Runaway Princess

CHAPTER 4

"HEY! What are you doing?" I jolted in surprise when I heard someone shout. I looked behind and saw the man from earlier running to me. He stopped about a feet away from me and I clasped onto the railings.

Oh, no. Is he going to push me off here?

"What are you doing here?" I asked him. Is he following me?

He removed his cap and panted. "No, what are you doing here?" He said, giving emphasis to the word 'you'. "Its already past curfew!"

He continued panting, seeming really tired. "Your set of stairs are way too many," he complained and gestured to the stairs. "My knees almost gave up!"

My eyes widened. What is his problem? "Well, nobody asked you to follow me!" I retorted.

He stood up straight and placed his hands on his hips. "By the way, what are you doing here? Are you going to jump?" He asked and looked at the railings.

I furrowed my eyebrows. What's is he saying? Is he crazy?

"Why would I jump?" I asked him. "I'm not suicidal."

He nodded, his eyes glinting in relief. "That's good."

I furrowed my eyebrows. I don't understand this guy. Earlier he was mad at me and now he kept on rambling about weird and random stuff.

"By the way," I said and he looked at me. "What's your name?" I asked him. Maybe we could be friends, I've never had a friend before since my parents won't let me go outside the palace.

Friends with a rebel, Isla? Seriously?

He stared at me for a couple of seconds, looking hesitant. His eyes gave me a look from head to toe.

He sighed in resignation. "Demian," he said.

I blinked. Demian? That's... that's a nice name.

"I'm Isla," I said and smiled at him.

He chuckled. Cute. "Everyone knows that," he said.

I sat down and patted the space next to me. He sat beside me and I leaned on the railing.

👑👑👑

I SAT beside the princess and she leaned on the railing. What the hell am I doing? I should be mad at her, right? Damn it, Demian. You volunteered to remain here to serve as a spy to help capture the king, not to make romance with the princess!

I cleared my throat. "Princess-"

"Please, just call me Isla." She said and looked at me. I nodded and stared into her violet eyes.

"I-Isla," I said, feeling awkward calling her by her name. "Sorry if I hurt your feelings earlier. I didn't mean to vent out my anger at you."

A hint of sadness remained in her eyes. Shit! Now she's sad.

Wait, why do you care if she's sad? A part of me asked myself.

Uhm, because her eyes aren't that beautiful anymore and its losing is spark if she's sad?

Yeah, right. That's the reason. It sarcastically said.

"It's okay..." Her voice trailed off. "It's true, anyway,"

Awkward silence remained between us. I looked up at the sky and saw the shining stars. I wanted to start a conversation but I'm too shy to speak.

Ugh. What the hell is wrong with me.

"By the way," I gathered all the courage I could to utter at least a word out. "Why are you going here in the middle of the night? Aren't you getting cold?" I asked.

She hugged her knees closed to her chest and rested her chin on them. "I go here every time I can't sleep," she says. "And think about my life."

I furrowed my eyebrows. Why? Does she have a problem?

"You know, I've never had a friend before," she said and titled her head to my direction. "Ever since I was a kid, my parents never let me leave the palace. I was homeschooled up until now."

I listened to her share a part of her life. "Then when I became a teenager, that's where I felt that they were being too overprotective. I really wanted to be a fashion designer, but my father wouldn't want me to pursue my dream. And now, he's arranging a marriage for me to someone," I heard her sob a bit and I looked at her.

"I just wanted to be free, you know?" She said and wiped her face. "I just want to stop being pressured by my responsibilities and stop faking to everyone for a while and take a break from being a princess. I want to live like a normal person," she rambled on, tears falling down her eyes like a waterfall.

Isla hugged herself. I felt something clench inside of me at the sight of her crying. I hate to see girls cry. They don't deserve to cry, ever.

"Hey, don't cry," I said and sat up straight. "Just stay positive, maybe he'll let you go someday," I said, trying to comfort her.

I took out my handkerchief from my pocket and offered it to her. She mumbled a silent thanks and accepted the handkerchief and pressed it to her eyes for a few seconds.

As she wiped her tears, the wind blew again and she rubbed her arms.

I unbuttoned my uniform. "It's cold. Wear this," I removed my uniform, leaving me in a white T-shirt. She looked at my body and blushed then immediately looked away as if I'm a forbidden thing to look at.

I placed the uniform on her shoulders. I leaned back on the railings then suddenly, the door opened.

The both of us immediately stood up. I saw Garrett with the chief guard and three maids whom I guess were Isla's nannies. Both our eyes widened and we looked at each other.

Garrett's eyes widened and his mouth formed into an 'o' shape when he saw me and Isla. The chief guard also seemed shocked but manage to pull off a poker face.

"Uhm," I cleared my throat since Isla looked too embarrassed to say something. It must've been embarrassing for her to be seen by someone like me in the middle of the night in an isolated place. I know she's taught how to be prim and proper, she's a princess after all.

Well, you guys weren't doing anything bad earlier, right? That part of me asked me again.

Shut up.

"Would you mind explaining what is going on?" One of the maids with brunette hair looked at Isla.

Isla blushed. "Uhm, I wanted to talk to him...." She picked with the edges of my uniform. "We weren't doing anything wrong...i-it's not what you think its is.."

"Well, its very unusual to see the princess acting casual around a guard in the middle of the night, in an isolated place," the chief added and we both darted our looks away. Well this is awkward. "Anyway, we came here to look for you, your highness," the chief guard looked at Isla again. "Your maids didn't find you in your room and they brought it to our attention so we looked for you."

"T-thank you," Isla's head was bowed down and she was still blushing as she hurriedly went to her nannies. She looks cute.

I inwardly chuckled and walked to the chief. We let Isla and her nannies go down first before we followed.

"Well, what was that, Mr. Brooke?" The chief guard asked when we reached the barracks.

"Like the princess said, she just summoned me to have a talk," I lied and tried my best to not look too obvious as I stared into his eyes.

The chief gave me a suspicious look and then left.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk. You're here to help capture the king, not to fall in love with the princess," Garrett said when the chief was far enough away from us.

I spared him a sideward glance. "I'm not falling in love with the princess," I said.

"Sure," he said and clapped his hand on my back. "Let's go inside and sleep," he said.