Dakota watched as Magnolia shut her eyes and let her long wavy hair fly into her face as the wind surrounded the both of them, the large stems and tall grass strands whipping around them wildly. He reached up with his left arm and slowly tucked a large lock of hair behind her ear along with a large white daisy, and she slowly opened her big eyes on him as his hand lingered on her cheek.

Magnolia's eyes traced his arm, suddenly noticing the large scars covering his tan skin. She gasped, reaching for his wrist. "What-"

Dakota tugged back his arm, shaking his head at her. Magnolia stared at him and how desperately he was trying to avoid this conversation. Finally, he let out a long sigh and explained.

"A cut for each year that has passed since I... ran." He said, searching her eyes.

Magnolia saddened her eyes, slowly and gently grabbing his wrist again and pulling it toward her stomach. There were four. Four years. She ran her thumb over each one, wondering how many secrets Dakota was hiding. He was torturing himself for running, even though running was second nature to him. Ducking her head down, she brushed her lips across them, kissing each scar softly.

Dakota watched her intently, his heart slowing as he felt her lips crawl against his skin. Too soon, she pulled away, to instead grab at Dakota's waistband. She quickly grabbed his knife, lowering it to her own arm.

"No." Dakota's voice was filled with fear as he grabbed her wrist that held the knife tightly. He feared she would end up just like him, and he didn't want the regret to stick with her as it did with him. The scars were a reminder, and not a nice one. It reminded him of who he was, and who he would always be.

"No." He repeated again, loosening his grip a bit. Magnolia slowly raised her eyes up to his, and he could no longer control himself. Fast, he ducked his head and pressed his lips up onto hers, placing a hand on her lower back. Lowering her into the grass, his hand slowly sliding the knife out of her fingers until it was no longer there and his hand took it's place.

Magnolia smiled against his lips, which made him go even crazier. He kissed her like she was air and he was out of breath, unable to control his thoughts or actions. Magnolia slid her fingers in and out of his, her other hand sliding up his chest and running through his hair.

His lips moved across hers until they both were out of breath and he backed away about an inch, leaving them both gasping for the same air. The sun had descended completely, the moon glistening on Magnolia, enhancing the color of her smooth skin. Dakota didn't want to do anything else but feel her touch as he lowered his head once more.

"Easy there, bad boy." Magnolia whispered against his lips, a smile forming against hers. His eyes watched her smile grow, his breath slowing, his body finally relaxing.

"I feel like I'm losing my mind. What are you doing to me, Princess?" Magnolia watched the words slip out of his mouth, and she let out a small laugh, sliding her hand down his chest. Forcing himself to back off of her, he exhaled, laying down next to her and staring up at the stars.

There was a long silence but it seemed fitting as they both accepted what had just happened. As the air got cooler, Magnolia huddled herself into a ball against Dakota, resting her head on his chest. Dakota sighed, wrapping an arm around her protectively to provide more warmth. His fingers tickled her as they ran up and down her small upper arm and shoulder.

The stars blinked down at them and it felt as if they were the only ones in the kingdom. The feeling was nice, but Magnolia knew it wasn't real.

"I don't want to go back." Magnolia whispered, the statement surprising her.

"You're not going to. I won't let you. If I have to tie you to a tree, I will." Dakota's deep voice sent shivers up her arms. She giggled softly, "I don't think you need to do that."

Dakota smiled, sighing. "You sure? For some odd reason I don't trust you when you say that."

Magnolia sat up, her hair falling to the side of Dakota's head as she gazed down at him questionably, "You don't trust me?"

He smiled dangerously, "Never. You scare me, Princess."

Magnolia bit her lip, bending down and brushing her lips across his, soft and quick. "How about you just keep your eyes on me at all times... Just in case."

"I already do that." He smirked, eyes falling down her body. Magnolia held back a laugh, falling down beside him. Dakota turned to his side, resting his hand on her stomach and scooting her closer to himself. Magnolia laid in the curve of his body as he ran his fingers down her arm and threaded them through hers.

"How about I just keep you so close that you can't escape." He murmured in her ear softly.

"Hm, okay." Magnolia said sleepily, as she fell asleep in his arms.

 

The next morning, they travelled farther away from the castle and its horrors. Arrow, the large wolf, followed Magnolia everywhere, as if he owed her his life, which he did. He limped along with everyone, Slate giving him a glance every now and then. Dakota's eyes never wavered from her, and he noticed immediately when her large lash wounds were paining her back, telling everyone to take a break. Magnolia shot him a glare but he just smiled at her.

Magnolia didn't rest though. She walked up to Brylee, who looked at her with a confused gaze.

"Teach me how to fight." Magnolia demanded, chucking her backpack at the ground. Brylee smiled amusingly, "What?"

"Teach me."

She set down her things, holding back a laugh, "You've got to be joking."

"No..."

"Ha, okay. This outta be fun." Brylee handed her a ponytail holder, and Magnolia put her hair up high.

"Well, let's see what you got. Hit me." Brylee said, standing there, waiting for her fist.

Magnolia hesitated. "What? I'm not going to hit you."

"Oh my God. This is worse than I thought." Brylee rubbed her forehead, already impatient.

"Magnolia, hit me."

"No!"

"I guess you do belong in the castle after all... Maybe we should take you back right now and hand you over to your dad so-" There it was. Magnolia threw her fist, but Brylee caught it before it could even touch her face.

"That's better." Brylee smiled.

"You knew that would make me hit you." Magnolia said, realization hitting her hard.

"Uh, yeah. I'm not stupid." Brylee said, releasing her wrist. Magnolia stared at her in awe as Brylee began to teach her.

"First, you have to make your punch quicker. It was literally like in slow- motion. You can't give your opponent time to catch your wrist, or even worse, hit you before your fist hits them."

"Okay."

"Second thing, don't take that useless step toward your opponent before you hit them. That literally gives them the sign you're about to attack." Brylee waited, and Magnolia nodded in response.

"Once you hit the person, God-willing, use that time to disarm them in whatever weapon they're holding. Okay, let's just try this out." Brylee reached down and grabbed her gun, taking out the ammo.

Magnolia kept her feet planted as she tossed a faster fist at Brylee, who ducked, tackling Magnolia by the legs. Magnolia slammed into the dirt, groaning in pain. Angry, she grabbed Brylee's ponytail, yanking her head backward, and throwing a punch right into her forehead. Brylee didn't flinch, just lifted her legs on top of Magnolia's arms, so that Magnolia couldn't move an inch under Brylee as she lifted her fist and-

"What in the devil's name are you doing, Brylee?" Dakota charged over, seeing Magnolia under Brylee's hold. Dakota threw Brylee off of Magnolia sending her tumbling into the dirt as he helped Magnolia up.

"Are you okay?" Dakota searched Magnolia's face, before turning back to Brylee, furious.

"No, Dakota, it's fine! I asked her to teach me." Magnolia defended, causing Dakota to turn back to her, "Teach you how to fight?"

"Yes." She nodded, glancing at Brylee, who was brushing dirt off her legs.

"Why? And it didn't look like she was teaching you! More like attacking you! You two are done here." Dakota shouted, looking back at Brylee.

"You should not have done that, Bry. You knew she wasn't a match for you." He said, growling at her.

"Maybe you should stop protecting your precious little princess for once and let her live her own life." Brylee shot back, walking away from the conversation.

Dakota ran an angry hand through his hair, slowly glancing at Magnolia, who was not happy.

"She was being nice, Dakota. I need to learn how to fight so that I can-"

"So that you can what, Maggs?" He shook his head, his eyes searching hers intensely.

"Protect myself! I hate being the fragile cargo, the one that everyone needs to protect because she can't do a single thing to help herself, or anyone else." She shouted, raising her voice. Dakota's shoulders relaxed and he cursed under his breath, "I'm sorry, Maggs. I didn't mean to-"

"I know exactly what you meant." Magnolia jogged away from him, reaching Brylee and tackling her once more. Brylee smirked, before continuing their fight and telling Magnolia everything she was doing wrong. They went on for hours, until Brylee finally noticed some huge improvement.

 

Hudson built a fire, and everyone surrounded it. Magnolia was holding a cold rag to her nose, which was bleeding. Brylee had a few bruises herself, but not as bad as Magnolia. Magnolia accepted the pain, though, reminding herself that she knew how to fight now. Bruises and cuts aligned her arms and legs, her ponytail falling out, sprawling hair around her face. Dakota watched her as he stood against a tree, feeling the warmth of the fire from where he was.

Magnolia held one hand on the rag and one on Arrow, petting his fur carefully. Slate fell asleep on River's shoulder, and Phoenix snorted, "Watch him drool."

River shook her head, defensively, "He doesn't drool in his sleep."

"And you would know." Brylee muttered, and everyone laughed but Phoenix, who scowled.

Magnolia nodded silently every time Dakota asked if she was okay, which was literally every other minute. The fire was almost diminished, the warmth dying away. She eventually slowly got up, tossing the cloth away and heading to her tent. Dakota eyed her as she ducked inside, and he watched her silhouette lay down to sleep.

Magnolia immediately fell asleep from tiredness and weary, letting her dreams return.

 

Six months before Prince Evan got ill, Magnolia and Evan had gone on a horse ride away from the castle for a day. Magnolia straddled her horse, one leg on each side, her white dress swaying behind her in the wind. "Father would kill me if he saw this." She muttered, and Evan nodded.

"Good thing he won't!" He shouted, and began riding off into the hills. Magnolia giggled, riding after him quickly. Her hair flew behind her, perfect curls flapping wildly behind her. She closed her eyes for a few seconds, breathing in the scent of freedom. She heard Evan laugh ahead of her as he stopped his horse and jumped off.

He helped Magnolia off, grabbing her small hand and letting her see over one of the large hills and into the kingdom. Merindal Kingdom was twenty-five percent trees, and that was the first thing Magnolia laid her eyes on. She loved the woods, even though she had never been. Beyond that were many small homes and buildings that surrounded the trees and small creeks.

"I love it." She looked at Evan, who was nodding in agreement.

"Are you ever lonely, Maggie?" Evan asked suddenly, catching Magnolia off guard.

"Um... Not really. I got you and that's all I need." She smiled up at him but he didn't return the smile.

"That's kind, sis, but I mean have you ever thought about marrying?" He asked.

"What? Ew. No thanks."

Then he smiled, "Oh, come on. There will be someone, Maggie. And I hope he will give you the love you deserve."

"Um, thanks. But no thanks."

"No, really. I don't want you to be forced into a marriage. I want you to have the freedom to choose, Maggie. And you will know who it is, once you meet him."

Magnolia sighed, trying to listen to her older brother but could really not imagine being with anyone. She liked being independent.

"Not right now. But maybe in the future right?" He asked.

"Maybe." Magnolia responded.

 

Magnolia shot up from the ground, a single tear running down her face. Quickly, she rubbed it away, glancing at the small white daisy Dakota had tucked behind her ear a night ago. Magnolia silently crawled out of her tent and into the cold dark air. She slowly found Dakota's tent and ducked inside carefully. He was sprawled out on the ground, his breath steady and his gray shirt bunched up on his shoulders. His long dark hair was flopped onto his forehead, shadowing his closed eyes.

She curled up beside him silently, trying not to wake him. But it failed as she heard him rustle and sigh beside her.

"Hey there." He whispered in her ear, and pulled her close to himself. Resting a hand on her waist and placing his head into the curve her shoulder, he fell back asleep. Magnolia placed her hand on top of his, sliding her fingers over his, feeling the lump of his metal ring as she fell asleep in the safety of his arms.