The stables

"Let go." He choked out, almost out of breath.

"Oh right." She laughed, releasing her grip on him. "I was just so happy that this was finally resolved but you should have told me from the onset."

Morgan paid no attention to what she said, all he could think about was how to massage his aching neck.

"Please do not act irrationally, your decisions determine the fate of our Kingdom." Vivian cautioned.

"I have a set plan and I want you both to play along, I hope you can do that for me." She beamed.

King Morgan and Queen Vivian shared a look before turning their attention back at their daughter.

"That plan involves what exactly?" Morgan questioned, weary of what she had planned.

"It's a secret, for the time being." She snickered, rubbing her palms to the plan she had in mind.

–––––––––––

"Your Highness. Your presence is needed." Mae heard a knock on her door, the very one she had been waiting for, she had wondered where he had been after he had accompanied the Princes.

"Leo!" She jumped, pulling the door in.

Jumping back at her uncalled scare, he frowned at her upbeat mood, if he wasn't mistaken, she was in a bad mood after the news of the King. "Someone seems to be in a good mood."

"You could say something like that." She hummed. "Did my father send you instead?"

"You don't seem pleased I am here, perhaps I should just leave." He turned around ready to leave.

"Wait!" Mae stopped him from leaving by holding his hand.

Looking down at how intimate the gesture seemed to him, a smile made its way to his lips, even though this was meant to stop him from leaving, he felt butterflies in his stomach at just the gesture.

"Leo!" Mae yelled one more time to get his attention. "Where was your head in?"

"I zoned out a bit, do pardon me." He cleared his throat, reluctantly pulling his hand away from hers.

"Do follow me to the courtyard." He proceeded to walk ahead.

Scurrying behind him, she took her time to follow his footsteps to the latter.

"Here we are." He explained.

"Sheesh!" Mae rubbed her head, she had been so engrossed with following his footsteps, she didn't notice on time when he had gotten to a stop, having collided into Leo's back.

Stepping into the courtyard, the blinding light forced her to raise her hand to cover her face before she got used to it.

"It's been a while since I have been here." She marveled, dropping her hands, her gaze followed the chirping birds, nesting in a tree. The feel of the grass tickled her legs as she walked through.

"Definitely a long time." She nodded when she saw a tree she had planted as a seedling then.

"Princess Mae!" William waved his hand as he caught sight of her walking towards them.

"This is where my journey ends for now, do take care of yourself." Leo whispered behind her, leaving immediately without a response from her.

"Leo!" She whispered, "Don't leave me here." She called silently.

"Princess Mae, you are finally here." Daven bowed, stretching out his hand to take hers.

Out of courtesy, she stretched out her hands so he could kiss the back of her hand.

Pulling her hand out forcefully, she proceeded to wipe her hand on her dress behind her while he wasn't watching.

"So what place are we touring today?" Daven asked enthusiastically.

"I know, how about we go over there?" He pointed at the fountain a few metres from where they stood. Williams immediately agreed with him.

'It really was basically for the diamonds.' Mae's eyes darkened at how blunt his approach was.

"It's just a simple fountain, nothing much to see there." She joked, hopeful they wouldn't pry further. "Let's get going to the stables."

"The stables?" They both chorused.

"Yes, the stables." She grinned, walking ahead of them, "Come along, we don't have the whole day."

Walking down the hallways, she made sure to walk a reasonable distance ahead of the Princes, making sure to reply to every guard who greeted.

"Here we are." She pushed on the door leading to the stables.

The stable master bowed upon sighting the Princess, rushing over he bowed, "Princess, to what honour would I be graced with your presence?"

"Oh Mr Harry, you don't have to be so formal with me, we have passed this stage right." She laughed, feeling shy about how formal he spoke with her.

Harry was a man in his mid thirties, he was a short man with a liking to horses. He was one of the people she had interacted with on a weekly if not daily basis.

He was the only one who had successfully kept Jip at bay while she was busy with other activities.

"I would be right back, you two just wait right here." She ordered both of them, pulling Harry to a secluded corner of the stable.

"Do these men scare you?" She bent a little, whispering in his ear, "Don't worry they are sorta like a bodyguard to me at this point and I hope you treat them as such, orders are from me." She planned a mischief.

"But Your Highness–" Harry protested, scared of what that might mean for him.

"Is this their Kingdom?" She reasoned.

"No."

"Therefore, you don't need to think this through, let's say I need to find out something; can you help me with that?" She batted her lashes hopefully.

Giving it a thorough thought he nodded, "What do I need to do?"

–––––––––––

Stepping out, Mae pulled along Harry who still had his doubts as to if he could successfully execute her plans.

"Welcome to my humble stable, kindly follow me as we get ourselves acquainted with Jip." He said in a loud voice.

"Who is this Jip he talks about?" Daven smacked his lips as if it reminded him of a dish.

"Jip? Who's Jip?" William looked to Mae for answers.