Wrongly in Love

5- Recall

Gusion flashed her a grin, revealing pearly white teeth. He puffed out his chest, expecting Guinevere to look at him in awe, praise him, or at least thank him endlessly for his brave rescue back at the bar.

But instead, this Baroque just shoved Gusion aside and cackled.

"Goo-Shawn! That name sounded so stupid. Well, as you should have known, Goo, I am perfectly capable of protecting myself. UNTIL, you come inside like some brave knight in shining armour, to rescue a poor, helpless, damsel in distress. No, thank you, dagger boy. So stick your daggers where they belong, mister."

Gusion's face, which had been so full of pride, turned into a frown. Instead of thanking him, this ungrateful Baroque is just unreasonable! He glared at her.

"Well, in that case, I should've left you to die in that bar if I'd known I'd get in return a whiny, ungrateful princess. Besides, instead of whining, you should've been grateful I saved your life! And now I have to deal with this princess. God dammit, what have I done?"

Guinevere smiled, a horrible, fake smile. "AHA! You dare expect me to thank you and to follow your orders! You dare expect a princess you faints in your arms and kisses your bum! Well, Shawn, I'm different. I'm independent, dagger boy."

"Yeah, 'cause you looked so independent back at the bar," Gusion snorted.

Guinevere kicked him. Repeatedly.

"Ouch! That kick totally caught me off guard!" Gusion said sarcastically. But just then, Guinevere kicked her hardest yet.

"Ouch, you gorilla of a princess!"

"It totally caught you off guard, hmm?" Guinevere looked at him, rolling her eyes.

Gusion sighed. "Got it right, Baroque."
He bent down to make a fire, but without success. As he rubbed sticks and stones hopelessly, Guinevere smirked. A few hours passed until Guinevere couldn't take it anymore.

"I thought these daggers were magic? Couldn't you make a fire with them?" Guinevere toyed one of his daggers as he rubbed two stones. By then, the sky was a mass of pink and orange.

"Because making a fire is so easy using daggers," said Gusion. Guinevere dropped his dagger. Curious and angry, she interrogated rudely, "What the hell do you mean?"

"Manners, Baroque," Gusion said, "Well, magic has its limits. For example, these daggers might magical, but they're used for battles mostly. You can't just make your weapons cook or sew pretty dresses- Oh, thank God for the fire! I was trying for a few hours already."

The fire was blazing higher and higher, lighting up the starry dark sky. As Guinevere looked up, she wondered where Lancelot would be. She hoped he would be alright. Tearing her eyes away from the night sky, she looked at Gusion. He was caressing his daggers. When he saw her looking at him, he smirked. "Perhaps we should get some food to eat, Baroque."

"I'll go find some." Guinevere said. After all the times she'd been through her runaway plan, you'd think she already thought of food! Cursing herself, she scurried towards the nearby trees and bushes, using her Super Magic to light the way.

As Guinevere searched the bushes for berries and nuts they can eat, she thought of Gusion. And her response to his name. Had she been truly unreasonable? She didn't know.

Thump. Something hit her head from above. She looked up and saw a bunch of shiny red apples hanging low over her. Guinevere picked these apples and went back to Gusion, who had nearly fallen asleep. With a jolt, he stood up. Spotting Guinevere, he grinned. "Nice job getting those apples, Baroque."

Guinevere smiles back, even if it was just apples. There are just some things you can't help smiling for.

After their dinner of apples, they each sat on a log in awkward silence. Gusion was the first to break it. "Sorry, Baroque."

Guinevere looked at him, surprised. "What? Why?"

"I took you away from the castle even though I knew you were a princess. I was so stupid. I will take you to the castle the next morning."

Guinevere blanched. "No, don't!"
Gusion stared at her. "Why, Baroque?"

Then all of a sudden it exploded out of Guinevere. The next thing she knew, she was confessing her plan to Gusion. "Well, as you see, running away had been my plan in the first place. I was arranged to get married to this Paxley, which I guess is your brother or cousin or whatever. But then, I didn't like it, so I went down the village to plan my runaway escape." She sobbed.

Gusion patted her awkwardly on the back. "Well, guess your father's King Leodegrance, right?"

Guinevere nodded, eyes filled with tears (and she didn't know why).

"Well, look at the bright side. You're away from all these "arranged marriage" drama, so when you get back to the castle, you'll get used to it. It's fine, Guinevere- everyone has something to hate at home sometimes."

Guinevere wiped her eyes. "Oh, well, it's getting late." She looks at Gusion. "Shawn?"

"Yeah?"

She looked at him, eyes glistening.
"Thank you. And I'm sorry."

Gusion put his hands in his pocket. "Well, you're welcome, Baroque. And why're you calling me Shawn?"

"'Cause I thought your name was Goo and a Shawn."

Gusion looked at her in disbelief. Then he roared in laughter. "Goo Shawn! That's the stupidest name I've ever heard!" He smiled kindly at Guinevere. "It's Gusion. G-U-S-I-O-N."

"Haha, Gusion. I must've been so stupid to think that."

They both fell into fits of laughter. Then Guinevere frowned. It seemed like she had heard that name before! Gusion... Gusion... that name sounded familiar.... then...

"YOU'RE THE PAXLEY EXILE!"

The words echoed through the woods. Creatures peeked behind the bushes. Gusion froze, turned pink, and looked away. Guinevere bit her lip, wishing she hadn't said anything.

"I'm- I'm sorry, Pax- I mean, person with no surname," she said.

Gusion smiles sadly. "It's fine, Baroque."

"You can call me Gwen. Or Guinevere."

Gusion gets some blankets from a old bag that Guinevere hadn't noticed before. With a yawn, he turned to Guinevere. "Well, Baroque, looks like we'd have to sleep on moldy logs."

"No, no, no trouble at all," Guinevere replied as they settle into blankets. Once again, she stared at the sky. She's find her brother Lancelot one day, she told herself. After all, in one day, it seemed like Life has many surprises in store for her! She smiled.

Gusion snored, bringing Guinevere back to reality. At last, her came a person who understood her. A friend.
She whispered softly.

"Good night, Gusion."

Then she turned to fall asleep. It had been one of the best and craziest days of her life- even if a royal like her had to sleep on moldy logs.