It has been 38 hours since l left the palace and it was rumored that Pierre had sent a search unit out to look for me. A poster with my face has also been in circulation in different towns and villages offering a reward to anyone who found and brought me to the King, I felt like a wanted criminal on the run.
However, I needed a place to rest with Darcy, we had not had proper rest or sleep as we'd traveled from dawn to dusk just to get enough distance between us and the palace. I decided to look for a nearby village or shelter where we could both stay for a while and regain strength.
Darcy and l walked aimlessly through the woods till l caught sight of a big tree and tied Darcy to it as l stroked her mane gently. "You stay here, I'll go look for a place for us" I said as l fed an apple to her. She exhales and chews calmly then l proceeded further into the woods surveying it carefully.
We were surrounded completely by bushes and there was no sign of a shelter, l halted and sighed heavily in disappointment. Suddenly, l felt a gush of warm air and the sound of a twig snapping from behind, I turned around unsheathing my sword and pointing it in the direction of a masculine figure. He was a young man and he held a hunter's gun across his build, he couldn't have been that much older than me. His eyes scanned me as my sword remained aimed at him.
"Easy, easy" he said with a nervous chuckle. I glared at him with suspicion in my eyes awaiting a response from him. He looked at me with a smile and placed his gun down then he lifted both of his hands up indicating he was unarmed then he spoke again with enthusiasm in his voice, "You! You're Princess Alora!". I scoffed beneath my breath and extended the edge of my sword towards his throat as it made contact with his skin "And you're dead if you think I'm going to let you turn me in". He became uneasy and shook his head hastily "I wouldn't dare, just don't slit my throat please".
"Hm" I uttered as l withdrew my sword and sheathed it back in place. "Thank you, I'm Andrè by the way" he sighed a bit and added "If l may ask, why did you leave the Palace?"
I rolled my eyes. "If we're done here we ca-" he cut my words short and said "If you need a place to stay for the night, I wouldn't mind sharing my home besides it's just across the bridge ahead and quite a distance from the village". I took a better look at him, finding him awfully strange as series of questions began to flood my mind. Why was he out here alone in the woods?? Is he after the bounty? Or maybe one of those random people that appeared to me? No, he couldn't be one of them. His looks didn't match up to theirs. I turned a deaf ear to his offer and began to walk away from him towards the direction l left Darcy. He hurried from behind me and got in front of me. "Look, l know you think I'm doing this for the bounty but I'm not. You might find me suspicious, it's totally fine but l hope you can trust me. I just want to help but l can see that you don't need it." he sighed and moved out of my way.
What if he's telling the truth? I could not trust him but Darcy and l needed rest and he was our best chance at it although that didn't mean l won't kill him if this went south. "We'll stay for the night then depart at sunrise". His facial expression gave off a banal look and l couldn't help but wonder what he could be up to, "That's not a problem at all but we?". "My horse, Darcy. She's coming along" l said simply.
The sun set while we were already at Andrè's house, a small cottage with a little farming area just behind. I took my bath and slid into clean clothes with Darcy properly taken care of as well. After a while, Andrè knocked on the door, he twisted the knob and opened the door halfway through with his head poking in, "Dinner will be served soon, My Lady" he said before closing the door behind him.
My mind wasn't at ease with Andrè even though l had agreed earlier to spend the night. I stood up and walked towards the door, opening it and strolling to the kitchen where l saw Andrè mixing some substances into the prepared food.
***
This is my chance at a better life. Bringing the princess to the King would be a life changing event for me, l thought to myself as l spiked Alora's meal. She would be insensate for a while and by the time she regains consciousness, the royal guards would've been here to take her along. "Andrè, you genius!!" I shouted out.
"Genius?" Alora asked as she approached me. I chuckled nervously and extended her meal towards her, "My cooking, of course! Such genius skills".
***
Andrè had a crooked smile on his face, which could have meant only one thing. He was lying and had most likely spiked my food to keep me unconscious before the royal guards came for me. I clasped the food away from his hands and strode towards the dining table. I took my sit across Andrè and stared for a while. "What?" He asked. "Didn't your genius mind tell you to offer me water?" He facepalmed and stood up "I'm so sorry, give me a few minutes". As he walked away, l cleared half of the food out the window leaving a little bit on the plate to make it seem l was eating the whole time. Afterwards, Andrè came back with a glass of water in his hand and offered it to me, "You're done eating?" He asked with an enthusiastic look. I gripped the glass of water and made a pretense of drinking it "Mm, I was quite hungry". l yawned softly and he stared at me for a while before adding " You're tired, go rest up a bit. I'll be outside for a while, l need to uproot some crops". I nodded and he left my side heading outside. I waited a while till he was out of sight and then l ran for my bag. l jumped out the window as soon as I got my bag and ran to where Darcy was tied. I loosened the rope and slung my bag onto her back before mounting her hastily.
"There she is!" a voice yelled out. I looked back and noticed a guard in his armour, "The guards.." I whispered as I squeezed Darcy's ribcage with my calves to get Darcy to move. She began to gallop away from the cottage as another voice yelled out, "She's getting away!".
"Not on my watch!" Andrè said as he pulled out a bow and an arrow and aimed at me piercing my right shoulder and affecting my balance on Darcy. l kept a firm grip onto her despite the pain inflicted by the arrow.