Note: This takes place a few days after Duke's animal friends planned to help him. If you have the time, please review! Thank you.
Ch.2: More than an Ordinary Princess
In the True Heart region of the Haven Kingdom, Princess Jennifer opened a window and breathed in the fresh air. Jennifer came from the royal Mason family line who ruled the True Heart Castle and its lands. However, because her parents died when she was a young child, she was not officially the ruler of True Heart. Luckily, the noble Teague brothers, Vince and Dave, became her legal guardians; therefore, they became the rulers of the land. The only way Jennifer could officially become the ruler was to marry before both brothers passed away. If she wasn't married by then, another leader could buy off the land.
(Author's Note: All feminists should forward their hate mail to the man who intuited this law: Sir Bryon Howard)
Right now, Jennifer made herself comfortable on the soft cushion which graced the windowsill. She opened a book and placed her notebook next to her.
True Heart Lands were friends to two other regions: Spiral Guard and Aether Lands. Spiral Guard was ruled by King Garland Wuornos and his son, Prince Nathan. The Aether Lands were ruled by Sir Bryon Howard and Princess Audrey Parker. Audrey's father passed away and her mother mysteriously vanished when she was young, and Sir Howard became her legal guardian and the ruler of Aether Lands. Like Jennifer, she was bound by the same law, and could not officially become the ruler of Aether Lands until she was married. Lucky for her, she encountered Nathan, who saved her when her cart was about to fall off a cliff.
(Author's Note: By the way, the cart was just a rental)
Nathan helped his father rule Spiral Guard, and was beloved by his people, being kind and just. However, despite his handsome looks and pleasant personality, there was something tragic about Nathan. When he was eight, an evil wizard name William cursed him (just because William felt like it) so he could not physically feel anything. Garland tried to hunt William down, but he could not be found. Nathan learned to live with his curse, thinking there was nothing he could do about it.
Then he met Audrey, and it turned out he was able to feel her touch because she was immune to magic. It was one of the major reasons, including her courage and her ability to connect with people, why Nathan fell in love with her. Audrey fell in love with Nathan's gentleness, his loyalty, and protective nature. The two bonded very quickly and they were planning to get married later this year.
Every few months, the leaders of these three regions meet. On this occasion, they were all gathering at True Heart Castle. Jennifer wanted to help with the planning, so one of her assignments was to be in charge of entertaining Audrey and Nathan.
This is why she was in the library, trying to come up with ideas. Jennifer wanted to do something new, but right now she was stuck, and the distractions weren't helping . . .
"Knock, knock, may we enter?"
Jennifer looked up to see Dave and Vince, peeking in with the door partly opened.
"Sure," Jennifer said, smiling, and the Teague brothers came in the room.
"Have you found any ideas?" Vince asked.
"Not really," Jennifer admitted, looking a little guilty.
"Jennifer, the meeting is in three days," Vince said. "We trusted you with this responsibility."
"I know, but I want to do something creative," Jennifer said and sighed in frustration. "It's just hard to think with the explosions . . ."
The Teague brothers looked at each other.
"Explosions?" they asked.
They soon heard a loud blast and Vince and Dave headed to the source while Jennifer followed them.
They stopped next to the medic room where smoke was coming out. Standing in-between the servants, helping them wave off the smoke, was the head physician, Gloria Verrano. Vince and Dave looked at Jennifer, stunned and confused, but turned their attention back to the smoke when they heard coughing, and saw Gloria's assistant, Rudy Lucassi, emerging from the room.
"I told you to not add the formaldehyde!" Gloria scolded.
"Are you all right?" Dave asked them.
"I am, but I think his ego is damaged beyond repair," Gloria said, indicating Rudy, who looked shamefaced.
"What happened?" Vince asked.
"Rudy here wanted to make an instant cure for headaches," Gloria explained. "However, he wanted to experiment by himself, and refused to listen to me."
"Uh, sorry?" Rudy embarrassingly said.
"This is coming out of your pay check, you know that?" Gloria said.
"We'll discuss that later, right now . . ." Vince began giving instructions on how to take care of the smoke and repair the damage. Gloria saw Jennifer and walked up to her.
"How are you doing, Princess?" Gloria asked.
"Okay, but I'm still stuck," Jennifer said.
"Hopefully you can think better without him trying to blow up the castle," Gloria said, causing Jennifer to giggle a little. Dave and Vince soon joined them.
"It's going to take a while to clean up this mess," Vince said. "Jennifer, is there anything we can do to help?"
"Well, I was thinking maybe a ride through the forest could help inspire me," Jennifer said with a tiny smile.
"Jennifer, it's almost dark," Dave said. "We don't—"
"Knock it off, will you?" Gloria said. "She's not stupid; she's knows how to stay safe and avoid trouble."
Vince sighed. "Fine; you may take a ride. Right, Dave?"
"Right," Dave grumbled. "But be home before dark!"
"I will. Thank you," Jennifer said, hugging the men.
Dave ordered Jennifer's favorite horse, a chestnut mare named Autumn to be saddled. Jennifer changed her clothes and gathered the items she wanted to take with her into her satchel.
"By the way," Dave said, as he, Vince, and Gloria, walked with her to the stables. "Did you read the information we gave you about that prince?"
"Yes," Jennifer said.
"And . . . ?" Dave asked, sounding hopeful.
"I don't think it would work out," Jennifer said. Vince and Dave looked surprised and disappointed.
"Why not?" Vince asked. "Prince Chris Brody is liked by all his people!"
"That's the problem!" Jennifer said, looking at the brothers. "He's Overblessed!"
"Overblessed?" Dave and Vince said.
"You know, like when a fairy godmother blesses a child to grow up good looking and someone everyone adores," Jennifer said, handing the brothers a book, and showing them a particular page. "If a fairy godmother is too blasé or not fully concentrating, the blessing becomes bizarre."
"I've read about them," Gloria said, as the Teague brothers looked over the book. "There was one case where a fairy godmother blessed a princess to be truthful. So as she grew up, she kept blabbing out brutal truths. An alliance fell apart because she exposed what her father thought of another king's wife. I heard a fairy godmother can be canned and stripped of her magic if she Overbless a person."
"So you think Chris is Overblessed?" Dave asked. Jennifer nodded and took out a different notebook, indicating her research.
"He was visited by fairy godmothers when he was an infant and each one of their blessings was documented. One of the godmothers blessed him with charming good looks; this was his Overblessing. Just think about it: when people see Chris, they fawn all over him, forgetting their duties and just want to stare at him and obey his word."
The Teague brothers reluctantly agreed.
"That would explain a lot," Vince said and Dave nodded before they looked at Jennifer again, who was putting her stuff back.
"I would like to have meaningful conversations with my husband without averting my eyes," Jennifer said.
"We understand, Jennifer," Dave said.
"Thanks."
"You know we only pushing marriage because we want you to be the rightful ruler," Vince said. "We didn't ask to be the rulers of True Heart, but that's the way things turned out. Besides, we think you'll be a better queen than either of us."
"Plus, when you're queen, you can get rid of that law," Dave added.
"I agree on both parts," Gloria commented. The Teague brothers glared at Gloria, who just gave them a teasing smile. Jennifer softly chuckled.
"I know, and thank you," Jennifer said and hugged the brothers and Gloria.
She saw the stable boy, Liam, waiting with Autumn. Once she transferred her items to the saddlebag, she thanked Liam and mounted her horse. As she rode off, she saw Liam playing with his dog, Cookie, making her smile.
While she was riding, she saw a couple enjoying each other's company. She unconsciously sighed seeing them.
"It must be . . . great finding someone to love," Jennifer thought as she rode. "Just some women are more fortunate than others . . . like me . . . but maybe it is just me, maybe I'm too picky . . . no, that can't be it . . . it's like the right man has been hidden from me."
Jennifer found herself thinking more about men than coming up with an activity as she entered the forest.
Note: While writing this, sometimes I accidently wrote 'fairy gothmother,' than 'fairy godmother.' I have a strange feeling someone is going take that idea and run with it. Please do.
