Princess Kate leaned out of the door to her bedroom. The cold hallway was empty, not even the maids and servants of the castle had risen yet in the early morning. Reassured that she was the only one up and wouldn't be missed, Kate slipped back into her room and shut the heavy wooden door as quietly as was possible.

She dressed quickly, switching out her nightgown for a more sensible riding outfit, and splashed some water from the bucket Castle had brought on her face. She combed her hair up into a bun at the nape of her neck, then dropped the comb into a leather messenger bag. She paced around the room silently and quickly, collecting everything she could possibly need for the next few days- spare clothes, paper, a quill and inkwell, the dagger she kept under her pillow, and her tiara- in case she ran into someone with whom she needed to use authority.

"Ready?" called Sir Castle from the ground beneath her balcony. She shifted her messenger bag onto her shoulder and took one last panorama look around her bedroom. She wasn't quite sure why she was being so nostalgic and misty- she was only leaving home for a few days, just long enough to find and slay the Dragon.

But then again, there was the all-too-real possibility of never returning home. And that was precisely the reason why none of her servants or family could know she was leaving. "Ready," she called down to him, dropping a leg over the side of the balcony and tugging on the tied rope to ascertain that it could hold her weight. Satisfied, she clung to it and swung herself over the balcony, propelling herself down the stone wall and into Castle's waiting arms.

"We have to get out of here," she said, walking towards his horse as he reluctantly released her, picturing a maid storming into her room at that moment only to find her gone, rope fluttering out the window. Kate mounted Serenity- Castle's horse- and readjusted her bag before looking over her shoulder to see that he was still shocked that she'd been strong enough to climb down the wall. "Are you comin' or what?"

The village soon turned into country, and the country to woods, each transition accompanied by the sound of hoof beats and nothing else. There would be no arguing with the princess. Richard had tried once before to persuade her from chasing this wicked dragon, and he would never again. He understood the drive now, and knew that nothing he could do or say would stop her, even now as the curse ate at her from the inside out.

They went for awhile without speaking, until it became clear that someone was following them. Halfway through the woods, the sound of another horse galloping close behind them alerted them of a fellow traveler. Castle and Kate went a ways farther without saying anything, just in case it was a coincidence, but soon the two of them realized that they were definitely being followed.

"Should we stop?" asked Castle.

"Are you kidding?" she replied, spurring on the horse. "Anyone following me either wants to kill me or take me back to the castle." So they sped on through the forest until their pursuer managed to outpace them and cut them off up ahead at a fork in the path and they could see who it was. "Joshua," sighed Kate.

"Who's he?" said Sir Castle, confused that she recognized the man on the white horse in front of them.

"He's, ah… he's betrothed to me," she muttered, not sounding at all happy about the fact. Castle's mouth narrowed into a thin line, but he said nothing as Joshua dismounted and made his way over to them.

"Unhand her," demanded Joshua, unsheathing his sword and angling it up at the knight on the horse. Serenity whinnied, unsettled by the sudden appearance of the weapon.

"Hey," said Castle, alarmed and trying to calm his horse, "what's with the sword? I'm all for talking this out-"

"You thought you could kidnap a member of the royal family- the woman I love- and get away with it?" said Joshua fiercely, eyes burning towards the point of his sword as it came dangerously closer to Castle.

"I never kid-" Kate elbowed him in the ribs "- I did. I kidnapped her, and there's nothing you can do about it!" She had neither the time nor the want to argue with Joshua about leaving the safety of her kingdom by her own accord.

"I'll spear your head on the tip of my sword," he threatened.

"That's not slang for 'talking it out', by any chance?" said Castle, leaning down slightly to whisper to Kate.

"It's really not," she said.

"Look, Stallion Boy-"

"It's Dr. Joshua Davidson," he practically snarled, sword still held out steady.

"Dr. Stallion Boy," Castle corrected, "why don't you try asking the princess what she wants?" Kate had shrunk behind Serenity's mane when Joshua had pulled out his sword, now she leaned out from her shelter to look the doctor in the face, curious to see his resolve.

"Very well," said Joshua, the sword unwavering, "Princess, what do you want?"

"I want…" she told him, pausing as she realized the quantity of all the things she wanted. She wanted her mother. She wanted to slay the Dragon. She wanted to get out of Joshua's sight. "I want to go to the North Yebecian Protective Dragon-fighters' headquarters." It was a group she'd secretly joined a few years ago, made up of people who worked to stop what had happened to her mother from happening to other people. Joshua was taken aback- clearly this was the last thing he'd expected out of her mouth.

"That's over a day's journey," he said as he carefully placed his sword back in its sheath. "I'm coming with you."

"I didn't think I'd be able to stop you," she sighed under her breath. Then, as she noticed the way he was glaring at Castle, she added, "No swords. I trust this man." Reluctantly, Joshua backed away from Serenity and remounted his own steed. As he guided his horse back to slightly behind Serenity, Castle jerked on the reins and started them moving again. His arms wrapped around Kate in order to reach the reigns, and she could tell that Joshua didn't like it. Dreading the next few hours, Kate shut her eyes and tried to take a nap leaning against Castle.

As soon as he was sure that Princess Kate must be asleep, Joshua turned to Sir Castle, the mysterious man who Kate seemed so close to, and said, "Who are you?"

"I'm her partner," said Castle, answering Josh's question that had seemingly popped out of the blue amidst the silence of Beckett's hospital room. He remembered the confusion earlier, how neither of them had been able to define exactly what they were to each other. He tried not to wince, hearing once again in his mind the hurtful words as she told him their partnership was over.

"Yeah, that's what she calls you," sighed Josh, running his thumb over Kate's hand. "You know, I… I guess it's petty now, but I always thought she was kidding herself." Castle raised a questioning eyebrow. "I mean, she cares about you more than she would a partner. You're like… like…" He trailed off into silence, whatever had propelled him to actually say those words had stopped short.

"I just want her back," said Castle, pain leaking into his voice, willing her to open her eyes. "God, I just want her to wake up."

"So do I," said Josh. They lapsed into silence again, unable to tear their gazes away from Kate.