It was up to her to investigate how the accident had really
happened.
“Ugh”, said the princess, helping herself up from the grass. Her horse had
buckled, throwing her off his back, and on to the ground. Her handmaiden
quickly scrambled off her own pony and went to attend to the princess. She
tried to brush the dust from the princess’s dress and remove the twigs stuck in
her hair.
The princess glanced at her reflection in a nearby stream.
“No, leave them there. I quite like the way they look.” “Yes, they really frame
your face well!” Her handmaiden replied, somewhat snarkily.
The princess narrowed her eyes at the handmaiden, who
started to laugh. “Well really Princess”, she grinned at her, “what did you
expect me to say?”.
The princess threw a clump of grass the hand maiden. “Fiiiiiine”,
she said. “You never let me experiment.”
“Well, of course not. See what you come up with. Now, do you
want me to go get your horse back? He seems to have found something quite
interesting over there.”
The princess and her hand maiden walked over to where the
horse was seemingly pawing at what she could only assume was an abandoned bunch
of sheets.
“Mishie! What are you doing? Don’t touch those rags, god
knows where they have been”. The princess tried to pull her horse away.
“Hrrrrumph!”, the horse protested. He seemed very dogged
about his investigation. He stuck his paw right in the middle of the pile.
“Yeeeeh gads”, squealed the pile.
The princess and the handmaiden jumped back.
“Lords have mercy!”
“Who are you?”
“I could ask you the same question. Why are you bothering me?”
“Bothering you? You just scare…”
“And you could PLEASE do something about your horse? He is poking at my unborn
children.”
The princess blushed. She and the handmaiden tried to pull
Mishie back.
Slowly the pile of rags took the form of a young man. He
extricated himself from the muddle and stood up straight. He was tall and
lanky; and looked quite sweet, toused hair and all.
“What are you doing here?”, the handmaiden asked “Don’t you
know these woods are only open for the royal family?”
“I was trying to
sleep. And no, I did not know that. That’s a silly rule.”
The princess peered at him, trying not to appear too
curious.
“Who are you?”, the lad asked, pointing to the princess.
“I am the daughter of the ruler of these lands.” She drew
herself up to her full height.
“Really?” He gazed at her dishevelled clothes and the twigs
in her hair. “You don’t look it.” He stated flatly.
His nonchalance, and the suggestion that she looked anything
short of impressive irked her.
“Be that as it may, I could have your head at a whim”
“Of course! But you wouldn’t, would you?”, he laughed.
She felt a slight twinge of irritation. Why wasn’t he more
respectful and docile? Who did he think he was? Speaking to her like she was a
commoner. The audacity! Only her handmaiden was allowed to be so forward, and
that too only in private. In public, she too treated her with the deference her
position demanded.
“I just might, peasant!” she said, with a slight edge in her
voice.
“Well, seeing as how I value my life, I better take your
leave!” He picked up his sheets and started to walk away.
The princess called after him “But you never told us, why
you were here in the first place!”
He merely waved as he disappeared round the trees.
She ran after him, then stopped behind a tree trunk and
watched his receding back, a mixture of eagerness and frustration in her heart.
It was safe to say, she was hooked.