The Forbidden Princess [Paused]

Chapter 4: Someone Almost Dies

I had sneaked out of the house and left with Arthur and Jesse. To where exactly? I didn't know at the time. For whatever reason? I didn't know that either. All I knew is that they really wanted me to come and I had nothing to lose. What else was Father going to do? He has already exiled me from my home, he made me an outcast and forced Nina to tend to me. I didn't go with them just to find out what they were up to, I went to see what real rebellion felt like.

Well, so far it was exhilarating. Being out of the house past hours was amazing. I felt so full of energy. I saw the stars for the first time, shining ever so brightly. The moon was like a night sun, glowing brighter than all the stars. I stood in one place for a while, just staring up into space before Arthur grabbed my arm and dragged me on to head to their place. Wherever and whatever it was.

"Where are we going?" I would continually ask them.

"You'll see," they would both say.

I got so tired of asking that question that at some point I stopped talking and just let them lead me on. It was nice just to be outside and hear the night noises of all the creatures rustling about. I had never got to do this in the palace.

I could also feel the soft dirt sink in between my toes as I walked, squishing in between each one. It was cold, but warm at the same time. The feeling was new to me, so I liked it and disliked it both.

After what seemed like forever, Jesse turned to me and told me that we were here. Where "here" was.

I looked around to see a huge body of water in front of me, the moonlight shimmering on top of the water making it sparkle. "Whoa." That was all I could say at the moment. I was speechless at the sight.

"That's not the best part. The best part is that no one else knows about this place besides us. It's like our secret hangout. Just mine and Arty's. We thought we would let you in on the secret," Jesse said to me.

I was speechless. "Um. Thanks, guys. That's...that's really kind of you."

"You're welcome. Anything for the princess," Jesse said with a wink.

"What? I am not the princess. What makes you think that? Is it-"

"Calm down. It was just an expression. Anyways-you, being the princess? That's like me being the prince," Jesse chuckled. "In other words, impossible."

"Oh yeah, that's preposterous," I laughed nervously.

"Anyways, we wanted to show you this since you seem rather trustworthy. We call it Paradise. It's much more beautiful at sunrise. That's why we wanted to get you before the sun came up."

"Oh, well thank you. What are we going to do to pass the time? Since, it's like a whole night until sunrise..." I asked.

Jesse held up his stick. "Fish, of course! What else would we do?"

"We could swim," I suggested.

"You don't know how to fish, do you?" Jesse asked.

"No. I mean, I never had to, so I never actually learned."

"Here, use my fishing pole," Arthur said, handing me the wooden pole.

I held it in my hands and looked to Arthur for instructions, but he just sat there so I cleared my throat to get his attention. He finally looked at me. "Oh!" he said. "Here, you have to throw it out there first."

So naturally when he said to 'throw it out there' I threw the entire pole into the water.

"Why'd you do that for?!" Arthur asked. He said it as if I just slaughtered a person.