A peace found the Princess that night. No dreams, no chanting just a peaceful drift. A drift that was only disturbed by the sudden shine of the sunlight that rested on her eyes. With a mumbling groan, Shir sat up with a yawn. Rubbing her eyes and scanning the room, she was surprised to see that she was alone and that her maid hadn't woken her up by opening the curtains. No, the curtains were left open from last night. With another grumble, the Princess stumbled over to shut them so she can climb back into her bed without needing to have a care in the world.
That was until a stern knock was sounded at her door. With a silent huff the Princess stumbled over to her door, "it's too early for this". Shir had complained, only to hear an amused chuckle come from her father.
"I'm afraid you have to be up early, we have a few tasks on us for today" King Arvin playfully ruffled his daughters hair. He was already dressed in his royal attire, looking ready to spend the day in court. "For starts, Lady Swea will be waking up in a few hours and by then I and Prince Bosso, expects you to be dressed and ready to meet the new baby. And to have a gift for the new mother" her father's tone was stern, scolding almost.
With a more relaxed and bright smile, Shir asked in a delight, "did the birth go well?".
"Yes" King Arvin nodded, he to looked delighted to hear. "Luckily, there were no complications and from my report from Toney, of all people, she had a smooth labour. The baby sounds healthy and strong" he explained, ruffling his daughters hair again before leaving.
"There's no need for that" Shir pouted, trying to fix her hair that's now knotted and tangled.
"See you there in at least two hours" King Arvin called back, holding up two fingers before turning the corner.
With a soft sigh, Shir went down the hall, past the corner and down a few flight of stairs. Her maid, Eva, should be in her sleeping chambers with the workers chambers. Or at least getting ready to leave. "Princess, up early again?" Eva asked, causing the Princess jump in a startle, not expecting her to be behind her.
"Yes, father wanted me to be ready and to buy a gift for the Lady Swea" Shir explained but her maid held a giggle from her reaction. "Oh- and how's Eoviet? Did he settle well?" She asked, suiting that an update now would be better than later.
With a nod, her maid replied, "went out like a candle. The poor boy was exhausted by time I got him a chamber". Shir nodded, at least he got some rest. Eoviet did look ready to drop at any moment, it still baffles the Princess on what happened to him. Sure the borders of the kingdom, of which he claims to be from, were not as bursting with wildlife or farmland. It still shouldn't be as bad to cause someone to be as malnourished as Eoviet is. Thinking back, the boy really did feel a skeleton when she helped him onto her horse or up the stairs. A pain within her chest burned. A guilt of not being aware that some of her people are living like that.
"I should inform father of the situation, maybe even travel out and see what had caused this starvation? But why didn't he or anyone in his village call for help long before it got to that point?" Shir questioned herself. Trying to wrap around the idea that no-one in his village could have called out for the king. "It's not your fault, Princess" Eva suddenly spoke up with a tone of concern but comforting.
"What?" Shir asked with a raised eyebrow, looking back at her maid.
"I know that look" Eva explained, gently rubbing her back, "that's the same look you have every time you see a wounded guard or soldier".
With a sigh, Shir expressed, "but how could we have been so unaware? If we just ventured out to the borders more often then maybe we could have helped a starving village". Eva shook her head slightly, gently guiding the Princess back up the stairs.
"Well, now we do know" her maid stated, her tone soft but slightly stern. "Now we can check up on any village by the borders, examine which ones struggle and which ones don't" the maid nodded to herself. Shir could only nod, tracking back up the stairs. Right before opening the large doors to reach the top chambers, they heard something fall.
Turning back, both Princess and maid saw Eoviet rubbing his head after what seems to be him tripping on one of the plant pots. Catnip, since this plant had been famous in the kingdom to deter ants. "Sorry, I'll clean it up" Eoviet gave a sheepish grin. Picking up the large pot that thankfully didn't brake. Eva giggled to herself before walking over to help him clean up the soil but Shir had a different thought. That plant was around the corner of the hall, how could he trip on it he had more space than needed? The only answer Shir could think of was that he was ease dropping.
Crossing her arms, the Princess gave a serious glare at the boy. "And what were you doing?" She asked, her tone more fixed than before. With a slight shiver that visibly ran down the boy, he answered with a stutter.
"S-sorry I-I didn't mean to overhear- I j-just didn't want to interrupt" he gave another awkward and nervous grin. Narrowing her eyes, the Princess shrugged and spoke with a warning.
"Next time, it would be best if you could just walk past, don't huddle in a corner" with that, Eoviet nodded. Him and Eva having cleaned up the mess and the plant sat back in its spot.
"So um- where to now? I mean, I don't know what exactly to do" Eoviet asked, more hushly than before.
"Well, you can either go to Toney to try and figure out whatever this spell is on you. Try and find the King to report your attack from that beast or you can help me find a present for the Lady Swea" Shir listed, her tone tired and not fully ready to start the day. "Your choise" she added and Eoviet nodded.
"Can I join you?" He asked, his eyes pleading. "As much as this spell is scary, I'd rather not get shocked ten more times this morning" he chuckled to himself.
Shir nodded back, heading up the stairs where he and her maid followed. "Sure, just wait out here for a moment and..." Shir turned to her maid. "Eva, could you actually find Eoviet some clean clothes?" She asked to which her maid bowed and gestured for Eoviet to follow. Seeing them leave, Shir entered her room and threw on the first outfit she saw. It was a simple shirt that was stitched to hold the patterns of roses over a soft back material. Her bottoms just being enough to tuck her shirt in nearly and hold a belt that had a golden rose buckle.
Shir enjoyed a more darker colour theme, in her opinion, black matches any clothing. Especially clothing that held simple but enjoyable patterns. "Now where did I leave my boots?" The Princess muttered to herself. Searching her shoe rack only to find half of her footwear were not in their right spots. With a sigh, Shir grabbed a random pair and headed out. Making her way to the stables to tack up her horse for this shopping trip. The morning sun sent gentle rays of light to the castle, painting it with soft highlights. The stables, being both next to the keep and behind the mages tower, was painted with shadows. Darkened shade fell on the horses stalls.
"Of course Autumn spent the night out in the feild" Shir mumbled to herself, finding his stall empty and most of the horses out in the fields.
"Need any help, Princess?" A stable hand asked, he was sat in the corner on a brake.
"Could you get my tack out of storage?" Shir asked, with a bow the stable hand got up to do as ordered. Leaving the Princess to enter the grazing field just outside of the castle walls. Many horses could be seen grazing, most of them were mustangs but a good handful were shires and the mules could be seen playing near the back.
A high pitched whistle came from the Princess, causing a buckskin stallion to charge over in an excitment. Stopping just infront of the Princess, "come on" she spoke softly. Her stallion huffed and followed her to the stalls where the stable hand had left her tack for her. It didn't take too long for her to tack up her horse, grooming his fur before adding the saddle pad.
"All set?" Eva asked, only having just arrived with Eoviet behind her.
"Yep" Shir nodded, double checking the saddle before mounting. Autumn looking ready to start off, only to whine softly when the Princess pulled back on the rains to tell him to stop.
"I think you are forgetting something" Eva sighed and handed the Princess her coin purse.
"Oh, thank you" Shir chuckled a little nervously. What would she do without her maid?
"Eoviet, you know how to ride a horse?" Eva asked after asking for a saddle from the stable hand. Eoviet shrugged slightly, looking at the two mustangs that Eva had hitched out.
"Not really" Eoviet mumbled his reasons, gently petting the shoulder of a chestnut. The mare huffing as she sniffed the strange boy who approached her.
"Quick lesson" the maid spoke as she began to tack up a bay horse, the stable hand sorting the saddle of the chestnut. "Be gentle on the rain, they are to tell which was the horse should go. Pull back to slow down or stop but if you pull back when still the horse will walk backwards. Gently apply pressure with your legs to tell the horse to walk forward, use any extra pressure to go faster, but do not! Kick the horse" Shir listened, amused by her maids quick summary.
"You're forgetting to not leave pressure unless you want the horse to bolt" Shir added, feeling her stallion get bored of waiting as he kicked at the ground.
"Yes and roll your shoulders back to try and gain balance" Eva added.
Eoviet nodded hesitantly, mimicking Eva's moments to mount the chestnut. Sitting a little unbalanced on her back. "Do not rely on the rains for balance" Shir suggested, "that's one way to get thrown off". Eoviet nodded, Shir began to lead the trio out of the stables, down through the main gate. From there she kept the pase on a steady walk, too early to go cantering. The sounds of the horses hooves clocking on the road echoed in the quiet of the early morning. Most stores were just opening or waiting to be opened.
Shir lead the group down the road and to the main market to find jewls or little gifts. "Ok, this isn't as hard as I thought it would" Eoviet spoke up from behind them. Shir turned to see that he had mangard to find a better balance, the slow walk making it easier for him to learn.
"Wait until you go riding in the country side, then you'll never want to get off" Shir half joked, seeing the market just down the road. Smiling when she saw that the stalls she was thinking off were opening, a few gems glittered in the sunlight already.
Shir stirred her horse to the hitching posts, she wrapped her rains on the pole. A water trough already filled for the horses to drink. Walking up to the stalls, the Princess browsed. Charms with cute and carefully molded shapes and modles were on display with a locked glass case. Little rubies, sapphires and even diamonds could be seen on these charms. "Think, the Lady Swea would like a new charm?" Eva asked, her eyes scanning over at all of the little charms.
"Maybe, her charm bracelets have been looking a little full these days, to be honest" Shir shrugged, looking over at the next stall. Eoviet stuck somewhat closely behind them, his more timid nature beginning to show as he looked with them.
"Perhaps she would like a smaller gift with her favourite food? I mean, she just had a child yes?" Eoviet hushly suggested. "I don't think she would be too worried about if something is pretty" he added, explaining his opinion on the matter. Shir thought that through, "he is right, labour is painful so I don't think a pretty charm would be on her mind right now... hmm". After some thinking Shir's eyes lit up as she turned ti her maid.
"Eva, which month is it?" Shir asked, to which her maid thought before answering.
"March, may I asked why, Princess?" Eva questioned in a confusion. But Shir was already at a stall that selled bracelets.
"Do you sell any bracelets with aquamarine?" Shir asked the stall keeper. With a nod the stall keeper pulled out a box, a gorgeous silver bracelet was shown with the main gems being of aquamarine. The ocean blue gems shined in the morning sun.
"Oh! Of course" Eva nodded, now understanding why the Princess had asked for the month.
"I don't get it?" Eoviet looked at the maid with a titled head.
"Oh, people born in march have the birthstone of "aquamarine"" Eva explained,. To which Shir saw the smaller boy nod but still looking confused. Handing over the gold coins, Shir neatly put the bracelet box away, not wanting it to get stolen or damaged.