Dan woke up the next day cold, achy and with an almost overwhelming urge to cry. It had been later the previous evening when he had realised that his little escape may have been a very bad mistake. He hadn't gotten very far out of the city before the old grey horse had begun to slow down out of exhaustion. The poor thing wasn't used to running around cities and going full sprint for several miles. Dan had considered ditching it at the next city he came to but he had grown quite fond of him. Liking him however did not excuse the fact that the horse was old and slow. Luckily for Dan a few stray hoof prints had lead the city guards off in the complete wrong direction and they were miles behind by now. The grey horse which Dan had now christened Ethel had needed to stop frequently for rest and water and as night began to fall they were still very far away from the nearest town or village. Dan had guessed by the path he was on that he was on his way to Tulow, a small village at the corner of the empire. This was when Dan had also realised that perhaps he should have taken into account his fear of the dark when he decided to go on a wild adventure in an incredibly dark forest. The tall trees around him could hold all sorts of dreadful creatures and his rather active imagination was not doing him any favours.
Dan had been riding in the dark for a few hours and was getting nowhere. He could barely see a few metres in front of him and had a sure feeling that they had wandered off the path so he had decided to settle down for the night. He had collected some wood and attempted to use the firelighter he stole from the castle to light it however having been raised in the safety of a palace he had no idea how to actually start a fire and the most he could get was a small puff of smoke. The small sparks the firelighter created caused a small amount of light to flickered over the surrounding trees, briefly casting shadows over the wooded floor in a way that gave the illusion of movement which only helped scare the young prince more. Defeated Dan had pulled a spare shirt out of his bag and huddled underneath it and the cold began to set in. The last thing he remembered before falling asleep was the crippling thought that maybe he wouldn't be able to do this and that he would be destined to marry the countess, but then again, he never really did believe in destiny.
It was raining by the time morning came around and to Dan's dismay he realised that he and Ethel had indeed strayed off the path, and he had no way of finding it again. He also realised, as he was looking through his satchel, that in his daring escape from the palace he had somehow managed to drop most of the money he had bought with him. He had enough for about two nights in an inn and maybe a small amount of food if he was lucky, not nearly enough. Well that wouldn't really matter if he didn't find his way back to the path because dead bodies don't really require food and a place to stay. Dan wondered if there was any point in getting up at all. They had walked for hours last night; the path could be miles away. Even if he managed to light a fire and set up smoke signals he was in a relatively remote area of the Serultrian empire, to find anybody would be a miracle.
He was about to lie himself back on the ground in pity when Ethel began to stamp his feet in agitation.
"What do you want now?" Dan said in exasperation.
"Just let me die in peace!" suddenly a howl echoed around the forest. Dan's face paled
"Actually thinking about it I don't want to die!" he said hurriedly. Quickly snatching up his satchel he leapt onto the old horse and urged him into a gallop. The howling was still very far behind them but wolves can run for a very long time and Dan didn't particularly fancy becoming dog meat.
"Come on Ethel, faster, you can do it." he muttered into the old stallion's ear. Ethel eyes were rolled into the back of his head and his mouth was beginning to froth as the Prince pulled his reigns again to prevent a head-on collision with a tree. The howling started again and Dan reverted to simply clinging to the old horses back as he bolted. Suddenly Ethel came to an abrupt stop as he was met with a large stone cliff face. Dan flew straight over the horse's head in a rather dramatic dive and landed in a heap on the floor.
In his daze, Dan could hear a strange noise. Maybe he had concussion or maybe he was just hearing things but was that someone . . . clapping? He squinted up to the top of the limestone canyon that Ethel had run them into to see a tall figure at the top of the small cliff applauding them.
"Great dive really, ten out of ten for style!" the man called down in a fit of giggles. Dan looked at him in confusion, wasn't he in the middle of nowhere? Where had this guy even come from? The man had now decided to scramble down the cliff and help Dan out. His movements were jerky and clumsy and Dan had to admit he feared for the mystery man's life, wait wasn't he just fearing for his own life? Oh shit, the wolves!
"Hey you, clapping man!" He yelled up to the man who was currently scrambling down the last few meters of the rock face, "I think we need to get out of here!"
"Whys that?" the man asked, cocking his head to the side. Now that he was closer Dan was able to see what the man really looked like. The first thought that came into the young prince's head was just that this man was very pretty. He had very pale skin so probably wasn't a farmer but his clothes were anything but fancy. He was wearing a thin cotton shirt with a brown jacket over the top that outlined his lanky frame well. Dan couldn't really tell his age but he looked to be around twenty-three or twenty-four, definitely older than Dan. His eyes were a sort of blue green colour but almost seemed to change as he moved and Dan had to admit he found them as strange as he did attractive. The man's hair was very dark and contrasted starkly against his pale skin and Dan had an odd feeling it wasn't natural although how he got his hair to be that dark he had no idea.
After a few seconds of ogling at the stranger, Dan realised he was giggling. The Man's eyes were squeezed shut and his tongue was poking out of his teeth in a way which Dan thought was very cute. Oh wait, the wolves, God dam this man and his distractingly pretty face.
"I heard howling I think there might be some wolves following me." The prince said urgently,
"I really think we should go before they get here!" To his surprise the man started full of shrieking with laughter. It was quite loud and Dan looked around him nervously expecting some huge wolf with pointy teeth and sharp claws to leap out at him any second. The man continued to laugh hysterically for a good few minutes until he was doubled over clutching at his stomach and gasping for breath.
"Um can we do this weird laughing thing later, I really don't fancy being eaten alive."
"Oh, I really am sorry," The man said wiping a tear from his eye, "but there aren't any wolves in this part of the country, didn't you know that?" Dan shook his head, suddenly feeling very confused.
"What was all that howling then?" He asked furrowing his eyebrows together. The man giggled again.
"Oscar! Archie!" He called loudly in to the canyon. Suddenly an enormous grey wolfhound bounded into sight, tongue hanging out of its mouth and tail wagging happily. It made a beeline straight for Dan, knocking straight into him, sending him sprawling onto the ground.
"Ah, get it off me!" Dan yelled as the huge dog continued to slobber all over his new friend.
"Archie get off him!" the man said exasperatedly, pulling the wolfhound off Dan. Archie tail continued to wag as it attempted to slobber all over his masters face as well.
"Silly dog get down." The man muttered, pushing Archie off him, "Now where's Oscar? Oscar!" The man shouted again. Dan braced himself for another huge dog to run at him again but instead a small black and white dog trotted around the corner.
It looked a bit like one of the sheepdogs that the farmers on the outskirts of Serultria used to control their herds but it was a lot smaller and its legs quite a bit shorter as well. In fact, it almost looked as though someone had crossed a sheepdog with one of the small palace corgis that his mother was so fond of. Dan could see no real purpose for such a dog but it looked cute. The small dog, Oscar, trotted up to Dan and sat at his feet, wagging his tale.
"Aww he likes you." The man said fondly.
"You mean to tell me that I just went flying off on my horse into the middle of nowhere and threatened myself with serious injury because of a wolfhound that likes to lick people's faces and a midget sheepdog."
"Basically yeah." The man said apologetically, but then he bent down to pick up Oscar and hugged him tightly. "Don't listen to the mean man Oscar you aren't a midget sheepdog."
"Yes, he is," Dan replied indignantly.
"For your information, he's a designer breed, and I think some people take offence to the word midget so watch your tongue."
Dan raised his eyebrows at the man in surprise, the only person to have ever spoken to him in that way was his mother.
"Ok whatever." He answered, raising his hands in surrender, "getting a bit protective over a dog aren't you."
"I like him." The man muttered, clearly annoyed. Dan had to stifle a giggle and this man's childishness. "I'm sorry but I don't think I caught your name." Dan said with a smile.
"That's coz I didn't say it." The man replied with a grin.
"Well may I learn it then?" The man looked at Dan suspiciously for a second but then his gaze softened. "Phil." He said happily offering out his hand.
"Dan." The prince replied shaking Phil's hand enthusiastically.
Phil regarded Dan with an odd look before shaking his head dismissively.
"Something wrong?" Dan asked, brushing some of the mud off his jacket.
"No no." Phil replied hurriedly. "You just look sort of familiar that's all." Dan swallowed thickly. Phil couldn't have recognised him as the prince, could he? No, Dan was never out in public, hardly anyone knew what he really looked like. Maybe Phil just knew someone who looked like him, yeah that's more likely.
"No, I'm not really from around here so you probably won't know me."
"Yeah, your right, I'm sorry."
"No, it's ok." Dan replied quietly. Was it just him or did Phil look sort of disappointed. Why? Was Phil hoping he was someone else. Did he recognise him as the prince and was sad that he couldn't claim to have met him, it had happened before. Dan was sure he was looking into it too much but he couldn't help but wonder what had changed his cheery demeanour so quickly.
"Anyway!" Phil said loudly, breaking the silence between them. "I've got to take the dogs back and you've just had a nasty fall, do you want to come back to my house and clean up. You look like you could use a bath and I think your horse needs attention."
Dan looked back at Ethel. He had his side pressed against the cliff face and was still breathing heavily after their frantic escape from the imaginary wolves. Neither of them had really eaten or drunk since they had left the palace and judging from how Dan felt, Ethel must be dying for a drink and something to eat.
"That would be lovely thank you." Dan said, fluttering his eyelashes at Phil. The older man rolled his eyes.
"Alright come on, it's not that far. I promise."