The Captured Princess

Chapter Two: Theo

Why did she always do this to me? Every time she snuck out of the castle, I was ordered to find her and bring her back. Apparently, the king hated me. I really didn't mind going to see Adira, but I did get annoyed when she constantly disobeyed her father. He didn't want her to leave the castle nonetheless, But especially when it was to do something that wasn't appropriate for a princess.

Honestly, I thought that it was quite smart to be prepared for anything, even if she would never have to use the skills she was learning. But the king didn't want his daughter to be unladylike, so now I was on my way to go fetch her As a soldier for the king, I had to go where ordered, even if I didn't want to.

I pushed my horse to a gallop, wanting to go ahead and get it over with. He obeyed and we hurried our pace. I rode through the marketplace, heading towards the familiar sparring area Princess Adira seemed to frequent.

I slowed my horse to avoid several children that ran past, laughing. I felt myself smile as well, enjoying the cheerful atmosphere of the town. It was quite merry, and helped to keep my mind off more worrisome things.   

I glanced around the square filled with various vendors and shopkeepers who were all busy bartering with customers and didn't even seem to notice me. I was almost ready to continue on when I noticed another horse and rider across the square. It was hard to tell, but it kind of looked like the princess. She didn't see me yet, so I turned my horse around, trying to catch up to her, hoping it would be Adira.

I urged my horse to pick up speed, trying not to loose sight of Adira in front of me, Thankfully, she slowed her horse to let some people walk by and I pulled my horse alongside hers.

Only it wasn't her.

My cheeks immediately heated up as she looked at me expectantly. I couldn't believe I was that blind!

"Can I help you?" The young woman asked sweetly.

I quickly gathered my thoughts to make up a tale so as not to look like an idiot. "Uh... yes. I'm sorry to bother you, But I feel like I've met you before. Your beauty challenges that of the princess," I almost gagged as I said that. This young woman was nowhere close to how beautiful Adira was. But I continued anyway, because my pride wouldn't let me fess up. "And I just wanted to know if you would grace me with your name." I bowed my head slightly as I finished saying that.

She seemed to take the bait and batted her eyelashes at me. How typical. Then, she held out her hand for me to kiss.

"Marissa." She sent me another flirtatious smile.

I reached for her hand across our horses and bent down, lightly placing a kiss on it. When I looked back up, her smile had grown--If at all possible-- and she was giggling.

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Marissa. My name is Theo." I barely held it together as I spoke. This situation was incredibly uncomfortable for me and I had quickly determined to be more careful in the future to avoid similar experiences.

Theo - Ithildae