After hours of riding and walking, I could see a patch of woods approaching. I let out a breath I hadn't even realized I was holding in, some form of relief washing over me even as the darkness the trees cast on us left unease swirling in my stomach. An hour before, Aaron had finally decided to stop walking between the horses and settled back onto his horse, occasionally pulling a flask from his side and taking quick swigs from it. There were a few times when my mind wandered, wondering if I'd just stayed and what would've happened. Would I have lived a happy life? Would I have liked him the same as I do now? Wait a minute, like him? No, we're suspicious of him, he's not to be trusted. Each time, I'd scold myself for these thoughts, telling myself that this was all a good idea and I'd be free soon.
"What ya thinkin about over there, Princess?" His low voice spoke up from beside me for the first time in almost four hours. I jumped in my skin slightly, almost having forgotten about my company, as my mind had begun to wander away from me once more.
"Nothing that concerns you, I'm afraid." My voice sounds slightly foreign, making my skin crawl at the slight rasp that comes from my throat as I speak. I clear my throat, looking away from him as I realize my grave mistake of not refilling my water flask at the last stream we'd passed not too long ago. It might've been around two hours ago, but I'd become increasingly thirsty since we passed it. I felt cold metal tap my shoulder and looked over, my gaze meeting a shiny silver flask being shoved toward my face.
"Drink, you'll die of dehydration before you reach anywhere at this rate, you're pale as a sheet." He shakes the flask and waits as I wrap my pale, now even paler, fingers around the cold silver of it. I glance over at him, suspicion painting my face as I pull the cork from the top, causing a satisfying pop sound. I look away from him as he rolls his eyes and faces forward once more, and instead focus my gaze on the water inside the vessel. It looked clean; I tasted a small bit, and it tasted clean. I sigh and drink a few sips from him, wiping the rim with the cloth of my sleeve, and put the cork back in it. I lean over slightly, slipping the flask into one of the many pockets of his saddle bag, and settle my hands in my lap, playing with the leather of the reins.
"I'm assuming you know quite a lot about me...considering." I laugh dryly as I stare down at the worn and darkened leather. I hear a dark chuckle come from the man beside me before it settles into a low sigh.
"Oh yes, Princess Arabella of the kingdom of Eden, now the runaway princess who has a bounty on her head." Only the last four words were news to me. Princess Arabella? Check. Kingdom of Eden? Check. Now labeled the runaway princess? Check. Bounty? Che- hang on what?
"Bounty?" My voice comes out squeaky at the shock; my own parents placed a bounty on my head. Or maybe it was his parents? Either way, now it wasn't just the royal guard of each kingdom I had to worry about, but now citizens as well. I was truly doomed now.
"Well, yes, at least...I assume so." I let out a sigh of relief; he was just speaking from the assumptions in his own mind. "Don't feel so calm yet; I'm just saying there's a high chance that there are many people out for you right now, so keep your guard up until we're sure it's only the royal guards."
And there's my back tensing up again.
A/N: okay, so this book isn't getting any attention, so I'll probably stop writing it soon. I'm having fun with it, but it just isn't getting the attention I was hoping for, so I feel like I'm wasting my time.
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To Shatter the Crown
FantasyZoe, originally from the kingdom of Eden, born into the royal family of Hermes, is told she's to marry a prince from a sister kingdom to form an alliance. Infuriated by her mother and father controlling her life and saying her "childish dreams" need...
