~ 14 Years Later ~

Author's POV

"We shouldn't be here Dee, we'll get into so much trouble if we're caught."

"The key word there is "if" my dear Ailee" Dara smirked at her worried friend as she continued move along stealthily.

"That's exactly what you said last time and I still haven't heard the end of it from mother" Ailee recalled as she followed Dara, holding her dress up so that it wouldn't drag on the dirty floor of the horses' stables.

Dara turned to her worried partner and smiled mischievously.

"My dear and beloved Ailee, please do not furrow your brows that way" she pointed to the space in between her eyes.

"It will be very unbecoming if you get wrinkles at such a young age, don't you think?" she teased and Aliee relaxed her face as she took deep breath to calm herself. 

"Besides, what good is playing hide and seek if Bom can find us so easily? She'd find us in no time if we stayed in the castle. Come on," she motioned for Ailee to follow, "I know the perfect place to hide."

                                                                                         ---~---

“Hello Angus” Dara ran her fingers through the large horse’s silver mane. She pulled a carrot from the sack hanging on the door of the stall and brought it to his mouth. He eagerly nuzzled her hand as he pulled the treat into his mouth.

“Is this the horse her Majesty bought for his Majesty’s birthday?” Ailee asked as she placed a cautious hand on the animal’s shoulder, it softly.

“Sure is” Dara smiled and rubbed his nose “He’s a beauty isn’t he?”

“Exactly how many times have you been down here to make him so comfortable with you?”

“Oh…only a couple times” Dara laughed.

 “I’m convinced that if I show Dad that Angus likes me and if I beg and beg and beg, he’ll let me have him for myself.”

“What about your mother? You know how she feels about you and anything that has to do with the outdoors.”

“I’ll cross that bridge when I get there, and besides…” she smirked, “I’ll have the King on my side. He can never say no to this face.” She displayed her best ‘please daddy’ face and Ailee shook her head at her friend’s antics.

“So Angus…you wouldn’t mind if we hide out here for a while would you? I’ll even give you an extra treat for your troubles.”

Dara was about to reach for another carrot when the front door of the stables creaked open. The two girls looked up at each other wide-eyed and froze in their spots.

Dara signaled for Ailee to follow her quietly as she tiptoed behind Angus’s large frame. The footsteps of whoever came inside grew louder as they approached the end of the stables where Angus was housed.

The two girls held their breaths and froze in place when they saw a pair of feet standing right outside of the stall’s wooden gate.

“Princess Sandara? Are you in here?”

Dara and Ailee looked up at each other in surprise when the recognized the familiar voice.

"Taehwan?” Dara peered from behind Angus.

“Oh good” he bowed, “I was beginning to think you had already moved to hide somewhere else.”

“You scared us half to death” Ailee held her hand over her heart, “What are you doing here?"

"Lady Bom sent me saying you'd be hiding here and told me to tell you that she refuses to get her new dress dirty."

"Dang it! How did she know we were here?" Dara kicked the hay that lay under her feet.

"Let's go back now Dee, before we get into real trouble." Aliee tugged at her friend's dress and looked at her half pleadingly.
"Fiiiiine," Dara rolled her eyes, "But for the record I---"

"This way your Majesties, we've housed him in the largest stall near the end."

Ailee looked up at Dara in panic and then brought her hands to her face.

“That’s it. I’m done for. I should just pack up and live on the streets.”

Dara looked around for an escape route and her eyes fell on the small window near the top of Angus’s stall.

“Taehwan, jump up there and pull me and Ailee up” she whispered and Taehwan did as ordered.

“You really have no chance against those wrinkles” Dara chuckled watching Ailee pull at her face in a nervous panic.

 “Up you go my lady” she pushed Ailee up and Taehwan pulled her through to the other side.

“Hurry Princess,” Taehwan offered his hand and Dara took it.

The footsteps from outside the stall grew louder and Dara grabbed an overturned bucket to use as a foothold.

Dara was nearly halfway through the window when---

“Sandara!!!”

Dara, startled at the sudden outburst, lost her balance and tumbled back into the stall, face first into a puddle of mud.

She raised herself from the floor and started spitting out the mud that had gotten through her lips. She looked up hesitantly and met her mother’s icy glare. She glanced behind her mother at her father, who was standing stiffly biting back laughter.

“Hey Mom…..”

“Don’t speak.” The Queen warned curtly, not wanting to make a scene in front of the lords and ladies that had accompanied them.

“Go to your room. Get cleaned up. I will deal with you later.” She whispered through gritted teeth.

Dara back at her father for some help but he just shrugged, knowing fully well that it was in his best interest not to get on his Queen’s bad side.

Sighing in defeat, Dara bow her head low and scooted past her parent’s guests. As soon as she stepped outside and closed the stable door behind her, Taehwan and Ailee came from around the side of the barn to meet her. Taehwan took one look at her mud-covered face and cracked a smile trying his hardest not to laugh at her Highness.

“What happened Princess?” he asked, carefully concealing his grin.

“I plopped quite gracefully into Angus’s mud bath” Dara wiped some dried dirt off of her face.

“Oh this is bad, this is really bad!” Ailee paced frantically, “Was her Majesty furious? Did she know I was in there? Is she going to tell Head Mistress Kim?”

“You’re going to dig yourself into the ground if you keep pacing like that” Dara place her hands on her worrisome friend’s shoulders.

“You’ll be fine, I’ll be fine, we’ll all be fine. Mother will probably forget all about it by this afternoon.” She reassured her as they began to make their way back to the castle.

“Do you need any assistance Princess?” Taehwan asked, noticing her limp signature limp becoming more prominent.

“Nah don’t worry about it, my leg’s probably just acting up because I fell on it back in the stall” she smiled, “I’ll be fine.”

                                                                                        ---~---

Author’s POV

“Sandara Park!” the Queen billowed through the doors of the bed chamber.

Dara looked up from the leg she was bandaging, startled at her mother’s abrupt and  unannounced entrance.

“Do you know how embarrassed you have made us!? In front of all of our guests you---“she pause as soon as she noticed Dara’s leg propped up on the side of her bed.

“What is wrong with your leg?”

“Oh…nothing, nothing’s wrong” Dara quickly pulled her dress down and cursed at herself inwardly for not covering it up earlier.

“Did you hurt it when you fell? Is it acting up again?” she closer to inspect her leg.

“No mother it’s fine! Nothing’s the matter!”

“How could you be so irresponsible? You are eighteen years old yet you’re still hiding out in the stables?! You know what I said about going down there!”

“I was just having some fun!” Dara snapped.

“Fun?!” the Queen scoffed, “You call this mess fun?! You have made us a laughing stock in front our guest and you managed to hurt your leg in the process! You know very well how delicate your leg is.”

“Yes mother.” Dara answered coldly, “I know very well how delicate my leg is. I have had the privilege of you reminding me of it almost every day of my life!”

“Then why can you not be more careful! I leave in two days for my trip to the Eastern Kingdom, how am I supposed to leave you here you are practically in shambles?”

“Why don’t you just lock me in this room? It’s not like you ever let me do anything anyways.”

“Head Mistress Kim will be in charge when I am away and I will give her strict instructions to make sure you do not leave this palace while I’m gone.”

“Locked away it is then” Dara muttered as she turned her back to her mother.

“Sandara” The Queen’s voice softened, “I only do this to protect you” she explained but Dara didn't want to listen to anymore. She was tired of listening to the same old speech over and over again.

“It’s dangerous out there, and your leg is…..fragile” Dara winced at her word choice.

“Yeah yeah,” she scoffed, “What’s best for me is to remain in here locked away from all the dangers of this cold and cruel world.”

The Queen sighed and turned towards the door.

“I’ll let you get ready for dinner” she said leaving the room.

She closed the door behind her and her gaze met the King's, who had been waiting across the hall.

“How’d it go?” he asked, even though he could clearly tell from the look on his wife’s face that it was not a pleasant encounter.

“I don’t know what to do anymore” she confided, her voice admitting defeat as she massaged her temples.

“It’s too dangerous out there, I don’t want her……I don’t want her to get hurt again.”

“I know dear,” the King pulled her slowly into his arms. He knew fully well how she felt. They had almost lost her once and couldn't bear for something like that to happen again. But Dara had an untamable spirit, one that tended to get her into trouble often. A spirit for adventure that continuosly plagued his worrisome wife.

“She’s a tough girl, she’s got your determination and my stubbornness, she’ll be able to handle anything, I'm sure of it” he chuckled, pulling his wife into a tight and reassuring hug. “We just have to learn to let go, she’ll be fine.”

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