Babysitting

You'd think that we were done fighting for the night when I slammed the door in his face, but no. Around one in the morning I hear footsteps outside my door. They were very soft, like the person making them didn't want to wake anyone, but my trained ears heard it.

I got up out of bed; tip toed to the door and peeked out. Walking very slowly was a dark figure. I recognized it at once as James. Although I knew his strut…oops did I say strut? I meant walk. Anyways his height was a dead giveaway. I smirked and slowly crept behind him until I was about a foot away. Then I nonchalantly poked him in the middle of his back. He gasped and jumped a mile in the air. My smirk grew larger but I tried to hold my laughter.

"What…. What are you…. doing here?" he said in between breaths.

"Me?! What are you doing at one in the morning?"

"You know I could ask you the same question."

"Where are you going?"

"Nowhere. Why do you even care?"

See how he makes everything impossible?

"Do you know there are several people in this world who would love to kill you?"

"Like who?"

"Um like a whole country!"

"Yeah, that is 100 miles away from here!"

I crossed my arms and stood my ground. He got the message that I wasn't going to leave.

"Please go back to bed!" he begged.

"No, I'm not really tired. I think I just go tell Don that you've decided to leave for the night."

I started to skip down the hallway, but he grabbed my arm and pulled me back.

"You're not telling anyone. Just please go back to bed." He pleaded

"At least let me go with you." I suggested.

"NO! Absolutely not! You can't come!"

"Fine than I'll just go have a little chat with your parents…"

"NO!" he pulled me back again.

"It's either that or take me with you."

"Why do you want to go with me anyway? It's not like I need a babysitter."

Really you don't? Yes I'm out of the job! Ha…. I wish. I simply folded my arms and waited for him to deliberate.

"Ugh! Are all girls this impossible?"

"Only the good ones." I answered.

"He gave a huge sigh and said "Alright, let's go."

I smiled. I'm so good. I quickly ran to my room and threw on a plain dress before we started our trip.

"So where are we going anyway?" I asked.

"We are not going anywhere. I am going to a pub. You can sit outside the door."

"Well that doesn't sound like much fun." I smirked in my sweet voice.

He sighed and rolled his eyes. We escaped out a small window that was close to the ground and snuck to the stables. I went to go tack Savant, but James stopped me.

"Let's only take one horse. It's less suspicious. They won't think we went off together."

I shrugged. He's smarter than he looks. We rode one of the extra horses so we wouldn't tip off who left. He rode in front with me clinging to his waste, trying not to fall of. It would be easy to lunge to your doom at the speed we were going.

Fifteen minuets into our travel I saw a small road littered with old cottages. Five minuets later we were traveling down the road. Most of the houses were bed and breakfasts or small inns. Up on a hill was a cottage with music spewing out of it. A rotting sign read "The Broken Bottle".

We dismounted and I started to walk in, but once again James stopped me.

"You can't go in there. It's not proper for a lady."

"Since when am I ever proper and in case you haven't noticed, I am not exactly what you would call a lady."

Without a look back I entered the pub. It wasn't anything extravagant. I had been in fancier bars. In one corner was a house band and couple men singing drunkenly. The rest of the place was quiet. Men scattered the bar and many huddled around tables. The whole place smelled of rancid milk and grungy B.O.

As soon as James entered there was a shout from one of the tables.

"Oi Jay, over here," said a blonde haired boy with an Irish accent said.

He walked over to the huddle and I followed behind him.

"Who's you friend James?" the boy asked eyeing me. I folded my arms.

"Who? Oh you mean the wench? No I found her on the street and she keeps following me around."

I slapped him on the arm. "I'm his personal babysitter," I announced.

The group giggled. James rolled his eyes.

"So your parents finally gave up and issued you a body guard," said the blonde boy.

"Can we just play?" asked James sounding annoyed. He sat down at the table. Blondie joined him. Another man with no hair and a tattoo on the side of his face sat across from James. They started a game with cups and many dice. I quickly identified it as perudo. (A/N that's the game they play in Pirates of the Caribbean 2)

Three hours and a few drinks later we were walking back through the valley with storm clouds billowing above us. What started as gambling lose change turned into gambling horses. It started to drizzle.

"Ugh, it's raining!" complained James.

"We could've been back at the castle by now if someone hadn't bet our horse."

"I could've one that hand."

"Six fives, and I bet my horse." I mimicked his loss.

"Will you please give it a rest?"

"What will your parents say when they discover there missing a horse?"

"Doesn't matter," he shrugged, "I'm going to get a new one for my birthday anyway."

"Are you always this spoiled?"

"I am the crown prince of Kurt," he said as if it was an explanation.

I only sighed. We walked some more and the rain steadily grew heavier.

After awhile I asked him, "Are you looking forward to be the king?"

He thought a moment. "I guess the power will be nice."

"What are you planning to do?"

"I don't know. I've thought about a few things."

"Like what?"

"Well I think punishments for thieves are to merciful."

At this I gagged.

"I don't mean to be rude, but have you ever thought thieves aren't as bad as they seem?"

"What do you mean?" he asked suspiciously.

"What do robbers steal; food, money? Things they can't get on their own." My voice grew louder with the last sentence.

"Maybe they are just bandits with evil souls and no self discipline!" he yelled.

"How dare you call him evil!" I screamed. Oops, did I just say that out loud.

I covered my mouth and turned away. "I'm sorry," I whispered.

"You knew a thief?" he asked softly.

"Never mind." I said.

"No please tell me," he egged on.

"It sounds like you knew one too," I said trying to turn the conversation around. Luckily he didn't back out of it.

"Once, when I was younger," he said.

"What happened?"

"Well I was kidnapped by a group of thieves when I was 16, but I was only held hostage for two days. They weren't the smartest of bandits. I think it scared my mother and sister more than it did me. I never want to see my mother like that again. She swore that I would never be hurt like that again."

"I'm sorry," was all I could say.

"Don't be. It's not your fault."

I swallowed hard at that.

"So, who is he?" he asked referring to my thief slip up, "Tell me your story."

"No" I said with a sigh, "It's…. complicated."

"Come on! I told you mine."

I only smiled and wondered if I should thank him for the story. I decided a subject change was best.

"So, what are you planning to do for your birthday?"

"My parents are throwing a huge ball in my honor. They do every year. It's mostly an excuse for me to find a bride." he stated.

"Well that's always important, but…" I trailed off. I didn't want to start another fight.

"What?"

"Well…it's just that..." I turned to face him. We stopped walking and slowly became soaking from the drizzle.

"Your country is at war and yet, the court is still throwing lavish parties or balls or whatever they are. Shouldn't you be planning your defense?" I started walking again. "And I don't mean any disrespect. I'm still new to this life and I-" but I stopped when I realized he wasn't following me. He just stared at the distant palace.

"I'm sorry…again" I tried to apologize.

"Let's keep going," was all he said.

We reached the palace at dawn without another word to each other.