My Princess

Chapter 5

It was still very early in the morning and the village was eerily silent as we walked the cobblestone streets towards my cottage. The trek was silent, the only sounds our footsteps on the rocky road or the occasional sound of an animal in the distance.

I was struggling to wrap my brain around the fact that this would most likely be the last time I ever saw my father. What was I even supposed to tell him once we arrived? How could my life have completely turned upside down in a matter of a few measly hours?

The former princess and I finally made it to the front door of my small cottage home, the only home I'd ever known. She followed me inside as my eyes roamed around trying to memorize every inch of the house, my nose trying it's best to implant the smell of home into my brain.

"Ah y/n. I wondered when you would be back my dear. I waited up to make sure you returned safely and—" he paused, suddenly taking notice of the young woman behind me.

"Your majesty." My father bowed to Narcissa and she simply nodded her head towards him out of habit.

"Father.." tears sprung to my eyes as I finally laid my gaze on the man who had raised me these last 19 years. I ran to him and embraced the man, my tears soaking his shirt as I reveled in the comforting arms wrapped around my back.

"Y/n! Whatever is the matter my dear? What happened last night?" I held onto him tighter, unable to admit that I had been kicked out of the kingdom alongside one of the King's own daughters.

"Y/n.." Narcissa whispered my name, reminding me what we didn't have much time. It was a long way out of the kingdom and we only had until nightfall before the King's guards would come looking for us to make sure we really had left.

"Yeah, yeah." I pulled back sniffling and wiping my eyes of the tears threatening to keep streaming down my face.

"Father.. you're going to want to sit down for this.."

As Narcissa and I recounted the events of the evening my father's expression grew more and more concerned. Once I had finally explained the consequences of our actions I was afraid the man was going to faint, the color completely draining from his normally sun tanned face.

"No.. no this can't be. They can't do that. Y/n I'll go with you. I'm not letting the two of you go out there alone." He made to stand up but I put up a hand to stop him, shaking my head as my lip began to quiver again.

"You know you can't do that father. It's far too dangerous outside the walls of the Kingdom and you are not as strong as you'd like to believe. This is the best place for you."

"I can't lose you y/n. You're all I have left since your mother left us."

"I'm so sorry father. This was not my intention at all. But, we have to go. We have no other choice"

The dark woods surrounding our kingdom were full of ghastly horrors and I would not watch my father die or allow him to watch his only daughter die at the claws of some monster either. He was better off staying here and we all knew it.

"I need to grab a bag of my things and change clothing and we are off. I love you father. Please, never forget that."

The man was crying as I grabbed a bag of essentials, packing a bit of food in a basket as well. Once we were in the forest we could hunt and forage but until we had our wits about us we would need our strength.

Finally, it was time to set off. I held onto my father tightly as we both sobbed, memorizing the comforting, earthy scent emanating from his clothing. The smell of home. It was just so hard to let go..

Narcissa eventually had to take my hand and lead me out onto the streets, my teary gaze unable to be torn from my father's matching one until he was out of sight as we started the trek towards the edge of the kingdom.

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After leaving the hustle and bustle of the village we were met with a seemingly endless dirt path leading down the mountain and towards the forest. It was a very long walk, several hours, but we made surprisingly good time and even had a bit of daylight left to traverse the dangerous woods in search of shelter for the night.

As we walked the remainder of the way towards the gates that would allow us out, Narcissa finally decided to speak to me. Up until this point we had remained mostly silent, each thinking about what the future had in store for us.

"Y/n.. I know it doesn't fix anything but I am truly sorry I pulled you into this. I should have followed my father's orders and you would still have a home as would I. I deeply apologize for my selfish decision."

As much as I wanted to be mad at the girl for all of this, I really wasn't. She had stood up for what she wanted and it wasn't her fault how the King had reacted. I just happened to be in the middle of their family dispute.

"I'm not thrilled about this but I don't hold it against you Narcissa. You had no idea your father would do this. It just is what it is." I sighed that last sentence, keeping my gaze focused on the large gate in front of us, the two guards awaiting our arrival. There wasn't anything either of us could do about it now so we may as well make the best of a bad situation and put aside our differences in favor of survival.

The guards shared a look upon our arrival, obviously having been alerted to the situation as they opened the gates without a word.

I took a deep, shuddering breath as I looked out into the dense forest, light hardly penetrating the thick tree tops and giving the place a very uneasy feel. As a child my father had told me scary stories about the woods, most of which involved man eating monsters, in order to keep me from venturing towards the gates and they had worked. I had never wanted to have a reason to go outside of these walls.

Nevertheless, here we were, facing the very thing we had both been taught to fear more than anything. I interlocked my fingers with Narcissa's, took one last deep breath, and stepped across the threshold. The gates were slammed shut behind us as soon as we were clear, leaving the two of us alone with the sound of wind creeping through the branches of the trees, and unidentifiable animals in the distance to keep us company.

Narcissa instinctively stepped closer to me, lightly holding onto my upper arm with the hand not gripping my own as we both procrastinated the inevitable. These woods were far too large to go around, we had no other choice than to go through and find out what was on the other side.

I squeezed the other girl's hand in comfort. However, I had no clue if it was more for her sake or for mine. Nevertheless, I found a single shred of bravery within myself and stepped past the tree line, pulling the former princess along behind me.