“Why do I have to marry him?” Kaylyn complained. “I’m not the oldest. I shouldn’t be getting married first!”
“We’re waiting for King Josh to propose to your sister, Kaylyn,” Kaylyn’s father, Geoffrey told his youngest daughter.
“He isn’t going to marry Celeste. If he was, he would have proposed years ago. He’s 24 years old. He isn’t going to marry her.”
“That doesn’t change anything, Kaylyn. You’re marrying Lord Joseph. You should consider yourself lucky. He’s the second son of a count, but he has his own title and land.” He left the last part unfinished.
“And that’s the best I can do,” Kaylyn said, her mouth curving bitterly. She knew her parents didn’t love her, didn’t want her. They had wished for a son, both times her mother had been pregnant. The first time, when her mother had given birth to Celeste, they had been disappointed, but Celeste was so beautiful, so talented, so perfect, that they couldn’t be disappointed for long. But Kaylyn was Celeste’s total opposite- she wasn’t beautiful, pretty, yes, but nothing as extraordinary as her sister- and she was smart and wouldn’t keep her mouth shut, which offended most men. “Fine then,” she fumed. “But don’t be surprised when the king finds another woman.”
With that, she stormed off to her room, slamming her door behind her.
A few minutes later, there was a knock at her door.
“Come in,” Kaylyn said. Her maid, Kamryn, entered.
“Are you ok, Kay?” she asked softly.
“No,” Kaylyn said. “I need to get out of here, Kami. I need out of here now. Tonight.” Suddenly, she smiled, her brown eyes alight. “I have it. I’ll leave tonight, escape into the forest.”
“Kay, is that a wise idea?”
“It’s the best idea I’ve had so far. I don’t want to marry some lord such and such from some stupid country that I don’t know anything about.”
“But Kay, you can’t survive in the forest, all alone.”
Kaylyn looked at Kamryn. “Kami, you have to come with me. You’re right, I can’t survive alone. But together, we’ll be able to survive.”
“Kay, I don’t know,” Kamryn began.
“Kamryn, I know things aren’t great for you here. If we leave, it’ll be grand. We won’t have to worry about pleasing people, or having to be perfect. We can be free.”
“In the forest, with all kinds of killer animals, no food, no shelter, nothing. Yeah, that’s a life,” Kamryn said.
Kaylyn turned her big brown eyes on Kamryn. “Please? For me?”
Kamryn sighed. Kaylyn could do puppy-dog eyes like no one she knew. “Ok, fine, we’ll run away. We’ll go live in the forest.” She shuddered at that thought.
Kaylyn hugged her. “Thank you so much, Kami. You’re my best friend.”
It was midnight and the entire household was asleep when Kaylyn and Kamryn quietly made their way from the manor house, each girl carrying a small bundle containing some clothes and food and other supplies.***
Sam stared at the two girls walking through the forest, her blue eyes taking in everything about them. Their clothing told her that they were higher-class, not mere peasants taking a break from their daily work.
Sam glanced back at Willow, brushing her dark brown hair off her face. Willow looked into her eyes, then nodded.
Together, they swung down from the tree branch they were sitting on and landed just in front of he two women.
“Who are you and what are you doing here?” Willow asked.
Kaylyn stared at Willow. “Why do you want to know?” Her chin came up and her hands rested on her hips.
“This is our forest,” Sam said, smiling slightly at Kaylyn’s attitude. At least she wasn’t one of those rich women her grandmother had told her about, those women who couldn’t do anything or stand up for themselves.
“We didn’t know that someone had claimed this forest,” Kaylyn said. “You should post a sign or something proclaiming your ownership.”
Sam and Willow both smiled at her response. Willow was the first to make a move. “Would you like something to eat? We have plenty of food at our house.”
Kaylyn smiled, her first real smile in days. She and Kamryn had only been on the road for a day and a half, and she’d started regretting her decision. But now, things were starting to look up.***
~~Three Weeks Later~~
Josh turned to Tyler, another of his advisor’s- other than Lance, the only one he could trust- and regent in the time he’d be gone. “Good luck. Don’t mess up things too much.”
Tyler laughed. “I think it’s you that would be the one messing things up,” he told Josh.
Josh turned and looked at Lance, already mounted on his horse. “Ready to go?”
Lance nodded his head. Josh mounted his horse and they rode out of the royal courtyard.***
“What do you mean, you lost her?” Joey demanded of his betrothed’s father. “How do you lose a grown woman?”
Geoffrey looked him in the eye. “Kaylyn ran away.”
“Why?”
“She didn’t want to marry you,” a young woman said from the corner of the room.
Joey turned to look at her. “Who are you?”
“Kaylyn’s older sister, Celeste,” she said, smiling at him.
“If you’re the eldest,” Justin began, “why aren’t you betrothed to Joey?”
“Like I would marry a younger son?” Celeste laughed. “I can do far better than my sister could ever dream of. I’m going to marry a king.”
“I’m glad I’m not the king that’s marrying her,” Justin mumbled under his breath.
It took all of Joey’s strength not to laugh aloud at Justin’s comment, even though he was enraged over everything that was going on.
“I’ll find her,” Joey declared. “I didn’t come to this land for no reason. I will return home with a bride.”