The Horse in the Prince's Stables

Chp. 10

this dedication goes to one of my best and oldest friends because she is just awesome. read her stuff. its good :)

so i made one alteration.. the "gray haired" guard, well now he's the brown haired guard with gray flecks. you'll see why. :o

oh, and the clip on the side? i just watched that movie and pretty much died of happiness because i love that movie and it was the best inspiration for my story. and i thought the song kinda fit. :3

and to make up for the last painfully short chapter, this one's going to be "painfully" long. enjoyyyy :)

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                                                                                     =10=

=Philip=

          I awoke to find myself riding a galloping horse. Each stride the horse took jostled me painfully. I sucked in a breath as my new bruises complained at each new movement. The strong bindings around my torso didn't help either...

          Wait, what?

          Glancing back over my shoulder, I caught sight of the brown haired guard sitting right behind me. Being so close to him, I realized his dark brown hair had many silver strands. His arm was wrapped around me to keep me in place.

          "Ah, you're awake." His gravelly voice spoke into my ear. "Pretend you're still unconscious." 

          "Why?" I demanded, not wanting to follow his orders.

          "There's something you need to know," he pulled me closer, leaning forwards so his mouth was right next to my left ear. "If I'm caught revealing this to you..." He gave a humorless chuckle. "Well, you know what Drake is like."

          "Tell me then," I uttered just loud enough for him to hear me. I focused on falling limp in his arms, hoping that I could fool the others. 

          For a few moments, all I heard was the sound of hoofbeats thudding against the ground in a steady rhythm. Keeping my eyes opened just a slit, I took in the sight of green grass and trees. It was a nice change to the scenery. The sun had started to sink a little in the sky, the blue barely had tints of purple and pink. 

          Then the man spoke again.

          "We didn't come upon you and your servants by chance," he began in a low voice. "We'd been hired by someone else to capture you." My body stiffened at the news.

          "Who?" I didn't have any enemies, at least none that I knew of. Who would want to get rid of me? Had I offended anyone accidentally? What could be gained by taking me out of the picture?

          "I don't know. Only Drake knows that. But with you gone, this leaves an open door that leads straight to war. That's something these lands don't need."

          "And what do you gain by telling me all of this?" Suspicion flooded my mind. Should I even trust this man?

          "My family... they would be right in the center of the war. I can't let that happen. I lost my first family once, and I won't let it happen ever again. That's why you have to-"

          "Kurtis! Is the prisoner awake?" A voice shouted from behind us. 

          It was then I realized I had abandoned my feigned unconsciousness act, and had sat up straighter on the saddle. Our conversation was over. We slowed to a halt, and Charles turned his horse around to face the others.