Runaway Prince

Chapter 1

"Lydia!"

"Yes dad?" I yelled back at him as I set my book down on my bed.

"Can you go get hay from the barn to feed the horses?" My dad walked into my room while he ran his hands through his short beard. Mom always told him to get rid of it but he thought it looked cool.

"Yeah. Anything else?" I pushed myself off the bed and onto the hardwood floor.

"Not that I can think of at the moment." He smiled.

"Alright, just let me know." I smiled back at him and slipped out the door to outside.

Birds fluttered around as if they were practicing a dance. Out in the distance the horses raced eachother and tossed their heads up. I wonder what it'd be like to be a horse. Running whenever you wanted and going so fast.

I arrived at the barn door with chickens that raced around my feet thinking I had food. I smiled at them and slid the heavy door to the side. Everytime I looked in the barn it made me happy. More chickens ran out from the barn joining the others.

Carefully I climbed up the old wooden ladder. I noticed it's paint was chipping. I needed to repaint it. I pulled myself into the barn loft and froze in my feet. There was a boy asleep on the hay pile with an old horse blanket drapped across himself. He was obviously strong from his features. The thick jawline shone in the morning sun and his hair was messy. His breathing was soft and slow. Although he was very attractive, I didn't know his intentions. I pulled out my pocket knife from my boot and held it to his throat. Immidentaly, he woke up.

"Who are you?" I said without giving him another second.

"First, please move that knife away from me." His rough morning voice spoke.

"Why are you in here?" I asked a different question.

"I'll answer whatever you want if you move that away from me." He slowly sat up. I thought about it for a second and then pulled it back. He ran a hand through his hair in relief.

"Who are you?" I repeated my first question.

"Jackson Blood. Please don't tell anyone I'm here." He answered.

"Blood? As in the royal family? Are you the prince? Why don't you want anyone to know?"

"You sure have a lot of questions." He smirked.

"I mean, who wouldn't? It's not everyday you find someone sleeping in your families barn." I looked down at the pocket knife and traced my grandmas name. It was her pocket knife. She gave it to me before she passed away.

"Yeah, you've got a point." He chuckled. "Okay well, yes I am part of the royal family. But I don't want to become King. So I'm on the run. I don't want anyone to find me."

"Don't want to become King? Who wouldn't?" I noticed I wasn't engaging in a conversation, just asking him questions. I had all the right to though.

"My mother wants me to marry someone on my 20th birthday. I'll be king when I'm 18. They'll expect me to get married and have children. I'm not ready for that."

"Oh. I understand that. That is a pretty rough situation to be in. So you'll be king soon?"

"Not as long as no one finds me."

"And so you're hiding in a barn of a stranger?"

"What's your name?" He asked.

"I'm Lydia."

"There. Now we aren't strangers. I crashed in an acquaintances barn." He smirked. I rolled my eyes and laughed a little. "I escaped last night and couldn't find anywhere else that would work. And I needed somewhere to stay the night. But now I need to figure out where to sta-"

"Lydia, are you alright up there? I heard you talking to someone and you've been gone for a bit." My dad walked into the barn.

I looked at Jackson wide eyed and pushed him down into the hay and pulled the horse blanket over him.

"Yeah I'm fine. I just got distracted up here. I was talking to myself because I was thinking about making this my hang out spot. You know, just toss a blanket on some hay and I can read up here all day." I said as I crept over the edge to see my dad.

"You and you're books." He chuckled. "Always finding something to read about and getting distracted."

"What can I say? I love books." I smiled.

"Well let me get up there and I'll help plan something out for you."

"Oh I think I'm okay. I'll just bring up a blanket and call it good." I insisted. Even though I didn't know Jackson at all, I was helping him. It just felt right, like I needed to.

"That's alright honey. I'll just come up and toss down some hay so you can continue your book session." He smiled and climbed up. I layed down on Jackson. His muscles weren't very comfortable to lay on as they were rock hard. I think he's hidden pretty well, hopefully my dad won't see him.

He pulled himself up in the loft and let out a grunt. "Phew! That's alot of work." He laughed it off and then looked over at me laying down. "You pulled out an old horse blanket?"

"Yes I did! I even got some sand bags. And made a bed. It's a work in progress, so don't come up until I finish it." I giggled. My dad laughed.

"Alright sweetie." He grabbed a pile of hay and tossed down to the floor and climbed down the ladder. Then I heard the barn door slam shut. I climbed off Jackson and went to the window to see my dad walk away to the horses. He could come out now so I pulled off the horse blanket off Jackson and looked at him. He smiled sheepishly.