Raven stands outside the palace, her teeth clenched tightly. I HATE HIM!!!!! Her father had just gave her the news that she was no marry a prince. A prince that she hadnt even meet yet.

Honaihaka, Knocked on the Palaces door, and waited for her father to answer the door...The door opened and her father said "Hello, Prince Honiahaka may you please come in" He steped inside.."Thank you, Now wheres Raven i'd like to meet her..." He said fixing his hair.."Oh, i'll get here one minute.." Honaihaka nodded and waited by the door

Raven's father grabs her by the arm "Prince Hanaihaka is here Raven come and meet him."
Raven wanted to protest she wanted to say no but couldnt as her father had lead her to the prince. She looks at him her eyes unmoving.

"Hello, raven" He dows to show honor "Its an honor to meet you my dear.." He looks at her and sees shes very Pretty and is glad he's marrying her.He walks up to her takes her hand and kisses it..he looks up into her eyes. He smiles and stands up right

Salem had been up since an hour before dawn as usual to clean out the stables with the help of the three stableboys that he'd brought on from the streets three years previous. They were hard-working and eager to please in exchange for food, a warm place to sleep, and clothes on their back; to them the money was just a bonus. It had been a hard sell to get the King to allow him to hire the boys but he had managed it by promising to take full responsibility for their actions, should they prove to be dishonest. He'd taught them all that they'd need to know in order to perform their jobs and as he'd been hoping he'd never needed to vouche for them or punish them for anything.

When the Prince arrived, since he was the stablemaster, it was his job to tend to his horses personally no matter how much he hated it. Salem wished that he could send someone else to do the job, not wanting to meet his love's forced future husband. However he kept his face friendly and conversation to a minimum as he unbridaled the horses and placed them in the open stables so that he could rub them down then provide them with food and drink so that they could eat while he brushed them. After that he cleaned out the hooves before leaving them to rest from their long journey as he attended to the other horses with the help of two stablehands.

Gracey finished up cleaning the room she was in. As she was leaving and moving towards the next room, she saw the princess being lead by her father to who she figured was the prince she was going to marry. She didn't like the idea of an arranged marriage, but only being a servant, she didn't have much of a say in it. She nodded curtly as they passed and entered the next room to clean.

Raven sucks in a deep breath not at all happy to see the prince. "Hello." She bites her lower lip trying not to glare at the prince. It was hard. She turns her gaze back to her father. "Father I need to go to the stables. I plan to priactice my riding." Before her Father was able to protest, she was gone.
The King sighs "I am sorry Honaihaka. My daughter is what you might call strong-willed. It will take alot to gain her trust."
Raven stepps out of the palace but doesnt interfear with Salem's work. They must only meet together in the night when noone was around. Now she must treat him nothing more that a servent. She stands to the side waiting for Salem to finish his work so he could get her a horse ready for riding.

"Its okay..king,Most girls warm up to me as time passes i'll give her time, i'll be back at noon" He turned and walked out side to ge his horses..He saw that they were all ready to go he gave he stable man a tip and he rode off...He needed to pick up a few things...As he rode off he was Glad to see that the Princess was very....Cute and he;ll love being her husband he'd do anything to get her

River struggles not to glare at the prince. she didnt like him at all. I hate to inform him that Im extremely hard to get.

River struggles not to glare at the prince. she didnt like him at all. I hate to inform him that Im extremely hard to get.

As he spotted his love approaching he quickly finished what he was doing before going to retrieve her mare from the corral. As he led her back to the stables he made sure to go by the princess as well so that they could walk together, making it seem like he was leading both of them. "Who do you want to accompany you on your ride this time Princess?" Salem asked politely then added because he knew that she'd protest that she could go alone, "You know that your father doesn't like it when you ride alone, he worries that something might happen." As he spoke he was careful to keep his head slightly bowed and looking straight ahead so that he wouldn't accidentally look at her and his face would betray his concern. They'd developed a small code so that they could still communicate somewhat around others, when he said 'father' he was refering to himself and when he said 'King' he was refering to her actual father.

Raven lets out a dramatic sigh, knowing exactly what Salem was meaing. "I guess if you are not busy would you please come with me?" She looks at him her light green eyes shin "I wouldnt want Father to through a fit would you."

"Of course not Princess, and it would be an honor to accompany you. I have already finished up everything that needs my personal attention, the others can handle everything else," he accepted graciously as they entered the stables.

Just then there was a loud crash and when he looked up he saw that one of the boys had accidently knocked over the saddle rack and was now trapped underneath it, struggeling to breath. Rushing over to help the boy, he turned the rack upright before kneeling down and sitting the boy up to help him breath easier. "Thanks Salem," he said shakily when he'd gotten his breath back.

"What happened? How did the rack topple over like that?" he asked gently, his voice filled with concern as his hands wandered over his torso looking for any injuries but when he didn't find anything he let his hands drop.

"Well I'd just finished putting in the new hay and I was about to leave when I saw you coming with the Princess and her horse so I thought that I'd get her saddle out for you so that it would be ready when you came in," the boy exlained as he looked down at his lap.

Sighing he looked down at the small red-head before him, the boy was about ten now but he was still too small to be doing that kind of work yet. "You're not big enough for that kind of work yet, but don't worry I'll give you more to do as your body grows and is able to handle it and soon enough you'll be begging me for less work," Salem smiled down at the boy as he helped him up and sent him on his way.

The boy smiled happily as he left to go and get breakfast from the kitchens, leaving them alone. "I apologize for the delay Princess," he said remaining formal incase anyone was nearby as he grabbed her saddle and strapped it to the horse before strapping on the reigns then preparing a horse for himself so that he could go with her. When he was done he held out a hand to help her up on her horse.

Raven struggels not to frown at the "royal" treatmeat. She hated it. Raven wished people could look at each other equally and not have to look down or up at another. "Its alright. As long as the boy isnt hurt. She gets ontop of the horse. "Oh Salem do you have my request ready?" This was another part of the code. If he would answer yes that ment they could meet tonigh. If he answered no then that ment another time would be better.

"Of course Princess Raven, exactly as you specified," he answered as he led the horses out of the stables. After that he handed the reigns to Raven before going back to close the stable doors. "The boy luckily wasn't hurt, he's just eager to help. Most of the time it is a blessing as it means, since it means that they will do their best and look around trying to find something that still needs to be done. But sometimes it is a curse because they're trying to do too much and more often then not they end up hurting themselves," Salem explined worry evident in his tone and written all over his face as he took his reigns from her and mounted his horse. "Lead the way Princess," he said as soon as he was ready, wanting to put the incident behind them.

Raven slowly rides the mare out to an open grassy paster. She then urges the horse to run. The wind wipes her hair back and her eyes fash in the sunlight. Everytime she rode a horse it felt like everything was so small. Like even the though of haveing to marry that prince melted away.

Salem easily kept up with Raven, having been on more than a few rides with her over the years and was able to anticipate when she would turn so that he didn't lose her. He'd also learned that when she got like this it was best to just let her ride hard until she was ready to talk, but today he didn't mind so much as he needed a hard ride too. He wondered what it would mean for them with this impending marriage looming over them like a dark cloud. Only one thing was certian though and that was things were about to get a lot more complicated and difficult before things got any better, if they ever got better.

Hours fly by for Raven. She slows down trying to get her breath back. She lets the horse walk back to the gate before sliding off of it. Her mother stands just outside of the gate.
"Raven?" she calls. "Let the stable boy take care of the horse. The price is comeing back for supper so you must get ready for his coming"
Raven sighs. "I've already told you mother. NOTHING you will do can force me to love that, that price. So you might as well give up."
Her mother grabs her arm "Love isnt anything. Love is only fantsy for a child like you. You will marry this prince and you will be queen!"
Raven's eyes narrowed at her mother. "I wont. You can try to make me but I also know how to hang myself." She jerks her arm away from her mother and storms off.

Late that night Raven pulls a long coat over her party dress. She pulls the hood low over her face, hiding her eyes in the shadows. Raven slips out of the castle and walks to the shore of the ocean. She looks at it for a moment before steping into a cave. The cave was a place where she would meet her true love.