Once upon a time…

There was a beautiful princess from the kingdom of Theolia. She had hair as smooth as silk and as golden as corn, eyes as crystal clear as a river and the color of watery ice, skin as fair as the delicate sun’s rays. She went by the name of Lilac. Not Princess Lilac, just Lilac. Princess was too regal, too… fancy for such a simple girl, she felt.

Then there was the prince from the Weldon Empire. He wasn’t very big and strong like all the other princes, but he wasn’t a stick either. He was instead very kind and humble. He had dark eyes that you could stare into forever and cinnamon colored hair that was short and unevenly perfect. He was Prince Julian.

Now, Lilac and Prince Julian’s kingdoms had been at war with each other for decades. It all started because Lilac’s great-great-great-great grandfather had had a fight with Prince Julian’s great-great-great-great grandfather about who was better at fencing. So they never met each other. Until…

Lilac slept soundly in her sheets of silk one fine morning, dreaming of a better world without war, where flowers bloomed and the sun shone instead of the rainy, barren, rocky terrain they all chose to live in. She was awoken by her scullery maid, Janie.

“Wake up, Princess Lilac.” She gently roused the princesses’s shoulder until she opened her eyes.

Lilac blinked. “Why, good morning, Miss Janie!” She replied, yawning. “What brings you here this lovely summer morning?”

Janie cleared her throat. “Why, Princess Lilac, I’m your maid. Of course I’m here. I just came to let you know that your warm bath is ready.”

Lilac tilted her head. “Oh, right. Thank you.” She slid into her velvet slippers and made her way towards her bathroom. Right before she shut the door, she added over her shoulder, “And don’t call me Princess!”

………

“Julian, son, wake up! You were supposed to be up at dawn for the selection of your princess!”

Julian groaned and sat up in his bed. “Father, I’ve told you, I don’t want to-“

“I don’t care,” his father interrupted calmly, “I do care that you find a fitting princess to marry. So, up, up!” He tore the sheets off his son’s bed and stalked out of the room.

Julian mumbled a curse under his breath as he stumbled out of bed and into the bathroom, where his young maid, Kara, was waiting with a grin.

“Hi, Julian,” she said sheepishly, “Your bath is ready.”

Julian forced a smile. “Why thank you, Kara. You may leave now. I will be getting in the bath.”

Kara stood up slowly but didn’t exit the room. Julian raised his eyebrows and ushered her out, her eyes lingered on him the whole time.

“Bye, Ju-“ Julian slammed the door, cutting off her words. He wasn’t trying to be rude… but the silly maid had had a little (maybe a tad bit bigger than little) crush on him since he could remember, and it was getting quite annoying.

He finished his warm bath and dried off, making sure his towel was wrapped firmly around his waist as he emerged to grab his clothes from Kara. He returned to the bathroom quickly, locking the door behind him.

As he dressed, he wondered what his father would think if he didn’t like any of the princesses. Like he hadn’t yesterday, or the day before that, or the day before… the list went on. Basically, since Julian was 12, his father had been trying to get him to find a beautiful princess to marry. Sure, many of them were pretty, but he wanted to actually fall in love, not be forced to.

So, to quickly clear his mind, he skirted the edges of their giant castle to the stables, where all of the family’s horses stayed. His, a beautiful palomino named Mocha, was waiting for him patiently at the gates.

Without a word, he climbed up on Mocha and they galloped into the fields that were behind the castle. It was quite pretty, with leafy trees that formed a canopy over the heads of everyone underneath.

It wasn’t long into his ride that he heard the clomping of another horse, and it was near. He reached for the holster where his pistol was and dared to raise his voice.

“Who goes there?” He yelled.

“Just me,” she said.