Who is protecting you?

Cinderella turned around, and without a second doubt, she pushed the person to the ground. He screamed like a little girl. She laid her knife across the person's neck and pushed him down. There was no blood showing, but it would leave an impression in both ways.

'Who are you?' Cinderella didn't scream because of the unwanted attention she might attract.

The person underneath her didn't think the same way and screamed his lungs out. 'I'm not him! I swear!'

'Shut up!' Cinderella had to let go of his neck to cover his mouth. The person didn't seem to notice. Who the hell was this guy? He trembled all over and looking at his dirty clothes, he must be poor. When Cinderella looked at his eyes, she recognized him instantly. With a jump, she got off of him. 'Your highness!'

It was the prince. Apparently, he had followed her or The Boss or maybe both.

'What were you thinking? Being behind a girl? In the dark?' She helped the prince on his feet, sighed, and put the knife back in her boot.

'Well, I didn't know there was someone. I didn't see you there.'

'Right, of course, you didn't. It's not like you have eyes.' She snarled at him and put her hair up in a ponytail.

----

"I was way too embarrassed. This was just a stupid move on my part, but I came off as impulsive."

Why do you care? It's not like he is important to you, right?

"Of course not. I hardly know the guy."

"..."

"But still."

Don't worry. I won't say anything.

"Oh, shut up..."

----

'What are you even doing here? Shouldn't you be in your palace?'

The prince dusted off his clothes and looked up at her. 'No. The palace is the last place I want to be in, right now.'

'Why? Did you hit on the wrong girl?'

The prince opened his mouth to say something but closed it again. Then opened it and spoke. 'No, that's not why.' He put his hands in his sides and looked up at the stars. 'It's because someone stole the crown, and the guards can't get it back. They got back this afternoon and said some peculiar things. Something about a tornado and the hand of a god.' He was silent and looked at Cinderella.

She looked away and didn't want to say anything.

'I'm an atheist, so I don't buy that obviously.' He looked once again up at the sky. 'I got up and wanted to see for myself who this "god" was. Pretty impressive cliff you got there, by the way.'

'It wasn't me.'

'Oh, I know darling. It's that older lady. Speaking of which, where is she?'

'Don't call me darling, and I would never address The Boss like "older lady" ever again. She will kill you, but she is sleeping.'

'Really? I thought I heard someone in there. The lady must be awake by now. Let's go and meet.'

He wanted to walk past her but Cinderella stopped him with her hands. 'Please. I don't think that the first face she wants to see when she wakes up is yours. No offense.'

'How can I not take that offensive? She clearly has something against me then.'

'Nah, it not your face. It's the royalness you have.'

'No, that's a whole lot better.' He answered sarcastically.

They got interrupted by a loud crash coming from the shed, and they both looked at the same time.

The prince said: 'Is she sleepwalking or something?'

Before the prince could say anything else, Cinderella pushed him aside and ran towards the shed. Because of their bickering, Cinderella hadn't been paying attention. Not only to the area but also to his words.

The Boss usually slept like the dead. She wouldn't move at all, and when that happened the first time, Cinderella thought The Boss had died. Cinderella's feet ran off the hill, which almost made her collapse into the wall. The fact that the prince had heard something should have been a warning bell for Cinderella.

'Slow down! What are you doing?' The prince shouted at her, but Cinderella didn't pay any mind to him.

She barged in and stopped at the doorstep. The shed was small enough for her to see clearly: The Boss was gone.

'Where did she go?' The prince peeked over her shoulder into the area. 'I thought I heard her.'

'Yeah, well, clearly she is not here anymore!' Cinderella snapped. 'Can't you see the hay is everywhere except the ground? Didn't you hear the crash? Did you already forget?'

The prince held his hands up in defense. 'Alright, sorry. That was a stupid question.'

Cinderella began to tremble and not from the cold. 'Those d*mn bastards! It was you, wasn't it? You made sure I was distracted by you, and in the meantime, you signaled the guards, and now she is gone.' Her eyes began to prickle, and she turned her head away from the prince.

'Whatever you think of me, I didn't tell the guards on you. Don't you remember I snuck out? I may be a prince, but the guards listen to my father, not to me. If they knew I was here, I would be on my way back to the palace.' He paused. 'Are you okay? Why are you not looking at me?'

'Nothing. It's nothing. I'm fine.' Cinderella now turned her whole body towards the prince.

'Look at you, acting all proud.' His voice got softer when he said: 'I'm not good at being a badass, like you, but I have other abilities.'

'Like what?'

The prince didn't explain himself but stood next to Cinderella and patted her on her shoulder.

'What are you doing?'

The prince looked up at the sky and avoided Cinderella's face on purpose. 'You don't seem like the hugger type, so a pat will do.'

'Whatever...' But she stood still. Cinderella's head was spinning with where The Boss could have gone too.

'Also, I bet you still call me The Prince in your head, right?'

Cinderella turned around. 'No. I don't. I immediately changed it to...' She fell silent. 'To... to your name.' She ended.

'Wow, that sounded really convincing. It's Aiden.'

'I know. I'm calling you that in my head.'

'Of course, you are.' He paused for a second. 'Are you calmer now?'

Cinderella hadn't realized it, but The Prince, or Aiden, distracted her enough for her to be able to calm down. She could think more clearly, and her heart had stopped racing.

'Yes.' She shrugged him off. 'Now, let me think. She still has the crown with her. The people who took her must be close by. Maybe we can still catch them.'

Aiden looked worried but didn't say anything.

'What's with that look? Are you scared?' Cinderella started to walk away from the shed while saying: 'Don't worry. I'll protect you. You're a royal nonetheless, so I don't have much choice anyway.'

He was quiet for a while, and when he spoke, it stopped Cinderella in her tracks. 'But who is protecting you?' Aiden walked up to her and turned Cinderella around by her shoulders. 'Who is protecting you? Ever since I've known you, you always looked out for others or yourself. Is no one there for you?'

'Please.' She shrugged his hands off her shoulders. 'I don't need protecting. I'm perfectly capable of doing that myself. I needed to do that myself since there was no one.'

'That must be lonely.' Aiden said.

'Don't pity me.' Cinderella didn't want to admit it, but there were nights where she cried herself to sleep. The Boss took her in, gave her comfort and food, but never the warmth she needed. 'You don't know what you're talking about.' She turned her back towards him and continued: 'Let's just find your crown. The sooner you can go to your castle, the sooner this is over.'

The prince sighed. 'Fine. But to end this conversation well, I just have to say one more thing. I may not know what your life was like, but the same goes for you. You don't know my life either, so don't think I had such a great time, just because I had a different upbringing.'

He sounded irritated, and Cinderella didn't have the courage to go against him. Instead, she felt embarrassed. Her life was shit, but others could have it worse as well. She made a mental note to never assume anything about others, ever again.

'Sorry. Let's go.'

He didn't say anything when Cinderella followed the trail of destruction the abductors left behind. The Boss had been smart, and Cinderella and Aiden only had to follow the straws of hay she left behind. Sooner or later, they will find The Boss and the crown. When that happened, Aiden had to leave again.

And for some reason, Cinderella didn't like that idea.