Destiny Love

chapter 7

"Wipe that grin off your face and do as I say or you will regret it." I hissed. He stopped laughing and looked at me with an amused expression on his face. He was around thirty years old and I didn't understand how such a young man could have such a short-term memory that he had forgotten what I looked like already.
"Look at me." I snapped. "Observe me closely and you will see that I truly am Prince Curtis." The man walked over to me and turned my face towards the light. He looked at the left side of my face, then the right and I knew exactly when he recognized me.
"Your highness!" He stuttered.
"Finally." I rolled my eyes. "My parents are on Yirdo and are being guarded by several men who are under the new ruler's command. They need to be freed as soon as possible."

The boat came closer and closer and I grew more excited every minute. When they had neared the shore I couldn't control myself anymore and ran down the steep slope towards the river.
"Father! Mother!" I exclaimed, before they were even close enough to hear me. I felt like jumping in the water and swimming towards them but the memory of the freezing cold water withheld me from doing that. Why were the men pedaling so slowly? Finally, after what seemed like forever, the boat neared the shore. My mother jumped off the boat into the mud and she didn't care that the whole bottom of her dress and her shoes were now completely dirty. She ran towards me, hugged me and refused to let me go for the next few minutes.
"Oh darling, I'm so happy you're not hurt. I was so scared! I didn't want to leave you in that palace but I couldn't warn you in time. I'm so sorry!"
"It's fine, mother." I assured her. "It's not your fault and I learned quite in the past few months." My father then walked up to me and hugged me as well.
"I am so proud of you." He said. "I knew you would get us off that island." Gawis's mother hugged me and his father shook my hand. And then I stood face to face with Gawis. I had to remind myself to breathe and the mere sight of him caused my heart to beat faster. He held out his hand towards me and waited for me to shake it. I didn't.
"A handshake?" I asked him. "I save you from an island and this is what I get?" Gawis smiled and hugged me too.
"Better." I said, as I hugged him back. When he pulled away and our eyes met I realized that I had never wanted to kiss somebody as bad as I wanted to kiss Gawis now. But this was impossible, my parents and his parents were both standing only a few meters away and it would be much too humiliating if I kissed him. Besides, it was possible that he wasn't interested in me at all and then kissing him would be a huge mistake.
"Tis, tell us what happened while we were stuck on that dreadful island." My mother said.
"Let's go to the carriage first and I'll tell you all about it on the way to the palace." Everybody thought this was a very good idea and so we walked over to the large carriage and climbed in.
On the way to the palace I told them everything that had happened while they were away. I told them that I had been a butler in the palace, that I ran away and managed to get out of the palace.
"Wait," Gawis suddenly said, "what did you say the man's name was? James?"
"Yes." I answered and wondered how this was important.
"Oh no," Nathan groaned.
"What's wrong?" His father asked him.
"James was my friend dad, the person who's father you sentenced to a lifetime in jail. James came over to me and told me to get his father out of jail but I had to refused. He then threatened that one day he would take everything from me. And he did." We were all staring at Nathan in disbelief.
"Well, there's one positive thing you can say about this man, he is certainly determined." Nathan's mother commented and I laughed at her down-to-earthness.
"He certainly is." My mother agreed. "But Tis, how did you get out of the palace? I thought you said James did not allow you to leave."
"He didn't," I said, and wondered if I should tell them how I really got out of the palace. It was going to be quite embarrassing. "I flirted with a guard." I admitted. I saw Gawis's eyes narrow and this caused immediate butterflies in my stomach. Was he jealous, or just protective? The rest of the ride we spent exchanging experiences and it wasn't long before we arrived at the palace. We rode through the large metal gates and I stared out the window like in a trance. Everything was so incredibly beautiful, the bushes that had been cut into various shapes, the flowerbeds and the beautiful palace. I smiled as I saw it and realized that I would soon be able to take a warm bath. But first I had to do something else, I had to bring my new horse, who I had named Liberty, freedom, to the stables, and make sure that he had enough to eat and a warm place to stay. If it wasn't for that beautiful horse, I would never have made it home.