Author's Note: Seems like our princess is constantly on the move...this one with contain a bit of artistic liberties, but not much, just when the princess and dear Walter are traveling back to Bowerstone...Thank you again to all that have reviewed, I am glad you are enjoying it? Here is chapter four, hope you all enjoy, reviews are appreciated both comments and criticisms are welcome...oh and this story hasn't done anything as of yet to merit it's M rating, and will only do so much later on, I was wondering if it should be changed to T and then M later on, or if it should remain at it's rating?
The back of his head throbbed painfully as he groggily opened his eyes, feeling as though he had just been hit by a canon ball. He heard a whine and then felt something wet lap against his hand, making his fingers twitch irritably.
He groaned, squinting in the new morning light and glance to his side, not daring to move his head, in fear it would throb even more; he saw a familiar furry face starring up at him tentatively.
"Hey, where have you been you big baby, hiding when there's a battle to be fought." he chided humorously, chuckling when the hound whined softly, trying to gain some sympathy.
Ben lifted his arm painfully and gave the dog a soft pat on the head before scratching the hounds ears.
"You're lucky I have a soft spot for dogs..." he said, closing his eyes and slumping further against the stone wall.
Carefully he brought his hand up to the back of his head and tenderly prodded the fairly evident welt that had formed.
"...Bloody hell..." he hissed.
He heard the dog at his side whine softly again and nudge his arm gently, and he glanced back down to beast.
"What is it boy?" he asked tiredly.
It suddenly hit him the princess! Where was the princess? he sat up quickly, ignoring the painful throbbing from his skull and looked around somewhat frantically. Numerous soldiers littered the ground, some of them groggily slipping in and out of consciousness, others lying motionless. From his limited vantage point he couldn't see Walter or Major Swift, but as he continued to scan the marred fort he spotted a small body laying upon the ground, near the center of the fort. He felt his heart drop as struggled to his feet, using Ambrose for support as he staggered over to the fallen royalty.
He slumped to his knees by her side and looked down at her fearfully; she was face down on the ground, and he couldn't tell if she was breathing. He looked over to Ambrose who whined at him and looked down to his fallen master and then back up to the blonde man.
Taking a deep breath, he held it as he slowly turned her over. Apart from her dirtied face and clothes, she didn't appear to have any major wounds, few cuts and scrapes, but nothing serious. As he looked down her slender form he noticed that her chest rose and fell slowly, evenly, and he released the breath he had been holding.
"You see boy? she's fine." he said looking back over to the hound, with a relieved smile.
Ambrose barked at the man and wagged his tail happily.
Ben chuckled and looked back down to the sleeping princess, it surprised him that this was the first time he had actually taken a good look at her. The soft shape of her face covered in dirt and sweat, her chestnut brown hair, caked with mud and dried blood; he hoped it wasn't hers. As he continued to gazed down her body he took note of her once most likely regal looking clothing, had become tattered and muddy, no doubt to her resent adventuring; and he wondered if she would throw a fit when she took notice.
He allowed his eyes to wander to her chest, stopping momentarily at the fringes of her blouse just below her collar bone, before moving lower. He suddenly heard her groan softly and he snapped his head back up to look at her face.
Even before she opened her eyes she felt as though the world was spinning, she groaned again and brought her hand up to her forehead, feeling the grime that streaked her face.
She heard a familiar chuckle from above her and she reluctantly opened her eyes.
"Not exactly, the first thing a lady wants to see when she wakes up..." she muttered jokingly as she gazed up at the blonde soldier sitting by her side.
"Forgive me dear woman, for sullying your view." he replied with a playful grin and went to move his head, only to have the princess grip the sleeve of his arm.
"Your head is blocking the light nicely..." she replied with a sheepish smile, which only made his smile grow wider.
"Well I'm glad I could be of assistance, your majesty." he said, settling back down with a sigh, slinging his arm over Ambrose who sat beside him contentedly. "How do you feel?"
"Agh...Like I had far too much wine..." she said closing her eyes.
Ben laughed at this.
"You and me both princess, tell me, we didn't get into any drunken shenanigans then did we?"
Even through the dirt smudged across her face Ben could see a faint blush form on her cheeks and nose, but she played along, despite it.
"I fear Walter would throw a fit." she said with a soft chuckle, gazing up at the man above her, her brown eyes sparkling. She hadn't joked around like this since...since well, since Elliot.
She felt her heart sink; after that horrible night at the castle she hadn't seen him since, and she could only hope he was alright.
Ben noticed her face fall and he wondered she was thinking about.
"Gold piece for your thoughts?" he asked her, looking at her curiously.
"...It's a long story..." she replied, and he took it that she didn't want to talk about it, at least not at the moment.
An uncomfortable silence fell upon them, and Ambrose whined softly at the sudden stillness, feeling uneasy.
"I'm sorry about Jammy..." he suddenly heard her murmur, and he felt his chest tighten a little.
"He was a good soldier...a good friend." he replied solemnly. "...Who knows maybe he'll pay us a visit as a ghost." he then added trying to sound optimistic, forcing a smile; but his eyes gave him away.
Silence fell between them once more.
"...balls." came a familiar voice.
"Walter?" Yvette said, as she shot up from her position on the ground, sitting up quickly; regretting getting up as fast as she did almost immediately, though she quickly shook it off and glanced around the fort grounds.
She quickly spotted him getting up on shaky legs near the fort gates, leaning on his sword for extra support.
"Bloody Hollow men..." he muttered to himself as he looked up, and spotted the princess. "Thank the Hero Queen, you're alive! For a moment I feared the revolution would be all over if I found your mutilated corpse." he said with a laugh and began to make his way over to her, somewhat off kilter.
"Thank you for the encouragement Walter." she said back, leaning back on her elbows and sighing tiredly.
Walter paused for a moment on his way over an knelt down and nudged Major Swift, softly. When the man didn't stir, Walter took it upon himself to wake the man, and gave him slap across the face.
"By Avo, what are you doing?" Swift shouted out as he bolted up and placed a hand over the sore spot on his face.
"Oh come off it, I didn't even hit you that hard old friend." Walter said with a chuckle and stood back up offering his hand to the annoyed Major.
"Old friend indeed...I will never applaud your ways of waking people up." he replied and took the hand offered to him and stood up.
"I guess I'm glad now that Jasper was the one to always wake me up..." Yvette said as she watched Walter and Swift walk over to her,
Swift no longer seeming quite as upset gave Walter a firm pat on the shoulder, which the other man returned.
Ben laughed and shook his head.
"It seems as though you handled yourself quite well." Swift said looking down at her with a sparkle in his eye. "Walter was right about you, I do believe you could be the one to lead Albion in a revolution." he added.
"Well if old Swifties behind you, I guess I have no choice." Ben said giving her a lopsided smirk, when she pouted at him.
The blonde soldier stood up slowly, careful not to aggravate his injured head too much, and extended his hand out to the still sitting woman.
"Oh, why thank you kind sir." Yvette said sarcastically and took his hand and allowed him to hoist her up off the ground.
"Careful, you allow his ego to get larger than it already is." Walter told her, glancing over to Ben, who frowned.
Swift chuckled and looked around, noticing a few of his men beginning to stir and he quickly turned back to the group, clearing his throat, gaining their attention.
"Princess, my men and I will be willing to follow you into battle, but promise me, once you take the throne, you will restore the Royal Army to its former glory." he asked in all seriousness.
Yvette nodded and did her best to look tall and ready to lead the fight as she extended her hand to him.
"I promise to you Major Swift, that I will do all in my power to do so, and if possible I will make it better."
Swift smiled widely and gripped her hand firmly.
"I shall hold you to it princess, and I look forward to following you into battle." he replied and then looked up to Walter. "It'll be just like old times!"
"Oh indeed it will, but I don't remember us ever having to overthrow a tyrannical king." the old soldier relied stroking his beard, in mock thought.
"Ah, then it shall be one for the history books!" Swift said and then turned around to survey the fort before turning back to the small gaggle. "Enough chit-chat, we should be helping my men." Swift said and walked off to help his downed soldiers
"Will do." Ben said with a salute, before nodding to the princess and Walter and heading off with Major Swift.
"Well, come on, let's see if we can help anyone...why don't you look around and see if there any potions or medicine lying around." Walter said.
"Sure thing." Yvette replied and clicked her tongue to Ambrose, knowing he could find almost anything with that nose of his. "Come on boy!"
The hound wagged his tail and jumped around his master happily causing her to laugh as she walked towards some broken crates, and turned over tables.
"How about if you find something I'll give you a treat." she told him chuckling and he barked excitedly and rushed off.
Yvette sighed and shook her head, making her way over to the crates and upturned table and began to sort through the debris.
Pushing a plank from the broken table out of her way, something caught her eye; a wrinkled piece of parchment with messy writing scribbled over it stuck out from beneath the pile. Carefully she plucked it from the rubble, eyes darting around, making sure that no one had noticed her before scanning over the messy hand writing.
As she read it over she felt her breath catch in her throat, it was Ben's...at least she thought it was; she continued to read.
As she read on she felt her heart sink a little in her chest at the life he described; all this time she had lived such a lavish life, it wasn't until reading this did she really get a feel for how much squaller so many people in Albion lived in.
When she finished she noticed that she had been gripping the paper unusually tight, so much so her hands had begun to shake. Quickly she turned away from the parchment, trying to clear her thoughts, before glancing back down at it briefly.
A happy panting alerted her that Ambrose was at her side and she looked down to the excited hound.
"Find something boy?" she asked him with a sad smile and he barked in reply, oblivious to the uneasiness of his master. "Alright boy, lead away." she said and followed slowly after him as he ran ahead.
As she followed after her faithful hound she gently folded the paper in her hand and tucked into her pocket, not quite sure what to do with it yet.