Spare

Once upon a time

There was a young princess.

She had four older sisters.

And 3 older brothers.

Her name was Princess Annet

As the youngest,

no one cared where she goes

Or what happens to her.

Everyone thinks of her as the spare.

With so many older siblings,

Princess Annet was allowed to run

Free.

She rarely wore her hair

Pinned up and tamed.

Her hair was most often wild and free

Or pinned up in a practical braid.

She learned everything about being a princess

And everything about being a knight,

A warrior like her brothers.

She learned how to fence, and

How to ride a horse like a knight.

She learned how to defend herself.

The healers and apothecaries

Taught her how to use the plants around her,

Wherever she travelled,

to sustain her and to Defend herself.

She spent hours and days, wandering through The worlds found in books,

In the universe of the castle library.

She learned from her brothers

How dangerous wars and battles were.

She learned from her sisters

How mundane and sleepy slow

Parties and teas, dinners and visits were.

How to use such events,

To observe one's enemies, to gather Information, to gather blackmail material.

She learned how to combine

Her battle skills with her blackmail skills.

She hid a fencing foil in her umbrella, Daggers all over her, under her dress

And inside her cloak pockets.

She kept potions and tinctures

With her daggers and knives.

Poisons and Antidotes

Decorated her fingers and wrists.

Her corset protected her heart.

She was ready for any adventure

That came her way.

She spent her days drawing her bow,

Surprising her brothers.

Galloping furiously on her horse,

Sneakily observing people

Over the rim of a tea cup.

She was prepared for anything.

Princess Annet could often be found carrying daggers and potions,

poisons and antidotes, and

A long sword as tall as she.

With her hair either flowing free or Practically held together in a braid.

She was always up to something,

Looking for an adventure, and

Scaring the servants half to death.

She learned how to be a proper princess.

Like her sisters,

well mannered,

Very well read.

She learned from her brothers

How to defend herself,

how to be observant.

She learned how to heal

Those who were sick,

Poison the unjust.

She learned how to be brave,

how to be kind

how to stand up for not just herself,

But others too.

She learned how to speak her mind.

She learned how to navigate

How to move through the many

Different worlds she inhabited.

More than anything she was always ready To have an adventure,

to go on a quest, and

To help any who needed it.

Most of the days while Princess Annet wanders

Around the large world of the palace,

She dresses as a princess.

She always adds bits of comfort.

She wears a comfortable coat

That once belonged to her oldest brother.

Warm and comfortable, distinguished.

When she wandered around the universe, Contained in the endless library,

She often made it a habit to

keep her pockets stuffed with various Potions and Tinctures and elixirs,

To heal, and to protect herself.

She hid a stiletto and

disguised it as an umbrella

it was there, wandering around the universe,

Contained in the endless library,

She learned about the world outside the palace.

She had her mind expanded,

her eyes could see further

To how big the world around her was.

She didn't just read books,

That took her on far off adventures.

She studied mathematics, science, languages.

Philosophy, history, economics, politics, And she read extensively on herbalism.

Always in the back of her mind though,

She never forgot that she wanted

More than anything,

To go on an adventure.

Princess Annet knew that

she didn't just want to go on adventures.

She also wanted to explore her city,

Get to know the people who were not royals Or servants.

She disguised herself and blended in, Exploring every nook and cranny

Of the city.

Disappearing like a shadow and

Learning how to walk as quietly as a leaf.

She made friends where ever she went.

Shop owners and their children.

Tea shop owners, librarians and blacksmiths,

Children of all sorts.

One day, while exploring the library

She found a mysterious note

Promising a most unusual quest.

The promise of adventure, and

Directions to a mysterious castle.

She packed up her horse and

Put on her suit of armor,

Ready for any adventure or obstacle

That she would face.

She was finally going on an adventure!

Seeing the world, all on her own.

After years spent growing up on

The exciting stories her brothers told,

Sitting by the fire on a cold winter night and After reading about daring warriors

In the pages of books found in the library, Princess Annet was finally going on

An adventure of her own.

In all the adventures she had read,

There were always lots of people

Who went on the quests with the hero.

She tried her best, to make friends.

To find companions to help guide her.

One night, while sitting alone by the light of her camp fire Three dwarves asked,

"Fellow traveler could we share your camp?"

From that night forward, those dwarves

Shared in her adventure.

The letter she had found

Contained a map to an abandoned palace Where there was the promise of treasure.

Her path led through dark caves,

On through a sprawling forest,

Through an abandoned garden maze and

To the abandoned palace.

When Princess Annet and the dwarves made it to the mouth of the caves,

Princess Annet was thankful for the

Friendship she had found in the three dwarves.

They guided her through the midnight black caves.

They travelled through with

Lanterns to light their way

Through the pitch black darkness.

The darkness didn't scare Princess Annet, Much to the surprise of the dwarves.

The light of the lanterns

Bounced off the sparkling crystals.

The bouncing of the light and

The light of the lanterns soon

Guided Princess Annet and the dwarves

Safely through the midnight black caves.

On the other side of the caves,

Princess Annet and the dwarves were faced With a large and rambling forest.

Many of the forests Princess Annet had read about

Were foreboding, dark and dangerous.

This forest however,

Was merely old and quiet and comforting.

A place to go travel through, When going on adventures.

It was in this forest that Princess Annet met

A surprising best friend.

A huge bull elk approached her.

He made friends with her and the three dwarves.

He offered to take them through the forest.

When Princess Annet told him of where their destination was

The bull elk said he knew of the abandoned palace.

The elk took Princess Annet and the dwarves,

Carrying them all on his back.

The journey was swift,

The trees flashing by in a blur of green.

All too soon, the trees thinned out.

The castle soon came into view.

On the entrance to the castle gate,

Princess Annet found attached a letter,

A poem that would guide her through

The maze that was

The abandoned castle.

She walked through the gate and

Into the overgrown and abandoned garden.

Through the wild forest grounds and

Into the ancient castle.

The house was a maze,

The letter guided her through the

Labyrinthine hallways.

Items had been tagged "Drink me",

"Eat me", "Turn left", "Go right".

The directions led her to the

Grandest library she had ever seen.

The three dwarves with her were able to help guide her through the cave like hallways.

The treasure she had sought,

The treasure that she had been guided to Turned out not to be gold or jewels,

Much to the surprise of the dwarves,

But the books that she loved so much.

Thousands of books,

Rows upon rows of bookshelves.

Leather bound books, metal books,

Thick books, Thin books,

Books of all shapes and sizes.

For the dwarves with her,

They were surprised that these

Were the things Princess Annet

Thought of as treasures.

They were excited and intrigued

To discover what treasures

Princess Annet discovered.

Where her discoveries led her next.