Seduction of a Princess

Chapter Eleven

Another chapter delivered! I hope I'm not going too fast for you to keep up :P.

When I started the chapter, I wasn't too sure about it, but thanks to the help of a few friends (thanks you guys!), I got more inspiration, and it all got fitted in place. Like a jigsaw puzzle!

So enjoy :D

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          Terrance's question was cut short when the cart came to a sudden halt; both he and June almost tumbled onto each other while Marc pulled the reins.

          “What the...--Marc, what happened?!”

          June jumped up, expecting the worst, an ambush or perhaps even a dragon! But Marc was calm, keeping his composure as he watched how Terrance got up. He pointed at the road before them: they were at a crossroads, with two paths to pick from. The left went straight to the green woods in the far distance, while the right curved around it.

          “This is where you get off. You wanted to travel with us until the road split, right?”

          It didn't take Terrance long to regain himself.

          “I wanted to travel with you to Dew.”

          “Well...” Marc gestured at the right. “Dew is that way. Good hike, have fun, hope we don't meet again.”

          But the hitchhiker remained on the wagon. “The plan was riding with you until I met someone else that could bring me there. If I start walking from here, it'll take me days to reach Dew. I don't have supplies for days of travel—in fact, I don't have any provisions at all!”

          “Well, don't think you can steal our food. You'll get by; no doubt you'll meet someone on the way that you can--” He stopped talking as he noticed June's angry glance; it was apparent to all that she did not, not agree with him. After all, leaving someone at the side of the road, that was just not done. Especially not to someone so nice as Terrance!

          “You can just stick with us, if you'd like,” she decided, then glanced at Marc, daring him to disagree with her. He was smart enough not to. “We don't mind at all. After all, there's enough room in the back, right?”

          Terrance smiled. “Thank you, Sarah. You're most kind. I'll get off somewhere else, perhaps in the forest, and go on my own to Dew from there.”

          “But there aren't any roads to Dew from there.”

          “That's where you're mistaken.” Terrance grabbed a seemingly random piece of parchment from the back and unfurled it; it was a map of the Wooden Province. “There are no main roads, but that's all this map shows. There are more back roads in the Bigwoods than there there are maps of the forest—I'm certain I will be able to find a way. Don't you worry a bit about me, I know that forest better than my own hometown.” He reached for June's hand, gently sitting her and himself down before gesturing to Marc he ought to drive on. He made it look like he was sitting in the most expensive coach and the large soldier was his private driver. Of course, it was rude to order him around, but... June couldn't help but smile at Terrance's charm.

          “Now where were we?” he asked her as the cart started moving again.

          She blushed and looked away. She remembered exactly where they had been before they had been interrupted: Terrance had just asked her the most strangest of questions, about who was the hero in his story, The Demon in the Monastery. She understood that he was not talking about Amadea, but about someone else—someone else that was a good guy in the story. But as she had thought about it earlier, the only one she could come up with, was the Devil, and that was a ridiculous answer. So she'd rather shut up, not talk about it. Change the subject.