Chapter 4

Henri returned to his room after lunch, calling off his lessons for the rest of the day; he was too distracted to pay any attention to his studies. After pacing around his room for a while, he decided to go on a horse ride to clear his head.

Maids scurried in to help him change into his riding clothes at his orders, wary of him. It was odd for Prince Henri to be so out of it that it made them worry.

They were used to him being feisty and aloof and although they all thought him adorable and practically babied him, they also humored him and would keep doing so without hesitation.

"A message has been sent to the stables, your Highness." One of his personal servants curtseyed. "A horse had been prepared for your ride."

Henri snapped out of it then, realizing for the first time that he was already fully dressed in his riding garb. "Thank you." He murmured, striding out.

His personal servants shared looks of concern when he left and then hurried right after him. If he was riding a horse in his distracted state, an accident could happen, they had to be there to look after him.

Henri didn't notice that he was being trailed by his four personal maids or he would have sent them off. He went down to the castle grounds, walking to the stables with his head in the clouds.

Reid, a young stablehand who was fresh out of college, was the one to prepare a horse for Prince Henri. He nervously waited for him a distance from the large stable, holding the reins of a quiet black horse who was trying to nibble on nearby grass.

He was a new hire so the most he had seen the Prince was from a distance and had been surprised when he received orders to prepare and take out a horse for the Prince, he was rightfully nervous.

He tried to stand straighter when he saw the Prince coming from a distance. The Prince was on the short side but carried himself like he was tall so he came across as very intimidating.

He was dressed in a navy blue overcoat and black breeches, knee-high heeled boots to match. And in the distance, Reid could see a slew of uniformed maids marching across high grass on delicate slippers.

"Y-Your horse, your Highness." Reid stumbled over his words when Prince Henri came up close.

He had never seen the Prince with his hair down either, it made it seem like his smokey grey eyes were hidden behind black curtains.

"Thank you." Henri politely muttered, getting up on the tall horse with ease much to Reid's surprise.

Even someone with height to their advantage would have a bit of difficulty getting on the black beauty but the Head of the stables had told him expressly that tall, powerful horses were the Prince's preference.

Henri immediately nudged his horse into a trot, putting distance between the stablehand and himself. There was an immensely wide field provided for horse riding so Henri could go at full speed without any concerns.

At this point, Henri's personal maids caught up to Reid. They were all red in the face from exertion and seemed largely displeased.

Reid wasn't expecting to get ambushed by a group of pushy ladies and was immediately overwhelmed.

"What do you think you're doing?" Annette, a chubby face maid, poked Reid in the chest confrontationally. "Where is your horse? Don't you know that you're supposed to ride after the Prince to make sure he's safe?" She poked harder.

Another maid had already barged into the stable, she was a lively redhead called Denise. "Prepare a horse, right away..." She directed, ambushing the first stablehand she found.

With all four of them working together, they quickly shoved Reid onto a horse and charged him to go after Prince Henri, threatening to boil him alive if anything happened to the Prince.

So without a single hand in the situation, Reid found himself on a horse, racing after the Prince. This was quite the afternoon he was having.

A long distance ahead, Henri had broken into a gallop, letting his horse run freely. The wind tousled up his hair and blew against his face, clearing the pesky thoughts that swarmed around him like flies.

There was a meadow ahead, it was a part of the riding fields and a creek ran across it. There were wildflowers blooming in the meadow and if Henri listened hard enough, he could hear water rushing in the creek some distance away.

It was very freeing to ride like this, it made him feel like he was untethered from society's expectations and dictations.

When the creek came up, Henri spurred his horse on one more time, laughing out in exhilaration when the horse easily cleared the creek and landed gracefully on the other side.

"Splendid work, Storm." He patted the coat of the horse, slowing down to a stop on the other side. He had been riding the horse hard the entire way, the creek was a perfect place to stop for a rest before they returned to the castle.

Henri got off the horse and tied its leash to a sturdy shrub next to the creek where it could get a drink and nibble on some grass. He then walked off a little distance away, searching for shade so that he could also get some rest.

He found the perfect spot just a short distance away, a dwarf tree with dense foliage sat over a pile of soft grass, it was the perfect resting spot and although it wasn't the kind of thing that Henri would usually do, he was currently alone and a little intoxicated on freedom.

He sat on the pile of grass to test it, it was just as soft as it looked and there were clumps of wildflowers in and around it. After sitting down comfortably, lying down was the next step and it came easily.

Rays of sunlight peeked through the leaves of the tree but it didn't cause Henri discomfort, if anything he tried to get closer to the warmth of the sunlight.

It was quiet all around except for the sounds of softly chirping birds, the running creek, and Storm snorting. It almost felt like the world had gone away and it took all of Henri's responsibilities with it, it was very peaceful.

In no time he started to feel very drowsy and he didn't fight it, dozing off on his makeshift bed of grass and flowers.