"I didn't know you could ride."

Mercedes Lopez-Kim and Prince Alexander stood at the stables, facing the rows and rows of exotic horses.

She opened her mouth, then closed it when a fly nearly entered it. It slammed against her lips and she yelped, spitting profusely. "Agh! Uh. I actually, um, can't."

"Oh," said Alexander, staring at her attempts to spit out the fly that she never swallowed. "I guess I'll have to teach you."

"Yep!" She wiped a bunch of saliva off her face, blushing profusely from embarrassment. "Oh. Um… Your Highness?"

"What?"

"Thanks," she said, wiping her now saliva-covered sleeve on her dress. "For not eliminating me. It means a lot."

He blinked. "Oh. You're welcome."

She smiled in response. They stared at each other for a moment, unsure of what to do, before Alexander coughed.

"Okay. Uh. Let's pick out your horse, alright? I already have mine… he's a lovely one, here." He walked to a spotted horse with a light brown mane. "Meet Chester."

"Hi, Chester!" Mary waved. The horse let out a grunt. Her wave wavered.

"So choose whatever horse you want. We have at least-"

"Hi, guys!"

Annalisa popped out of nowhere, waving like a maniac.

"Oh, Your Highness!" Mary curtsied. Annalisa giggled.

"What are you two doing in the stables?"

"We're on a date, Anna," Alexander said, frowning. "Didn't I tell you?"

"Oh!" Princess Annalisa shrugged. "I just wanted to ride Sapphire. I hope I won't be distracting!"

He stared at her, and she giggled again, running to the other end of the stables. Mary could see her in the far distance, cooing over the teal-tinted white horse that neighed when it saw her.

"So, uh… do you like your sister?"

"Which one?"

"The one that just ran past us."

"Oh," he said, shrugging. "She's fine. The baby of the family."

"I'm the baby of my family," Mary said. He smiled.

"How many siblings do you have?"

"A lot. Bernadette, Natasha, Jane…" Mary trailed off, then laughed. "A lot."

Awkwardness settled. He coughed.

"So, uh…" he grabbed the reins of his horse, leaping majestically onto it. She stood, stunned, as he settled in, looking ever so handsome on top of the beast.

"Choose a horse," he said. She looked around.

"Any horse?"

He shrugged. "Sure. Whichever one calls out to you."

"I think I'd be pretty scared if one called out to me."

"You know what I mean!"

She nodded, looking around as Alexander trotted behind her out to the field.

"Hi," she said, approaching a white horse with pitch black eyes. "I'm Mary."

It eyed her, then looked away.

"Okaaay…" She approached the horse next to it. "Hi? Wanna ride?"

The black horse with an equally black mane neighed.

"Is that a yes, or…?"

It neighed again. She flinched.

"Okay then… how do I do this…"

She opened the gate cautiously, praying that the horse didn't decide to run her over. It neighed again as she looped a rope around it.

"Okay. Let's, uh, go into the field, okay horse?"

It didn't respond.

"Okay."

She led it outside, and surprisingly it followed her, no signs of stubbornness at all. Good start so far.

"You got Coal?" Alexander was riding his horse around and led him to a stop next to her.

"That's his name?" Mary stroked the horse—or Coal, apparently.

"It's her. And yes." He pulled on his horse and it started trotting away. "Come on, now. Let's get on the trail."

"Oh. Well, I've never done this before. How do I mount…?"

He groaned, pulling the horse to a stop. "Go on the stool."

She stepped on it.

"Now, you're a girl, so you ride the horse on one side. Called sidesaddle."

"And how-"

"Just… figure it out."

"That's not helpful."

Alexander rolled his eyes. "Fine. I'll help you."

He hopped off of his horse and arrived next to her.

"Here," he said, holding out a hand. "Step on my hand."

"Your hand? Are you sure?"

He pursed his lips. "I know, it's not proper to step on your Prince's hand. But just do it."

Her mouth hung slightly ajar as she lifted her foot onto his hand. He winced but didn't move.

"Now get on."

"How…?"

"Swing your leg onto that little knob-thing on the saddle. See it?" He pointed to a little horn on the side.

She followed his orders and… kinda threw herself too far. She promptly slid off the horse and tumbled to the floor, hitting her elbow.

"Ow!"

Alexander rushed to her, his eyebrows arched. He held out a hand. "Okay. Maybe… not that far."

Why was he being so patient with her? He wasn't usually this understanding.

She took his hand, trying not to blush as she got to her feet.

They tried it again and she successfully mounted the horse. It shifted slightly under her weight.

"Okay. Now squeeze the horse gently to get it moving."

She obeyed and yelped when the horse started walking forward.

"Okay, uh… steering is just releasing the reins on the side you want to go. Just try not to crash, okay?"

She released the right rein, and to her surprise the horse actually turned. Whoa.

"Uh-" She glanced at the wall that was quickly incoming. "How do I stop?"

"Just pull on both of the reins."

She pulled, and the horse came to a stop.

"Coal's pretty nice. You made a good choice," Alexander caught up to them and stroked her nose. "Alright. Follow me to the trail."

He hopped onto Chester with ease (how was he so confident) and started walking towards a swab of forest ahead.

She followed him, feeling the slow rocking of the horse as it brought her behind him, walking slowly along the trail.

"It's pretty," she remarked, looking at the lush green leaves that appeared around them.

He looked up. "Hm."

"Thanks for teaching me, by the way! I think I'm getting it."

He looked back at her and for a moment Mary thought he smiled. "You're a fast learner. You didn't need me anyway."

They continued walking in the forest for about thirty minutes, admiring the scenery around them. They even saw a young deer jump through fallen trees, its round eyes looking curiously at the strange people they have never seen before.

And then the forest fell away, revealing… heights. A lot of heights.

Mary shivered. Both from fear and from awe at the same time, paradoxically.

Before them were swaths of rolling hills, taller than Mary had ever seen (which wasn't a surprise, seeing as she'd never lived anywhere near hills or mountains) and certainly a scare. Greenery filled the valleys and lovely little streams connected the various hills like thread. In the distance she could see the sheer size of this place, hills fading in the distance miles and miles away.

"What is this place…?" Mary breathed. Alexander laughed, his voice echoing miles away.

"It's our little park, silly. I hope you like it."

"You mean," she said, gesturing to the hills that faded in the distance. "You own all of this?"

"What do you mean? We own everything in Ethica."

"But- it's so beautiful! Surely more people could come here, not just the Royal Family, right?"

"It's a private park. You know, just like the beach."

She blinked, shocked. "You remember that?"

He frowned. "Remember what?"

"Our date. You can't even remember most of our names."

"Oh." It seemed that Mary had struck a chord in him, for the usually suave Prince was forced to stop and think. "Oh. Uh. I guess I didn't care enough to remember. But the beach date was fun."

She couldn't help but feel very proud of herself at that moment.

They rode across the hill, stopping midway to feed the horses and occasionally themselves. The sun was showing them no mercy.

"Let's stop here. This is a beautiful view."

They both pulled to a stop and hopped off. Mary was immediately surprised at how lush the grass was, especially for growing in the wild.

"Let's picnic again."

"Really?" She smirked. "It's getting repetitive."

"It's only the second time. Come on."

He pulled out a basket from Chester and placed it on the floor, laying out a small blanket. He sat. She followed.

A soft breeze blew through Mary's black hair, sending it sweeping behind her. Alexander looked at her.

"Food?"

She laughed. Her voice echoed through the valley splendidly, making even her stop to admire the sound. She reached for the picnic basket just as Alexander took out a sandwich, and their wrists bumped into each other rather uncomfortably.

"Oh." Mary withdrew her hand. "Sorry."

He looked a bit annoyed for a second before his eyes focused on her hands. "What happened to your hands?"

"Huh?" She looked down at her hands, which were mostly covered in bandages. She grimaced. "Oh. Don't worry about it."

"Are you sure? It looks bad."

Her eyebrows furrowed. "Oh, uh… no, it's just from handling boxes. I work in packaging. You tend to get quite a few paper cuts from cardboard."

She avoided his gaze.

He was… perfect. His hands weren't bandaged or calloused; they were smooth, clean, polished. He was a shining jewel, and she was just another speck of dirt.

He didn't look entirely convinced, but shrugged, probably figuring that no one would dare lie to him.

Then she noticed what she should have noticed a long time ago—a sparkling golden ring with a bright ruby jewel, a seal of some sort carved onto it.

"What's that?" she asked quietly. He looked down at his hand.

"Oh, this? That's my signet ring. For the heir."

He eyed her and chuckled softly, taking it off and handing it to her. She gasped, shocked. She didn't know much about signet rings… but they were certainly too important to be in her hands.

"What?" she said. "I don't think I'm supposed to-"

"Relax," he said, smiling. "It's not like you can run off with it and take my identity. Just, you know, observe it."

She turned it over in her hands. It felt so majestic, so sacred, that she could feel her fingers tingle with the sheer amount of power it held. Yet Alexander wore it every day like it was nothing, like it was just a part of life. To be fair, it was just a part of life to him.

"What happens if I successfully run away?" she asked.

He blinked. "Oh. Uh… You'd be Princess. But don't worry. It's mostly symbolic. It was really just used when my ol' gramps Garric stole it from the previous King after lopping his head off."

She froze. "It's that old?"

"Well, it's probably been through a ton of repairs over the years, but yeah, it is. Pretty cool, isn't it?"

She looked down at it again. If this got into the wrong hands…

She shuddered and took his hand, placing the ring back onto his finger, where it belonged.

"You shouldn't just give this out to random girls," she said, turning away. "It's dangerous."

He smirked. "Who says you're just a random girl, though?"

Mary froze once more, her mouth slightly agape. She stared into his bright hazel eyes, her heart pounding against her chest. "Wh- no! Well… you've probably shown this to people like Giavanna, but I just… Giavanna- er, people like Giavanna will probably take advantage of it and… well… I just don't want you to get- I mean, chaos to happen, y'know, and-"

"Oh, shut it already." His chest shook with laughter. "I'm not stupid! Giavanna doesn't care about these kinds of things. Besides, I know you wouldn't do anything."

She stared into his eyes for yet another second before tearing away, feeling her cheeks redden.

She took out a sealed bottle of something. "What's this?"

"Lemonade," he said. "I thought you'd like it."

"Oh!" She looked down at it, looking it over. "How'd you know I like it?"

He shrugged, a small smile on his face. "You just look like you'd like a refreshing, sweet drink… for a refreshing, sweet girl."

Mary looked at him. He raised an eyebrow, noticing her bright pink cheeks, which only made her blush even more.

They finished their picnic rather quickly and Mary was the first to stand, leaping onto her horse. Coal seemed to like her, as his head nodded ever so slightly as she took the reins.

"I bet I could get back to the palace faster than you," Mary said, looking back at Alexander.

"No way." He tied the basket back onto Chester's back. "This is your first time riding."

"As you said, I'm a quick learner." Mary winked at him. "Are you scared that I'll beat you?"

His eyes narrowed. "You won't."

"That's the spirit." She waited for Alexander to mount his horse, then pressed her feet on Coal's side. "Ready? Come on, Coal!"

Zip

Okay, Mary had complete control of Coal when she was… walking. Now she neighed, raising her hooves into the air, forcing Mary to hang for her life. Then she ran. Galloped, actually, in horse-speak. She screamed as Coal sped back through the trail again.

Okay, okay, she hadn't been expecting this, she hadn't known that horses were so fast-

"SLOW DOWN!" Mary yelled. Coal apparently didn't comprehend was she was saying and a low-hanging branch smacked her in the face as they zoomed back into the forest.

"Okay, okay, okay- uh, what do horse-people say? Whoa! Whoa, Coal! Slow down!"

That actually worked, and Coal slowed into a canter. Still too fast for her taste, but at least she wasn't at risk of dying.

"Mary, you're pretty brave to- AHH!"

Mary felt something crash into Coal's behind, and she slipped before catching herself on the saddle. She whipped around and immediately regretted panicking from slipping off her horse. Chester was struggling to stand up, a good amount of his previously pristine hide covered in dust. And there the great Crown Prince was, sprawled on the floor, groaning, his bright chestnut locks covered in dirt.

She stopped and jumped off, rushing to him. "Alexander, are you oka-"

"This is YOUR fault!" he yelled. She took a step back, surprised. "You slowed down! How was I supposed to know that you weren't going as fast as you were before?!"

She reached out a hand but it faltered. "Oh… sorry…"

"I hate… UGH!" He clutched his left shoulder. She could see a tinge of red underneath his shirt.

Her eyes widened slightly. "We need to get you back. It could be serious."

"I don't-"

She deliberately ignored his protests and carefully removed his hand, then pushed down his collar to reveal a large slash across his shoulder and into his upper arm.

There wasn't that much blood—thank god—but it was certainly not pleasant.

"Can you ride back?"

"Of course, I can," he said matter-of-factly. Her eyebrows arched in worry as he stumbled to his feet, dusting himself off. "I can do anything."

"Can you fly?"

He thought for a moment. "I could if I tried."

She chuckled to herself, then stopped, surprised. Usually she'd be annoyed. Most others would be disgusted. His arrogance wasn't something to be ignored, and, after all, could get him seriously hurt one day, but…

Was it too much to admit that Mary liked him because of it?

"I didn't know pigs could fly."

He swung around, glaring at her. "Excuse me?"

She smirked. "Joking, joking."

He looked like he was going to murder her for a second—well, he probably was—but then his eyes softened and he turned back to Chester, who was now back on its feet, and tried to haul himself up with only his right arm, to no avail.

"Do you need help?"

He scoffed. "No."

"Okay. I'll just stand here and do nothing, then."

Her groaned, then looked at Coal, who was a bit shorter than Chester. "Let me try Coal."

"No."

"Why not?"

Mary blinked. "I don't know how to ride Chester! What if he doesn't like me and throws me off?"

He paused, then smirked. "I didn't say you had to ride Chester."

"Wh-"

He whistled, and Chester started running down the trail with no rider, his hooves composing a symphony of disbelief.

She turned back to him, who was already safely on Coal, adjusting his feet.

"Come on," he said, his voice unusually soft. "I'll help you up."

"Are you sure? Your arm-"

"It doesn't bother me," he said dismissively, though he was clearly lying.

She walked tentatively towards him, each step scraping the dirt beneath her. Dirt against dirt.

She held his outstretched hand carefully, making sure not to pull too hard to not harm the wound on his other arm. When they got back, surely everyone would fawn over him. Some would even blame her for it.

She sat behind him, taking the left rein, trying not to notice just how close they were sitting.

Alexander pressed his feet against Coal's sides and she started walking.

"We have to walk," Alexander explained, somehow already knowing what she was going to ask. "It might be dangerous if we go any faster."

"Are you alright?" she asked gently.

"I already told you, I'm fine."

They rode in silence, rocking rhythmically with the horse's smooth movements. She looked around, admiring how the sun shone through the layers and layers of bright green leaves, filtering down onto the soil beneath.

"It's beautiful," she said breathlessly.

"You've said that… what, three times today?"

"It is, though," she said. "The beach is beautiful, the Palace is beautiful, our dresses are beautiful… It's like something from Betty's dreams."

"Betty?" He frowned.

"My sis. She's always off in the clouds somewhere, dreaming of a better life for us. Jack says she needs to stop wasting time, but… I kinda envy her." She watched as a little bird flew by, landing on a branch in front of them. It glanced at them with its beady black eyes, shining with the fresh sunlight, and chirped, flying away. "I wish I could escape sometimes. From the books and the cardboard and the dirty streets and the cracked walls and…" She trailed off, realizing who she was talking to. "Well… of course, you've given us a chance to experience something new, and-"

"You don't have to say that just to please me," he said, his head turning slightly back towards her. "I liked it when you were talking about your life. Go on."

"Go… on?"

"About your life. Tell me more about Jack. Betty. Natasha. Your whole family."

"Oh. Well, uh… My dad's a really hard-working person. He loves us all so much, which is impressive because we're a family of six—he has a lot of love to go around, and we haven't even begun talking about his friends. He's retired now."

"Oh!" Alexander said. "That's amazing. I wish my dad could retire. He does seem a lot more tired these days."

She looked away. "Oh. It… must be so painful for him."

She felt the insincerity in every syllable of her voice and grimaced, repulsed by her own words.

"I mean… My dad worked really hard to support us, and… he sacrificed his own health." She looked away, trying not to burst into tears. "I can still see him struggle to stand sometimes."

She could feel Alexander's body shift. "Oh. Sorry."

"Sorry?"

"Yeah. That must hurt a lot. Sorry that your family had to go through that."

She bit her lip, thinking of Jack and Jane and her mother…

"It's been a rough ride," she admitted. "But it's okay. There's nothing that can be done. We just have to learn to live with it and… survive."

A tense silence filled the ro- oh. Well, they weren't in a room, were they? A tense silence filled the forest. Mary, to her dismay, found it difficult to speak again. Why was it so hard to speak to this boy? Why, when she usually found communication so easy, was she suddenly unable to connect with him?

Maybe it was because of their polar opposite backgrounds. Maybe they found each other hard to relate to.

But Alexander must have his own woes, right? He must have had a moment where he felt hopeless, just as she did when her mother left. Maybe it wasn't as severe, but… still. He was still human.

The Palace came into sight, and before long they arrived at the stables, where a score of servants crowded around them, eager to attend to the Prince.

"You're hurt, Your Highness!" said a young man, seeing the bright red that poked out of Alexander's shirt.

"Oh. Yes. Call my doctor and bring me to my room at once."

"Yes, Your Highness!"

She watched as the servants fawned over him, tending to any imperfections they found, tending to what otherwise would be completely normal scratches on a rock, but now a glaring error on a diamond.

Was it weird that she felt bad for him?

Finally, after a few minutes, a servant bothered to look at her. "Miss Lopez-Kim, I'll escort you to the Selected Quarters. Follow me."

She looked one last time at Prince Alexander, then turned back to where she was meant to be.