A Grim Fairy Tale

Chapter Fifty-One

Vagatha wasn't the least bit impressed or intrigued by the discovery of Anthony being a royal prince. This was because she had never had a very high opinion of princes to begin with. She never viewed them as dashing or noble heroes who could just sweep a damsel off her feet feet with just a charming smile and a pair of pretty eyes. She viewed them as her grandmother had once described King Vincent when he was a prince. Maybe handsome but arrogant, spoiled, lazy, boastful, guilty of fibbing, and liking to have things his way or he wouldn't have it at all.

She thought Anthony fit that description perfectly. She could tell by the way he spoke that he was certainly arrogant, boastful, and spoiled. He had already told a few fibs when they first met. She didn't know yet if he was lazy or liked things his way, but she figured she'd see those parts soon enough. His smile was more cocky than charming and she really didn't like it. But she thought that he did have pretty eyes. They were a deep and thick shade of green that reminded her very much of the forest she so adored.

"So, Agatha is it?" He said as three of them rode horses together through the gorest, Vagatha sitting alone on one steed while Anthony and Cherri rode the other with him in the front.

"No. It's Vagatha." She corrected, slightly irritated that he had already forgotten her name.

"Right, sorry." He apologized. "So you say you're out here looking for someone. May I ask, who?"

"Why do you want to know?"

"Just trying to make conversation here."

"Well if you must know, I'm looking for my sister. She's disappeared, and according to Raphael's nose, she's somewhere in this forest."

"Any idea how she disappeared?"

"Everyone thinks that she ran away because she couldn't face the fact that her father had died in the crusades."

"But you don't believe that?"

"No, because she would have told me if she was leaving, and she'd never go off into the forest alone. She knows how dangerous that is."

"With all due respect, young girls can be a naive."

"Excuse me?" Vagatha glared over her shoulder.

"No offense but girls have been known to be easier to trick and fool than boys."

"Stop talking, stop talking, stop talking." Cherri advised under her breath.

"So you're saying all women are naive?" Vagatha asked.

"No. Not all women. Women are experienced. But all girls, yes." Anthony continued, ignoring Cherri's advice. "Don't take it so hard, it's just nature."

"Nature?" Vagatha said trying to keep her temper under control. "Look buddy, if you want to go by nature's standards then why don't you get off your horse, take off all your clothes, and start walking barefoot, because according to nature that's how men started out."

"Don't get mad at me for telling the truth."

"Truth? Ha! You haven't said one true thing since I first met you. And if you want to know the real, undeniable truth, it's that between the two of us, you would be the more naive one."