ModernGeek

Ok, I didn't have softball practice tonight so I wrote the next chapter. Two little girls are staying with us and them combined with my two little sisters is making this house living hell. Save me.....LOL!(Wow! I'm actually able to smile during this time! Go me!)
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The Fiery Princess
Chapter 9: A very large surprise
     The next day Lehana began the long and tiring task of teaching Ardara. Being a princess Ardara had always had servants to wait on her hand and foot so naturally she didn't know any kind of houskeeping skills. The first obstacle that Lehana faced was getting Ardara to wake up at a decent hour. Ardara had always gotten what when SHE wanted and it had never even occured to her that other people had to get up early to get things done. This was a big shock to Ardara but she put her mind to it and made herself get up early. After that Lehana had to teach Ardara how to dress herself. If you haven't ever dressed yourself and instead had servants do it for you being able to dress yourself and braid your hair is quite an accomplishment. Then came the task of teaching Ardara how to keep house. It was a long process but finally Ardara was able to do the basic things around the house. Slowly and with many mistakes Lehana's house was repaired and the garden revervished. Lehana soon found out that Ardara had had more schooling then she had on mathmatics so she let Ardara handle the bills. Ardara because of her high birth was very good at this and handled the accounts more ably then Lehana could ever hope to. Then came the task of teaching Ardara to cook. Lehana was a wonderful cook and so proved a very able teacher for Ardara. After many a burned supper and quite a few nasty accidents Ardara was finally able to cook some easy things.
     Three years past and Ardara was almost unrecognizable. She had grown strong and hardy with a sun tan. Her eyes now held the fire that the news about her marriage had taken away. Her hair seemed to have become lighter and in the sun it glistened and shown. She was now quite able to handle everything around the house and Lehana who was getting old was able to sit back and enjoy the fruits of her labor. Lehana lived right outside the town so every week Ardara would go and get what things they needed at the market. And today was one of those days
"Do you want to come with me?" Ardara asked Lehana
"No my dear" Lehana replied for she was now very stiff and always stayed at home. So Ardara went on her way. The short half mile walked to town was now nothing to Ardara and when she reached the market she began to shop around. One thing Ardara was good at naturally was haggling. She could get a seller to half his prices no matter how low they were. Ardara headed for the fish stall. The fish stall was run by a family who had been for a long time. The stall was run by the youngest of the brothers in the family and his name was Jaiden. Ardara walked up to him and said
"Hello Jaiden! Do you have any fresh trout today?"
"Hello to yourself miss! Yes actually we just got a catch of trout in would you be looking to buy some?" Jaiden replied
"Yes, but at half the price you're selling them at" Ardara said. Finally she was able to half the price and was about to walk away when Jaiden said
"Um Celestyn, I have something to say to you. Would you walk over here with me." Puzzled at what Jaiden could possibly want to say  to her Ardara followed Jaiden. Once they were a little ways from the town Jaiden said rather uncomfortly
"Um Celestyn, I've always admired you....and....um......I....um......kind of.....care about you.....in a special way." Ardara stared shocked at Jaiden. All she had ever known from men was cruelty so naturally she wasn't about to let anybody through to her. Throwing up mental barriers to protect her mind from Jaiden Ardara replied
"Um, ok Jaiden. Um...I have to be going now." Jaiden looked rather crestfallen and said
"Ok, by Celestyn" With her head spinning Ardara walked back to Lehana's house.
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My life has totally been taken over by Softball. In a regular week we have baseball/softball Monday through Friday. So I'm usually VERY tired when I come home to I won't be able to write as much of my story as usual. I do have four chapters here right now though.
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The Fiery Princess
Chapter 5: Plans
During the next month Ardara mechanically went through the process of preparing for a wedding. She did all the things one would expect a princess who was preparing to be married would do. She didn't encourage the wedding but she didn't fight it either. She just simply seemed to have lost all hope. She became listless and pale. A mere shadow of her former fiery self. Sergio rubbed his clammy hands together whenever he observed this.
"It will be quite easy to make the population of Sinap believe she's pining for her loved one when she's like this" he said to the Sinapian ambassador as though it was his own doing that Ardara was like this. In truth thought Ardara was really acting. She had made a plan but for it to work she had to appear as though she had lost all hope and had resigned herself to the fact that she was getting married. Inside Ardara felt very pleased with herself for putting on such a good show.
Finally the journey to Slodinia the capital of Sinap began. A gold liter had been prepared for Ardara and she wasn't allowed to ride in anything else.
"Perhaps they think I'll try and run if I'm on a horse" Ardara thought to herself. The long caravan was huge with over 200 carts full of baggage. As they went through the city the citizens lined up to stare at them. When they left the city gates Ardara looked out of her gold cage and watch the receeding walls of Tasia the capital of Celestia and the only place Ardara had ever known. Ardara felt a spasm of terror pass over her as she looked at those walls.
"What if the plan doesn't work?" She thought to herself. Ardara decided it wouldn't do any good worrying about it and the best thing to do now would be to keep up her act of a resigned princess. It wasn't to hard to do. They traveled all through the day and Ardara inside her golden cage had nothing to do. She thought about what she would do if her plan worked. No inspiration came to mind. Ardara decided to to go with the flow after her plan worked. Going with the flow is something you have to learn to do if you're a princess of Celestia. Something you have to learn to do if you're going to be royalty at all. When they stopped for the night Ardara was escorted out of her gold cage and into a special tent prepared for her where Lael would undress her and get her ready for bed. Ardara never slept though. She spent the time talking to Lael until Lael fell asleep then she would contemplate whether her plan would work or not.
The night after the caravan had crossed the Sinapian border Ardara decided to put her plan into action. Ardara was escorted into her tent and Ardara began her plan.
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The Fiery Princess
Chapter 6: Defiance
Ardara waited until very late when everyone except the guards were asleep. Lael came in with one of her own simple servant dresses in her hand. Ardara got dressed in the servant dress and Lael handed her the packet of food she had stolen. After giving Lael a big hug Ardara stole out of the tent. The sleepy guards in the dark just thought it was Lael going out of the tent instead of Ardara. Once past the guards Ardara quietly stepped over to where the horses were being kept and chose one. Then she she swung up on it and rode away.
"WHERE IS SHE?" Adrian roared the next morning at the two terrified guards who were supposed to be keeping watch over Ardara. Visibily quivering they replied
"We don't know sire, no one passed out of the tent except Lael the servant maid." Adrian stormed into the tent where Ardara had been. He saw something on the ground and stooped to pick it up. It was a letter Ardara had left. Adrian opened it up and read it. It said

Dear Citizen of Celestia,
We have kidnapped princess Ardara and you'll probably never see her again. People from Celestia don't belong in Sinap and especially don't belong if they are going to be married to our prince. Princess Ardara would have brought strange customs with her and over time Sinap would have become a replica of Celestia. Something very much not wanted.
Sincerely,
Men of Sinap

Adrian's face turned red as he read the letter.
"FIND HER!" he roared before going to his own tent to think things over. Sergio was shocked. All his plans had crumbled before his eyes and there was nothing he could do.
Soldiers scattered all over the country looking for Ardara but always came back with empty reports. Adrian was getting worried about what Soren would say and whether or not he would be angry. Finally after a week Adrian decided that the truth had to come out and dispatched a letter to Soren explaining what had happened.
Adrian had been right. Soren WAS angry but not because Matthias didn't get to marry Ardara. He was angry because his plan to start a war with Celestia had failed. And since the letter left by Ardara was signed "Men of Sinap" he very well couldn't blame the kidnapping on Celestia. Soren's plan to take Celestia had failed.
Meanwhile Adrian had been crushed by Ardara's disappearence. After she left he realized that very deep down he had loved her but just didn't want to realize it. He saw now that he shouldn't have tried to ignore her and push her into a marriage with Matthias. Adrian became forgettful and absentminded because of Ardara's escape and although he still kept the title of King the real power passed to Sergio.
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The Fiery Princess
Chapter 7: A New Found Friend
     Ardara rode all night. She rode not knowing which direction she was going or where she was going. All she cared about was getting as far away from her father as possible. When at last dawn came Ardara was so tired and sore she was seeing spots before her eyes. After riding a little while longer she found a nice cave in which she made camp. She let the horse which she had named Steps High eat some of the grass which grew outside the cave. Tired from riding all night and emotionally exhausted Ardara lay down inside the cave and fell asleep. When she woke up she walked outside to where Steps High was standing. She was in high spirits but looking around her she suddenly froze. Two soldiers from the army of Celestia were leaning against a tree. If they turned their heads they would see her and all would be lost. Ardara stayed like a statue for five minutes staring at the soldiers then becoming suspicious that they were not moving crept closer to them and realized they were asleep. Ardara almost laughed with relief but caught herself just in time. Creeping toward the soldiers she saw they had food and water which she needed and weapons which she also needed. Ardara got right up close to the soldiers and as quietly as she could took all their provisions and a sword and dagger. Then as quietly as possible she walked back to the cave, packed up, and set on her way.
     Ardara rode for weeks and weeks without meeting a single town. Mother Nature had not been kind to her and Ardara had had to treck through lighting and rain for a good part of those weeks. Her supply of food was almost diminished when she came upon a little house. The house was falling apart and the garden looked unkept. Ardara stumbled into the house and lay down on the floor inside it. Ardara didn't know for how long she slept for when she woke up it was to the sight of an older lady holding a big frying pan. Ardara jumped and backed up. The lady said
"What are you doing in my house? Coming to rob me of what little I have?" Ardara said in the sweetest and most innocent sounding voice she could muster
"Oh no maam, I was just tired and looking for shelter. I didn't mean to intrude" The grim look on the lady's face softened and she said in a calm tone
"What are you doing around here? A young girl like you shouldn't be off on her own like this."
"Oh great" Ardara thought
"Now I have to make up an excuse" Thinking quickly Ardara said
"You won't tell will you?"
"Of course not" the lady replied. Hoping her story would sound convincing Ardara said
"I ran away from my Uncle because he was cruel to me and always beat me." The lady got an understanding look on her face and said
"Well I'm sorry about what's happened to you and would you like to stay here for a meal?" Ardara gladly accepted.
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The Fiery Princess
Chapter 8: A Home
     The Lady's cooking was excellent. Ardara felt warm, satisfied, and happy. Something she hadn't felt in the past weeks. When the meal was over Ardara realized that she didn't know the ladies name. So she said
"Excuse me, but I didn't catch your name" The lady looked up and said
"Oh, my name is Lehana. And what's your name?" Ardara panicked. Saying her own name would be a dead giveaway of who she was. Thinking quickly Ardara said "uh Celes........tyn" Ardara looked at Lehana scared that Lehana might have noticed the similiarity between Celestia and Celestyn. But Lehana didn't seem to. After dinner Ardara asked Lehana where she was and she was informed that she was in the small town of Teria in Sinap. 

"Yes, that's us." Lehana said "The people of the small town Teria. It's a nice place to live because nobody ever pays attention to it so we don't get any pestering tax-collectors or kings out here. Nobody ever bothers us." Ardara thought quickly that this was the ideal place for her to live because if nobody ever paid attention to this town then she could live in relative safety. But then she thought about how she had to money and had no where to live. The hope inside her popped like a bubble. Ardara was interupted in her thoughts by Lehana saying
"You could stay in Teria you know. Your uncle would never find you here."
"It would be a good place to stay" Ardara replied. Lehana leaned closer to Ardara and said
"You could stay here with me. I'm getting old and need someone to help me in keeping up the house and garden" Ardara's eyes lit up. She couldn't believe the generosity of Lehana. So happy she could barely speak Ardara gasped out
"I would love to! Thank you so much for your generosity!" Lehana smiled saying
"Well then I guess we'd better get to bed You're room will be the one right to the left there"
Ardara went to bed so happy she could barely think. Lying in bed she didn't get to sleep for a long time because she was thinking about how wonderful Lehana was. Then Ardara found her thoughts drifting to her father. She wondered how he had felt when he heard that she was gone.
"Probably angry that I defied him" Ardara thought to herself. Ardara erased those thoughts from her mind. She never again wanted to think about her old life. She wanted to start over again. But unluckily for Ardara that was to be impossible.
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