A Chance of Fate

Chapter 2

Sarah finally found herself hiding in the horse stables. She was underneath the straw bedding in her favorite stallion's pen. The trembling of her body was a mixture of cold and terror. Her breathing was heavy as she gasped in huge amounts of air to feed her starving lungs. As her body settled, and her breathing slowed, she allowed herself to listen. She could hear the soft nickering of the royal horses and the gentle swishing of their tails. She poked her head out and stifled a scream. Giggling quietly, she reached up to rub the soft muzzle of Moonlight, her personal horse and favorite stallion. 

"You nearly gave me a heart attack, Moonlight.", she quietly reproached her horse. He responded by nuzzling her a bit harder. "Okay, okay.", she giggled a bit louder, her small hands wiping his mane from his eyes. "But you're going to get fat.", she said matter-of-factly. Giggling even more, she slowly crept from her hiding place and towards the carrot bin. She quickly grabbed as many as her hands could carry before hurrying back to a now excited Moonlight. He whinnied his excitement, as she hushed him by shoving the stolen carrots into his eager mouth. "You glutton.", she teased "You know you should only get carrots after I've ridden you." Her following sigh was long and filled with emotion. 

"Do you think my betrothed will love me?", she asked Moonlight as he happily munched away on his unexpected midnight snack. "I mean, you don't think that my life will be the same or even worse with him, do you?", she anxiously implored, but her horse just looked at her before softly headbutting her chest, asking for more carrots. 

"You won't find out for another ten years, princess." Her breath caught as she whipped around to face the deep and husky voice behind her, but it was only Conway. 

Breathing heavily again, "Conway! You scared the living Hell out of me! I'm already in so much trouble, I can't stand another fright, tonight." She let the words tumble from her mouth, her eyes watering at the thought of why she was now hiding in the stables. 

Conway strode confidently towards her. He knew why she was hiding. He'd been sent by her father to find and retrieve her, but he knew her father, the King of Emerald Forest and the Seven Lakes, didn't actually want to see her. The king was much too embarrassed by being beaten and eluded yet again by his six-year-old daughter, even if he'd been in a drunken stupor. He trusted Conway to handle the child's punishment. What the king didn't know was that Conway had no intention of punishing his daughter, Sarah. After all, he was the one training her to fight, and he was damn proud of how she'd handled herself tonight. For a small child to render a battle worn man bloody and unconscious, yes, he was indeed damn proud. He'd watched as the king had bedded one daughter after another, whether they'd wished it or not, and he had vowed to himself that he wouldn't stand by and watch it again! So, last year, when Sarah had turned five, and he knew the king's lust was beginning to center upon her, he'd begun her training. She was a fast learner, faster than any soldier he'd ever trained, and he'd marveled at her will to learn the art of self-defense, hand-to-hand combat, and war. 

"Come with me, Sarah. We will continue our training, tonight, under the light of the full moon." With that he gently brushed his hand against her cheek, wiping away the stray tear that had escaped her sliver eyes, before turning and walking out of the stables. 

"Be safe tonight, my beloved Moonlight.", she breathed into the stallion's soft muzzle, "I'll come to visit you again, tomorrow, if I'm allowed.", she assured her stallion, before she too turned and ran to catch up with her mentor.