Daryl was actually kind of disappointed when Carol put her hood up, though he knew it was absolutely necessary. He was still getting used to the short hair, and the more stolen glances he took the more he liked it. The best possible thing was if they could just ride slowly through the town, not attract any attention or wake anyone up, and slip into the woods on the other side. Was that really too much to ask for? Apparently it was, Daryl realized, as midway through the tiny village a loud drunk decided he wanted to make conversation with them.

"Ahhh, what have we got under that cloak?" he drawled, stumbling along beside Carol's horse. "Come on pretty lady, just give me a little peek, huh?"

Daryl moved his horse around the other side so the man was in between them, "Sir, please, we don't want no trouble. We'll just move on through town and be on our way." He hoped and prayed that Carol kept looking straight ahead, avoiding eye contact with the man.

"I just wanna see her pretty face," the drunk insisted, grabbing at the reins on Carol's horse. "Ain't many handsome women in this town no more. Just give me a glimpse, something to brighten my dreams."

"Hey, let go," Daryl hissed. "Leave her be." Carol continued to remain calm and quiet until the man started to get agitated and yanked harder on the reins. She shot him a scared look and Daryl jumped down off his horse. He grabbed the man in a choke hold. "Go," he demanded, giving the horse a gentle nudge and starting Carol on her way. "Quick, I'll catch up." He was pleased when she understood and dug in her heels, he watched Carol fly off and disappear into the woods, then finally let the struggling man go. "Gooday Sir," he said politely, jumping back on the steed and taking off in the same direction that Carol had rode.

Daryl found her, waiting for him, not too far into the forest. "You alright?" he puffed, taking a deep breath to get some air back into his lungs.

"Yeah, I'm okay," Carol replied. "Do you really think that drunk would have recognized me?" she asked.

Daryl shrugged, "Maybe. Maybe not. But no sense in finding out, right?" He started his horse moving again and she followed, coming up beside him. He glanced over at her, "You really think you're gonna be able to do this?"

Her eyes flashed and she glared at him. "Of course I can do this," she growled. "I have to. I can't go back. And if it's too much trouble for you, we can part ways right here. I'll figure something out. I'll survive on my own."

"Stop," he said gently. He hadn't intended on getting her all worked up, but if he had of thought about it for a second before speaking he would have known she'd be fired up with his words. The one thing he'd learned in the short time he'd known the princess was that she was stubborn. But she was also brave, smart and determined. Those were qualities he only prayed to find in his best men and she had them all in spades. Daryl realized he had insulted her by being so thoughtless. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that. You're coming with me and staying with my group until you can go back home." Carol's eyes softened, but her face didn't. Daryl knew she was trying to be a hard ass, but was failing miserably and he grinned at her. "It's a good thing you're gonna be hangin' round a group of scoundrels because your poker face is terrible."

Carol pouted and glared at him again, "Is it really that bad?" He nodded, still smiling at her. "Well… fuck," she said, her eyes sparkling. Daryl gave her a curious look. "What? Princesses swear sometimes too. Besides, I suspect your friends will have vulgar potty mouths and I want to fit in," Carol added smugly.

Well that part was true. The men did have pretty foul mouths, many of the women too. But she didn't need to fit in and Daryl didn't want her to. Carol was special and different, and no matter what… she was still a princess who would be Queen someday. "You ain't gotta change to fit in," Daryl said softly. "I'm gonna have to tell 'em all who you are…"

"No," Carol interjected. "Please… don't tell them. I want a chance to be a part of your group," she pleaded. "If you tell them… they will just treat me like a princess, not like a friend."

Daryl sighed. His gut was telling him it was best that everyone know the truth. He trusted his men and their families to keep their mouths shut. It wouldn't go beyond the group. But there was just something in those damn eyes that made him want to keep her happy. If she didn't want the others to know… he would keep her secret. "Okay, but you better start thinkin' up a good story… including how I made a valiant escape from the clutches of the King's guard."

"Valiant," Carol snorted. "Yup, I'll come up with something good." She was quiet for a few minutes. "How about after making your grand escape you found me lost in the woods and saved me from a wolf…"

"Uh, were you on the way to Granny's house?" Daryl chuckled, thinking of a fairy tale he'd heard as a child.

"Oh right…" Carol said, catching on. "Okay, how about this… I was a servant working at the castle and I agreed to help you escape if you took me with you."

"Other than one part, that's pretty much the truth," Daryl said, skeptical about her second option. "They will ask too many questions. How did a servant get me out of a well-guarded castle? Why did you want to leave? Why are you still with me?"

"Why are you making this so difficult?" Carol asked, sighing dramatically. "Wait…" she glanced over at him, her eyes lighting up. "You said you don't have a girlfriend, right?" Daryl wondered where she was going, feeling very nervous all of a sudden. "Well, you do now," she exclaimed, flashing him a stunning smile that made his heart feel weird.

"Huh?" he muttered, looking at her with his jaw hanging open.

"Tell them we knew each other when we were younger, but my family moved away," she said excitedly. "After you escaped the castle, which I'll work on later, you ran into me in the first town you travelled through. Say we were each other's first love and rekindled that instantly."

"That'll never work," Daryl insisted. "They'd never believe it."

"Why not?" Carol asked. "It's perfect. People won't wonder why you're being so protective and keeping me close," she said, batting her eyelashes. "Come on, it has to be something pretty significant for you to risk bringing a stranger into the group."

"This is a terrible idea," Daryl grumbled, feeling very confident they were setting up for failure.

"Was that a yes?" Carol asked, smiling at him.

"Yeah, sure, but when they don't buy it…" he warned. "Then we're telling 'em the truth."

"Deal," Carol agreed easily. "Now to figure out how you escaped the castle…." Daryl was quiet while she muttered ideas and changed her mind over and over again. He was still unsure about her plan and was trying to think of something better he could change her mind with. The group would never believe he'd fallen in love that easily. And if they did buy the story that they were long lost soulmates there would be several that would want to know why he'd never mentioned her before.

Daryl shot a sideways glance at the Princess. She really was beautiful. If he was going to fake being in love with anyone he had certainly hit the jackpot. Not only was she gorgeous, she had a big heart. He was pretty confident she would fit in well with his band of vigilantes.

The second town they had to travel through was completely uneventful. They walked right through without attracting any attention whatsoever. When they were safely to the other side Daryl glanced over and saw Carol was wobbling in the saddle. She was exhausted. They needed to stop and rest.

"Hey, hold up once we're in the woods okay?" he said, coming up beside her. The sun was about ready to make its appearance, but once they moved into the trees it was dark again. They didn't have that much further to go. Had Daryl been alone he would have just pushed on through and rested when he made it home. But Carol needed to sleep, at least for a couple of hours.

Daryl hopped down off his horse and found a tree to tie the reins. He offered a hand and Carol jumped down. Without a word he tied her horse as well. "Are we there?" she asked, looking around in confusion. The ironic part was, when they did get to their destination, it wouldn't look a whole lot different than what she was seeing right then.

"No, not yet. We're gonna rest a few hours first," Daryl explained. He knew she was stubborn and was expecting a fight, but it only reinforced just how tired she was when Carol nodded and yawned. Daryl saw her shiver, even under the heavy cloak she wore. It was fairly chilly, but it was likely more to do with the exhaustion than the weather. "Get comfortable and sleep," Daryl instructed, sitting down with his back to a tree. "I'll keep watch and wake ya in a few hours to head on out again."

"You're not gonna sleep?" Carol asked, yawning again. Daryl was surprised when she sat down right beside him. He had a thing about personal space and resisted the urge to move farther away, though for some reason the desire to put distance between them was much weaker than usual. "If we're gonna be lovers you really need to quit flinching when I get close," Carol whispered in a teasing manner. Daryl felt his cheeks flush with her words and the way she spoke them as if they were true, not just a story they were making up. "Oh hey, I got the rest of the story too," Carol said, lying down on her side, facing him. "You talked a lot to the guard, made him think you were harmless, and one day when he brought your food you reached through the bars and knocked him out. Got the keys… and proved just how stealth you can be until you found yourself miles from the castle."

"Hmm," Daryl said, nodding. "That might just work. I am pretty damn stealth." He smiled at her, "Sleep Princess."

Carol yawned again. "You gotta stop calling me Princess too. In fact, I think we ought to pick a new name… I've always like Sophia…"

Daryl shook his head and found himself smiling again. "Sleep… Princess… Sophia." The little sleepy flash of a smile she gave him, just before her blue eyes closed, was burned into his mind. It was all he could think about for the next 3 hours or so, while she slept. He hated to wake her up, but Daryl was getting pretty tired himself and was looking forward to crawling into his bed when they got home. "Carol, wake up…. Carol," he said. When she didn't wake Daryl reached over and touched her arm, shaking her slightly.

"Mmm," Carol groaned, rolling and stretching. "I was having the best dream," she groaned, finally allowing her eyes to flutter open. "Oh…" she fixed her eyes on his face. "Oh, hey… you're real…" she giggled.

That one little laugh was quite possibly the most beautiful thing he'd ever heard. What exactly did she mean, with the dream? With the 'you're real' part? Daryl didn't know and he wasn't even sure he wanted to know… but it really didn't matter because what he did know… was that he was already in way over his head. And this could be far more dangerous than robbing rich people.