Burning Through

Chapter 1

The sun peaked its rays above the mountain in the distance. A cool breeze swept across the valley and through my window, waking me up. I sat up and looked out the window, rising from my bed. I went to clean myself up for the day.

It was early, so my mothers were still asleep, along with my little sister. I quietly walked around the house, not wanting the floorboards to creak, and slowly walked towards the door. I heard creaking behind me and turned around slowly, not to make a sound. I saw my sister Cecelia standing behind me with tired eyes. "Where are you going?" She asked.

     I paused, not wanting her to tell our mothers that I left the house so early. I smiled at her. "Do you want to go riding?", I asked. Her tired eyes lit up. She nodded and ran upstairs to get dressed.

She came down with her riding pants and one of my plaid long sleeve shirts. Her long brown hair was braided neatly in the back of her head. We quietly went outside and slipped our boots on. We ran through the fields and into the stables. I climbed onto my pinto horse, Paint. He had brown spots and a white mane and tail. Cecilia pulled out a small wood stool so she could reach her horse. She settled herself on her horse Misty, a completely white Lipizzaner. Then we trotted out of the barn.

I watched as Cecelia started to gallop past me. She gave me a quick smirk and started to pick up speed. I flicked the reigns and tapped my feet against his side. Paint started to gallop faster than Misty. I smiled as I passed Cecelia. We rode off into the woods and stopped in a clearing. I swung my leg over Paint's back and jumped off of him. Then I went to go help Cecelia off Misty.

Misty sat under the pine trees while I collected dry kindle, which was hard to find since it had just rained last night. "Andy?", Cecilia asked.
 
      "Yes?"
      "Why don't our mothers want us to leave so early in the morning?"
  
      "I think it has something to do with it starting to get colder," I said, putting the kindle in my sack that was connected to Paint's saddle. "Alright Cecelia, c'mon," I said, cupping my hand next to her horse so she could get up.

     Cecelia paused. "But you came out here do chores, you're being responsible." She said, confused. I shrugged.

     "I've never asked them, I just followed their rule because they're our mothers." Cecelia gave me an unsatisfied look, then climbed onto Misty. I climbed onto Paint and we rode back through the forest.

We stopped at the stables and put our horses away. The sun was above the mountain, meaning our parents were up. I shooed Cecelia into the house while I grabbed the kindle. I ran inside to find that Cecelia was being scolded by mother. Mother raised her hand to slap Cecelia across the face. I dropped the kindle and ran over to Cecelia pulling her out of the way. I stood in front of her. "It was my fault mother," I said. Mother gave me a cross look, then looked back at Cecelia.

   "Don't let it happen again," She said. "and clean this up." I knelt down where the scattered sticks were and started picking them up. Cecelia knelt down next to me and helped pick them up.

We put them in a basket by the fireplace. Mother walked over to us. "I'm going to the palace to discuss business with the king, and I need someone's help," she said, looking at me.

     Cecelia's eyes perked up. "I'll go, mother!", she said with excitement.

   "I need Andy to come with me," she said. "Maybe you can come next time." She said, glancing at Cecelia's disappointed face. She walked out of the room and into the kitchen. I rolled my eyes.

   "Why don't you want to go, Andy?" Cecelia asked, noticing my frustrated look.

      "Because they betrothed me to one of the royals."

   "Oh, well it can't be all bad," she said, trying to cheer me up. I gave her a side smile and continued laying the kindle on the logs.

"Andy, if becoming a royal isn't your dream then what is?" Asked Cecelia.

I looked at her. "Probably to explore the world with my best friend, Bryce
. What's yours, Cecelia?"

"When I come of age, I want to go to the witch's castle and ask for a child."

"Cecelia, you know that you have to give the witch something precious to you, right?"

"Yes."

Mother called for me as she opened the door. I patted Cecelia's head, then made my way to her. I put the saddles and bridles on the horses, then brought them out for mother. I helped mother up on to the horse, then I climbed onto Paint. We rode off through the trees and came to a town.

     It was a huge town filled with busy people. The castle looked over the busy town as it touched the sky. We rode up to the drawbridge where two lookout guards lead us through the gates. We dismounted our horses and followed the guards inside. We were greeted by Gean and the king. Gean looked at me and gave me a smile.

     I was supposed to marry Gean. I gave a quick smile back. My mom and the king wanted to discuss some things about my marriage and my sister's marriage, who was supposed to marry Gean's youngest sibling, Jay.

     Gean and I walked around the Castle. "How has your village been?"

     "Fine," I said. Although my village was smaller than this kingdom, I was still proud of it. My mother had done a good job taking care of it for the past 50 years, but she has gotten older and it has been harder for her to keep up with all the work. Soon the village would be given to me, and when I married Gean It would belong to this kingdom. Mother said it will be good for the village to be part of a huge kingdom, so I don't really have a choice.

Gean and I walked through a long hallway. A tall handsome man walked passed us. It could have only been Gean's older brother, Bryce. I love the way Bryce is so rebellious. He has never been married, for he refuses anything of the sort. He runs off in the middle of the night to ride or shoot his crossbow at trees in the forest. Bryce and I were close friends as children, but I had always been expected more of since I'm the eldest and one day was supposed to be in charge of the village, so I never had time to see him.

"You're quiet," said Gean. "Just tired," I replied. We sat down in a sitting room. A window that started from the floor and went up to the ceiling. It stood in front of three velvet chairs, one velvet couch, and a brown coffee table. I gazed out the window and down at the town. People rushed around the streets with bags and children. "Soon, these will be your people.", Gean said. I smiled so I wouldn't seem rude. Gean sat down next to me. "Is something on your mind?"

     "No," I said. "It's just a lot to think about." I was still gazing out at the busy town. "We should probably start heading back," said Gean. I nodded and stood up.

We walked through the hallways, passing Bryce again. My eyes lit up like they usually did. We came to the large doors that we came through where we saw Mother and the king standing talking to each other. Mother saw me and bid her goodbyes to the King and Gean, and implied I do the same. We mounted our horses and rode back to our village.

When we got home I ran upstairs and lay in my bed. I looked up at the ceiling. "Why must I have feelings for Bryce?", I asked myself. There was a very strong and likely chance that he didn't like me the way I like him. It was like a story out of a fairy tale with a forbidden love and no happy ending. Everything I felt was wrong. I'm supposed to like Gean, and there was nothing I could do to change my fate. Mother strictly forbid I see Bryce until I was married to Gean. I think deep down inside she knew my feelings for him.

I looked out my window down at the quiet village. Most of our people were down in the mines out in the forests or down by the river. Our village was so heavily supplied that people came out of their way to come here and buy goods. That's what made our town so special and why I was betrothed to Gean.

I went out to my horse and took the saddle and bridle off of him. I mounted him and we rode off into the forest. Riding was the one thing that could get my mind off of something. The cold air hit my face, turning my cheeks a rosy red. The sun was setting and the day was almost over, but I kept riding. I decided to be like Bryce and be rebellious for once, even if it cost me a slap across the face.