AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Paul led us past the many stalls occupied by both horses and donkeys. Without his guidance, it would have taken ages to find my present. Several servants were tending to the animals, from feeding to brushing them with handfuls of hay. He stopped in front of a stall near the end of the stable. He opened the stall and stepped aside to reveal a beautiful white mare with its small foal. The mother was eating hay while the foal was lying on the floor.
Carefully, Paul stepped inside and petted the white mare on its small but sturdy-looking neck. Alrick and I followed slowly, so as not to scare the little foal.
“Is it actually mine now?” I asked, placing a gentle hand on the foal’s forehead. It didn’t shy away from my touch.
“Yes,” Alrick said as he reached out his own hand to pet the foal.
The sound of metal hitting the floor startled the foal, and it jumped to its feet. Its shoulder collided with my chest as it hid behind its mother, and I fell backward.
Alrick jumped to my side, grabbing my elbow to pull me back up.
“Are you hurt?”
“I’m fine.” I looked at the tiara that had fallen off my head and was about to pick it up when Paul looked at me in utter shock.
“Your Highness.” Paul’s face was pale as he pointed at my hand. “You are bleeding!” I looked down at myself and immediately felt a burning sensation pulsating from an inch-long scratch in my palm.
“You again!” a man shouted from the direction the noise had come from. Paul, Alrick, and I stepped out of the stall to find a girl about my age surrounded by several servants. The girl was dressed in rags, and her face and arms were covered in dirt. She was clenching a few carrots and an apple tightly to her skinny chest.
“It’s the little thief from last week,” one of the younger stable boys said.
Paul made his way to the little girl, his hands balled into shaking fists.
“You little rat! Because of you, the princess is hurt!” He grabbed one of the many whips hanging from the walls.
“I’m so hungry.” The girl started crying as she fell to her knees.
Paul stepped in front of the girl and raised the whip high above his head. “This will teach you a lesson!” He brought the leather tassels down in a slashing movement, hitting her right on her chest. In a pitiful scream, the girl dropped the food to cover her head. Paul raised the whip again, his face twisted in anger, but just when he was about to strike again, I launched forward.
“Stop!” I shouted as I ran up to the little girl. Paul froze; all heads turned in my direction.
“Your Highness?” Paul asked, confused.
“I said stop it,” I repeated, grabbing the girl by her arm. It felt cold and bony. The color of her skin was of an unhealthy blue and white.
“She was just hungry,” I said. “You scared her!”
Suddenly I had an idea. I shot back up to my feet, rushing past Paul and Alrick into my foal’s stall. I looked for the tiara my father had given me and grabbed it from the hay-covered floor. Determined, I ran back to the girl.
“Here,” I said.
The little girl didn’t move. Her brown eyes scanned the crowd, briefly stopping at Paul.
“Your Highness,” Paul said, “you are kind, but—”
“Here,” I said again, interrupting Paul. I held the tiara even closer to her, right in front of her face. Her brown eyes locked on mine, and before anyone could say anything else, she grabbed the tiara and sprinted out of the stable, leaving the carrots and apple behind.
Paul shook his head, his face twisted in worry. “How are we to explain this to His Highness?”
Alrick walked up to me and grabbed my hand. I looked at him and, for the first time, realized that his eyes were as blue as the sky. Never had I seen eyes so blue.
“What a kind heart you have, Princess,” he said, squeezing my hand.
A warm, glowing feeling rose up in my chest as if the sun had risen inside me. I smiled at him.
“My mother,” he said, still looking at me, “always tells me that the gods show kindness to those who show kindness first.”
My smile widened as the warmth inside me grew. “You have more than one god?”
