The Lonely Princess

 The Lonely Princess

A Short Story

Once upon a time, in a kingdom far far away, there lived a king and queen and their daughter. King Jared and Queen Sarah, had a lovely daughter named Lyra. She was short but not too short, she had lovely chocolate coloured hair that stopped just at her shoulders, she was slim, with skin as pale as a ghost, and was kind to all people and animals. Now if you ever met Lyra you would know she looks nothing like what you'd think a princess would look like, she paints her nails black, listens to loud music, and doesn't wear long dresses. In fact Lyra looks just like any other girl in the kingdom. Now that Lyra is 19, her parents are putting pressure on her to find a suitor whom she will marry. "but mother I'm not interested in that, I don't even have friends how can I meet my future partner?" Lyra said one morning. "you will find a way my child, but it must be done this year! We've already found suitors for you to meet" Queen Sarah said. Lyra just pouted and went to her room, her safe place. Thing is Lyra wanted friends, and a special someone she just had a hard time talking to people. This made her very lonely, and she felt like she didn't belong. On the morning of the suitors visit, Lyra was forced to wear a long puffy dress, and had her hair up in fancy style. Basically it was everything she despised. "oh you look so beautiful dear" Queen Sarah said as Lyra walked up to her throne. "thanks mother" Lyra said without enthusiasm. "you do look lovely Lyra, even though I know this isn't you" King Jared said with a wink. King Jared always supported Lyra's own sense of style, and hated to see his daughter so uncomfortable. "when this is all done, how about we go into the forest and do some archery?" King Jared whispered to Lyra. "yes please father!" Lyra said with a huge smile. "ahem, presenting his royal highness prince Sedric of quatama!" The royal announcer said. A young man dressed in a long silk cape, and ridiculous suit walked up to the thrones. Sure he was good looking, but was he caring? "my lady, it would be my honor to have your hand in marriage." Sedric said leaning down to kiss Lyra's hand. "may I say you are the most beautiful girl I have ever seen" he said with a wink. Lyra wanted to throw up, there was something off about this guy. "I expect us to have a child right away, and you will also obey my every need." That's what was wrong with him. "Excuse me?! Is that all you think women are for? To have children and wait on you men hand and foot? I don't think so buster!" Prince Sedric was sent away, and then they brought in the next prince.

After about two hours, and 20 suitors later Lyra had enough. She went upstairs to her room to change into her regular clothes, and met her father outside the palace gates. They walked into the forest, and found a sunny clear spot with the archery targets. Lyra loved doing archery, it was very peaceful, and she loved spending time with her father. "nice shot Lyra!" King Jared said to his daughter. "hehe thanks father" A few minutes into their game, Lyra got the strange sensation she was being watched. Cautiously she turned her head to where the person might be, and when she looked, Lyra saw the most beautiful pair of brown eyes she had ever seen in her life! "what are you looking at Lyra?" King Jared asked looking in his daughter's direction. "there's someone in the bushes watching us" the king moved closer to the bushes, and pushed them aside. "I don't see anyone honey" he said with a concerned look on his face. That was strange, Lyra knew there was someone there. "perhaps you're tired, let's head back to the palace and have dinner then early bed okay?" Lyra nodded, packing up their stuff. That night, Lyra had a hard time falling asleep. She couldn't those eyes out of her head, they had seemed so kind and interested. Since she couldn't sleep, Lyra decided to go practice archery in the dark alone. She had done this many times before, and no one thought anything of it. In the clearing with the stars overhead, she saw so many constellations and thought about how those were all once people living on earth. Now they were part of this beautiful universe, looking down on those still on earth guiding them, inspiring them. She took out her notebook and started to write down everything she was feeling, instantly feeling better about not sleeping. Then suddenly she heard light strumming, it was beautiful like a soft lullaby. Intrigued by the sound, Lyra walked over to the bushes. She pushed them away stepping into the next part of the forest. That's when she saw him, the person from earlier today. She remembered the eyes, and there they were still the most beautiful things she had ever seen. The person was softly playing the guitar, also staring at the stars. Now that Lyra could see all of them, she noticed how beautiful the person was. He had fluffy brown hair, beautiful tanned skin, painted nails like hers, and dressed quite similar to how she liked to dress. Lyra couldn't help but stare, and felt her heart beat in her throat. She wanted to get closer to them, but was scared of what she would say. The person turned to look at her, and Lyra immediately blushed. He walked closer to her, Lyra was sure her heart was going to explode. "hi, what are you doing out here by yourself? you know there's wolves at night" They said cracking a smile. "um h-hi, yeah I know I just couldn't sleep" Lyra said nervously. The person spoke with an accent and had a soothing tone to their voice. Somehow it relaxed Lyra, and she took a deep breath. "oh well, I couldn't sleep either. The stars sure are pretty tonight aren't they?" He said looking up at the sky again. Lyra nodded getting lost in the beautiful sky. "you're really good at archery." they said snapping Lyra from her thoughts. "oh uh thank you" she said shyly. The wind began to blow, causing a chill to go down Lyra's spine making her shiver. "here" They said giving her their jacket. "th-thanks" Lyra started to get panicky, and her breathing became fast and shallow, tears started to fall down her face. "hey it's okay, come here" He pulled Lyra into his chest, softly stroking her hair. "sh sh it's okay, you're safe I promise" Lyra eventually calmed down, thanking the beautiful person for comforting her. "you're welcome" they said. "I'm Lyra by the way, well princess Lyra actually" she said. "I thought you seemed royal to me, you're beautiful, sweet, and have a pretty smile." Lyra wanted to melt into a puddle. "it's getting late I should head home" Lyra said blushing. "meet me here tomorrow night, I wanna show you something" "okay" Lyra was about to leave when a thought occurred to her. "what's your name?" "I'll tell you tomorrow night princess" with that the person waved goodbye and headed inside their house. That was the first time Lyra actually liked being called a princess. 

The next night, Lyra ran straight to the bushes and waited for the person to come back. She heard a door close, then came the person. "hey princess, it's good to see you" Lyra was melting. "you too, are you gonna tell me your name?" "in a bit, there's something I want you to see, may I?" He said holding out their hand for her to take. "yes" She took his hand and sparks immediately shot through her body, it was the best feeling in the world. They led her up to his house, and stopped by a ladder. "is it safe?" She asked nervously. "you'll be okay princess, I've got you" Lyra took a deep breath and followed them up the ladder. At the top, there was a perfect view of the moon and stars. They looked so close, you could almost reach out and touch them. "this is beautiful!" Lyra said excitedly. "I thought you'd like it" They both sat down on the balcony, Lyra leaned against their shoulder, as he wrapped an arm around her. "can I do something?" They asked looking at Lyra with those adorable puppy eyes. "okay" They both laid down on the balcony, looking into each others eyes, they softly stroked her hair and nervously shuffled closer. They threw a blanket over them to feel more cozy, and then it happened he kissed her! Sparks shot up and down her body, feeling his lips on hers was electric! Lyra wanted to be closer to them, and moved closer so they could stroke down her back. "that was amazing!" she said having her first ever kiss. "it was my princess" Lyra yawned feeling tired, they walked back into his house and laid down on their bed. She gently laid down on their chest, as they wrapped his arms around her making her feel safe. "by the way my name is 

River" from that day on, Lyra the lonely princess wasn't so lonely anymore.

The End :)