Mary Anne: A princess's quest

Mary Anne: A Princess's Quest

CHAPTER 1

"Mary, Princess Mary, where are you? How can I instruct you when you run off
like that?" asked Lady Komley.
Mary Anne watched from a tree near by. Why do I need that stuff, I'll never be Queen,
she thought to herself. My brother is the heir not me. She sighed climbing down the
tree, and knowing the lecture that she would get.
" Princess, Oh, there you are. Where have you been? Oh, your mother would have a fit if she could see you. God rest her soul. Look at you; you're a mess! You've
twigs in your hair and look you tore that beautiful lace! Oh...Let's go get you cleaned
up." Said Lady Komley
After being scrubbed down by her maid, Bridget, Mary Anne put on her evening gown. It was a lovely indigo with gold trim around the draping sleeves, the neckline,and the hem. She wore a gold cross necklace . The cross was of pure gold and had the most intricate designs that could be achieved in those days. It also had a ruby in the center.
As she fitted the gem-encrested tiara on her head, the door to her room opened
and in stepped Prince Allen Jean Louise.
" I have heard about your little misadventure, my sweet, and I trust you will
behave more properly in the future," he said.
" Allen, do you ever feel like you're not where you're supposed to be in life?"
Asked Mary Anne.
"No," he replied," not at all. Why do you ask? Oh never mind, it's probably
nothing that I want to hear about, besides it's time for dinner, shall we go? Really, I don't know where that question came from, but feel free to ask me anything. I am your fiancée after all."
"Yes," she replied. They entered the private dinning hall and sat down. Usually, they would have dinner with many courtiers in the Grand Hall on the other side of the palace. The fact that it would just be Mary Anne, her father, Allen, and her brother, gave her an uneasy feeling inside. Her brother sat at their father's right hand and she sat at his left. Allen sat beside Mary. The servants brought the meal and departed quickly as instructed by the king. The king and his family ate their dinner in silence. After they had finished eating, the king made an announcement.
" I know this will dissappoint you Mary, but your brother and I will be leaving
tomorrow. We will depart at dawn for Rona. I'm afraid we're needed on the front line.The Araranians are closer than we thought. We have to be there to defend what is rightfully ours. I pray that you understand."
" I understand father," Mary replied. She asked to be excused and went to her room. She said a prayer for her father as she walked down the long corridor by herself.
Rona was the last place that ANYONE belonged; much less the king. Rona, though once beautiful, had recently been battle torn and plague ridden. The black plague was the most predominate in the area. It had been dubbed " place of death" by the gossips. She shivered wondering if the strange coolness of the castle that day was a premonition of what was to come.
Bridget touched her shoulder as she entered the room hesitantly. Bridget helped
her into her gown and left through the door in Mary's wall that led to her own
personal quarters. Bridget stayed in the princess's suite all the time to make sure that Mary didn't need anything. Unexpectedly, someone knocked on the door.
"Just a minute," she said pulling on a robe. She was not surprised to see her
father standing there.
"We need to talk," he said.
"What about, Sire?" Mary asked. Briget entered the room and pulled out a chair
for the king. Bridget then left the room as Mary kneeled out of respect for her father's position.
"Come, Sit down, child for this is no matter of state," he said to her. She sat down
on the bed and he continued, " We both know that your brother and I are going to a
very deadly place. Now, I need you to promise me that no matter what happens, you
will stay here and rule in my absence. If your brother and I do not return, it is your
duty to be queen and marry Allen. Do you promise to do these things with out fail, no
matter the cost??"
"Yes," She said with tears in her eyes. "I love you, father."
"I love you, too, my child." he replied. Mary hugged him tightly before he left the
room. That night, Mary prayed for the safety of her father and cried herself to sleep.
In the middle of the night, she awoke and got out of bed. She walked down the hall trying to clear her mind and ended up down by her fiancee's room. Voices were coming from the room. She pressed her ear to the door straning to hear what was being said. It was very unclear what the two voices said. One of the voices was definitely Allen's, but as for the other one, all she knew about it was that it was female. She heard enough of what he and this unfamiliar female voice were saying. From the few words she could make out, she could tell they planned treason. They planned to take over the country!!!Suddenly she was very afraid for her life. Sure she had never really trusted Allen, but she didn't expect him to be a traitor. A small squeal escaped from her throat and the voices stopped talking. She rushed back to bed and prayed that they would think that the sound was made by rats or other rodents that were commonly found about the castle. She pulled the covers over her head and tried to force herself to go back to sleep. She was almost asleep when Allen and the unfamiliar voice began to search for the cause of the squeal. She held her breath as they entered her room.
" Well, it wasn't her, she's sound asleep," said the woman.
"Yes, that's good. Well, we probably heard a rat Niomi, everyone in the castle is asleep, including the night guards." said Allen sarcastically.
They left the room and Mary Anne sighed with relief. Then she wondered, who was Niomi anyway? Why hadn't Mary Anne seen her at the castle before? She also wondered what she and Allen held against her family. Is it about some old prison sentence in her family that motivated her revenge or was it just her hate of not being able to control what happened to everyone else? Mary Anne was bothered by these such questions long before she fell in to a fitful sleep.
The next morning, she awoke and quickly changed clothes. She ran down the hall and out the palace door. Out in the crowded courtyard, she spotted her father and ran over to him, told him to keep safe, and gave him a hug. After she had done the samefor her brother, she ran back to the castle, for she had to learn to rule.


Chapter. 2

" Your highness, you must learn how to properly walk talk, dance, and courtesy. AND, you must know your politics, if you would rule in your father's absence," said Lady Komley. " Now, remember, don't look down. Keep your head up, up, child, look me in the eyes. Practice authority... Much better, now, courtsey like this," Lady Komley showed her the proper courtsey for court. Mary Anne copied it perfectly the first time.
"Beautiful," complimented Lady Komley and they worked for hours in etiquette.
Later on, after lunch, Mary Anne walked in the castle gardens in her new lavender silk dress. The color of the dress brought out the green in her eyes, and the soft brown of her hair, making her look like an angel. Her knee length hair flowed down her back like water over stones. She stopped walking when she reached her favorite part of the garden. Where the cherry and oak tree limbs hung over, there was a fork in the path. Mary loved to go to the right of the fork and go deeper in to the gardens, even though it was prohibited. She looked around to see if the guard was watching, and skipped off down the path to the right. She was after all only sixteen, and she wasn't expected to grow up right away now was she?
The further down the path she traveled, the more exciting her adventure got. She twirled around and left the path. When she stopped twirling and laughing, she realized that she had gone to far off of the path. She looked around, and realized that she did not know from whence she had come. She wandered for a long time before she gave up and decided to wait for someone to recsue her. She sat down and screamed for help and began to weep while regret for her decision washed over her.
Just when she thought that things couldn't be worse , her savior arrived and he wasn't very happy. Prince Allen took her by the arm and he didn't speak to her until they reached her room in the castle.
As soon as the door closed behind them, he said," I told you to behave. What were you thinking? You should never have gone off in that part of the gardens alone. That part of the gardens is for tricking people who try to attack. You never know who might be in there. Next time, ask me to come with you, so that you are safe, Okay?"
" I'm not a child, Allen. AND I know that your only interest in my safety runs in the fact that I might be Queen and you wish to be King," Mary accused.
"Mary I can't believe you would say that! I am shocked and hurt. I love you," he said innocently.
" You love my money," she replied angrily.
" Fine, just believe what ever you want, but we are getting married any ways," he said storming out of the room. He walked to his room.
" Great," he said when he entered his room, " Just great."
"What's wrong? Is the little brat on to our scheme?" asked a feminine voice.
"Niomi, my sweet.....," Allen started.
"Don't you "my sweet" me mister. I asked a question," she said.
" Yes, she figured it out, the clever girl,but she isn't quite sure of our plan, or how we plan to "execute" it," he said sinisterly.
"Convince her otherwise; if you can," Niomi said with a laugh.
"I will, but I am already tired of this masquerade," Allen grumbled.
"Soon she will be out of the way," said Niomi
"We aren't getting married for ten months and then I have to put up with her until she has children," he said," I'll also have to kill the king and the prince or at least the prince anyway."
"Calm down, love, patience. No one ever said that taking over a throne was easy," she said.
"You did," Allen replied.
Niomi smiled and shook her head, "You will get your dues. It just takes time," she said,"Then you will be King and I your devoted Queen."
They began to laugh, and their laughter rang throughout the halls of the great castle.
Mary, when she heard it, shivered, though she was covered by many layers of clothing. She went to sleep praying for the morning to come.