RUNAWAY PRINCESS /h.s./

Enchanted

"Who knew traveling could be so boring," I heard Harry say, and I nodded in agreement.

"Imagine if I had been doing this by foot. I'm glad you're taking me. I really appreciate it."

"Do you think you would've made it by foot?" He asked, and I knew he didn't mean it in a condescending way. He was genuinely curious.

"I hope I would have. But I don't know the answer to that. My feet were already killing me, plus-" I cut myself off. Plus, people may have recognized me if I were walking.

"Plus what?"

"Plus, it would've gotten lonely, I think," I covered, but it was still a true thought. If being around Harry, traveling in a horse and buggy was boring, I couldn't imagine if I had to do the entire trip by myself on foot.

"Wanna know what I think?" Harry inquired, and I sighed, mentally preparing myself. Here we go, with the judgmental guy I met in the beginning. I knew that whatever he was going to say, I was not going to get angry with him. I would brush it off, and we were not going to fight. It was just the morning, for heaven's sake.

"What?" I answered, trying to appear nonchalant. I hoped he wouldn't ruin the mood with rude words.

"I think you would've made it even if we weren't traveling on a horse and buggy," Harry mused. I stared at him in shock, not expecting those words to come out of his mouth. "With the stubbornness and determination that you carry, I have no doubt in my mind that you would have traveled by foot, alone, and made it to the mountains in order to be free."

I nodded, "Well, I'm still glad that you're helping me. So thank you."

I thought back to the first day, and how they were so different from the last two. I literally went from disliking him with every fiber of my being, running away from him and deciding to travel on my own, to actually enjoying his presence. I was happy that he was being kind to me.

My stomach began growling quite loudly, and I sighed, grabbing the apple that I forgot I had gotten and taking a bite out of it.

"We can stop for food in the next town we reach," Harry stated, having heard the grumbling of my stomach.

"Okay," I answered, chewing on the apple. It was a while of traveling before the next town was reached, and we found ourselves in front of more guards in the road.

"Hello," Harry greeted, and I gripped the end of my shirt, praying they wouldn't notice me. We got lucky getting past the first guards, but I didn't know if we could make it past another time.

"Hello. Where are you guys headed?" The tall guard questioned, and I stared nervously at the crest of our kingdom on their vest. I didn't want to seem suspicious, so I moved my gaze to the guards faces. I knew it would seem weird if I was looking down, so I figured looking at them would make them less suspecting.

"To get some food in town. Why are there so many guards everywhere?" Harry inquired, and I looked to where he was looking, seeing them surrounding the tiny town. I had no idea how I'd make it anywhere with all of these palace guards. And to my utter horror, I recognized one guarding a small building. It was the guard of my room growing up, William, who made sure I was in my bed when I was supposed to be, and he made sure nobody was to come in or out of my room without my father's permission. He would recognize me in a heartbeat.

"The Princess of Talia has run away, sir. The King is using all measures possible to find her, and has deployed guards everywhere in a hundred mile radius.

"Jesus, how many guards does the King of Talia have?"

I knew my father had hundreds, and I had no doubt he had acquired more to help find me. Not to mention the million dollar reward he was offering to whoever brought me back to the castle. I'm sure he had lots of people willing to stand guard, in case they were the lucky one to find me.