"There is no way that I am staying in here with you... I would rather go live in isolation again"
"It seems like you don't understand the situation here, Princess. You are in my castle and you will therefore be following my rules"
"It wasn't my choice to come here. If I remember correctly, you had me kidnapped on my wedding day"
"I was merely saving you from a loveless marriage. It was for your own good"
"My own good? Who are you to determine what's good for me? I love Leonidas"
"Does he love you?"
"Yes, more than you would ever know"
"I wouldn't be too sure of that, Princess"
"What do you mean?"
"Where is he now? Why hasn't he come to save you? He should have been here by now?"
"Maybe he got lost?"
"That's not quite plausible, Princess"
"It is possible"
"Whatever you say. Now, let me show you around"
Chase pulled Leah into the room and gave her a tour of the area. It was decorated quite beautifully with a theme of white and gold. There were two large rooms separated by a gold curtain, embroidered with red roses.
Chase drew back the curtain to show Leah where she would now be living. She was amazed at the grandeur of the room. There was a canopy bed in the middle and a large dresser on the side. She also noticed that she had her own bathroom as well as a separate closet.
The closet was magnificent. It was ten times larger than in her previous room and contained even more clothes. Leah's interest could also not help but be peaked by the vast amount of shoes. There seemed to be hundreds. The bathroom was also quite grand. There was a large bathtub accompanied by a sizable shower. The room was mostly white with hints of silver.
Chase then showed her his side of the room. It had a large king-sized bed with red and gold covers. It also had a separate bathroom and closet. The bathroom had the same layout and Chase's closet had many brilliant royal suits.
Before Leah could say anything, Chase backed her up against his bed. She eventually lost her balance and fell onto Chase's bed.
"Princess, if you wanted to lay in my bed you could have just asked"
"Don't flatter yourself, I just lost my balance. It was your fault anyway"
"Whatever you say, Princess"
Chase then gave her his hand to pull her up. She took it but pulled him onto the bed instead.
"Are you sure you don't want to be in bed with me princess? You practically dragged me here with you"
"Yes, I'm sure. I just needed a head start"
Leah then started sprinting towards the door but Chase had already thought of this scenario beforehand. As a result, the doors were locked and Leah was trapped with him.
"Not so fast. Don't think that you can escape me that quickly"
"Chase, why can't you just let me go?"
"Because I'm in love with you"
Before Leah could react, Chase leaned in to kiss her. For some reason, she didn't pull away and deepened their kiss. Then, all of a sudden, she pushed him away.
"What did I just do?"
"Leah, admit it. You still have feelings for me"
"But I love Leonidas"
"Then why did you kiss me back?"
"I was confused. Maybe I do still kind of like you but I still love Leo. I'm so confused"
"Don't be. I love you, Leah. I know that I may have acted carelessly in the past but I know what I want now. I want you"
"If you cared about me, you would let me go"
"I won't let you go because I care about you. Leonidas is not who you think he is"
"I'm pretty sure I know him better than you"
"There's a lot you have yet to learn, Princess"
"Tell me then"
"Maybe later"
"Are you kidding me?
"No, now go to bed. I'll see you tomorrow"
Chase then disappeared behind the curtain and Leah sat down on her bed wondering what just happened.
Meanwhile, in the woods, Leonidas and his men were still searching for Leah. Although they thought that they were close to Hydreas they were very lost. They had been traveling for a long time now and yet they still had no indication that they were on the right path to Hydreas.
Leonidas was still caught up thinking about Leah and wondered if she was safe. If Chase had hurt her he would personally see to it that he be executed. He couldn't believe that he had the audacity to kidnap his bride. He couldn't help but think that it was all his fault. He shouldn't have made Leah leave Drastos in the first place. She wouldn't have met Chase and this problem wouldn't have even occurred.
While he was still deep in thought, Leonidas looked at his bag. Inside of it was the puppy from the stables.
"I guess now would be a good time to name you"
"Your Highness, pardon me but are you conversing with your bag"
"No Kylo. I am actually trying to think of a good name for a puppy. Any ideas?"
"I know that the princess is fond of stars and constellations"
"Wait, that perfect, I can call him Leo. I heard his breed looks like a lion when they're older. It might also remind her of me"
"Quite clever your highness"
"Kylo, what is that ahead?"
"I don't know, Your Highness"
"It looks like a group of people"
"Your Highness, we're on the wrong path"
"What do you mean?"
"These are the Yerbaiya people. They are said to live in these woods"
"What's the problem then?"
"We are lost. We must have taken the wrong path where the roads diverged"
"Well let's turn back then. We've already wasted so much time"
"I'm afraid it's not that easy, Your Highness"
"Why are they coming towards us?"
"Perhaps I didn't mention this earlier but they might want to kill us"
Meanwhile, in Hydreas, Leah woke up to a sweet smell. When she sat up and opened her eyes, she saw a stack of pancakes on a tray on her lap.
"Eat up, Princess"
"Why should I?"
"I believe eating is the way for all humans to get their daily nutrients. If you plan on being difficult then I think that I will have to feed you myself"
"I am aware of how humans get their nutrients. Thank you very much, but I don't think that I should be accepting food from the enemy"
"The enemy? I am not the enemy, Princess. If anything, I am your savior. I can't quite comprehend why you are so against me. I have made your stay pleasant, have I not"
"Your accommodations have been quite generous but I still think you don't fully see the problem in how I got here"
"Again, I'm very sorry but not sorry at all. You deserve more than Leonidas"
"I've known him longer than you"
"You may have been engaged but you clearly haven't been informed about all of his misdeeds in the past"
"What could he have possibly done to make you hate him so much"
"You mean besides stealing my future wife away. Like I said earlier, perhaps I'll tell you another time"
"If you are so persistent in making it known that you love me, then why don't you let me roam about the gardens or even just the castle"
"I don't know if I can trust you after the whole climbing down the side of a castle incident"
"If you would accompany me then you wouldn't have anything to worry about"
"I suppose that could work but don't even think of trying any of your cheap tricks. I will have guards with me as well"
"Very well, Chase. Why don't we go for a stroll in the garden now? The weather outside is quite nice"
"As you wish, Princess"
Back in the woods, Leonidas and his men had started running away from the Yerbaiya people. When Leonidas took a second to see if they were close by, he noticed that they were right on their tails. As a result, he asked his men to stop.
When they did, Leonidas got down from his horse and went up to what looked like the leader of their group. The leader of the group also got down from his horse and started a conversation.
"Who are you?"
"I am Leonidas Arthelys, Prince of Drastos. And you are?"
"My name is Westly and I am the leader of the Yerbaiya people. Why have you come to our land"
"My sincerest apologies, Westly. We were actually on our way to find my fiance. She was stolen from me on our wedding day and I'm afraid that we've gotten lost"
"No worries, Your Highness. In fact, we can show you a shortcut to the castle so that you don't waste time retracing your steps"
"Thank you for the kind offer"
"Anything for a man who has lost his future wife. I can imagine the pain you're going through right now. I have a wife of my own. Her name is Ari and I would be incredibly frustrated if she was kidnapped on our wedding day"
"You must send her my apologies for occupying so much of her husband's time"
"It won't be a problem. We must stray off the path so why don't you follow me through these woods here"
"All right, lead the way"