runaway Princess (Axenia & TheRedGuy)

[Axenia]

it had been a long day, hunting in the woods close to the castle. it was one of the few places where Princess Isabella felt truly at peace, at the castle there were always people around, asking for either her assistance and opinion. She had just begun undressing herself when somebody knocked at her door. She wondered who it could be at this late hour, almost everyone had turned in for the night. She grabbed a blanket to cover herself with, the dirty dress was lying on the floor.
"Bella, I need to talk with you, it's very important" She relaxed a little, the voice belonged to her father, King Joshua. She opened the door to let him in, the look on his face made her worry. It was troubled, and he was looking at her with sad eyes. He didn't say anything, he just took her hands and made her sit on the bed. She could see he was thinking about to fraze what he was going to say to her, but he didn't have to. She was his daughter, his only child. She loved him, surely he must know that. Whatever he had to say couldn't be that bad, in any case, the suspense only made it worse. Finally he took in a deep breath and looked at her.
"Bella, you are 18 now, and it is time for you to think about starting a family of your own. I know I promised you that it could wait a few more years, but I'm going to have to break that promise. The kingdom is in trouble, if we are going to make it through, there has to be sacrifices. I have been in contact with the king of the north, his son Prince Nelson is about the same age as you. I have made arrangements for you to travel to the north to meet him, and stay there while the wedding is being planned." She had not said a word while he was talking. How could he do this to her, arrange for her to marry a man she had never known. She got up from the bed and started pacing around, wondering what to say. No words came to her, well that wasn't exactly true. A lot of words came to her mind, but none of them were very nice, and all of them sounded best if shouted. Finally she stopped and looked at her father, her eyes calm.
"If that is what you want me to do father, then I will do it" Her voice had sounded steady, but inside she felt that her whole world was falling apart. Her father got up and gave her a hug.
"I wouldn't send you away if I didn't think that you would be happy given some time." He left her standing in the middle of the room, a tear running down her cheek. She didn't sleep that night, in her head she kept going over the ways to get out of this situation.
The next morning she got up early. She took a long bath and dressed herself in tight fitted pants, a corsage over a thin white shirt and boots. Her long hair falling in soft curls around her face. She kissed her parents goodbye and set of with 7 guards. Over her shoulder was her bow, and at her side was her sword. She had a plan, but it could only be done in the night. The journey was long, and by nightfall the guards was beginning to show signs of fatigue. They made camp, and soon after all but 2 guards were sleeping. When they weren't looking she knocked one of them over the head with the hilt of her sword, then she grab her horse and rode of into the night. She could hear the remaining guard call after her, waking the others.

The Guards hurried after her, but it was dark and she disappeared after some time. The decided to split up, one guard volentered to ride to the north kingdom to explain what had happened. He was shaking when he entered the throneroom, falling to one knee he bowed to the king and prince.
"Your Majesties, I come bearing news of the princess. I'm afraid to say that she in the night chose to run away, we are out looking for her right now, and will bring her here when we find her."

[Axenia]

The prince smiled a bit at the report. A run away princess. He had heard that she was stronger willed then than most, but braving the wilderness all alone for something like this. That was just terribly interesting. The King however did not share this sentiment. He was old, and the only reason he had set up this arranged wedding was to secure Nelson's ascension in what little time he had left. His face reddened a few shades but he restrained his anger. "He requests our aid and then offers us insults," King Melborne the Forth growled. "There are other worthy candidates that would throw themselves at this chance. Send a message. We will send no aid..."

"My Lord," Nelson Interrupted, though he rose from his seat and took a knee to show that he did not intend disrespect. "May I speak my piece before you pass judgement?" the King nodded and Nelson stood. "Father, I must admit, this case is disrespectful to say the least. Still, I have to say that this interests me a great deal. I ask that you trust my judgement as your named successor and allow me to investigate this matter on my own. Use this to test me. You will not be disappointed."

The king sighs, "I know that look on you. This is not the time for personal games. Your inheritance is at stake."

"And If I cannot handle this I can't imagine I will have this inheritance for long either way." Nelson points out. Seeing that His son would not relinquish on the point he sighed again tiredly. To old to fight about such trivial thing when there was so much on his mind. He simply waved Nelson away, a gesture he always used when he consented but did not agree. Nelson bowed once more excitedly and dragged the messenger off to question him. Minutes later he emerged in full hunting gear, his lance and shield bound to his horse. Two of his knights and six hunters accompanied him as well as two dogs. She had stolen a horse, but that would just make her easier to track. Hopefully the princess atleast made this fun.

[Axenia]

Isabella pushed the horse to it's limit, trying to as far away from the guards as possible. How could her father do this to her, send her to a strange country. She had heard about the king, people at the court called him a cold man. If his son was anything like that, the rest of her life would be a living nightmare. She could barely see through the darkness, lowhanging branches had cut her face a couple of times. When the trees and bushes got to thick she jumped of the horse and continued on foot, making her way through the forest. She finally stopped by a creek to get some water, in the horizon the sun was beginning to rise. She prayed that she had put enough distance between her and the guards to make the daylight irrelevant.
   To cover her tracks Isabella jumped in the creek and followed it op stream, listening hard for any signs of followers. The lack of sleep was beginning to tear on her strengh, she needed a rest but finding the right spot was the problem. She finally reached a small cave, she checked for signs telling her it was being used by animals, but found none.
   She slept for several hours, waited til the sun began to set and then sat of again.

[TheRedGuy]

Nelson was easy on his horse, knowing that a hunt was a game of stamina. He smiled to himself, there was only a just over a days gallop between there respective cities, the kingdoms always having depended on there mutual loyalty, not much room for her to have fled to. He couldn't think that she was heading home, or even less likely toward his kingdom. The Prince rides on for some hours at a moderate pace. He had brought 2 extra horses so that they could relieve them periodically and reach the convoy she had escaped from before Mid day. He dismounted and thought for a moment, the dispatch that was sent to search for her was still about, he figured they might as well be kept around as guides. Then he waved two of his hunters over. "Alright, well first things first. I don't think she would stick to the roads. Otherwise she would certainly have been found, her fathers men came from the south road and us from the north. How could we miss her? I heard she was familiar with hunting, though I dont know to what degree. I'd bet she took to the woods, east or west. Each of you take one of the hounds and try to pick op a trail. Maybe smoke her out if you can. but If you do find her she isn't to be harmed or its your head." He said casually, though it was probably true. Anyways one of his hunters should be able to handle one stray princess if they found her, though to be sent the hunters in two teams of two. "Report back here at dark." The hunters saluted and scattered into the woods, the dogs having got her scent from her personal effects she had not taken with her. It was a blessing that no princess could run away with all the things her station demanded she have. Made things much easier. Sighing he rest and fed his horse and awaited his scouts return.

[Axenia]

She had only walked for about an hour when she heard the dogs. She started running, trying to find something that would cover her scent. There was nothing, and she began to feel cornered as the dogs came closer. It wasn't long before she heard male voices, she stopped and looked around, deciding that she might as well deal with them instead of running. She grabbed the bow from her shoulder, placing an arrow and aiming for the voices.
  "Stop right where you are, or i will fire." Her voice was hard but you could still sense that it was somewhat melodious. The cold look in her eyes, on the other hand, told them she wasn't kidding. The scouts stopped and looked at her.
  "Princess we have orders to bring you to Prince Nelson" One of them took two steps closer to her, in response she placed an arrow in his thigh. He screamed and fell to the ground. Isabella already had another arrow ready, aiming at the other scout.
  "Take him with you, and tell Prince Nelson that I wont be joining him tonight, or any other night for that matter." She backed away slowly, still aiming at them until the forest hid her entirely. The scouts returned later, one of them kneeling in front of the prince, the other on falling at his feet.
  "My lord, the princess refuses to come willingly, she wounded Lightwood, when he came to close to her.