Jonathan sighed. "Well, I guess we're riding in silence then. I do personally find that boring though." He looked out at the trees that lined the dirt road closely. "Such a road like this," he mused. "would be a likely spot for bandits to ambush a weak traveling party. That would certainly spice things up a bit."

((I'm going to sleep now!))

Lillian didn't quite understand why this man wanted to talk so much. She was paying attention to the road in front of her though. About two miles in front of them was a bridge. Straight was the path but Lillian noticed something on the ground ahead of them. She pulled on her horse's reins to try to stop the animal. "Whoa!" The horse stopped and Lillian called out to Jonathan, "Watch out! There's a rope!"

Jonathan looked down, his eyes going wide as he jerked back on the reins. His horse skid away from the rope, its hoaves just barely missing it. "That can't be good!" he exclaimed, his horse quicly backpeddling as its nostrils flared. "We should get out of here quick!" Movement in the trees caused him to look to the right sharply. "I was kidding when I said I wanted bandits to spice things up!!" he groaned.

Lillian saw movement in the trees and carefully chided her horse to walk over the rope. She thought she was going to make it when a man jumped out in front of her.

"Halt if you value your lives," he said pointing a sword at Lillian.

"Okay, I've halted," Lillian stated. She wasn't threatened by the sword but If another man was still in the trees with a crossbow, they were in trouble.

"Now why don't you hand over all yer valuables? Then we can all be on our merry way," the man stated as another man came out of the trees and headed towards Jonathan holding out a bag.

"Put all your money in there," the first man said.

Lillian prayed Jonathan wouldn't do anything stupid. But then again, he was a prince.

Jonathan looked over at Lillian. "I told you we should've gotten out of here." He then looked down at the bandit for a second and then kicked the bag away. "Sorry, we don't have any valuables," he said, letting his ridding cloak shift a bit so it showed his sword at his waist. "Get lost while you have the chance.

the bandit smirked at him and unsheathed a long dagger. "You'll regret saying that!" he snarled.

Lillian saw the dagger and her mind started racing She glanced at the forest and saw no other movement in it. She then did the one thing that was a hit or miss in this situation. She leaned forward on her horse and screamed. The horse surprised at the action flinched and took off running. Thankfully towards the bridge as Lillian had planned.

The bandits panicked at the sudden departure of the girl. As Lillian suspected these were amateurs, not exactly used to fighters. The dagger had given it away. It hadn't shined in the sun so there was rust on the blade. Not something you used to fight with. She hoped Jonathan would take that chance and run off while the bandits were confused.

Jonathan rolled his eyes. "Hiya!" he shouted at his horse and it reared up, nearly trampling the bandit near him and the horse took off after Lillian, leaving the bandit's stuttering and looking slightly confused. His horse raced out over the bridge and Jonathan looked at Lillian. "I suppose that was a good idea..." he grumbled. "But it's not like we couldn't have fought them easily. My sword play is getting rusty and I need a good practice."

"Look, those weren't worth your time," Lillian stated, "We'll have bigger problems later." She them muttered, "One's who won't be tricked as easily." She then chided her horse so it was a bit behind Jonathan. She didn't feel like arguing with someone so willing to start a fight.

Jonathan sighed. "I know, this is just a lousy mission. And bandits like those desearve to be whipped out! They're pathetic blights on the human race leeching off good people," he said with conviction.

Lillian then decided to tell Jonathan what he should be like about a quest like this, "Adventures have flight and fight situations. There are also times that are calm. I think you should consider yourself lucky to have this much of a break so far. When we tread into other kingdoms we're going to have lots of trouble." She was now correcting the prince. Oh well, let's make use of it now and continue the rant. "Half of bandits take so they can just give it to someone else. You forgot that I'm somewhat like one of those 'pathetic blights' as you say," she didn't like the insult. Whether he knew what he said or didn't.

Jonathan glared at her. "You have no right to tell me how I should think!" he snapped. "This land is my kingdom and it's my duty to to protect every inhabitant even if I won't be king. That's why people like you end up in the dungeon in the first place!" He wasn't going to take this kind of abuse from some little girl criminal. Things between them had been pretty smooth so far, but he had to remember that she was just a criminal.

"What if people need protection from you?" Lillian softly said. This is why she didn't like conversation while traveling. Songs were okay. Stories were okay. But conversing was not okay in her book.

Jonathan looked at Lillian sharply, searching her eyes. He grunted and looked away quickly, glowering, but saying nothing. He flicked his reins to get a little bit more distance between them as he glared straight ahead, avoiding looking at her.

Lillian was somewhat glad that Jonathan stopped the conversation. She was also upset at herself, knowing that she would be spending a long time with him. She'd make it up to him eventually. It was only a matter of time when he would need her help. She knew the ropes of the world outside a palace. She was under the impression that he didn't.

Some time later that afternoon, Jonathan slowed his horse to a stop. A river ran to their left and trees provided cover and would conceal them from the road. "We will stop her to rest and eat lunch," was all he said before dismounting and leading his horse to some nice graze and tying the reins to a tree.

Lillian followed suit, but not before checking her surroundings. She didn't like the fact of getting ambushed. Seeing it was safe she tied her horse to the same tree as Jonathan's. She grabbed some food from the parcel on her horse and walked to the side of the river. She sat down on the grass and ate a piece of dried meat.

Jonathan sat a short ways from her, his eyes constantly flicking over their surroudings as he eat tensly. He had a bad feeling right now and he didn't know if it was just his lousy mood or a sign of something bad to come.

Lillian was glad for the calm and quiet. She watched the small fish in the river swim around as their scales shimmered in the sunlight. She took her hand and ran it through the grass. It felt good to sit on it again. She had been in that dungeon for a long time. The outside air was a comfort to her. A gentle breeze made the noonday sun more bearable. Despite the argument that had passed between the two, Lillian was genuinely happy.

She was also glad that the soldiers were gone. They would have not wanted to stop and if they had stopped they would have wanted to leave just as quickly. The peace and happiness Lillian was feeling would not have been there if the soldiers had come with them.

((going to bed now, night))

Jonathan laid back on the grass, staring at the sky and sunlight flickering between the leaves. Unconsciously, he twisted a small blue ring on one of his fingers. "This is a good place to rest huh?" he muttered. The beauty and peace made him wish he could spend more time outside instead of studying in the palace.

"Well yeah," Lillian stated. She didn't know what else to say. She then remembered the name thing, "Since it's going to be a long trip we might as well know each other's names. Mine's Lillian," She said expecting Jonathan to give her his name.

Jonathan blinked in surprise and turned to look at her. "Oh, I completely forgot we hadn't exchanged names. Well Lillian, I am Jonathan the second son of the king."

Lillian laughed, "Well it wouldn't do us good calling each other 'theif' and 'prince' during the entire trip."

He chuckled softly. "I suppose not, but it seemed to have been working out alright that way," Jonathan said. He sat up and moved closer to the river's edge, trailing a hand in the water. He could feel the power of the water as it flowed over his hand; flowed into him and for a second, his face looked very peaceful.

Lillian got up and took her shoes off placing them on the ground. She walked into the edge of the river and let the water swim around her. If felt good to be near water. It had been a while since she'd had a proper bathing. Next time, when it wasn't so bright outside she might consider taking one. For now she was content in letting the river clean her feet.

"Maybe so," Lillian said, "But I'd rather not be called thief. It doesn't bode well." She looked at Jonathan's hand in the water, "Do you like water or something?" She had also noticed the look on his face.

"Hm?" Jonathan said, jerking himself from his thoughts and pulling his hand from the river. "Yes, the water is very special to me," he said, though he didn't elaborate. Instead he chose to respond to her other comment. "I'll keep it in mind not to call you a little thief then, Lillian," He chuckled, gazing at the water.