The Outcast

Chapter 9

October 26th.

Elizabeth's POV

I slowly rose out of bed, dreading the day ahead of me. Today was Marcus's last day in the castle, he would be gone by nightfall. The weeks had gone by so quickly that I hadn't even realized that Marcus only had a couple hours left here with me.

It was yesterday that I had finally come to terms with how limited our time together is. Marcus was talking about the woman he was courting back in his hometown, about how excited he was to finally see her again. It was then that it dawned on me. I had thrown tantrums like a spoilt child, begging him to stay here with me, why? Because I didn't want to be alone. But now I really saw just how miserable he was here, and I don't wrong him. Whenever he talked about that woman back in his hometown his face would light up and he would gets all giddy. He doesn't belong here, not when his happiness is waiting for him somewhere else.

I had been selfish and intensive to his feelings, smoldering them with my fear of being alone. I won't do that any longer, I won't make him feel as if he's making the wrong decision just because of me. I saw just how happy he gets by just the mention of that woman. He deserves to be happy after being stuck here for almost twenty years.

I sigh3d heavily and trudged to the bathroom to get ready for the day. Being that today was Marcus's last day, I was hell bent on trying my best to make the most of it. After I got dressed I opened my door to make my way down the hall-

"BOO!"

Marcus yelled from behind the door. A blood wrenching scream left my lips and I clutched at my chest, my heart hammering ferociously against it.

"I gotcha." Marcus laughed holding his stomach and wiping a tear from his eye.

How dare he.

My fists balled in anger as I stalked towards him but before he had a chance to get away I bombarded him with punches, he was strong and I knew my hits did nothing to him, I didn't care though. He grabbed my wrists, easily stopping my strikes.

"Woah woah, calm down there princess." He chuckled before letting my arms go. I huffed and crossed my arms.

"That's not funny Marcus, what if I had gotten a heart attack." I said rolling my eyes at him. He grinned and threw his arm over my shoulder and pulled me into his side.

"Come on, you know I wouldn't let that happen." He said and began walking me down the hall. I pretended to ignore him as we continued down the stairs. I kept up the act, that was, until he brought up his father.

"My father wants me back by nightfall." He said in a more serious tone. By nightfall? That means I only had a couple hours with him, I was really hoping to spend the entire day together. I nodded and looked down without saying a word. I heard him sigh. "Liz you know I wish I could stay and spend the entire day with you bu-"

"Marc stop. It's okay." I smiled up at him. I didn't want him to feel bad about it, especially not today. "We still have a couple hours to spare, lets just enjoy it as much as we can." I said grinning up at him. He stared at me for a moment, searching my eyes for any suspicions before he smiled and nodded.

"Yeah you're right, come on I have something to show you." He said grasping my hand and began leading me to wherever he was going. I smiled. Marc led me out of the castle and down the dirt path to the stables. I watched as the servants ran about, bowing occasionally whenever they saw me.

"What are we doing here?" I asked Marcus. He grinned at me.

"We're going riding." Was all he said. He didn't have to say much more because those three words were all it took to put the brightest smile on my face. I absolutely loved horseback riding. It was one of my favorite pastime activities to do but I was rarely allowed to. Being the princess and all, it was required that I learned how to, but with all my duties, riding for fun was something that happened once in a full moon.