The Thirteenth Princess

Friend or Foe

I jolted awake when I felt someone shaking me, slightly aggressively.

"I'm sorry! I tried! I- I tried..."

"What?"

"Oh, it's uh, just a weird dream"

"You sure you're okay?"

"Mhmm" I mumbled, though I don't think I was fooling anyone.

"Right." I do believe she saw straight through me. She lowered her voice until,I could barely hear her.

"I think there's someone outside." Her voice was quaking with terror.

"Not again"

"Yes again!"

"Ughhh!"

"Shh!" I felt my face going red as she scolded me, so I turned to face the entrance of our temporary place. We sat as still as we possible could, and waited for the worst, for a crazy dude to spring us and shoot us with an arrow. I squeezed my eyes shut and turned back to Zoe, burying my face in her chest, trying not to start crying, I happened to be feeling excessively fragile after the night's ordeal, and another intruder was just the cherry on top of this whole tragedy. I tried to slow my breathing, but it was a futile attempt. She gripped my shoulders, and we just sat there, holding each other, waiting for our merciless fate. After what felt like hours, we heard an odd noise. I felt Zoe's head shift. She shrieked with delight, and I whipped my head around to see what had happened. What I saw was a pleasant, and also a confusing sight to see at what I imagined would've been about 5 in the morning. A horse. A magnificent grey horse was situated just outside.

His coat was dappled and looked like it was gently brushed with snow.

"Casper! Oh, you're such a great horse, you found me!"

"Feel free to fill me in at any point."

"Oh, sorry. This is Casper. He's the horse I took when I ran away from- when I ran away."

"So what's he doing wandering the forest?"

"Those men we saw before, remember?"

"Yeah"

"The big ones?"

"Yeah"

"Well, they were sent out to find me. At one point, they got really close."

"Mhmm"

"So, I said my goodbyes, and relived Caspar of my burden. He- he's a clever horse, so he ran one way into the abyss of the woodland trap, whilst I was racing against time to your tower. And that's all I know of what happened to him, but clearly, he hid himself, and the guards followed me instead."

"Right. So, what now?"

"I hadn't thought about that part"

Casper was nodding his head and scraping the earth with his hoof. He looked restless.

"Uh, Zoe?" But when I turned to look at her, she had stood up, and she was dusting off her pale white pants. Which about that, I don't know how they stayed clean this long. It's sorcery I tell you.

"Well" She vaulted herself onto the horse's back as if it was nothing. "What're you waiting for?" She extended her hand, and I cautiously walked over to her.

It took a couple of attempts to mount this grey beast, the first few resulting in me barrelling into his side. Zoe stifled a laugh, and I glared at her, although I was also trying not to smile. She promptly stopped laughing, and went back to her serious self.

"Okay, this isn't working."

"No kidding"

"Let's get you onto a rock or something." She urged the horse forwards, and the pair of the gracefully glided out of the cave.

"Uh, maybe try and stand on this rock as a height boost" I did just that, and I had a height boost for a couple of seconds, until the bloody horse pushed me off with his massive head and I twisted my ankle. This time Zoe couldn't hide her laughter, and neighther could I. Even the horse seemed to be laughing. I tried to stand, but I could barely hold myself upright. I fell right back down to the leaf strewn ground. Concern spread across Zoe's face.

"Ella?"

"Who's Ella?"

"Oh, that's you."

"What, why?"

"Because it's easier and faster to say than Rapunzel. Which is also a breed of lettuce." I winced from the pain, but I hid it as well as I could.

"You good?

"Mhmm" I mumbled. I climbed back up the rock, slower this time.

"I'm sure you can do it, ella" this gave me an extra burst of confidence, and I grasped her hand. She pulled me onto the mighty creature's back. I put my arms around her waist, and she abruptly sat straight up. It was over so fast I couldn't be sure if it had happened, because she righted herself almost immediately.

"Hold on tight, okay?" She twisted her head around to look at me, and I just stared into her ice blue eyes. It was hypnotising, the way the colours of the forest reflected and danced around throughout. She scanned my face as if waiting for an answer.

"Ella?"

"Yep Uh-huh Mmkay." Not having a clue what she'd said.

"Good. If you fell, I wouldn't forgive myself" crap. It was safety advice she was giving. Well, I guess the best I can do is hold on to her tight.