The Princess Who Returned

Chapter two

The next morning, the first thing I wanted to do was check up on Aasha so I quickly finished my morning routine in order to catch my parents at breakfast. Luckily, I was just in time and managed to catch them a few minutes before they left to address the court. "Don't go yet mom and dad." I called out the moment I entered the dining room causing them to stop in their tracks. Relieved that they had stopped I took some time to catch my breath and they like the wonderful parents they were, they waited. 

Once I had calmed down enough to ask them my question in a relatively calm voice I asked, "Can I take a break from todays duties and lessons? I know I had a free day yesterday but I am really worried about Aasha and wanted to check up on her." Neither of my parents looked happy with my request but despite their reservations they agreed to let me off today. I hugged them both gratefully and rushed back to my room to get dressed.

Since I was going out for personal reasons as opposed to royal duties, I had to ride a horse to my destination since the carriage might have been needed by my parents for their duties. This suited me just fine; I loved riding and would have loved to ride horses everywhere I went but was prevented by my royal duties. Regardless, I substituted my purple royal gown for a comfortable black t-shirt and grey pants and visited the stables.

"Where are you off to princess?" asked the stable boy Richard as soon as I entered the stables and I promptly replied "I am just going to visit Aasha, she was really sick yesterday and I want to check up on her. Who can I take today?" "Frank is free and rested. I am as well so do you want me to accompany you?" asked Richard and I replied, "I mean it is you or the spy cameras with military hot buttons in the bag and horse so sure. Today is not a day where I want my mom to be watching my every move." He looked dumbstruck so I continued, "Before you ask, I have known for a long time. I am not as dumb as you think. Now please hurry and get each of us horses."

 This finally snapped him out of his trance and he went to get each of us horses. I would rather have gone on my own but my mother would never allow that without company and she trusted Richard so she would not insist on cameras. He would report most of my actions to mother but I could convince him to share a little less so this was the best-case scenario.

A few minutes later he reappeared with two horses: a black-spotted horse and a grey horse. When he brought them out, I inspected them to see if they had cameras and was relieved to find that they did not. There was no way ,mother could see me today because in case I broke down (this was a possibility today because I was incredibly stressed) the cameras would alert the military and they would rush to my aid.

 I loved my mother but she could be a bit extra and as a result cause problems. I understood her reasoning of course but there was a limit to everything even how protective you chose to be and her little camera-alarm system crossed the limit by about a hundred feet. "Let's go Richard we need to hurry. I am really worried about her." After saying this I kicked my horse into action and set off before him. I wanted to get to her as fast as possible and calm this uneasy feeling in my stomach which could only happen if I got to see her sleeping, safe and sound in her bed.

We reached Aasha's house in a matter of minutes because of his appropriate choice in horses for this journey or quest. This skill of his was what made him extremely valuable asset for me and my family despite his rather young age aka thirteen. He knew the horses and my family so well that he had the ability to pick the right horse for every occasion. 

For instance, if my mother wanted to go for a pleasurable ride through the town, he would pick a horse that was slightly difficult to control and had a high speed because of how my mother loved the thrill. On the other hand, if she had an emergency, he would pick the speediest horse there was while ensuring that the horse was well behaved. Everyone loved him because of how empathetic, sweet and loyal he was. I liked him as well but I could never fully trust him precisely because of how loyal he was to my parents. He was a great guy just a little too much like a golden retriever.