tsubasa

The Making of a New Queen

Anastasia laughed, "I have no doubt about that," she pursed her lips, "But you try running in a dress!"

She wrapped her arms around Melor and hugged him to her. She kissed his head before standing and brushing herself off. She looked at Melor, "Since when were you on his side anyways? Hm?"

The dog tilted his head and looked at her innocently. Anastasia shook her own and looked at Samsul before quickly tagging his gut. She grinned, "Now that I'm winning, shall we head back to the castle? Oil you up, make sure you don't get too rusty on me. I was wanting to see if my mother could take a break and have some dinner with us."

The Making of a New Queen

Anastasia stopped looking over her shoulder. She knew Samsul was close and figured if she kept looking it would only slow her down. She turned again when Melor suddenly ran at her, bumping into her legs and causing her to stumble before falling over. The dog seemed pleased with this since he wasn't getting any attention. Anastasia laughed as he kissed her face and sat up. She shook her head, "Melor! I was doing so well."

She giggled and looked up at Samsul. She chest rose and fell heavily as she tried to catch her breath. She smirked, "You're getting rusty, Samsul," she teased.

The Making of a New Queen

Anastasia glanced over her shoulder to see Samsul chasing after. She didn't know why she always challenge him to physical forms of competition. There was no way she would win against him, or his horse. Before were fitter and far larger than her and Gale. But she did. She guess she kind of like losing against him. People in the castle did whatever she asked and she felt if she asked them to race, they'd let her win. It was nice to know that Samsul's own competitiveness out weighed her own superiority, to allow him to let her win.

She glanced over her shoulder and saw him gaining still and started to run a more confusing path, trying to keep him off of her and the game going a little longer. As once he tagged her, all hope was lost.

The Making of a New Queen

Anastasia smiled at him and held her hands behind her back as she watched Melor attack his stick. She nudged Samsul with her shoulder, basically bumping into his elbow, "I can see you less on the ball though. If I managed to sneak up on you," she giggled, "Although, it hardly matters, even if someone snuck up on you alone out here... I'm sure you could handle yourself," She looked to Amul, who was watching the two quiet since he had yet to be dismissed, "Am I right?"

Amul grinned, "That you are, Princess."

Anastasia nodded, "That's what I thought. Now, enough playing with the dog. It's our turn," She hit his arm lightly and smirked, "Tag!" she yelled before grabbing her lighter skirts and running away. Melor chased after her and she looked over her shoulder, to see how close Samsul was, laughing away.

The Making of a New Queen

Anastasia reopened her book and spent a small time writing before her hand started to cramp and she decided it was time, she put her book down. She pursed her lips, trying to figure out where Samsul would have take Melor. They probably stayed at the castle. She couldn't see Samsul running off with him into the city. After all, that was quite the ways away and she thought that Melor might need to be carried back. Not to mentino the city was rather busy and the two could be seperated easily.

So, he was at the castle, but where. If he was running with him, he could be anywhere, but Melor normally started to get tired after a while, he was still young and quite small. That meant, he probably wasn't running with him. She narrowed it down to the stables and the small field just outside the castle walls. She stood and smiled at Amul, "Let's go find the boys."

He nodded and the two of them left the gardens. They found them in the small field and Anastasia smiled, quietly running over to Samsul, "Boo!" she said, grinning. Melor dropped the stick in front of her and she knelt, picking it up before tossing it for him, "You seem to have gotten the hand of playing with a dog. And so quickly you learnt too. I congratulate you."

The Making of a New Queen

It had been nearly two months since the incident with Melor's disappearance. She had been seeing less of her mother. Not that she wasn't making time for her, but Anastasia noted that she was working more and decided to not bother her as much. She knew the woman would abandon her work to be with her but she didn't want to start getting the way. Her lessons had changed from mainly ettiquette to mainly reading, writing, and language. Anastasia was not unhappy with this change. She sat in the garden, writing a letter to Gerald, as he had given her the task to do, in a less than elegant scrawl under the watch of Amul. Samsul was off running with Melor, as per her request. He was taking time off to himself but not as much as she had wanted. So every once in a while, she asked him to play with Melor while she was busy with her studies. This way he got to goof off a bit and Melor got excerise. She wasn't sure if Samsul had caught onto her scheme, but he wasn't one to reject orders, no matter how meaningless they were. It was good for them anyways.

She closed her journal and looked up at Amul, "How long has it been since Samsul and Melor left?"

Amul thought about it, "Nearly an hour."

Anastasia smiled, glad that he had been gone for so long, "Good."

The Making of a New Queen

Anastasia noticed the shaking of his head and smiled softly. She couldn't help but feel bad for the person who ended up have to clean away the dirt and grime. Samsul seemed to find it slightly amusing that she still felt that way about things. Doing it herself rather than asking for help. She nodded when he said they should go to her room and both get some rest. She followed him when he started to walk and looked back to see Melor, happily following along. She smiled, glad to have her dog back.

She looked up at Samsul and nodded, "Thank you... for finding him. I don't know what I would have done if I had lost him."

The Making of a New Queen

Anastasia looked up when she heard barking. She spotted Samsul first and found Melor running toward her. She jumped off the fence and knelt on the ground allowing the dog to run into her arms. She lifted him up and hugged him tightly. He licked her salty tears from off her cheeks, causing her to laugh. She looked at him, "I promise, I will never forget about you again," She buried her face in his fur, "I'm so sorry."

She removed her face from his fur to glance up at Samsul when he spoke. She smiled, happy to know that he hadn't just been wandering around. She looked back at her dog, who looked awfully happy to see her, "Well, I'm glad that he won't be on his own when we have to leave like that."

She gave him a kiss on the head before she placed him on the ground. She stood up and wiped up some of the dirt off of her dress. She pursed her lips when she noticed just how dirty she had got her skirts and stockings. She laughed a little, "I feel as though I should clean these after making such a mess..."

The Making of a New Queen

Arabella was surprised by the presence of Samsul and even more by the fact that he was saying that Anastasia was getting worried. She curtsied to him, "We are so sorry, sir. He followed us yesterday after he was left in Anastasia's room while you both went to the city."

Millie smiled at Samsul, "He just was a little bored, so we let him tag along. Do apologize to the Princess for making her worry."

Melor walked forward to Samsul and sniffed his shoes before looking up at him, wagging his tail. It seemed as though he was ready to go back to Anastasia. He jumped up on Samsul, placing his front paws just at his knees. He barked a few times as if to hurry him along.
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Anastasia ran down to the stables, ignoring the fact that she was still running barefoot and due to the lack of height that was given to her by her shoes, her skirts were slowly accumulating mud. They reached the pasture and Anastasia climbed onto the fence, looking for Melor. However, there was no sight of him. The guard walked over to Benjamin and asked if he had seen the dog but the answer was no. Anastasia took a seat on the fence and covered her face again, as she felt small tears escape her eyes.

The Making of a New Queen

Anastasia was a little taken back when Samsul placed his hands on her shoulders. Other than when he lifted her onto the horse, she believed this to be the first time the two of them had actually had physical contact. As he spoke, he reassured her that they would find Melor and that he would check with Arabella and Millie for her dog. She swallowed and nodded her head, having to put her faith into him. When he ordered another guard to watch, she bit her lip, thinking, "We'll head down to the stables.... just in case... We'll stay so you know where to find us... if you find him..."

As he walked away, she watched him, "Thank you!" she called to him before she left with the guard to the stables. She just hoped, they'd find him.