What had she done? Why had she kissed Quinn? She made her best friend in the world, who had just confessed to her that she was in love with someone, run away from her. Her heart had told her to do it. It felt so right.
What should she do now? Run after Quinn? Or just let her go? Should she pretend it never happened? She can't deny her feelings now. It felt so right to be kissing Quinn, but the girl she loves, loves someone else. This is just too much to take in at this moment. Her head was too full of thoughts to think about anything clearly. Maybe she should just give Quinn a little space. That's probably what we both need.
She settled on giving Quinn some space for a while so she'll have time to settle down. That would also allow Santana to figure out what to do or say.
"Mike?" she quietly called. When he appeared out of some random direction with his head down, she continued in a low voice. "Firstly, I would like to apologize to you for my behavior earlier. That was inexcusable. I ask for your forgiveness."
Mike's head popped up, with an inquisitive expression. Once he had found nothing but sincerity in her expression and gotten over his initial shock, his eyes twinkled. "Thank you, Your Highness. Apology accepted," a smile spread across his face to accompany his still twinkling eyes.
"Thank you, Mike," she responded as a genuine smile spread across her face. "Would you kindly saddle Justice for me? I'm going to go for a ride."
"Yes, milady. Does anyone else need a horse?" He tried to subtly search for Quinn.
"Just me," her smile faltered a little, but she tried to keep a kind smile plastered to her face for the kind young man. "Quinn went back to the castle, and I'd like a solitary ride for once."
Mike gave her another questioning look. "Pardon me, milady, but is that advisable?"
"Probably not," she shrugged dismissively. "But if you keep it to yourself, I'll return in no more than two hours, and anything you desire or require from now on, I will personally grant. Starting with a room in the castle next to the one occupied by Sam and his family for you and your family. Or, if you would prefer, a house of your own adjoining the castle."
Mike considered for a moment. "I wouldn't require anything from you, milady. I would do as you asked no matter what, but I will also not turn down your offer."
"You are a very wise young man, Mike."
"Two hours?" he was still concerned for her safety, and it touched Santana, though she wouldn't admit it.
"No more than that," she smiled her best reassuring smile.
"As you wish, princess," he moved swiftly to prepare Justice.
"Thank you, Mike," she called after him.
She moved out of the stable to pace in the courtyard just outside as she waited for the return of Mike with Justice. She also used that time to make sure none of the stable workers would be able to witness her escape.
As soon as Mike had brought the large gold horse to Santana, he helped her mount him before she shot him a quick "Thanks" and galloped off to the woods. She had to get her act together and formulate a plan of attack for when she got back. If Quinn was happy with this mystery person and he treated her well, she would support them. If, however, he didn't see what he had in such a wonderful girl, she was determined to win this girl's heart. For now, she had to just work out how to contain the damage she had caused. Hopefully, she hadn't completely ruined her friendship with the most important person in her life. She might not even have a chance with this girl no matter what she did.
She didn't even realize she was crying until she couldn't see. She pulled Justice to a halt in a small clearing. She leaned over on his muscular neck, and just enjoyed the quiet strength of Quinn's favorite horse. "What have I done, Justice? What do I do now?" she whispered into the great beast's tilted ear.
Suddenly, both she and Justice jumped as there was a sudden cacophony of crashes and twigs breaking coming from behind them. She realized in that moment just how unwise she had been in insisting on coming out here alone. Several male voices seemed to come from every direction behind her. Whispers and shushes resounded as well as some groaning.
"Is that how you're planning on sneaking into the castle, Dave?" one voice growled.
"Yeah, Karofsky. Way to be quiet there. We have to make it BACK to the king with our report. Don't get us caught," another voice agreed.
Were these people spies?! Santana began to panic as the voices got closer. If she took off now, they'd hear her for sure and probably catch her before she reached the castle. She gave Justice only a small encouragement to move forward at a creeping pace. She hoped he would be able to creep quietly enough that they wouldn't hear him over their own voices.
"Come on, guys. This is the first time I have been chosen for a scouting mission. I'm just a little excited," a voice whined a little louder than what was recommended for a, supposedly, covert mission. That must be this "Dave Karofsky" they keep telling off.
She had barely made herself and Justice disappear into a very dark, very dense clump of foliage nearby before the five "scouts" appeared in the clearing behind her. Each man was leading a horse, and were dressed in peasant's clothes, not unlike that which a lot of the people in her town wore. She looked over her shoulder, assessing each of them to the best of her abilities, and attempting to memorize their faces so that when she reached the castle, she could warn her father.
"Tell me. How did you manage that? From what I have seen of you so far, I'm not AT ALL impressed," snarled another of the men, whom she hadn't heard before.
"Shut up," came another voice, hushing the others so effectively that Santana assumed he must be the leader. She, unfortunately, thought too late to stop Justice, who, at that very moment, stepped into a dead, extremely dry, crackly bush.
All five men shot up to attention and looked exactly in her direction. She took off as quickly as she could. "Mount, you brainless dumbasses! Get her!" she heard the leader yell.
She gave Justice all the reins he needed to run at top speed. Unfortunately, he was not as fresh as her pursuer's horses were, and she soon found them hot on her heels only about fifty feet back and gaining. She had no chance on her larger horse, so she made a rash decision. She would play the game she had as small children with Quinn. They called it "Wood Elves". The point of the game had always been to blend in the best they could with their surroundings. They had played it (with the supervision of Brittany's parents) almost monthly when they were kids. They could go like that for a week or two straight without needing the parents to provide meals or really anything for them. They built their little houses in the trees, caught their own food, and basically practiced survival skills without knowing it at the time.
She made a quick turn, and stood the best she could on Justice to grab a low hanging branch off the back of the already tall horse. She scrambled up into the tree as quickly as she could, and made her way around the tree by jumping through the branches carefully. The men still hadn't made the turn into the dense area, and once they did, they'd just follow the horse on instinct because they wouldn't see he was lacking a rider with how dark it was in here. She had never been more thankful for her knowledge of these woods. Even in the dark, she knew where she was.
Justice had taken off even faster now that she wasn't giving him extra weight, and she knew he would make a bee-line for the castle. The men couldn't catch him at this rate, as they had just made the turn and were losing ground on him in unfamiliar territory. He would be fine. She just had to hope that they wouldn't see her. Thankfully, she had put on a forest green dress this morning, so it shouldn't be too hard to blend in. She had also had enough practice with hide and seek when she was little to keep her breathing low and her body perfectly still. I'll be okay. I was always the best at this shit anyway. They don't know anything about this land, and I could draw you a map solely composed of trees in this forest. I've SO got this covered. Nonetheless, she held her breath as the thundering hooves passed under the other side of the tree.
She was about twenty feet up, so it would've been hard for them to see her, but it still didn't help her keep calm about peering around the other side of the tree. The sun was effectively blocked out by leaves and branches, so she took her time scanning the ground to be sure her eyes had completely adjusted to the darkness. She may be a princess, but she knew how to survive in these woods for days without any aid.
I know what I'm doing. I just have to come up with a plan to get back to the castle to warn everyone. Where do I start? She slid down to get comfortable on the large branch. She needed to think, and to think, she needed to calm down. She took several deep breaths. Who were they? What king were they talking about? More importantly, what now?
A/N: So sorry this took so long. Today has literally been my first day off all week, and Tuesday my elderly dog ripped her ACL, so I've been too depressed to write as we are trying to decide whether to pay for her surgery and take risks with her life anyway for a surgery that may not even work or keep her out of pain and put her down when her other ACL inevitably rips. Also, I had written several chapters ahead, but for added drama, I scrapped them. Yeah. I went a completely different direction than originally planned with basically the whole story from here on out, so idk how often I will be able to update. I will try my best to update ASAP. Let me know how you like it. I hope you all had a good week, and good days until I next update. Thank you again for reading, following, and favoriting. Sorry it's a shorter chapter. I just didn't want to leave you all hanging too much longer. As always, let me know if you see anything that needs to be fixed, grammar, inconsistencies, anything. I appreciate humble feedback. Don't tell me I'm brainless. I already know that, thank you.
Disclaimer: QUIT RUBBING IT IN! Also, see Chapter One.
