"It's you!" he said and finally let me go.
My free hand immediately went to rub where the man had held me. I then proceeded to check my head and then the bird.
"I could have hurt you!" the man said again and I lifted my head to look at him. I couldn't believe it.
"P-p... your Highness?" It was Prince Alexander. I felt my heartbeat escalate again but for whole different reason.
"What are you doing out here at such an hour? Don't you know it's dangerous?" I felt like a child being scolded for playing in the mud.
"You mean dangerous like being attacked by the future king himself!" I retorted in spite of myself.
He looked at me for a moment, "I was only being defensive."
"Defensive against a poor helpless woman who wields no weapon?" I tried to hold my tongue in really, but I failed. Miserably.
"You don't know the kind of people who roam this forest which is why you shouldn't be walking around. No one has ever gone close to here but I don't know about the last few months I was away."
"..."
"How did you find this place anyway?"
"I just stumbled upon it."
He slowly nodded and his eyes trailed from my face to my hands. "I think you should give me that."
What? Oh, "you're not going to hurt it, are you?"
"You think I'm a monster?" he asked.
A monster? No. An angel dressed in candy? Yes!
Heat rose up my neck and I hurriedly gave him the bird. He took it to the kitchen counter and studied it. He began pulling tools out of drawers.
I was getting bored so I chose to question him, "So what exactly are you doing in an abandoned cottage in the middle of a forest?"
"Who told you it's abandoned?"
"I figured."
He looked at me as he answered, "I built it." He continued with his work, poking his tongue out at the side of his mouth.
My heart fluttered at how cute he looked. I thought I might have a heart attack.
"Oh wow," wait, "like you hired contractors?"
He did something with the bird's broken wing and then smiled to himself, "No. The contractors helped with the layout, and I put everything else together. As I said, no one knows about this place."
He carried the bird and put it in a cage, poured some grains on a tiny metal plate and pushed it inside the cage.
"With your own hands?" I was bewildered honestly.
"Yes, Zia. With my own hands."
"Where did you get the time to do that? And how did you know my name?"
"Too many questions," he retook his seat and I also sat on the stool across from him, "Tell me, where did you get that dove?"
He noticed change of the subject. "That was a dove?" I honestly didn't know.
"You had a bird that you were willing to sacrifice yourself for, and you don't know what it was?"
"I really didn't know. I found it lying on the forest floor and decided to help it. Thank you, by the way."
"You like birds?"
"In a way, yes!"
He cocked his head to the side and looked at me for while without saying anything, like he was studying something. I soon started feeling uneasy and fidgety under his gaze that I stood up and went to pour myself a glass of water.
I heard the squeaking of the stool behind me and I knew he had stood up. I turned around to find him standing directly behind me. I almost ran into his chest.
I gulped and slowly lifted my eyes to meet his face. Up close, the man was so tall. He probably made me look like a dwarf if anyone was to see us like this.
His woodsy scent clouded all my senses. I tried to control my heartbeat as I stared into his blue eyes. They captivated me that I forgot where we were for a moment.
"I think you should go back to the palace. It's getting late and it won't be safe for you."
"What about you?"
"..."
I looked over to the window and saw it was getting dark. I gestured to it, "It's almost dark out and well, I walked here. I'll never make it before nightfall.". I didn't add the 'Maybe I could stay' part, though I highly doubted he would be spending the night there.
"I'll give you a ride."