A/N: Chapter 10 at last!
I do not own The Princess and the Frog.
The Glory of Love
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When Tiana woke up, she was dismayed to find that she was alone in the bed. She sat up slowly and stretched out. She looked around the large, sunny room, noticing a pile of clothes sitting on a chair in the corner that she was sure had not been there before. She found a folded piece of paper laying on the bedside table, with her name written on it in Naveen's overly curly handwriting. She opened it, and read:
Tiana:
I have laid out some riding clothes for you. Please meet me down in the stables when you are ready. Down the stairs at the end of the corridor, down to oppisite end, down the stairs and out the glass doors. The white building just outside the garden, you can not miss it.
Naveen
She slid out of the bed, and padded across the room. She picked up the clothes and inspected them. A pair of jodhpurs and one of her blouses. A pair of knee high boots sat beside the chair. She pulled off her dress, and stepped into the jodhpurs. She had never worn trousers before, her mother had always had less than flattering words for women who did. 'Hey, it's the 20's!' she thought as she buttoned them, and pulled on her blouse. She did up her buttons, and tucked the tails into her pants. She then sat down, and slipped into the boots, not bothering with the buttons this time.
When she was done, she stood, and went to inspect herself in the full length mirror. She sort of liked the look, she had to admit. The trousers were form fitting, but very comfortable. But she couldn't help but notice a little bit of paunch that had developed on her stomach. Her hips were a little bit swollen too... She untucked her shirt. That helped a bit.
Once she was satisfied, she made her way out of the room, and followed Naveen's directions. She found the glass doors Naveen had mentioned, flocked by two men in dark blue coats. They bowed to her and opened the doors for her. She stepped out onto a stone patio, calling out her thanks to the men as the doors closed behind her.
She started down the garden path, through the maze of hedges and rose bushes. She passed a fountain in the center of the garden, bubbling serenly in the quiet afternoon. As she came to the edge of the large garden, she could see the round white building in the distance, surrounded by a white fence. She sped to a jog, leaping the fence, screeching to a halt in front of the wall of the stable.
She pulled open the heavy door, and peered inside. It smelled strongly of straw and manure. "Naveen?" she called out. She stepped inside, looking around for him. The stable was eerily silent, not even the horses made a sound as she passed. She stopped in front of a stall, piled high with hay, and called out again: "Naveen! Are you here?"
A loud rustle came from behind her. She jumped and spun around. A bird flew out of the rafters and out an open window at the top of the stable. She sighed in relief, and started laughing at herself for being so jumpy.
Suddenly a pair of arms shot out from behind her and grasped her tightly. She screamed out, kicking wildly. Another pair of hands reached out and latched onto her ankles. Her eyes bugged out of her head, and she screamed even louder. The horses started whinnying loudly, startled by the sudden racket. Tiana continued to struggle, throwing herself forward, trying to get her captor to release her.
She looked down for a moment at the hands that were wrapped over her ribs. She knew those hands... Her captor had started laughing: she knew that laugh too... She stopped fighting for a moment, and craned her neck to look up at the man holding her.
"Hello," Naveen said with a wide grin. Tiana scowled, broke free of his grasp, and started slapping him everywhere. He started laughing again as he tried to duck away from her blows. Out of the corner of her eye, Tiana could see someone emerging from the hay, but all her focus was on Naveen.
"You... you..." she spat out with each slap, "You rat!"
"Serves you right for falling asleep on me," he said slyly. She blushed furiously, but stopped her assult, and turned away from him. She looked over the other young man who had crawled from the hay, trying not to scowl at him too, as he plucked a piece of straw from his slick red hair. He looked up at her and gave a sheepish smile.
"Forgive me, your highness. He made do it," the young man said, jerking his head towards Naveen. Tiana turned to glare at Naveen again.
"Do not look at me like that, he could have said no," Naveen said defensivly, shielding himself again.
"Oh don't give me that!" she snapped, rolling her eyes. She turned back to the young man, who had turned a brilliant shade of pink.
"Forgive me, your highness," he apologized again, bowing low to her. "Allow me to introduce myself. My name is William Hartwell, I work here, in the stables. But you may just call me Will."
"Nice to meet you Will," she said, extending her hand, which he shook gently. "And please, just call me Tiana, not Your Highness."
"A pleasure, Tiana," he said, placing a gentle kiss on the back of her hand. Tiana was surprised by his sudden boldness. Naveen was too, she could tell. He had stepped from behind her, and was glaring down at Will.
"If you would please take the princess outside and help her with the horse," Naveen said, putting emphasis on her title. Will nodded respectfully, and motioned for Tiana to follow him out the back door of the stable. Outside stood a beautiful chestnut horse, saddled and bridled. Tiana stood beside the huge animal. She had never actually gotten onto one of these things, and wasn't quite sure how to go about it.
"So, does it like, get down so I can climb on?" She asked. Will cocked an eyebrow.
"No princess, I'm afraid not, she's not a camel," he said with a laugh. "I'll help you up. Put your foot there, and your hand there," he instructed. He gently took hold of her waist, and said ,"Now pull yourself up, and swing your leg over to the other side." She heaved herself upward, with a little shove from the stableboy to assist her, and sat astride on the horse.
"Wow, it's really high up here!" she squeaked. He laughed again, and handed her the reins. Naveen was walking towards them now, leading his own horse, a white one.
"Is she all set?" He asked as he led his horse beside them and climbed on.
"No!" Tiana squeaked. Naveen smiled at her gently.
"I was talking about the horse," he said, reaching to stroke the horses brown mane.
"Not to worry Madame, Jana is as gentle as they come," Will said comfortingly, patting her hand. "Enjoy yourselves!" Naveen waved, and clicked his reins, and his horse began trotting down the path. Tiana did the same, and her own horse followed suit.
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A/N: Damn it's been a crazy time for me! But i finally got this done. Next chapter: TiaNaveen go on a date. 3
A couple of brief notes to end this:
1: It has recently been brought to my attention that Naveen's little brother actually has an official name. However, I shall not be using it, because I deem it unacceptable. If you have a problem with it, I'm truly sorry, but I refuse to call him Prince Ralphie. No.
2. I'm currently working on a new fic. A prequel of sorts, about Eudora and James, Padma and Majencio, and how they came to fall in love. Look for it soon.
3. This is actually a question for those who have their DVD: What color are Naveen's mother's eyes? I was thinking they were brown, but one of my friends insists that they are green. If you could clarify in the reviews, that would be great.
Thank you for reading. This story has actually gotten 136 reviews. I am floored that so many people are seeming to enjoy this story!
Abinaza!
