Skin as Smooth as Snakes

Chapter 1

Chapter 1.

“Coming Mila!” I yelled, as I mounted my sleek white Arabian, Emerald, and started trotting over to where Mila sat on the back of Sapphire, my mothers large dapple gray. We talked about how our lives had been since she left for school to become a teacher. She returned yesterday after ten months away from the palace where she decided to live after her brother proposed to me and I denied. We had been dating in secret for a year now because we both accepted the fact that my mother would never accept her as a part of the family, and the same for her. So we snuck out to meet each other at the stables every free night we had, and luckily for us, no one ever found out. When she left for school I was lonely because my best friend was sent away and my only friend now was my personal maid, Sophie. We had met a few weeks after Mila left and she was the only person that I told about my secret, and she has swore on her life that she will keep it, and I trust her completely. The little dark-skinned thin maid has been my only salvation. I thought of these precious moments for a few minutes before we came to a fork in the road, and turned left into the garden dedicated to my late father, King Newmen, who died after my crazy mother poisoned him because she only wanted him for his crown and riches. We came to a stop and practically jumped off our horses to give each other hugs. “I’ve missed you!” Mila practically cried. “So have I! I have so much to tell you.” “Before you do,” Mila said, not finishing her sentence as she jumped up and gave me a kiss on the forehead. “I wanted to do that.” Mila finished. We sat down on the gray stoned fountain. I had told my mother that I was going to greet her so we could have some allowed secrecy together. I took out the basket of lush berries, watering vegetables, spiced chicken breast and baby back ribs. For dessert we ate blueberry creme brulee, fruity macaroons, and cakes of every flavor. By the time dusk had fallen, we were both filled to the brim with the delicacies. “Thank you so much Kie. I have not eaten this good in months.” She whispered as she laid her tired head on my silken dress laying over my lap. Giggling, I bent down to kiss her, hearing someone scream just feet away. “Eady! What the hell are you doing here?” I yelled, looking back at Mila’s red face. Eady was my friend Amelia’s little- and annoying- sister. “I’m telling your mom. She will have you married off immediately.” Eady was only ten, so I was surprised she even knew what that meant. Mila and I quickly mounted our tired horses and rode back to the palace. We left the animals with the guards before we sprinted into the throne room. “Mom, I swear, Eady is lying.” I tried to convince her, but she was obviously not budging. “Get her.” She practically growled at the guards encircling the room. “Run.” Mila whispered to me, but I was frozen in place. “Run!” Mila demanded a second time, and now I did. I ran as fast as I ever had out the door and quickly jumped on Emerald. “I love you!” Mila yelled behind me, and I felt the tears fall as I heard Mila scream behind me, probably being held back by the guards, or being arrested. I heard the tens of pounding hooves behind me. I jumped over a blackened and fallen tree, quickly running off into a thicket leaving the hoard behind me.

We rode into the supposedly haunted Forest of Mysteries, cantering in complete silence until I commanded Emerald to slow down and flopped over on Emeralds neck, sobbing into her soft coat. I stayed like that for what felt like hours, but must have only been about thirty minutes. I thought about how quickly my life had gone from paradise to hell in a matter of hours. Eventually I decided to keep riding, maybe I could find my way to the Forgotten, and Amelia could help me figure out this Hell-hole of a life. I quietly cried for hours, until we ran into a very… Interesting young man, who could not be any older than me with red hair chopped short with bangs and freckles. He was wearing a gray suit with rows and rows of medals along his chest, and the British flag on a too-tight belt along his waist. He wore expensive-looking tan boots and a smirk across his smug face. “Hello beautiful, where are you off too?” I squirmed in my saddle at that name, but still answered “well, first of all, my name is Kiera, and I am going to The Forgotten.” I answered, trying to wipe my tears without gaining too much attention. “Aww, please, tell me what is wrong.” This mysterious man asked. “Well, if you must know,” I responded angrily, “My mom has sent her guards on me because of someone I love, that person is now probably sitting in a jail cell, or being hanged for something as innocent as love.” I confessed, not really knowing why I told him any of that. “Well, I am sorry, but I want you to know that my name is Prince John of England, and you are most certainly Princess Kiera of Estonia, and I can help you get out of this forest and away from your mother, the queen, but only if you marry me.” I immediately took my right foot out of my stirrup and kicked him in the face. “What the hell! Why did you do that!” Prince i***t John exclaimed. “Because that is a no. I do not even love men!” I yelled back. He gasped, and I kicked Emerald, and she ran through the trees and jumped over a fallen tree, and then a small stream. I heard the Prince call for troops, and knew I would not be able to get out unless I did not stop for days. After a few minutes we came across another stream and I let Emerald drink to prepare for the long days and nights of very light rest ahead. I was beginning to get uncomfortable in a dress while riding a horse, so I ripped off the long and thick layer, leaving only the short thin one. I quickly dismounted and put the clothes on a different trail, thinking that would distract the troops for a day or two, leading them in the wrong direction. After an hour or so, we stopped and I tied Emerald to a low branch and ran farther and farther into the forest. I was going hunting. I had my dagger and sheath at my waist, ready to run at the very first sign of movement. I saw a deer running by, and ran over to it to find it grazing on some grass. I threw my dagger and it hit the poor deer in the chest, making it fall to the ground. I brought it back to Emerald and made myself a fire and harvested some soft grass to make myself a bed while I waited for the deer to cook. I heard heavy footsteps and grunts, and looked up to see a huge brown bear eating my dinner. I stood up slowly and tried to jump on Emerald without being noticed but I failed, and ended up falling onto the hard ground. I stood up, touching my forehead where I felt blood and winced when I felt a sharp pain across my face. The bear looked up, smelling my blood. I wiped it off and mounted Emerald, starting to run the second I was in the saddle, which I will admit was a bad idea. The bear ran after us and scratched my leg with his huge claws. Looking down I saw blood covering my entire leg and I tried to hold in my tears. I ordered Emerald to push her limits and keep running as she began to slow down, but the bear still managed to catch up to us and take hold of my stirrup and rip it clean from under me. I landed with a crash at the bear's feet and saw the brown beast s***h my face before my world went black. I woke up the next morning to an icy breeze on my face, and it reminded me of my many severe cuts, which I saw had all been bandaged up. Looking up, I saw a man, about twenty, standing next to me, submerged in a tornado of wind and ice. I screamed the moment I saw his white complexion. When I say white, I mean his skin was so pale it was almost white, ice blue eyes, and snowy white short hair. “Wh-who are you?” I asked timidly. “I am Gust, leader of Wind.” He said in a deep voice. “Well, what are you doing here?”

“I am here to protect you on your journey to The Forgotten. And I think you owe me a thank you.” “Why?” I asked. “For god's sake, I just saved you from that bear that was about to eat you!” “Oh. Sorry. I must have passed out. “But that still does not explain how you know that I am going to the Forgotten.” I asked, trying to mask my nervousness with anger. “I know everything about you.” He responded, sounding like, well, a know-it-all. “How?” “Because of Queen Lavinia of the Elements.” “And who is she again?” I asked, genuinely wanting to know who this Queen of the Elements is. “Have you ever heard the myth about the Galaxy Goddess?” He asked, with a slight smirk on his face. “Yes, I am the princess of Estonia, and I think everyone in the country has heard of the Galaxy Goddess.” I responded smugly. “Well, it is not a myth. And her real name is Queen Lavinia of the Elements, and she is my boss.” I stared open-mouthed, but quickly closed it when I heard him laughing. “What is so funny?” I asked, angrily. “It’s just that you seem so surprised.” “Well of course I am! You just told me that there is a magical queen living in my country!” “Well, to be fair, you are a magical princess ruling this country.” I considered it, deciding that he was right. “Are you ready to go princess? We will meet my friends Ember, Cove, and my girlfriend, Fern.” He said proudly. He also seemed to be daydreaming about this girlfriend. I wondered if she was pretty, then I remembered about Mila, and the bad thoughts came back. “Are you OK princess? I am sorry if I triggered any memories. I heard about Mila, and I am sorry.” He said sadly. “No, no. It is OK. Also, you can call me Kiera.” I said with a fake smile on my face. “Well, let’s go. Cove will be waiting at the end of the stream, Ember will be waiting by the Eternally Burning Fire, and Fern will be waiting in our tree house.” I knew Gust was trying to break the ice, but the way he said “our” broke my heart, not the ice. We stopped fifteen minutes later to pick up Cove, who traded places with Gust who could fly, on Emerald's back. The next girl we picked up was Fern, who immediately ran down to hug Gust, and my life was a world of “I've missed you so much!” And “I can’t believe how long we were apart! I love you too much to do that again.” For about five minutes. We decided to leave Emerald's saddle at the campsite so we could fit all of these people on her back, but it was still uncomfortable. It took a longer twenty minutes to get to Ember, who scowled the second she saw us. “Do you really expect me to fly? Fern, gust can carry you, right? I refuse to go anywhere unless I am on that horse.” I rolled my eyes and told her “well, you will have to. This is my horse, Emerald. And you will not be riding her. If you can fly, you will fly.” I said in an assertive but not angry tone. “And who are you? And what are we even doing anyway?” She asked, angry with how I put her in her place. “I am Princess Kiera of Estonia, and you are taking me to The Forgotten to meet my best friend, her son, and my girlfriend.” I said the last part proudly, so she would know I was not a timid little mouse, I was a sneaky, cunning, and beautiful snake.