Princey's Unexpected Journey

CHAPTER XIV

By sunrise, news had spread quickly about my capture and my "release". Someone said that news about my "release" had already reached the Groffton Kingdom, even though it is a day away. I never quite understood how news travelled so quickly. I just knew that it happened.

When I escaped, I knew that my father's men were going to find out quickly, and that they were coming for me. There would be no mercy this time around, only a swift execution. I shivered at the very thought of having my head chopped off.

Yet, before I could think about it for much longer, we heard the gallop of a horse. All of us looked to where it was coming from. As the horse got closer, we could see the person that was on the horse. It was Gilbert.

Everyone cheered and yelled as Gilbert slowed his horse. The man jumped off of the horse and came straight up to me, pulling me into a hug.

"Oh, mon ami," Gilbert said to me, "I thought that you were dead!"

"I am good and alive, Gilbert."

"I am glad!"

We pulled away from each other. As we done so, I noticed Hercules in the distance. He appeared to be crying. I could not tell if his tears were of joy or of pain. I decided to let Gilbert figure that one out.

"Hey, you forgot someone," I said to Gilbert.

"What? Who?

I turned Gilbert around so that he would face Hercules. It took Gilbert a few seconds to realize who the man was, but once he did, Gilbert ran to Hercules, jumping into his arms.

"Hercules," Gilbert yelled as he hugged the man tightly, "I cannot believe it! You are...you are..."

"Alive," Hercules whispered back, doing his best to hold back his tears, "after all of that time. After that hell. Even after everything, it is still me. I am still alive."

The men hugged for what seemed like forever. As they were talking, I walked over to John, who was putting out the fire. The man looked at me with kind eyes. I couldn't help but smile.

That joy was short lived when we heard the galloping of several dozen horses. Everyone got onto their specific horse and started to flee. I didn't know where they were headed. All that I knew was that I was frozen in place. I couldn't move when I knew that certain doom was approaching. I was...stuck.

I knew the gallop of those horses. The King wanted to make the gallop of the horses louder, so he did every alteration that he could in order to make those horses as loud as possible. It worked, whatever he did, and it worked very well.

As I stood there, frozen and confused, I glanced over to see a face that appeared to have the same expression as mine had. The face was riddled in fear. And I knew exactly who that face belonged to.

"John," I whispered to him as the army approached, "what are you doing? You need to flee while you have the chance!"

"I am not leaving without you, Manuel," John replied gently, taking my hand, "we are in this together." The man then smiled at me. Oh, that beautiful smile. It always made my heart melt.

The king's horse and his men finally arrived, and we surrendered. We lifted up our arms as a sign, but we kept our hands interlocked. Was it out of spite? Probably. Would it make the king madder than a hornet in a knight's helmet? Maybe. Did we care? Hell no. All that mattered to me at the moment was the person right beside me: John.

Wait, who was that on the other side of John? Was that...George? I looked over at the human in confusion.

"George?" I questioned as our hands were tied with a rope.