Archaena, the princess of the human kingdom, have never loved her duties as the crown princess. When her father tells her she is betrothed to a lord she have never met, she runs away. She runs away to a woods that no one has explored before. There s...
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Archaena
Sitting in the quiet library is always a satisfying and relaxing feeling. No one except Archaena and the librarians spend their time there. Reading is not quite a thing the people of the court do. They do it only if it is necessary and she is glad for that. It gives Archaena more time for herself. The royal library is a big spacious room only for the king's closest acquaintances. All kinds of writing from all across the kingdom are gathered in this room and Archaena has it all for herself. She would sometimes smuggle some books with her to her chambers, her big skirts are a perfect hiding place. The sometimes kind librarians do not like lending her books anymore. She has a habit of not giving them back. A person may think that princesses have all the time in the world to read and have fun. However, that is not true for Archaena. Her days have a strict schedule and when it is done she would occasionally have some time left for reading before bed. That is why the times she has for herself are the times she yearns for.
Feeling quite bored, Archaena wanders the long lines of tall bookshelves. A ladder is placed at every row so that you can reach the top shelf. Archaena dragged her hand lacily against the books as she walked by them. She almost knew this place like the back of her hand after all the time she has spent there. There are the shelf's for the romance books, action books, books about songs and tradition, and then there's the corner for the 'forbidden books'. She does not know why they are forbidden but her father, the king, told her at a young age that she was not allowed to read those books. If she opened one of them bad things would happen to her. At the time she was terrified of that corner and would not step a foot in its area. Now that she is older and knows more, she is not scared. Archaena is rather sure that that treat was something her father told her because the books had some graphic details in them. But that is no match for her. She has read many books that are quite inappropriate in her years, although she will never admit it to others.
She stood before the tall wall of forbidden books and examined their backs. She read their names and quickly understood that the books were not some erotic romance books but history books. Quite old history books, and by the look of it the books were from thousands of years ago! Her interest spiked, for when she was schooled they never taught her anything about the early ages of the kingdom and her interest for history was never satisfied after her 'history lessons'. The fear of getting caught made her nervous and she often looked behind her shoulder to see if a nosy librarian was watching her. She quickly took a book that was named 'The Two Kingdoms' and placed it in one of her large inner pockets of her fluffy blue dress. Archaena looked around her one last time to be sure that nobody saw what she was doing and then took off towards her chamber.
Archaena closed her wooden chamber door after her and took out the book from the pocket under her dress. She sighed with relief that she was finally in the safety of her own room. On the way towards her room she walked into her mother and her father's advisor. They took the time to talk with her about finding a husband. She was in the age now and her young beauty is nothing that should be thrown away. In her mother's eyes. After her eighteenth birthday her mother could not stop talking about finding a suitable husband for Archaena. It made her sick in the stomach thinking about marrying a man just because it is something that is done. Not out of love. Her mother always assured her that she would grow into loving her future husband but Archaena never agreed. She wanted to find her own husband and fall in love with him on her terms. But that is not how their tradition goes.
Her bedroom chamber was located at the floor for the royal family. It is quite big with a room for her big four poster bed, a clothing room, a quite big bathing chamber and her favorite room, the living room. In her small living room she had all of her books placed neatly in big bookshelves. Not too high because her short frame could not allow that without her standing on a stool to reach the top shelf. In the middle of her room she had some overly comfortable couches and a small round wooden table. The big windows in her room and the balcony made the room naturally lighted under the days and the use of candles was not needed. She sat down in one of the couches and tried to make herself comfortable but her dress was not making it easy. It sure is beautiful but not so good for doing flexible activities. She longed to take of her dress and take on some loose fitting pants and shirt. But the book in her hands was more inviting. She carefully opened the old book and was greeted by a world map. A map that was somewhat familiar but in the south where the borders of her kingdom should be there was another land. Archaena had never seen it before, in the world maps she have seen the south only consisted of tick woods that stretched far. No one really cared about those woods but this book was telling her that those woods are actually another kingdom? The book was old so it may not be the most reliable source yet the trees could not grow that much. She made a mental note for herself that she would explore those woods when she had some time over from her duties. Wanting to know what more unknow the book consisted she turned a page and was about to start reading when she heard a knock on her door. Archaena quickly hid her book under some pillows in her couch and then told the person who was knocking on her door to walk in. A maid walked in and looked quite stressed. "Your father the king has requested your presence in the thorne room your highness" the maid said. "Thank you, I will be there in shortly" The maid nodded and hurriedly walked out of her room
