Sassy princess

 I quickly stepped on the man lying unconscious on the ground, making sure he was not a threat anymore. Then I took one last look around the alleyway. The princess was nowhere to be found. That was it, she had escaped! I should feel a sense of relief but I'm actually pretty annoyed. My job was to deliver this princess to my king so we could force her father to make peace between the kingdoms. But that sneaky princess somehow managed to get away on me... 

  I just had to find the princess again. I couldn't go back to my king without her. The moment I returned empty handed, they would consider this as a failure on my part and punish me. I should have figured that the princess would try to run away at some point, I should have kept a tighter grip on her... 

I walked and circled around this abandoned part but no sign of her.

As I walked on the side of the forest, I heard a sneeze and I froze. It was close by and it definitely sounded like the princess. I quietly approached the bush where I heard the sneeze and slowly peeked inside. Yes, there she was, hiding on the other side of the bush. My heart raced as I watched her. I was glad I found her again. I had been worried that she had somehow gotten away from me in the chaos of the thieves. 

 The princess smiled at me with embarrassment. She had clearly been hiding in that bush, trying to stay out of my sight. It was a cute look that she had on her face, one that I couldn't help but find charming. But I couldn't let her charm distract me from my mission. I needed to take her back to my kingdom so we could force her father to make peace between us.

"No more delays, let's continue our journey. "

She complained as I picked her up and threw her over my shoulder again. It was a little annoying, she could walk if she wanted to but I preferred carrying her like this.

"You're going to use your feet to run away from me and risk getting captured by those thieves again?" I replied, amused. "No thanks, I'll carry you." 

"No thanks" she says, mocking me 

"Too bad. I'm carrying you. " I laughed. She kept whining and making annoying complaints, but she couldn't do anything about it. I walked confidently in the dark forest with the princess over my shoulder. It would take a while to get back to my kingdom, but at least I had the princess again. I was relieved yet annoyed by her at the same time... 

The walk through the dark forest was longer than I expected. We started to get to know each other better, at least. The princess kept complaining and talking the entire time. She kept saying things like, "I really could have walked, you didn't need to carry me." or "This is the slowest walk ever, I hate how slow you're walking." It was as if she wanted to annoy me on purpose... 

Her appearance didn't help either. She was a lot more beautiful than I had originally thought. The moonlight spilling through the trees only made her more angelic. I couldn't help but get distracted by her beautiful face and her captivating eyes. Her looks made it difficult to concentrate on the task at hand, of delivering her to my kingdom. She even made the slow walk in the darkness more bearable, somehow... 

"Noah" 

I heard the princess call my name and I looked over at her, surprised.

"Yes?" I replied, still carrying her over my shoulder. She was looking straight at me, not blinking, as if she wanted to talk to me.

"Can I ask you something?" she asked. 

The princess seemed serious about whatever it was she wanted to ask, so I kept walking but also kept an eye on her.

"Sure, ask me anything you want." The princess had never opened up to me this much before and I was intrigued to find out what she wanted to ask. 

"Since when have you been fighting? " 

The princess suddenly asked me a very good question. She noticed my scars and she wanted to know where they had come from.

"I've been fighting since I was a child" I replied, thinking back to my childhood. I tried to ignore her beauty and focus on the question at hand. But it was hard to keep my focus because she was so intriguing to look at... I was surprised that the princess noticed them. I guess she really pays attention to every detail about me... 

"Child?" 

I nodded my head.

"My first memories are of me fighting. I've been fighting ever since I could walk and talk." The princess seemed a bit shocked by my answer. It was as if the reality of me being a warrior was finally starting to sink in for her. She also seemed somewhat sympathetic, as she was starting to understand how hard I must have had it... I remember how tough my grandfather had been on me. I had been barely five years old and he had already started teaching me the basics of sword fighting. 

"Do you know how to fight too?" I asked the princess. I was surprised that she was interested in my past. 

She looks away "It wouldn't hurt to know a few moves... Here I am... I'm kidnapped" 

I couldn't help but laugh.

"Well, that's true. Knowing self-defense is really important, especially if you are a princess. You don't want to get kidnapped again. Or at least learn enough to know how to escape." The princess nodded in agreement. I had noticed that she kept shifting on my shoulder, it seemed as if she was trying to get comfortable. She was still very annoyed that I had thrown her over my shoulder... 

The princess finally found a more comfortable position and she rested her head on my neck. I looked down at her and I couldn't help but be surprised. She was lying down on me so casually, as if I was her pillow. It was an adorable sight. She was so small and delicate that I felt the urge to protect her even more than before. The princess didn't even acknowledge this act, she just lay there peacefully on my shoulder...

  The whole walk back to our kingdom was filled with the princess complaining about how slowly I was walking. She was always making sly remarks like, "You could at least walk a little bit faster, I'm bored." or "You're carrying me slower than a snail.". I was just grinning, taking my time. I was doing this on purpose because she made me wait for her too. 

The walk back to the kingdom felt extra long because of the princess's complaints. She just kept whining and talking, making snarky comments as I carried her. Despite all of this, I still couldn't help but find her charming in her own stubborn and annoying way. It was as if she was trying so hard to piss me off but it was all just making me find her more endearing. I couldn't help but grin every time she made one of her snarky remarks or threw me a playful insult. 

The walk back to my kingdom became even longer as the time approached midnight. Eventually I had to stop because it was getting too tiring to carry her over my shoulder for so long. I decided to set her down and sit her on a tree trunk. I sat down nearby, panting slightly and wiping away the sweat on my face.

"You can use your feet you know" I couldn't resist saying after my little break. The princess just rolled her eyes at me.

"You're annoying." 

It was difficult to stay mad at the princess for too long. Despite how she was making my life difficult, she was also making it a little bit more entertaining. I couldn't stay annoyed for too long, I just laughed at her sassy personality. I sat next to her on the tree trunk. We sat there in silence for a few moments. I looked at her, she looked back at me. We didn't say anything for a long time... 

"I need to pee.." she grumbled 

I looked at the princess with a puzzled look.

"You need to pee?" I couldn't help myself from laughing when she said the word "pee". She gave me an annoyed look, but I kept looking at her in amusement. The princess was just too adorable.

"I could just turn away and you could go right here" I suggested, still laughing.

"No way, it'd be too embarrassing." She said, still not cracking a smile. 

"I'm a princess, I won't use a bush" 

"But we're out in the middle of the woods. There's no bathroom here." I laughed. I couldn't believe that the princess was so fussy about using a bush. It was as if her status as a princess made her too good to go out in the open. I kept looking at her with amusement while she was getting more angry by the minute as I laughed at her. 

I laughed even harder when she smacked me in the face. She was getting really angry, I could tell. But I was just amused by her attitude. It was actually a little funny to see the princess getting so angry about something so ridiculous. I laughed even harder now, which just made her even more mad. I felt a bit bad but at the same time it was just so entertaining to watch.