Royal Runaway

  “Isabelle!” Miss Breana’s sharp voice cut through my thoughts. I jerked my head up out of my book.

“Twenty seven!”  I said. Miss Breana looked at expectantly.

“Twenty eight?”

“Three hundred and sixty four.” She sighed. “Isabelle, you‘re not listening. Three months! three months I gave to mourn over the passing of your parents. It is time to move on.” She said, closing the mathematics book. Not this again. I thought.

“Your parents have left a legacy for you. You have to build on that legacy.” Miss Breana threw aside the curtains. “Look at this kingdom! So much in need of a leader. You are that leader!”

“But I’m only sixteen! I still have my whole life to live!” I pleaded. “I don’t want to be burdened with such heavy decisions, I want to be free and fly  like the pigeons!” I leaned out the window and watched as the birds flew this way and that.

“Isabelle, You are an Orodon! You need to start acting like one!” She said, closing the windows.

“What if I don’t want to be an Orodon? What if I’d rather be a commoner? What if I don’t want to be stuffed into suffocating dresses? What if I’d rather run through fields barefoot and bathe in the rivers?” I asked.

She gasped. “I will not have to heir the throne running around barefoot! You are coming with me.” She took hold of my wrist. 

“Let go!” I said, struggling.

“A princess can only be queen if she is twenty of age. Until then, you will stay in your room. Meals will be brought to you and lessons will be there as well.” Miss Breana said as she marched up the stairs.

“No! What about horse riding?” I asked.

“No more riding.” She answered.

“What about morning walks in the garden?”

“No more walks.”

“What about town visits and picking flowers in the fields?” I asked quietly.

“No more visits and no more flowers.” She said gravely.

“Why? This is not what Mother and Father would have wanted! They wouldn’t have locked me away in a tower!” I said, tears streaming down my face.

“Isabelle, this is what is best.” Miss Breana said on the last step.

“No it’s not! It may be best for the kingdom or for you but not for me! You never think of what I need! And you never will!” I said. Miss Breana didn’t answer. She let go of my wrist. “Isabelle, you haven’t changed. You're still the stubborn child you were.” She said. 

Sobbing, I ran down the stairs and didn’t look back.

“Isabelle! Come back right now!” I heard her yell. “Guards!”

I’m in for it now. I thought. I ran out of the castle, through the gardens, to the stables, and into Midnight’s stall. I buried my head in his mane.

“Oh Midnight, what am I going to do?” I asked.

Run away with me. He suggested, pawing the ground. I climbed onto his back.

Let’s go. I gently kicked his sides.

We burst out of the stables and out into an adventure that would change my life forever.

-Whimsical Writer