After my mom leaves, I peek up from my covers. I know what I need to do. I climb out of bed,  put my hair into one long, sloppy braid down my back, and slip on my servant clothes.

     They are simply a rough brown top with a pair of thin, ragged, knee-length pants to go with it. I slip on a low hood to cover my face so no one recognizes me. 

     Mary, a little maid that makes most of the clothes for the castle, had agreed when I was fourteen to make me some servant clothes in order to sneak around the palace without questions. I use this to my advantage whenever I want to ride my horse, go to fencing lessons or archery, hunt, or swim, but I mostly use it for something else. Something much bigger.

     I slip silently into the kitchen and pop a few small plums in my mouth. I follow the contour of the kitchen, greeting everyone by name. I eventually emerge into the yard. The  yard is the place off to the side of the castle, the only place without beautiful courtyards and gardens  and gardeners to tend to them day and night.

     The yard is the place for the horse stables and most of the animals of the castle. The knights often train here with their pages and squires. And this is where the stable boys work.

     I walk down the row of stables until I reach number eighteen. It has a gorgeous, muscular  black mare inside. I open the door to her stall and slip inside. "Hello, Nightshade." I murmur to her, my voice coming out smooth and calming to the magnificent beast. "Do you know where your caretaker is?" I ask her gently, stroking her smooth snout. 

     She whinnies and knocks her head against my stomach, forceful enough to knock me backwards.  "Oh, you saw right through me, didn't you? You are no-nonsense." I laugh.

     I reach into the black leather satchel around my shoulder and pull out a few carrots. I break one in half over my knee and hold it out to her, my fingers flat so she doesn't think they are carrots also and bite them. 

     She gobbles it up, leaving a little horse slobber on my hand while she's at it. I feed her a few more, wiping my hand on my shirt. "Hmm. I guess he's not here. Too bad. I wonder why, it's your feeding time." I mumble to her.

     I sneak out of the stall, but I don't plan to leave without feeding the poor horse. I walk into the storage room and grab some horse grain. I pour it into her feeding trough, eyeballing it to about how much she should have.

     "Hey! What the heck are you doing?" a familiar voice calls from a little farther down the stable. "Feeding your horse, that's what." I retort, turning around to meet his glare. "But that's my job!" he whines. 

     "Exactly!!!! SO MAYBE YOU SHOULD DO YOUR JOB, HEY, THAT'S AN IDEA!" I yell, frustrated. "I was about to." he grumbles.

     "Listen, Douglass, I'm sorry. I just......you were fifteen minutes late to feed Nightshade, and I had no way of knowing when you'd be back." I sigh. He looks up, flashing me a handsome smile.

     He is just a few inches taller than me, and at the age of seventeen, one year older tan me. Douglass has sunset orange wings, horns, and a tail. He has a rough, detailed face and calloused hands. He has deep, rich brown eyes and dirty blond hair.

     "It's okay." he replies, enclosing me in his amber wings. Inside the enclosure of his wings, he hugs me with his arms as well. I hug him back. Hugging is the most we've ever done, we haven't even kissed. 

     "My sweet." he whispers lightly into my hair. "I think I love you." I reply. Our relationship has been going on for years, in secret. I don't want to be Queen anyway, and I am also in love with a servant boy.

     Suddenly a piercing scream tears through the air. I jerk away from him, search for the source of the noise. It comes again, accompanied by the sound of crying. Following the noise, I end up in a corner of the yard. 

     I gasp at what I see.  

Wow, long chapter. I hope you guys are liking the story so far! By the way, in between chapters, I am doing some editing for the other chapters.

~ Eclipse