Her Hero

Chapter 7

Grace's P.O.V

The sheer white curtains, that shielded my room from the outside, billowed gently in the morning breeze. I was awoken by the soft sounds of birds chirping and an odd sound of metal clanking. In my sleep filled daze, I decided I would check what was going on. To my surprise, I saw Hannah sword fighting with a red head that I quickly recognized as Mamrie. We had known each other since childhood, due to her father being in my father's council. After she got involved with the army and started learning how to fight though, we sort of lost touch. We still drink together every now and then, but for the most part we run in different circles.
I found it incredibly endearing that Hannah was trying so hard to keep up with Mamrie, but was failing miserably. The red head was much faster and more skilled with a sword, so it was not long before the blonde was on the ground. With the blade at Hannah's chin, Mamrie extended her hand to help the blonde up. She was progressing wonderfully, but I found it hilarious to see her looking defeated.
My heart began to race as I stared out the window and watched as the blonde's skin began to glisten with s sweat. Stop this Grace.I thought to myself as I tried to focus on ANYTHING else. She doesn't like you that way.... besides... you have Chester.
I sighed deeply as I let these thoughts run through my mind. Yes, I had Chester, he was sweet, funny and all around a nice guy. But there was a small problem, he didn't captivate me the way Hannah did. His face wasn't the one that clouded every thought that ever entered my mind. His touch wasn't the one that I craved. I cared about him, but he wasn't the one I wanted. I wanted Hannah. No, I NEEDED Hannah, but persuing her wasn't going to be as easy as I wanted. There was the barrier of breaking off the wedding and telling Chester that I wasn't going to marry him. Then, there was the small matter of coming out to my parents. Though, the one thing that really made my stomach turn, was telling Hannah how I felt. I had no idea if she felt anything for me or if she even liked girls. Come to think of it, I didn't know anything about her. That was a something that I certianlly needed to take care of,  before I even thought about telling the blonde how I felt.
I decided that I would go down and confront her. Try to start up some kind of conversation, but as I decended down the stairs, I was grabbed by the waist and pulled into a small doorway. A familiar pair of lips met mine as I tried to make out the face of the shadowed figure.

"Chester!"
I whispered loudly.
"You scared me."

He gave an amused chuckle.

"That was kind of the point, your highness."
His brown eyes stared deeply into mine. I could see the gentleness there and it broke my heart to have to hurt him, but if I was finally going to do something that I wanted, this was the way it had to be.

"Ches... look. There is something that I really need to tell you.."

Before I could even get a word out, he cut me off with his own urgent message.

"And I would love to hear it, but I have to go. They need extra detail at the palace gates."

He kissed me on the forhead, then turned to leave.

"I'll see you tonight and you can tell me then."

Then, he was gone. I let out an irritated sigh, and decided that I would just skip to part 2 of my plan. Get to know Hannah better.

Hannah's P.O.V

I kicked the wall of the stables out of utter frustration.
HOW COULD I BE SUCH AN IDIOT? I shouted at my self as I tossed my sword back into it's hiding place. I was kidding myself. How did I ever think that the princess would want anything to do with me? I couldn't even hold a sword the right way. There was no way that I could protect her the way she needed to be. Defeating that bear was just a fluke, simple as that. Besides, I needed to get back out there and continue my search for the one who killed Joshua.

Leaving a note for Mamrie, explaining where I was in case, by some miracle, the princess needed me. I through my satchel over my shoulder, mounted my horse and took off out into the woods. I needed to find out the truth once and for all.

Mamrie's P.O.V

After a 'tiring' training session with the small blonde, I decided I would go and check to see how she was doing after the beat down I gave her out there.
I thought I would check the stables first, since that is where I first saw her, but she was no where to be found. Instead, all I found was a small note laid on a bale of hay that sat in the center in the room. It was from Hannah.

Mamrie,
Sorry to leave so soon, but all those things you told me about the princess really woke me up. I went out to the woods to see if I could get a lead in who might have killed Joshua. If, for some odd reason, the princess askes for me, tell her that I will be gone most of the day but will be back by nightfall.

                                          Hannah.

Shit. The little dwarf was going to get herself killed out there. She was no where ready to go into battle, she couldn't even kill a fly. There was no doubt that this was my fault. Had I just been a little more gentle about her feelings for the princess, she might still be here.
I ran my fingers through my hair as I tossed the paper down on the floor.

"Fuck!"
I shouted into the empty stalls as I tried to process everything that was happening. I couldn't let her go out and do this on her own. I quickly turned on my heels and went to saddle up my horse.
Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed a tall, slender figure that I quickly recognized.

"Hey Grace. What brings you out here?"

The brunette fiddled with her fingers nervously.

"Do you know where Hannah is?"

Well shit. I took a deep breath, picked up the letter that lay on the floor and handed it to the princess.
Her brow furrowed as she skimmed over the contents of the letter.

"What did she mean by 'things you said about the princess'?"

My heart stopped. Shit. What was I supposed to do? Hannah would surely kill me if I told Grace how she felt, so I didn't.

"It's not my place to tell you that Gracie. You can ask Hannah about it when she and I get back."

Grace's eyes went wide.

"You're going after her?"

I nodded with certainty.

"Of course I am, did you see the way she fought today? She would die out there by herself. I'm going to make sure that doesn't happen."

I could see the wheels turning in the brunette's eyes. She was up to something, I just wasn't sure what.

"Then I'm going with you."

I found it extreamly hard to hold back a laugh that escaped my lips.

"What's so funny?"
Grace asked as she placed hee hands squarly on her hips.

"No offense princess, but you wouldn't last long out in the village either."

I countinued to laugh as I mounted Beanz. I noticed the determined look in the girl's eyes and quickly knew that there would be no changing her mind.

"I'll prove that I can handle myself. You just watch."

She saddled up her horse, Goose, impressivly fast and mounted her.

"Let's go find her, shall we?"
Grace asked as she rode out ahead of me.
I shook my head pulled out the bottle of whisky I had tucked away in my saddle bag, took a swig and quickly followed her.
This was going to ne interesting....

HEY GUYS! Sorry that I haven't updated in awhile, but here is an extra long chapter that will hopefully make up for it.

Enjoy,
Liz