Runaway Princess (closed for Jekyll)

[princesssexci]

Genevieve had woken up a short time after not feeling, Charles against her as she had expected to. Where had he gone? She wasn't sure but she knew that she had to tell him, probably not tonight. In the morning, yes thats when she would tell him.

Her mind drifted back to where Charles had gone. Maybe he went to get some fire wood or buy some supplies, but it didn't seem like he was someone who would leave her there unprotected, especially since he was a knight. She frowned at the thought. Where was he?

 

[Jekyll87]

Charles was a charming man. It didn't take him long to get the information he wanted. Through a mixture of charm, bribes and threats, he soon knew all about Genieve. Philip hadn't abused her as he had thought. By the accounts he had heard, he loved her too much. She was pampered and just wanted to rebel.

He quickly made his way back to the camp. The sun was about to break over the horizon, and he wanted to be back at the camp before she had had a chance to miss him. Thankfully, when he got back she was still sleeping. Or at least appeared so. Had he not been preoccupied with thinking about her he would have noticed that her breathing was irregular and she certainly wasnt asleep.

But he was and so he didn't. He put an arm around her and cuddled as he lay there thinking about what to do with her. For the first time Charled didn't have a plan. And what was worse was that he realized that he might actually be in love with her too.

 

[princesssexci]

Genevieve felt Charles wrap his arms around her, finally coming back to bed. Her heart pounded quickly as she faked sleep. She had to keep from smiling to herself, as she moved closer to his body. It wasn't a perverted action, it was just that she was cold and being close to his body warmed her up.

Keeping her eyes closed, she thought of how...odd it felt not to have him near her. She had felt alone...something she hadn't ever experienced before. She'd always had someone near her, whether it be one of her fathers guards watching over her or one of her servant girls.

 

[Jekyll87]

Somehow it felt so right. Her, sleeping into his embrace. His mind which had been rapidly thinking of ways to get out of the predicament was betrayed by his eager body, which wanted nothing more than to be close to hers.

Should he tell her that he knew everything about her ? Why hadn't she told him herself yet? What was she afraid of ?

He could think of only two reasons. Either she didn't trust him, and thought that he would use her in the fight against her father. Or that she thought he would take her back to her father and hand her over. But he knew that their was a third option which was rapidly becoming more and more attaractive. They could run away together.

Sure, they would have to face the wrath of two kingdoms, but with her by his side, he was willing to give it a try. But the only problem was, she didn't trust him still. How could she lie so close to him, unarmed, trusting him with her body but still not trust him with her identity ?

 

[princesssexci]

The next morning, Genevieve had woken up early and walked to a nearby river to bathe while she thought of how to tell Charles that she was a princess, not just any princess but the daughter of his enemy. She chewed on her lip, finally finished washing herself.

She got out of the river, got reclothed, and then walked back to camp. She sat down by Charles waiting for him to wake up. She would tell him, she had to tell him. Genevieve had always said that if she were to fall for someone there had to be a level of trust...but, that had to go for both parties, didn't it?

 

[Jekyll87]

When Charles opened his eyes and saw her sitting there, her hair still wet from the river and her dress clinging to her body, the smell of her digging into his nostrils, it was at that moment that he decided that he really was in love with her.

It seemed like sleep had cleared all his doubts, and he was thankful for it. She had already proffesed her love for him, and so he knew he wouldn't be rejected. A happiness settled in his chest, one that could only have been bought by being with his beloved.

Smiling broadly, he got up. " Good morning Princess.", he said. One would have thought they were strangers, the way they were both still aloof. Even though they had expressed their desire for each other and had slept in each other's embrace.

 

[princesssexci]

Genevieves heart pounded quickly when he called her princess. Did he already know? Was there no reason to tell him? She blushed slightly, remembering that he already knew she was a princess, just not which princess. "Good morning, my knight in shining armor."

She took a deep breath, she had to tell him...now. Now...NOW! "Charles, I-I wish to speak to you about something, but...you have to promise to let me finish before responding, please it is of the utmost importance."

She paused waiting for his answer then took a deep breath. "I have told you almost everything about me..almost, but not everything. I am indeed a princess as I said before...but.." she hesitated a second, before taking another deep breath, "I am King Phillips daughter and I didn't run away because he was abusing me. In fact, he dotes upon me so much it is a shock that I am not spoiled as I stated that I was. I ran away because he wishes me to marry some man that I don't know and could never possibly love which is why I cannot return, which is why there is a reward for my return so high it could make a poor man rich." She was probably exaggerating. There, she said it.

Genevieve looked at him, waiting for response, forgetting about telling him her real name.

 

[Jekyll87]

Charles had been waiting for this since yesterday. He wasn't happy though. The fact that she waited so long to tell him proved that she was still hesistant about trusting him. And how could she love him when she didn't even trust him ?

And now the tables were reversed. He didn't trust her anymore.
" I'm surprised. Why are you telling me this now your highness ? "
His head told him he should walk off and leave her. It would be the sensible thing to do. She couldn't be trusted and she was his enemy's daughter. But his heart rebelled. She may be an enemy, but he still liked her, very much. And also leaving her alone would ensure that she would get hurt.

There would be a riot if she was found. The reward was enough to blacken many a hearts.

 

[princesssexci]

"I..." Genevieve paused, "At first it was because I thought you were a commoner and wanted to be treated like any other girl. It gets tiring in the castle...." Her voice trailed off, "Then I started to feel things for you, much too soon I admit and then...I found out you were a knight and one whom hated my father and due to my feelings I couldn't possibly tell you the truth then. I mean, I had indeed planned to...but everytime that I almost did, I lost all courage." Then it came to her, her name. "My name..." she whispered, "it isn't Lily either..its Genevieve."

She clenched her fists upset with herself for lying to him. He would never forgive her and...what if he stopped caring for her. A single solitary tear fell down, hitting the dirt ground. She continued her tale, " Then when you told me you loved me...well, I couldn't possibly keep lying to you. I've always been disgusted with the nobles at court who lied to their own wives and slept with wenches. I didn't...no I couldn't be like them."

 

[Jekyll87]

Should he believe her ? He wasn't sure. She had finally come clean on her identity, but who knew what else she was hiding ? And her reasons weren't convincing enough. Or at least he thought so.

If she had indeed fallen in love with him, why hadn't she told him sooner ? He was about to say something, when he noticed the tear in her eye. Immediately he melted, and all his anger cleared away. He still had his doubts about her, but he didn't think that she was faking her sadness.

Stepping forward, he put up his hand and wiped the tear from her eye. Taking her in his arms and pushing her face in his chest, he muttered, " Don't worry Genevieve. Everythings going to be allright. We'll think of something. "

Slowly he took her face in his hands and lifted up her chin. Silently he captured her lips in his. At first she was too shocked to do anything, but then he felt her slide her hands in his hair.

 

[princesssexci]

Genevieve sat there shocked for a brief second as he kissed her. Slowly, tentatively she responded. Closing her eyes, she was still sort of shocked, wondering how he could so easily kiss her without being the slightest bit mad as she had been when she found out his secret.

But he isn't like me is he?


No, he most certainly was not.
She pulled away, regretfully, "So you aren't mad?" She asked with a shaky voice, just to be certain he didn't hate her.

 

[Jekyll87]

He couldn't hide the truth from her any longer. Charles had thought that he wouldn't tell her, to punish her for not trusting him for so long, but he couldn't.

" To tell you the truth, I don't know how I feel. I knew about you since before you told me. Am I mad ? No. Not exactly. I am a little hurt and disappointed that you didn't tell me sooner though. "

It didn't matter though. They could work on their trust. But they should soon be getting away from here. Who knows if anyone else had noticed her earlier visit to the town. And the guy whom she had run away from, at the inn, knew they would be heading to the town.

 

[princesssexci]

Genevieve looked down at her fingers which were in her lap. She bit her lip, she should've known better. She remembered how she had felt when he told her who he really was. She had felt hurt, like he couldn't trust her with his secret. Though, it was hard to trust anybody when traveling.

"I'm sorry.." Genevieve whispered, "I-I didn't mean to hurt you. It's just that, when you told me your secret, I felt obligated to keep mine because...you hate my father so and I didn't know you too well and then when I started to fall for you, it got harder because I knew how upset you'd be when you found out."

 

[Jekyll87]

Charles wasn't sure that she understood the danger they were in. He was a practical man, or at least had been till before meeting her. He knew what would happen if they didn't move soon. As soon as someone at the town realised that the princess had been there, which would happen sooner or later, search parties would start looking for them. And though she wasn't in much danger, except being forced to go back to the castle, he would probably have to fight a whole village who would be after his blood to keep the reward to themselves.

So, he realised that all the talk between them would have to wait for later. His experience quickly formed the options for him. Either he run with her, or stay and fight. There wasn't an option available really. Fighting would surely get him killed, as even he wasn't strong enough to take on an army of villagers alone. So, they would have to run. They couldn't run back to the castle, as she would be taken away and married to someone else. They also couldn't go to his kingdom, his king would trade her for this kingdom as soon as he knew who she was. They would have to run to a new place altogether. Without any supplies and the armies of two kingdoms after them, it was unlikely that they would be able to settle anywhere in peace.

But maybe there was another option. They could go back to his estate. He could keep her secret from the court for a little while till he arranged for their exile in secret. A week would be enough to gather supplies to run away. Runnung away now to a new land, on foot, wouldn't get them very far before Philip's forces catch up with them.

His course decided, Charles began to act on it. Suddenly he was struck with the realization that Geneive might not go along with his plan. He was used to executing his missions without asking anyone. He hadn't considered Geneive's refusal into his plan. He hoped that she would agree with him. Who knew what was going on in her mind ?

Charles was furiously thinking of some way to make her run with him to his estate, without telling her everything. He wasn't sure that she would agree to give up her family and old life just to be with him. To live in secret like a commoner in a foreign land, where both of them would be exiles from their respective kingdoms. He didn't know if his love was enough to make her follow him into this new life. He justified to himself that there wasn't any need to tell her the whole of his plan now. He could just tell her when they reached his estate.

And once there, she could decided whether to run away with him or to run away alone. He was sure that once on his home turf, he could provide her safe passage to anywhere she wanted. Although he tried not to think about having to part with her.

He turned to her and stared deep into her eyes." I can't help that you didn't want to hurt me m'lady. It doesn't matter if you did or not. Right now I need you to trust me . We can't stay here any longer, unless you wish to get caught and return to the castle. In which case you must give me permission to run away, however more that'd hurt me, because I can't bear to see them taking you away.I promise not to use you against your father, princess. I also promise to deliver you safely wherever you wish to go. But I ask you just this....come with me. For now. Follow me without question, and we'll go straight to my estate. I swear not to reveal your identity to anyone, and to take you anywhere you want before anyone learns of it.Would you trust me now.....love ?"

Charles uttered the words as sincerely as he could. He wished with all his heart that she would accompany him.

 

[princesssexci]

For a long while it was quiet which scared the princess. Was he rethinking his love for her? Did he regret meeting her? Had she been nothing but trouble for him? So many unanswered questions.

He turned to her and stared deep into her eyes." I can't help that you didn't want to hurt me m'lady. It doesn't matter if you did or not. Right now I need you to trust me . We can't stay here any longer, unless you wish to get caught and return to the castle. In which case you must give me permission to run away, however more that'd hurt me, because I can't bear to see them taking you away.I promise not to use you against your father, princess. I also promise to deliver you safely wherever you wish to go. But I ask you just this....come with me. For now. Follow me without question, and we'll go straight to my estate. I swear not to reveal your identity to anyone, and to take you anywhere you want before anyone learns of it.Would you trust me now.....love ?"

Her heart burst with joy. He didn't regret having her there with him. Genevieve smiled,"Of course." She brushed her black hair out of her eyes. It would pain her as well if she were to be taken away from him.

"I would follow you wherever, Charles. No questions asked. I promise." She stood and waited for more direction from him. *

 

[Jekyll87]

He hadn't expected her to agree so readily. Charles still wasn't convinced about her love for him. The fact that she had kept her identity secret from him, even after expressing love for him, had hurt him deep. Even though he loved her, he didn't trust her completely.

Charles stood up and started packing the camp.
" Here's what we'll do then. We'll head towards my estate. That's the only safe haven for us, now that messengers of your father are roaming the towns with your picture. We must get out of this kingdom as fast as we can. We'll head towards the next town, where I'll get us some horses. And then it'll take us two days to reach my estate. We'll think up of a story for you along the way. "

 

[princesssexci]

Jen wasn't sure why she had agreed so readily, part of it was that she knew he loved her and she him. She also trusted him, he couldve allowed that man to ravage her yet Hed protected her, even though she lied to him, twice.

Jen nodded at his plan in agreement. She waited for him to the lead the way because she wasn't sure which way they were going exactly.*

Despite the drama she found all of this exciting, like those Jane Austin novels she read frequently.

"Lead the way my knight in shining armor."

 

[Jekyll87]

Charles packed up the essential stuff, leaving the rest as it is. He started to leave, but then struck upon an idea.
"Come with me princess, he said, and led her through to the moist soil, sure to give away their footprints to any who came across it.

After about half an hour, he turned to her and said, " Now take off your shoes, your majesty. And tread lightly, for we don't want anyone to know we've been here."

With that he took off his own shoes, and took Gennieve's hand. Together, they walked with small steps, doubling back the way they had come earlier.

((OOC: Sorry for the delay. Was away on a business trip))

 

[princesssexci]

Gen looked at her shoes and refrained the urge to grimace in disgust. No he knew what he was doing. And though she wasn't certain, Gen said she trusted him. Gen pulled off her shoes and set them neatly on the ground, side by side.

Then followed his directions to tread lightly as they moved back the path they started on. Silently, Gen wondered where he was taking her. That wouldve been nice to know but she didn't ask questions for fear of annoying him.