The Greek Princess

Chapter I

Chapter I

Ariadne

"Stop. You played the interlude at a three beat pause instead of four. Now try it again."

I held back a sigh and raised a hand to smooth back my long, black hair. With a deep breath I hid that I was tired of practicing with my lyre over and over again. This tutor was beginning to tire me. But instead of showing how tired I was, I kept my face pleasant and nodded. "Of course." I cleared my mind and began the song over again.

Suddenly, the sound of bells rang out and invaded the room. I instantly knew what it meant: danger.

I counted the number of bell strokes with hurried anticipation. Seven. Pause, and then repeat. We were under attack.

My tutor immediately raised from his seat and beckoned to me. "Hurry, your highness. We must get you to safety."

I rose as well and followed him out of the scholarly room where I did all my studies. It wasn't very large compared to the rest of the summer palace where my mother and I lived, but I prefered it for it's personal, and cozy feeling. It was comforting when I was in there.
The tutor pulled me to a stop in the ornate hallway, "I must give leave of you now, Princess, but the guards will bring you somewhere safe."

Several soldiers approached me, but I held up my hand. "Wait. I must find my mother. I must make sure she is safe."

"I can assure you, your highness, that she will be safe. We must hurry. Now, please go with them." The tutor looked at me with pleading eyes, so I relented. I didn't want to, but I knew what my duty was.

"Of course." I gave a small bow of my head and walked with the guards quickly, hurrying away from the tutor.

They brought me down to the courtyard where a horse was waiting. Outside, in the cool evening air, the noise of the bells was so much louder. I was able to catch a glimpse of smoke rising above the courtyard walls, and I could hear shouting and angered voices as well. My breath caught in my throat.

One of the guards guided me over to my dappled grey mare, Nicanor, and gave me his arm. "Hurry, Princess. They will penetrate the wall anytime now."

I looked at him in confusion, "What do you mean? I can't leave. Where will I go? What about my mother?"

He gave me a slight bow. "Your highness, you must leave. This is your mother's wishes. She wants you to ride far away and not return until you are sure it is safe. There are provisions in the saddle bag and Lairos, one of my guardsmen, will escort you and protect you."
Just then, a young soldier rode over and reined his horse in. He jumped down and gave a low bow. "Your majesty. I am at your service."

I smoothed down my white chiton to make sure it was modest and climbed onto my horse with the soldier's help. I grabbed a hold of Nicanor's reigns. With one last look towards my home, I followed Lairos out of the courtyard and into the fading light.

Hi guys! This is a really new collab written by Ithildae (me) and GadSul :) We hope you like reading it because we love writing it! :)

Ariadne - Ithildae

[FYI, ^that means that I (Ithildae) wrote these chapters with Ariadne's name at the top and GadSul wrote the ones with the name 'Lycus' at the top]