The brisk wind on her face felt nice once she finally got going. Too much was going on right now and the stress was only building inside of her. The Queen's day of death was coming up in the next few weeks and you'd never believe how much of an effect it has on the kingdom and the castle, itself. Jaide shook her head, ridding the thought that came to mind.
Oh how perfect would it be if she could get her revenge so close to her mother's anniversary of death.
As they traveled closer and closer towards the center of the village, regret and guilt built up inside the princess. She really shouldn't have been so rude to her maid, she only wanted her to be safe with whatever it was that she was doing. But then again, how dare her bring up her mother's death in such an accusatory way! Jaide settled it in her mind that the two of them were even and that they would just let what had happened that morning blow over. Plus, how could her maid stay mad at the princess? She didn't have the right to think in such a way against the royal family. Her eyes widened as the words "royal family" kept replaying in her head like a broken record. What would happen if the maid decided that she would tell the king? She knew how protective the king was over his daughter. It still amazed her how the king had decided, after the queen's death, that he would actually care and pay more attention to both of the princesses. Jaide shook her head after the thought and her mind tumbled over and focused on her sister. She didn't even know her mother long enough to care who she was. She would never understand how the queen's death had affected Jaide and their father. Never.
The princess could feel her face redden as the horse slowed it's pace while approaching the town center where many people were already gathered. Jaide urged herself to calm down as she dismounted the stud she had been riding and walked towards the trees that stood only 50 feet away from the town. She couldn't draw attention to herself while among so many people. Especially if these people ended up being the town's assassins and rebels. Even if she could protect herself with her bow and a full quiver, along with to daggers that still held there place against her waist and hips, she wouldn't be able to take on hundreds of people who had something to hold against the princess. Her heart started beating faster and faster as she tied her horse's reigns to a nearby tree and patted his neck gently to sooth him, as well as herself. "Wish me luck, Buddy, I might need it." She mumbled the words to herself as she drew the hood of her royal cloak over her head. It was only took a moment for her to process that thought through her head. Royal cloak. The princess cursed under her breath as she realized that she had taken the cloak that her family was known to wear when out in public, rather than her personal one.
The cloak was pure black with small decorative gold designs that sprawled about on her shoulders, the edge of her hood, the cuffs of the cloak, the button that hooked each side together in front of her, as well as the bottom of it. The princess sighed as she took off her hood and tried to position it so that no one would be able to see the gold designs on her shoulders or the designs on the edge of her hood. Jaide rolled up her cuffs so that no one would be able to see the gold designs that were bared on them. She huffed as she noticed that the strap attached to the quiver wasn't high enough to cover the button. The princess prayed silently to herself that no one would recognize her as the princess because of the stupid button.
Raising her hands to the top of her head where a bun lays with all of her hair, she draws the rubber band that held it all together and let her shimmery golden hair fall over her shoulders. The princess had asked her stylist that morning to straighten her hair specifically for this occasion. She never straightened her hair, so she hoped that no one would recognize her because she didn't look like she normally did. Jaide put her lips together and rubbed them against each other, in habit, but quickly remembered that she did not put on lipstick this morning because rarely did a woman her age wear lipstick unless it was for a special occasion or she was apart of the royal family. Closing her eyes tightly, she took a deep breath before she begun on her way towards the ceremony.
The princess's daggers burned at her side as she inched through the cheering and chanting crowd. It took every bit of self-control for her not to draw her weapons and threaten every man who's eyes dropped to take in every inch of her skinny yet curvy body. It was times like these that she wished she didn't have the body that some woman dream about having. Jaide decided that it would have been wise of her to check her outfit in the mirror once more before leaving the castle. She had chosen to wear a plain grey dress that fit her body nicely but didn't indicate anything more than a woman wanting to look nice for the occasion. She would have been happy with the dress if it weren't for the low cut front that showed more skin than any normal woman might'v wanted to show. It made her feel uncomfortable that even some of the girls were looking over her body. But, they weren't looking over it with the kind of look the men were, no, they were looking at her with faces full of hate, envy and such malice. Jaide crossed her arms over her chest and looked down, feeling sick with herself that these people already hated her only because of her body.
When the princess looked up again, she was about to run straight into a woman and man who were both in deep conversation, who, might I say, did not look like they wanted to be disturbed. But, of course, both of them looked up at her. The man looked at her with wide eyes as he took in both her face and her body while the woman glared at her. Honestly, she didn't know why the woman would look at her with such hate, because the princess was almost jealous of the woman, herself. She had long, dark and wavy hair that tumbled down her back, reaching almost small of her back. Her eyes were dark and round with golf flecks that surrounded her iris. Realizing that she was staring, Jaide blinked her eyes multiple times before stepping back and looking away. "I apologize for my clumsiness. It was not my intention to bother the two of you. I will be on my way." The princess said with such a soft and gentle voice that you would have to be focusing on her voice to even hear the words that she had spoken. She looked down as she turned away but before she could do so, she caught sight of a glimmering silver peak out from the man's waistline and her eyes immediately widened. Was it a dagger? The princess shook her head and quickly walked away, trying to convince herself that it was his belt of something else that would be silver enough to shine in such a way. But, as she continued walking with her head down, she noticed that multiple men and woman showed slight signs of weapons under their clothing or in their pocket.
These were definitely not just average citizens of the village.
Jaide began to silently panic to herself as the crowd seemed to get closer to her and grow tighter together. The princess shut her eyes tightly as the world around her began to spin and started to get very hot. She felt as if she was going to pass out, but soon the crowd grew quiet and it felt as if the world had stopped in its place as a voice began to speak. Slowly, she opened her eyes and took a peak at the man who was standing on a small platform with another, who looked rather old from what she could tell. At first, the princess thought that this was it, that the man was about to announce that the princess was here, in the crowd, and address the crowd to attack her. Thankfully though, it was only her being paranoid. She focused on the words that the man spoke, repeating how big of an honor something was.. but what? Jaide was confused, what was this about? Shaking her head, she resumed walking as the man finished speaking and the hollering and chanting continued.
The princess began walking at a slower pace towards the edge of the crowd so that she could get back to her horse and return to the promised safety that laid behind the castle walls. Too focused on how badly she wanted to be in the castle again and away from what she suspected really were the town's assassins and rebels, she barely had time to notice that she was about to run straight into the man who had just finished speaking on stage.
