The Dragon's Heir [Beta][Complete]

Chapter Six - Rewritten but Unedited

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Chapter Six

I sat up on the branch, watching the person below intently. Kaloua had managed to wind and twist himself through the tree so that he could sit beside me without tipping the tree of balance, even in the slight wind.

'Arabelle, why are we hiding in the tree?' Kaloua asked me and I glared at him, clearly telling him to be quiet. I knew mind speak was silent, but the point remained that he was distracting me. I looked back down at the person below us, holding a bow and arrow in his hands, ready to fire at a moment. That was why we needed to be dead quiet. I knew that this person had sharp reflexes and wouldn't even spare a heartbeat between hearing a sound from us and releasing that arrow. How had we come to be hiding in the tree though?

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Prince Harrison sat on the back of his horse, pointlessly riding through the woods once more. Why did he even bother any more? Ever since Arabelle had gone missing, he had done circles of the woods, like a nasty habit he couldn't get rid of. Part of him still hoped that she would be out there, somewhere, waiting to be found and taken home. She could beg forgiveness, tell everyone it was just a big misunderstanding, and they could leave peacefully once again.

About a year ago, Evangelina made a miraculous recovery and they had been married almost instantly. He hadn't wanted to marry Evangelina; he wanted Arabelle. She was different from all of the other girls, which was why he liked her so much. She was special. Harrison had been too late to realise that his feelings were stronger than he thought they were. He knew she ran away because his father had put a price on her head for being the 'dragon heir', but she was no longer wanted for treason. After Evaneglina and Harrison had married, it was a bad look for his sister-in-law to be an outlaw. He shuddered a little at the words 'sister-in-law'.

He pulled his horse to a sudden stop, snapping himself out of his thoughts. Why did he keep doing this to himself? It had been years since Arabelle had run away. No one even spoke about her any more because she was as good as dead. They had even held a funeral for her only a few weeks back, knowing that she had no hope of returning again. He hung his head, deciding that this would be his final outing. After this, he would never go out into the woods again to find her.

Suddenly, he heard a crunch of dead leaves off to his right a little. He reacted exactly how he always did in a hunt: arrow in his bow, pointed in the direction it had come. When he saw a slight movement and the sound of wings, he urged his horse to move in the direction of the sound before coming to a halt again where he had seen the creature's movement. His bow was still arched and ready to be released at any moment.

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On the other hand, Kaloua and I had been peacefully eating out lunch out in the woods like we always did. I had been a little edgy, thinking that we had gone further towards the castle than we usually did, but Kaloua seemed at ease so I had let my guard down. Enough that I hadn't noticed someone was approaching until I heard a horse snort not too far away from us. After exchanging a quick look with Kaloua, we had both made a dash for the nearest tree, but not before we raced right through a patch of fallen leaves. It was only because Kaloua grabbed a hold of my shirt in his mouth and used his wings to get us up that we remained hidden.

As we found a spot and stood still the prince rounded the corner, and if Kaloua hadn't held me in I probably would have fallen out of the tree with shock. Not just because I wasn't expecting it to be him, but also because I hadn't seen him in four years. He was as handsome as ever, and age had only made him more so. He had his silver crown of a prince on his head, making sure any wild people in the bush won't harm him. Kaloua and I had managed to befriend them. Well, no, Kaloua had befriended them. I had smiled and been polite.