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We were almost back to the palace now and it was almost dusk, the sky glowing a beautiful pink and orange.

Quite a few times as we walked on our way, there were many females who either giggled, whispered to their friends about, stared at, or catcalled Dargo, choosing to either ignore me, glare daggers, or make some hateful comment about "that fatass walking with the Prince". I just ignored most of them, choosing to simply stay in my own world of thoughts, and from what I could see, Dargo mostly ignored them too, choosing to only either smile or nod politely or send a disapproving look to the meaner of the females.

I was currently lost in thought about the whole "I'm trying to court Autumn" thing that Dargo mentioned earlier.

I mean, I was heir to the throne but father was looking to get Autumn married before me? And yes I might seem jealous, but for good reason. She was beautiful, I was not. She looked tall, I did not. She was altogether perfect, and I was not.

I'll have to ask father about this, if not now then later.

"We're here," Dargo said, smiling slightly.

"Already?" was all I managed to get out.

"Yes. We've been walking for quite some time, now," he responded, not unkindly.

"Oh," I stated, simply, looking up at the side of the mountain. Unlike most palaces, ours was built into a mountain. All of the corridors and rooms of the cave had been constructed and remodeled to provide us with a beautiful palace. It was hidden in the mountain, so almost no one could find it unless they already knew where it was. It was a bit of a safety precaution.

"So. Before we go in, what is Autumn like? I met her once and she seemed very kind, but is there anything I should know about her?" he asked sounding genuinely unsure.

"Um, she's kind, loyal, smart, perseverent, respectful, and honest. She can get mad, but it's a hard task to accomplish and when you do, run for the hills. The apocalypse is coming." I stated, dryly.

He chuckled lightly, a warm look in his eyes. "I'll take heed of that advice, thank you," he smirked.

I just smiled slightly forced in return.

"Oh, and before I go in... do I, um, y'know, look okay?" he asked timidly.

"You look wonderful." I stated, shortly, another forced smile on my lips.

"Good. Thank you," he breathed a sigh of relief. "I should probably get to the meeting before my father sends his arsenal to haul my butt to him," Dargo laughed lightly, a beautiful sound if I do say so myself.

"Um, right. I suppose I'll see you around, then," I say hopefully.

"Hopefully. If your sister is interested, then you'll probably see me before our dates. I really hope she gives it the 'okay'..." he purred fondly, staring off into space. "She really is beautiful, isn't she?" he asked no one in particular.

"Yes. She is," I said, shortly.

"I'll see you around, perhaps," he said, walking off with a spring in his step.

"Yeah, sure..." I mumbled, walking into the palace with him and heading for my room.

My ancestors, is he head-over-heels for Autumn!

"Hello, sister!" stated a familiar voice.

Well speak of the devil, herself...

"Hi, Autumn! How are you doing?" I asked, looking down a little bit, at my sister. What? She is shorter than me! Only by a couple inches, but still...

"Wonderful! I just heard the news that Price Dargo Savïdo is looking to court me!" she squealed in excitement.

"Yes, he is. I actually just met him on my way home. He seems very polite." I say.

"Oh my gosh. You've met him?! What's he like? What does he look like? How does he talk? Is he cute? Handsome? Even better? Give me the details!" she prattled on.

"Okay, okay. Calm down, and I'll tell you. You're going to meet him in a few minutes, anyway," I attempt calming her. Taking a deep breath, I start.

"Well, he's very kind, from what I've seen a very honorable tom. He has gorgeous stormy blue eyes, long black eyelashes, a perfect strait and strong but not too big nose, high cheekbones, a strong and well-defined jawline, perfect arched eyebrows, thick lips, beautiful messy black hair, a strong neck, broad shoulders and chest, chiseled arms, and from what I could tell under his clothing he looked very chiseled. He had nice, strong legs too! Not stick-like at all! His voice is deep, rich, silky and altogether perfect, and to go with it, I've heard he has a very kind personality, part of which was displayed just today," I blab on, partly daydreaming.

"He sounds perfect!" she cooed.

"He is," I concur.

"Wow. He sounds like a real Prince Charming." stated a younger voice.

"Summer?! How long have you been there?!" Autumn demanded.

"The whole time, Auti. Also, I've snuck around and seen him. He's really handsome! You should definitely say 'yes' to his offer to court you," Summer said dreamily.

"Oh, ancestors." Autumn groaned.

I just rolled my eyes and chuckled at their antics. "You know what? I'm not sure why I came back right now. I was going to a cloth shop, but I forgot." I stated, handing them the bag of hot cakes. "I got these for you girls if you want them."

"Aww, thanks, Wyn!" Summer cooed.

"Thank you," Autumn added in her thanks.

"I'll see ya later!" I shouted, skipping off down the halls, to eventually reach outside.

I waltzed out into the fresh air, taking a deep breath. It was beautiful, now, almost twilight. The sun was down, and you could just barely feel the cool breeze that would surely be freezing in about three hours.

The night creatures were chirping and clicking, and the smell of many foods had filled the streets. Many people were out this fine night, and -thank my lucky stars- the linen store was still bustling.

I was heading for the door to the linen shop, only to find a massive crowd of... mostly females?

"What on earth..?" I thought aloud. "Why are there so many women?"

"...hahahaha! I would be obliged to 'assist' a beautiful lady such as yourself." I heard a strangely familiar voice state. It sounded familiar, similar to Dargo, but a note deeper. Older, perhaps, with a slightly smoother edge.

"Who the heck got all the women, here? Even Shayera took off!" I heard an unwelcomed voice question, and looked back to see none other than Shalo standing behind me.

"I have no idea," I made an attempt at being civil towards him.

"Huh," he grunted. "What are YOU doing here?" he asked me, his voice less hostile than usual, but still accusing.

"I was just getting linens to sew. I have no idea what the others are doing here," I answered.

"...come along, brother. We really must get to the palace." I heard another voice state, this one similar to the last, but slightly deeper and more gravelly, with a guttural edge, and yet it sounded younger than the first.

"Hey. Watch where you stand, girl!" some rude stranger male elbowed me out of his way.

"Excuuuuussseee ME sir!" I drew the sentence out. "YOU should watch where you're GOING." I growled, but almost immediately shut up, after hearing another voice speak.

"Oh, come now, Sam. Let's enjoy the lovely ladies, while we're here!" the other voice exclaimed. It sounded slightly younger than the first two, but still deep, with less gravel than the second voice. "They seem eager to spend some time with us!"

I heard the second voice groan to that statement.

"Oh, drat it. I can't see an ancestor damned thing, so I'm just going home!" I grumbled to no one in particular, starting off towards the castle once again.

After quite a while, I heard some of the guards shouting to the people to clear away in order for the gentlemen to be able to move along. I paused to look back, but I still couldn't see much, so I started off again.

Only, of course, to pause once again, when I thought I heard voices behind me. I shook off the notion when they quieted down, just heading for the castle, only to hear even MORE voices, and not only that but footsteps, too. This time, I spun around, only to trip on one of the stupid rocks in the road and twisted my ankle, falling headfirst to the ground, I quickly put out my elbows in a planking position, fully prepared for the impact, only to find none. Just the feeling of strong, large, calloused hands gripping my shoulders.

"Are you alright?" I heard the deep, gravelly second of the voices from earlier ask me.

"Oh, just peachy." I replied with sarcasm dripping from my voice.

The hands helped me stand up, and only then did I get a good look at the owners of the voices from just a moment ago.

Sammohan, Balraj and Ravïd Savïdo.

My already large eyes widened so much, they probably looked like a comic strip, or like they were about to bug out.

"You should probably watch where you step," Sammohan -whom I now knew to be the owner of the second voice as well as the hands that caught me- stated with a beautiful smirk.

"Well I didn't WANT to trip." I challenged, a mild growl coming into my voice. The brothers were hotter than the sun itself, but this one was already starting to get on my nerves. Maybe it was just my own insecurities getting to me.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I thought you were looking to get a black eye, or something. My mistake," Sammohan stated with THE snarkiest edge I'd heard in a while, hands held up in mock defense.

"You know what, Your Royal Highness?" I questioned with a sarcastic, sloppy curtsy, "Why don't you take that glorious golden crown of yours and shove it up your-"

"Whoa whoa whoa! Calm down, kitty!" Ravïd interrupted me Sammohan just sitting there with a slightly stunned look on his face, probably at what I was just about to say to him, Balraj snickering in the background.

"Don't... call... me... 'kitty'." I hissed dangerously.

"Okay... um, what's your name, then?" he asked me, politely.

"Wynter." I stated, curtly.

"Why does your name sound familiar?" Ravïd had just opened his mouth to reply, when Sammohan cut him off.

"Well, there is the season you know," I arched an eyebrow at him.

"No, I mean from something else..." he mumbled.

"Well, I have three sisters," I suggested. "Spring, Summer, and Autumn." I raised my eyebrow again, waiting for him to catch on.

He furrowed his brows a second, before a look of realization dawned upon his face.

"Ooooohhhh..." he exclaimed.

"Yeah, 'oooooohhh'." I replied to his unintelligent response.

"So that's why you're headed for the palace?" Balraj asked.

"No shit, Sherlock." I replied to his obvious question.

He just kind of glared at me, after my response.

"Well, I've got to head to the palace. It's dinner time in a few minutes." I said, turning on my heel to walk away.

"We're going, too! Like us to come with you?" Ravïd asked kindly.

"It's your life." I responded, already a good distance ahead of the brothers. I heard their jogging footsteps behind me just a second later.

"Hi. What took you so long?" I asked with a smirk pulling at my lips.

"Hardy har har." Sammohan fake-laughed.

We entered the palace just a moment later, to be greeted by the smell of spices, both sweet and spicy assaulting our noses. It smelled delicious! I could smell meats, breads, vegetables, fruits, cakes, sweets, and pretty much every food you could imagine.

"Wow. It smells amazing!" Balraj exclaimed.

"Of course! That's because the cooks are amazing," I stated as though it were an everyday fact.

Balraj just sent me a slightly retarded looking sarcastic smile in response. I just kind of arched an eyebrow to that. "You need a stool softener, or something?" I asked with a hint of snark in my voice. He looked taken aback, whilst Sammohan just coughed into his elbow suspiciously.

Ravïd rolled his eyes and turned to face me. "You know, it's not every day we meet someone like you." he stated, straight to the point.

"What do you mean, 'like me'? Incredibly well-bred, impeccable manners, and perfect dialect?" I asked sarcastically. Wow. I'd been doing that a lot today.

"Not... exactly." Ravïd smirked. "More like, 'smartass, challenging, crude, and yet obviously strong and independent'." he says, smiling.

"Hmm, I'm trying to decide on whether or not that was an insult," I said softly while eyeing him suspiciously.

"Both, kind of. I mean, most people don't have the guts to even look at us, -aside from that... erm, 'interesting' crowd, earlier- and you just stand there, blatantly insulting us. I know it sounds terrible, but it's actually refreshing," he said thoughtfully.

"Uh, you're... welcome?" I asked unsurely with a small, nervous chuckle.

"It's good. Strange, but good," he said then walking on.

"Huh." I grunted, genuinely stunned.

Balraj sent Ravïd a rather "Since-the-hell-when?!" styled look, and Sammohan just raised an eyebrow.

I just blinked once and walked off to get dressed for dinner. I got to wear my favorite blue dress, tonight! A beautiful royal blue silk material dress, with sleeves just to my elbows, and the hem down to my heels. It had several pleats along the torso, that fanned out beautifully towards the hemline of the dress, and it dipped into a low scoop on my neck just barely, tentatively revealing the top of my cleavage. My hair was tied into a tight, thick bun except for two small braids that were pulled together from where my bangs might be if I had them and reached around my head to be tied into the bun. The bun was tied with a simple royal blue band that the maids tied vine-like ice-blue strands of material to, and rapped it up along my two small braids. My feet were adorned with beautiful ice blue jewels and cloths. My lips were painted a simple shade of medium coral, and my eyes were left mostly untouched, beings I never needed anything to coat my eyelashes. They had always been black and of course there were my black tear-like markings around my eyes that meant they didn't have to be lined. The only thing put on my eyelids was a little bit of light eye powder, a slightly blue tint complimenting the color of the dress as well as my eyes. My already dark eyebrows were always well-arched, so they didn't need color or shape. I wore a simple royal and ice blue necklace.

I looked into the mirror and gasped. I looked almost pretty! The dress appeared to thin down my waistline, and my hair looked beautiful! My face didn't look bad either, the eye shadow making my eyes pop and the lipstick giving my thick lips an almost alluring look. If it weren't for the size of my dang eyes... oh well, c'est la vie.

After one final glance over, I headed down to dinner, but not before bumping into my sisters in the hallway.

Autumn looked BEAUTIFUL. She had on a burgundy dress that hugged her curves in all the right places. It was a scoop neck, sleeveless style floor-length dress that went almost to the edge of her shoulders, baring the beautiful, slender curve of her neck, as well as her collar bones. It dipped into her ample cleavage just barely and showed off the curves of her amazing physique. She had beautiful amber and golden jewels around her ankles and feet. She wore an amber necklace that made her puppy-dog-brown eyes pop, and had her hair cascading down her back in loose, beautiful brown curls.

Summer wore a white dress, down to her knees, with lace for sleeves. It was a high, round necked dress that had pleats that looked beautiful on the skirt. She had gorgeous pink and green jewels around her ankles. She wore a necklace of pink jewels that set off her beautiful, golden stripes very well, and complimented the rose-gold of her eyes and her hair was worn in a low ponytail.

And then Spring, the youngest of us, at only thirteen wore a beautiful baby-pink dress, with long sleeves. It was crew-neck styled and it reached just above her ankles. She had blue jewels and cloths adorning her feet. She wore a blue, ivy styled necklace, the vine-like look making her look like a sort of... well, Spring Goddess as well as emphasizing the beautiful gold of her eyes.

"You all look beautiful!" I exclaimed.

A chorus of 'thank yous' ring through the halls and we all head to dinner together.

All throughout dinner, I could barely eat. Autumn and Dargo kept sending each other tentative smiles or 'come-hither' looks. It was nauseating. Even Sammohan looked annoyed after the twentieth or thirtieth glance, while Ravïd just sort of sat back humming different romance songs I recognized sarcastically, and Balraj just rolled his eyes so many times, I was surprised they didn't just roll right out of his head.

At one point, father glanced my direction, and I fake gagged just for him. He sent me a disapproving glance whist the brothers just snickered, Dargo and Autumn blissfully unaware of the surrounding goings-on, and King Rajïv stuck in a conversation with one of the maids.

After another hour of completely undeserved torture for us, father finally seemed to finish dinner. Good! Now, perhaps I can have a word with him.

As we exited, I made sure to be second to last to exit the dining room. Father was always last.

"Milord, may I have a word with you?" I asked my father, formally.

"Of course, daughter," my father replied warmly, setting himself for a conversation right then and there.

"I meant privately..." I trailed off.

"Oh! Of course!" he stated, an almost indistinguishable line of worry forming between his brows.

When we reached one of the corridors that had been abandoned for the evening, I started talking.

"Father, it has come to my attention that Autumn has... interested suitors..." I began.

"Yes? Is there something wrong with them, or more or less, him?" he asked.

"No! Not at all! I was just wondering... were you looking into her... marrying him, shortly?" I asked cautiously.

"Yes, actually. He seems like a very nice young tom. Very honorable," father stated.

"You do know that it's generally tradition for the eldest to be married first, correct?" I question.

"Yes. Why?" he asked, genuinely confused.

"Father... I don't even have anyone considering my hand in marriage! And you're just going to marry her off like that?!" I had to strain to keep my voice steady.

Father sighed, saying, "I knew this was coming. See here, Wynter. You're a very nice young girl, but Dargo has shown his interests in Autumn. Me and the council have talked, and considering Prince Dargo's rank as well as interest in her, we've agreed that... it would be best if Autumn were to be queen. Not... you." father stated slowly, as if talking to a child.

All I could do was stare, my mouth agape, absolutely stunned. He had just... renounced me as heir?! How dare he! I was his rightful heir, not that perfect little twit!

"How..." I could feel the sting of the tears forming in my eyes. "How could you?!" I asked, incredulously.

"It was for the best. Besides, now you don't have the weight upon YOUR shoulders," he stated as though he were trying to do me a favor, or at least make it appear as such.

I could feel the sobs trying to shake my body as I desperately tried to hold back the waterfall of tears that had formed. I started backing away, slowly at first, as my hands clenched my mouth in an attempt to keep from sobbing outright.

"Your highness, my father said... I'm sorry am I interrupting something?" I hear Shalo's voice start, and look up to see him finally glance down at me, a horrified expression dawn on his face the moment he sees me.

"No, actually Shalo, me and Wynter were just done, here," the king replied.

I couldn't hold it anymore. First, I cry in front of my king, now even Shalo catches me crying?! Without thinking, I bolted out of the corridor, and straight towards the side exit of my hom- the palace, sobbing the entire way.

"Wynter! Wait!" I could hear Shalo's voice behind me, as well as his running footsteps.

I didn't wait. I just ran faster, almost losing him and making it to my favorite tree. I climbed to the highest branch I could reach that was almost to the top, and sat, sobbing my lungs out and just barely holding back wails of pure agony.

My father, my own flesh and blood had practically disowned me!

"Wynter!" I heard Shal's voice cry out again, and I don't even have to glance to know he's climbing the tree.

I feel him reach my branch, and just sit next to me putting an arm around me in a sort of half-hug. I was only mildly shocked by his actions, but I quickly went back into my own bubble of self-pity.

"What happened?" he asked, gently.

All I could do that he'd comprehend was shake my head 'no'.

"Okay, okay... calm down... shhhh... it'll be okay..." he soothes beside me.

After a few minutes, I managed to finally calm down my sobs to nothing but dry heaves every now and then, and I finally spoke.

"I'm not the heir, anymore. My fath- king, that is, practically disowned me," I exaggerated.

"What?!" Shalo sounded stunned.

"You heard me..." I respond simply.

"Why?" Shalo asked gently, practically floored.

"He thought Autumn would be a better queen," I answered with a sad smile. "He's probably right."

"Wyn, listen. You might be annoying at times, but you're-" he started.

"Don't even try to give me one of those ridiculous clichéed pep-talks. He did what he did because he thought it best for the kingdom. That's it," I grumbled.

He just glanced at me skeptically, which I returned.

"Why are you being nice to me?" I inquired.

"Because you need someone to comfort you," he responds.

I just sigh and hop down from the tree.

"Where are you going?" he hopped down after me.

"Away," I respond shortly.

"To where?"

"I don't know."

"For how long?"

"I don't know!"

"What will you do there?"

"I don't know, okay?!" I snap. "I'm leaving, and I might not come back at all. I don't know yet. Just, don't... come looking for me." I state.

I think he says something else, but I ignore him, heading into the castle, into the room I slept in once to get good fighting and traveling clothes, pack them in a sack and then walk out the back door and into the woods to disappear, like the Cheshire Cat.

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Oh, and thanks so much frankannestein for the first review! Virtual peanut butter and/or chocolate chip cookies to you!

TTFN!

~Medusa~