Riches to Royalty

Chapter 5: Daisy and Donald

CHAPTER FIVE: DAISY AND DONALD

~Rosie~

We pulled on the hoods of our jackets so they covered our faces. The last thing we needed was having people recognizing Heath. And that would slow down our ‘running away process’.

He didn’t let go of my wrist even once, afraid that we would be separated in the crowd. We were in the market where lots of people crowd around. One, it would be harder for the guards to look because there were so many people. Two, the guards would just probably look for someone who had Heath’s previous dark brown hair color.

But the down side was that if someone just happen to recognize Heath and the news got out, it would be harder for us to lose the crowd.

“So many people.” I muttered.

“That’s a good thing. Come on, let’s get some supplies and we’ll find someone who owns horses, and we head to Riverton.” He whispered, careful to disguise his voice in case anyone was listening to our conversation.

Heath assigned me to be the one who buy the things we needed because the stall owners might recognize him. But I highly doubt that if Heath continued to let his face hide in the shadows of his hood. But anyways, I didn’t want to take the risk either.

-.-

After getting all the things we would need, the both of us went to a horse stable. See, the thing with living in a town in the country sides were that they still used horses to get around. Since I was a little girl, I was forced to learn the ways to ride a horse with Heath. The Queen’s idea, actually.

So running away by horse wasn’t much of a challenge to both Heath and I.

“You two shouldn’t be here!” I heard the familiar horse master’s voice. I turned around and saw the familiar man with grey hair and grey eyes. His look softened when he recognized me. “Rosie? My Lord, you’ve grown!” A warm smile appeared on his face as he came closer to me. He gave me a warm hug and kissed my forehead. “Rosie, what are you doing here? Is this Heath?” He turned to look at Heath who had his back facing Richard, the horse master.

“Richard, you must not tell anyone you’ve seen us.” I begged. He looked confused at first then it clicked when he saw our supplies, the bags, and our clothing.

“Are the both of you running away?” He sounded hurt and disappointed at the same time. I frowned and nodded. He let out a sigh before giving me a sad smile.

“Sit down and talk to me, first. The both of you. I’m getting old anyways.” He laughed humorlessly. He sat down on the haystack and patted at the spaces on both sides of him. I held a breath and sat down. “Now tell me why you two are running away.”

I looked at Heath and beckoned him to explain but he just looked away in another direction, obviously wanting me to be the one who explain. I sighed and turn my attention back to Richard.

“Richard, the council wants Heath to get marry. To a girl who he barely knows. He doesn’t want that and he doesn’t want all the princely duties so we’re running away…at least for now we are. And I’m running with him because…I’m his best friend. So we stopped by here and wondered if you would sell us two horses…without recognizing us of course.”

Richard looked at me in disbelief. “Why would you think I wouldn’t recognize the both of you? You two were my favorite students!” He slapped the both of us playfully. “But the both of you should realize that someone has to rule the town after the Robert step down from the throne. Who’s going to be that someone then?”

“My cousin.” Heath said it like it was nothing. Did being king not matter to him at all?

“Very well, Your Highness. I’ll set up two horses for the both of you. But I would like to have a word with Rosie before you two head off.” He got up and walked towards the horses, leaving Heath and I frowning at each other.

“He doesn’t understand.” Heath shook his head and walked away towards the entrance of the stable. He stopped there and leaned against the frame. I let out a sigh and followed Richard to the stables. He was putting on the horse reigns on Daisy and Donald. The two horses that Heath and I rode since we were younger. They still looked healthy and strong, even though they were old now.

“You wanted to speak to me?”

“Rosie, tell me the real reason why you’re running away with that boy.” He turned around and faced me, holding up a carrot for Daisy at the same time.

I sighed for the billionth time. Nothing ever gets by Richard, I should’ve learn that by now.

“He’s my prince, I’ll follow him.”

“Even though he might be making the worst mistake of his life?” Richard challenged. I nodded. “He should treat you better.” He smiled and continued to feed Daisy. “And Rosie?”

“Hmm?”

“He needs you, I can see that.”

~~~

“Will you two ever visit me again?” Richard gave us a tired smile. The horses were out at the back, ready for us. But we wanted a proper goodbye with Richard before we started our journey.

“We-“ I wanted to tell Richard that we would but then my sentence was cut off by a loud banging on the doors of the barn.

“In the name of the king, Richard Brown, please step outside and allow us to ask you some questions or we would use force entry!” I heard the guards shouted from outside. All the color was drained from my face as I stared at Heath, worried that they would discover us.

“You two, out at the back now.” Richard whispered quickly as he slowly distracted the guards.

Without hesitation, Heath dragged me out to the back and helped me up on Daisy. Daisy must’ve sense my rush because she didn’t cause trouble as I climbed on her. Heath hopped onto Donald and handed me my backpack.

Taking out the map Brian gave us, he examined the routes and explained to me that we would take the road near the fields. It would lead us to Riverton in two hours.

“We’ll be fine, Rosie.” He promised me at the same time I heard the doors of the barn crashed.

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