Finding a Prince

Chapter 3

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.