Saving Her Kingdom

♡ Chapter 4

Thomas and Gabriel's outfit's ^^

*Edited*

Chapter 4

I walked hurriedly on the path, still in the middle of the forest. I don't have any time to lose or I'll be late again. The sun was up in the sky, and I knew it was probably already midday. I had an hour left.

Suddenly, I heard shouts, neighing of horses and hooves slamming on the ground. Oh, damn. Just my luck, I thought begrudgingly. The hunt.

I quickly hid behind a large tree, and waited for them to come, hearing them getting closer. Gathering my skirts, I tried to make myself as little as possible. I wanted to take a peek, but I needed to keep being unnoticed. It would be hard to explain why a maid like me wandered alone in the middle of the forest. I knew it was an unladylike thing to do, and also quite weird for a maid, but as long as only Lisbeth knew, I didn't care about it.

I waited as they passed by me, my heart hammering in my chest. When I heard them continuing and getting further, I risked peeking from behind my tree.

The sight was astonishing. At least twenty-five cavalrymen were trotting on the path, each of them with a rifle in their hand. They were all wearing uniforms with the Tannersons crest on it. I also saw several dogs preceding and following them. I slowly walked back to the path.

"I admit, that's quite a sight," I heard a deep voice say behind me.

I gasped and turned around panicked. It was prince Gabriel and he was looking down at me with an amused smirk. He lifted an eyebrow a millimeter when he saw that I was still gaping at him. I closed my mouth before I could continue making a fool of myself and curtsied. "I'm sorry, your Highness, I didn't know you were still here." I kept looking at the floor.

He chuckled. "It's alright, I saw you just before you hid, so I waited for you to come out."

I was completely mortified. Not only did he see me with his siblings, but he saw me hiding from them in the middle of the forest! I was at loss for words and I could feel my hands becoming sweaty. "Uh... well, I-I can explain, your Highness... You see, I didn't want everyone to see me..."

He chuckled. "What did you do? Why were you hiding? Are you afraid from us?", he asked very amused.

He kept watching me smirking more and more widely. When I realized he was getting amused seeing me embarrassing myself, I regained my composure.

I narrowed my eyes and huffed. "You are enjoying this, your Highness," I stated.

"Very much," he laughed.

I sighed, frustrated, and tried my best to keep being polite. "Well, if you'll please excuse me, I'd like to keep going, or I'll be late, your Highness."

He laughed again. "Now I see why my siblings like having you around. You're quite entertaining."

"Right." I was getting even more frustrated, but I kept my cool.

"You know, a lot of girls are intimidated by my presence, or they try to get my attention."

I didn't respond and began walking. He climbed down his horse and walked beside me.

"But not you."

I still didn't respond. He chuckled. "Oh, we're going to be great friends."

Really? I could feel myself smiling against my will.

"So, I'll introduce myself. My name is Gabriel, but you can call me Gaby," he said, and then added, "Consider this a favor, not a lot of people get to call me that way. And forget the formalities when we're in private, it's annoying."