A couple of hours later, Mirabel was tired and sore. All she wanted was sleep; was that too much to ask? Her feet hurt, her back hurt, and most of all, her wrists hurt. She still hadn’t managed to find a way to get the rope off, and her skin was red and chafed where the ropes had rubbed.

    She had found that having her hands tied in front of her made her rather clumsier than she normally would be. It seemed to throw her balance off somewhat. Under normal circumstances, she was far from clumsy. One of her favorite lessons had been her dance lessons. She’d been quite good at it; her tutor had told her she was a very graceful dancer. That had been a good day.

    She stepped around a large rock and continued on her way. While the pine needles that covered most of the forest floor were fairly soft under her slippered feet, the occasional pinecone or stick would sometimes find itself under her feet. The slippers were going to be ruined by the time she got home.

    As was her nightgown, she thought to herself. It had a rather large rip in the hem from when the branch had caught on it, dragging her off the horse. The bottom was stained brown from all the mud and dirt it had so far been dragged through. While the nightgown was nice enough, almost like a plain dress, she had to admit she felt bare wearing it. She was used to wearing corsets and bustles and a variety of other contraptions with her clothing.

    At least it allowed freedom of movement, if nothing else. While she might feel more vulnerable in it, it did make getting around the forest a lot easier than it would have been in a bustle. It was one more thing to be grateful for, she supposed.

    She did wish her hair were pulled up somehow, however. Her hair was long, extending almost all the way down to her waist, and with it’s silky nature it tangled easily. It had already caught on several branches on the last couple of hours that she’d been walking.

    All in all, she figured she was quite the sight. Tangled hair, a tattered gown, and her hands tied in front, all while dressed entirely in white from her hair on down. She had no doubt she had bags under her eyes from the lack of sleep as well. She probably looked like a ghost.

    It was an odd thought for her to have. She’d never really thought of herself as a particularly white individual, not until Boris had pointed it out. Her hair wasn’t actually white; it was undeniably a blonde color. It was just more of a silver shade than a golden one. The thought began to bother her and so she pushed it away.

    She licked her lips. They were chapped, dry from the lack of water. She’d thought she would have been able to find some water by now, but she hadn’t. Not only that, but her stomach was protesting again. Actually, almost every part of her was protesting in some way or another.

    Stopping, she sighed. A log lay nearby, and she sat on it, deciding she owed herself a rest. Her body wasn’t used to so much walking around.

    She glanced to her left. She blinked a few times and did a doubletake. Was that…? She stood and began walking slowly, then progressively faster.

    It was a stream. She honestly didn’t think she’d ever been so glad to see water in her whole life. She stepped closer and knelt down, cupping her hands in the running water. Lifting her hands to her lips, she drank it. It was the most divine thing she’d ever tasted.

    Realizing that the water made her wrists feel better, she immersed her hands and wrists under the surface of the water. The coolness was sweet relief. She stayed in that position for a moment, letting the babbling water flow across her bound wrists before taking another drink and standing up again. She needed to keep moving; the sun would be going down in another couple of hours.

    Looking around, she began walking, deciding to stay beside the stream for a while, at least. Her feet still hurt, and her wrists were still chafed, but at least she was no longer parched. Things were looking up, it seemed.

    Within a few minutes, however, her good mood went down. Following the stream was becoming more and more difficult; it was rocky beside the water. Her slippers weren’t made to handle rocks. They were only made for walking about a palace’s corridors so that one wouldn’t have bare feet.

    With a sigh, she strayed further from the stream, still keeping it in sight, but trying to avoid the rocks. She had no idea where she was going, but it seemed like a good idea to stay near the one source of water she had thus far come across. After all, perhaps it led somewhere. Again she wished for a map.

    She continued to follow the stream for a while, concentrating on her feet and where she stepped, trying to avoid stepping on anything disagreeable. She nearly whacked her head on a few tree branches since she wasn’t looking where she was going, only at where her feet were. Eventually, she was forced to look up from her slippered feet to glance around at where she was.

    For the second time that day, she did a double take. If her eyes weren’t fooling her, the trees ended just off to her right. She blinked a couple times just to be sure. Sure enough, the line of trees stayed the same, thinning out into a field of sorts.

    Excited that she may have reached the edge of the forest, she hitched up her gown and ran to the edge of the trees. Rocks and branches bit at her feet, but she ignored them this time. Stopping just before the field, she looked around.

    In front of her was an open expanse, stretching out across the flat land. In the distance, she could see a line of trees, probably another forest waiting to be happened upon if one continued in a straight line. Suddenly, she shrunk back from the field.

    She was scared. Being out in the open like that offered little to no protection from anything that might attack her. Knowing her kidnappers were most likely still after her, the thought of nothing to hide behind was terrifying. Granted, the grass was fairly tall, but it was still not enough to give her any comfort.

    Biting her lip, she glanced over her shoulder at the trees. While they offered shelter, they also offered danger once night came. But was anywhere here going to be safe once the sun had gone down? She didn’t have enough experience with the area to know anything about that. She knew the general geography of Lucerne, and had looked briefly at that of Winterthur’s, but Pommern was only a vague shape in her mind. She had no clue of what beasts there were to fear after dark.

    She looked back out at the field. Unnoticed before was a road, running through the field a little ways out from the forest. This kindled her curiosity. Surely a road would lead her somewhere useful? But it would mean leaving the safety of her trees. Her fingers fiddled with her hair nervously.   

    Out of the corner of her eye she saw something move, and automatically ducked behind a tree. Her fingers twisted themselves in her hair as her heart pounded from the brief rush of adrenaline. She peeked out cautiously after a moment, curiosity winning out.

    A man was walking along the road, a bag slung over his shoulder. His hair was dark, even darker than that of her kidnappers. It was almost black. He had broad shoulders and was wearing nothing more than a thin shirt. With a faint blush, she ducked back behind the tree.

    She wondered if she should go out and see if he could help her. The thought was almost immediately dismissed due to her overwhelming distrust of strangers. After she had been kidnapped, she became less obliged to trust just anyone. But at the same time… she bit her lip and peeked back around the tree, coming further out this time.

    He was close enough now that she could almost see his face. He appeared to have a good amount of stubble on his face, not nearly enough to be a beard, but a definite amount of hair. She edged out a bit further to get a better look.

    His head turned in her direction, and she ducked back behind the tree immediately, eyes wide and heart pounding. Her lips moved in a silent prayer that he hadn’t seen her. She wasn’t sure whether or not to trust him, and she certainly wasn’t prepared to meet the man.

    “Hello?” She shut her eyes and pressed her lips together tightly in dismay. “Is someone there?”

She opened her eyes again, but stayed where she was. He sounded kind enough, his voice a light tenor, but she wasn’t ready to risk it. When there was no sound for a moment, she slowly turned her head, inching around the tree to take a look. Her heart pounded.

There he was, and he was looking straight at her. Her eyes flew wide in shock and she darted back behind the tree.

“I’m not going to hurt you!” he called out. She bit her lip. If someone didn’t want you to know they were going to hurt you, isn’t that exactly what they’d say? “Please, just come out. I want to help. Do you need help?”

Making a split second decision, she darted out from behind the tree and ran. She heard a shout from behind her, but she didn’t stop. She had only just escaped from the men who’d held her captive, there was no way she was allowing herself to be put in that position again.

“Hey! Stop! I promise I won’t hurt you!”

She glanced over her shoulder to see the man chasing her, and she stretched her legs to go faster. He had longer legs, and thus had the advantage in this situation, but she was determined to outrun him.

In her concentration on speed, she wasn’t looking where she placed her feet. Her toe caught on a root, and down she went. Unable to catch herself with her hands very well, she landed roughly, her face pressed into the dirt and roots.

The sound of pounding footsteps came closer and a shadow fell over her. She rolled over to find herself face to face with the man who had been chasing her. Her breath caught in her throat. She’d been right about the stubble, she saw. His eyes were a pale green with flecks of gold in them. She’d never seen eyes quite like them before.

He extended a hand, one corner of his lips quirked up into a smile. “Hey there. Need a hand up?” His eyes moved down to where her hands were tied and his eyes widened in surprise while his brows knit together. “Oh. Um, here,” he said, leaning over and taking hold of her arms. She tensed as his calloused hands touched her smooth skin. With ease, he lifted her to her feet.

As soon as she was on her feet, the thought of running again entered her mind. She stopped herself, though. The man seemed kind enough so far. Perhaps he could help her after all. Her eyes looked up to his. He was much taller than her; she’d never been tall, but he was probably a good six feet, making him at least a foot taller than her.

He reached to his belt and pulled out a knife. Her body tensed and she took a step backwards. Seeing her reaction, his eyes widened, and he rushed to reassure her.

“Oh, no! I’m not going to hurt you, I was just going to,” he began, making a gesture towards her hands. Her eyes followed the gesture, and she realized he wanted to cut the ropes. With only the slightest hint of hesitation, she nodded and extended her arms towards him. He made eye contact with a brief smile before taking her hands gently in one of his and deftly slicing through the rope.

As soon as the ropes were off, he let go and she began rubbing gently at her wrists. The ropes were finally off. She was so grateful she could’ve jumped for joy right then. Instead, she looked at him with a shy smile. He smiled back.

“Tomas,” he said, extending a hand which she slowly took in a confused manner. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.” She smiled at him as he took his hand back. “And what’s your name?”

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A/N Hey guys :D Another chapter for you! Hope you're enjoying :3 (if you're not, I don't blame you xD It's a very rough first draft) Please vote, comment, whatever :3 Talk to meeeee