The Legend of Princess Wildheart (4 page)

SIX

  Prince Morgan and Duke went to the merchant and paid him in full for the weapons he was holding for them.  Prince Morgan was admiring his sword as he and Duke walked toward the Tavern.  It had been missing for a while and he had been afraid it may never be recovered.  The sword felt good in his hands.

  “It’s really nice to have my sword back Duke,” said Prince Morgan smiling.

  “I am glad we found it Morgan.  I know how much that sword means to you.  I am looking forward to shooting this bow and arrow set I bought.”

  “I want to take a couple of shots with it myself Duke.  It looks to be of good quality and I a
m guessing it is very accurate.” 

  “Sure you can Morgan.  Maybe later today we can get a chance to test it out.”

  Prince Morgan and Duke dropped their weapons off at the Inn.  They went over to the Tavern to meet up with Prince Tangent.  The Tavern was crowded and busy catering to the larger than usual crowd drawn by the festival.  When they entered they found Prince Tangent had managed to grab a table and order some food for them all.  The three brothers entered and dragged another table up beside them.  The mood was lighthearted and merry. 

  “Hey Duke!  Nice riding! You almost beat our horses,” said one of the brothers while tipping his mug to honor Duke.

  Duke smiled.  “You have fine horses’ gentlemen!  They are not only big and powerful but also very fast,” he said. 

  “Father gave those to us a while back.  Battle horses really, although we love riding them for fun or racing,” said the brother.

  “Morgan, are you mad about coming in last?  It doesn‘t seem to be bothering you,” said Prince Tangent.

  “No, racing is not really my best talent.  I like using other skills I have while riding on horseback,” said Prince Morgan.

  “I thought you wouldn’t be angry about it Morgan.  You seemed to be having fun and not real serious about the race,” said one of the brothers.

  “I try to have fun when I can.  I tried my best to win but you all had faster horses,” said Prince Morgan smiling.

  “I believe we have a good chance to win some of the other contests today,” said Duke.  “Excuse us gentlemen, we are going to go enjoy the festivities and prepare for the next event,” said Prince Morgan. 

    “Cheers!  We will see you both at the next festival event,” said one of the brothers as they all held up their mugs to the men as they left. 

  “Brilliant fellows,” said Prince Tangent.

  “Yes, they are!  We all like them both very much,” said one of the brothers.

  “I wonder where Prince Darksoul is right now.  I expected him to be here at the Tavern,” said one of the brothers.

  “Probably causing trouble would be my best guess,” said Prince Tangent.

  They continued to eat and drink together while enjoying each other’s company in the Tavern.  Prince Morgan and Duke had decided to go over to look at some armor.  There would be plenty of time before the next event.

  “Nice guys, those brothers,” said Duke

  “Yes and you can tell they are icons around the Kingdom, the crowd adores them,” said Prince Morgan.

  “I noticed that also, the crowd really gets behind them and cheers their efforts,” said Duke.

  Princess Wildheart and Pricilla had left the stands and were viewing various wares the merchants had for sell in the courtyard.  They didn’t really talk much about the race.  Both girls were just getting lost in the shopping and excitement of the festival.

  The armor merchant showed Prince Morgan and Duke the leather armor he had for sale.  Light enough for everyday wear while offering a bit of protection to the upper torso.  They both bought the leather armor and found shirts, hats and boots they liked at another merchant nearby.  After taking the items back to the Inn and putting them away the men sat down on a bench to discuss the next event on the schedule.  The Riding Ring Grab event would offer a chance for them to show skill while riding on horseback.  Only Prince Morgan would be entered into this event.  The object being to ride real fast and using a sword grab as many of the rings as possible.  The next event after that would be the Sword Fight.  Prince Morgan had the best formal sword fighting skill, so he would also do that event.  The final event was the Boxing Match and Duke would be entering that one.  Duke was the best fist fighter of the two and had a good chance of winning it.  Strategy now in place, the two of them decided it was time to leave the Inn and make their way over to the Riding Ring Grab event which would be starting shortly.

  Princess Wildheart and Pricilla were still shopping and came upon a woman who was selling beautiful ribbons that could be braided into their hair.  The woman insisted on giving them as a gift to the Princess on her birthday.  She braided the ribbons into their hair for them.  They both thanked the woman and started back toward the event area. 

  “Look Princess I see Duke and Prince Morgan over by the race track,” said Pricilla, pointing toward the men.

  “I see them, let’s go see what they are up to,” said Princess Wildheart.

  The two girls made their way over to the track and walked up to Prince Morgan and Duke.

  “Hello, we saw you standing over here and wanted to come and see what you were doing,” said Princess Wildheart smiling.

“Ladies, nice to see you again,” said Duke.

  Duke walked over to Pricilla as Princess Wildheart talked with Prince Morgan.

  “I miss you.  I was hoping to see more of you today,” said Princess Wildheart. 

  “I have been thinking about you all day. I wanted to spend more time talking with you earlier today but your father came along unexpectedly.  Duke and I have been preparing for the next event, I think our chances are better since it is a skill based competition,” he told Princess Wildheart.

  Prince Morgan glanced over to see Duke and Pricilla talking and enjoying each other.

  “I am sure you will do well Prince but that is not what is important to me, win or lose, matters not to me,” said Princess Wildheart

  Prince looked closely at the Princess.  She sure was beautiful, very close to perfect in his eyes.  He wanted to ask her to marry him but wasn’t sure if her parents would approve of him. The other two Princes’ may be the only ones they would consider for her to choose from.

  “I thought you would be more interested in the outcome,” said Prince Morgan

  “I am more interested in the Ball and getting a chance to dance with you tonight Prince Morgan,” she said smiling.

  “Ah, I see,” said Prince Morgan smiling.  “I would also like to spend more time with you Princess,” he said, moving closer to the Princess.  “Princess, my feelings for you are so strong.  I just want to know if you feel the same way towards me.”

  “I feel the same way Morgan.  I am glad to hear you feel that way towards me,” said Princess Wildheart as she grabbed his hands in hers.

  “Would your father would approve of me as a potential suitor?  He has already provided two Princes to choose from and may not approve of me,” he said while looking deeply into her eyes.

  “Father wants me to be happy and he did say that I could choose my Prince.” 

  “Choose your own Prince?  Seems unlikely he would not want to be involved in the approval and selection,” said Prince Morgan.

  “I am a Princess.  I can do what I want.  If it makes me happy then my father will agree.”

  “He sent for your choices Princess, I was not invited to court you, just to take part in the events and attend the ball tonight.  The King mentioned nothing about dating you, he may not like it if you reject his choices and select me instead.”

  “A Princess can do what she wants, we are made that way,
and it goes without saying really.  I expect it to be that way and so does everyone else,” said Princess Wildheart

  Princess Wildheart was getting disturbed.  She didn’t really consider her father or mother playing a role in her selection of a Prince.  Prince Morgan brought up a very good point about the King providing the pool of possible suitors for her to select from.

  “We kissed, I like you and we can go from there,” said Princess Wildheart

  “A kiss is not an assurance that your father will agree to the two of us being together, it is just a kiss,” said Prince Morgan

  “Just a kiss you say?  Just a kiss!  How can you say something like that!  Let’s go Pricilla!” 

  The Princess grabbed Pricilla by the arm and walked off with her, glaring back at Prince Morgan and Duke.  She was hurt that the Prince did not think that the kiss between them was a life changing event.  She could not believe he could even think that the kiss they shared was so trivial.  Duke was surprised to see the Princess so angry.

  “Wow!  You really made her upset Morgan. What did you say to her?”

  “Well, all I did was mention that her father may not approve of the two of us and she kind of went crazy on me Duke.” 

  Prince Morgan was standing there dumbfounded and confused.   

  “Let's just get to the next event and I’ll figure it out later,” said Prince Morgan.

  Princess Wildheart and Pricilla sat down in the same place in the grandstand as before.  Princess Wildheart was in a real huff.  She turned toward Pricilla and started venting.

  “Men just don’t get anything when it comes to matters of the heart,” fumed the Princess.

  Pricilla tried to calm her down some.  She could see that Princess Wildheart was hurt and upset by Prince Morgan’s comment on the kiss they had shared.  Pricilla agreed with the Princess, it was a very important moment that should be cherished by them both.

  “Princess, things will be fine between you two, I am sure he did not mean to sound like the kiss meant nothing to him.  Prince Morgan likes you, I can tell,” said Pricilla.

  “Well, he was worried that father would not approve of us being together.  Not so much commenting on the kiss as such, well he was commenting on it, sounding like it meant nothing to him although I know better,” said Princess Wildheart. 

  Prince Morgan had brought up a good point about her father not including him in the pool of prospects for her hand.  The King hadn’t said which Prince she had to choose but did provide the possibilities for her.  She hadn’t considered the chance of the King rejecting Prince Morgan.  All she had thought about was how much she liked Prince Morgan and how great everything could be with him.  For now she was angry with the Prince for using the words “Just a kiss.   

  “Look!  Here come our new boyfriends now Princess,” said Pricilla, excited to see them coming.

  “Let them come then, I could care less,” huffed the Princess.

  No introductions were needed since it was the same contestants competing minus Duke, who did not want to join the event.  Prince Morgan did an outstanding job riding the circle and skewering the rings onto the sword as he rounded the track.  No one else even came close to him in that contest as he easily beat the others.  The next event was the Sword Fighting event.   The three brothers could sword fight well but could not compare to Prince Morgan who won that event with ease.  Prince Tangent and Prince Darksoul did not do very well in the Ring Grab or Sword fight.

  The final event was the Boxing Match.  That event was all Duke as he slammed each brother, one by one.  Prince Darksoul and Prince Tangent withdrew after watching each of the brothers lose matches with Duke.  The day’s events ended with Prince Morgan and Duke winning the majority of the events.  Prince Morgan and Duke won the respect of those who watched the events.  The King stood as the trumpets once again sounded.  It was time for him to make the closing speech ending the games.

  “Today we were all fortunate enough to witness a fine competition celebrating our Kingdom.  I would like to congratulate the winners and remind everyone to celebrate tonight in honor of my daughter Princess Wildheart.  While not everyone is invited to the Royal Ball, arrangements have been made to provide food, drink and music in the castle courtyard for your enjoyment.” 

The crowd cheered the Kings generosity. 

“Thanks to all of you for attending the events today,“ he said, sitting back down.

  Someone yelled out “Long live the King!”  Then the crowd repeated the cheer several times as the King stood back up and gave them a friendly wave.

  Prince Morgan and Duke started toward the Tavern to get a few drinks.

  “Hey, we did pretty
well today,” said Duke.

  “We did really well with the exception of the horse race.  No way were we going to beat those enormous horses that the brothers ride.  We did win our fair share of the other events we entered.  I knew we would win a few.  It was fun Duke,” said Prince Morgan.

  “I agree with you Morgan.  I enjoyed the boxing matches,” said Duke.

  “
Are you ready for the Ball?” asked Prince Morgan.

  “Sure I am, Pricilla said she would be there to dance with me!”  Duke said excitedly.

  Princess Wildheart and Pricilla suddenly appeared.  Princess Wildheart threw her arms around Prince Morgan and gave him a hug. 

  “Sorry, I got upset,” she said