Page 6 of The Lost Princess

Gone was his gentleness.

He tilted me back, and I realized he had me trapped in his hands. Alarm raced through me as I realized I was powerless. I had no idea what he wanted from me, but he radiated danger and ill-intent. Should I fight him? Surely that would only make it worse.

Panic rose quickly; I didn't know what to do. Where was Jarrett?

I only had one weapon that I could see, just in front of my face. I took my free hand and turned it, palm facing me, and raked my hand as hard as I could over his face, digging in hard with the large diamond ring on my pointer finger.

He shrieked and dropped me, hands clutching his face. I grabbed Jarrett’s cloak and ran, scrambling to get on my feet.

“You littledemon!”he yelled after me, and the sound of pounding footsteps sent me hurtling into the darkness in a blind panic. I stumbled toward the next fire I saw, desperately trying to remember where Jarrett had his tent, and wondering where in thehellhe was. I didn’t want to scream, afraid I’d just alert the bad man to where I was.

No one was at the next fire, though. The sound of heavy footfalls followed me, so I fled into the darkness again, crouching down and huddling into a bush as I wept silent tears.

Father was right.

The footsteps behind me faded away, as did the man’s grumbling and swearing. I didn’t know how long I cowered there, shaking silently with my eyes squeezed shut. I wanted to go home. I wanted Selena to brush my hair and warm a bath for me. I wanted my father to tell me how special I was, and that everything would be alright.

I opened my eyes, but only darkness greeted me. The wind blew, the cold cutting through Jarrett’s cloak like it didn’t exist. I shivered.Idiot.I was an idiot. No one was coming to help me. No one out here gave a wit about me.

A snapping twig made me flinch, and I bit my lip to hide my gasp.

“Princess, is that you?” Jarrett’s soft voice cut through the night, and I nearly crumpled with relief. Then a sudden thought hit me.

What if I kept hiding? I could wait them out, and then escape when they gave up and moved on. Jarrett foolishly taught me north from south, so I could head south back home when the sun rose! I didn’t have a horse, but surely someone would help me. Father would reward them greatly, after all.

“Princess?”

I cowered lower in the bushes.

Jarrett swept the foliage around me, his fingers grazing leaves only a few inches from my nose. The black cloak that he’d given me was likely assisting in keeping me hidden from his eyes. I clutched it tighter to me.

Without warning, Jarrett yelled in frustration and withdrew a dagger from his belt. He stabbed it into the tree next to me over and over again, bits of bark flying around him.

I froze, terrified.

Were all men such uncontrolled beasts when provoked? Jarrett and the soldier had seemed nice enough until I made them mad. Then they turned into monsters.

Surely not all men were like that, were they? At twenty years old, I would have liked to think I was wise enough about the world to know such things. But as I was realizing, age meant nothing when you hadn’t left the stone walls you grew up in.

Jarrett gave a final grunt, burying his dagger to the hilt in the trunk. Thick sap bled from the tree, and with a disgusted grimace, he tried to pull his blade free and failed. After several more moments of colorful language he simply gave up, leaving it in the tree and stomping away.

It was tempting to simply stay like this forever, curled into a ball and invisible in the darkness. Tempting, but not logical. If I was to truly escape, I would need to move now while darkness and his cloak hid me. Once the sun rose, I would be found. I needed to be far away by then.

Unless I found a better hiding place.

With a new goal in mind, I carefully crawled forward and over to the knife in the tree. It would be handy to have in a fight. I wrapped my fingers around the hilt, and gave a tentative tug.

Nothing.

Sticky sap covered my hands, and I frowned down at it. My tongue darted out on instinct before my brain could catch up, and I perked up at the sweet taste on my tongue. Syrup?

I tried more, then realized I had no container with which to catch any. I dug my fingernails into the bark around the blade, and tore at it. I nearly shouted in surprise when a good chunk of the tree parted, and the knife with it. I picked up the blade from the ground, licking it clean before tying it underneath my dress. The chunk of wood I carried in my hands, licking it like an oversized candy.

I crept forward, cautious but feeling better with food and a weapon. Perhaps taking care of myself wasn’t so difficult. I simply had to be careful and clever.

Right. Careful and Clever. Careful. Clever.

My mouth dried up, and I tried to lick my lips. My throat felt suddenly parched, and I tried to remember that last time Jarrett had offered me a drink. I should have eaten the jerky earlier. My stomach rumbled, and I winced. The sugar had simply made me thirsty.

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