Princess Slave

Chapter 1

I don't know how to begin, my life these last years has been a whirlwind. I guess I should start at the beginning, but what is really the beginning? What started everything? I suppose it was my great, great, great, great grandfather; His name was Labe'l. He was the grand prince of the kingdom of Quasire. He married Hellena, Queen of Florisan. Instead of going through all of the specifics of who married who and who was crowned next I'll just say that my family has been ruling Florisa and Quasire ever since then, for at least a century.

I'm the heir of the Florisan and Quasire throne, Crown Princess Sariala Gada Falmond. When I was born I was given a body guard, one of the best in the world. His name was Willan, well that was what I was told to call him, and it means "fierce protector" and is the one of the names given to the royal family's body guards. I don't know why we don't just call them by their real name but it's a tradition and in my family traditions are not broken easily.

Willan was the one who taught me to walk, read, ride a horse, fight, and to be patient and restrained even if I was so angry I wanted to scream. In those early years he was more of a babysitter than a body guard, but he was very good at both. He was always so kind; I don't know why he chose a career of fighting. I never knew that much about Willan's family, he wasn't supposed to talk to me about them. He was supposed to be a body guard, not a friend. But Willan was like a father to me, more of a father than my real father. My father was hardly ever around; he was always busy and didn't have much time for me. And to be truthful I don't think my father really cared about me much. I think he was upset that I wasn't a boy because even though females could inherit the kingdom, he had always wanted a son.

I've always loved Willan, he was my role model and I worshipped him. I had nurses, governesses, servants, and playmates but they meant nothing to me compared to Willan. He has saved my life at least five times that I know about. Spies tried to poison me twice as a baby. I have been shot at, attacked with a knife, and almost run over with a huge truck. If not for Willan I would definitely by dead. He was always there when I needed someone to talk to and he treated me as if I was his own child. He was of the only people I knew who treated me like a normal child, not like royalty. He did not spoil or coddle me. Because of that I respected him and did my best to please him and make him proud of me.

Willan wasn't the only person I loved as a child; there was my mother who taught me everything she knew: how to write, how to be a good hostess, a just queen, and how to behave myself in the presence of the opposite sex, or in other words- how to flirt in a "lady-like" manner. But I still didn't care for her as much as I did for Willan, I loved my mother but it was different somehow. I also had numerous teachers for dancing, self-defense, hunting, horseback riding, court etiquette, math, English, history, excreta. I like most of them but there have been so many of them I can't remember them all. Since I was to be queen, I had to be very, very well-educated. I even had a class on what to wear and how to do my makeup and hair, even though I had servants to do that for me.

My life was like a fairy tale. Except for the fact that I was never completely happy. Everything in life was given to me, I had to work on my studies but other than that there was nothing for me to do. I was always looking for new ways to challenge myself, I tried learning new languages or learning new games but it never kept me occupied for long. Of course there were parties, banquets, and balls but they all got boring after a while. I was always the center of attention, not because I was just that well-liked, but because I was the princess. I never had to try to get a guy to like me; they all followed me around like puppy dogs in hopes of becoming my husband and the next king. I was stuck in the middle of all the noble families who were trying to use me. I felt like I could trust no one because I never was sure if they were just after more power or if they actually wanted to know me.

Then I met Farris. Maybe that was when my story really started, I'm really not sure. After I met him I became more frustrated with the fakeness of my life. My mother started saying that I was acting rebellious, restless, and aloof, and this just made me angrier.

I first met Farris when I was fourteen. I was walking out to the stable with my nose in a book, another bad habit I had picked up, and I ran into him. Literally. He was a least six inches taller than me and when I hit him I fell right over, right into a big pile of horse manure. He picked me up, like I was just a child, and when he put me down he hurriedly asked if I was alright. He was so scared he kept on asking me if I was sure; I think he was afraid I would have him beaten or something. Right then, standing there all dirty holding my ruined book I was so furious I just stalked off, shouting that he better stay the hell away from me. I didn’t know it then, but I fell in love with him right there.

In the days that followed I couldn’t stop thinking about him. And every time I would think if him I would be furious with myself. But I found reasons to go to the stable more often, telling myself over and over that it wasn’t to see him. I would sneak peeks at him while he was working but I never approached him. It was a week before I spoke to him again. I was feeding my favorite horse some apples when I heard someone walk up behind me.

“You are not very sneaky you know.” I turned to see him standing there.

“I have no idea what you are talking about.” I said, trying to sound completely in control of the situation.

“You do.”

“Who are you that you think you know all this about me?” I said a little more harshly than I meant to.

“My name is Farris.” He laughed, “And there is no reason to be so aggressive.”

“Well there’s no reason to go accusing me of sneaking around in my own stables.”

“We both know you have been down here a lot lately” He smiled at me and I got a weird fluttery feeling in my stomach.

“That is none of your business. I just…needed some fresh air!” I muttered defensively, “Some of us have more important things to do than talk to table boys.” I turned and stalked off feeling embarrassed.

But I was back again the next day and the next. Always hoping and dreading that Farris would talk to me. But he was silent, but I would catch him watching me sometimes. This was something different for me; the fact that a boy was ignoring more was both fascinating and frustrating. The challenge his silence presented was irresistible. On the third day I approached him.

“Farris, I-”

“What do you want, Your Highness?” He said, hostility rolling off him in waves. I took a step back.

“I wanted to apologize.” I said quietly, looking at the ground, “I shouldn’t have been so rude.”

“But it was the truth.”

“No! It’s just that I-” I paused I didn’t know what to say, definitely not the truth.

“You were hoping I would knock you down again?” He joked, his anger suddenly gone.

“Actually I was hoping you could teach me how, there are a couple of people I could use that move on.” I smiled. After that we fell into easy conversation. I was relieved that he didn’t tease me anymore about my frequent visits.

After that day I saw Farris almost every day, mostly in the stables but sometimes we would go riding together. I would tell the stable master I wanted someone to carry my picnic basket and books. Other times we would meet up in the more deserted parts of the gardens. We could talk and joke for hours and never get bored. And he treated me like a normal girl, after a few conversations I got him to call me by my name. I knew for once that he was my friend because he liked me, not for any person gain. The only thing he could get out of our friendship was trouble.

After knowing Farris for a year, we were best friends. We didn’t go a day without seeing or writing each other. We were both busy, me with school and social engagements. He was always training and working in the stables. He never really talked much about what he did when we weren’t together or his family. I knew both his parents worked in the palace but that was about it. And I didn’t pry. I didn’t want to anything that could disrupt our friendship. Of course, for me it was much more than that. I had fallen for him pretty hard in the last year and I was almost positive he felt the same way for me but I wasn’t sure. He never made any move on me. I could never figure out if it was because he understood the futility of it or if he didn’t see me like that. But either way I was content to be his friend. And somehow we were able to keep our friendship hidden from disapproving eyes. I was so happy. Over the next few years we stayed the best of friends. We had to find more and more elaborate ways to escape and spend time with each other but we made it work. But of course good things never seem to last forever.