A Journey Of Lost Souls {Tom Holland}

Part 2

The princess felt bad that Tom slept on the floor.

She tried to explain, she really did, but he insisted that she take the small cot in the corner of the room while he took a blanket and a spot on the ground. He even let her have the pillow, which he only had one of. He didn't seem too peeved by this arrangement, but the princess still felt guilty.

She didn't plan to get any sleep tonight. How could she? Not only was she in a stranger's home, vulnerable and afraid, but there were also people chasing after her. And of course, there were the nightmares. Being kidnapped for three months was not something to easily get over.

So, the princess stared up at the ceiling as she listened to the soft snores of the boy on the ground. It gave her time to think, plenty of time to think, really.

She thought about her parents and if they were still searching for her. She thought about the kingdom and how if she revealed her identity, how many people would be willing to help her. She thought about the boy on the ground next to her and if he could truly be trusted. And later in the night, when she was getting extremely tired and no longer in control of the sway of her thoughts, she thought about her time as a prisoner.

She was frustrated. Frustrated with how time moves so slow when you wanted it to move the fastest. It was as if the Earth had begun rotating slower in order to make the sun never reach the horizon, just to mock her.

Sunrise didn't come for a few more tantalizing hours. As the market outside began to start bustling around, Tom naturally woke up. And the princess, of course, pretended to be asleep.

He shuffled around for a bit, went outside and then came back in. When she heard him fumbling with something on the other side of the room, she peeked her curious eyes open for just a moment to see what he was doing. He appeared to be packing a bag of some sort, which made sense considering they would be traveling soon.

When he turned around, the princess quickly shut her eyes.

"Sam, it's time to get up." She heard him say gently.

She fluttered her eyes up as if she were just now waking up. Tom was still packing a bag but he turned his head and gave her a big grin.

"Good morning!" He greeted cheerfully.

She nearly gasped at the kindness. When was the last time someone said 'Good morning' to her? It was relieving, like a fresh breath of air.

So, she braved a smile and said back to him, "Good morning."

—-

Tom was relieved when the girl smiled. He hadn't seen any sort of positive emotion from her until just now and he was beginning to get worried at her everlasting frown.

What could have possibly happened to her?

He knew the question could have multiple answers. Some pretty shady stuff happened around the kingdom, that he was sure of.

He was happy to help, truly. He was mostly just annoyed at the fact that she lived in Ornate, which was on the complete other side of the kingdom. He'd been there a few times, but for the most part, he tried to avoid the place altogether. The Royal Family lived there, and he couldn't stand the Royal Family.

Nonetheless, the frightened girl needed help, so he was going to go. He even thought it might be a good opportunity to see a few of his old friends along the way.

He shouldered the bag he'd been packing full of anything edible in his living space, which wasn't that much. Just a few rolls of bread and some fruit. He had also managed to fill up two canteens of water from the well earlier in the morning.

Tom lead the girl out and the two began their long journey. As they weaved in and out of the city streets, Tom noticed Sam kept very close to him, much like the night before. It was as if she was scared someone would jump out and grab her at any time. Tom's heart involuntarily warmed at the thought of protecting her.

As the city began to fade into a less chaotic setting, the sea was now visible shining against the horizon and that's when he heard a loud gasp. He jumped in surprise; their walk had been silent thus far. He looked over at the girl whose eyes were wide and practically glowing as she gazed over at the brilliantly blue ocean. Tom furrowed his brow.

"That's...that's the ocean!" She gaped.

Tom let out an awkward giggle. "Uh...yeah, we are in Civitasmare."

Her head turned slowly as if this was the biggest news she's heard in years.

"Civitasmare? I've been this close to the ocean this whole time?"

Tom didn't know what to think or what to particularly say. This girl was a complete mystery to him. Had she really never seen the ocean before?

"You didn't know that you were in Civitasmare?" He asked her, trying to see if he can pry some information out of her.

But, her demeanor fell it a solemn look as she gazed downwards, obviously lost in her thoughts. "I...I guess not."

She didn't say anything else. And with a three-week journey ahead of them, Tom didn't want to take a break within the first hour, so they kept moving.

They traveled over the beautiful hilly landscape of the region. The weather was quite perfect, not too hot because over the overcast. After nearly an hour and a half of more silence, Tom was growing antsy at the minimal conversation.

"You don't talk much, do you?" He asked, probably too boldly considering that he understood that she had gone through what must've been a hard time recently.

"Not lately, I don't." She replied simply.

Tom didn't want to push her on the subject of 'lately,' so he decided to stretch back further.

"We are going to Ornate to bring you back to your family, yeah?"

She only nodded in response.

"Tell me about them." He said.

—

The princess felt the bundle of nerves planting roots in her chest and beginning to grow down into her stomach. She couldn't just very well tell the boy about her family without totally blowing her identity, so she stretched the truth a bit.

"Well, my father is a bit of...uh... commanding type. He's kind of bossy, but he still loves me and my mother very much. And my mother, well...she's the kindest woman you'd ever meet," she explained, much to her own surprise that she already felt comfortable enough to talk to Tom.

Tom nodded and then asked, "What are their occupations?"

The princess' stomach tingled a bit at the question, but she smoothly followed with, "My father is a merchant, my mother- a seamstress."

Tom was just about to ask her another question, but because she was worried about revealing something about herself, she decided to flip the conversation over to him.

"What about you?" She said quickly.

His eyes widened like he wasn't expecting that, even though he should've assumed that she'd eventually ask him. He just didn't think it'd be so abruptly.

"Well, uh...I suppose it's just me. No family to really talk about."

The princess immediately felt horrible. "Oh," was all she said.

—

And the mysterious boy and the secretive girl continued on their way in silence.