-randomly gets idea for oneshot-

Huh, that's actually pretty cool.

-realizes that brain gave idea to make fully-fledged story-

Crap.

So yeah sorry for the lack of updating. Yeah this will probably become its own story because my brain refuses to give me little oneshot ideas and rather gives me full story ideas. Thanks a lot, bro.

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A whoop of excitement escaped the ebony-haired girl's lips, green eyes twinkling as her hair flowed in the wind rushing by her. Her hands held onto the leather reins tightly as she urged the black horse onward, galloping through the field as she made her way to the treeline. The horse snorted as his legs struck the ground with his powerful hooves, kicking up dirt as he galloped along through the green grass he would much rather be eating. His black mane and tail flowed behind him, blown back by the wind. The girl looked forward at the dense treeline, green gaze determined as she urged her horse on faster, trying to make it to the cover of the trees.

Almost there...

Almost...

But not quite.

A second rider on horseback galloped by the girl and quickly halted in front of the big black horse. The horse snorted as he dug his hooves into the ground to stop before hitting the chestnut horse in front of him. The young man on the chestnut's back pushed back his blond hair as he smiled at the ebony-haired girl to his left, seeing her pink lips curl into a frown as she met his blue gaze with her green one. "Nice try, princess," the boy said. She rolled her eyes as another rider trotted up before stopping. The boy on the gray dappled horse breathed heavily as he looked at the two through his black hair. "Thanks for... waiting... for me..." he panted. The blond smiled innocently at his friend. "Sorry, Axel. I always forget you aren't as used to horses as other guards," he replied. Axel stuck his tongue out while his brown eyes glared down the blond before turning to face the ebony-haired girl, who had begun to back her horse away from them.

"Don't even try it."

She groaned before softly glaring at the two young men. With rolled eyes and good-natured smiles, the two young men urged their horses into a walk as they fell into step beside the girl. They made their way back in the direction they had raced from, seeing a large stone castle looming in the distance. "Why can't I explore outside the palace grounds?" she questioned. Axel sent a pointed look toward his blond friend, who cleared his throat as the ebony-haired girl turned to look at him. "As a princess, you are needed to be kept safe in the palace. You are-" "I'm the future queen and all that, but still! Come on, Lukas! Just this once?" she cut him off, green eyes wide with a silent plea. Lukas sent one look over at the girl before averting his gaze ahead of him. "Princess, do not try to use that face. You know it stopped working years ago," he stated. The princess's smile fell into a pout as her green gaze went to look at the black mane of her stallion.

Lukas' lips quirked in a faint smile before turning his gaze back ahead of him, the lush meadow turning to a well-kept garden as their horses' hooves clopped along the stone path. The horses knew the path to the castle stable well, brightening at the prospect of fresh straw to lay in and cool water to drink from and good oats to munch on. The stableman was so caring of each and every horse, taking time to make sure their coats shone in the sun and their manes and tails were free from any tangles or brambles. And when the stableman saw the three familiar horses and riders walk up, he instantly knew what had happened. "Again?" he questioned with a smile. "Again," Lukas and Axel replied at the same time. The two young men dismounted their horses before turning to the princess, sending her a pointed look that dared her to try and race off again. She sighed before dismounting the large stallion, handing the reins of his bridle over to the stableman.

It was a regular occurrence for them now. She would try to gallop away from the palace grounds to explore and end up stopped, mostly by Lukas and Axel, before being escorted back to the palace where the stableman would take their horses to take care of them. It was a vicious loop for the princess, one which she desperately wished to break. However, it seemed fate took pleasure in seeing her anger of the endless loop and refused to let it end. This couldn't be what fate had planned for her for the rest of her life. And the princess was determined to make sure she could change her fate.

"Jesse!"

The ebony-haired girl turned at the sound of the familiar voice, finding herself crushed in the arms of her mother. The woman hugged her daughter before pulling away, green eyes gazing at the princess with disappointment deep in their depths. "I do wish you would stop these escapades," she sighed as she began to walk toward the castle, guiding the princess away from the stables and the three young men standing there. Before Jesse could open her mouth to reply, a man walked forward with a smile on his features, brown eyes twinkling like the golden crown on his head. "You were just like our daughter in the past, Alexandria," he stated, falling into step beside his daughter and wife. The queen rolled her eyes with a smile. "At least I had the sense to not try and outrun the guards on horseback. It is impossible to escape them when they see you," she replied.

Jesse smiled up at her parents with her green eyes twinkling, exact copies of her mother's. "Maybe you would not have to hear of my grand escapades if you would let me go out of the palace walls," she suggested with a coy smirk.

"No."

The response was immediate, one that Jesse had heard what felt like millions of times. Deep in her heart, she knew exactly what their answer would forever be, but she always tried to imagine that it might go differently. Maybe they would tell her the opposite, say that she could go out and explore the world. After all, she had never been outside the palace walls and there was a whole big world outside just calling her name! Who knows what adventures that were to be had, treasures to discover, people to meet? It was a bit daunting at first, just the thought of everything outside the only place Jesse had ever known certainly was heavy on the heart, but the prospect of adventure was stronger and kept pulling Jesse down the path she desperately wished to go down. However, fate blocked her way in the form of her crown, keeping her trapped in the palace since she was to be the next queen. While Jesse did have a brother, he was more suited for the guard than the throne, and with no other children to be the heir to the throne, Jesse was the one that was destined to become the future queen. Yet, it kept her trapped from what she wanted to do.

"However..."

The ebony-haired girl's head immediately shot up to meet her father's brown gaze, face awash with hope as he smiled fondly down at his daughter. "I'm sure I can permit small trips to the village. If and only if you are accompanied by a guard that I trust to keep you safe," he finished. Jesse's green eyes brightened as a wide smile crossed her face, lifting the king's heart that had sunk with the exhaustion of the crown he had to uphold. "Thank you, so much!" Jesse exclaimed, hugging both of her parents before rushing off down the hall as fast as she could go, her dress slowing her down slightly but not stopping the cheeriness she held with her. The king smiled as he hugged his queen, pressing a gentle kiss to the top of her head that had long, orange locks gently curling down her back. Alexandria hugged her husband back, a smile crossing her face as she watched her daughter disappear down the hall.

"She has your spirit, Steve."

"But she is practically your spitting image, Alex."

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Lukas smiled as he gazed at Jesse, seeing the ebony-haired girl disappear into the palace alongside her mother and father. She was certainly full of fire and it took a special guard to be able to keep up with her. Many of the guards weren't able to do so, but from the moment he met the princess, he was easily able to match her fiery spirit and almost anticipate what she had planned next. Her little escapades were also quite fun to take part in stopping, as she always thought she could outrun a trained guard on horseback. The princess was certainly something, that was for sure.

"Uhh, Lukas? You okay?"

The blond quickly shook his head as he turned to face Axel and the stableman, who they had nicknamed Stampy for some unknown reason. "Yeah, I'm fine," he replied, lips curling into a soft smile as his blue gaze went back to where the princess had disappeared. His two friends followed his gaze, lips curling into smirks as they turned their knowing gazes back to the blond. "You love her, don't you?" Axel questioned, crossing his arms over his chest. Lukas jumped back into reality as he whipped his gaze back to his friends, blue eyes wide as he stumbled over his words. "I-I-I don- I-I me-mean- Ho-How d-did you-you get th-that idea?" Axel rolled his eyes to Stampy, who softly laughed upon seeing his expression. "It's not that difficult to figure out, Lukas. You are so easy to read," he replied simply with a shrug of his broad shoulders.

A sigh escaped Lukas' lips as his gaze began to admire the stone under their feet, finding the gray rocks quite interesting. "Listen, please don't tell anyone," he quietly pleaded. Upon seeing the serious expression on their friend's face, both Axel and Stampy nodded solemnly, a silent promise to never tell another soul. "So what are you planning to do?" Stampy asked. "Yeah, I'm kinda curious about that too," Axel agreed. Lukas looked up from the ground, meeting his friends' gazes as he gave them a weak smile. "Princesses don't marry a common guard," he stated, turning on his heel to begin walking away. Axel and Stampy watched their friend disappear down the stone path before meeting each other's gazes, shared sadness filling them for their friend. It was then that they knew,

They had to do something to help.