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."
"I would not."
"Yes you would. Out here, you definitely would. I was born and bred in this forest, and you have probably never spent one whole day outside in your entire life."
"So?"
"So, I am much more experienced out here than you are. I bet you can't even tell the difference between poison ivy and a fern."
"I'm a prince, knowing about plants isn't exactly in my job description."
"Yes I know, you need to make room for stealing land and destroying livelihood."
"For your information I have never stolen anyone's land or destroyed anyone's livelihood."
"And I should believe you because?"
Anthony rubbed his face with his hands. This girl was something else, that was obvious. Something that wasn't going to be easy to get along with. But since they were going to be traveling together, he figured that he should at least make a better attempt.
"Look." He said more gently. "I think we got off on the wrong foot."
"Well I think we did too." Vagatha said. "But I appreciate your apology."
"Apology? Who said anything about an apology? I was just saying-"
"You know what? Just don't talk to me anymore, okay?" She replied, her face flushed with anger. "It's only going to upset me and when I get upset I leave. So keep talking, and I will evenutally leave you stranded here."
"Fine. I'll be quiet, if you will."
"Fine."
"Fine!"
Anthony heard Cherri chuckle softly from behind him.
"She certainly has a mind of her own."
"Yeah, I hate that in a woman." He whispered to the dryad.
Vagatha shot him another glare, which made him briefly go still with fear. If looks could kill, he'd be six feet under by now.
"So Vagatha." Cherri spoke up, trying to prevent her friend from getting them into trouble again with his mouth. "You say that you've lived here your whole life, did you enjoy it?"
"Yes I did." Vagatha said, her mood lightening a bit. "In fact the forest is my favorite place in all the world."
"Really? I didn't think humans cared much for the outdoors. At least not as much as my kind does."
"Well I never did like being kept indoors for too long. I much preferred to run, climb trees, swim in lakes and rivers, explore, fish and hunt. There's just more to do and more to see out here."
Anthony couldn't help but feel slightly envious of Vagatha and Cherri's upbringing. Though he wasn't much of an outdoors man, he had never really been given the opportunity to be one. Growing up, his father never allowed him to leave the castle grounds. He never allowed him to travel or hunt or race horses or anything like the women were describing. He had to spend most of his life in a study, bored to death by dull tutors, except for Isaiah of course. He felt that the young prince should be more exposed to the world rather than sheltered from it. After all, the future heir should know about life and the people within it in order to rule properly. But Anthony's father didn't see it that way.
"Was it just you and your sister living out here?" Cherri asked.
"No. Originally it was myself, my parents, and my grandmother. But then my father died, and my mother married again. For awhile we moved in with my stepfather and his daughter, my sister, which made me miserable to be perfectly honest. This however was short lived, the crusades started and my stepfather had to go fight, and my mother feared for my safety and my sister's so she sent us to live with my grandmother in the forest until the war was over."
"Why couldn't she live with you two?" Anthony asked.
"It's a long story and I don't feel comfortable discussing it with you two. I mean we did just meet."
"I guess that's fair."
Vagatha wondered what kind of disagreements Anthony had with his father. They had to be pretty bad if he had decided to leave home. Not to mention, she had heard many people speak of how unreasonable King Vincent could be. Some were even bold enough to say that he was deranged and had committed treacherous deeds. But they dare no accuse him, at least not in Poland where he held dominion over all.
"So do you think you'll miss it?" Vagatha asked him.
"Miss what?" Anthony responded.
"Poland."
He chuckled and shook his head.
"Nope. Not really."
"But it was your home."
"It was a place where I lived. End of story."
"But it was where you were born and where you grew up. " Sjhe said, thinking about when she had been forced to leave her grandmother and the forest. "Wasn't it hard to leave it all behind?"
"Not at all."
"Oh come on Anthony, we both know that's not entirely true." Cherri said.
"Yes it is. I hated that place. Nothing about it made me feel at home."
"What about your mother?"
Anthony paused. In his desperation to get away from his father, he had forgotten how much this would probably hurt and upset his mother. While the queen hardly had any say against her husband, she loved her son deeply and did the best she could for him. He felt a little guilty about doing this to her.
"Anthony, I know you and your father have a complicated relationship but your mother adored you. And forgive me for saying this, but once she finds out that you've vanished without a trace, it's going to crush her. You know how much she worries about you."
"I'll write to her when I can." Anthony said. "I won't tell her where I am, but I'll let her know that I'm alright."
"You mean just left your mother for good without even saying goodbye?" Vagatha said. "How can you do that?"
"Quick question, why are you so interested in my family life when you don't feel comfortable discussing yours?" Anthony asked, annoyed.
"Sorry but you can't just do that."
"Why not? Or better yet, what business of it is yours? Why do you care?"
"Well for one thing, it's a matter of being a decent human being. If you have a mother who loves you that much, the least you could do is say goodbye to her before leaving forever." Vagatha said crossly. "And for another thing, it's...It's..."
"It's what?"
"You know." Vagatha began, but his big green-eyed stare made her tongue-tied. "Oh just forget it! I need to get away from you, before I lose my temper!"
Vagatha rode ahead to cool off, Raphael barked and followed after her. Cherri chuckled.
"Oh no, an unspoken attraction." She pretended to swoon. "Desires and longing hidden by insecurity and tension. How romantically tragic."
"Attraction!" Anthony exclaimed aghast. "To that skinny little brat?! Have you lost your mind?!"
"Relax pretty boy, I was just messing with you." She laughed. "Though when we first met, I saw how you couldn't take your eyes off of her."
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"Hey there's no shame in being attracted to the non-royal variety. And I must say, she's way prettier than all those painted-faced, prissy, powder-puffs your father tries to set you up with. You've got better tastes."
"Shut up!" He snapped. "Attraction, ridiculous!"
Cherri just laughed out loud.