Sorry about the delay in posting. RL and all that...As always, thank you for your feedback/favs/etc.! :D :D


Several hours later, we have seen the majority of the kingdom.

We find Max and Pascal at the large fountain where we left them earlier. If the look on her frog's face is any indication, we just saved him from dying of boredom. He scurries down Max's back and up Blondie's arm without waiting for her to stop walking.

"Oh Pascal!" she sighs dreamily. "Everything here is so wonderful. They had a dress shop with the most beautiful dresses. They even had one with lace and..."

I start to tune out Blondie's recount of everything that had happened and focus on more pressing things. Like food. Keeping up with her enthusiasm burns off nearly as many calories as running from the royal guard. I spot a vendor halfway down the block and start walking towards it.

Only to be stopped by Max.

I hold my hands up innocently. "Hey, I'm just getting us something to eat." To emphasize my point, I start rubbing my hand over my stomach. I somehow resist the urge to pantomime the action of putting imaginary food in my mouth.

He narrows his eyes. Apparently, he still doesn't trust me.

Horses, go figure.

Maybe some bribery is in order. "I'll even get something for you...About a nice, shiny apple?"

Horses like apples, right? He seemed to like the one Blondie gave him this morning.

He neighs excitedly and moves out of my way. So, the way to a horse's heart is through his stomach. I could have used that information yesterday. I would have packed a few apples before the crown heist.

"I'll be right back," I tell Blondie who is holding up the flag for her frog to see.

I walk up to the vendor who is looking at me suspiciously. This can't be good. I pick up a loaf of bread and several apples, doing my best to look nonchalant. I stand for a moment, waiting for him to give me a price for what I have in my hands, but he remains silent.

"Does this mean it's free?"

He looks back to Max who is watching me very carefully. "Is that a palace horse?"

I knew that persistent horse was going to get us into trouble. Soon this guy will be asking where his rider is and that is a topic I would rather avoid, thank you very much. Feigning ignorance is definitely in order.

"He's with her," I say, nodding my head towards Blondie. OK, so it's not the most noble thing to do, but I am no Prince Charming.

"Is she in some kind of trouble? A horse with no rider is an unusual sight around here," he says as he shifts his gaze back to me.

I inwardly laugh at the implication. Here I am, the most wanted thief in the kingdom and he's worried about Blondie. I shake my head as I look back in Max's direction. Apparently Blondie called him over because he's not staring at me with that ridiculously suspicious look on his face.

"Nope, he just likes her." A little too much, I silently add, as I watch him nuzzle into her hand again.

The man crosses his arms, not pleased with my answer.

I turn back to Blondie who finally manages to tear her interest away from that horse and gives a little wave in my direction. Reluctantly, I give her one back. When I look back at Mr. Grumpy, I notice how his expression has softened.

Get used to it, buddy. No one is impervious to Blondie's charm.

"Three duits," he finally says, holding out his hand.

I drop the coins in his hand and make my way back to Blondie and her animal friends. We need to go somewhere a little more discrete, I decide. Surely one shopkeeper won't be the only one who will notice Max's presence.

"Come on," I say as I start walking to the outskirts of town.

"Where are we going?" she inquires, running next to me.

"Well," I shrug, "I assume you're never had a meal with an ocean view before."

She claps her hands together and looks at Pascal. "This is going to be so much fun!"

We cut through the back roads of the town. The festivities and people are virtually nonexistent here. Finally, we approach the end of the road and the tall sea wall. I've hidden here enough to know that the guards rarely patrol this remote area of the kingdom.

With a rather impressive toss, I throw the food on the top of the ledge before I hoist myself to the top and admire the view. It takes me a few seconds -and a nudge in my side from her frog- to notice that Blondie isn't next to me. I turn around and see her unsuccessfully trying to pull herself up.

A gentleman would have helped her up, but Flynn Rider could never be considered such a thing. Eugene, however...

I watch her bit her lip for a second before she looks at Pascal who is giving me an evil glare with one eye and watching his friend with another. "I could unbraid my hair..." she mutters.

I frown, not liking that idea at all.

You would have to rebraid it all, Flynn reminds me.

And you'd miss looking at it, Eugene quietly says.

I silence my split personalities and hold out my hand. She grabs it without hesitation and is soon sitting next to me, her leg pressed up against mine.

Maybe I should have let her stay down there, I belatedly think.

"Eugene!" she gasps and grabs my arm briefly. She lets go and points at all the ships sailing in the waters ahead of us. "Look at all of the boats!"

I hide my smile at her enthusiasm by tossing a couple of apples to Max.

"The view is great," I agree, looking at Blondie out of the corner of my eye.

Whoa.

Stop right there, Rider.

Do not go there.

"So," I say, a little too desperate for my liking, "what's your frog's background?"

"Who? Pascal?" she asks, feeding him a chunk of bread. He doesn't seem to enjoy the taste of the dry loaf, but I'm fresh out of insects or whatever it is that frogs eat.

"Uh-huh."

"He's a chameleon, Eugene," she reminds me. As if to prove her point, he starts changing into a rainbow of colors.

"OK, fine, chameleon. I get it." He looks positively smug at my concession.

She finishes chewing on her piece of bread before continuing. "Pascal followed Mother home when she went on one of her trips to the flat lands and he's been with me ever since." She smiles at her friend who gives her a thumb's up.

"And he's your first...pet?"

She nods and pops another piece of bread into her mouth. "One time Mother found him in my room and she was upset and told me to get rid of him. She said that he was dangerous." She lets out a disbelieving laugh. "But I knew she was wrong. Pascal wouldn't hurt a fly."

At the mention of the insect, Pascal starts licking his lips.

"Oh! Well, maybe a fly, but you know what I mean," she quickly amends. "After that, we decided it was best for Pascal to remain hidden from Mother."

Pascal makes a face at the mention of her mom. I guess he's not a big fan of the woman who deemed it necessary to keep Blondie locked away all those years.

"Oh, Pascal, she's not so bad," she quietly admonishes. "She's just very...protective."

Pascal rolls his eyes before starting to chirp animatedly. Now, I don't speak Chameleon or any other Reptilian dialect, but even I know what he has to say about that.

She sighs softly. "Maybe you're right, Pascal. She has been wrong about the outside world so far." It seems as though she's about to say something else, but at the last moment, she changes her mind. She draws in a deep breath and straightens her back, much like she did last night at the campfire, and I know that part of the conversation is over.

She seems content to watch the boats make their way to the port. "It's so...amazing," she breathes. "I never imagined anything like this."

I scoot a little closer to her -just to see from her vantage point, mind you- when she unexpectedly leans her head against my shoulder.

What is she doing?

Lunch is over, I suddenly decide. Without waiting, I slide down the wall face a little too quickly. My pants snag on the uneven rocks, but thankfully don't tear. Blondie nearly falls backwards, but she catches herself in time. She looks at me, confused. "Eugene?"

Pascal gives me a nasty look, but I really don't care. Fleeing is my only option until Blondie learns about the important concept of personal space.

She dismounts the sea wall with much more grace than I did and brushes off the breadcrumbs from her dress. "Did I...Did I do something wrong?"

Great, now I'm starting to feel guilty. I haven't felt that emotion in, well, actually, I'm not sure I have actually felt that emotion before. He give her a small smile. "No, I just thought we should get going. There's still a lot to do before the lanterns come out."

Fortunately, she's either to kind or naive (or a combination of both) to corner me on my flimsy excuse for bolting on her. She allows Pascal to climb on her hand and gently places him on Max's back. "We'll be back in a while, alright?"

The chameleon nods before pining me with a glare. He points at Blondie with his tail, chirps something unintelligible, then crosses his arms.

Don't mess with Blondie.

I got the message, Buddy.