“You should walk faster,” she says while jumping over a puddle but the man in front of her keeps his steady pace.

The rain had started just a few hours before and remnants of it were everywhere. Usually, she likes the rain. Back at the castle, she would listen to it as she brushed her hair and sometimes she’d even catch raindrops on her palm from her open window. Walking in the rain, however, has changed her viewpoint. She hated how it drenched her clothes and made the world under it so slippery. She had fallen three times already and the man in front of her hadn’t once offered to help her up. He was so infuriating but he was also the key to her survival.

She looks away from his back, turning her head upward to the rain. Heavy raindrops hit her face as she is transported back to the night before. She remembers the sound of heavy footsteps becoming rampant in the halls. That night, she cracked the door, wondering what the commotion was all about and then she spotted her brother’s favorite guard. She didn't know his name but took to nicknaming him Thorn as he was a constant thorn in her side. He didn't notice she was watching him and could faintly overhear what he was saying.

“Lock the princess in her bedroom, and once she's sworn her loyalty to our new king then feed her.” Thorn had said to an underling.

Her immediate reaction was to run which is how she ended up bumping into a guard who looked at her with vicious eyes. With all her might, she had pushed him down but his reactions brought attention to Thorn.

“Hunt down the traitor, and bring them back to me alive.” She heard him say, his tone is cold as he eyed her as a useless nuisance.

The underling next to him nodded in compliance and she had responded in the most rational way possible. She jumped out of a nearby window and luckily for her, a stack of hay cushioned her fall. Her mind shifts as she contemplates all she’s learned about

the happenings of that night so far. People said that her brother snapped after her father told him he was strongly considering giving the throne to her. In retaliation, he had killed him, taking her father’s throne. He had killed their mother too for favoritism.

For a short time, she wondered why he didn't kill her until he released an announcement she was to marry the king of a nearby kingdom they’d been at war with for years.

“We need to be alert,” The man in front of her warns, taking her away from her thoughts.

She lowers her head and sees that he’s looking at her. Her expression shifts to one of annoyance.

“I’ve listened to you for a while now and look at me! I‘ve ended up dirty, lost, and in the middle of nowhere.”

“You were already heading nowhere princess as there's not a lot of places to hide,” He responds, snidely. “Lest you forget there’s a whole lot of people who want you captured.”

“I did well on my own,” She bites back.

On her own, she had managed to blend in with the citizens of her kingdom. Why, she even found a job as a waitress in an inn which was going well until he walked in.

“That’s not how I remember it. In fact, I remember first meeting you with a knife against your throat.”

That’s not exactly how it happened. Thorn had walked into the inn and she stifled up immediately. He was searching for her but with quick thinking, she had managed to evade him or so she thought. Outside the inn, Thorn had cornered her and that’s how her mysterious savior had found them but she could’ve managed on her own.

“I could’ve handled it,” She reasons with haughtiness.

“I’m sure you could’ve, my dear princess who has never wielded a blade.”

She huffs. “I don’t need weapons to take a man down.”

“You should definitely consider it when they have a knife to your throat,” he replies rather cheekily.

There’s a small possibility that if he didn’t help her then Thorn who had abandoned the taken alive order would’ve killed her. It’s very small, okay, maybe it was quite larger than she cared to admit to.

“Who are you, anyway?” She demands.

“I told you, I was a guard in your family’s castle and I’m loyal to the previous king.”

“But I’ve never seen you before.”

“And you know the face of every guard at the castle?” He challenges.

“Well, no, I—“

“Good, then there’s your answer.”

He walks away from her with quickened steps that allow her doubt to linger. He’s hiding something but he’s also her only hope of escape. With a deep breath, she reluctantly follows after him, hoping she's not walking into a bleaker future than before.