Chapter Ten

Watching Emmet ride away with his army, I make a decision, I am going with them.

Going to the stables as the Queen heads back to the castle, I try to figure out how to get on the deer. Elves don't have saddles. As I try to figure out how to get on the deer, the Queen looks back at me, sighing. "I won't let you go. It is too dangerous for someone with no experience in fighting." Grunting, I pull myself up not the deer. "Watch me go. You can't stop me." Knowing how to ride a horse, I figure I can easily ride a deer.

Lightly hitting the deer in the sides, it steps forward in a slow trot. "Hazel. Get down." Ignoring the Queen, I tap my heels again and pull slightly on the reigns, the deer going into a trot. "Guards! Make sure she doesn't get away." The guards walk towards me, surrounding me. Deciding to take a chance, I tap my heels two times and the deer pulls forward into a run, the guards jumping out of the way.

The Queen runs after me, yelling at the guards to get up and get me. By the time they get on deer's and head towards me, I zoom off into the woods, losing them in the twists and turns.

Stopping after the yells of the guards die away, I look around and try to figure out what way Emmet went. I took a different way so the guards couldn't find me but now, I think I am lost...

Picking up the saddlebags the deer already had on, I try to find a map. When I unsuccessfully find one, I lean my head back before getting off the deer, holding onto the reigns, and walk around, trying to find hoof prints from deer's that came by here. Not finding any tracks, I hope onto my deer and head back the way I came, hoping to find anything that would help me find Emmet.

It's been about 10 minutes and no luck. I am on the road that I was on before; my tracks are gone too so now I am hopelessly lost with no way of getting back.

Patting my deer on the neck, I get off and walk around, making sure I didn't miss a thing.

Right as I was going to give up, I see something. Almost shouting in joy, I head towards the imprint in the ground. Sure enough, it's a hoof print, many of them. I don't know if it is a wild deer or an army but we are following it.

Running back to my deer, I steer it into the path the hooves lead to.

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Making sure Charlotte hasn't run off, I turn my head to the side of me. She is still riding on her deer, not fallen out of line with the army. Charlotte can be frustrating at times but she's my friend, we've known each other for a long time. We don't know all of each other's secrets but we know must of them; most importantly though, we can read each other. Knowing when the other is upset or angry or feeling uncomfortable is our specialty with each other.

Me and Hazel are different. She knows how to handle my social anxiety better, she knows how to calm me and she knows how to communicate with me better than anyone else.

Tapping my fingers on my saddle, I raise my hand, the signal for the army to stop. Immediately, the forest turned quiet, except for the occasional bird. But, there's something else; a snap of a twig from behind.

Drawing my sword, I jump away from my deer, signaling for Charlotte and my second in command, Refeco {Ref-e-co} to follow. Both of them jumping off of their deer's, they silently come towards me as the rest of the army acting like nothing is happening; hopefully throwing off the intruder that we know they are there.

Coming in from the left side, Charlotte and Refeco coming in from the right, we charge into the forest, ready to attack.

Pulling back the bush that leads to the trail, we freeze as we look at the person. It's Hazel. Why Refeco has never officially met Hazel, he knows who she is, therefore, why he isn't attacking.

Getting out of our attacking position, my sword going limp in my hand.

"Hazel?!"

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Staring at the person in front of me, I can't get my head around how she got here. It's easy to get where we are now but she couldn't have known where to go; with the way she looks, she definitely didn't take the trail we took.

Going up to her, she jumps off the deer and smiles. "Hi! I know what you are thinking, you shouldn't be here, go back, blah blah blah. Well, I am staying no matter what you do." Emmet is completely frozen, he isn't moving he is just staring at her.

Sighing, I grab the reigns of Hazel's deer and bring him to the rest of the deer's, turning back towards Hazel when I am done. "Hazel. You can't be here! It's too dangerous. I mean for the god's sake, you couldn't even get past a simple trail!" Hazel glares at me and points to Emmet. "He's the prince and he hasn't said for me to leave. I am staying." Walking to Hazel, I grab her by the shoulders. "He isn't going to talk because he can't. He is shocked that you are here." Hazel frowns and walks away from me, going to the army. "Well, until he is better, I am staying."

Groaning, I walk away from her and sit next to Emmet who just decided to sit next to a tree by Hazel.

"Emmet? Hey Emmet? You okay?" He looks over to me and nods, standing up. "I'll go talk to Hazel." Getting up and following him, he looks down at Hazel. "You have to leave Hazel. You can't be here." She points up to him and looks at me. "Uh... Is he okay?" Shrugging, I sit next to Hazel. "Well, there your prince telling you to leave. Now leave."

"Not gonna happen." Groaning, I think about how I can't wait to get rid of her.