Hey guys, here is the first chapter to the sequel of Princesses Don't Perspire. Hope you like it!
Chapter 1 - Story Time
Mother sits down and opens the book to the first page. She smiles at us as we surround her. "Alright, I'm going to read the story now. Is everyone listening?"
At those words all three of us quiet down. Not a single word is spoken. When mother tells a story, you listen with interest and silence, always.
"There once was a Prince and a Princess…" She starts.
There once was a Prince and Princess. They'd fallen in love two years prior and their wedding would be in three weeks time. They were both very happy with each other, but there was one thing they both missed greatly.
Adventure.
The Prince and Princess had once had a great adventure when they were a few years younger, it was how they had fallen in love with each other to begin with. After all fighting off a wizard can bring two people very close together.
The Princess was preparing for her wedding. Dress fittings, dance lessons, economy classes and other boring princess tasks were being carried out throughout the days. She rarely saw her Prince as he was also busy preparing for the wedding and for when he'd be King. The Prince and Princess would rule over two kingdoms together, a very difficult task, but one they were willing to take on together.
Unbeknownst to the Prince and Princess an old foe of theirs was rising back to power. He would be stronger and smarter than the last time and he wanted revenge.
Anthony the salamander was perched on a tree branch and he saw the perfect target, a small crying girl. She had lovely blonde hair, a perfect pink dress and rosy cheeks.
"Oh princess!" He called to her. She glanced around wildly. "Over here."
The princess' eyes landed upon the salamander on the branch.
"Are you a talking salamander?" She inquired with wonder. Anthony almost rolled his eyes at her stupidity, oh yes, she was perfect.
"Yes, I used to be a prince." He lied with a woeful voice. "An evil Princess used sorcery to turn me into this small creature, will you help me?"
The innocent princess fell for Anthony's tricks immediately.
"Oh, you poor thing! How can I help?" Anthony gave a very small sigh, she really was extremly dumb.
"A kiss and I'll change back!" He coaxed. The poor, brainless princess looked hesitant, but leaned in and pecked Anthony's head. Afterall her mother had taught her to listen to talking squirrels and kiss talking frogs, so why not do the same for a speaking salamander. Magic was swirling through the air immediately, a large puff of smoke engulfed the area. The princess was coughing and batting the smoke from her face.
In front of her now stood a towering wizard. His hair and beard were long and a dark brown. His robes a misty grey, giving away his true identity almost instantly. She let out a small scream.
"You aren't a Prince!" She was very alarmed, talking animals weren't supposed to lie! Her mother had said to always trust the chattering rabbits and such.
"Wow, excellent observation." Anthony rolled his eyes at the girl and spoke with condescension. "Now if you don't mind I've got places to be. People to kill." The girl fainted at the mention of murder. Anthony didn't much care, all he could think about was Princess Rosalynn and Prince Nathaniel. He'd get them. He'd wipe those smug grins off their faces. They were going down.
Prince Nathan sighed at all the paperwork that he was supposed to be overseeing. He'd been signing and reading for three hours that day already, and the day before he'd done so for seven and the day before six. He needed a break. Badly.
Nathaniel stood and went off to find his fiancee, guessing she could use a break from her mother's lectures. He wasn't sure which room she'd be in this time, but he figured he'd try hers first.
The castle in Brockshoe was large. Larger than his own in Minwire, although not nearly as grandly decorated. Not that he cared, home to him wasn't the largest or goldest or richest it was where she was.
She ended up bashing into him in the hall. She'd come around the corner at the same time as he did and the two smacked into each other.
"Rosie!" Nathan grinned at the love of his life. "I was just coming to look for you!"
"Same!" Rosie gazed at him lovingly-
"Muuum." My little brother is whining. He hates listening to the gushy parts of stories.
"Mummy is this about yo-." My little sister begins speaking now and I sigh.
"Shhh." I shush them. I want to know what happens next in the story and I know that if mum gets too annoyed with us, she'll stop reading. I have to know more about the wizard!
"No more interruptions." Mum warns them playfully and winks at me. I nod quickly in agreement.
Rosie gazed at him lovingly before grasping his hand in hers.
"Let's sneak out." She whispers conspiratorially. Nathan takes no time in nodding and allowing himself to be pulled out of the palace.
They left the gates behind, giggling and ducking from the guards. The guards of course heard the two adults, they were rather loud. Yet the guards ignored them and pretended to be oblivious to their hiding places. Once the two had escaped the castle and left their duties behind they allowed themselves to talk louder. Together the two of them walked through the village, eyes only for each other.
Had they been paying attention they would have noticed the villagers glancing at them and shaking their heads fondly. They would have noticed the old man with the cart of roses following behind them and watching closely, a glare firmly placed on his face.
The two skipped on chatting and gazing at eachother. They were so busy with their animated conversation that they almost ran into the old man with his rose cart, who seemed to appear in front of them.
"Oh, excuse us! Sorry." Rosie apologised to the man kindly.
"Rose for the pretty lady?" The man grinned toothlessly.
"Oh no thank you." Rosie grinned and spoke again. "I've got enough Rose in my life."
Nathan laughed at her lame joke about one of her nicknames. Only he would ever find her ridiculous jokes funny.
"I can never have enough Rose in my life, so I'll buy a couple." Rosie giggled at his sweetness and accepted the roses the man handed over to her. Nathan dropped a couple coins into the mans hands and they began walking again.
"You're so cliche." She told Nathan teasingly. Only she would ever be flattered by his cheesy lines. He shrugged, not caring as long as that beautiful smile of hers lit up across her face.
The pair had reached the edge of the Enchanted Forest, when Rosie got a strange urge to lean in and smell the pretty flowers. They were the loveliest Rosie had ever seen, she wanted to know if they smelled as good as they looked. She stuck her nose in them and inhaled deeply. The smell was a sickening sweet, it made her dizzy. Her head spun as she pulled back from the flowers. Her vision went back around the edges and colors seemed to blur together.
"Nathan I-" Her face was concerned and caused alarm in Nathan immediately. Before she could finish her sentence everything went black and she was falling.
Nathan lurched forward and caught the girl in his arms. Panic was overwhelming him.
"Rosie! Rose? Rosalyn!" He shook her lightly. "Rosie?"
He repeated her name in hopes that she'd just fainted from the heat of the day and she'd awake soon. When she didn't Nathan felt more panicked. He hoisted the girl into his arms better and sped as fast as he could to the castle.
He knew he needed to find a doctor and a bed. It was Rosie's best bet.
Rosie was laying on her large bed and she looked completely peaceful. Nathan cursed himself for buying the flowers that had seemed to put her under some kind of spell. He had the whole kingdom searching for the old man who'd sold them those poisonous plants.
Nathan was angry and wanted to kill that old man, he was frustrated with himself for not being more careful and he was concerned for Rosie's well being. After all Rosie was the Crown Princess and would soon be Queen of both Minwire and Brockshore, making her a large target. Nathan couldn't imagine who would want to do this to dear sweet and kind Rosie. Everyone adored her.
Well, he could think of one person, but he was so sure that they'd gotten rid of him. They had turned the man into salamander two years a go. There was no way he could be back.
Unless…
Princes who had been casted or changed into frogs often got a kiss from a princess to return them to their original human self. Could salamander-turned wizards be changed back the same way? After all if you just find one dumb princess (there were plenty Nathan thought) then all she'd have to do is kiss the salamander thinking Anthony was a prince and BAM! The wizard was back.
Nathan shook those awful thoughts from his mind and returned to staring at Rosie's sleeping form. Her chest rose gently and slowly. She looked as if she was taking a very restful nap, still, pink lips open just the smallest bit to allow her small sighs. Nathan knew better though, Rosie was rarely a peaceful sleepover. He'd often seen her toss or kick or her fingers twitch or her eyelids flutter when she napped. Once he'd caught her asleep on a book at a desk in the large library of Brockshore, it was much bigger than Minwire's. Her hair was a tousled mess of curls and her hand kept twitching as she murmured in her soft breathes. It had caused him to smile at the time.
Nathan felt hopeless now. He couldn't live without Rosie. He wouldn't. He leaned down and pressed the smallest peck on her lips and then another kiss on her forehead.
"I'll see you soon Rosie." He whispered, he left the room to talk to the doctor.
There it is! Please review! I'm in the middle of editing the second chapter now and will post it later tonight. Please review both and tell me what you think!
Love you all!
PeaceLoveSequels!
Jenn