Mirabel’s heart rose in her throat, pounding furiously. If Boris was here, did that mean his comrades hadn’t left either? And if the rest of the gang was here… she swallowed.
Hearing Boris’s footsteps behind her, she whirled around. Maybe it wasn’t him. Maybe it was just someone who sounded like him, spoke like him… looked like him.
It was definitely Boris. The world seemed to slow as her widening eyes caught sight of him stepping closer to her, an unreadable expression on his face. His eyes glinted sharply in the light of the setting sun. To Mirabel those eyes had never looked more dangerous.
No.
In a split second, the world caught up with itself. Mirabel turned, heart in a panic, and she ran. She had been lucky to escape her captors’ grasp the first time, and to escape twice had been a miracle. She would not allow herself to be caught again.
A muffled curse sounded behind her, and she urged herself to run faster. Her foot caught on her skirt, and she almost fell. Recovering quickly, she hitched her skirts up higher. She could only hope that the rest of her captors weren’t hiding, waiting to ambush her. With Boris hot in pursuit, there was nothing she could do if she was caught by one of them.
What was Boris even doing here? What were any of them doing here? Gisella had sent them on their way, hadn’t she? There was no reason to keep them around.
Unless Gisella had anticipated this. What if she had known Mirabel would escape, and set her previous captors as guards? But no. Even Mirabel hadn’t known she would escape. She had seemed doomed from the start.
Boris’s heavy breathing was getting louder behind her. Mirabel was tempted to glance over her shoulder and see how close he was, but she stopped herself. Sometimes it was better not knowing. Instead, she forced herself to go faster.
She knew she couldn’t keep this up for much longer. She was already exhausted. Her eyes darted around her surroundings, looking for something to help her. All she could see were trees. When she had bolted from Boris, she had instinctively headed for the forest, a decision she was beginning to regret. The branches kept catching on her skirts, on her hair, scratching her hands and her face. It was slowing her down.
The forest left no place to hide. Boris was right behind her, and he was sure to see her if she tried to hide behind a tree. She couldn’t climb one of the trees, either. He would only wait her out.
There was nothing she could do but run. Her breathing came ragged as she pushed herself harder. She would not be caught. She could not be caught.
Except she could. In her distraction, her foot snagged on a root, and she fell, tumbling to the ground. She scrambled, trying to get to her feet before he caught up. Before he caught her. She just needed to-
Strong arms grabbed her, and her lips parted in a silent scream. She began kicking at her captor, struggling with all her might as tears of panic rolled down her cheeks. No no no no no.
Boris grunted as her feeble attempts landed, but he didn’t let go. He held on tight, unmoving. Slowly, the rain of punches died down and the struggling ceased, replaced with a sobbing girl. It was only then that he loosened his grip, letting her slowly to the ground. She huddled into herself, away from the hands that still held her captive.
As her whimpers began to die down, Boris let his hands fall slowly away. He made a split second decision and straightened, taking a step back.
A twig snapped beneath his foot, and Mirabel’s head jerked up to look at him. Tears blurring her vision, she only understood that he was no longer holding her. And even that she didn’t fully understand. Her mind was too fogged with terror and exhaustion. Swallowing her sobs, she too stood and took a step back, gauging his reaction. He did nothing. She took another step back. And then, with tears still misting her eyes and blurring his face, she turned and she ran. She didn’t understand why he had done what he did, but at that moment it didn’t matter. For that moment, she was free.
---
How long Mirabel ran, she had no idea. It was dark by the time she stopped. Her tears had dried long ago, and now, as she stopped, she began to wonder. Why had Boris let her go? He would have been rewarded handsomely for her return. What could he possibly gain from letting her go?
She wished she had seen his face. Maybe his expression would have given something away. As it was, the only memories she had to examine were filtered through tears and fright.
As she looked around, she realized she had no idea where she was. She was still in the forest, but with the darkness that had fallen she didn't know which way to go. She wasn't even sure which way she had come from anymore.
Panic began to settle in. She didn't want to spend the night in the forest. Who knew what dangers were out there? Stories she had read began flitting through her mind, setting her imagination alight. She began imagining creatures in the shadows, eyes glowing in the dark.
She shook her head. No. She needed to keep her head on straight. She needed to figure out what she was going to do next. Which way should she go? Which way would lead her out of the forest? She turned in circles, hoping to recognize something.
Maybe she shouldn't have run. Maybe it would have been better to be taken back to the castle. It was less dangerous there. Or at least, dangerous in a different way. At least there she had known her enemy.
A different thought entered her head. What time was it? It had been barely sunset when she left the castle. Now beams of moonlight shone through the dense treetops, casting meager amounts of light in the shadows. She looked up, following the beams. The moon was bright, full and round overhead.
Mirabel had a sudden thought. She had read of heroes who followed the sun; why not follow the moon?
Looking up again, she made her best guess as to which direction the moon was in. Left? She should go left. Or maybe it was right. She groaned to herself; the moon was too directly overhead for her to tell.
She turned again. She knew she was only making herself more disoriented, but she hoped to find some trace of her previous path. There were men in her father’s army that could track a deer simply by the broken branches it left in it’s wake. In her terrified flight, she was sure to have left some evidence behind.
A sound behind her startled her and she jumped. She whirled around, worried there were indeed creatures in these woods. But there was nothing there. She surveyed the shadows slowly, but could see nothing. Shaking her head, she decided that she was beginning to hallucinate from exhaustion. She needed sleep. Her body felt like a ragdoll and her eyelids wanted so badly to close out the horrors of the world around her. She had pushed herself too hard.
A yawn escaped her. Maybe she should just sleep. She deserved that much, didn’t she? And surely the woods couldn’t be that dangerous. There were only trees, after all. She had seen nothing dangerous yet. She could take a short nap, maybe sleep for an hour or two. Yes, that sounded right. A nap would fix all of her problems. It wasn’t as if she was functioning well enough to find her way out of the woods right now anyway.
Her eyes drifted shut as she sank to the forest floor. She would worry about her troubles tomorrow. She had done enough for today. Now she just needed to… sleep.
---
Shafts of moonlight made their way through the treetops, illuminating the sleeping princess. Her hair shone silver in its light, giving the same striking effect Boris had noticed on that first night. It was an entrancing effect. He averted his eyes, and instead concentrated on the careful placement of his feet. He was unsure how sound her sleep was, and he did not wish to wake her by accident.
It had taken all of his limited tracking skills to follow her in her mad dash through the woods. He had to follow at a far enough distance that she would never notice him, while still assuring that he could find her. He wondered to himself again why he was doing this. After all the work he had put into kidnapping her the first time, why do this? It made no sense, not really. But as he drew closer, the peaceful look on her face reminded him exactly why. He gained no profit from a war. He had gained no profit from this entire adventure. In fact, he doubted he would gain any profit from this, either. But if he wanted his revenge, he could at least do it in a way that would harm no one but him. And especially not her.
---
A/N Hey guys! Not much to say, but I did want to point out the picture on the side (or top now, I guess) of this chapter. It's a drawing I did of Mirabel recently, and I kind of liked it, so I thought I'd share :) Anywho, hope you liked the chapter! If you did, please comment and/or leave a vote. What do you think of Boris in this chapter? I'm having a lot of fun with his character :D
P.S. I don't know what's up with the formatting here... I tried fixing it, but it's not working. So I'm sorry if the formatting looks really weird and stuff, it's not my fault >.<