Stolen Princess

12. Rumors

"Her - as - as in -"

"Princess Wren," I sputtered into the dirt, wincing at his sudden realization. The blood bond... technically speaking, Talon had just betrayed his vow to keep my secret.

"Your Highness!" Thio squeaked out the title like he'd just seen a mouse, and the weight at my back immediately disappeared. Three sets of hands were helping me up, three voices all fumbling over themselves with apologies. Finally, I stood, panting as I swiped the drying blood from the split in my lip.

"You weren't supposed to hear that..." I said slowly, glancing over my shoulder only to check that Talon's chest still rose and fell. I don't know the specifics of the vow... but I could be without my Orcs for hours now.

"If I had known - I never would've - " Thio has dropped to one knee, his squires behind him, heads all bowed.

"Really, Sir Thio, get up!" I said in an exasperated tone, "You've just cheated me into the dirt a moment ago, might as well look me in the eye now."

"I did not ch -" he cut himself off, and I grinned as he stood up, enraged and forgetting who I was again. I decided in that moment that I liked Thio. He smiled back at me sheepishly, dropping his accusing finger as he realized his latest mistake.

"Your Highness, please forgive me... I would never have raised a hand against you if I'd known -"

"Did I do alright?" I asked, interrupting him with a wave of my hand, "They've been trying to teach me but, I know they go easy on me in training."

The redheaded squire's mouth dropped open in disbelief and Thio grinned again. It made him look so much younger, sweeter. Like maybe we could've been friends if we'd met before the tourney.

"You were excellent, my lady," he answered, and I narrowed my eyes at him in disbelief. He shrugged as if there was no dishonesty in his flattery, and I smiled again.

"What am I to do now?" I mused aloud, the gravity of the situation coming to me all of the sudden.

"Do, Princess?" Thio asked, his face pinching in concern over my distress.

"My secret is out, my escort is downed... I should probably just kill you all now," I added with a heavy sigh, swiping the sweat from my hairline. Thio chuckled at me in the fading light of the forest.

"We are at your service, Princess," he said with a deep bow from his waist, "Anything you need."

I smiled at Thio's eagerness to help, then turned back to my unconscious green giants with a heavy sigh.

"We have to get across before the others come as well," I ordered, "I'm not sure I have it in me to defeat all of them," Thio chuckled, his shoulders relaxing and his squires' exchange grins. It's a new thing - people liking me - is it just my father's people that hate me so much?

"We can each carry one," Thio volunteered with a nod, and they each stepped forward to begin a new process of knot tying.

Within the half-hour, each of my Orcs were tied to the back of a human... something they never would've allowed in a conscious state, and that made me more than a little happy just by itself.

"The ropes are secured, I've checked them myself, just keep hold of the top rope and you'll make it across just fine..." Thio explained as he tied me back into the harness Talon had crafted for me earlier. I gazed over the edge of the ravine and swallow hard as the wide-open space stretched between us and the other side.

"What? Nervous now?" Thio scoffs with a playful grin, "You just offered to fight someone twice your size less than an hour ago - this will be nothing," he reassured me. I turned to smile back at his obvious attempts at lightening my mood.