So sorry that I haven't updated sooner! Forgive me, please!!

Disclaimer: I don't steal, you don't steal. Okay?

Warnings: Language, innuendos, the usual.

Chapter Seven: Stuck

"Feisty little wench isn't she, Kelvin?" Someone commented dryly as I fought my captor.

Kelvin, the man who held me, grunted as I kicked him in the stomach, "Oh yeah, feisty." The first man laughed and galloped off.

I hadn't seen my bag of food and maps since they had been snatched from me and I wondered where they were.

"Hey Kelv, tired of the wench yet?" One of the younger members of the group rode up on his bay.

"Of course I am, Bryan. She's been kicking me all afternoon." Kelvin groaned to make Bryan all the more sympathetic to his plight. "You take her." Hands came around my waist and the grey equine shoulder that had been in my line of vision for hours on end suddenly disappeared to be replaced with the land and sky.

"Hello, I'm Bryan and I will be your escort for today," my new carrier said jocularly. I remained silent, determined not to show any emotion at all. "Look, wench, I told you who I am, now tell me who you are."

"No," I replied sullenly. I twirled the end of my braid between my fingers, wishing that my hands were not bound.

"Why not, lovey?" Bryan asked me, his lips close enough to my ear that I could feel his breath. "Do you have something to hide?"

"Of course. Everyone does." I jerked away from him slightly and the horse stumbled.

"No moving now, wench. This horse is carrying two of us, and though you may be light, it's still more than she's used to." His hand curled around my stomach under the pretenses of keeping me still. I shuddered. "Now, will you tell me your name?"

"No," I told him coldly.

"Now, now," Bryan pinched me maliciously, "Is that the proper way for a young lass like yourself to behave?"

"No," I answered simply.

"Oh good, at least you're not just saying no to spite me. So tell me, lassie, what's your name?" He gathered a fold of skin between his fingers, preparing to hurt me if I didn't give him the information that he wanted.

"Look," I said, trying to compromise, "We all have things to hide. My name is what I hide, alright?" His fingers tightened. "Not what you wanted to hear?" I asked nervously, stating the obvious.

"Not at all, lass. Tell me your name, now."

I sighed and sagged into him, knowing that I was defeated. "Elensar."

"That's not so bad a name!" He chuckled. "Now, instead of telling me the Princess of Meridian's name, why don't you tell me yours?"

I frowned. After all the trouble he had gone through just to get my name, he didn't believe me? "But- but that is my name," I protested.

"Oh sure, and I'm King Adrian." The sarcasm dripping from his voice stung my pride.

"Damn it! My name is Elensar!" I growled at him, not fully realizing the possibilities of having him not knowing that I was truly the Princess of Meridian. My pride had been insulted that he hadn't believed me.

Suddenly, a halt was called as we approached a great forest. "Ah, damn." Bryan cursed under his breath, slowing the mare to a walk, and then halting her.

"Men! We will camp inside the borders of the Forest of Scythia tonight, safe from the outer world!" The man who had insulted me first on the road was standing in his stirrups so all the men could see him. "We ride only a little farther!"

A rather halfhearted cheer rose from the men and the horses ambled forward at a languid walk.

"I think I'd like to walk," I informed Bryan shortly.

"Fine with me," He said diffidently and pushed me off the horse.

"Bastard," I muttered under my breath. "Hey!" I held my head, which was ringing from the smack it had just received.

"Watch what you say, wench." Bryan grinned and pointed to my hands, "Hold up your hands," he directed.

"Why?" I asked suspiciously.

"Just do it." He rolled his eyes and I offered him my hands. Producing a length of rope, he attached a leash to ropes around my wrist. "Oh look, you can't run away now," he said jovially.

I glared at him.

"Come here, doggy, come on!" Bryan chuckled at his joke as he pulled me forward with the rope.

"You do that again and there'll be no food except what you can forage for yourself tonight." I looked up at the man who rode up beside me.

"Sorry, Alban." Bryan shrugged. "I won't do it again."

"Don't be sorry, just don't do it." Alban looked down at me. "Would you like to be relieved of this bad mannered lout, Lady?"

"Who wouldn't," I responded sourly. "And don't called me Lady, because I'm not." I frowned down at my feet, silently telling myself that I wasn't a Lady, I was a Princess.

Alban chuckled. "Bryan, toss that rope over here." Alban caught the rope easily as a sulky Bryan through it over to him. "Thank you. Now, you," he jerked lightly on the rope to make sure I was listening, "I will need to talk to you as soon as humanly possible."

"About what?" I asked petulantly.

"Here, get up on the horse." He took his foot out of the stirrup to make it easier for me to get up.

"No." I remained stubbornly grounded. "I want to walk.

"Fine." He sighed and dismounted. "First off, what is your name?"

"Elensar."

He nodded, "I am Alban. Now, would you care to tell me why a young girl such as yourself is traveling alone about the country?"

"No." I tugged at the ropes around me wrists. "Could you get these off?"

Alban sighed. "Well, Elensar, you tell me something that I want to know and I'll take those ropes off your wrists."

"Good." I smiled in satisfaction, quite happy that I was getting my way. "What would you like to know?"

"Why is a young lass like yourself traveling alone?" He pulled out his belt knife and flicked open the blade.

"Well, I don't trust very many people you know, so I don't fancy traveling with others who would be very likely to stab me in the back. Also, my flight was very spur-of-the-moment and I didn't have time to bring anyone else with me." I smiled cheerily and held out my wrists, "If you would be so kind?"

"Why are you running away?" He asked as he began to saw at the ropes.

"I'm not running away, per say, but running home."

"And where is your home?"

"Meridian," I replied simply.

Alban looked up with an eyebrow raised skeptically. "You're awfully far from home then, aren't you?"

"If you count across an ocean far, then yes." I smiled and pulled my wrists apart, showering the ground with bits of rope. "Thank you!"

"You're welcome," he said dryly. "Now, why are you here in Delran, if your home is in Meridian?"

"Why do you think?" I answered, evading straight answers.

"Don't play games with me, Elensar. I know how to use this blade, and I'm not afraid to demonstrate." Alban's lips twisted upward in a cruel smile as he waved the knife close to me.

I shoved my hands in my pockets and tried not to flinch. "They captured me."

"Why would anyone from Delran want to capture someone who is from Meridian and not even royalty?" Alban raised a skeptical eyebrow.

"Because I a-" I stopped suddenly, with my mouth wide open.

"Who are you really, Elensar?" Alban twirled the knife easily around between his fingers. "Are you the Princess that the King is desperately looking for? Or are you just some noble lady who happens to have the same name as the Princess? Could you be palace servant who has high aspirations?" He tilted my chin up with the knife so he could look into my eyes.

"Elensar. My name is Elensar. Yes, I'm the Princess that the King is looking for." I glared back at him, daring him to gainsay me. I buried my hands deeper into my pockets and frowned when my hands brushed up against a square of paper.

"What is it?" Alban asked when he noticed the expression on my face.

"Nothing," I told him.

"Show it to me," He motioned again with the knife and I gulped. "Now." The intensity of his voice prompted me along with the help of the blade.

I pulled the little square of paper that Ashleigh had given me and slowly opened it. There was my sketch of Adrian.

"Where did you get that?" He asked me breathlessly.

"I drew it. The bastard made me," I said bitterly as I refolded it.

"Bastard, eh? So you two are not on good terms then?" Alban chuckled dryly.

"Hardly. Would you be happy with your kidnapper?" I stopped walking and crossed my arms.

"No." Alban's voice was flat. "Why did he kidnap you?"

"My sister told him to."

"You're sister? Some sibling rivalry, perhaps?" He chuckled.

"Yes, she's the Crown Princess and his lover, of course he'd do what she told him. Technically, however, she's my half-sister." I added as an afterthought. "We don't get along very well."

He snorted, "Obviously. Keep walking." After a lengthy pause, he said, "You know, I'll have to tell them about this."

"No really, you don't," I protested.

"You do realize that this could mean the difference between you getting raped and beaten into the dust and going back safely to the king." Alban patted my shoulder as I paled.

"Tell them," I squeaked out.

He laughed. "I thought you'd see reason, Princess."

I felt the blood rush back angrily into my face. "Don't call me a Princess."

"But that's what you are." Alban smiled thinly as one of the other members of the group rode up to us. "What is it?"

"Alban, General Sarkas would like to speak with you." As an ominous afterthought, he added, "Now."

"Yes, yes of course, General Sarkas would like to see me now, I bet," He muttered sourly. "You're coming with me," he informed me as he slammed his knife back into its sheath.

"Why?" I was all innocence. "The General only wants to see you and not me."

"You're coming anyway," he snapped while finger the knife again.

"Fine." I crossed my arms rebelliously and prepared to sulk.

"Get over yourself, Princess," Alban growled and snatched my wrist, dragging me forward.

"No," I muttered darkly.

"Don't protest. Just shut up and you'll be better off." I stumbled along after him, trying to keep my legs moving at the same pace the rest of my body was.

"Ah, Alban, you've made it at long last." The skinny man who spoke laughed, a high-pitched, squeaky sound. "And who's this that you've brought with you?"

"This is Princess Elensar, who we captured this morning." Alban made a small bow, pulling me down with him.

"Alban, a Princess should bow to no one except the King, Queen or Prince." The General chuckled. "So, my lad, what have you found out?"

"This is Princess Elensar of Meridian, captured by King Adrian of Delran at the behest of her sister. She has run away for reasons as yet unspecified and is quite the artist. Rebellious and spoiled, she is less than enamored of King Adrian. We could gain a large sum if we turn her in for a reward." Alban bowed again and stepped back.

"So, Elensar, why is it now that you've run away from one of the more hospitable places in Delran?" The General turned to me and grinned.

"He captured me. I wasn't all that appreciative of that. Then…" I decided to skip the part about the ball.

"Then…" The General prompted me.

"Then I ran away and you found me." I crossed my arms again and glared at him.

"Well, milady, I do believe that that is not the full story. Would you care to tell us how a noblewoman came to be dressed in such common clothes?"

"A servant provided them for me. Very helpful they are, and they don't ask questions, either." I clenched my teeth together, annoyed that I was answering his questions.

"Alban has said that you're quite the artist. How would he know this, by chance? Did you paint him while you two were walking along and chatting?" The General leaned forward. "Would he know from some other- intimate- way?" He suggested.

My face flamed instantly. "No." I dug in my pocket. "Here" I said, handing him the picture of Adrian.

"Well! That is quite the drawing you have there." He glanced up at me.

I smirked. "I know."

"Another question, if you hate King Adrian so much, why did you draw him?" The General held my gaze.

"He commanded me to. He is the King after all, and even a Princess must do what the King commands." I held out my hand for the picture. "I'll have that back now."

"Oh, so you want to keep it? Could it be, that this very paper is a memory of your one true beloved?" He folded it neatly and placed it back in my hand.

"No. If it were, I would not have given it to you." I stuffed it into my pocket as quickly as possible.

"Now, what to do with you, Princess Elensar?" Sarkas stroked his chin thoughtfully. "Should I give you over to the men to do with as they please?" He chuckled as I glared. "Should I return you to King Adrian?"

"No." I interrupted. "You should take me home to Meridian this instant."

"That would require resources that we don't have, Lady." The General smirked. "I think that leaves us with only one choice. Within two days, you shall be back at the castle and in the safe keeping of King Adrian."

"Damn." I breathed angrily.

Author's Note: Thank you very much for being patient everyone! I was off touring parts of Europe (it was fun). Unfortunately, I never had access to a computer or my pretty files, and so it took me a long time to get this chapter up. Then, once I got back (Wednesday the 21st), I was so completely jetlagged (six hour time difference) that I couldn't do anything except for sit there and nod every once and a while. That took about two days before I was lucid enough to do anything…and then yesterday was my birthday! Go me! Everyone swamped my house, family, friends, neighbors, people looking for lost cell phones, gutter salesmen…everyone. So today, here it is! Finally!

For all of you who reviewed, thank you so much! Review again!

Happy Huggles:

Maple Rose: Yup! Of course they're taking her back- there's money involved. Hah…and as for the folded paper, that question was also answered in the chapter…:P

Miss Piratess: Yeah, I was sorry to desert Ashleigh as well, but no worries; she'll make another appearance.

No myridon: Squee! You think my characters are believable! glomps Anyway…Sorry for dragging the cliff hanger out like this! As you can see, these men weren't from the King at all; nope nope! Everything is going to be okay though, you'll see! Thanks for the well wishes!

Purple Mice: Thanks! As for the update soon…well…here.

Flummoxed: Elensar did take the initiative (at last). As for Adrian…well…that's the next chapter. Heh heh. On another note- I'm back! I can't wait for more of your story skips happily I love your story!

Ernin: I'm glad that my style has become a bit more fluid to the reader- I think I'm getting more comfortable with writing now. Of course, my English teachers still detest my writing style, but I'm glad you like it. Also, thank you for the critique. Yes, this story does flow a bit easier. I think I'm just more suited to writing the cynical, sarcastic little heroines; maybe she's more like me…hmm…:o) Thanks for the well wishes and the critique!

Aerinha: Don't worry! Nothing bad happens. At least, nothing that I most definitely insinuated at the end of the last chapter…hah. Happy reading!

Glistening Dewdrop: Nothing can be easy for our lovely heroine! Then the story would be (dare I say it?) boring. :-P Glad you like the chapter, and review again!

Ladyemera1d: How can the guard not tell? They weren't actually looking for Elensar at the time. They were more focused on their wine. Also, they would expect her to be dressed like a princess, not like a servant. They were also drunk, and if what my health teachers have told me is right, then drinking impairs your vision. :)