Prince Scot’s Meryln the Tarpan

Chapter 2

Meryln looked at his eyes, almost pleading with him. Could he really cut down her place of solace and Melody’s home to please Princess Emily?

“You can’t” she said softly. More to convince herself than him.

“I can do what I want in my kingdom.”He said sternly, fighting the urge to back down.

“You won’t, this is Melody’s home” She said softly, regretting daring him to climb the tree.

“Apologise and save your tree. In person and a written apology, that’s all.”

“I need a decree that you will never use this tree to get your way again.” She had lost but there would be more confrontations with royals, she was certain of it. Now that he knew her weakness, she needed to make sure he never uses it against her again.

“You have my word.” He never really intended on cutting down the tree to begin with. Her defeated tone was almost too much to bare, he would have agreed to anything to have the defiant girl again.

“I don’t trust your word.”

“I have never gone back on my word.” Her words strangely sent a chilling feeling in his heart.

“You just claimed to fight for the unfortunate and the weak. I was unfortunate when your betrothed harassed me but here you are commanding me to apologise. Melody here is weak against any man but you would destroy her home to get your way.”

Prince Scot was speechless and shaken by her obvious mistrust in him. No one has ever been so direct with him before.

“A decree, then I will apologise.” She said, letting go of Melody and herself, landing on the ground like a pro.

He watched her walk away, this tree clearly meant a lot to her. He turned his eyes on the dove before him that was staring back as if accusing him of being unjust.

“I was not going to cut it down” he said in his defence and quickly climbed down avoiding being seen talking to a bird.

“There you are, your highness.”Diago couldn’t believe his eyes when he saw him climbing down the tree.

“Don’t ask” he said sharply.

“I take it didn’t go well with Lady Meryln?” Diago asked ignoring his friend’s foul mood.

“She is …..enthralling” He just couldn’t find a better way to describe her.

“Careful, Emily will throw a big tantrum if she heard you say that”

“I will have you executed if you ever tell her that” The last thing he needed is buying a golden chariot or whatever bizarre present Emily would want as an apology.

The following day at break time, Meryln climbed up her favourite tree to visit Melody and was shocked to find a golden scroll and a note pinned to the tree branch.

The note read: The decree you requested My Lady. I hope it is up to your satisfaction.

PS your bird is already full.

“Traitor” she said looking at Melody who was sleeping cozily in her nest. She opened the scroll, read every word and noticed his seal at the bottom. She sighed and jumped off the tree. She needed to find Princess Emily. He had fulfilled his part, she needed to do hers no matter how humiliating it may be.

The cafeteria was packed by the time Meryln arrived at Princess Emily’s table. Princess Emily ran to Scot’s table throwing herself in his arms, he instinctively placed his arm around her shoulders. “She’s here to terrify me again, Scot”

“She’s here to apologise, aren’t you?” he asked looking at Meryln, his sharp eyes meeting her cold piercing brown eyes. He had a soft spot for Emily and would do the most outrageous things to keep her happy.

Princess Emily was overjoyed, moving back to her table. She was the only princess, Meryln apologised to because she had Prince Scot on her side. “I have written an apology for you because I am very considerate.”

“If it is not coming from the heart then it ceases to be an apology your highness” Meryln said softly.

Princess Emily did not want to appear difficult in front of Scot and asked her to proceed.

Meryln looked around, the cafeteria was quiet with all eyes on her.

“I Meryln of Livingdale apologise to you Princess Emily of Fairdale for expecting you to be matured enough to understand that commoners can stand for themselves when insulted and humiliated. I acknowledge that it was my responsibility to know that something as trivial as justice, humanity and fairness is beneath the royals. I further apologise for my ignorance in believing that royals marvelled at nature and preserved it. Should I have known this, my arachnid friend would not have suffered the damage to his sensitive ears from your royal screams and bruises from being dropped to the floor. As unfortunate as this incident was, I believe that it was a learning curve for everyone involved. You should be very proud and be commended for imparting this knowledge to us commoners. I therefore take it upon myself to correct all these myths by forwarding my apology to the schools newsletter. I hope you will be kind enough and have it published. This is from the bottom of my heart, anything else would be a lie and I would not lie to Your Highness.” She finished her speech, turned around and left.

Scot chuckled, Meryln was the most defiant woman he had ever met. He spent hours finding the right wording for the unusual decree for her to insult Emily and all royals in a very apologetic tone. Meryln of Livingdale, that’s how she addressed herself. Livingdale was a private property outside his kingdom. She did not really belong to any kingdom which explained why she has not been executed for her defiance. Other kingdoms were not as tolerant, a lot of people have been beheaded for much less crimes. He seemed to recall that one of his father’s advisors Sir Usher came from Livingdale. He wondered if they were related.

Princess Emily was in a predicament. She was angry because that was not the apology she wanted but Meryln sounded so sincere in front of everyone she would definitely appear unjust if she asked Scot for another apology. She will deal with Meryln another time, her consolation was that she got to be in Scot’s arms again.