The Legend of Princess Wildheart (15 page)

  The merchant smiled.

  “That piece is going for only a half of a gold coin dear,” he said.

  “Well, it is just beautiful.  I may be back to buy it later,” said Elise.

  She continued on toward the stables to look for her Prince.

  At the castle, the Queen had located Peyton and Lauren.  They were still in the hallway talking with two of her sons.

  “Not to interrupt your fun but some packages have arrived for the girls and I would like to borrow them for a while,” said the Queen.

  Peyton and Lauren looked at each other wide eyed with excitement.

  “Of course mother, we can talk with them later,” said Prince William. 

  “Tanner and I have some business we need to tend to for a while,” he added.

  The Princes said goodbye to the girls as the Queen ushered them down to another hallway which led to their bed chambers.

  “I really like these girls Tanner, they could make great wives for a Prince,” said Prince William.

  “Me too William, I just hope they stay here long enough for us to get to know them better,” said Tanner.

  “If mother has her way, they will.  She has already begun turning them into Princesses.   I believe they will be here for a while,” said William.

  “Let’s go have some ale at the Tavern William,” said Prince Tanner as they walked from the castle into the courtyard.

  The King was alone in the weapons room.  He had his favorite sword out and was swinging it around and making stabbing motions with it.  It had been a while since he had brandished a weapon but he still had a natural feel and knack for it.  In his day he had fought in a few battles and never had any problem slaying anyone he came up against.  He was older now though and it would not be as easy as it was when he was a younger man.  He planned to stave off anyone who managed to get inside the castle to harm his family or friends there.  Trained by the best sword masters, he was a force to be reckoned with when he put his mind to it.  He would still be able to deal with anyone wanting to test his skills.

    “I won’t be backing down from any fight,” he thought to himself.

  The Queen showed Peyton and Lauren the packages in their room. 

  “Open them up girls!  Let us see what you have here,” she said.

  Peyton and Lauren were very excited.  They hadn’t received many gifts in the past.  They opened the packages to find some leather boots, vests and pants.  They were just like the ones Princess Wildheart and Pricilla wore.  There were also some nice blouses and under garments to go along with them.  They eagerly changed into their new things and were ecstatic as they stood in front of the looking glass at themselves wearing the new clothes.

  “Thank you so much for these wonderful clothes!  They are just too good to be true!” said Lauren.  “Thank you Queen Rose!” said Peyton.

  Both girls hugged the Queen.  They loved her for taking them in and being so kind and generous to them.  The Queen had some tears welling up in her eyes.  They had already told her about losing their mom to illness when they were both very young.  The Queen knew the girls had no one left in the world with their father now gone.  She and the royal family could now care for them.  The Queen would treat them as her own daughters and make sure they had the best of everything and a bright future ahead of them.  The two girls looked great in the new clothes and continued to look in the glass and chatter with each other admiring the new look.

  “We look just like Pricilla and Princess Wildheart in our new things,” said Lauren excitedly.

  “You two look fabulous!  You will be the talk of the Rose Kingdom!” said the Queen.

  “The seamstress promised that your new princess dresses will be finished very soon,”  she said.

  Out on the main pathway from the Kingdom to the Dark Forest, Princess Wildheart was still tied up in the back of Prince
Dark soul’s wagon.  He continued to rant and rave about how great he was as they plodded along.  She was completely disgusted with him, disliking everything about him.  She wondered how long it would be before Prince Morgan awakened and discovered her missing from the Kingdom.  They passed Elise Coopers’ farm and Collin Winters’ cottage as they continued into the Dark Forest.  Maybe the elves will attack and save her, she thought as they continued deeper into the forest.

Elise had made her way to the stables and entered through the main doors.  The horses appeared to be there but there was no one in sight.  She didn’t notice the swords
lying on the ground.

  “Maybe they are over at the Tavern drinking some ale,” she thought as she turned and went that direction.  She entered the Tavern and found the two Princes at a small table sipping ale.

  “No luck finding your Prince?” asked Prince Tanner.

  “He was not in the stables.  I thought maybe he went in here,” said Elise, scanning the room for him.

  “He will turn up soon I’m sure.  May I buy you ale Elise?  I am enjoying one for myself,” said Prince Tanner.

  “Sure, that sounds refreshing.  Thank You Prince,” said Elise as the Prince stood and pulled out a chair for her to sit in. 

  She sat and talked with the Princes while enjoying the ale delivered by the Tavern Maid.

  Out on the trail, Prince Darksoul kept the wagon moving along.  It was becoming a bumpy ride for Princess Wildheart who still remained tied up in the back of the wagon.  Even though she was not gagged anymore, she had little to say to the evil Prince as they rode along.  The Princess was getting really tired of the constant bragging and annoying comments from Prince Darksoul.

  “Hey, why not let me go now and you can escape before Prince Morgan and the others wake up and come kill you,” she said to the disgusting Prince Darksoul.

  “We can just keep going until we get to my Kingdom and you marry me Princess.  No need to fantasize about a white knight rescue from Prince Morgan.  He is still under the hay out cold would be my guess,” said Prince Darksoul.

  “Do as you wish Darksoul.  Not only will I refuse to marry you but the longer you drag this out you are just ensuring death for yourself in the end,” said Princess Wildheart.

  “Keep talking to me like that Princess and I will stop the wagon and put the gag back in your mouth,” warned Prince Darksoul.

  Princess Wildheart decided to not provoke him any farther since it would not benefit her to be gagged again.  As angry as she was, all that could be done was to ride along quietly until a chance to escape or be rescued presented itself to her.  They continued deeper into the forest and Princess Wildheart began thinking about Chelsi again.  The elves could barrage Darksoul with tiny arrows knocking him out and saving her.  It seemed that she was not in that bad of a spot here.  Potential rescue from Prince Morgan or Chelsi would be possible and Prince Darksoul wasn’t harming her for now.  She smiled at the thought of the elves attacking the evil Prince.  Then she remembered the small pouch of sleep potion that Chelsi had given her.  Looking down at her vest she could see that the bag was still in her pocket from the elf encounter. 

  “I don’t have my Princess Sword but I do have some knock out powder!”  She thought.  “Chelsi had said it could be eaten or put in a drink and have the same effect as it did when the tiny arrows were coated with it.” 

  The Princess then smiled big as a plan came to mind.

  “Prince Darksoul.  I wonder if I might have my hands freed so I can enjoy some white powder tea,” she said.

  “No, I think you can stay tied up until we reach my Kingdom.  My guards can keep watch over you there my soon to be bride.  I do believe that some tea might be refreshing for me at this point.  White powder tea you say?  Never heard of that particular variety,” he said, mulling the idea over.

  “Well I could sure use some now.  It helps me to stay beautiful and gives me great strength until it wears off,” said the Princess.

  “It sounds like the tea should be for me, not you,” said Prince Darksoul. 

  He stopped the wagon and went back to where the Princess sat.

  “Where is this white powder tea you speak of?”  He asked.

  “It’s my tea!  Not yours!  You have no reason to want any more strength or be better looking Prince Darksoul,” said the Princess.

  “I can decide for myself what I want without your help Princess!  Where is it?”  He asked.

  “It’s in my vest pocket but it is mine, not yours,” said Princess Wildheart.

  Prince Darksoul grabbed the pouch from her pocket and then licked the side of her face again.  She was completely disgusted once again but happy he was falling for her plan so far.

  “You make me sick!  Don’t touch me!” 

  “That was your lunch and tea Princess!”  laughed Prince Darksoul.  “I know you liked that,” he said laughing even harder.

  “After drinking this tea I will be the strong one!  Not you with your soggy face,” he laughed while returning to the driver’s seat of the wagon.

  “Wrong Darksoul, you will be the sleeping one.”  The princess thought to herself smiling.

  She turned her head and watched the evil one pour
ed a cup of water for himself and dumped some white powder inside to make some tea.  He was thirsty so he guzzled it right down, every drop.

  “Your tea tastes like crap!  Only if I get some extra strength would it be worth putting up with the bad taste of it,” he said.

  “Goodnight Prince Dummy!”  The Princess thought to herself.

  Prince Darksoul started the wagon moving again.  It only rolled a few feet when the Prince began to feel funny.

  “Your girlie tea is making me sick!  What kind of crummy tea is that?” 

  Prince Darksoul was starting to get angry now that the tea was kicking in.

  “I call it Sleep Well Tea,” said Princess Wildheart, trying not to laugh.

  “That’s a really stupid name for a tea,” said Prince Darksoul.

  He moved the wagon a few more feet but then started getting sleepy.

  “We will stop here and rest a while,” he said. 

  He got out of the wagon and tied the horse to a small tree.  Then he got out his bedroll and laid down in the shade of the cart for a nap.  A minute later he was asleep.

  “Prince Darksoul!”  

  No answer, the powder had done him in.  He would be out for hours now.  Princess Wildheart happily scooted to the back of the wagon and hopped down to the ground.  She sat and found that the ropes on her feet could be reached by her hands.  In a few minutes her feet were free from the bindings.  She stood and walked over to Prince Darksoul who was sound asleep.  She kicked him in the sides a few times as hard as she could.  He didn’t move or even make a sound.  He was in knockout land now.

  “Now if I can just free my hands from these ropes.” 

  She looked in the front of the wagon and found nothing to help her there.  She looked back at Prince Darksoul and saw he had his sword still attached to his belt.  Using her boot she managed to slide it from the sheath and kick it away from him.  Sitting on the ground she could get the sword blade between her boots and rub the ropes against the sharp blades until they were cut through.  With the sharp blades of the sword her hands were free in no time.

  “Finally free from Prince scumbag,” she said out loud.

  She got a drink of fresh water and put her bag of powder into her vest pocket again.  She tossed the sword over into some shrubs and untied the horse from the tree.  Walking back over to Prince Darksoul sleeping on the ground she kicked him in the side with her boots as hard as she could.

  “That is for hitting my friends!” 

  “This is for licking my face!” 

  She then kicked him again as hard as she could.  The Princess rolled him under the wagon and took his bedroll to make herself a saddle.  She unhitched the horse from the wagon and rode off leaving Prince Darksoul behind under the wagon.  She was a skilled rider and would soon be leaving the Dark Forest in her wake heading toward her Prince and Rose Kingdom.

  At the Tavern, Prince Tanner, Prince William and Elise had finished their ale and decided to go back over to the stables and see if the others had returned there yet.  They entered the stables and found the Stable Master had just awakened.  He was standing there rubbing his head.

  “What’s wrong?”
asked Prince Tanner.

  “Someone came up from behind me when I was brushing that horse over there and hit me in the head with something.  It must have knocked me out.  I just woke up a few minutes ago and my head has this lump and is throbbing,” said the Stable Master.

  “Are you ok?” asked Elise.

“Yea, I guess so, just hurts a little bit,” he said.

  The two Princes started looking around to make sure the horses were alright.  Then they heard a soft moan over in the direction of the haystack.  They went over to the haystack and started pulling some of the hay back and found Duke lying there underneath it.

  “Duke!
Duke!  You ok sir?” asked Prince Tanner.

  “I’ll live.  I was just in here with Prince Morgan and the two girls along with Prince Tangent.  We found the Stable Master unconscious and were trying to wake him when
someone attacked us from behind.  Where is everyone else?” asked Duke.