I had to add some things and revise it a bit. There are probably still a few errors... but don't get mad at me :(
Satan was racing along the garden pathways as fast as he was able. Marie held on tightly to the reins and dismissed the fact that she wore no gloves. It did not bother her in the slightest that her hands might not be as soft as her mother wished. Maybe so many fools would stop kissing it! She smiled at that and raised her face to the sun.
It was summer. Flowers bloomed extravagantly and the warmth of it was exquisite. She felt as if she was a dusty old carpet needing a little air. Of course she was out all the time. The company just wasn't always the best. As it was, that was exactly what was happening right now. Her mother had wished her to have a quiet ride in the garden with Will Cautear. They were supposed to have spoken of the weather, his extravagant horse (which even she had to admit was beautiful), and the only other thing a man such as he spoke of. Himself!
Now had he not expected her to pay attention in the slightest, nor could reply, maybe Marie have pretended she was somewhere else. Anywhere but there as a matter of fact. Instead of allowing her to daydream, as any sane man would have, he had calmly told her that she needed to be attentive towards him as how was he to expect her to make a decent wife?
That had been the end of what could have been a perfectly boring evening. She had promptly told him she wished him away in a ditch and galloped away. Now the wind was in her hair, the sun lighting her evening, and she had rid herself of Will. At least temporarily. Her mother absolutely loved him.
Stupid man! To even think she would consider spending the rest of her days with him. He sounded just like her mother and that was certainly unacceptable. If she wished to hear marriage nonsense she would pay attention to her mother, father, maid, or anyone else in the Eidoli kingdom besides her and her brother.
She sighed. The point was that she heard it all day and night. It'd be nice for her to catch a break. She let Satan control which way they went now. He was a competent horse and had never led her astray. Of course he was rarely ridden because of his size. It was not becoming for a girl to ride such a strong-willed horse.
And Satan was more than strong-willed. He was opinionated. If he did not like you, you would know. That was why Marie and him got along. She was the only one he allowed to ride him. She liked to think that it was because of their differences. She, quiet and well-mannered while Satan was loud and… not exactly well-anything. He brought out the side of her that was supposed to stay inside. Around Satan she felt different, not different than anyone else. Just herself.
Marie slowed Satan down and attempted to admire the flowers. There was not a wilting flower in sight. No sign that any flower was being neglected. Marie rolled her eyes. Why look for a dead flower? Her eyes still wandered looking for one.
She didn't fully understand her need to find an imperfection. Maybe it was because she wished for some semblance that her parents did not control everything. But if they didn't, then why was nothing out of place? She felt herself suffocating as she realized that she was terribly out of place.
The wind had already torn her hair out of its style. It was flying about everywhere and if she did not stop riding, her hands would show signs of not wearing gloves. The dress she wore had hidden stitches that made it just like a pair of pants when it looked like any other dress. If Will had looked closely as she stormed off, he would have noticed. And God, what would she do if her mother found out about her insulting him?
Maybe Will was right. She should have at least attempted to listen. Satan stopped abruptly and before Marie could do anything she noticed Will flying off of his horse towards her. The last thing she thought of as she dug her heels into Satan's side to move out of Will's way, was that she felt sorry for his horse. It was a pity that such a nice horse didn't have a better and more capable owner. For some reason Satan didn't move and started whinnying at a seemingly innocent bush which resulted with Will hitting her off of the horse.
The impact against her back as she crashed down made her cry out but it was her head banging against the solid ground that made her eyes well up with tears. Will lay on top of her like an idiot and she couldn't speak for fear of actually crying. As many times as she had fallen off of a horse, it had never been that hard. It took her a moment to realize his face was planted on her chest.
She could hear his muffled moans of pain and tried to calm herself before she screamed at him. When she glanced over at Satan, he was still looking at the bush with such a mean stare that she personally would have run away if she were the bush. Marie was starting to understand why some people steered clear of him.
Then Satan suddenly stopped and walked over to me. He snorted and hit Will's body with his nose, barely nudging him. "Push him Satan!" Satan backed up and pushed him off. Immediately she felt the relief of his weight gone but pain shot through her back at the movement.
Satan whinnied and nudged her too. In pain, she managed to whisper, "No." Satan stopped and backed up a bit. Marie started moving different body parts slowly and she took a deep breath as she attempted to push herself up. "Mmm…" Everything seemed to hurt but at least it worked. She could probably still dance at the ball tomorrow night.
She turned her head carefully and knew that she would probably have a headache for a long time.
In fact, if it wasn't for that hedge behind me, I believe I would have passed out. That idiot! How did he lose control of his horse? Glancing at Will's still face she wondered if she could leave him there to fend for his self while she went inside and asked Kay to fix her.
But then I would have to explain why I am hurt and my mother would ask where he was and… well there goes that plan.
She reached over and shook him, gently of course, even though she wanted to shake him until he woke up. "Will!" Crap! My voice sounds annoyed. How would my mother wish me to sound? Worried? "Will, please get up!" Now her voice was slightly smoother. Starting to get upset she shook him a little bit more.
When his eyes fluttered open she breathed a sigh of relief. Now she could go back inside to the palace! Sadly Will seemed to wish to just stare up at her in a besotted manner. Or at least that's what she thought the look was. "Marie…" He murmured her name and lifted his hand to caress her face.
She tried to keep the look of disgust off of her face and keep still but when he said, "Kiss me," she couldn't stop herself from knocking his hand off of her and saying, "I do not believe I have given you the right to call me by my first name. She stood up carefully and wondered at his stupidity.
Why her mother even wanted her to be associated with the man was beyond her. If she even thinks he is in the running for my hand in marriage, she is sadly mistaken. At the thought of her mother she turned back around and noticed he had sat up and was wiping his coat off. Not that there was actually any dirt on it.
She cleared her throat. "Um… I'm sorry for being so inattentive and," Why was this so hard? Her mother made it look easy! "Rude." He looked up at her and the look of hatred on his face made her wish to step back but before she commented on it, his face returned to a loving look and he smiled.
"Of course. I'm sure your mother hasn't taught you the appropriate manners when in the company of another." His words made her want to insult him and tell him to once again fall in a ditch but her mother's stupid voice came to mind.
"Any insult to you my dear is well-deserved. You just don't know how to control what you say. I fear I've let you run free and now you do not want to calm down and become the princess you are supposed to be."
Once that voice ran over any sense of herself that was still there she retreated and nodded solemnly at Will. "You are right of course. I will work on it before you return again. Maybe I will be better company then. Until then, I believe I shall go take a bath. That was a very hard fall."
He stood up and groaned as he put his hand on his back. "I know what you mean. My back is killing me." Marie's ire rose and before she said anything stupid she reached for Satan's reins. His back hurt? "I will pray that you recover quickly." Walking off she still wondered at why he had been thrown off of his horse but it was too late to ask.
It took her awhile to get through the maze of flowers and to get Satan to the stable boy but instead of thinking of the pain; all Marie could think of was her luck. Trying to get away from Will had almost worked, until he knocked her off of Satan and literally lay on top of her.
It was obvious that getting away from him had failed, badly. Next time… wait, will there be a next time? Knowing her mother, there would be.
When she finally got in the castle she ignored all of the stares of the servants and even her mothers shrieking. Retreating to her room, fifteen minutes later, Princess Marie was being coddled by Kay, the castle healer, and after Kay had done a small healing spell, she was laid down.
Her mother invaded not five minutes later, yelling at her for being so stupid to be thrown from her horse and that it was obvious that Satan needed to be shot for his disobedience. Of course, Marie protested and after calming her mother down, attempted to sleep.
So close to sleep, she wondered if her mother would shoot her if she became disobedient.
Keirnan~ ~ ~somewhere VERY close to Marie
Kiernan's footsteps were silent as he walked through the maze of a garden. It was ridiculous how many flowers grew here. Roses, irises, lilies, all surrounded him with their damn scent.
I will probably be a flower myself after all of this. When he got close to the exit he watched for guards but there were none. Of course there weren't. After all the flowers weren't all going to revolt against them.
He shook his head at his thoughts. He had to find some clothes to wear at the ball tomorrow. He had a plan. Charm Marie, the girl with black hair and disturbing amber eyes. Get her to go to the garden alone with him. And then, he would kidnap her.
Frowning at that word, he tried to think of a better one. Maybe he could think of it as borrowing. It's not like he planned on keeping the innocent girl. But if he was borrowing then it would probably be best to tell the person you were borrowing that they were being borrowed.
I'm going insane! The faster he got back to camp and slept the better. Maybe he wouldn't hide in the garden tomorrow like he had today. It wasn't as if there was anything entertaining to watch.
Even though watching Marie get angry at that childish man was slightly pleasing. Of course she went back to being quiet with no backbone in a matter of seconds.
When she had fallen, Kiernan had winced and almost gotten out of his hiding place. It was, in a roundabout way his fault. If he hadn't been hiding in that bush, then Satan would have moved and only Will would have been hurt.
But that wasn't what had happened. Marie had slammed down with Will on top of her and her horse, which he vaguely remembered being called Satan, had forgotten about the funny smelling bush, to help get Will off.
I hope she didn't permanently damage anything. She might not be able to go to the ball and then everything I've done will be for nothing. Exiting through the gate, Keirnan ran towards the woods and disappeared within.
He went to sleep with Marie pain filled face on the mind. In the end, he didn't get much sleep at all.
Thanks for reading... hope you enjoyed it. Please comment.