Anne and Gain traveled the first few hours without speaking. Gain was the one who broke the silence.

"We should really get the horses some water, there is a stream up ahead."

Anne nodded. "We would do well get something to eat for ourselves, too —we have to eat sometime, I guess."

"You make it sound like something unpleasant— the queen always packs wonderful lunches."

"Oh, I look forward to the food. Your mother is a wonderful cook."

Gain responded to the compliment to his mother with a slight frown. So, it's not the food that's unpleasant—it's the company.

"I am surprised that you consented to have me be your escort."

"Why are you surprised? You appear to be competent enough with the sword."

"But, you don't seem to like me very much."

"I don't have to like you to trust you."

Gain's face brightened a little, "So, you trust me?"

"To protect me? Yes."

Gain knew why she didn't like him, but why did she trust him?

"Well, I am glad that you trust me."

"Don't read into it too much. It's not like I think you are a good person. You tried to hurt Mia."

"Well, she did hurt me!"

They had reached the stream, The pair dismounted and held the reins of their steeds as they got their fill of water.

Anne leaned around her drinking horse and looked towards Gain, "I doubt that Mia really hurt you. It's not like the Princess to just hurt people. Even bad people."

Gain bent down and looked under his horse's neck, so he could see Anne's face. "She did hurt me! Took everything that I worked so hard on away from me."

"I don't believe it."

"I can prove it—I even have a list!" And then Gain untied his horse's saddlebag, and pulled out a sheet of paper.

"You wrote it down?"

"It is important to be organized."

"I see. Why don't you read the list to me."

"Sure, just give me a minute. I've never shared it with someone else before."

"Well, I'm honored! Take your time..."

The horses had finished with the water, so Anne and Gain took their horses and parked them by some nearby trees. After making sure their reins were securely tied, Gain began going over the list in earnest, while Anne unpacked a picnic blanket from her horse.

Read it to her? I need to be sure there is nothing here that is too embarrassing.

Gain silently mouthed the words as he read to himself:

The List: What Princess Mia Luna Tearmoon Stole from Me, by Prince Gain Remno

1) The respect of schoolmates —hmm, I guess it was more fear than respect—I think I should skip that one

2) The swordsmanship tournament —She's just going to say that Sion would have eventually beaten me, even if Gain hadn't—skip

3) My chance to gloriously lead soldiers into battle during the revolution —okay, so nobody died doing it the Princess's way—and there is a chance that the Kingdom would have collapsed into civil war doing it my way—we will call that one even.

As he continued reading down the list, it was looking a lot less impressive than he remembered. What didn't seem stupid came off as kind of whiny. But, then he got to his final claim against Princess Mia—

. . .

10) She robbed me of the Crown.

Finally, something that I can say out loud...

"Here it is!" Gain pointed victoriously at the list, "She took the Crown from me."

Anne walked over, and peeked over Gain's shoulder to look at the list, "That's just one thing—I thought you had a list?"

Gain immediately folded up the list, "The other things don't matter. I have trained my whole life to be King, and now that is gone—"

Both Anne and Gain began unpacking food and placing it on the blanket.

"So, you aren't heir to the throne because of the Princess?"

"Yes."

"Well, now that I think about it—it definitely seems like something Mia would do—so, that is why you were out to get her."

She agrees with me? Gain was pleased and surprised to find a sympathetic ear in Anne.

"Yes, so, of course, what else could I have done?"

"What could you have done? You could have thanked her."

"Thanked her?"

The food was unpacked, and Anne began placing the utensils, while Gain placed the plates and napkins.

"Yes. Thank her. It's still not too late. You could send her a letter," Anne immediately reconsidered the letter idea. "Wait, you don't write that well..." She paused for a quick thought, "I know —a fruit basket! Really anything sweet would do. But, just thank her!"

Anne was satisfied with her suggestion and sat down on the blanket with her legs angled beneath her. Gain had sat down in front of her with his legs cris-crossed. Gain looked much more comfortable than Anne felt.

"I shouldn't have worn a dress, although I am wearing riding pants underneath, I would look ridiculous sitting cross-legged like that."

"Well, we are the only ones here, and I don't think you could ever look ridiculous"

Anne took Gain at his word and found a more comfortable position.

With both picnickers finally comfortable, Gain decided to return to the original subject.

"Why would I thank her? I have trained my whole life to be King! And now it's over because of her! And, now you say I should thank her?"

"Yes, thank her. Now that you are no longer training to become King, you have the freedom to work on that terrible personality of yours." Anne said the words without a hint of irony or malice.

"What do you know about my personality?"

Anne neatly placed a serving of vegetables on each of their plates.

"I was at Saint Noel with you for three years. You are a spoiled bully; neither men nor women want to have anything to do with you."

With Anne's mention of Saint Noel, Gain could hear his Father's words playing in his ears. The weak should fear the strong! They were words that he could never say to Anne because they were words that he never wanted Anne to hear. He hated those words.

"You hurt people, Prince Gain."

"I already told Abel, I have never killed anyone."

"I know that— and you were respectful of Miss Mia when she was very vulnerable—which is why I trust you as an escort." Anne smiled, "—well that, and I know you are completely incompetent as a serious villain."

Anne passed an apple to Gain.

"Thank you."

"You are welcome . . . But as much as I appreciate not getting murdered or attacked by you, that does not make you a good person—never mind what the Princess thinks."

Never mind what the Princess thinks?

"What does the Princess think?"

"Oh, she thinks you and Abel are cut from the same cloth. She was so happy when you apologized to her, and even more so when you accepted her apology."

Of course, Gain's apology was an ill-conceived counter-attack to Mia's sincere apology—which he thought was another attack by Mia on Gain's pride. It was another of those things that made perfect sense (to Gain) at the time but seemed incredibly stupid in retrospect.

But Gain had apologized (sort of), and since he didn't have any other arguments for his worth as a good person—he decided to own it.

"Well, I apologized, so maybe I am a good person. " Gain opened a container of sandwiches and offered it to Anne.

"Thank you." Anne took a sandwich and continued, "Oh, maybe you could become a good person. Maybe being heir to the throne was just not a very good fit for you—and now you have a chance to find out where you belong in the world."

Anne paused—it seems as though she was considering a very serious question. She finally looked to Gain.

"Do you cook?"

"Maybe—" Gain was hesitant, "a little."

"Cookies! Cookies aren't very difficult, and Mia loves cookies—and if you made them yourself she would be so pleased."

Actually Gain could cook—while he didn't have much use for Clarissa's calculus books, he found her cookbooks pretty interesting. And Gain still didn't care about pleasing the Princess, but he did want to please Anne.

"I can cook—do you like cookies?"

"Do I like cookies? You are thanking Mia, not me."

"But what if I wanted to thank you?" Gain took a bite of his sandwich. "I mean, you are the one giving me all of this great advice. Why shouldn't I thank you?"

"It's just weird, that's why!"

"So, no cookies?"

"No."

"Okay, well then, I guess I just need to say it. —Thank you, Miss Anne!"

"I told you, you don't need to do that."

"But I do need to do that! How am I ever going to become a better person, if I don't say 'thank you' to the people who do nice things for me?"

"Well, I guess..."

"Oh, but I didn't tell you what I was thanking you for."

"Yes you did, you said that I gave you good advice."

"Oh, that's right," Gain paused to think.

"Ooh! But I have another one!"

"What?"

"Thank you for going hunting with me. It was fun!"

"Don't thank me for that. I was just trying to mess with your head."

"I know that. But it was pretty impressive. Even after I figured out what you were trying to do, you were pretty intimidating. You really brought your A-game that day. And you are still riding The King's Horse! Total baller move!"

He took a bite of carrot, "Oh, and thank you for making me laugh."

"When did I make you laugh?"

"When you got out of the carriage and didn't take my brother's hand."

Stolen story; please report.

"So, you were laughing at me."

"No! I was laughing at my brother—and, only just a little bit. Mostly, I was laughing because you said exactly what you were thinking—which was exactly what I was thinking but couldn't say. I really needed to laugh that day. I was having a rough week."

"You are welcome. Are you done?" I should have just said yes to the cookies!

"Nope! Thank you for not giving my stupid letter to Abel!"

That made Anne laugh, which surprisingly seemed to make Gain happy. Gain hated being laughed at, but Anne couldn't laugh without smiling —and nothing was better than seeing Anne smile.

"What were you even thinking?"

"You said it—I was trying to break them apart."

"Yes, but why did you even bother thinking up a fake lover for Mia—she had just kissed you in real life! Couldn't you have figured out something evil to do with that?"

"I wasn't trying to be evil. I was trying to rescue you and Abel from the Princess's domination."

"Domination? That's love—you idiot! We love Mia—and she loves us."

"Well, it made sense at the time."

"...and what do you think now?"

"What do you mean 'what do I think now?' I wrote a love letter from a horse! It was stupid!"

"No. What do you think now about Mia and Prince Abel."

"Oh, he really needs to kiss her gently on the lips!"

"Kiss her gently on the lips? —Oh, the Moons! Not you too?"

"What do you mean 'not me too'?"

"You've been reading my sister's silly romance novel!"

"That's impossible, I borrowed it from Clarissa. Clarissa is my sister, not your sister—wait! Don't tell me..."

Anne could almost hear the wheels grinding in Gain's head...

"Stop! I am not related to your family!"

With that declaration, an expression of relief took over Gain's face.

"My sister is Elise Luittstein—she wrote that silly book."

Anne loved her sister. She supported her sister. She even recognized that her sister did indeed have some writing talent. But, Anne just didn't care for her sister's books—at all!

Sugary, schmaltzy, silly mush!

Anne had assumed that she was finally safe from having to hear about her sister's work for a while. It was the one positive that she could look forward to by spending time with Gain and leaving Mia behind.

"Silly book? How can you say that? Are you sure that you read it?"

"Arrrg! Have I read it? Do you know how many times I have read it? First, I read it for my sister. Then I read it with Mia—and then I have to discuss it with a smile! And that is just the first draft. And then the discussions—" Anne started speaking in a high-pitched flowery voice, "—Ooh, don't you think the Good Prince is soo dreamy!"

"Heyyy, that's Princess Mia! I didn't know you did impressions!"

Anne blushed, "You can't tell Miss Mia!"

Abel smiled, "It's okay, you didn't tell her about the letter from the horse!"

Gain was happy to share a secret with Anne. Anything to make it feel like he was a little closer to her.

"Miss Mia and my sister are my two most favorite people in the world..."

"I know, but it's sort of nice to know that you don't like everything about them. Caring about someone who you think is perfect can be kind of intimidating."

"What made you think of that..." Anne began to blush.

"Oh, my brother. When I talked to him. He seemed to be intimidated by the Princess." He took another bite of his sandwich, "That's why he hadn't given her his gentle kiss yet."

Gentle kiss—Anne winced upon hearing the words.

"Well, you don't need to worry about that anymore."

"Did they?"

Anne nodded.

"Well good for them!" Gain looked up, "Just like in the book!"

"Yuck! The book, why do you have to talk about the book!"

"Why do you hate the book so much? You aren't jealous of your sister?"

"I am happy for my sister—I really am. But the Good Prince is just so boring. He's so vanilla—just a watered-down version of the Evil Prince. He's not as tall, not as strong, and he only wins the big sword fight because he's lucky!"

"Lucky? You don't win sword fights because of luck!"

"Really? 'The blade caught the sun and burst into a blinding bolt of light.' —that's luck."

"It's magical!"

"The Evil Prince was blinded by the sun! She makes such a big deal about how hard the Good Prince trained, but in the end, he had to be lucky to win. It's just pointless!"

"But, good triumphed over evil!"

"Which makes it worse." Anne waved with her sandwich in hand, "It is so random that it feels empty. Pointless."

"Would you like it better if good lost—you want evil to win?"

"No. I just want to care about a good that is so powerful that I am just happy it exists—win or lose. That is why I love Mia. I know that even if she loses, she will be true to herself. She will always forgive, and she will always fight for what is right."

A good so powerful that you are just happy exists... Gain just looked at Anne and smiled and finished his sandwich.

******

The woman with chestnut-colored hair was waiting on top of a small hill. Her mood alternated between anxiousness and boredom as she looked over the western horizon.

Occasionally her gaze would change directions— she would look towards the forest to the south, or the tiny village to the east. She was leaning on a large rock when she began to hear the mighty patter of a moonhare galloping in the distance. She stood up and saw the horse and rider heading in her direction.

When the man finally reached her, he did not dismount from his horse—he just immediately went into his report.

"The Prince and the Princess are heading this way."

"How many guards?"

"None."

"None? Are you sure that it's them?"

"Well, the Prince is supposed to be something with the sword, so perhaps they didn't feel the need—and it's definitely the Princess, I don't think I've ever seen a woman so lovely."

"Well, this should be easy then. The sword is of little use against a dart from shadows."

She smiled, and gently patted his horse's muzzle. "Get her some water, and then meet up with the others."

The man did as instructed, and the woman made her way to the small village below.

*****

Anne and Gain finally arrived at the small town. There wasn't much to it. Just a general store with a few other shops, an inn with a tavern, and a blacksmith with stables. As they made their way down the dusty main street, children began to gather, following the pair as they slowly made their way to the inn. The children were a little thin and probably could have used a good scrubbing, but seemed healthy enough—even with the famine. Just the sight of Anne riding The Kings Horse had the children in good spirits. Happy whispers could be heard as she rode.

"So pretty. . ."

". . . never seen a girl ride a horse like that . . ."

" . . . she must be a princess!"

Anne just wanted to hide, but she also wanted to hide her embarrassment from Gain, who she was sure would take the opportunity to tease her mercilessly. Arrg, a princess, what are these children thinking? But if she was dying on the inside, she would not give Gain the satisfaction of knowing it. Instead, she straightened up her back, sat tall in her saddle, and looked straight ahead. Looking even more like a princess from a story-book, she casually remarked, "They seem very impressed by The King's Horse.'

Gain nodded with a smile, "Yes, very impressed..."

Of course, Gain was no different than the children, completely enamored by the woman by his side. But as regal as the young maid appeared, it was not Anne's beauty that so enraptured the young prince—it was how she made the world around her beautiful. Gain was ordinarily one to give an extra wide berth to children, and today was no different. But as he and Anne dismounted from the horses, he couldn't help but smile, watching as these little ones flocked around Anne. He basked in their joy and innocence—at a distance. Still, that was an improvement for the man who, until recently did not take much joy in anything, much less children.

However, there was one little girl that was not content to let Gain watch from the sidelines. She walked up behind the young prince and tugged on his shirt.

"Are you her knight?"

"Me, a knight?" Gain stepped back and sighed, "No, I am just a foolish boy trying to find his place in the world."

Of course, Gain's response was doomed to disappoint the child. Her small border town didn't get many visitors, and the idea of a beautiful princess and her brave knight making a visit had her imagining dragons and damsels in distress. But Gain had to ruin it all by being honest.

Gain saw the disappointment in her eyes and felt guilty for dampening her mood, so he decided to shift the girl's attention back to Anne. He bent down and whispered in the little girl's ear, as he pointed to Anne, "But that woman is Miss Anne of the Tearmoon Empire—known throughout the continent to be as wise as she is beautiful, and as strong as she is brave."

Gain's declaration did not have the desired effect, and the girl's expression shifted from disappointment to puzzlement—-but then a knowing smile took over the girl's face and her eyes brightened, "So, you like her, huh?"

''What? I..."

The man, who had only recently reached the emotional level of a twelve-year-old, was unequipped to deal with the acute observations of an eight-year-old. The perceptive little girl also seemed to realize this and kindly whispered back, ''Don't worry. I won't tell.' and then she scampered off with a giggle.

"Well, it looks like you made a friend."

Gain turned to see a grinning Anne.

"Uh, oh Miss Anne. . . I was just . . . did you hear?"

No, Anne had not heard, but that hardly mattered. Anne could sense Gain's embarrassment and knew he was ripe for being teased, except—he didn't tease me when the children mistook me for a princess. Ann correctly reminded herself, And the ability to do something hardly equates to an obligation to do something, especially when that something is teasing.

The sweet Anne had more than enough reasons not to tease the man who only recently had begun to travel down the long road to decency.

Yes, teasing Gain is most certainly the wrong thing to do, the good, almost saintly, Anne properly concluded. The angelic maid then proceeded to tease the completely defenseless Gain mercilessly . . .

"Oh, I wouldn't dare intrude with a prince trading secrets with his intended," Anne giggled, "though, she did seem a little young. . ."

"Anne, I..."

"...and then there is the whole class thing, but it is sort of romantic. I mean, I was just telling your mother that there wasn't a princess on the continent that could whip you into shape. But maybe a common girl just might do the trick— we are made of much tougher stuff after all. So maybe..."

Oblivious to her own words, Anne was perhaps overly confident in her ability to tease Gain. Of course, she was successful—his face was as pink as a half-moon cherry blossom—but she was feeling a little embarrassed herself— and she didn't quite understand why. Why am I even trying to tease this man at all—he is no longer a threat to Mia, and I am not really angry with him anymore . . .

Before the sweet but completely clueless maid could walk with her thoughts through to an extremely inconvenient truth, Gain interrupted her trip.

"Miss Anne, we should probably go ahead and find some rooms if we are to get to this Muzic fellow before it gets dark."

Her thought interrupted, Anne agreed, "Well, there is only one inn, so let's go."

Gain and Anne walked into the first floor of the inn—which was pretty much completely occupied by the tavern. The innkeeper-barkeep was busy tending to the woman with the chestnut-colored hair at the end of the bar.

"Innkeeper! Innkeeper!" Gain demanded attention.

The innkeeper pretended not to hear Gain—he was in what could be charitably be referred to as 'romance mode' and did not want to be disturbed.

The woman, who seemed to be tired of the man's advances, motioned towards Anne and Gain. As they approached, the innkeeper relented and took notice of the pair.

Gain spoke to the irritated barkeep, "We will be looking for a place to stay and some information."

"Rooms are two silvers a night—you sleeping with the lady?"

"No, I..."

The innkeeper laughed at seeing the grown man blush.

"Ha! Why not? She's a real looker!"

Anne glared at the man, threw four silvers on the bar, and then held up two fingers, "Two rooms."

"Yes ma'am."

Wanting to recover from being the butt of the innkeeper's joke, Gain started questioning the man.

"So, do you know a man named Muzic? A hunter?"

"I know, but it will cost ya."

The chestnut-haired woman interrupted, "Oh don't be that way! You are already charging them double for the rooms—just tell them what they want to know!"

The innkeeper argued, "Look at them— they can afford it!"

The woman growled, "Fine, I'll tell them. Yes, Muzic is here— he stays in the woods over the hill—not too far from here. I talked to him a bit. He gave me a map to his campsite —he wanted me to visit," then she laughed and threw a scribbled map on the bar. "It's yours—I'm not into big men."

"Do you think he's still around?"

"If you leave now you should catch him—but, you will find him a little disappointed—he's hoping I will show up." Then she laughed, "Bring the girl if you want him in a good mood. He's a sucker for a pretty face."

Gain placed a quarter gold in the woman's hand.

"For the map."

The woman smiled and flipped the coin in the air, right in front of the innkeeper's nose. She laughed and threw a final glance the innkeeper's way, "You should have been nicer!" Then she threw two coppers on the bar and left.

Anne and Gain left right after and began unloading the horses.

Gain gave Anne a guilty look, "I can pay for the rooms. You shouldn't..."

"It's fine, you got the information, I got the rooms. It's fair... But, you probably shouldn't throw money around like that."

"It was just a quarter gold—and I sort of wanted to get back at the innkeeper."

Anne laughed, "The look on his face when she tossed the coin under his nose was pretty funny. I will give you a pass this time, but don't make a habit out of it."

"Sure." He smiled, "We should probably be pretty quick if we are going to catch up with the hunter."

"Well, then I'll race you up the stairs!" Anne raced to the door with her things, just as Gain finished untying his bundle from the horse.

"Cheater!" Gain grabbed his bundle in his arms and followed Anne up the stairs.

Gain returned to the horses first, and kept glancing at the tavern door. He didn't have to wait too long. Anne exited the inn and made her way towards The King's Horse. Gain glanced at the sword at Anne's hip.

"Can't be too careful, I guess."

"Well, there are only two of us. If anything happens, I can help."

"If anything happens, stand behind me—I will protect you."

Anne just smiled and climbed up on her horse.

She was good with a bow and competent with a sword, but Gain was a big man, as big as his father, as big as Bernardo. If there was a fight, she felt good knowing that he would be there to protect her.

Anne and Gain followed the directions up to the edge of a thick forest. Anne looked at the map, "we are almost there, but the trees are too dense for horses."

"Gain laughed, next time we need to bring smaller horses."

They tied the horses to some trees and began to make their way on foot. As they walked, the forest seemed to be getting even thicker. While Anne was moving quickly through the woods, the big man struggled through the thicket.

"It's just this way."

"Miss Anne, stop!"

"What? We are almost there."

"We need to turn around. This doesn't feel right."

"What, he's just a hunter, a friend of Mia's."

"There are too many trees, it's just right for an ambush. We need to turn around."

"No! I said I would do this for Mia!" Anne kept walking, "Turn around if you want."

"You know I won't go without you. But what happens if you get hurt? What will The —"

ping! ping!

Gain swiftly knocked two objects out of the air with his sword.

"Darts! Run Anne!"

"Ouch! What's this?" Anne pulled at the tiny dart lodged in her neck.

"Anne!"

Gain rushed over and caught Anne as she collapsed from the poison.

ping! ping! ping!

Holding Anne in one arm, Gain knocked three more darts out of the air. He rushed back through the forest trying to get back to the horses.

ping

I have to save her!

Just as he saw the light of the cleaning, Gain felt a sting on his sword arm and then another at the back of his neck—everything went black.

Five soldiers looked over the collapsed pair. Their apparent leader, the woman with chestnut-colored hair marveled, "I have never seen anyone hit darts out of mid-air like that. If he had just left the Princess, he might have had a chance." She then looked at the beautiful woman that he still held in his arms, "but, I can see why he stayed."

When Gain's consciousness returned, the darkness remained. He could feel the rumbling of wheels and the sway of a carriage. He also heard tears in the darkness.

"Anne? Are you there? Are you okay?"

"Gain, where are we?"

"A prison wagon, I suspect. Solid steel."

Gain tried slamming at the door with his shoulder, but the only thing that he received for his effort was a pain reverberating through an old wound.

"Why? Where are they taking us?"

"My guess is that they wanted the Princess or my brother."

Anne's tone turned hopeful, "then they should let us go!"

"I don't think—"

Gain stopped himself. He knew that they would not just be let go. Their captors wanted something for their trouble, they might demand a ransom if they believed their captives had any value. Gain was a prince, but Anne...

Gain felt a pain tearing at his heart, and then he heard Anne's tears again. He moved over towards her and held her hand.

"It will be okay—I promise."

It was a lie, but it was a lie that he wanted to be true more than anything in the world. He wanted her to be safe.

"How?"

"I will protect you. I swear."

He knew that he could not protect her. He deserved to go to Hell for that weakness. But, he wanted her to have hope—just for a little while longer."

The carriage stopped.