The Forbidden Princess [Paused]

Chapter 14: The Ruins of Dragnor

"Charlotte. Wake up."

I opened I eyes to see that I wasn't on the ground anymore, or laying next to Jesse. I was being carried in his arms, our bags on his back. He looked down at me with a smile, but it wasn't a happy one. He seemed dead on his feet. His voice was groggy, but still Jesse's voice. He looked as if he could collapse any second.

"Jesse, why didn't you wake me up sooner?"

He returned his gaze to the forest so he could watch where we were going. "A princess needs her beauty sleep, and I didn't want to rob you of yours." He paused. "Besides, I knew you were tired and-"

"Jesse. You are the one who needs sleep," I cut in. "Did you even sleep last night?"

He didn't say anything but I knew what the answer was.

"That's it. Put me down right now."

"No," he argued. "We need to travel farther away first. We haven't even crossed out of your kingdom boundaries yet."

I gave him an angry look. "Put. Me. Down. Now." I pointed to towards the ground.

His eyes turned to mine. His eyes were very distracting; deep green and beautiful. I almost smiled but caught myself, making my mouth frown. "I'm not putting you down, Char. You can forget about that," he smirked.

"Put me down! We are stopping and you are going to take a nap. Right now, Jesse. I mean it," I replied sternly.

Jesse sighed at me but still wore a smile. "Fine, Your Majesty." He let go of me and I stood beside him, brushing myself off.

"Thank you."

"Come on, we gotta get going," Jesse said, fixating the bags on his back and handing mine to me. "We at almost to the border-"

"Stop," I said.

"Char, I'm not that tired. Really. Let's at least get to-"

"No seriously be quiet."

"But-"

"Sh!"

I listened to the forest. I knew I heard something rustling near us. I turned around, glancing quickly at each bush before acknowledging Jesse.

"We need to run. Now."

~~~

I assumed Jesse would run, since I told him we needed to, but of course he didn't. He didn't move at all. He looked as if he was turned to stone right then and there.

"Jesse! We need to go!"

"No. Stand still like me. Try to not even breathe."

I was confused but followed Jesse's lead.

Out from the bushes emerged a huge brown bear. It seemed hungry and angry...or even both.

Jesse dropped to the ground as if he was just shot with an arrow to the heart. I decided to follow his lead since he looked like he knew what he was doing.

I didn't think playing dead would actually work against such a huge beast, but it quickly became uninterested in us and turned around to trudge back into the forest.

I didn't realize I was shaking from fear until I tried to stand up. Luckily Jesse was there and helped me.

"You okay?" he asked.

I nodded. "Yeah. Just fine."

He started walking so I followed. "Are you sure? Because most people aren't okay after they almost get attacked by a bear. Good thing you laid down though or he would have ate you."