The Crown cannot Help You

Chapter 11: The List

Flynn woke up to the cold morning and a rather unwelcome surprise.

"You know, I didn't expect to wake up to you on top of me, but I'm definitely not complaining." He uttered with a raised eyebrow.

Audelia who was straddling him had a small dagger held against his throat. She had woken up ages ago and upon opening her eyes, was greeted with the silver dagger glinting in the rising sun.

Before she knew it, it was in her hands and she was then on top of Flynn. This is the position she had been in for a fair amount of time as she struggled to decide on what to do.

But no matter what, the shocked expression that a half-asleep Flynn made, made everything worth it. She finally held all the power.

"Are you going to kill me?" Flynn croaked in his deepened morning voice.

Audelia didn't reply, she just continued to look him in the eyes as she contained her shaky hand.

Flynn didn't move from under her, he just met her gaze. "You've got all the power here, Princess, are you going to kill me?" Flynn reiterated.

"Yes." Audelia finally said.

Flynn gave her a slight smirk. "Alright then, kill away."

Audelia however, didn't move. She was thinking about all the possible things she could do and how this is what the past year had trained her for.

And yet she didn't move.

For once in an exceptionally long time, Flynn realised he'd been caught by surprise. Most people he'd been able to predict, it was easy once you picked up on certain patterns, and yet Audelia constantly surprised him.

He left her to make a decision that he truly didn't know the outcome of. Yet after a while of her not moving, he realised nothing was going come of this, so slowly he crept his hands up to her waist.

She didn't realise him moving, as her full attention was upon the knife she was holding to Flynn's throat.

Flynn managed to grip his fingers tightly upon her waist and before she knew it, he had flipped them over.

With Flynn on top, he grabbed the knife from a shocked Audelia's hands and turned it against her throat.

"You see Princess, if you are planning on killing someone, you should do it quickly as to avoid situations such as this." He said in a smug manner.

Audelia didn't try to struggle against him, she knew she'd brought it upon herself by not finishing the job. "Maybe I'm just not a cold-blooded killer."

"Unlike me of course," Flynn playfully whispered back, as he leaned into her.

"That is what I was implying." Audelia sighed, rolling her eyes as she did. "Well, we know that you aren't going to kill me, so you might as well get off me."

"What if I'm allowing it to continue as I'm enjoying it?"

"Which part are you enjoying exactly, the threatening to kill someone part or how family a blade feels in your murderous hands?" Audelia hissed, narrowing her eyes as she watched Flynn's eyes light up slightly.

The tension was growing thicker with every moment of silence. Neither of them spoke, so the only sound echoing throughout the cave was their combined heavy breathing.

"The part I'm enjoying, is something that's not PG enough for your royal ears." Flynn finally said, slicing through the tension with a joke of kinds. He then flipped the knife back around with ease, before he got off of Audelia.

He then held his hand out of her, and like he expected, she slapped his hand away and got up by herself.

"Well, now our daily fight is out of the way, are you ready to go?" Flynn said with the normality, speaking as though they were an old married couple with a daily routine set.

"Whatever," Audelia mumbled, climbing onto the horse without needing to be told.

Then before long, they were back on a dirt road, that was so unused that the grass on either side had overgrown to the point it came up to the horse's lower thigh.

Audelia had realised she needed to take whatever win she could in order to stay positive, and right now, that win was not being tied down to the horse as it made the journey a lot more comfortable.

"So, as I drag you to your death, is there anything you want to do for the last time?" Flynn said with a smile that was slightly too wide. He told himself he was bored and needed some entertainment. But in reality, he was worried if he spent too long thinking to himself, his mind would force him to let her go.

Audelia whipped her head around to face him and scowled. "You've got a really sick sense of humour."

"The sickest," Flynn responded with a more genuine smile. "But my question still stands, Princess."

"Is this some disgusting way to reduce your guilt after you kill me?"

"You've got me." Flynn laughed a bit too hard. "I was beginning to feel bad."

"So sick," Audelia mumbled. "But okay, can I give you a few things that I want?"

Flynn kissed his teeth slightly and before stretching his mouth into a grimace. "You're asking for too much now."

"Well, as you said, you are leading me to my death and if you want to feel less guilty, you might have to make this sacrifice."

"Did you just make a joke of some kind, Princess?"

Audelia shook her head aggressively. "I could never, I'm royalty."

"Hmm," Flynn uttered. "So, what is this list of demands then?"

Audelia felt herself unwillingly lifting an eyebrow in surprise of Flynn taking her list seriously. "I want to control the horse."

"Right, do you also want me to close my eyes and count to 1000 to help you escape?"

"And where would I go?" Audelia retorted rolling her eyes as she did. "I have no idea where I am and would probably die of exposure before I made it home."

Flynn narrowed his eyes, he didn't trust her, but she did make sense. "Okay, I'll keep the horse thing in mind. Anything else?"

"I want to sleep in a real bed and have a real meal at least once before we get to wherever we're going," Audelia said, crossing her fingers as she did.

"I can manage that one." Flynn agreed, catching himself by surprise. He didn't understand how she went from being his hostage to making demands, but he didn't care enough to be worried.

Audelia smiled to herself at her second small victory of the day, and decided to keep it to just that. "I think that's it for now."

Flynn then started to pull gently against the horse, slowing it down.

"Are we resting?" Audelia asked innocently, taking notice of the horse's pace.

"You wanted to control the horse, no?" Flynn responded as he slipped off the horse's side.

"You're serious?" Audelia said in disbelief, her jaw falling open.

Flynn nodded. "Don't make me regret it."

Audelia was too excited to even pay attention, she hadn't ridden a horse in so long. She quickly gathered up the reins in her hands and adjusted her shoulders.

"Just remember that if you-"

Audelia didn't hear the rest of Flynn's words as she snapped the reins of the horse, forcing the horse to break into a sprint.

The horse kicked up the dirt behind it as they thundered down the road.

She wasn't a princess in that moment. She didn't have the expectations to be proper and prim, so she let a scream pass her lips as she waved her hair around in the wind.