Betraying the bond | Harrison Osterfield Royal AU

Part 3

The ride to the village was rather silent, neither of us decided to strike up a conversation. I did spare his a few glances occasionally and saw how his eyes lit up on seeing the hustling and bustling of the people. "You know," he began, "back in Redmont, I too used to go out to the village and meet the people." He said sadly. I did feel terrible for him, it must have been devastating for him and the kingdom of Redmont, they had lost almost everything.

I stayed silent for a while and then placed my hand over his and gave it a little squeeze, "It'll be okay," I assured him. But in all honesty I had no idea how they had left their kingdom, so all I could do is give him a sense of false hope for the time being. The carriage came to a halt right in the middle of the middle of the village and Harrison got out first, and holding out his hand for me. Stepping out I saw the people coming to greet us, I introduced Harrison to the people and they were in complete awe of him. I always loved it when the little girls and boys would come up to be and give me their best curtsy and giving me little flowers, which really warmed my heart.

As I was occupied with talking to the people, I looked over my shoulder only to see Harrison swarmed by girls our age who had a flirty glint in their eyes. I excused myself and walked over to them, "Excuse me ladies, mind if I steal him?" I gave a wide smile, and truth to be told, I didn't want to steal him; I wanted to send him back where he came from. I linked my arm around his and pulled him out of there. Arms linked, we walked around some more, greeting everyone in the village.

After hours of smiling, waving and shaking hands, the two of us made our way back to the castle, once again in complete silence; until Harrison broke the awkward silence. "Were you jealous?" he looked at me, a smirk plastered over his face.

"Of what?"

"Of all those girls who were talking to me." He raised his brows teasingly.

"No," I scoffed, "I wasn't jealous, we were on a tight schedule and we had to finish the tour in time to get back to the castle." I explained, "And as far as I remember, you thanked me for that."

"Okay." That was all he said as he tried to stifle a chuckle.

We reached the castle and headed up to our respective rooms. I plopped on my bed and sighed, after an exhausting day all I wanted was to take a relaxing bath and unwind. "So how was the tour?" Amber asked as she prepared my bath, "It was okay." I shrugged, "Although something interesting did happen."

"Do tell."

"So we were at Mrs. Christina's," I began, Mrs. Christina's bakery had the kingdom's best blueberry pies and was the nicest person you would ever meet, sometimes a bit too nice. "and she gave me her usual bone crushing hug," we shared a little giggle before I continued, "then she turned to Harrison and pinched his cheeks so hard, they were red as tomatoes." I said, a laugh escaping my lips.

"Oh, the poor lad." Amber cooed. I shook my head and brushed of the thought Amber feeling bad for him. "Could you please let my father know that I'd like to take dinner in my room today?"

"Yes, your majesty." She gave a curtsy and left. When she left the room I began to strip and sunk in the porcelain tub, I sighed and closed my eyes as I let the warm water hit my skin. Once my skin was pruned enough I got out and got dressed and saw my dinner already waiting for me, after my meal I was getting ready to go bed when dad came in.

"I heard the tour was a success." He said striding across the room.

"More or less." I chuckled remembering Harrison's red cheeks.

"You're doing great honey," he smiled, "you should get some rest now." I nodded.

It didn't take long for me to fall asleep after dad left, but unfortunately the rumbling of my stomach woke me up. It must have been past midnight when my hunger pulled me to the kitchen, the pitter-patter of my footsteps echoed around the castle. Pushing the big doors of the kitchen I was met with faint lights and emptiness. It wasn't that dinner wasn't sufficient enough, it was; but sometimes my stomach just happens to have a mind of its own.

I settled down on making a simple jam sandwich for me, setting the knife down I licked the jelly off my fingers and was about to eat the sandwich when I heard the faint sound of footsteps coming near the kitchen. The footsteps weren't of any guards or servants, there was some unfamiliarity about these. I picked up the knife again, it was a butter knife yes, but it was closest to me and maybe I could scare off the burglar.

I was sure it was a burglar because for one, no one enters the kitchen from the main door, all the guards and servants use the door in the back and secondly if any family member is hungry in the middle of the night they always send for their maids or butlers. I tiptoed to the door and made my grip on the knife tight, my back against the door waiting to pounce on whoever it was. The door creaked open slowly and the silhouette of the person coming in view, I didn't yell not wanting to alarm him so I could sneak up on him and so far it was going well.

I walked up to him, albeit he was taller than me I managed to hold the knife near his throat, "Who are you and what are you doing here?" I whispered over his shoulder, I could feel him gulp, 'he must be scared' I thought. He rose his hands up as if in surrender, taking me by surprise he gripped on my wrist that held the weapon, his strong grip made the knife fall out of my hand, the sound of the metal hitting the ground now echoing the room. He turned around swiftly and began taking long strides which resulted to him pushing me against the wall and pinning both my hands near my face as he came closer, his breath fanning over my face.

Even though the lights weren't the brightest he could see the fear on my face which I tried to hide but failed and I could see his smirk, "Thought you'd recognize me, princess." He whispered, stressing on the word 'princess'. I tried squirming and as if we thought of it at the same time, he raised my hands over my head, holding it tightly with one hand and the other going over my mouth before I could scream and call for the guards, "Uh uh," he stopped me, "don't want to alarm the guards now do we?" He said smugly.

a/n: Feedback is always welcomed 🥰