A princess longing to get away, and one knight who happens to be in the right place at the right time- or wrong place, wrong time... depending on how you look at it.

What will the two do? How will they get by? And, most of all, will they stick together?

Caylene pulled the velvet robe that was, tied around her shoulders, up over her head. She had a bag of what felt like 10 pounds of gold coins that she had stolen from the castle. Her walk was quick and silent. She couldn't disturb some of the sleeping guards and she hoped that she could escape from the castle grounds without any interference from anyone. She was planning on leaving the village and hopefully finding a place far away from the castle. She knew her father would be searching for her nonstop, but she couldn't stay there. Not anymore.

A small warm tear feel down her pale cheek as she descended down the spiraling staircase that she would normally be going up to enter her room. So far so good, she thought to herself. A rock that had chipped from the wall suddenly starting clicking down the staircase. She bit her bottom lip and finally reached the bottom of the stairs. She was finally about to take the final turn until she would be at the small back door she would be using to exit.

Alister walked through the palace halls as quietly as possible. For a knight, that was a trick, considering a knight never removed his armor outside his chambers; however, Alister had become quite accomplished at this task, and seeing as there were no wars in need of him, he patrolled the castle, making sure things were safe at night. This particular corridor was his to patrol, because this was where the princess slept, up at the top of the spiral staircase that was ahead of him. It was a great honour to be charged with guarding any member of the royal family.

He shook his medium length light brown hair from his eyes and perused the empty corridor with his amber eyes. That's when he heard it- something tumbled down the staircase. It sounded like it could have been a rock, which meant someone was on the stairs to the princess' chamber. Silently he drew his sword and stealthily approached the turn by the stairs that would lead to the outside. He waited around the corner; he would take the intruder from behind and take care of them from here.

Caylene finally reached the bottom of the staircase. She had hoped that know knight was guarding her corridor that night. she brushed back her blonde hair from her face and realized that the final turn was about to be taken. She sighed in relief when she saw that no knight appeared to be around this area. Hesitating for a minute, she finally turned the corner and saw the door she would be using to escape. Okay Cay, this is it. You have to do this. She thought to herself, "I'm sorry father and mother.. but.. I can't stay here..I can't live like this anymore." This time she said this aloud, but very quietly. She could barely even hear her own voice. She was trying to comfort herself, and she did feel guilty for having to do this to her own family, but she knew what she said was the truth. She couldn't live like this anymore. his wasn't her life, it was theirs.

Alister waited, sword out, silently still. He knew the intruder was near, and he thought he heard them say something, but they were too quiet to hear. That wasn't completely important at the moment. When they began to walk again, and when they just barely walked past him, Alister jumped out and grabbed the intruder across the shoulders and held the blade to their neck, "Who are-" he began to ask, but when he noticed the intruder was female, he looked a bit closer to recognize her... "Princess?!" he whispered loudly, letting go of her immediately, "What are you doing up at this hour?"

It was highly unusual for any member of the royal family to be up at that time. He couldn't imagine what she would be doing. And to think, he could have just almost killed the princess... Shame and embarrassment were already starting to set in.

Caylene nearly let out a scream as she knight grabbed her. Noo.. I'm done for it..I'll never be able to leave.. She struggled for a second and nearly fell when she knight let her go. She straightened her body and turned to face the knight. She was trying to think up an excuse, trying to find a way past him. She thought about giving him an order, to leave.. but knights only obey the King, and surely this knight would only be made more curious if she did try to order him. She knew she had to think of something and quick.
"I..I.." She hesitated and shook her head, "Oh just please let me be.. let me go.." She could feel the tears forming around her eyes. "Don't try to stop me!" She didn't know what to say, so she could only say the truth. She didn't have any excuse, she was just hoping that no guard was out tonight. A small tear streamed down one of her cheeks.

The knight was taken aback by what she was saying, "You want to leave?" he asked, astonished. He had never heard of a memeber of the royal family trying to leave before... This was odd. He looked at her tears, which confused Alister even further. He looked at her, then around, "You'll never get past the guards at the entrance to the grounds alone. You'll need my help." he told her. It was true, they wouldn't let her out alone, if at all, but the weird thing was he was offering to help her escape. If he did, he would never be able to return... but she must have a good reason for wanting to leave...

Caylene glanced up at him, her ocean blue eyes now full of curiosity.
"You are willing to help me?" She asked quietly. "But why? Why would you put your job, more importantly your life at risk to help me?" She didn't want this knight to have to leave because of her, but she also didn't want him to turn her in and she knew that she could use his help to begin with for she doesn't know much about the town that surrounds the castle, but how far would this knight go? Would he just take lead her out and then abandon her? She was planning on being alone, but as she thought about all the things that she couldn't do on her own it made her scared.

He looked back into her eyes. There was something in them that Alister recognized, a certain emotion he had seen and felt before, but it was one he couldn't name. He looked between her eyes as he looked for the proper way to responed, to answer, "If you want to leave, you must have a good reason, avery good reason. I want to help." he told her. "Now, we won't have much time. If we're going to leave, we need to go now." he said. He himself still couldn't believe what he was doing. He was risking everything for a princess he had never met... but it was his duty, wasn't it? To protect and aid the royal family. Sure, that could be his reasoning.

"Thank you very much, knight." She didn't know his name, but she knew there was no time. They had to hurry and make it into the forest that was about 10 yards from the castle courtyard. "We need to get into the cover of the trees." She knew the yard would soon be covered in knights after her disappearance is discovered. She couldn't take the chance that a servant may wonder into her room like they did so often to check in on her. Lately it has seemed as though they come in every night. Caylene had been showing signs of depression around the castle, worrying the King and her mother. They often sent servants to check on her. It was only a matter of time now.

((I think my avatar kind looked like my character xD))

Alister nodded, "Let's go then." he said, walking towards the exit, "When we get to the guards at the entrance, let me do most of the talking." he said, "It will be easier for me to convince them." he explained, leading her from the castle. It wasn't long till they had crossed the courtyard and reached the guards' post.

They looked at the two with suspicion and instantly Alister explained, "The princess was having trouble sleeping. She requested I take her for a walk around the outside of the palace." It wasn't unheard of. When the queen wasn't able to sleep, she used to have a knight do the same thing, so the guards weren't so quick to disbelieve him.

They looked at the princess and then back to the knight and nodded, "So long as you have her back by the time the king awakes." they told him. Alister nodded once, in understanding not agreement, "I understand." Had he agreed to bring her back, he would have been bound by his oath to do so. He wasn't about to add insult to injury by breaking the oath a second time.
With that, Alister nodded to the princess and sauntered past the guards.


((Haha, hey, you're right. xP ))

The princess smiled, "Thank you for helping me knight." She knew the guards could hear her still, "I am really thankful that you are here for me whenever I can not sleep. It would honor me if you became one of my personal guards during my life." She was honestly asking him for his help throughout their adventure. She knew it would be hard by herself. She did know a few tricks, but she could not defend herself well. She had stolen enough gold coins to get them by for a long time, but eventually they would run out.

She walked beside the knight, enjoying her sudden freedom. They had made it and she finally sighed in relief as they were far enough away from the guards, "We should hit the forest soon. We can stay hidden by the trees until we hit the next town. There we can stay and rest for the night. I plan to get as far as I possibly can away from here, so we can not stay in a town so close to the castle. Of course when we do reach the town, I will have to try and hide my face to the best of my ability." She sighed. There was still some planning to do.

The knight smiled at the princess, "I am honored to help you, milady, and I would be even more honored to aid you in any way you need." he smiled, bowing slightly as they walked. He wasn't sure if she meant for her actual life or if she was just putting on a good show. So, he waited to be out of the guard's earshot to ask, "Was that a serious request though?" he whispered.

He nodded, impressed by her quickly thought of plan, "You would be correct. though, we could say you're a stand in for the princess, should we find need. We could also say you're a member of the princess' court, or one of the servants, if you feel it acceptable to stoop so low..." he agreed. He had to wonder then, "How long have you been planning this?"

"I might need your assistance sometimes, so having you around would be nice.. and I would like the company." She smiled warmly as they entered the dark shadows of the forest, which meant they were finally out of sight. She could only hope that everything would go according to plan.

"I've been thinking about this day.. for.. well awhile now." She thought for a moment, "Yes... perhaps a year now?" She cleared her throat quickly, "I do not want to have any ties with royalty actually.. because in all honesty I do know I have the looks of royalty and once word gets around of the disappearing princess people will be looking for me. They will sell me back for money or just hope for a reward. So if anyone gets suspicious, they will not hesitate to take me." She sighed. It was the truth, this world was no fairy tale and the people were either poor or thieves, rogues or merchants who rip others off.

Alister nodded, "I'd be happy to accompany and assist you, Princess... After all, I have no life left anymore anyway. Especially when they make the connection that I was the one who aided you out of the castle." he sighed. He truly had just ruined his own life by saving her from hers. "Perhaps you should think of a name to be called by, so no one knows you are the princess." he suggested, "And a new cover story." he smiled a little bit.

She sighed, "I'm sorry about your job. You should have just let me go and not help me. I could have escaped on my own.. somehow." She shook her head again, she knew it would have been almost impossible to leave without him there. "I can just go by Cayli. It's what my grandmother used to call me when I was a little girl. She still does occasionally. I am going to miss her dearly." Caylene sighed sadly and wiped a small tear away from her eye.

Alister laughed lightly, "You would not have made it and you know it, milady. It was much more painless this way. And I can survive." he reassured her. He listened to her new alias and nodded, "Cayli, alright. I can stick to my own name, seeing as knights usually are only called by their surname... But we're going to need new ones of those as well. And still, a cover story. Are we related or something?" he asked her. This was her idea, her planning, so he might as well let her make the big decisions. He would go along with just about anything she said.


((Sorry the reply took so long, I got caught up in college. n_n;; ))