Chapter 3: Seda
Arianna sat by her window, staring out blankly at the meadows and fields the rolled out over the expanse of her view. That was one of the supposed perks of being a princess – you got one of the best views in the kingdom. Not that a good view really ever did anyone any good, but it was also a useful conversation piece. But what was the point of seeing everything if she couldn't see the one thing she wanted to most of all?
The Sunchaser and Finn were due back either sometime late this evening, or early the next day. She tried to tell herself that they would either come while she was sleeping or before she woke up, that they wouldn't appear galloping over the hill while she watched out the window, but it was hard to completely squelch the last bit of hope that stubbornly clung to her heart. She wanted so very badly to see the two of them. After all, it had been two days since she had seen either of them, and, while his heart would never belong to her, Ari knew that her heart belonged to Finn.
She would never begrudge them their love, or at least she would always try her damnedest not to, but Ari still hurt from the day she found out about Lori and Finn's relationship. No one knew that she was in love with the red-headed boy, or at least she prayed that no one did. She didn't want pity or comforting words. She wanted Finn's arms wrapped around her, but that was something she now knew she would never get. Not the way she wanted. And all the riches in the world and all the power that she may command would never make him fall in love with her. He had chosen and he chose Lori over Ari.
That was something people would never know, and even if they did it was something they would choose to never see. Their precious princess couldn't even win the heart of the man that she knew she was lost to, but they expected her to rule a kingdom by herself successfully. And without complaint. She couldn't; she was far too weak and far too inexperienced for something like that. She just wanted to be a child, to play with Chase and forget to worries of the world. But no one would allow her to, and no one was willing to help.
There was a shape, a movement, a figure moving towards the castle. Forgetting her promise to herself that wouldn't she wouldn't get her hopes up Ari leaned out her window, intent on getting a better look at whoever or whatever it was that now rode towards her. It was a horse, a unicorn, and rider, but even from this distance Ari could tell that the unicorn wasn't Chase and the rider wasn't Finn. Disappointed, she moved back and sank into the chair that she had pulled up to the window, sighing. It was just another rider, passing by the castle. Why would anyone want to stop here? It was dreadfully boring.
The sound of hoof beats soon became audible and, after about a minute or so, began to grow louder. Curiosity rising in spite of herself, Ari leaned back out the window to watch the unicorn and rider. It appeared as if they were actually heading towards the castle, not just by it. And what interesting people they had to be, by the looks of it. The rider had vivid blue hair, something she hadn't seen since she had crossed over from the gap, and the unicorn was wearing a long blanket, hampering its movements but effectively covering its coat. Why?
Ignoring Dr. Bohnes' orders, Arianna stood up and left her room, going out by the front gate to meet her strange visitors. It was about time that something interesting happened here.
~(~*~)~
Tobianno lowered his neck and took a sip of the waters from the river, completely unaware at the moment of what was going on. He hadn't realized yet what any of it had meant. The signs, the warnings; why hadn't Atalanta told him?
A horrible shudder wracked his body, causing him to jerk his head up and cast a frightened gaze around, as if trying to locate the perpetrator of some crime among the Celestial Herd. Atalanta simply wouldn't have done that, would she?
Disturb by his sudden thoughts, the two-toned gelding took off, heading for the
Watching Pool. He had questions. She would give the answers.
~(~*~)~
"Mirror, mirror, on the wall…" The copper-haired girl stared boredly at the blank wall, slowly beginning to frown. "This is taking forever. Isn't there a way we could speed things up? Or at least a way that we could watch what was going on?"
Ge nodded, bowing lowly to the girl. "We could get rid of the old woman. That would spark the girl and her friends into action. However, it is advised that we do not take that course of action, as she would eventually find out that we were behind this and any chance of friendship between the two nations would be gone. A warning has been sent to the Lost One. As for watching, we have the pieces of the Shifters old Watching Bowl. We could fix it and have it ready for you to view."
"Do that." The girl paused and looked thoughtful, mulling over the rest of what the woman had said. "Killing the old woman would set the nations to war… but isn't that what I want? I just want Chase back. I really don't care about what happens to anyone else. If it'll get them moving faster, then do it. Get rid of the old woman."
Ge bowed again, sighing. "As you wish and command, m'lady. It will be done."
~(~*~)~
The two-toned gelding stood in front of the Twilight Mare, anger flooding over his entire body. "You… You never told me… all this time when he's been in danger, when we've been ignoring them, and you never told me!"
The lavender mare seemed frightened of the gelding, an emotion that seemed so very wrong for this situation. This was Tobianno, not the Shifter, not Kraken, not Kylie. He was not something that she needed to fear. And yet, still, she shrank back when he advanced, nostrils flaring, tail whipping back and forth wildly. She had done something wrong, something terrible, and now she was going to pay for it.
"How long has it been since you cut off communication? How long have they been suffering?"
"… nearly a year. Almost immediately after Kraken was defeated."
Tobianno glared at Atalanta, grinding his teeth together and struggling hard to resist the urge to charge her, spear her with his horn, gut her, kill her. She may have been one of them, but that didn't mean that she deserved to die. She may have done something horrible, but at least she admitted to her. There was no point in spilling more blood. "A wepu oey gep ak wuff." Snarling this, he turned and galloped away, heading towards the Crystal Arch.
~(~*~)~
"Icy, we're here. We made it. We're at the castle." Excited, happy, and grateful that their long journey was now over, at least for the moment, Seda dismounted less-than-gracefully, her knees wobbly as she hit the hard ground. It had been a while since she had finally gotten a chance to take a break from the saddle, and it wasn't like she had been the world's greatest horsewoman even before this adventure started. "Do we go in or knock somewhere to let people know that we're here?"
"You don't have to. I saw you coming." Arianna stepped out from behinds the shadows, offering a smile to the two travelers. A cloak was draped over her shoulders, hiding the scepter and the small rapier that were hidden in the folds of her skirt. "We haven't had many visitors, not since the final battle. What brings you two here?"
"Um, well…" Glancing over to her companion, Seda found no help there as Icy leaned down and started grazing, ignoring her friend's plight. "We need to speak with the princess, Arianna. Could you please tell her that we're here, or take us to her, or something?" Iciliana started laughing, bobbing her head up and down, but Seda failed to see just what was so funny to the blue unicorn. It was obvious that she had made a blunder somewhere, but it wasn't like she had any help or knew what to do in social situations.
"…" The girl started to laugh as well, causing Seda to frown. "Oh please, I'm sorry, I don't mean to be laughing at you, it's just that this hasn't happened in such a long time that, in some ways, it makes me so happy that it did. You see," she added, the laugh still caught in her voice. "I am the Princess Arianna. I suppose you're just going to have to settle with me."
"… oh. You are the Princess. That's… nice. I'm so sorry that I'm an idiot." Bowing down, Seda could feel her face beginning to heat up, a sign that she was most definitely blushing. But who wouldn't be in a situation like this? She had just insulted the princess by implying that she appeared to be some sort of maid or stable hand. And she did, to be honest, but that wasn't something that you let the Princess know! You didn't demand that she go off and fetch the real princess like she was some kind of imposter. And damn that unicorn! She knew what was going on; that's why she was laughing!
"It's okay, Miss…?"
Before Seda could say anything Iciliana raised her head, looking Arianna straight in this eye. "This," she said, speaking for the first time to the woman. "Is the Princess Seda, of the Forgotten Fields."
