spent days together, running around and frolicking in the gardens. In past months we have seen less and less of each other as my mother, Renee found my bearing inadequate and forced me to as she says 'be the princess you were born as.'"
"Jake, where are we going?" I asked suddenly. "This isn't the way to the dining hall!"
"There has been a change of plans for the two of us." He told me with a sly grin.
I suddenly recognized the passage we were heading towards. "Jacob! Why are we going to the stables now? I'm wearing a gown! You are wearing your dress clothes! We have to go to the event tonight! We're meeting Emmet and Alice" I pulled my hand out of his arm in protest.
"Come on Rose! You can see them later! When was the last time you actually rode Darkmoon?"
That halted me. My horse used to be my life. Charlie had given him to me when he was just a colt, and I had raised him. When father disappeared and mother started going crazy I stopped going to see him. Darkmoon was a reminder of all that I had lost my freedom, my happiness and my father.
"You're right. Let's go." I started walking towards the stables. Halfway out into the gardens I kicked off my ungainly heels and started running. It had been months since I had seen my horse and I realized how much I had missed him. I heard Jake running after me, calling out to wait for him. I paid him no mind, my feet just pushing me faster.
I threw open the doors, letting the light pour into the dark stables. The horses closest to me snorted in surprise. I ignored them and strode to the one stall that I held closest to my heart.
The horse there was as black as night, with just the star on his forehead to distinguish him from the rest. He was lying down in the straw at the bottom of the stall when I poked my head over. I quickly withdrew so that I could open the door. The horse inside looked up when I came in. I looked at him for a second then threw my arms around his neck. "Beauty, my beauty. My Darkmoon," I crooned at him. I stroked his long nose and sighed. I had missed him. He nickered at me. The sound he only used when I was with him. "I missed you too beautiful"
"I swear that horse is practically human," Jake said from the doorway.
I chuckled quietly, "Yes, he almost is. He just has a few extra legs and a bit bigger nose." I looked up at him and I could feel the tears start to roll down my cheeks. "Thank you Jake. You have no idea what this means to me."
"You underestimate me Bella. I have seen how you have acted since your father left. The queen is horrid to you; I can imagine what she says when I am not there to see it. You needed something to cheer you up." He sank down into the hay beside me. I gave him a fierce hug, and then leaned against Darkmoon again. Jake put his arm around me, the familiar feeling I got whenever he was close flared up. I got goose bumps up and down my arms when he started stroking my hair. Darkmoon snorted quietly, unpleased that no attention was being paid to him.
"Jake I-"
"You don't need to repay me Bella; this was an intervention that's all."
"How did you know I was going to say that?"
He laughed "I've known you for how many years? You never want to be indebted to someone." I laughed along with him. We sat quietly for a few minutes. Each wrapped in our own thoughts. I stroked Darkmoon's side while he nuzzled my arm.
"Hey Jake?" I said.
"Yah?"
"You think Lightning can beat my Darkmoon?"
"I don't doubt it for a minute." I looked at him skeptically.
"Is that a challenge I hear?" I asked him.
He jumped up and I fell from where I was leaning on him, "well we'll have to just find out huh?" He ran away excitedly. No doubt to brush and saddle his horse, Lightning.
"You up for that Darkmoon? How long has it been since we have had a race?" He neighed in response. "Alright then! Let's get you saddled up!" I found the breeches and shirt I had hidden in the store rooms months ago and changed right there. My fancy gown I threw onto the feed buckets. I quickly groomed and saddled my horse. I led him out into the open field outside the stable fence. The star light emphasized his blackness and the field looked like a wonderland with just the moon to illuminate it.
I mounted Darkmoon and got settled in the saddle. It had been too long since I had taken my place astride him. I nudged him into a steady trot. The familiar rhythm of his hooves beating against the ground calmed me as we rode.
Movement caught the corner of my eye. I turned my head and noticed a rider in the distance. He was riding fast, messenger speed at the least. I figured he must have important information to be riding so quickly, so close to the castle. "Hurry up Darkmoon let's go see what it is." I felt Darkmoon tense under me. The muscles in his powerful flanks bunched and then we flew. I had never felt him go so fast. I matched my movements to the steady beating of his hooves. Soon we were in sight of the messenger on his horse. I heard Jake shout my name. With one hand I waved him on, signaling him to follow us.
Only a few moments later we rode into a spacious courtyard. The space was swarming with people. I saw the huge bulk that was Emmet to the side, along with the rest of the courtiers, servants and workers that where crowded in front of the big double doors that led into the entrance hall of the palace. I waved to him and smiled, then turned to the front. My mother stood there, at the top of the stone steps which led to the doors. The messenger I had seen riding was kneeling in front of her. A rather battered looking letter held out in front of him. The rider's horse stood abandoned not far away, lathered in foam and almost collapsing where it stood. I dismounted and led Darkmoon to the other horse. I grabbed its reins which were hanging loosely by its side and tapped a servant on the shoulder. "Please take this horse to the stables. Make sure it is cared for" For a second she looked like she was going to refuse. Then she seemed to realize who I was.
"Of course your highness. Right away." I nodded for her to go and handed her the reins. The weary horse trudged after her, too tired to care about where it was going. I shook my head; some people did not know how to treat horses! It was too bad really. The poor horse was nearly dead on its feet.
I turned back to the crowd around Renee. I was just in time to see her walk through the doors, her long skirt disappearing into the depths of the castle. My younger sister, Nicole followed her without a glance at me, her face composed into a mask of composure. My baby brother William didn't follow them. Instead he turned and ran through the crowd. The couriers made space for him as his chubby toddler legs carried him my way.
"Bella!" he shouted. "Bella!" William was my favorite sibling. He followed me around wherever he could. The dislike my mother had trained into Nicole had not been ingrained into him yet. He still looked at me all moony eyed and put his hands up and beg for me to carry him.
"Willy!" I laughed at him. He was too cute for me to remain serious. I spread my arms and he ran into them. I scooped him up and tickled his tummy. He giggled. "Willy?" I asked him. "Do you know what's happening?" For such a little guy Willy was notorious for hearing everything that was being said. He had more information about the goings on in the castle than some of mother's best spies.
"Mommy got a letter from Daddy." He told me matter of factly. I nearly dropped him in shock. The last letter we had gotten from him was dated 6 months back. We had long since given up on him. It was at that moment Jake rode up next to us. He jumped off Lightning and gave him to a passing stable boy.
"Bella, hey what- Whoa, what is wrong with you? You look white as a sheet!" He took Will from my arms quickly. That was a good thing, he was starting to squirm and I was still frozen. "Prince William?" My brother looked at him. Only I called him Willy. No one else dared to call him anything but his title. Even Jake, one of mother's favorites, still called my five year old brother by his title. "Do you know what is wrong with you sister?" he asked the little boy.
"No" he shook his curly head. "I told her the news, that's all! I swear I didn't do anything else!"
"I know, don't worry, Prince, you wont ever get in trouble from me." Jake put him down. He ran to my leg and grabbed the fabric of my breeches.
"Willy, take us to mother please. You know where she is right?" He nodded in answer. He took my hand and led me to a side door, Jake following behind us. For a five year old Will was very fast. He little legs carried him through the halls with ease, turning corners and navigating the castle with the skill of a much older boy. He had let go of my hand to go ahead, skipping and talking to himself as he lead us to my mother.
"Bells, will you tell me what happened?" Sam had walked up behind me. I had almost forgotten he had followed us.
"We got a letter from father." I told him the news while looking straight ahead desperate to keep the shaking out of my voice.
"That's great! That means he's still alive! Bells doesn't that make you happy?"
"Of course, but why now? Why did he not write before? He promised to write to me at least once a month when he left. I almost can guarantee that the letter my mother is probably reading was addressed to me." I shook my head. "I need to find her and get it."
I didn't even knock when I got to the room where Will said she was. I just pushed past the two guards outside the door and walked in. My head held high I strode to where my mother was standing; her head bent over a piece off paper. "Mother" I said, my voice hard. She looked up at me then. I nearly flinched at the look in her eyes.
"It was addressed to you," she said. I rejoiced on the inside and my heart swelled when I thought of my father writing to me. Then she went on, "Not to me, his wife, who has waited patiently for all these months for him. I have been running this kingdom on my own since he left, and the one time he writes, it's to you. The girl who would rather my mucking stables than being a princess." Her voice was getting louder and harsher as she kept talking. "Here take it." She nearly threw the letter at me. "Take it and leave, and never come here again. If I see you in less than a week I will personally see to it that you wretched donkey is shipped away and any friend you have deported."
I was filled with anger when she said the last line. She was absolutely insane if she thought for a second I would let her lay a hand on my Darkmoon. "It would be my pleasure your majesty," I told her, my voice dripping with scorn and sarcasm. "I will fulfill your wishes to the letter and then some. I will make sure you don't see me for at least as long as I can manage." I turned without a glance and stalked towards the door, my hands balled up into fists.
I nearly ran to my rooms. As it is I got there in less than 5 minutes, half the time it would've taken me on a regular day. "Cory!" I shouted. "Quickly get me a pack, small enough to carry." I sank into an armchair and pulled my fathers letter out from the front of my dress, and started to read.
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