After the whole 'camping ordeal' I wanted to go back. I want to go to Lady Guinevere. She is the most comforting thing right now. And that was scaring me. Peter went home early in the morning. I sense that he didn't want to see me...I wake up to see that the tent is empty. Did Rowan leave me? No, he'd never do that! Use your brain! I slowly sit up, letting the sun touch my temple and stand up. I walk out of the tent and see Rowan sitting on a log. "Are you alright? You seem a bit....?" I ask in a concerned voice. Is he okay? He seems a little......off.

"What?" he looks up at me, "oh, um....yea. Yea. I'm fine. Why do you ask?"

"Because you are not alright. What is on your mind? Listen, I know that this whole.....thing....has caused you some kind of stress. Please, just tell me."

He sighs, "No. I'm not alright. Heck, I'm far from it! I'm just so stressed out about...."

"About?"

"About...."

"About!?"

"About......"

"Spit it already!" (Spit it out Mor'du! Brave reference!)

He chuckles, "Okay, okay. I'll tell you," he pauses for what seems like eternity, "tis just the ball. I don't know, I mean I don't know....." He sighs, "I'm sorry..."

"Would you just tell me? Please? I won't tell anyone."

"Alright fine. My sisters. Do you think that they should go? I mean Sarah is eligible, just not Grace. But do you think that it would be better for them both to go? To have a chance with the prince?"

"If Grace is already betrothed then no. She obviously loves that man and if she would like to go to the ball, she would express some sort of a want if she wanted to go. Don't force her. Sarah on the other hand......" I chuckle.

"Okay. Thanks...." He doesn't speak for a long while, "are you going to go?"

"I don't know. I mean Lady Guinevere won't let me even if I want too. But I'm not sure I want to, you know? Seems over rated. But you never know."

"About the Lady Guinevere thing, would you just like to stay at my house? Grace and Sarah would love to have a friend and my mum could use the extra help. Just think of it, no more chastisement, no more evil step-sisters. Just a life of bliss...."

"I don't know if I could do that to your mum. One more person to feed, one more to clothe, one more person! I would feel just horrible if I hurt your family!"

"You wouldn't hurt my family, you'd help it. You brighten up my mum's day. I can tell. Not to mention Grace and Sarah. They love you!"

"Really? They do? I-I've never had anyone love me..."

"Come on then. Let's finish taking down the tent and come home with me. They would be so happy to see you."

"Alrighty then," I say as we start to clean up camp. He only said that his family would be happy to see me, but I can't help but think that it's more than that...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
We finished cleaning up camp, Peter did absolutely nothing. He just took his things and left early in the morn'. I mean, I can't blame him, but he could have at least done SOMETHING. You know? I gather up that last of the food, though there isn't much left. Unlike how it was last night. THANKS PETER...Any who as I finish things up, Rowan is saddling up the horse. "Need help my dear?" I look up at him to see him laughing.

"That would be nice! Please?" I go and I finish saddling up the horse for him. He can be such a ham sometimes. (Scooby-Doo reference!)

"Okay, done. Anything else Rowan dear?" This time I blink my eyes rapidly for effect. What? I have to try! xD

"No thanks. Actually, I think we are done. Let's go!" He lifts me up on to the horse, although I could have done it by myself. Then he swings his legs over and sits in front of me. "Yaaaaaaa!!" He practically screams out down the mountain. And we are off!!! It seems to be a two day ride, since we have a lot of ground to cover. I bet Peter is almost home at his pace.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
We are about three hours into our journey and we see something unsettling in front of us...

"Well me boy! Time to die! Ye poor family will be devastated! No king!!" He chuckles along with his other bandits. He appears to be the leader of this band of misfits, but I'm not sure.

"What ye got in them pockets? Eh? Jewels? Money? Gold?" Another one asks. They lift Peter up and rapidly shake him. Nothing falls from his pockets.

"No money eh? Well, we sure do got a better prize in front of us. The Prince!!" The leader says, "I wonder how much one would pay to get a hold of you!"

"You'll pay for this!! My troops will find you! And you all will executed for treason!!" I don't know what, but something is telling me to help him. Like some sort of feeling deep down.

"Rowan," I whisper, "we have to help him. Come on. You are the bravest person I know." When I said that, something in his expression changed. It softened, I think.

"Alright. Let's do this!" He whisper shouts.

"Wait! We need a plan! We can't just go in there willy-"

"Hey!! Look! Captain!! There are people over there!!" A henchman yells.

"Looks like there is no time to plan dear," Rowan replies with a smirk. With that Maximus takes us down the hill. We are galloping at full speed in a matter of seconds. I can't help but hold on to him tighter. I've never ridden a horse this fast downhill. "Scared a bit?" Rowan chuckles.

"What!? Me!!?! I'm never scared!"

"Oh really?" Rowan asks with a smirk.

"Really!"

"Okay but I don't believe you."

"Shut up and pay attention to the horse!!" We make our way down as the bandits wait down below.

"Ooohhhh.....what have we got here? Boys?" The leader asks.

"We've got a....got a....wait...what were we talking about?" The dumb one attempts to reply. (Who do you think this is referring to? Sorry Lindsey but you just weren't paying attention! xD)

"Looks to me like we have a pretty girl and a pretty boy. What use shall that be to us you ask? I would love to have a maid that looks like you ma'dear," he says reaching for my hair. Of course I take a few steps back, only to land in the bandits arm behind me. "Get em!!" A burlap sack is thrown over my head and I give a quick panicked glance towards Rowan. He gives me a concerned glance and pulls out a dagger. That's all I'm able to see before the burlap sack covers my eyes.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Prince Peter's POV
This is literally the worst thing that could possibly happen right now. Azalea trusts Rowan more than me. Perfect. After all the hard work that I do, this is what I get. Although, I do need to give myself some credit. At least she is helping. Well okay. She's the one that needs the helping. But she tried. The henchmen forgot all about me with the distraction. Wait...was that what Azalea was trying to do? To cause a distraction? What a marvelous idea! I take my dagger, which is in my shoe for safe keeping, and sneakily walk behind one of the henchmen that is holding Azalea captive. I stab him in the back, literally, and he falls down. Luckily Azalea is to the right of him, not under him. That would leave a mark. (Reference to EVERY TV SHOW EVER! BECAUSE I'M CAPTAINONESTO!) *cue lightning strike* (Harry Potter Puppet Pals reference, within a reference!) I scoop her up and cut off the burlap sack.

"Get on the horse and leave! You can't get hurt! Not again!" I plea.

"No! I came here to help and I'm determined to do it!"

"Fine, but don't get yourself into too much trouble," I smirk at her. I think it's just me, but it looks as if her eyes soften a bit.

"Fine. As you wish, my PRINCE." See, she says it in such a tone that, I don't think she's too happy. But I shall never know!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Azalea's POV
Once Peter lets me go, I look around to see where Rowan is. Wait...where IS he?! Whew! Okay! He's only cornered by the leader. Waitttt......Oh my gosh!! I grab the dagger from the back of.....whatever his name is and run over to where Rowan is. I then plunge it into the back of the leader. Rowan has a few slits on his neck, but nothing a little TLC won't do. Rowan just stands there, stunned. I hug him. How can I not? I feel so bad for pretty much starting this mess.

"I'm sorry," I mumble into his shoulders tearing up, "I'm so sorry."

"Sorry for what? For saving me? You should NOT feel sorry for that," he replies holding me tighter. And then it happens. I realize now that I am experiencing pure bliss. This is what I will experience more and more often. For I shall live with them.

"Thank you. For everything. Thank you," I sniff away my tears and look up at him. All I see is pure happiness in his eyes. He looks proud. I smile back at him, slowly turning around and walking over to Peter. He is turned around looking at the forest. I encircle his waist turning him around towards me. I wrap my arms around him,thanking him. "Thank you. Thank you so, so much. Thank you for saving me. I don't know what I'd do without you." He then wraps his arm around me. I'm glad to have made both of these amazing people feel better. I pull away, and begin to walk over to Maximus, Rowan's horse. I get on and scoot towards the front, and Rowan goes on the back. His arms are forward holding on to the reins, controlling the horse.

I think I just need to think. To reflect. A lot has happened in the past few days and I just need to get it sorted out. It isn't long before my eyes get heavy and I feel myself drifting off.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I wake up to being in a tent. How? What? When? I sit up, confusion written all over my face. I look to my left and see Peter. I look to my right and I see Rowan. I feel my lips pulling into a smile. They. They did this. They really care. I lay back down and fall asleep.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I make sure I wake up early, I want to surprise them with breakfast. I walk around the forest and find an apple and a pear tree! This will be a delicious breakfast! Oooohhhh! I quickly gather a few and run back to camp. I'm so glad I brought my baking stuff! I take out flour, salt, water, and eggs. I make a dough out of the flour, salt and water. As I am doing that the pears and apples are caramelizing in the pan. The dough and the fruit is done in around 15 minutes and I begin to beat the eggs. I put the eggs in another pan and cook those. Once everything is done I wake them up. I still can't believe that they are sleeping this late!

"Wake up..." I begin. All I hear is grunting and groaning. "Come on.....I've made breakfast....." Just as I say breakfast they both dart out of the tent. I show them the arrow if eggs, bread and fruit. "Soooo....????" I ask as they dig in.

"So what?" Peter asks with his mouth full.

"Is it any good?"

"Of course it is. You made it," Rowan replies matter-a-factly.

I chuckle, "Thanks."

Okay! I know! I'm horrible! I honestly can't remember the last time I updated. Sorry! With High School and all, meaning all the homework, I haven't had as much time to write as if like to. But if I can write, I will write! I will still try to update once a week, but count on two! Thanks for being loyal!

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