Voice of the Animals - Sforzando77's Short Story that Got Out of Control

Sforzando77

Sforzando77

Active member
So I've finally decided to share my story on here. I started it the summer between 7th and 8th grade (about 7 years ago) as a short story, just to pass some time. It is now 49 pages long, and I have worked on and off on it since then. I stopped about my senior year of high school, and haven't made much progress since then. I'm hoping that by posting it here and *hopefully* getting feedback on it, I'll be able to start moving forward with it again. So any sort of comment or critique would be greatly appreciated. :)

Just a note: Keep in mind that most of this was written by a 13-15 year old version of myself, and so there are probably a number of little issues with it. I would go back and edit that, but then I would definitely never make any progress... :p

Ok, here's the first bit of Part I...

A woman in her early thirties with brown hair was standing outside of a large castle near a deep forest. “Appalla! Princess Appalla!” She called, an expression of worried annoyance on her face. “Where did that girl get to now?” She was wearing a faded blue dress and a tan apron that matched the color of her skin. “APPALLA!!” She yelled. An adolescent girl of medium height came out of the forest. She had dark, nearly black hair and mahogany brown eyes.

“Did you need me?” she asked innocently. He voice was quiet but strong.

“Oh! Appalla! Where were you?”

“I was just exploring in the forest.” She replied with a slight, carefree shrug of her shoulders, to show that she wasn’t worried.

“Appalla, you should know better. I swear, someday you’re going to hurt yourself.”

“Oh Jessie, you worry too much. I’ll be fine. I know these woods like the back of my hand”

Jessie sighed. “Well, come on in. You know you’re parents are throwing a ball tonight in honor of your sixteenth birthday and you need to be there. It started nearly an hour ago!” At this, she turned defensive. Appalla stepped back toward the large stable where the Royal Horses were kept.

“But Jessie! I don’t want to go to some stupid ball!” Her nose wrinkled in disgust at the idea and she took another step back. “I’m not leaving this spot.” She said and decisively crossed her arms. Jessie looked at Appalla who was wearing a pair of her father’s old trousers and one of his shirts, her hair pulled messily back and eyes slightly narrowed. Appalla was unusually strong willed and Jessie knew that she couldn’t convince her to come.

“Well, you do what you like and be grateful I’m not your mother.” She growled. “But your parents won’t be very happy.” With that she turned and walked inside the castle, ordering the guards to close the gate as she passed. Appalla stood still for a moment, arms still crossed, then sighed and slowly walked to the barn with the horses. The sweet smells of horses, hay, sweat and leather filled her with happiness and she began to relax.

She walked past the rows of stalls until she got to her horse, Callistar. Callistar was a dark chocolate brown mare with a light, flaxen mane and tail, and a star in the middle of her face. She stepped up to the mare.

“Oh Calli, it’s not fair.” She said, using her horse’s nickname. “I don’t want to go to balls or fancy parties; I’d rather be out here with you and the other horses. If I had just been born into a different family, maybe things would be better. Sometimes, I wish I could just get away from all the problems of the royal life. You’ve got it pretty easy, old girl.” Callistar, as if in agreement, bobbed her chocolate head and rubbed her nose against Appalla’s shoulder. Appalla laughed. “Ha ha! Easy girl! Don’t knock me over! Well,” she sighed. “I guess I should go in now. Be good!” Appalla scratched the mare behind the ears and then quietly walked back to the castle.
 
Wow, thanks for all the nice comments guys. :) Anyway, here's a bit more...

She snuck inside and went through the kitchen to avoid her parents. Luckily, all the cooks were so busy cleaning up after the huge meal they had cooked that they didn’t notice the young girl zigzagging her way through the crowded kitchen. She exited and crept into the ballroom. Everyone was so excited with talking and dancing that the skinny girl dressed in boys clothing was completely ignored, which was exactly what Appalla wanted.

All I have to do now is get to my room. She thought. She was halfway across the ballroom when a small group of boys her age saw her.

“Hey! Princess Appalla! What’re you doing sneaking around in those clothes?”
Oh great! She thought. That’s just what I need. A group of boys from town seeing me in these clothes. Appalla acted as though she didn’t see them and continued toward the staircase, but they ran to catch up with her.

“Oh, hi guys.” She said when they got to her, sarcasm slightly apparent in her voice. “What a surprise.”

“You’re the surprise!” a short, somewhat round boy named Thomas said. “You’re wearing boys’ clothes!”

“Oh, well I-I…um…see…” Appalla was turning bright red, her confidence faltering. She was looking at the boys staring at her. Then she saw Finn.

Oh no! Not Finn! She thought. She liked Finn and didn’t want him to see her like this. He was also staring at her curiously with his bright blue eyes. She quickly turned and ran up the staircase. As she went she heard the boys laugh. When she got to her room, she shut and locked the door.

“It’s not fair. I don’t want to be the Princess.” She said to herself as she sat down on her bed. A silver tabby cat came into the room from her washroom. He meowed loudly. “Oh, hello Silver.” She muttered to the cat. He jumped up on the bed and rubbed his head on Appalla’s arm. She looked at the clock by her mirror. It was almost seven. The ball would be lasting for at least three more hours. Appalla sighed. She knew that staying in her room would just bring her more trouble than going down and facing her parents. Quickly, she changed into a light blue ball gown and after brushing out her hair and pulling it back into a sleek bun, she headed downstairs.

The ballroom was a giant flurry of color. Women in bright gowns twirled and spun with men dressed in smart, colored suits and dress clothes. Light from the huge, diamond chandelier threw a dazzle across the crowd. And in the center of it all, Appalla saw her parents, dancing in the formal way of the others*. Both of them looked very happy and Appalla knew her showing up nearly an hour late would not be appreciated by them. She carefully crossed the ballroom and made her way toward her parents who had moved to talk to a young man with pale skin and long light blond hair, dressed in dark emerald dress clothing. As she approached them, her parents stopped talking and looked at her, clearly annoyed at her showing up so late into the ball, but not making anything out of it yet. The young man though, smiled at her and said, “Ah, you must be Princess Appalla. Allow me to introduce myself; I am Prince Frederic van Spach of the land of Reggalo. I must say your country is beautiful, as are you.”

Oh, please, Appalla thought. Not another prince mom’s trying to set me up with! But, unfortunately for Appalla, that’s exactly what he was. So, Appalla stood and talked with Prince Frederic for a time, in order to please her mother. However it seemed that talking wouldn’t be enough.

“Oh, it seems the orchestra has started a lovely waltz.” Prince Frederic said. “Appalla, would you care to dance with me?” Appalla quickly glanced at the tall grandfather clock at the end of the ballroom. A quarter past eight. She had nearly an hour and forty-five minutes to go before she could retire to her room. Knowing that her mother was watching, Appalla answered,

“I would love to dance.” Even though dancing was the last thing she wanted to be doing. She took his hand and he led her out to where the other people were dancing. As they began, Appalla tried to talk to him again, but he was so distracted with trying to prevent himself stepping on Appalla’s feet that he wasn’t good company. Finally, after three very boring waltzes, Appalla persuaded Prince Frederic to stop and just stand and talk for a while. If Appalla had planned on getting away from Prince Frederic after a short chat, she would have had to change her plans.

I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone so self-absorbed! Appalla thought to herself as Prince Frederic droned on about his expensive horses and boats and the land his father owned and how long he’d been sword fighting and… Suddenly, Appalla saw Finn. He was standing near a long table at the end of the ballroom talking with a few of his friends. For a moment, Appalla found it strange that he hadn’t dressed up much.

Well I guess that’s how he is. Appalla quickly reminded herself. He doesn’t really care for being formal. Oh, if only I could talk to him! Appalla was gazing at Finn when Prince Frederic’s exclamation brought her back.

“Oh my! Is it already ten o’clock? I must be leaving; it was wonderful talking to you Princess Appalla.”

“Oh, yes,” Appalla replied, still slightly distracted by Finn. “It was very nice.”

After this, Prince Frederic departed and left Appalla standing alone as the crowds of people from the village and other royals left in a rush. She soon realized that she could leave and silently crept up to her room, hoping that her parents wouldn’t confront her on her late appearance that night.


*For some reason I've never been able to get that line right. I've re-written it many times, and it always ends up sounding awkward...
 
Sforzando77 said:
*For some reason I've never been able to get that line right. I've re-written it many times, and it always ends up sounding awkward...
Click to expand...

What are you looking for? Something like, "And in the center of it all, Appalla saw her parents, dancing in the formal way that was popular with most people"?
 
Zella said:
What are you looking for? Something like, "And in the center of it all, Appalla saw her parents, dancing in the formal way that was popular with most people"?
Click to expand...

I don't know. For some reason the line just never sits well with me, no matter how I re-write it. I've just left it for now, and will come back to it if/when I get around to editing, haha!

And thank you, GondorGirl :)

Here's a little more too, just to get some exciting stuff happening...


After reaching her bedroom and closing the door, she changed into her nightdress and lay down on her bed. As she lay there she noticed a book on the floor which she picked up and began to read. After a few minutes she heard a sharp knock on her door.

“Appalla! Let me in!” It was her father, the King.

Oh no. Appalla thought. She walked to the door and unlocked it. Her father walked in. He had a short brown beard and usually friendly brown eyes. Now though, his eyes were narrowed in anger and disappointment.

“Appalla, I am very disappointed in you.” He began. Appalla hung her head. “You completely disobeyed me by going into the forest, you were disrespectful to Jessie and then you came into the ball late. I just finished talking to Prince Frederic van Spach and he said you weren’t at all talkative. From what I gathered he said you were practically ignoring him.”

“I’m sorry Dad.” Appalla said. “I’ve just had a lot on my mind lately.” Yeah, Finn, a part of her brain criticized.

“Appalla, I hate to do this, but you have to be punished.” Appalla looked up at her father. “You must help Jessie with cleaning the horses’ stalls every day for the rest of this week.” Today was Monday; she had five days of cleaning stalls. Appalla did love animals but she had never cleaned a horse stall before and from the way the grooms talked about it, it didn’t sound like much fun.

“Yes, sir.” She sighed.

“Good, now go to bed so you can get up early. You will need your rest.” Her father left and she sighed. Well, I guess it could have been worse. She thought to herself as she got into bed and went to sleep.

~~~

“Come on Appalla! Time to go clean the stalls!” Jessie gleefully announced around five the next morning. She was obviously happy to have someone to help her and the grooms, who often were quite lazy. Appalla had been having a wonderful dream and didn’t really want to get up, but she knew that if she didn’t she would just get into more trouble and honestly, she wanted to know how the stalls were cleaned. She got dressed into the clothes she had on last night before the ball and followed Jessie downstairs. They went through the kitchen and straight to the barn.

“Aren’t we going to eat first?” Appalla asked.

“No, we have rules; ‘Work first, eat later’” Jessie replied as she strode toward the barn.

“Oh” Appalla said glumly. She was used to eating when she woke up. When they got to the barn the grooms were sitting around lazily not doing anything.

“Aren’t they supposed to be working?” Appalla whispered to Jessie.

“Yeah, but they don’t start until they’ve ‘woken up’. I think I might just have to report them to the King if they don’t though.” She said loudly while giving the grooms a threatening look. The grooms started and quickly began taking horses out of the stalls, raking out manure and putting fresh bedding in. Appalla began on the stall of one of the breeding stallions, Shadow, and soon found that cleaning stalls was not as bad as she had thought it would be. All she had to do was rake out the soiled bedding and replace it with fresh shavings. She stopped for a moment and admired her work. The old bedding was out so now all she had to do was put in the new shavings. She looked at the other grooms who were mostly done cleaning the other stalls and listened to them talking. Suddenly, she heard a woman’s voice amongst the men’s but it wasn’t Jessie’s. There was something strange about the voice though; it sounded as though she was hearing it in her head.

Get away from me! The voice yelled. Appalla quickly put the fresh bedding in the stall, replaced Shadow and followed the voice. She heard a gruff man’s voice behind her.

“Thanks ma’am.” it said. She spun around and looked back but there was no one there.

I must have imagined it. She thought nervously.

Don’t touch me! She heard the woman’s voice again. Appalla quickened her pace as she walked down between the stalls. Then she got to Callistar’s stall where one of the grooms was having trouble getting the mare to leave. A group of four other grooms who had finished their stalls were standing nearby chuckling amongst themselves at the trouble their friend was having.

Stop it! The voice said again. Appalla! Help me! Appalla looked around but there was no woman there

“Where could it be coming from?” Appalla was getting scared now because she had heard that when one hears voices but can’t see who’s talking, there are usually ghosts about.

Appalla! It’s me! Callistar! Help me! She looked at Callistar who looked straight back, fear and pain in her brown eyes.
 
Cliff-hangers just make it more exciting. Everyone loves a little suspense, right? ;) Today's entry is a bit longer...


I must be going crazy! She thought. But then she looked at Callistar closer and saw that her left hind hoof was caught in a tangle of wire. If the man kept pulling her she could injure herself.

“Sir! Excuse me sir! May I try to get the horse out?” Appalla asked.

“Ha ha ha! You get the horse out? If I can’t then certainly a little girl like you can’t!” He said. The other grooms laughed louder. Appalla didn’t like him one bit. “This horse is always kinda stubborn. You just gotta pull her.”

This did not sit well with Appalla. She had never known that her horse had to be forced out of her stall. She spoke to the man again. “Please or…or I’ll tell the King!” This got the man’s attention.

“Uh, well if you really want to.” He said. He handed the lead rope to Appalla and grunted “C’mon.” to the grooms who were now openly laughing at him.

“Thank you.” Appalla shortly replied as she walked into the stall and approached Callistar’s foot. “Easy girl. It’s ok.”

Please don’t hurt me! Callistar said. Appalla bent down and unwound the wire from Callistar’s foot. Then, once she was sure everyone was gone she turned to face her horse.

“How can I hear you?” She asked nervously, almost hoping that nothing would happen and that everything had been her imagination.

Well it’s simple really, Callistar said. You have the power of Animal Voice.

“What?” Appalla questioned, still overwhelmed at actually having a horse talk back to her. “How is that simple?”

It means you can understand the animals through thought-speak.

“But how…why me?”

Well, Callistar began. Every hundred years or so a child is born to the royal family that is different than all of the others. It is usually a girl and unlike most princesses, they prefer to be outside in the earth and with the animals.

“But how do they get the power?” Appalla asked.

Well, it started when a sorceress married into the family. She was an animal lover herself and wanted her children to have the Animal Voice too. However, her husband did not. He didn’t want the village to know that he had married what he now considered a ‘witch’ and he threatened to kill her unless she made sure his children would not be able to talk to animals in any way. She agreed and then placed a spell over the royals, preventing any of her descendants to have the power. However--.

“Then how can I talk to you?” Appalla interrupted.

I’m getting to that. The one thing she didn’t tell the King was that every hundred years, one princess would be able to use the Animal Voice. Since the power only showed up every hundred years, he obviously never found out and that’s how come you can talk to me. But to keep the voice, you must never tell anyone about it. Powers like this are seen as witch-craft now and not only would you lose your powers, you may also lose your life.

“I won’t.” Appalla said. “But I have another question.”

Yes…


“Well, why couldn’t I ever talk to you before? I mean, why did this happen today?”

Well, Callistar began. I’m not really sure. The legend says that the girl would receive her power when there was something great about to happen in her world. Something that she could help stop with her power. Unfortunately I wasn’t here when the other princesses had their powers so I don’t know anything about what was going on in their time. Callistar paused here and looked at Appalla. Did that help?

“Yes,” Appalla replied, still slightly confused. “I feel like I understand…at least a little.”

Good. Callistar replied. Now, you need to clean my stall and get back to the castle for breakfast before they worry about you. Appalla then cleared Callistar’s stall, said good-bye and quickly left, still shocked at her new power.

~~~

“Where were you, Appalla?” Her mother asked when she came in.

“I was just making sure Callistar was okay.” She said, watching her tongue to make sure she didn’t say anything about Animal Voice.

“Well I know you’re probably hungry but I think you should change first.”

“Yes ma’am.” Appalla said. She ran upstairs to her room and quickly changed into her dress. It was lavender with silver lining. Appalla thought it made her look like a flower. She didn’t like it and couldn’t wait until she could change back into her old clothes and be with the horses again. A moment later, Silver walked into the room.

If it works on horses, it must work on cats too. She thought. “Silver!” She called to the cat, still unused to talking to animals.

His large green eyes widened and he looked her way. I say, are you talking to me? He asked a slight accent to his cat-speech.

“Yes I am.” Appalla said, seeing no other way to reply.

Well I’ll be! I didn’t think that I’d live to see the princess who has Animal Voice! I feel honored to know you! Oh this is amazing! Silver had approached her and was now prancing about her feet, overcome with excitement.

“Oh! Thank you.” Appalla replied. She felt a bit embarrassed to be complimented by a cat.

If there’s anything you ever need, just ask me and I’ll help you.

“Thank you, but I must go down to breakfast now.”

Oh, yes yes certainly. Let me tell you you’re looking marvelous today and I’ve always looked up to you and… Appalla left before she could hear anymore.

“I’m so hungry.” Appalla said to herself. When she got downstairs to the dining room, there was a plate of food waiting for her. “Ham and eggs,” She said happily. “My favorite!” Appalla quickly finished her plate and had seconds.

“I see you’ve worked up an appetite.” Her father said.

“Oh yes I have.” She said. When she finished she got up. “I’m going to go change and check on Callistar now okay?” Appalla said.

“No it’s not okay.” Her mother said. “There is a young man here that would like to meet you. Prince Castor.” At this Appalla stopped.

“Mother! I’m not interested in any prince!”

“Well you should be! You have to meet princes to become a Queen. It’s how I met your father and it’s how you will meet your husband.”

“But I’m not ready!” Appalla whined to her mother.

“I was when I was your age and you are too. Now go get ready and be down here in five minutes!” Appalla glared at her mother. Then she ran upstairs and slammed the door behind her. But instead of getting changed like her mother wanted, she just sat on her bed thinking.

“I don’t want to meet any dumb Princes.” She said to herself. “Especially not any who are older than I am!” She stared angrily at the floor trying to think of a way to get out of meeting the Prince. Then she heard a knock on her door.

“Appalla! There’s been a change of plans.” It was her mother. Appalla brightened up. Maybe I won’t have to talk to that prince! She thought eagerly.

“When Prince Castor heard that you horseback ride, he suggested you take a ride together. Change into your nice clothes and meet him at the barn.”

Appalla’s happiness was slightly crushed. Although she did get to go back to the horses, she didn’t want someone she didn’t know to watch her ride. It made her nervous. Well, she would show her mother. Instead of wearing her nice riding clothes, she changed back into her barn clothes she had used for stall cleaning. They were kind of baggy, but still suitable for riding in. To finish it off, she put on an old hat she had found in the barn. When she tucked her hair up under it she noticed, she sort of looked like a young boy. She was definitely going to surprise Prince Castor.
 
That cat was funny.
I almost feel bad for Prince Castor, but not quite, especially if he's going to be like the prince from earlier.:p
I'm either the good one or the coward here; I would want to dress up like a boy to be spiteful, but I wouldn't quite have the guts to disobey.:D
 
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I like the cat, lol. I'd be annoyed too if I had to go riding with someone I didn't like and if I had cool powers to talk to animals and couldn't use them around others. The dressing up like a boy thing I would so do.:D
 
Thanks all! :) I'm glad I've made Appalla into a character girls can sort of relate to, haha! Here's a bit more for today. I really should be working on homework, but this is more entertaining... :rolleyes:


Appalla walked slowly down to the stable. She had to make sure that she didn’t appear at all attractive to Prince Castor. If she could just get him to leave, everything would be fine. She finally got to the stable and then saw him. Although she didn’t want anything to do with him, Appalla had to admit that Prince Castor was very handsome. His dark hair was pulled back and his skin was a light tan. He was wearing a sleeveless white shirt and his arms were well muscled and well toned. When he turned and saw Appalla, he smiled and his dark eyes shone. He then spoke.

“You must be Princess Appalla. It is a pleasure to meet you. My name is Prince Castor.” He said. This shocked Appalla, because she had tried her hardest to disguise herself and he still knew that it was her. She regained her composure and replied,

“Yes, I am Princess Appalla. It’s nice to meet you Prince Castor.”

“I heard that you love to ride horses.” He said. “So do I. I’ve done quite a bit of riding back home. Would you like to go for a ride with me? So we could get to know each other.” Taking a ride with Prince Castor was one of the last things Appalla wanted to do, but knowing that she could get into more trouble otherwise, she answered

“That would be lovely. I’ll go get my horse ready.”

“Let me come with you. I didn’t bring a horse and was hoping I could borrow one of yours.” Prince Castor said. Appalla was surprised. He was unusually friendly for any prince she’d ever met but she was still convinced that she wouldn’t have anything to do with him.

Castor followed Appalla through the stalls, taking his time to look at each horse they passed. Finally, Appalla came to Callistar’s stall and said,
“This is my mare, Callistar. I’ll get her ready and you can go pick a horse you want to ride. Just be careful of some of the mares, they don’t all like men.” Castor laughed and this made Appalla a little upset. If he knew so much about horses he should take her seriously about horses with problems.

I don’t like him. Callistar thought to Appalla.

“Me neither,” Appalla whispered to the mare. “but he doesn’t seem completely horrible. Let’s just put up with him for a while. I’m sure we’ll be able to get rid of him.”

Appalla finished tacking up Callistar and led her out to the courtyard in front of the stable. She saw that Prince Castor had already tacked up and was walking a beautiful blood bay around in circles. The horse Castor had chosen wasn’t a mare; it was a three-year-old colt, hardly broken in. He had just recently accepted having a saddle on his back and a bit in his mouth, but he had only been ridden once by one of the top trainers. Prince Castor may be a great rider, but Appalla didn’t think he should be riding such a young horse.

“Excuse me, Prince Castor, I don’t think it’s really a good idea for you to be riding that horse. He’s hardly old enough to be comfortable with this.”

But Prince Castor shrugged his shoulders and smiled at Appalla. “I’ve ridden horses younger and much more high strung than this guy. You just have to show them who’s the boss.” He patted the horse on the neck. “Isn’t that right, boy?” He added to the colt.

Appalla looked at the little horse again. He was breathing hard and his chest was damp with sweat already, even though they hadn’t done any work. “Well, Prince Castor,” Appalla started again, trying to persuade Prince Castor to try a more schooled horse. “I really don’t think this is a good idea. Look at him! He’s drenched with sweat and you haven’t even started riding yet. This could seriously put him back in his training!”

“Don’t worry,” Prince Castor said. “He’ll be fine. Now, are we going to ride or not?” He took the reins in his left hand, placed his left foot in the stirrup and swung onto the colt’s back, surprising Appalla by easing himself into the saddle. The colt perked up in wonder and looked at Appalla, confusion in his eyes.

What is happening? He wondered his voice confused but not worried.

Appalla looked toward Castor, who was staring intently at her waiting for a response.

You shouldn’t let him do this, Appalla. Callistar quietly said.

I don’t think I can change his mind, Calli. Appalla thought back to her mare. Both horses looked at her, the colt with confusion still in his eyes and Calli with a mareish disappointment. She looked back to Castor. “Yes, I’m ready.” She said to him and lightly sprung into the saddle.

“Perfect!” Prince Castor said, a smile on his lips. “Let’s be off then.” The two riders and horses started out of the stable courtyard and Appalla led the way to one of the trails behind the stables.

~~~

Once on the trails Appalla was surprised to see that Prince Castor was in fact as good a rider as he had said he was. He was kind toward the horse and when the little colt spooked at some deer, he kept his seat and soothed the baby with his voice.

Maybe we were wrong about him, Calli. Appalla thought to her mare as they neared the end of the trail. The ride had been wonderful and Appalla had to admit that although she wasn’t interested in him, Prince Castor was a very nice young man.

After they returned to the stables the two youths untacked and cooled down their mounts and replaced them to their box stalls. Appalla and Castor then walked through the stable courtyard to the castle gates.

“I had a wonderful time with you today, Princess Appalla.” The prince said a smile on his face. “And I would hope to see you again soon.”

“Thank you,” Appalla replied, genuinely happy. “It was very nice getting to know you today and I would love to see you again as well.” They said good-bye and Appalla went back into the castle. As she walked toward here room, she was intercepted by her mother.

“How did your ride go, Appalla?” She asked.

“It was really nice.” Appalla said, surprised at how much she really had enjoyed it. “Prince Castor was actually a pretty good guy.”

“So you’d…like to see him again, I presume?” The Queen asked tentatively.

“Yeah, I guess.” Appalla replied, beginning to wonder where her mother was going with the questions. “Why?”

“Well, dear,” Her mother began slightly hesitant. “because you two are, upon previous agreement, betrothed. The wedding is next spring.”

Appalla was almost too shocked to speak. Almost.

“How could you do something like that to me?” She yelled at her mother. “And without even asking me! I mean, it’s my life! Don’t I have any control over what goes on in it?” Appalla stopped for a breath. Before she could add any more to her tirade the Queen began, her voice low and menacing.

“Appalla, I have had enough of this nonsense. You have been completely out of control lately and it’s all because of that horse. Ever since you got her two years ago you’ve become a perfect stablehand! This has to stop now. Either you go on with becoming a proper heir to the throne and marry Prince Castor or I sell Callistar to the inn. I expect your decision by dinner tonight. For now return to your room, change out of those hideous clothes and think about what you will do.”

The Queen glared at her daughter and Appalla returned the expression before muttering, “I hate you” and running up the stairs toward her room.
 
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