He placed his hand on the back of her head, holding her against his chest.
"Are you hurt," He murmured, masking his worry.
"Only my foot," She mumbled, grabbing on to his shirt.
"But your dress its covered in..."
"It's not mine," She clarified letting out a deep sigh, "I promise I'm okay."
He continued to hold on to her, a million thoughts running through his mind.
'The things she's seen... The things she's been through in just these couple of days... I can't imagine the horrors she's seen... Gabrielle... Please forgive me for not protecting you better...'
She closed her eyes, turning her head she pressed her ear against his chest. The sounds of his heartbeat carried away her train of focus.
"Gabrielle, let's go home," He comforted, his chest vibrating from his soothing tune.
She opened her eyes, looking up at him. Thoughts of him and Hattie kissing playing through her mind.
'Home… I can't go back… I just can't…'
She pushed away from him, taking a few steps back, she hung her head.
"Gabrielle," He called out, reaching his hand out towards her, "What's wrong?"
'I can't… I can't go back… I won't do it…'
"Thank you, Your Majesty for saving my life," She curtsied, turning her head away, "Now if you please excuse me, I'll be going."
She turned around, walking away, being blocked by the other guards.
"Please excuse me," She muttered, continuing to look down.
Ansel put his hand up, signaling for the guards to let her pass, they cleared a path letting her through.
She walked away, heading towards the other side of the open area.
Ansel walked towards her, passing the guards.
"Wait for us here," He muttered to the guards, following Gabrielle to the other side of the open area.
She made her way to the trees, her heart feeling heavy. She felt a grip on her hand.
She turned around, continuing to hang her head she pulled her hand away.
"Do you need something or can I go, Your Majesty," She mumbled, bowing to him.
"I was just wondering where we're going," Ansel inquired, stepping towards her, "If we're going somewhere far I should grab my horse so you don't have to keep walking."
Her eyes widened as tears rolled down her cheeks.
"You should go back, because I'm leaving Florian, Your Majesty," She informed, allowing tears to fall.
She snapped back, quickly wiping away her tears, regaining her composure.
"So it is pretty far. The next kingdom is more than 200 miles away and traveling with a limp has got to be painful. We'll definitely need a horse and some food," He remarked.
"No," She huffed, looking up at him, meeting his eyes, "I'm going by myself and I don't care how far it is. You can't stop me."
"I'm not trying to stop you, I'm coming with you," He informed.
"Well I don't want you too," She disputed, turning her head away from him, "Go back to your castle, to your love. Leave me be."
"My love," He questioned rubbing his chin, "How can I go back to my love if she isn't at the castle."
"But she is," Gabrielle wept, fighting back her tears, "She is back at the castle. You should go to her, she probably misses you."
"Tell me, does she miss me Lady Gabrielle," He inquired, "Because I miss her dearly."
She hung her head, holding back her pain. "She does miss you. Her heart aches for you to come back to her. She cried for you every night… She waited… She waited for you to come back to her… She held onto that bear to remember you… But it's not enough… It…" She froze, sorrow paining her eyes. She paused in realization… Keeping herself from speaking
'Don't expose your feelings for him… Don't let him back in… You may love him but he loves another.'
She shook her head and looked at him, biting her bottom lip, "Get back to her, Your Majesty," She said, deadpanned, holding in her emotions.
"I did get back to her," He soothed, "I had to keep my promise. Do you remember?"
'I know what he's talking about… But I want to forget it…'
"There's no promise… No…"
He sighed, grabbing onto her hand, he pulled her in closely. "No matter where you go, no matter where you are, no matter how far you are away from me I will find you. I will always come to your rescue from now on, and I will always make sure you are safe. Where you go I will go, you will never be without ever again."
She shook her head, tears escaping from her eyes, she shouted, "How can you promise me such a silly thing?"
"A silly thing," He soothed, pulling her closer to him, "You think it's silly?"
"It is when you don't love me," She shouted, meeting his eyes, "How can you sit there and promise me something like that, when you don't even have feelings for me? I will not be fooled again."
She balled her fist up, swinging it, getting ready to hit his chest but before she could he grabbed her hand mid swing.
"You know if you're going to hit someone you might want to be quicker than that," He comforted.
"Let go of me," She shouted, tugging her hands, trying to get out of his grip, "I don't want to be with you, I don't want to go back."
"Why," He inquired, continuing to hold on to her hands, "Why don't you want to go back with me? Why do you want me to leave you so bad?"
"Because you love Hattie," She cried, "Why can't you stop pretending that you have feelings for me and let me go. You've already repaid your debt, now stop bothering me."
"A debt," He questioned, looking into her eyes, "You think I shut Kingdom Florian down, sent out a Kingdom Priority Decree, and had men searching for you day and night because I felt indebted to you?"
"Why else would you do all those things Your Majesty," She snapped a response.
He scooped her up in his arms, shaking his head.
"You're stubborn," He sighed, walking back towards his men, "I suffered without you for four days… Four days of a nonstop nightmare… And still whatever I suffered couldn't be worse then what you've been through... I don't know what happened to you but I am truly sorry for not finding you sooner... I can't imagine the horrors you suffered... But I won't let you go this time… It's time to go home Gabrielle."
"Put me down," She protested, squirming in his arm, "Let go of me."
"How can I put you down when you've hurt your foot, I can't let my hurt princess walk," He soothed, continuing to walk back.
'Why must he play these games with me… One second I think he loves me and the next… I snap back to reality… He's in love with Hattie… Why must he pretend with me… I don't understand him.'
"Put me down, I can walk," She argued, continuing to squirm in his arms.
"Do you always have to be so stubborn," He muttered, holding on to her tightly, "I can't have you injure your foot any further."
He continued to walk back to his horse, ignoring her protests.
He walked past his men, walking over to his horse. He lifted her up, setting her on the horse. He got on the horse behind her, grabbing onto the horse leads. He looked back at his men.
"Have all my men clear out the forest and set back to the castle," Ansel announced, riding off, as his men followed behind him.
'Gabrielle… I will show you how much I love you… Just you wait…'