My Long Lost Princess

Chapter 14: Valentine's Day

It was early morning. I woke up to the sound of my name being called. "Ayana. Ayana. Please wake up. You have a guest arriving soon. Once you're ready, head to the dining room." I slowly sat up in my bed and stretched out. I rubbed my eyes. I was about to ask Luis who the guest was, but I realized he was gone before I could ask. I got out of bed and quickly started to get ready. Once I was finished, I walked to the dining room as I was told and when I walked in, I saw someone I didn't expect to see. "Prince James! What are you doing here?" He looked towards me and said, "I thought I told you I would be visiting you from now on? Plus is it wrong to visit my fiancé on Valentine's Day?" It's Valentine's Day? It totally slipped my mind. I walked towards the table and sat down next to Prince James. Luis then brought my breakfast and placed it in front of me. "Thank you Luis." He nodded and left. Prince James then spoke up, "Ayana I thought we discussed that would be calling me James from now on?" Did I call him Prince James? "Oh. I'm sorry. I guess it's just a force of habit." James then said, "So what do you want to do today?" What can we do today? He came all the way here to visit me. I should suggest doing something he would enjoy, but I have no idea what he likes. James then said, "I have an idea. Why not go to the meadow behind the castle?" "The meadow is behind the castle? The meadow we used to play at when we were kids?" He nodded. "Why not? It's the only memory you have of us before you were kidnapped. And by the way you reacted, you haven't seen it since you arrived at the castle. It wouldn't take too long if we walked." "Oh! Why won't we take, my horse, Moonlight? It would be faster." He replied, "Sure. You should change into something more casual. It would be hard to ride a horse in a dress." "Before I do that, let me ask Luis if I can go." He nodded and we continued eating and when we were finished I told James to wait in the dining room while I asked Luis if I could go. I started looking for him and found him near the kitchen.

I called out to him, "Luis!" He turned around. "Yes Ayana?" "May I go to the meadow behind the castle with James? We'll be taking Moonlight." He nodded, "Of course you can go Ayana. Just be back before the sun sets. I nodded, "Of course! Thank you Luis." I smiled at him and went to my room to change. I opened my closet and started thinking about what I should wear. I shouldn't keep James waiting for too long. Suddenly there was a knock on the door. "Come in." The door opened the one of the maids entered carrying something. "Ayana, Luis told me to prepare you an outfit because you were going horseback riding." She handed me the outfit and left. That was quick. I never imagined he would act that quickly. I began to change into the outfit and put my hair in a braid. Then I headed towards the dining room. Once I entered I saw James sitting there with a basket on the table. "I'm sorry I took so long to get ready. Where did you get the basket James?" He looked up at me. "The basket? Luis gave it to me. He packed us food just in case we got hungry." "Amazing. He prepared all that in a short time amount of time. He even told one of the maids to prepare this outfit for me." He replied, "Well he is your butler after all, but honestly I'm amazed as well. Anyway let's get going." I nodded and we left, the basket in my hands. On the way there, we ran into one of the servants. "Princess I just finished feeding Moonlight. She's ready and waiting at the stables." "Thank you!" He nodded and left. We started walking towards the stables again.

Suddenly James said to me, "All the servants here are kind to you aren't they?" I nodded and smiled. "When I'm around the servants I don't have to be the princess. I can just be myself." He then asked me, "So are you the princess or are you Ayana right now?" I smiled and replied, "I'm Ayana right now." James nodded and smiled at me. "Good." We finally arrived at the stables and saw Moonlight there. She greeted us with a loud neigh. "Hi Moonlight." I started stroking her mane before I got on. I asked James, "So am I in the front or back?" He replied, "I think it would be easier for you to be in the front. Plus you could see the scenery better." "Alright I'll get on first. Can you hold the basket?" I handed him the basket and got on Moonlight. James then handed me back the basket and got on. I felt his chest pressed against my back and started to blush. We're too close! "Are you ready?" I nodded. If I said something my voice most likely would have cracked. James pulled on Moonlight's reins and we started moving. It feels like he's hugging me. "Ayana you better hold on to the reins because I'm going to go fast." "Alright. Do you still know the way?" He replied, "Of course. Even though I haven't been there in a long time, I still remember. Now hold on tight."