Author's Note: Hello, thank you again for the reviews. Here is the next chapter! Things are going to take another turn soon, so be prepared! What do you think is going to happen? Any predictions? Continue leaving reviews and thank you so much for reading!

Chapter Ten – Dreams and Nightmares

-Bash's POV-

We left the castle on two of the steeds that were in the stable, none of the guards took notice to our departure. We rode off into a small village, it was located a few miles away from the Court. Not too far away, but far enough. Far enough to start our new life together.

Her skin was shining in the moonlight, her smile never faded. She looked so happy for the first time in a long time. She could finally be the girl she always wanted to be. Maybe Aislinn wasn't exactly the name she was expecting, but to me, that was exactly what fit her.

In Ireland, Aislinn is not a commonly known name, but I knew a thing or two about unique names. In order for one to be unique, it must not be taken by many others. Which it wasn't. But one thing for sure was that she definitely fit the meaning. She was definitely my dream.

Exploring the world together – just being together. We always believed that this could only be a dream. She was the only thing that I wanted. I thought I was out of my head for believing she would want me too, but there she was. She was walking around the road aimlessly, without a care in the world.

She turned around towards me and waved her hand for me to join her side, she was staring into the sky. You could faintly make out a few stars that were covering the cloudy, dark sky. I wrapped my arm around her and pulled her close against my body, I felt a rain drop bounce against my nose. "Did you feel that?" I leaned down and whispered in her ear.

She glanced up and I saw a raindrop land against her cheek and it started to down pour immediately. She looked up at me and started to laugh hysterically as we stood in the pouring rain. "What do we do now? Where do we go?" She shouted and I pulled her arm and made a run for it, leaving our horses behind.

I ran into an empty looking stable and pulled her in behind me. She was still laughing and I turned around to face her. She was soaking wet. Her dress was now basically see-through and her hair was pressed against her forehead. I started to laugh along with her and she hugged me tightly.

"Maybe tonight was not the best night to make our great escape," I pressed my lips to the top of her head and let them linger there until she pulled away from me. She looked up at me and jutted out her bottom lip and shivered, "Are you cold?"

She rolled her eyes, "No, I enjoy standing in the rain and getting soaking wet." I shrugged and walked away from her and she slammed her hands against her sides making a loud smack against the wet dress. "I was only joking," She whined and I turned around. I pulled my jacket off and wrapped it around her shoulders and she pulled it tighter. "Thank you, Bash," She mumbled and I nodded.

I sat down on a hay stack and she joined my side. I laid down and she cuddled up next to me, laying her head against my chest. I could hear her fall asleep and I just laid there as she slept. She looked so peaceful and happy. I steadied my breathing to coincide with hers and her heart raced against my chest. I traced the tips of my fingers up and down her arms and I could feel my eyes growing heavier and heavier until I eventually fell asleep.

I heard the chirping of birds and the cows that were located in the barn with us beginning to chew on their hay. I opened my eyes but jumped back quickly waking up Aurora as well. There were three men standing in front of us with swords extended our way. One of the men pressed the edge of the blade under my chin and forced me to look up at him. "Who are you and why are you here?" He commanded, pushing the sword a bit further probably breaking a little skin. "Did the King send you here?"

Aurora pulled away from me and went to stand up but another one of the men stuck his sword in her direction. I threw my hand out in front of her and pushed her backwards protecting her, "We do not come wishing harm unto you and your village."

"Who are you?" He demanded again.

I swallowed hard and he pulled the sword away allowing me to talk freely, "I am Nolan and this is my lady, Aur-" I stopped myself and continued, "Aislinn."

He narrowed his eyes on mine, "Nolan and Aislinn, eh?" He chuckled and shook his head when I nodded and put my hands up in defense. He put the sword back towards me and I sucked in a quick breath. "Now tell me who you really are, what do you take me for? A lousy fool?"

I shook my head, "Of course not, sir. But I am telling you the truth, I am Nolan and this is Aislinn from Ireland. We were just passing through when the rain began last night and we had no shelter. We thought that this stable was open so we were just going to spend the night then leave and be on our merry way."

He pulled the sword away again and looked over to the other two men, they all exchanged a look before turning back to us. "Very well, but if we ever find you in this stable again. You would have wished that we would have killed you now," He warned and I nodded quickly.

I turned around to Aurora and grabbed her hands in mine and pulled her with me and we walked towards the exit. I turned around to the men before exiting, "Thank you for understanding. It truly means a lot," I mumbled and walked outside of the door.

We walked along the road and she was quiet, I looked over towards her and she was staring at the ground as she walked. Her eyes were glued onto every step that she took. I grabbed her hand in mine and she glanced over at me and started to smile. A small dimple indented on her left cheek and her white teeth shined. "What are you thinking of?"

She chuckled and stopped in her steps, she stood in front of me and took my face into her soft, warm hands. I felt myself lean into her touch and she just stared up at me in awe, "I was just thinking about how much we had to go through just to get here. We left royalty to be nobodies. We lived in a stable last night and almost died this morning. We threw in every single one of our cards just so we could finally have the life we always dreamt about. Since when did achieving ones dream become this difficult to fulfill?"

"But we will make this worth all of the trouble," I brushed her hair out of her face and her blue eyes were shining into mine. Her gaze was mesmerizing and I never wanted to take my eyes away from her. I never wanted to leave her side. "I know that it will be worth it."

She looked up at me with a hint of sarcasm, "Have I ever doubted you?"

We made it to the next town over by sunrise and we rented a vacant Inn from one of the villagers. I sat down on the chair and leaned back against the chair. I felt two hands touch my shoulders lightly and then began to kneed my shoulders and neck. I closed my eyes and let out a low groan and I felt her kiss the top of my head. The fire that was burning in the corner of the room started blowing out quickly from the lack of firewood. I stood up and turned to her, "I'm going to fetch us more firewood. Will you be okay alone?"

She nodded her head and stood on her tiptoes to kiss me gently, "Hurry back."

I walked out of the tiny door, which was too low for me, so I had to crouch down before walking out. I barely made it five yards away from the Inn before I heard men screaming. "There he is! Get him and bring him back to the King!"

-Aurora's POV-

I watched as he walked out of the Inn and I sat down on the chair that he was previously sitting on. It wasn't even a minute later when I heard a lot of shouting coming from outside. I stood up immediately and ran towards the door. I ran outside and saw a crowd of men pushing someone onto the ground and tying their hands behind their back. I pushed a few local villagers out of the way until I could finally see who it was.

I pulled one of the men's arms but he turned around and slapped me across the face causing me to fall backwards onto the muddy ground. I was laying on the ground, covered in mud from head to toe and the rain was still coming down hard. I tried to wipe my eyes but my vision was still a little blurred. I saw the person they were taking laying down beside me about two feet away. I reached my hand towards him, but the men kept punching and kicking him.

"Bash!" I yelled and extended my arm even farther and he looked over at me. Two of the men grabbed his arms and pulled him off of his feet.

He started to cough obnoxiously and kicked his feet trying to free himself, but they were dragging him away from me. "Aurora," He shouted back at me and continued to try and free himself, but he was failing. They kept pulling him further and further so I pushed myself off of the ground and chased after them.

"Bash!" I cried out and stopped dead in my tracks when the men picked up their pace and headed for their horses in the distance. There was no way that I was going to be able to catch up with them without a horse. "I will find you," I screamed over the rain and the villagers gossiping about the French Bastard that ran away. I took another step forward before he vanished out of my sight, "I will always find you!"

I turned around quickly and every one was giving me odd looks. I pulled the shawl off from around my head and cleared my throat. "I am Princess Aurora of Ireland and I need a horse," I demanded towards the townspeople. I heard a few gasps and children cheering, "Right now! I also need a bow and arrows, quickly."

They all began to scatter in order to fulfill my requests. Shortly after, I was on my way to find Bash. I took off on the horse they provided me in the direction he was taken. I held the bow in my other hand with the bag of arrows on my shoulder.

I caught up to where they were in no time and pulled an arrow from the bag and placed it on the crossbow and raised it. I rested my head against it, figuring out the best angle to shoot from. I sucked in a breath and let the arrow go and it raced through the air and shot one of the men in the arm and he fell of the horse. The horse was shocked and ran off in the opposite direction, the rest of the men started to glance around and I jumped off of my horse and tied him to a branch. I snuck my way closer and one of the men spoke up, "Who is out there?"

I tiptoed behind a tree and pulled another arrow out and placed it on the bow and turned around the corner of the tree and aimed at the man. I let it go and it shot right beside his head and landed in the tree right behind him exactly where I aimed it. "Who is out there?" He screamed louder and I ran out from behind the tree.

"Princess Aurora of Ireland and I demand of you to let Sebastian free. He was in my immediate command and my escort back to Ireland. How would the King like to be noticed that you let the Princess travel unaided?" I stepped onto the ground where he was on his horse and I stared up at him. Bash was sitting behind him, hands still tied behind his back. "He is under my protection, just as I am under his. In order of the King, of course."

He turned around to glance at Bash and threw his head back, "My sincere apologies, my Grace. I was unaware of the King's approval." He climbed off of his horse and helped Bash get down, he untied his hands and Bash made his way over towards me. He walked past me and stood behind me, hands behind his back.

I looked over at the man who was leaning against a tree, cupping his wounded arm in his opposite hand. He looked at my eye and realized that it was bruised and tilted his head to the side, "Get him back to the Court safely. I shot him pretty accurately. It's only what he deserves after laying a hand on one of your royal superiors."

He stood up quickly and bowed his head, "My apologies, my Majesty. I was unaware that it was you when I swung. It will never happen again."

"Would you have swung if it was an ordinary girl? Or are you only apologizing because I am of a Royal Family?" He looked away from me quickly, "What is it with you men that think laying a finger on a woman is appropriate behavior. How would you like it if I could slap you whenever I felt like it? Abuse is never acceptable behavior."

He bowed down in front of me before climbing on the back of the horse and they both rode away into the darkness, followed by the other men that were surrounding. I turned around to Bash and he had a grin on his face, "That was quite the heroic work that you did back there."

I shrugged my shoulders and kissed him gently, "I had to save my damsel in distress."

He cocked his head back and I chuckled, "I was not a damsel in distress. I could have easily taken all of the men if I were to have the appropriate warning. It was a sneak attack, I was not prepared for a battle."

I laughed lightly, "Rule one is always be ready for battle."

"Thank you for coming to my rescue," He pulled me into a warm, tight hug. I was squished in between his two strong arms, but something about it felt safe, even if he could snap me like a twig. He put his hand under my chin and forced me to look up at him and he kissed my gently, deepening the kiss quickly and I didn't hesitate kissing him back.

I tangled my fingers in the hair by the nape of his neck and pulled away, "It's my pleasure, Nolan." I chuckled and he blushed slightly, "Can I just call you Prince Charming instead?"

"Why would that be?" He raised an eyebrow questionably.

I shrugged my shoulders, "If I am a Princess than you will have to be my Prince. I chose Charming because that is what you are. You are quite charming and cheeky."

He looked up into the sky and was mesmerized by the stars and the full moon that was shining down on us. He looked over at me with a grin on his face, "Dance with me."

"There is no music," I crossed my arms across my chest and he held out his hand and I sighed before taking it in my hand. He pulled me into him and I placed one hand in his and my left hand on his right shoulder. I leaned my head against his forehead and we just danced there in complete silence in the moonlight that was beaming on us. "Why are we dancing?" I whispered in his ear and he spun me outwards then into him quickly and I lost balance of my footing and bumped straight into him.

He laughed, "Since I am not in the running to be a King and you threw away being a Queen to be with me. You will never have your dream wedding and have that special first dance. Where you are the center of every single person in the room's attention. So I want to give you that dance because you deserve your perfect first dance. You deserve to have everyone stunned by your beauty, like I am right now."

"I only need one man's attention on that special day and that is yours," I leaned up and kissed his cheek. "I don't need a huge wedding, I just want your eyes on me when that time comes. You're the only one that I care about, everyone else are just there for mere entertainment."

He smiled and we continued to dance together in the middle of the wooded area. Not a sound in the area besides a few birds chirping and squirrels chasing each other around the trees. A stream that was not too far away was quiet and calm and every once in a while you could hear a frog. The moon shined brighter and brighter down on us. We kept dancing until the sun came up, just enjoying the mere company of one another.