By the third day of walking, the silence had become painful, even for the ever so quiet princess.
She and Tom didn't make much of an effort to begin a conversation. For the princess, it was especially hard.
For one, she hadn't had a decent conversation with anyone in over three months now, and to be completely honest, she wasn't sure she remembered how to have a conversation. There was also the fact that she didn't really know Tom yet, and with her recent trauma, she wasn't entirely sure whether or not to trust him.
Tom, on the other hand, could easily tell the princess was not ready to talk. The silence was eating him alive, but he knew better than to rush a conversation. So, he tried to keep his mind level as they walked.
As the sky changed from its vibrant blue into its hazy orange, Tom and the princess began to search for a place that would be suitable to settle down at for the night. They quickly came across a clearing that they decided would make do and Tom got right to work on building a fire.
The princess gathered some sticks and then sat down on a log that had fallen into the middle of the clearing. She stared absentmindedly into nothingness as Tom sat on the ground, building the fire.
Tom, after getting the fire started and steady, took a look behind him at the princess, who was zoned completely out.
"Sam, are you okay?" He asked tentatively.
"Hm?" She said, eyes still gazed.
"Are you alright?" He asked again.
The princess shook her head and lifted herself out of her trance.
"What? Oh, right, sorry. I'm okay. Just...tired," She stuttered out.
Tom nodded and pulled out the blankets he had stuffed into the bag and laid them around the fire. The two took their respective places and tried to relax. It was already dark, but they were both illuminated by the orange glow of the fire.
The princess shut her eyes. She hadn't slept more than 8 hours in the last three days and the exhaustion was catching up to her. She decided, that tonight she would actually try to sleep.
She laid there for a few moments, waiting for sleep to consume her until her ears were alerted by the sound of a page turning. She shifted her head to see Tom with a book pulled above his head as he laid on the ground with his knees folded up.
"What are you reading?" She asked, shocking the boy.
He jumped a little, but then turned and looked at her.
"Shakespeare. Hamlet." He said simply.
The princess smiled ever so softly. "I love that one."
Tom's eyes widened as he also let a gentle smile spread across his face.
"Me too."
The two were quiet for a moment, only the crackling of the fire making any noise. Then suddenly, just as Tom thought the princess was going to sleep, she said, "Will you read aloud?"
Tom loved the atmosphere with the fire crackling, a book in his hands, and a tired girl, with her eyes closed asking him to read out loud.
So, he did.
The princess liked the way he read aloud. His voice lathering the words with a certain suave that would have only been manageable by him and him alone. She could have listened to him read for hours and never once get bored. Alas, the princess' eyes were beginning to unwillingly droop.
"Doubt thou the stars are fire; Doubt that the sun doth move; Doubt truth to be a liar; But never doubt I love," Tom read and shifted his eyes over to the princess.
But, she was already asleep.
—
When the princess woke up in the morning, Tom was nowhere in sight. Her instinct reaction was to freak out, which is what she did. Her heart rate sped up as her head swiveled in every direction, trying to find a sign of him.
After a minute or so of not seeing anything tears began welling up in her eyes, but she quickly stopped them from falling after noticing that everything, including the bag and the book, were still at their campsite.
The princess realized that Tom wouldn't have just abandoned her without taking all the stuff. Just as she came to this realization, she saw his curly hair off in the distance walking towards camp. She let out a sigh of relief.
"Good morning," he smiled as he sauntered into camp, his hands filled with berries, "I found breakfast!"
The princess smiled again and she was beginning to enjoy smiling. It was a fun thing to get used to.
"Good morning," she replied and they began eating the berries until they were all gone.
They packed everything they had back into the backpack and continued on their journey.
It was around noon that the two became bored of the ever-looming silence. And the princess, feeling more comfortable, had a presence of guilt boiling in her stomach. She knew she had been treating Tom unfairly. The boy was willing to help her get home, had essentially saved her, and shown her kindness that she hadn't seen in months.
And he didn't know anything about her.
It was time, she decided, to tell her story. A little bit of it anyways. She couldn't go ahead and just tell him she's the princess, but he deserved to know how she got into the mess.
"I'm sorry." She spoke suddenly amongst the silence.
The rolling fields of green looked beautiful as the background when Tom turned around to face her. His eyebrows were scrunched in confusion and he eyed the princess wearily.
"Sorry?" He questioned. "Why are you sorry?"
"You're just... you're just so nice," She breathed out. "And, I haven't even given you a reason to be."
He chuckled at your sincerity and began walking slowly again with you right next to him, rather than behind him.
"What do you mean? I don't need a reason to be nice to you," He argued with a smile.
"I know, I guess. I just feel like you deserve to know how I got here, you know?"
He nodded like he understood where she was coming from.
"If you're comfortable with me knowing, then sure."
The princess nearly squealed in almost frustration. How could this boy who barely knew her be so nice? She figured she just must not be used to it.
"Okay," she began, heart rate rising, "Um, it all began about three months ago. I was shopping for some fresh produce at a market in Ornate."
She took a breath, she realized that she hadn't ever spoken about what happened to her. She'd never gotten the chance.
"Take your time," Tom commented kindly.
"Basically, um... this group of guys thought it would be fun to kidnap me and apparently take me to the other side of the kingdom."
The princess wanted to actually tell him the story. But, she didn't realize how hard that would be to do until now. It just wasn't easy to talk about trauma to someone she hardly knew.
—
Tom sucked in a breath when she finally said what he had suspected to be true. It was a bit obvious, from the way she was running the first time he met her and the way her arms were covered in bruises. And if that wasn't any indication, every night he was awoken by her terrified whimpering in her sleep. She always calmed down before he built up the courage to wake her, but it was still worrying.
But, to finally hear her say it? Ouch.
He hesitated before he began again, "Did they...did they hurt you?"
He could see the tears pooling her eyes.
"Yes. Yes, they did."
They both took in large breaths. Tom specifically wanted to hug the girl and tell her that everything would be alright, but he knew that would probably be inappropriate for the situation, especially considering that they just met.
"I'm so sorry that happened to you. No one deserves to go through that... ever." He said with so much sincerity in his voice.
"Thank you. But, I guess I can't really change what happened," She mumbled defeatedly.
There was a silence again. And Tom could tell that neither of them knew what to say, so he offered himself up as a source of discussion.
"You know, I never told you about myself either."
The girl turned her head a raised her eyebrows, urging him to go on.
He laughed a little at what he was about to explain to the girl.
"I don't know what your stance is with the royal family... I mean you are from Ornate. It seems like people from there are either super supportive of the royal family or super against them, no in-between. But, basically, I help people get out of bad situations. Like if they are wrongfully arrested or they are getting something like their home or family was taken away from them."
The girl was completely stoic. She stared forward, thinking long and hard for a moment.
"So...you're a rebel." She stated flatly.
Tom shrugged. "Of sorts. I'm more of a lone wolf."
The girl nodded and then said, "How can someone be arrested wrongfully?"
Tom chuckled, "The King isn't exactly the best guy, you know? You mutter something bad about him or the royal family? The next thing you know your family is being separated or your house and land is being taken. I don't know how it is in Ornate, but the rest of the kingdom isn't blind to his tyranny."
"Oh." She said softly. "And the Queen? And their daughter?"
Tom shrugged again. "I don't think they really have all that much power, to be honest. They are under his control just as much as anyone else is."
The girl nodded. "Interesting."
Tom's eyebrows perked. "Interesting?"
He wanted her to elaborate. What in the world could possibly be running through her head right now?
"Hm? Oh, it's nothing. I guess they put on a show for the city of Ornate. My parents...they've never been a big... fan of the King...either. So, yeah, I guess that makes sense," She struggled out.
Tom figured that made sense- putting on a show for the citizens of the city you live in, in order to make them trust you. 'Of course, the kingdom is fine!' And no one within the city would know wiser.
"Of course, the princess has been gone for some time now," Tom added casually.
The girl looked shocked, and Tom figured it must be because she had no idea that had happened while she was also taken.
"Gone? Is she dead?"
"No one knows. I actually don't know much about it. It's more of a rumor anyways. The King and Queen haven't come forward publicly about it, but the word on the street is that she hasn't been seen for months."
"Strange," she let out quietly.
The conversation died out and they pressed forward walking side by side.
"I think we'll make it to Solum tonight. Then we can actually stay at an inn and get some real food in our stomachs."
Tom smiled at the thought of not having to make the fire tonight and getting to sleep in a bed. It sounded so nice.
And now that Sam had talked to him about what happened to her, he felt more comfortable around her, like maybe they could end up being friends. It was such a peaceful feeling resting inside of his chest.
—
The princess, on the other hand, was panicking.