Expected Perfection

Into The Wind

After Maria gets to work on the dress for tonight, I head off to get riding gear on. I put a leather jacket over the dress as well as jeans under it. After combing my hair I walk to the stables to find Midnight, my pure black stallion geared up and ready to go. "Hey boy, long time no see aye," I hear footsteps behind me. "We are ready to go when you are Queen Carmen, Ori and Simone have two of the guards horses saddled and rearing to go. Acquila walks up with a white mare. "Mind if I tag along Charm?" he asks leading the mare up to. She's beautiful" I say mesmerized it's not often you find a pure white horse much less a mare. "Her name is Avril," the horse trots over to midnight and sizes him up before stealing one of his carrots, he looks at me confused. I smile, "I like her already."

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Our party left the stables 5 minutes later deciding to cut through the forest, to get to Marksville. Acquila and I take the lead being flanked by Ori and Simone, Nial, Acquila’s new protector as Spark has assumed the role of my advisor, takes the back.

After 2 hours of riding in relative silence we enter Marksville, father and I use to ride here often when I was younger not so much as I got older. The horses’ hooves pound against the pavement. " The Queen," someone yells and suddenly everyone is watching us ride down the main street. We reach Jason's favourite cafe' and I dismount, taking Midnight around the side to tie him up, the water troff is full as always. I walk inside followed by the guys.

"Mr. Trenchburg, lovely to see you," I say as I walk to the counter. "Ah prin- I mean Queen Carmen wonderful to see you." I take my jacket off and place it on the back of the booth I slide into. "Terrible stuffs been happening of late but seeing your beautiful face instantly brightens my day," I smile genuinely pleased that the old owner doesn’t treat me any differently now that so much has changed.

I order my usual burger and onion rings, and as per usual it’s cooked to perfection. I can always count on Mr. Trenchburg to cook for well a queen. After the meal the guards decide to go for a stroll to ask around for any signs of Violet, Acquila and I go to sit on Marksahill.

The same hill looks out over Marksville, Jason and I always use to come up here. You can see the tiled roofs of the houses, the two small square of shops in the center of town. I turn looking out over the rest of the kingdom you can see for miles, the long rolling hills off in the distance, the trees off to the left signaling the start of the απαγορεύεται Forest (forbidden in Greek). "Jason and I always thought about going off and living in the woods," I say as Acquila sits down next to me. "Why would you do that?" he looks over at me as he says it, "so I didn’t have to marry you, we had it all planned out you know," I smile and take his hand. "I was a real ass wasn’t I?" he squeezes my hand pulling my up against him. "Yeah I use to wonder why you didn’t like me, what was wrong with me to make you hate me so much, especially when id see you with Angela, you were always so nice to her." He's silent for a while then he goes to speak I put my finger to his lips, "No don't just let it go it doesn’t matter anymore." we sit in silence for a long time before we head back.

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The ride home is better then I could've hoped. The long winding path through the woods helps me calm down and prepare for what lies ahead.