i'm the princess, i don't wanna be the queen

Hunter sighed as he shoveled horse crap from one end of the stables to the other. Being a stable boy sucked, he finally decided. He'd had the title for at least a month now and even if he wasn't a servant boy like some of his other friends, he still learned the gossip of the castle and rather quickly too. Although he wasn't aware of this new lord or duke, whichever one that arrogant pompous prick was, that was arriving at the castle until this morning where he had to settle their horses in. The lord or duke looked to be in his late youth although he certainly wasn't a saggy old man either and was in fact, extremely good looking. If the man wasn't such an arse Hunter would've considered being a little bold in flirting with him. He snorted at the thought. As if. After doing one part of his chores, he began going down the rows of stables, most of which were empty, to feed the horses. There was one horse in particular the stable boy had taken a liken to and that was a certain pure breed white stallion horse that screamed regal and beauty. He felt lucky that he even got to lay his hands on the beautiful beast. It's name was Chaol and he was the horse for the Captain of the Guard. All the lady horses swoon.

The stable boy heard a rustling from the other end of the stables and Hunter peeked his head out of Chaol's little part of the stables to see the end of a white dress as a girl entered the stables and more specifically, Annie's stable. Annie was the royal princess' horse and if someone saw some random girl run up to her horse in his stables, Hunter's head was going to be rolling.

"Hey!" He snapped, running over where the girl was. He stopped a few feet behind her, waiting for her to turn around but when she didn't, he got in between her and the horse. "You can't just go to the Princess' horse whenever you ple-"

His face paled. The girl was younger than him by at least two years or so. Her pristine skin was stained by tears and her eyes were red. Those blue green eyes of the ocean; the eyes of the royal family. Hunter immediately blushed and straightened himself into a bow of respect, even getting on his knees for how he acted earlier. "My apologies, Your Highness! I hadn't realized it was you and thought it was someone else coming to steal your mare, I deeply regret not foretelling that it was Your Highness, and sincerely hope you can overlook my mistakes!"

OOC: It's a long post but don't get comfortable

Hunter watched from below as the princess of Lyria's face changed into a snobby expression as she stroked her mare's mane and it took him all his strength not to grimace at the snobby look for it might have cost him his life. He'd dealt with those of higher rank and noble blood but it didn't mean that he couldn't still feel disgust towards their arrogance and prejudice towards the lower class. He had heard stories from the other boys working in the castle that the princess had impeccable beauty and was kind and fair but all those thoughts washed from his mind when he saw that snobby look on her face. She must've just been like all the other noble girls. Stuck up and prissy.

He looked back towards the floor until he heard the tinkling of laughter, eyes drawn back towards the giggling blonde princess. "Sorry 'bout dat, trying to see if I could trick ya." Hunter's eyes slightly widened and he blushed when he realized that it had worked, seeing that he was just thinking of how prissy and snobby she must've been. He stiffened when her hand was placed on his shoulder. Now, the stable boy was certainly no stranger to touching but this was the princess that was laying her hand on him. The only time any noble touched him was to slap him for doing a piss poor job or doing something that they deemed idiotic or the sort. The princess' touch was gentle.

"Ya new? Then again ya probably are cause I never seen ya before and I lived here ma entire life. But its okay, if I saw someone trying to take ma horse I'd kill them. What's ya name?"

Hunter let a small little smile appear on his face on how the princess talked. It was an interesting accent although most Lyrians had them; he had always thought it amusing. But then again he wasn't originally from Lyria, he was from Recien, a neighboring kingdom of Lyria where it was rolling fields of grass and hills covered in blooming flowers. It was a kingdom where the sun never hid but instead shone bright on it's people. Most traits of people from Recien was their prominent tan and a glow to them as if they bathed in the sunlight, many with hair the color of gold or copper, and eyes that rivaled the green ring of forests or the golden brown of the crisp wheat they grew there.

"My name is Hunter Evans, Your Highness."

OOC: worldbuilding yoooooo

"No need to call me ya highness, just call me Niamh." Hunter shook his head at her request with amusement until he met her eyes with his own even though the act in itself would be deemed disrespectful by any other nobility. But he had a feeling that the princess didn't really care.

"That would be highly...inappropriate, Your Highness, if you do realize. After all, I am the stable boy, and if caught calling you other than your title, I could be killed." He said this with a grin like the prospect of being killed over such a simple matter was so normal. Which in this case it was rather normal. He'd heard of a servant being exiled out of the kingdom just for holding eye contact with the king for too long. Even the thought just made him want to cringe. "But ya aren't from Lyria, are ya?" He heard her ask. Hunter shook his head again, his legs beginning to burn from the kneeling position he was still in, though he had no choice but to ignore it.

"No I am not, Your Highness. I am originally from Recien. The central city to be specific."

When the princess' hands found his to help him up, he complied, knowing that it was her way for telling him to stand. Hunter glanced over to the open stable door, praying to the gods that no one else came in. He was tense and nervous but forced himself to calm down in the princess' presence because he knew that she didn't like it when he was so formal or stiff. He let himself meet her eyes and smiled when she spoke. "Ooo. I've always loved Recien! The people there are so nice and friendly. What's it like?" He laughed lightly at her eagerness and excitement. He'd never met a noble so easily excited- or anyone for that matter.

"It's a wonderful kingdom to be quite honest. Everyone is very friendly and nice like you said, although almost annoyingly so. You wouldn't believe how many times I'd had to refuse a kind offer as a kid every single day. Not that I didn't want what they offered, I just liked doing things on my own." Hunter noticed that he was still holding the princess' hands and had been for almost two minutes or so. In haste, he dropped her hands with a blush as he scratched his head. He averted his eyes until he knew that his blush was gone but still let his eyes roam the stable and it's horses. "Lyria is a fair kingdom as well but it just doesn't feel the same if you know what I mean." He said, finally meeting the princess' eyes and giving her a small smile.

"Ya are right though. The people in Recien are very nice. Here it isn't so nice." Hunter's eyes widened and he shook his head, frantically waving his hands in protest. "Your Highness shouldn't say that about her kingdom! It wouldn't sit well if someone were to hear you say that." He chastised her lightly though he felt the ends of his lips tugging into a quirky little smile. She would make a nice queen one day, he decided in his thoughts with a content feeling. The people of Lyria would rest in good hands although it wasn't to say that their current ruler was insufficient or anything. The stable boy just thought that having a kind and compassionate ruler like the princess would be more preferable to the people. Although the though of the princess having a husband- a king to rule with, felt kind of off to him. He didn't know why though. Maybe he thought she'd be a better independent ruler or something. Or maybe he thought that he should be the one next to her.

Despite the happiness in the princess' eyes, Hunter is reminded that they were quite puffy before she lit up like a candle in the darkness. He bit his lip and testing the boundaries, he asked, "Your Highness- Sorry, Niamh," He corrected himself with an apologetic smile. "I know it isn't in my place to ask, but what happened earlier that made you ruin your dress and made you cry?" At the end of his question, he lifted his finger to wipe away a little stray wet spot near her eyes that hadn't yet dried.

"I-Its because of ma parents, more ma dad. He requested for some royal men to come over so one of dem can become ma husband. But I don't wanna get married!" Niamh looked like she was about to start crying and a bit panicked, Hunter immediately just hugged her. He almost pulled back right after he took into account of what he did at the thought of what would happen if a royal guard came upon them but soon realized he didn't care. He loosened up a bit and hugged her a bit tighter for a moment before letting a distance follow between the two of them. He ruffled her hair a bit with his hand and laid a hand on her shoulder like she had done to him a while ago with a comforting smile to go along with it.

"Don't cry princess, somebody could be falling in love with your smile." He quipped cheekily with a little wink and a quick tut to lift her chin a bit higher. "And as for the engagement the King has planned for you, surely the man can't be all bad if your father is as good a King as I know he is. He wouldn't want a bigot ruling alongside you to tear this kingdom to ruins now would he?"

Hunter walked towards Annie, Niamh's horse, settling a hand on the mare's head and stroking it tenderly. He unlocked the stable and walked towards the end of it so that he could get the saddle to put on the horse. After making sure it was secure, he gently tugged Annie's reign over to Niamh.

"I don't know how I can help you with your troubles yet Niamh, but a ride should help you clear and ease your mind so you can think up a temporary solution." He offered the reigns to the princess and gave her another encouraging smile.

OOC: Kill me now pls

"I've learned that ma smile is quite nice." Niamh joked as she took the reign from his hands. He smiled and crossed his hands behind his back as she stroked Annie's mane. Indeed it is, he thought to himself in amusement. "Could ya come with me Hunter?" His eyes widened slightly and he raised his eyebrows in surprise before grinning at the puppy dog eyes that she pulled on him.

"I would love to accompany you Niamh but I don't think I'll manage to keep up with you on foot," Hunter laughed as he patted Annie's flank. "It's not like I have my own horse ya know and I certainly cannot take another noble's horse for a ride."

Hunter recognized the path they were taking although it was just vaguely. He remembered, in his first days of apprenticeship, when he would always wander off and through the woods nearby the castle. All crunchy fallen leaves and the moist dirt kicked up underneath his feet. They rode through it now although he could barely see anything through the blonde mass of hair that flew into his fast as they picked up speed. He laughed and turned his face so that Niamh's hair wouldn't hit him as much anymore, enjoying the view as they flew past the woods. They passed by a few deer and Hunter could only pray that they would run away soon before someone in the castle decided to host a hunt. Especially that one new lord with an ego that could reach to the heavens' above.

Hunter prayed to the gods that the smug arrogant bastard wasn't the man the King wanted Niamh to marry. Lyria would fall into madness at the hands of some a**hole like him. He felt even worse for Niamh if she were to be his wife.

"I apologize m'lady," Hunter started sincerely although half of his lips were quirking up into a grin. "I must have overstepped my bounds."

As Niamh's finger fell from his chin, he turned his head to follow her, watching as she flicked her wrist to skip the pebble against the water. The stable boy had to cover his mouth to keep from letting a laugh out at the pout that she sporting on her face. Clearly, she had expected for it to skip a couple more times before submersing itself into the river. Once Hunter was sure that he wasn't going to laugh, he dropped his hand, and walked over to her.

"May I?" He asked as he held out the pebble towards her. "Show you of course. I'm nothing close to a teacher so it might help if I could just ah guide your stance."

"Stand kind of facing sideways but with your chest still slightly facing the water. And then I kind of like to step into it with a little crouch when I go to skip the rock." He demonstrated. " Then I flick my wrist and Your Highness, it's all in the wrist."

Hunter made a show of it and snapped his wrist which sent the pebble flying against the surface of the water. One, two, three, four, five. The rock skipped five times before it sunk and although it was only five, he felt proud of his little accomplishment. The highest he'd ever gotten when rock skipping was a six so it was close. He was just glad that the rock sunk on the first skip or else he would've just embarrassed himself in front of the princess.

"Now you try!" He chirped eagerly, facing Niamh.