The Damage

Princess Diane looks through the damage for survivors

It was only half an hour until sunup and Princess Diane, Nathan and his father Steven Wells were all finishing their breakfast of mush that Patience had made.

“Your Highness,whenever you are ready to go come get us. Nathan and I will be preparing the horses.”
“Thank you Steven.”

“Of course, Your Majesty. Come on Nathan.” The older man said, scraping his bowl and heading outside.

“Coming father.” was the short and simple reply. Nathan set his empty bowl in the sink and headed out to prepare the horses. Diane got dressed in a sky blue gown and had Patience pull her long hair back into a elegant bun, since Diane didn’t know how. With a quick “thank you, Patience.” and a replying curtsy and “your welcome” Diane headed out the door where she was met by Nathan who nearly bumped into her, heading towards the house.

“My apologies, Your Highness.” Nathan said with a quick bow, reminding the princess of Spence, his amazing hair slicked back and eyes sparkling- a contrast to Nathan whose hair was brushed but still not as tidy as any royal would have their hair.

“Princess?” Nathan called out, distracting Diane from her thoughts.

“What?” Diane asked, blinking, being brought back to the present.
“I truly am sorry.”
“Oh. It’s no big deal, Nate. Are the horses ready?”
“Yes Princess. I’m just heading inside to grab us some water.”
“Alright. Thank you Nate.” Diane headed towards Steven, who had a black and white pinto, the horse Nathan rode when he found her which was a chestnut bay, and a buckskin.

“You’ll be riding Pepper, she’s the black and white horse here, and then I’ll ride Spirit whose the buckskin. Nathan will be riding his horse Autumn. Unless you would like Spirit, he’s not all that bad but Pepper is a little bit more gentle, but so is Cow, he’s Pepper’s son. We could prepare him instead of Pepper it might take us a little bit...but if you’d prefer Cow then...”
“Pepper will be fine, Steven.”
“Alright then, Your Majesty. We’re just waiting for Nate to get back with the waters for our ride.”

“I’m here father.” Nathan’s voice called out, as he headed towards the horses. He helped Diane on Pepper and got on Autumn while his father got on Spirit. They headed out towards the castle as the sun rose and made a red, pink, and orange sunrise with a little blue. The sound of roosters crowing passed the trio as well as the early feel of the morning sun rising from behind them. The passed the woods and saw some were burned from the explosion. They reached the castle’s remains when the sun was now in the sky nearly all the way.
“Wow,” Diane exclaimed, out of breath at the sight. The castle lay in ruins. Bits of the gray stone lay here and there, in some places piles of the rock and some small material. They tied up the horses and got down, attempting to look past the rubble. It was then, looking past the castle that she saw the burned stable and horses dead across the grounds. The forest she’d played in as a child were burned as well, and the supposed to be green trees were now burned and black. It seemed truly hopeless and sad.
“Where would you like me to be, princess?”
“I-I don’t,” Diane took a deep breath, she couldn’t be unsure she was going to be ruler and she needed to be certain. She sighed deeply and said, “To the west.” They searched looking for people and found nobody. The found a few bodies, one of which Diane identified as George. There was a bit of cloth that seemed to be torn and no body for it, Diane wondered who could have escaped. She’d hoped her family had escaped but she’d already found dead, blood all over them. She only then had one hope. Spence.