The whole Redwall thing is property of Brian Jaques.

In this story, I only own the characters(except for Martin The Warrior, he is mentioned a few times) and the places. Thanks for reading my story, please R and R.

Chapter 4: A Stroll of Confessions

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The Princess Amallo walked blindly through the palace, trying her hardest not to cry.

"Dont cry" she whispered to herself "One day, you'll get out of here, and they wont be able to keep you from you dreams. Just dont cry."

She felt a hot tear begin to slide down her cheek and she began walking faster and shook her head to scold herself.

She left the palace and started down the path to the village, not carrying where she ended up, just staring at her feet the whole way, now, not able to stop her tears from flowing.

She walked until her crying made her tired, and she look up to see where she was.

The entrance to the tunnel up and out of the mountain loomed at her, about 10 paces away.

She stared for a moment, seeming to not have a thought in her head. Then she turned to go back to the palace. But stopped.

She slowly turned and face the tunnel again, wondering to herself "Why not? Why not just leave now? No one is here. There all still up at the feast.All you have to do is walk out of here .Well, of course you stupid girl, you've never been outside this mountain. You havent any food or weapon to protect you. But how can I bare to be kept in here any longer?I cant stand the sight of this place anymore. I just want to go and be rid of it. But what about mother and father? What about them? I might miss them. I cant even begin to think what mother might do if Im found missing. But you've got your chance, right here and now. Just take it!"

Her face changed with every new thought. First she looked determindly at the tunnel, then it would have a look of sympathy, then back to determind.

She continued to argue with herself for some time.

Then suddenly, she whispered, "Thats it. Ive made up my mind. Im going."And she started toward the tunnel, not stopping to look back. But someone from behind grabbed her.

She wurled around and saw Martello standing there, looking angry.

"Princess," he started, but she pulled away from him.

"How dare you follow me! I cant even be alone for one moment!"

"You know Im supposed to be with you everytime you leave the palace grounds. Your parents commanded it. And Im not about to go against what they've said, just so you can run away, and I can get me head cut off!"

The princess look indignent." Run away! I wasnt go to run away!"

"Oh I see," said Martello, raising an eyebrow." So you thought you just take a stroll outside of the mountain?"

The princess looked away, an annoyed look on her face.

"What a very bright idea!" continued Martello " Take you about a day to get to the top, and even without food or water. Seems an awful lot to do just for a stroll."

Princess Amallo turned on him, glaring." Your not insulting royalty are you? I very well hope not! Because you know what would happen if I tol -"

" Aye, Princess, aye. I know what your parents would do to me. The only problem with that empty threat is that I know you hate your royal life enough that you would never hold it against another creature."He smirked.

The princess looked furious, and opened her mouth to retaliate, but then her face fell.

"Your right, Martello. I hate being a princess."She covered her face with her paws and sat on the guard bench." I hate living in this mountain." Martello sat by her. "And I want to badly to get out. But theres nothing I can do. I know my parents would be heart broken if I did. And they havent any other children to take over once they die. And I dont know anything about the world outside this mountain. I just ... I cant... sometimes I wish I would die."

"Dont say that, Princess" said Martello. He moved to put a comforting paw on her back, but paused, and quickly drew away. "Maybe one day you see that life here, isnt really all that bad."

She turned and looked at him, her face tear streaked." But havent you ever dreamed of a life without having to be a guard? Havent you ever had the thought of leaving here?"

"O 'course I have. I think everyone has. But we all just have to learn to live with what we've got. This mountain means alot to this tribe, and it would be an insult to your great grandfather to leave it. And no, being a guard isnt really what I wanted to do when I was young. Its still isnt." He blushed slightly and turned his face away." I actually wanted to be a ... well you cant laugh at me, but, I used to want to be a clown."

Princess Amallo couldnt help but stiffle a snort of laughter threw her tears.

"A clown? What on earth possesed you to want to be a clown." she asked, slowly building up a giggle as she said it.

Martello looked a bit annoyed."I dont want to be one anymore! I did when I was just little. The last time we had someone stumble upon our mountain was befor you were born, but I was about 3. It was an old carnival perfomer, a clown. And he put on a little show for us dibbuns." The princess was giggling uncontrolably now. A childish, dreamy smile grew on Martello's face, and he ended "I thought when he juggled them balls is was amazing."

This was to much for Princess Amallo, she broke out laughing , clutching her stomach."Martello the Marvellous clown, 'eh? You would have made one strange looking juggler."

Martello frowned and looked down at his shuffling feet and said angrily, "It was just a dream. Like I said I dont want to be a clown anymore. I grew out of it when I was almost your age. I wanted to be a swordwielder."

The laughfter stopped.

He suddenly realized what he had said and quickly looked at the princess. "I mean..I didnt..I meant -"

"So!" she yelled, standing and glaring down at him." You wanted to be a swordwielder! And you've been right there behind my parents telling me how dangerous they are! And how I should never use them, of leave the mountain, or....aaa!"

She started up the path to the palace, huffing all the way. Martello ran after her, calling "But Princess, its different. Your parents dont want to you have one. They care about you is all. They dont want nothing bad to happen to you. And neither do I!" She stopped and turned to him. They stared at eachother for a moment. "Well, I dont" he finally said."I am your guard after all."

She rolled her eyes, turned and ran back to the palace, leaving Martello wondering if the conversation had changed her mind about leaving, or just made her want to leave even more.

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Hmmm..... dont know if this chapter was all that great. But I guess some stuff just needed to be said. Tell me what you think!! jubochoo@hotmail.com Thanks for reading it.