You scream

"Broderick!" you scream out as you stand up and start to run. Those two are hardly prepared for a chase now and he must be somewhere near!

But you are not exactly in the best gear for running yourself. You give it your best, but soon begin to lose your breath. Damn this dress, you think and that's the exact moment when you trip and ...

...Broderick catches you. He just drags you into another bush and puts a finger on your lips. You stay quiet, shaking, looking like a scared animal. After only few moments of waiting you see the two bodyguards running past, scanning their surroundings in angry confusion. Broderick looks at you and you just start to cry, as silently as possible. He embraces you gently.

"Did you get hurt?" he asks and you shake your head, now buried in his chest again. Broderick has no sword on him and neither of you has clothes that would keep you warm during the cold nights.

"What are we going to do?" you whisper, your voice still shaking, but you've managed to stop crying.
"Will you manage to stay quiet here for a little while?" he whispers back and you almost claw your hands into his back. "No, don't leave, please! Bad things happen when you're not around.". Broderick takes your head in his hands and makes you face him. "I promise I will never leave you, just give me this last time to get us prepared.". You nod slowly, your head still in his hands, which calms you down. He nods back and gives you a little smile. You hold onto that image while he moves from you, through shadows to the camp. You spend an hour waiting, scared to ****, but not even for you, you just don't want him to get hurt because of you.

You hear men shouting and horses galloping in your direction. You try to hide even more than you are now and a group of the bodyguards passes your hideout. A hand lands on your mouth and from the surprise you scream out into it, but noone can hear the muffled sound.

"It's me." says Broderick and you calm down immediately. He's alive and came back for you! You turn around and hug him, his arms embracing you once again. You never want him to let go.

He has a sword now and you notice it has some fresh blood on it. He also managed to get few very basic things for your survival. You wait for him to tell you what to do now. He breaks the hug and wipes his sword. Then turns to you, the weapon still in his hand. "I'm sorry about this, majesty." he says and cuts large chunk of your dress off. Your skirt is now to slightly above your knees. "You will need to move with more freedom." he says, a bit awkwardly. You nod and tie your hair in a ponytail.

"What now then?" you say, regaining your composure.

"We wait till it gets dark again and make our move towards the capital through less travelled routes." Broderick says.

"Will the guards be on our trail?" you say, your voice betraying you as a trace of fear makes it tremble.

"Most likely, but I can handle them." he pauses and then adds "It's because I wanted to make sure myself that you don't get hurt, I always have when it came to guarding you."

"What?" you ask, puzzled. Broderick smiles again.

"You asked me why I demanded to lead this mission." he says.

"I thought you were asleep!" you say, whispering, but needing to calm your voice from the surprise.

"I didn't sleep the whole night, your majesty." Broderick says. You realize what he's saying and your mouth opens by itself from the news. Then you look up at him and smile shyly.

"It's Mia." you say, before placing a small gentle kiss on his lips.