Runaway Royal

Chapter 9

"Do you even know where you're going, Princess?" Chance laughed, as the walked through the forest.

"Of course I do. What do you think I'm doing? Just wandering around the forest?" Kat didn't want to admit it but that's actually exactly what she was doing. But if she stopped she knew she'd start thinking about the previous night, and that morning's events. And if that happened she'd start crying again and just look like some weak princess who needed saving. She wanted to be strong, so she kept moving.

"So where are you going?" Chance played. He already knew they were headed in the wrong direction, but he wanted to let her lead.

"Back to the town, then we can try and find the group." She replied, dodging a low hanging branch.

"Well, Your Highness, I hate to inform you but the town is in the opposite direction." Kat stopped and turned to him and started walking the other way. "You okay, Princess?"

"Stop calling me that." She answered sternly, she had been avoiding having any real conversation with him all day. It was killing Chance.

"It's your title isn't it?" He stopped walking. He wanted to actually talk to her. Kat was constantly telling him to stop saying anything that involved the royal family and he wanted to know why.

Kat finally turned to face him, although she didn't want to. "I left that life, and for good reason. I'm so sick of being Princess Katherine. Just let me be Kat."

"But that's not who you are. You're royalty-"

"By adoption." She interrupted "The only reason I'm anything is because I was nothing to my-- your parent. Ugh to this whole thing is confusing!"

"Tell me about it." Chance rolled his eyes. In less than two weeks he had managed to: meet/save a girl, get kidnapped, learn that everything in his life had pretty much been one giant lie, fall in love with the current princess and future Queen of the country he lived in, and to top it all of he had somehow managed to piss her off about absolutely nothing! So far Kat, or Katherine, or Princess Katherine, or whatever the heck she called herself seemed to be at the center of everything wrong with his life at the moment.

"How long until we get back to town?" Kat asked, changing the subject. She was sick of conversation but he wasn't going to shut up anytime soon.

"I thought you were leading, sweetheart." He replied, testing her. If he wasn't allowed to call her princess he was going to find out what he could call her.

"Why do you do that?"

"Do what?"

"Add some stupid name to the end of every sentence you say to me. It's annoying."

"Because it's fun to make you mad." He smirked. Trying to lighten the mood. But it was ignored.

"You lead now. This stupid forest is confusing me." She hid the fact that she needed to think about everything for a little while, especially Thomas.

"If you say so." Chance said. Leaving her alone, he could tell she was past lightening the mood. He moved in front and headed towards town, he had an idea of where the group may be.

Kat followed Chance, staying close. She thought back to this morning. Seeing Thomas covered in dirt, leaves in his hair, he even had a twig stuck on his sleeve. It was strange seeing him like that. He had always hated being dirty. Even when they were little he would cry and cry when he fell in his favorite slacks. Kat laughed. She missed that about him. How he was always so careful, especially with her. He opened doors for her (they had a butler to do it for them but he always wanted to do things for her), he would send messages every day just to tell her he was thinking about her, he even called her every night to say goodnight and wish her sweet dreams. For an arranged marriage he was wonderful, but she never had a choice.

Katherine was always told what to do and she hated it. Her life was constantly learn this, talk this way, only wave like this. She was never allowed to act how she wanted, to speak her mind. Nothing in her life was special to her.

Katherine kept thinking about her life until she realized she couldn't hear Chance. She looked up to find that he was gone, and she was lost.