Short Story

Laci awoke from a deep sleep. Sunlight seeped through the window, washing her room in it. She was lying on the floor, surrounded by runes and papers. "Today's the day," she thought with a rush of excitement.
"Today's my first day out!" She got up from the floor and dressed as quickly as she could. She put on a blue tunic and black pants. She grabbed a boot, and shoved her foot into it. As fast as she could, she laced it up to the top, and pulled her pant leg down over it. She reached for the other boot, but found that it wasn't there.

"Great," she muttered, and kicked the ground. "Of all the days to lose something." Hunting around the room, she realized what a mess it was. Runes and papers lay everywhere. "I have to clean these up," she thought with a sigh. "It'd be trouble if someone came in and found them." She gathered all the papers, put them in a messy pile, and shoved them into a desk drawer. The runes were more difficult to hide, for they were stones that had glowing designs on their surfaces, but she found a box, set them inside, and pushed it under her bed.

“Good,’ Laci said aloud. “Now, for my other shoe…”

A knock came at her door. “Laci? The Duke is here. He’s in the kitchen, waiting. It’s impolite to keep him waiting.

“I know, I know, but I lost my shoe!” She cried. Her mother opened the door, and came in shaking her head. “You lost a shoe? What does it look like?”

Laci pulled up her pant leg, revealing the knee high boot that laced to the top. They had a black bottom, but the rest of the boot was made of a brown, soft material.

“Those were your good pair!”

“I know. I had it here last night. It’s got to be around here somewhere. Wait… I’ve found it.” She pulled it up by one of the long laces. It had been underneath a pile of clothes. “False alarm.”

“Well, I’m glad you found it, but hurry. You know the Duke is not a patient man.” She motioned her daughter out of the room, and down the stairs. She found the Duke waiting, admiring a painting hanging on the wall.

Laci curtsied clumsily, and then waited. The Duke looked her up and down, nodding his head in acceptance. She leapt forward and he wrapped her in a hug. She laughed. It was just like old times, before he had become Duke.

“I missed you, Kalon,” she said, hugging him again.

“I missed you too, little one,” he said. “But you aren’t so little any more. You’re a young lady.”

Laci beamed at Kalon, the Duke. He had been her best friend long ago, before.

“How’s being a Duke?” She asked. He was five years older than her, but when they were kids, they had tons of fun playing sword fights, dragon slayer and wizards. They had grown up in the same village, though obviously Kalon had had a nicer home, being the son of the former Duke. But they had had fun. Until Kalon’s father had died, forcing him to become Duke. All their fun had ended there.

“It has its advantages,” he replied. “I get lots of food, nice clothes, and servants that wait on you all the time. But I miss just being normal, like I used to be.” He smiled. “Now, let’s go.” He led her out of the house and outside.

“Where are we going?”

“The West Wood.”

“Really? That’s awesome!” She jumped up on the black horse that was hers, and waited for Kalon. “What are we doing?”

“Catching a winged horse,” he replied, grinning.
“A winged horse?” She felt the excitement bubble up inside her. She had never seen a winged horse before. No one who lived in the village had. But now she would.

“Come on.”

“Where are your guards?” She asked, looking around.

“I told them not to come today. I told them that I hadn’t seen my best friend in five years, and I wanted to do so as Kalon, not as Duke.”

“Really?” She was delighted.

“Yes really. Now let’s go.” He kicked his horse into a canter, and Laci followed.

They rode to the West Wood, the largest forest around. Laci found herself having more fun than she had since Kalon had left. She didn't really have fun without him. He had taught her how to use runes, and how to write and use spells. But no one else in the village could do that with her. No one else dared to have anything to do with magic. It was supposedly dangerous. Laci rolled her eyes as she rode. Magic was only dangerous when you didn't know how to use it. But she knew how.

They slowed to a stop, and Kalon scanned the ground for tracks. “There,” he said aloud. He pointed to horse prints that went across the ground.

(I'm not done with this, this is only the first part. I hope you like. :-) I'll post more as soon as I can. I'll also come up with a title as soon as I come up with one. :-D)