A Christmas Prince

vii. the cabin

It's cold, Arya's head kept telling her. She could not feel her toes. Her inner thighs were too cold for her to move on. Her red nose almost matched her red hat. She wished she hadn't been on adventure mode to explore parts of Aldovia.

Never again, Arya's mind was trying to retrace her steps after she fell from the horse. She had lost control of the horse when she wanted to ride it somewhere else, and it didn't want to go forward. Her nervousness must've been sensed by the animal, causing her to fall off when it rose on its two back legs.

Arya then found herself staring at the immense forest of Aldovia, all by herself; and it was getting colder as the minutes passed.

The last few rays of the sun were being hidden by the trees. Twilight was becoming darkness.

For her own sake, she tried not to panic. It would only lead her further down a dark path in her mind where she would find herself to give up. Her pace became slower and her throat dry with the cold air.

She wanted to rest by a nearby pine tree, when the hairs on the back of her neck rose up, sending a shiver down her spine.

A low menacing growl came from behind.

Arya dared not to close her eyes. She turned around slowly. Panic and horror being displayed on her face. She shuddered, terrified.

A big menacing gray wolf was eyeing its prey, her.

Her heart hammered in her chest and her lip quivered, not because of the cold, but from fear.

This was it. She was going to get eaten by a wolf.

"He—help!" She could barely say above a whisper.

The wolf growled, stalking slowly towards her.

Arya's back hit the pine tree as the wolf kept its eyes on her.

"Help!" She cried out desperately.

The wolf having had its pray cornered, made a leap towards his meal.

Arya screamed and closed her eyes, ready for what would come.

A gunshot went off, then another, and she flinched involuntary at the sound.

"Go on! Get away! Get out of here!" 

Arya opened her eyes to see Richard dismounting his horse and making haste towards her.

"Martha! Martha—are you alright?" He  asked, resting his hands on her shoulders, "are you hurt?"

Without a word, Arya shook her head. Shock still evident on her face. Her breathing still hard.

"It's alright, you're safe." Richard brought his arm around her shoulders, guiding her to his horse.

She was slow and unsteady, but with Richard's arm tightly around her, she didn't fall on the snow covered ground. Reaching his horse, Richard decided to instead heft her off the ground himself, as she was still unsteady to mount the horse herself. Arya's head whirled around to see him depositing her gently on the saddle, and he mounted gracefully behind her. Arya took hold of the saddle horn to keep herself steady and tried to breath evenly as her heart rate slowly went back to normal. Her breath hitched and shivers went down her spine, when she felt Richard's arm around her waist almost carefully . He was being very careful with his mannerism and holding the reins with his free hand. He kicked his horse gently sending it into a steady pace, away from the scene.

"How are you feeling?" He asked, genuine concern in his voice, which sent Arya's heart to flutter in such a girlish way.

"Co—cold." She shivered.