Love Riders

Chapter 3: Strange Encounters

~ 9 Years Later ~

By now, Evangeline and Victoria have blossomed into beautiful young women. The girls have also grown closer together and do multiple activities together. Thankfully, Evangeline and Morgana have stopped fighting with each other long enough to become friends that share things with the other. Arthur Pendragon received a picture of the girls when they turned fifteen years of age, so he could keep them close and feel like he was protecting them. He was off at school from four to ten and then he had training to do. However, as the years went by, Arthur had fallen madly in love with Evangeline. Victoria, as the years went by, started to develop a crush on Arthur. She noticed, however, that he seemed to only have eyes for her sister. So, she tried to repress her feelings for Arthur. But it seemed that as she got older the harder it was for her to hide her feelings.

The girls were picking out their outfit for the day, when all of a sudden they heard a loud knock on their chamber door. "Come in," Evangeline said softly. The girls turned to see who knocked on their door. They smiled when they saw that it was Mariam. "Hey Mariam! How are you doing today?" Victoria said with a big toothy smile plastered on her face.

Mariam returned the smile and walked over to the girls' shared vanity. "I'm doing well Princess, thank you for inquiring. May I assist you in getting ready by doing your hair?" Mariam asked in a soft, motherly tone.

Victoria started gathering her outfit and making her way over to her screen to get changed. "Yes, please. I want my hair to be down, but still have a little bit pulled back. Thank you for asking me Mariam. I appreciate that a great deal," Victoria said with generosity in her voice.

Mariam smiled and nodded in acknowledgement and turned to Evangeline. "Would you like for me to style you hair like your sister's, Princess?" Evangeline simply smiled and nodded as she was walking over to her screen to change into her outfit.

Once Victoria was dressed in her all red and white peasant outfit, she walked out from behind her screen and over to her bed to put her matching red and white shoes on. Evangeline quickly got changed into her pale blue peasant dress, along with her brown rope-like belt. Then she made her way over to her bed to put her matching brown shoes.

Victoria jumped up and walked over to the girls' shared vanity. When she sat down, Mariam immediately went to work on her hair. Evangeline softly chuckled at her sister's overly happy behavior. The girls weren't allowed to spend time outside unless it was absolutely necessary. Today was different, however, because not only were they going into the market to get food and supplies they absolutely needed, they were also going to get to explore a little bit.

"Are you girls excited about exploring outside in town today?" Mariam asked the girls, not once looking away from Victoria's hair. Evangeline only nodded her head as if saying 'Yes!'

"I am super excited about exploring all the small comings and goings of the people in the market and in town. The people of the kingdom seem interesting to me," Victoria said smiling as she met Mariam's smile in the mirror.

"That was spoken like a true princess," Mariam said as she was putting the finishing touch on her hair. "There, now you look prepared for today."

Evangeline got up and sat down on the vanity chair, sitting still while Mariam fixed her hair just like her sister's. Victoria found her small coin pouch and her sister's light brown hooded cape. After Mariam was done doing Evangeline's hair, the girls put the finishing touches on their outfits and we're out the door. However, they didn't hear Mariam's desperate pleas to be extremely careful, because after all the girls were princesses.

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Once the girls made it to the market, they immediately went to all the shops that had the food and supplies they needed. After the girls were done shopping they started exploring the town. The girls had had several conversations with the peasants and walked around looking at everything the kingdom had to offer.

They knew that they shouldn't go beyond the palace gates, but their curiosity gets the better of them sometimes. As they walked closer and closer to the gates, they noticed a strange looking boy around Arthur's age talking to the guards. The girls got closer to the gate and saw that the boy was a brunette and he was trying to get to the castle. When they got to the gates, they told the boy that they could take him to the castle personally. The guards looked shocked at the girls for a second and then immediately went to opening the gates for the boy.

Once the trio was out of earshot of the guards, they started asking questions. "So, who are you? Where are you from?" Victoria asked the boy while looking at him through her peripheral.

"My name is Merlin. I'm from Ealdor. Why?" Merlin said in a shy sounding voice. The girls merely smiled to each other and kept on walking.