They tracked her for nine hours by following the blood on the snow.
Hyun rubbed his hands together and blew on them to regain some of the warmth he had lost whilst travelling. "How long is this going to take?" he called out to the front of the group. "We've been out here for hours, and we're getting nowhere. Is this princess that important?"
"Mind your words! If you want to keep your head on your shoulders, you should be careful with what you say." the leader of the group scolded the younger male. "This will take as long as it has to. We have been tasked with bringing the princess back to the palace, and it won't be good if we go back empty-handed."
"Even if that is the case, did we have to injure her?" spoke up the youngest member of the group. He bit his lip in worry. "The Princess has been so kind to us, and treats us better than the other royals, so why did we have to hurt her?" Tears shone in his eyes as he thought about how much pain she would be in now; not to mention cold, as she ran through the harsh winter weather.
The leader of the group looked guilty for a moment, but then his features hardened as he said, "it doesn't matter. We have been instructed to bring her back by any means possible. If she cooperated with us and came back with us peacefully, there would be no reason to harm her."
"But..." the youngest member began to protest but was cut short by Hyun placing a hand on his shoulder and shaking his head. Hyun knew that arguing against the leader's words would do no good, and it was better for them to just carry on with the task they had been given.
☽
Heavy breaths escaped her, and pain shot through her feet as she ran. Nine hours she had been on the move, and she couldn't bring herself to look back and see if they were still chasing her.
It didn't make a difference either way; she wouldn't stop going until she was sure it was safe to stop. However, she didn't have a choice in the matter when she collapsed to the ground, the pain from her injuries worsened as her knees hit the snowy ground.
Panting, she clutched her arms to herself, and finally found the courage to look about her - not that there was much for her to see.
Everywhere she turned was an expanse of snowy ground, and the greying sky stretched out for what seemed like forever. Cold air surrounded her, as she breathed out, and shivers now wracked her body.
"Are you alright?" A voice broke through the silence, and a hand appeared before her.
Startling a little, she glanced up and saw a familiar face, one that she had only seen in the pictures that her parents had shown her. It was the prince of the neighbouring kingdom, Changkyun, and he was also the brother of the prince that she had been betrothed to since she was a kid. Truthfully, that was one of the reasons why she had ran away from the palace.
Shakily standing up, she tried her best to hide her face, and bowed slightly towards the prince.
"I-I'm fine," she reassured him.
Changkyun didn't look convinced and asked, "you are princess Mee, right? Why are you so far away from home?"
Mee shifted her eyes towards him, and replied, "I was planning on visiting Airitan, but there was a little problem with my horse."
"Oh." Changkyun turned his head and searched the horizon for any sign of the horse and questioned, "where is it now?"
"I-I'm not sure." Mee looked down at the snow beneath her feet. "It bolted the moment I got off it. It's probably long gone by now."
They stood in front of each other, and didn't know what say next. Then Changkyun glanced down, and saw that the snow closest to Mee had turned crimson from what he could only presume was blood.
"You're bleeding?!"
"Ah." Mee clutched at her arm tighter and took a step back from the prince. "It's nothing, just a little scratch."
"It doesn't look like nothing. Were you attacked?" He didn't need to hear Mee's answer to know that that was indeed what had happened. "Come with me."
He took her uninjured hand in his, and guided her to the carriage that was attached to a horse. However, before he could even help her up into it, a shout was heard from a distance away:
"Princess Mee, you are to come back with us at once!" The man at the front pointed his sword in their direction. "Stop running away and follow your father's orders!"
Changkyun released her hand and turned towards the group of men. He stretched his arm out in front of her, and shielded her from their view.
"What is this about gentlemen?" He politely asked but his expression made them freeze where they stood; they didn't dare to move forward. "My friend here is hurt and needs to have her wounds treated. How can she go back with you?"
His quick eyes saw the blood on their swords and connected the dots. There was no way he was going to allow them to take her away, not when there was a chance that they would hurt her further.
The leader of the group stepped forward and said, "by orders of the king, Mee is to come back with us. You have no authority to stop us."
"It's true that the affairs of your kingdom are not my own, but princess Mee is now in my care." Changkyun once again took her hand in his, and continued, "tell your king that while Mee is recovering from her injuries that she will be staying in the kingdom of Airitain."
"We can't go back until we have the princess." The man protested and he started to look agitated. "Hand her over and we promise not to harm you."
Changkyun ignored him and helped Mee into the carriage. Then he said towards the men, "I've already said what I have to say. What you do from now on is none of my business."
Once he was settled by Mee's side he signalled for the driver to start moving, and they left the dumbfounded men behind.