Winterfall

I forced myself out of his vision. Considering the bond, one thing that we made sure of was that we respected each other's privacy. For Théoden, one of those times was when he did paperwork. This was primarily due to legal issues due to the circumstances behind some of the paperwork.

I stretched and yawned, in my bed as I was left with pretty much nothing to do. Figuring out what to do was definitely turning into a task as there were limits as to what I could do. Since my parents death, I hadn’t kept up on my classes and half my staff left as they were not needed anymore. I still had the main people like Roland my chef, or Caroline our tailor but those who did tasks specifically for my parents were let go by The Council. So, that meant there was less staff, to keep me company.

First, I needed to figure out what to wear today. No matter how comfortable Théoden's sweats were I couldn’t just lounge around in them all day. With a sigh, I decided to get up and walk across the cold wooden floor of my bed chambers and approached my wardrobe.

In my massive wardrobe, that contained properties like a bag of holding. Which contained an endless amount of space for storage. My wardrobe was something I could step into and find the section of clothing that I want and pick from a variety of hand made tailor has made for me over the years.

Today I decided to wear a navy blue dress that morphed into my body, fitting every curve just right. Most, if not all of my clothes had a magical component to where they all fit to my body. Even my shoes. To which I pulled out a pair of ankle high black boots that zipped up on the side.

After I got dressed I exited my wardrobe and slipped on my black belt that held my bag of holding. I ran a brush through my hair, put on a dusting of makeup and left my room. Locking the door behind me.

Since I was unaware of what to do exactly, I wondered about the castle halls. Well, at least the ones on my side of the castle. The castle was primarily built of stone so the halls felt cool in the spring and summer months. And warm in the fall and winter months due to magical heating.

The floors were well crafted marble work that consists of silver and gold shimmer throughout. The windows in the castle were arched and stained to depict a variety of things mainly found in nature. There were a few windows that had the glass taken out and never replaced. I loved these windows the most as it allowed for an amazing view of the kingdom.

The only sound in the castle was the sound of my footsteps and the pounding of my own heart. I traced my fingers along the cool stone wall.

As I walked and walked for what felt like hours, memories began to trickle into my mind. Memories that I welcomed. The memories played like a vivid dream.

I ran down the hall as I heard my father’s voice echo, “I am going to get you!”

I couldn’t help but laugh as I ran away from my father. “You can’t catch me!” I darted around the corner of the hallway and stopped. I had hoped that I could hide and scare him.

I silenced myself as I heard his footsteps approach the area I was hiding in. “Maria? Where did my daughter go?”

He always sounded so shocked when I “suddenly” disappeared. I couldn’t help but let out a little giggle as I could hear his footsteps slow. He was close.

“I got you!” He shouted as he jumped around the corner and startled me. I screamed and he pulled me into his embrace, tickling my small childlike frame. Causing my scream to turn into laughter.

Playing tag and hide and go seek in the castle halls with my father was one of my favorite past times in the castle as a young child.

My mother would often try and aid in my learning capabilities. Don’t get me wrong, she played with me as well, but mother focused more on skill sets than play. She wanted me to be the best I could be despite my father telling me that I am already the best.

“Should we work on the next language?” My mother spoke as she already taught me five different languages by now and I wasn’t even one hundred yet.

I sighed, “can we do something else?” I really didn’t want to learn any more right now. We had already gone through one of my language lessons and my riding lesson for the day. Usually at about the third lesson I was ready to tap out.

She closed her language book, “what would you like to do today dear?”

“Something fun?”

With my father, he was always eager to play games with me. Despite him being king, he would always make time for fun. My father grew up in the royal family. My mother married into it so she always felt like she had to prove herself. Which meant I had to prove myself despite royalty being in my blood.

My mother did have a title all to her own as her family was one of the older families that resided in Winterfall. She was noble but that didn’t stop her.

“What would you consider fun dear?” She questioned. Her definition of fun and my definition of fun were complete opposites.

“Tag? Puzzles? Games like chess?” Yeah, I know it may be a bit weird but I did love the game of chess and checkers. A classic game for the time.

“Chess it is. Do you remember the rules?” My mother questioned as she got up and grabbed the wooden chess board and chess pieces.

“Of course! Prepare to be defeated!”

“We shall see about that, my daughter.”

Board games like this were always a challenge with my mother. And I enjoyed a good challenge.

“I won!” I shouted ten minutes later as I checked mated her for the last time.

She smiled at me with pride. I often did not defeat her but when I did it felt damn good.

The memories soon quickly faded as I felt the warmth of the spring air dart across my skin as I had stopped in front of one of the open windows. It pulled me back to the present. I turned and gazed outside, welcoming the warmth of the spring air on my skin. The breeze gave me a sense of tranquility, giving me a moment of peace and happiness amongst the pain the memories gave me.

As I stared out the window, I took in the sights and sounds of my kingdom from high above. From the window I perched myself in I was able to see each of the rings clearly. Each ring was full of life. As the sounds of horse hooves, shouts from vendors, and smells from the smoke shacks gave life to the kingdom. Taking in the site of the kingdom from high above made me fall in love with my kingdom every time.

As the wind gripped my hair, I leaned a bit further out the window, welcoming the breeze. I gripped the dark oak of the window frame tightly and looked down. The fields below were filled with a diverse landscape of flowers, trees, and other varieties of plants. Painting a portrait worthy view.

Feeling the wind tousle my hair, I leaned further out, resting on the smooth stone ledge. With my hands gripping the dark wood frame for support, I peered down at the lush green ground below.

I sensed him before I heard him through the bond. Maria, you are not going to jump are you?

I smiled in response, I wouldn’t dream of it

I knew he occasionally used the bond to check on me, and I welcomed it wholeheartedly. It was one of the qualities that made him the finest guard one could ever hope for. I couldn't help but wonder what he thought of the sights and wonders of our kingdom.

It's beautiful, Mi Amor, just like the one destined to rule it, he remarked, causing a warm blush to creep across my cheeks. Despite the passage of time, he still could make my heart skip a beat and my face blush.

After a few moments of the wind blowing in my hair as I rested against the open window, I figured it was time to head down the stairs. Hopping off the windowsill, I walked down the corridor and down the marbled stairs and to my surprise I found Marcel standing in the main floor chamber. As my feet hit the marbled floor, and the full room fell into view, I felt a bit startled when a woman with vivid red hair, whom I didn’t recognize, came into view.