Outside there was soft talking. 

"You tell him." 

"No you. I am not going to be the one to have my head removed." 

"Fine. We shall both tell him." 

Then, there was a soft knocking, "Um, your highness? We must have a word with you. It is about..." there was a slight pause, "Princess Leala." 

Roland groaned. "Not now, you two. I am very busy at this moment,” he called. Two voices groaned softly, and there was no more sound from the outside.

Istara sighed. "Roland," she pouted cutely, "you should probably go." Then she grinned wickedly. "We should answer the door in only this sheet, that will make them go away," she said.

He laughed. "I am not going to answer it. I promised the day to you and that is how I am going to spend it." He smiled and wrapped his arm around her sighing softly. "Do you want me to leave?" he asked softly.

She wrapped her arms around him tight. "Oh no my prince, I don't. But I also don't want you to get in trouble." She kissed him on the cheek. "What do you want to do today?"

He smiled and shrugged, "Plan the wedding?" he asked and then yawned tiredly and slowly sat up. His black hair was ruffled slightly as he yawned, looking at her with a wicked smile. "Did you have a nice rest?"

She giggled. "Yes I did. And planning the wedding sounds absolutely delightful. Roland," she then added hesitantly, "can we go riding?" She, as a gypsy, loved being around horses and knew the stable here would have beautiful horses. "And maybe hunting with falcons?"

He nodded. “Whatever you want my love.” He stood slowly and groaned softly. He was slightly sore from sleeping on the floor all night. Taking in a deep breath he bathed, then, dressed, waiting for her as he fed both the cat and dog. He sighed softly, running a hand through his hair.

She came out of her bath fully dressed, ready for riding. “Are you okay my prince?”

He nodded, "Yeah, I'm okay," he said then smiled, "Just a little sore is all. I'm not really used to sleeping on the floor." He smiled and kissed her forehead. "Come now, let us ride," he said with a gesture of his hand. Once they were out, they got something to eat, then went to the barn.

Istara was surprised they weren't stopped by someone, she half-expected them to be. But all other thoughts flew out of her head when thy reached the stables and she saw the horses. She walked slowly down the barn aisle, mouth half-open, looking at all the magnificent horses.

He smiled at her expression and then a stable boy tapped his shoulder. He bent down and suddenly his eyes widened, "Istara I--" 

"Hello Roland." There was a young girl, who looked almost like Ilani, only blonde and smaller. She was beautiful, except the small frown that was on her lips. But then, she smiled and walked towards them. 

"H-hello Leala." he took a step back and smiled, "I have not seen you in...three years..."

She smiled, "I know, it has been a while, hasn't it?" 

Roland nodded, "I..yes. I have not seen you since..." 

She smiled, "Since when your father told us that we were to be wed." 

Istara spun and in an instant was beside Roland. It seemed she had moved faster than the eye could follow but then that was a gypsy skill, was it not? She threw her arm in front of him, standing half in front of him, as if she had to protect him, though the idea of her protecting him was a little preposterous. "Leala?" she said, the name like poison on her tongue. "I do not know who you are, but ... you are not going to be wed to my Roland," she finished, her tone bitter and defensive. Poor Roland standing behind her must have been shocked. He would have never heard her voice this bitter or this strong.

Leala smiled and walked towards her, circling them for a moment. "Oh? And who might you be, little one? His pet?" She laughed at that.

Roland cleared his throat, "Leala, please, can we discuss this sometime else?" he asked, his eyes serious. The princess smiled and then tapped his nose. "Alright. Later then...husband." The princess smiled then looked at Istara. "I hope you can be a mistress," she said then turned to walk away.

Istara felt a growl in her throat and lunged after her. She wanted to hit her, punch her, anything. How dare this little witch disturb her day with Roland! And even as she growled, she felt the tears running down her cheeks. What she had expected was coming true. She couldn't be married to her prince. All around her the animals, who had always been sensitive to her emotions in the past, picked up on her anger, her frustration, and her pain. The horses started kicking at their stalls, whinnying and rearing.

Roland wrapped his arms around her and pulled her back from where the princess had gone off to. "Hey, hey," he whispered then, "Hey, do not cry, Little Moon, it is alright," he promised, even though his throat felt like it was being torn out. "Come on now, love, it is alright." He tried to smile, "I will take care of this. I will. I promise."

She struggled against him briefly then sighed and fell limp in his arms, knowing it was useless to struggle against him. "If you'd let me just kill her, it wouldn't be a problem," she muttered, then she looked up and called, "Shhh my equine friends, it is okay, I am fine." Her voice was soothing, but Roland could feel her body was still tense.

He then sighed softly. "Come on baby," he whispered with a small smile, "It is alright, I will take care of this. I will talk with the council members and this will be resolved," he promised as he kissed her forehead, "After what I am doing they can at least grant me this," he said before he could catch his words.

She spun in his grasp to face him, her eyes steely. "What do you mean, what you are doing?" she asked, her voice at it's coldest. If glares were daggers he would have been dead. "I knew something was going on, now tell me!"

He groaned. "Istara," he said and then took her face in his hands. "It is none of your concern. Do not worry." He tried to smile and released her face from his hands. "Come on now, do you want to ride? Hmm?"

Without thinking, she reached up and slapped him. She regretted it but at least it might get his attention. She stood in front of him, fists clenched. A few of the nearby horses began getting anxious again. "PRINCE ROLAND!" she shouted at him, the anger in her voice clear. "If you wanted some mindless beauty who would believe all the lies you told her you should have fallen in love with a princess and not a gypsy. Not tell me what the hell is going on, NOW!"

Blinking he starred at her, then, went up and touched his cheek. It was stinging and it was warm. He cleared his throat. "Alright," he said slowly, "I will tell you then. I did not want to tell you until...until later but..." He took a step back from her. "You know of the war, do you not?" he started out, "Well, they need someone in command there and I...I have to go off to it."

Her fists clenched and unclenched, then she started shaking. The horse's started going crazy and Istara knew she needed to get out of there before one of them hurt themselves. She spun and ran out of the barn. She spotted the nearest tree and when she reached it, she clambered up into it as high as she could go and sat there staring at the sky through the shifting leaves. She was trying to process what he had just told her. First she discovered he was to be married to that other bitch and now...now he was leaving her. And not just leaving anywhere, no, but to war. She rested her forehead against a nearby higher branch and sighed, reaching out one hand for the bluebird that came up to perch on it. She sighed again as she listened to the bluebird sing. She knew her dress was now a hopeless mess but she didn't care.