Hello, my people! I am back with another chapter of this story! Although, I have to warn you that my beta could not correct my grammar. So sorry for any mistakes. I hope you enjoy it as much or even more than the last chapter. Thanks for reading.
A pair of red eyes stared out the tent flap. The longing in them could set anyone to tears. They longed to see more than frilly gowns and golden crowns. They wanted adventure, but that just wasn't something that came easy to a prince.
Gilbert sighed and closed the tent flap, so as not to let the rain in. His teacher and "friend", Roderich, was sitting in a chair, reading a manuscript. Gilbert sat down next to him and started to play with a ribbon, watching it boredly as it bounced up and down.
Roderich put the manuscript down and looked over at his pupil. He started to watch the hypnotic motion of the ribbon, but got boredafter a couple of minutes. He waited for a while and then broke the silence as he cleared his throat. Gilbert looked over at him, his eyes dull and bored.
"So, how was today's courter?" he asked, although he already knew the answer.
"Same as always," Gilbert mumbled, still absorbed with the piece of string.
"Hmmmm... I'm not sure your father will like that..." Roderich said.
Gilbert rolled his eyes. "I don't give a damn about what my father thinks. If I don't want to marry a woman I don't love, than I don't have to," he whispered sourly.
The tent was silent once more, if you don't count the rain pitter-patting on the canvas roof. The silence was interrupted by a large, wet man standing in the opened tent flap. He bowed and pulled out a slip of paper from a satchel that hung around his shoulder.
"A message for Prince Gilbert, from his father," the guard said.
Gilbert reached and held out his hand. The guard handed it to him, bowed, and exited back into the rain. Gilbert picked off the wax seal and opened the letter excitedly, hoping that his father would finally allow him to come home. His smile sunk into a frown as he read the letter. When he finished reading it, he crumpled it into a ball and threw it to the other side of the tent. Roderich gasped and ran over to the letter. He picked it up, uncrumpled it, and shook it to get the water and dirt off of it. His eyes scanned the letter quickly and he read it out loud to himself and Gilbert.
"My dear son, I can clearly see that you are getting no where in your love life, or anywhere in your life at all. You clearly don't want to work to find a bride. As a result of your laziness, I have decided to pick a bride for you. Please come back to the castle as soon as you possibly can. I hope you will enjoy her and I hope you have a safe trip home. Sincerly, King Alois," Roderich said, his voice faltering at the end. He stood there, mouth open in shock. Gilbert just gripped the arms of his chair in anger, his fingernails digging into the soft wood.
After a moment of silence, Gilbert got up from his chair. He stuck a dagger into his boot, put on a cloak, and headed for the tent flap.
"S-sire, where are you going?" Roderich asked, snapping out of his stupor.
Gilbert didn't answer him. He walked out into the cold rain and started to untie his horse. Roderich chased after him, using a book to sheild his face from the rain.
"Sire, you can't leave! We have to go home t-" His sentence was never finish. Gilbert pushed him down in the mud and got onto his horse. He kicked his heels into the horse's sides and the horse galloped away into the dark, leaving Roderich dumbfounded in a mud puddle.
~O~O~O~O~
Gilbert galloped along the road for a while. He slowed his horse to stop and waited to hear if anyone was following him. When he heard nothing, he started to trot down the road more. After about an hour of this, he could see a faint light in the road ahead. Scared it was a guard, he quickly gallopped off the road and into the forest. Everytime he looked back, he could still see the light, and he was forced to surge ahead. His horse jumped over fallen logs and pushed throught the thick foliage. A blast of lightning hit nearby and the horse, scared by the sudden flash of light and the loud boom, bucked Gilbert off. Gilbert sat in the mud as he watched his horse gallop off into the darkness. He swore under his breath and sat there for a while, thinking of what to do. He couldn't go home, but he couldn't stay here either. In the end, he decided to just walk around and see if he could find a peasant family he could stay with. But first, he had to get out of the forest.
He started to walk towards where he had seen his horse run, but soon realized that he didn't see any familiar landmarks. He punched a tree in his anger, only to hurt his hand in the process. He shook his hand to make the pain go away. By now, the rain had stopped and the moon peaked out from behind the trees. Gilbert felt like he had been walking for hours, and was relieved when he came across a brook. He fell to his knees and praised God for his luck. He cupped his hands and filled them with the cool liquid. He slurped it up, letting it flow down his throat. He looked up when he heard a noise. The leaves on the other side of the brook moved slightly. He pushed himself away from the water and went to check it out. Normally, he would just leave it alone, but he was in an unfamiliar forest, and he didn't know what could happen.
He jumped over the brook and peered through the foliage and leaves. He jumped back when he was staring at a pair of green eyes. He lost his footing and fell into the creek. He picked himself up and ran back to whewre the eyes were, but they weren't there anymore. He pulled his dagger from his boot and emerged from his side of the wall of foliage.
He was frozen by what he saw. He was face to face with a girl with green eyes, who he assumed was the person he had came face to face with earlier. She took a couple steps back, scared. He could now clearly see a moonlit clearing. He could see three more girls staring at him from the other edge of the clearing.
He turned his attention back to the other girl. For someone who seemed to live in this Godforsaken forest, she was very beautiful. Her light brown hair flowed down her shoulders like water, and her green eyes sparkled with curiosity and intelligence. He stared at her for a while, intrigued, but stopped when she started to cringe at his gaze. He looked down at the ground, embarressed. She still seemed scared, and Gilbert didn't know why. He then remembered that he still held his dagger in his hand. He slipped it back into his boot and put his hands above his head, showing that he wouldn't hurt anyone.
The girl stood back, still a little afraid. She slowly walked towards him. Soon, she was next to Gilbert. She stood there awkwardly, not sure of what to say.
"I-I'm Elizab-" She was interrupted by a fierce looking girl with long platinum blonde hair.
"Who are you and why are you here?" she asked, never faltering.
Gilbert was taken aback by her strict and straight-to-the-point tone of voice. It reminded him of his father and brother. His attitude turned sour.
"Why does it matter? I should be asking you the same question," he replied bitterly.
The girl glared at him with eyes that seemed to look through his soul. "Well, aren't you a conceited little brat? I live here, thank you, along with my friends," she said, motioning to the other girls.
Gilbert smirked at her. "You live here? Alone? In this forest? I don't think so," he said.
The girl grabbed his wrist and dug her fingernails into his veins. "You dare to doubt me?"
Gilbert winced in pain and choked back a gasp as he saw his blood peek out from behind the girl's fingernails.
"I'm Gilbert, son of Aloisa, King of the Northern Lands," he said, all in one breath.
The girl squeezed harder. "I don't believe you," she hissed.
A small girl grabbed her hand away away from Gilbert.
"Natalia! Don't hurt him!" she said, her voice barely over a whisper.
The woman named Natalia let go and turned her back on the prince. "Fine, but when you're in trouble, don't come crying to me."
The fourth girl, a girl with short light blonde hair and a large chest, went over and started to talk with Natalia. The other two girls stood by Gilbert, who was checking his bloody wrist.
The brown haired girl put a hand on his shoulder. "Sorry about Natalia. She can be...fiesty sometimes."
"That's fine," Gilbert mumbled.
"Are you really a prince?" the little blonde haired girl asked him. He nodded his head, not really paying attention.
The two girls gasped. "Really?" the brown haired girl asked.
"Yes," he said, slowly nodding his head.
The two girls looked at each other and squeeled. Gilbert took a step back. The brown haired girl ran to Gilbert and hugged him. Gilbert was shocked and awkwardly hugged her back.
"I knew it! I knew someone would come!" she cried out.
Gilbert gave her a questioning look.
"We need you to-" A rustle could be heard in the bushes. All four girls turned a pale white. All of them except for the brown haired girl ran under the cover of the trees.
Gilbert looked up at the girl. Her smile had faded and her eyes contracted as she looked at the spot where the noise had come from. She grabbed his arm and started to pull him towards the brook.
"What are you doing?!" he asked. He wanted to see her more and get a better explanation.
"You need to leave! RIght now!" she whispered to him, her voice frantic.
"But why?" Gilbert pouted.
"Just go!" she said as she pushed him. The wet ground beneath him crumbled and he fell butt-first into the creek.
"At least let me know your name," he pleaded.
She sighed. "It's Princess Elizabeta. Now go!" he screamed at him.
Gilbert got back on his feet and started to run as fast as he could away from the clearing. After a thirty minutes of sprinting, his legs gave out and fatigue took over. He panted and sat there as he watched the sun come out. It's golden rays reminded him of Elizabeta's hair. A thought struck his mind like a gong.
Princess Elizabeta,
he thought. Princess Elizabeta.
As soon as he got his energy back, he would walk all the way back to his father's kingdom. he had something to tell him. But before that, he was going back to that clearing to see the girl he fell in love with.
And the second chapter is over! Sorry if all these chapters are short! They seem so long on paper! I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Also, if you want to guess the signifigance of Elizabeta being the type of bird she is, go ahead. If you guess right, you win something! What could it be? Guess to find out!
Now, for those of you who are confused, here is a character list:
Elizabeta/Yellow Songbird : Hungary
Gilbert : Prussia
Natalia : Belarus
Katyusha : Ukraine
Lily : Liechtenstein
Roderich : Austria
Nikolai : Romania
Erzsebet : 2p!Hungary
Alois : Germania
I think that's all that I've mentioned so far...
If I skipped out, please tell me!
EmeraldScale out!
