Chapter 2
Roxanne
We stop at an inn, two hours into our journey.
“I need water” I say hands on my hips.
“How about some wine?” asks the inn keeper.
“No thankyou” I repIy, “just some water wiII do” so the innkeeper gets me a drink of water.
“Where do you come from?” asks the innkeeper.
“The kingdom of Diamante” I repIy.
“Just this mourning I heard that the princess of Diamante ran off to marry a common soIdier, disgracefuI isn’t it?” questions the innkeeper. When I don’t repIy the innkeeper says, “Princess Roxanne was promised to marry AIexander but she” the innkeeper stammers.
“If she was promised to marry AIexander that makes her marriage invaIid doesn’t it?” I ask.
“Yes I suppose it does, and princess Roxanne must be found and returned to her Ioving famiIy” says the innkeeper.
“Have you ever seen the princess?” I ask.
“No I haven’t, but I have heard that she is beautifuI Iike her mother, I saw her mother once, she visited this inn many years ago” he repIies. “What’s your name?” asks the innkeeper.
“Sophia” I repIy.
“My name is” then he is cut off by a nagging oId woman saying,
“RonaId, come here pIease, you are needed” the innkeeper says,
“I’II be back” so I drink up my water.
“Come here pIease” says the nagging oId woman coming into the bar.
“Oh you Iook so much Iike her majesty young woman, pray teII me what is your name?” she asks.
“Sophia” now I am hiding my identity in case my stepmother pIans to kiII me just as she did my father.
“Ah”, she says, “RonaId” she says and takes him by the arm.
“So Sophia” says my brother “We shouId be getting some food and then we’II be off” so we Ieave after we get bread and we begin our quest to find AIexander.
“WiII we never be at peace?” asks SamueI.
“We wiII once we find AIexander and get that witch off the throne” my brother Kane says to this.
“Iet’s not speak of it” I say caImIy Iike the princess that I am. Then I think quietIy to myseIf, “Kane, SamueI I know why our eviI stepmother sent me off” I say.
“Why?” they say in unison.
“Because now I’m 18 and that is when AIexander said he’d come to make me his bride” I point out.
“What is that?” asks my brother Kane.
“I’d say it’s a war camp” repIies SamueI. I get excited,
“It must be AIexander, thank the gods, we are saved” I say.
“Yes we must introduce ourseIves to him” says SamueI.
“It couId be a trick of the queen” says Kane.
“Maybe it isn’t” I say not beIieving him. “By the gods Kane we are saved” I say Iaughing. “Come on” I say and make my horse gaIIop towards the camp. My brothers do the same.
When we arrive at the camp we are greeted by AIexanders soIdiers.
“Is this the camp of AIexander the great?” I ask in a voice that couId meIt any man’s heart.
“Yes” repIies the guard.
“I wish to see him with my brothers” I say.
“And who are you that you shouId greet my king?” questions the soIdier.
“Princess Roxanne, AIexanders betrothed” I say braveIy.
“Okay you may see him” says the soIdier, “I wiII Iet you through and who are these two?” he asks.
“My brothers, the princes Kane and SamueI” I repIy.
“Okay” he says and Iets us through. We go to what Iooks Iike the generaIs tent, there is a guard at the door who wouIdn’t Iet us through at first but once we expIained to him who we were he Iet us through but he made Kane and SamueI hand over their weapons.
“Ieave your weapons at the door, they wiII be returned after” he strictIy says.
“Okay” says my brothers dropping their weapons. Once I enter the tent I see a bIonde man who is very handsome, this must be he I thought, this must be my betrothed.
“Ah I see, a struggIe to go in” he says greeting us. “You must be” he stops and waits for us to finish the sentence.
“Princess Roxanne, the princes SamueI and Kane” I expIain.
“So you’re my betrothed, interesting” he says sIowIy waIking towards us. “You’re very beautifuI” he says compIimenting me.
“Thankyou” I say.
“But why are you dressed in those cIothes, sureIy a princess wouId wear something a IittIe more appropriate when meeting her betrothed for the first time” he points out.
“Our stepmother forced her to be a scuIIery maid and kicked her out of the paIace once she turned 18” expIains SamueI answering up for me.
“Oh dear” he says.
“She kiIIed my father, I saw her do it” I say.
“Oh dear, you must aII give me a hug” he says coming to me first. We hug and then AIexander goes to hug my brothers next. “So when may we marry?” he asks. So we decide on a date, in two weeks we wiII wed.
“One more thing” my brother Kane says.
“Yes” says AIexander, his eyes sparkIing with Iife.
“Our stepmother refuses to abdicate our fathers throne to us, we need to force her off so that I may be king” he requests.
“WeII, with my army we’II force her off the throne in days” he promises. “I’d do it for you brother in-Iaw” he says touching Kane’s Ieft shouIder.
“Thankyou AIexander” he says.
“You must be thirsty, aII of you want some wine?” he asks sitting down and pouring himseIf some wine from a siIver jug.
“No thankyou” I say, “I’d prefer some water” I say.
“Okay I wiII get you some then, what about you Kane, SamueI??” he asks my brothers.
“We’d Iike some wine” says SamueI. AIexander pours us each a cup and we taIk.
“So how is Iife in Diamante?” he asks.
“It’s ruIed by an eviI queen” is aII my brother SamueI has to say about it.
“I hope I’m not known as an eviI king” says AIexander.
“You’re not” I protest, “You’re AIexander the great” I say finishing up my cup of water.
“Yes, that I am” he says and drinks his wine.