Marry By Choice Not Force

Everything happened far to quickly, a scream sounded someone in the distance and it startled all four horses. However the King, Queen and Prince all managed to calm their horses. In doing so none of them really noticed the horse that was carrying Margaret away deeper into the forest, it took them a good handful of seconds to realise that the Princess was gone. "Henry go find Margaret and bring her home, I need to get your Mother back to the castle. It's not safe out here, go now. She shouldn't be that far away," The King told his son before he turned his horse around so he could take his wife back to the safety of their castle, he didn't even wait for his son to reply before he and his wife were running back the way they had come.

Henry rolled his eyes and sighed, this wasn't his idea but now he was stuck searching for the girl he wanted nothing more than to stay away from. Hell, she couldn't even control her horse. What was she good at? Nothing probably. But he made his horse slowly walk a little farther into the woods, he wasn't even bothered to look around to see where the Princess had gone. She probably did this just to get attention, Henry stayed out for the time he assumed it would take for his parents to arrive back at the castle before he turned around and started heading back as well.

Once arriving at the castle, he made himself appear panicked and worried. He told anyone that he couldn't find the Princess, that he searched everywhere in the forest and he couldn't find her.

---

Edward had been doing his duties when he watched the King and Queen ride back through the castle gates, frowning he realised that they hadn't been out for long and that they looked concerned over something. He didn't think too much about it, but that was until the Prince arrived back alone. He was alone... there was no sign of Margaret. The words that came out of Henry's mouth is what caused Edward to freeze, Margaret was out in a strange forest and she was on her own. Something happened and she was out there, scared and alone.

Edward dropped the shovel that he had been using and rushed to his tiny house, he grabbed a few things before he ran next door. He begged his neighbour as he needed to borrow the man's horse, eventually Edward gave the man all the gold coins he had and took the horse out of the Kingdom. He rode in the direction that he knew the royal family went in, his eyes were scanning the area surrounding him until he found a piece of ripped fabric that was hanging from a tree branch.

The fabric matched the colour of Margaret's dress, he knew that he was close to her now so he made the horse continue running. He was deep into the woods now, he had never gone this far before but he wasn't going to stop until he found the Princess. Something inside him told him that he needed to go right, so he did and it took him another few minutes of riding before his eyes landed on the Princess who was sitting on the ground without a horse around her.

"If you wanted my attention, you didn't have to run off. You already have my attention, but I do like rescuing you." Edward smiled as he climbed off the horse and wrapped Margaret up in a blanket, he took her body into his arms and held onto her. He was relieved to find that she was okay, she wasn't badly hurt and no thieves had found her.

---

Poppy had lost track of time as she sat among the rose bushes, turning her head when she heard footsteps. She thought it would have been Hamish, but she was pleasantly surprised when her blue eyes landed on the younger Prince. "I knew I should have never told you about this spot," He was the only person that knew that this is where Poppy came when she wanted to be alone, even Hamish didn't know where she vanished to when she needed to think or catch her breath from all the wedding plans.

"I can't do this, Daniel." She told him when he stepped closer to her, for a second she watched his face fall at her words and she realised what she had said. "I can't keep acting like I love Hamish, I never have loved him. I thought if I pretended like I did, then someday I would... but then you came along and I realised that this is what love is. I'll never feel like this with Hamish, I don't want to hurt him." She explained her thoughts to the man she did truly love, her voice was soft and quiet just in case anyone else was in the gardens but not many people tended to be around when she was there.

"I can't stop thinking about you, if this wedding was for us then everything would be perfect." Poppy whispered as she was getting upset, she knew when she ran off with Daniel that she would be hurting Hamish. "I don't want to be a horrible person," She had even thought about leaving by herself, Daniel could follow once his family had calmed down. That way they would never know that they were together and happy, she wouldn't break a family apart that way.

All she wanted was Daniel, she didn't care about being a Princess or having power or wealth. She was happiest when he was with her, he was all she needed.

Daniel could see how much this was affecting the blonde, she didn't want to marry Hamish, she wanted him but to do that she would be hurting Hamish and that is the last thing she wanted to do. Daniel felt horrible but if they could get more time then Daniel could figure everything out a bit more, he could find somewhere the two could live, somewhere they could change their identities and start a family, Daniel would be more then happy to work as a farmer if that meant he could be with Poppy for the rest of his life.'

"I know Poppy, I know, we have some more time. I will have it all figured out soon. Then we can run, we can leave this place and start a family." he looked at her reaching out and cupping her cheek in his hand locking his dark eyes with her lighter ones. "Once we get out of here we can get married, and children, A daughter and a son, a daughter that has the beauty of her mother," he smiled as he ran his hand through her hair. "And a son, a strong son with your eyes." Daniel lost himself in the day dream of the future.

*~*~*

Hamish stood in the study with his father, he looked out the large window at the blossoming garden his thoughts wandering to Poppy and how strange she had been acting recently. She seemed more flighty, more distant. It had been playing on the males mind for a while. It was almost as if she had found someone else.

"I want the wedding brought forward." the words fell from his lips before he registered what he said.

"What was that Hamish." his father asked looking up from the paperwork he had been studying

"The Wedding. I want it bought forward."

*~*~*

Margaret looked up from where she was on the ground, she had been thrown from her horse when it had reared up. She was still in a slight daze and her ankle and arm hurt. Seeing Edward riding toward her. Relief washed over her thankful that she wouldn't be spending the night out here.

A light laugh left her lips. Well you're going to have to rescue me because I can't seem to walk on my left foot. My ankle is too sore," the red head watched as the male climbed down from his horse and walked over to her. While she had been stuck on the ground Margaret had been thinking things over and she realised that she didn't want to wait to be taken away. After this incident she wanted to go now.

"Edward, don't take me back to the castle." she took a deep breath, "We should runaway now. Please. It is clear that Henry doesn't care what happens to me and I know he wouldn't care if I didn't come back so lets leave now... please"

Edward would never grow tired of recusing Margaret but something told him that it wouldn’t happen all that often, she was a strong willed woman and certainly did have a stubborn streak. Wrapping his arm around her body, he easily lifted her up and held her against his body so she wouldn’t need to put any pressure onto her sore ankle. Then she spoke and it wasn’t as surprising to Ed as it would have been to other people, it was only a matter of time before she wanted to leave the castle forever.

“Are you sure? There wouldn’t be a chance for you to gather any of your belongings,” He asked as he wanted to make sure that she was completely certain about leaving now, she wouldn’t be able to go back for dresses or any belongings that held memories for her. He would go back for her but he would never be able to enter the castle, let alone get into her sleeping quarters to collect her things.

Of course, he wouldn’t dream about taking Margaret back to the castle when she didn’t want to go back. He wouldn’t put her through being around Henry, especially when he knew the temper that the prince had on him and how he has treated women in the past. No one should be treated so badly that they want to escape, Margaret hadn’t even been in the Kingdom for all that all and she was already wanting to escape.

Helping her over to where his horse stood, he lifted her up onto the horse. His large hands holding her small waist as she swung her leg over the saddle, but they would need to find somewhere to rest as the princess needed to keep her ankle up in order to keep any swelling down. Edward held the reins and walked alongside the horse so they could find a clearing to rest which was far enough away from the Kingdom, so they wouldn’t have the risk of being found and dragged back to the castle.

---

The King looked at his son in slight confusion, why would the wedding need to be brought forward? “What has brought this on, son? The wedding isn’t all that far away,” The wedding was only a few weeks away, it would come soon enough but Hamish had never mentioned this before.

Had his son and future daughter-in-law had an argument? He hadn’t heard anything if something had happened between the two young royals, although he would probably be the last one to know if something had been happening.

His wife would be the first to know as she was a sticky beak and needed to know everything that was happening inside her castle, “I will make it happen. But some of our guests might not be able to make it, on such a quick notice.” He explained to his son which although it wouldn’t bother him, his Queen would have a word to say about it.

---

Poppy moved her face more into Daniel’s warm hand, she felt a wash of affection flow over her and she never wanted to stop feeling that from the man in front of her. They did have time, time to work out where exactly they were going to go once they ran from the Kingdom. It was something Poppy had to do, if she was to be happy with herself and with her life then she couldn’t marry Hamish. She was never going to fall in love with Hamish, no matter how many years they lived together as a married couple, she would never love him.

She didn’t want to have a family with him, she didn’t want to be intimate with him. Sighing in relief she knew Daniel would work it all out for them, “I want to help you. But your mother hardly ever allows me to have any time to myself,” It was all about the wedding and making sure the day would be perfect, nothing was allowed to go wrong on her wedding day according to the Queen.

Not that she knew if she could help Daniel or just slow him down in his planning, she’d most likely slow him down or distract him. But when he brought up their future children, her face broke out into a wide smile that shone through her eyes. He wanted children with her, he wanted to marry her and start a family.

Her heart swelled inside her chest and she thought it was going to burst, “Our children will be perfect. No matter who they look like,” Poppy leaned forward and closed the gap between them, pressing her lips against his for a tender but affectionate kiss that she wanted to last for much longer than it could right now. They still needed to be careful as anyone could catch them, if that happened than all hell would break loose and Poppy didn’t want that. Pulling back she gazed into his dark eyes as she was no longer upset, “I just want to be able to kiss you whenever I want and not be afraid of someone seeing us.” She whispered to him.

Daniel smiled into the kiss that Poppy placed on his lips, she was like a caged bird here and he knew that as soon as she was outside the castle walls things would be different. He felt the same way, he wanted to be able to kiss her whenever he wanted and not fear being found, he wanted to hold her in his arms at night, feel her naked body beside him as they slept.

"I want the same my darling, and it will happen I promise... I will get you out of here soon. Both of us will leave and I swear I will marry you even if it has to be in the shadow of the moon." he declared as he took one of her hands and pressed a gentle kiss to the back of it. Her scent was intoxicating, a light florally note with a hint of citrus. "Well I should be getting back to the castle I'm sure father will want me for something." he smiled. He pressed a quick kiss to her lips before getting to his feet and weaving his way through the maze of roses back to the castle doors smiling the entire way.

That was until his mother met him at the door a flush to her cheeks and a wide smile spread across her face. "Oh my darling! The wedding... it's going to be held at the next full moon." Daniel's heart sank to the bottom of his stomach and the air left his lungs.

"What!" that was two days from now. Turning his head he looked back at the roses this was not going to go down well with Poppy. His mother gushed about decorations and invites but it was all white noise. He pushed passed her and walked toward his chamber where he had to come up with a plan of escape and quickly.

---

Hamish wore a wide smile across his face as he exited his father's office. Two nights from now and Poppy would be his. A strange feeling had been swirling around in his gut. Poppy was acting different, distant, always disappearing in the afternoons. He had a suspicion that she was secretly having a flirtation with someone else around the castle. He knew moving the wedding up would put a stop to that. Two nights from now the wedding would commence and she would be bound to him for the rest of their lives and the little fling she was having would cease to exist.

---

"I am sure Edward. There is nothing I want from the castle. I want to start anew. New life, new memories and new treasures and I want to start it with you now." it was decided she would not return to the castle but she was sure they all assumed she was dead by now and none of them would come looking for her. The best time to leave and start over.

Edward helped her onto the horse, his arms wrapping around her waist to grab the reigns on the animal before he kicked it in the stomach to get it to start walking. The throbbing in her ankle was painful and she knew she needed to get it elevated.

"Take me to you're family Edward. I want to meet the people who brought you into this world so I can thank them." she smiled. She knew neither one of them could return to the castle so the next best place was the males family. They were common folk and the red head was sure she could blend in. She would be happy to rid herself of the constricting gowns, glittering jewellery and the headdresses that managed to give her a constant headache. She wanted to be normal. Not a princess and most certainly not a queen. She wanted to be simply Margaret.

It was settled then, Edward would take Margaret home with him. Thankfully his family lived far enough away from the Kingdom that no one will think to travel so far if searching for her, his family lived in a small village that never had any problems. The village was in the middle of nowhere and was surrounded by forests, it was a beautiful place to live and he had always regretted not stay to help his family out on the farm that they owned. But all the money he earned went back to his family, not that they needed the money as they did well enough with the farm.

“It may take us a little time getting there, but my family will love you.” He whispered into her ear before he took a bold step and pressed a light kiss to her cheek, he then made the horse walk as he stirred the horse in the right direction of his home. It would take them several hours before they arrived, especially if the horse walked which Edward would make sure happened as anything faster would only cause Margaret’s ankle more pain.

Edward had a large family, with older and younger siblings. A good mixture of boys and girls, but he knew Margaret would fit in perfectly with his family. She would just need to get used to all the talking that went on inside the house, “I have one older brother and two older sisters, then I have one younger sister and two younger brothers who are twins.” She explained to the princess just so she could prepare herself for his family, a large family would be a lot to take in especially when they arrived and they would swarm around her.

---

Poppy watched as Daniel left her in the rose garden, all she wanted to do was leave with him and never turn back. But it would still take some time before they could leave the Kingdom, but it was all she could think about. Until she heard the Queen’s voice, calling out her name in which Poppy rushed towards in the direction of where the Queen was looking for her. “There you are darling, quick we must get everything finished before the wedding. My son can’t wait, he’s brought the date closer.” The older woman spoke in a hurry before dragging Poppy back inside the castle, she was still talking but Poppy wasn’t listening.

Hamish had brought their wedding date closer, in two days she would have to marry him and if she didn’t leave with Daniel then she never would. Have Hamish found out about the secret relationship she had with her brother? She had always been so careful with Daniel, but the castle was filled with people and all it took was one person to see something they shouldn’t and Hamish would know. Maids were rushing past her as everyone worked extra hard to get the castle ready for the wedding, Poppy was forced back into her wedding dress as the sides still needed to be taken in slightly but all she felt was numb. She needed to see Hamish now, so once she was changed back into her own dress she excused herself.

Her feet moved fast as she searched for Hamish, finding him speaking with some knights who hurried off when she approached. “Why was I not spoken to when you decided to move our wedding day?” Her voice was hushed but firm, what gave him that right? It wasn’t just his wedding day, she needed to act correctly for him to not grow anymore suspicious of her. “What was wrong with the date we decided on together?” She looked up into his eyes, she had to calm herself as she was trying to catch her breath. From the rushing around in search of the prince to the tight dress that clung to her chest, she was panting softly.

Hamish had been standing in his bedchambers when the female entered, her blonde hair was windblown and starting to fall out of her undo. She looked angry, her eyes glinted hinting at the simmering emotions inside her. Hamish walked away from his window and toward the blonde.

"I didn't think it would bother you my love," he kept his tone easy, almost like an 'I don't care' air to it. But he did care and from the looks of it so did the Princess. "I thought we could be married sooner then that would mean we could start our new life together sooner. Isn't that what you want my love. Don't you want to be with me, to start a family together?" he watched her every move to see what her reactions would be. Hamish so badly wanted to shout out that she was seeing another behind his back, that he knew she was being unfaithful. That if she didn't stop her behaviour and be the good fiancé and wife she was meant to be he would have her hung. He didn't though. Instead he stayed quiet waiting for her to answer.

---

Daniel was stressing about what to do, about how both he and Poppy could get out of the castle without being caught. It would have to be at night, late at night, they would have to leave everything. Perhaps he could stage it to look like they had been stolen, leave a note on each bed. The males mind was swirling his thoughts going into overdrive, he had to think of something and quick.

---

"I don't mind Edward. As long as I am away from the castle and the horrid Prince I couldn't care less," the red head stated leaning into the male as they began to move. The ride was silent for a while before the Princess became bored.

"Edward tell me about you're family. I want to know who I am going to meet." she waited patiently for the male to speak, her eyes were growing heavy perhaps she could rest while she listened to his voice lull her into a state of sleep.

Edward felt Margaret's body lean back into his chest, it felt nice having someone so close and it was comfortable having her there. "My parents are Jonathan and Gwen, you'll love them. They met when they were young children and have been together ever since first meeting each other, they married young as they knew they wanted a large family. My grandfather passed down his farm to my father." He explained to the princess although he could feel her body becoming relaxed as he spoke, glancing down at her he noticed her pretty eyes were shut.

But he continued on describing his siblings, David was the oldest followed by Mary and then Lucy. He came next before Eve and then the twins, George and Robert. He described them all to Margaret as she rested, he wasn't sure if she had fallen asleep or not but he didn't stop talking to her as the horse carried them through the forest.

---

Poppy realised that she was over reacting and she had to calm herself down, she sighed softly as she lowered her head. "I apologise my love for over reacting, it is a good idea but I would have preferred if you came to me about this. If we're going to be married, shouldn't we speak about things like this?" Looking up at the prince, her stomach was tied in knots. She couldn't tell if he knew about her love for his brother, or if he knew anything at all about why she wasn't snuck off whenever she had the chance. "I also would prefer to hear any news from you, not from your mother. It had shocked me, that's all" She explained to him as she stepped closer to him, resting her small hand on his chest as she looked into his eyes.

"You will make such a fine King one day," She commented as she wanted him to believe that she did love him still, if he thought she didn't then he could do anything. Send her away, force her into marriage or even have her hung. It sent a shiver down her spine knowing he held that power, of course two of those options would result in her parents Kingdom attacking and beginning a war.

Hamish nodded his head as he listened to the blonde, either she truly meant what she was saying or she was a really good liar but the male decided to give her the benefit of the doubt. The male walked over to the blonde and took her into his arms.

"I know darling, and I was going to tell you believe me, but mother must have been listening outside the keyhole and you know my mother any burst of news and she is a blabbering mess. I truly am sorry I assure you I was going to tell you first." the male reached out one of his hands and tucked a stray strand of her light hair behind her ear locking eyes with her before bending down and pressing a kiss to her lips.

---

Margaret listened to what the young man behind her was telling him but she didn't hear all of it because sleep have overtaken her rather quickly. As she was on the horseback her dreams were filled with Edwards voice. However her dream suddenly became dark... she was trapped in a room. No doors, and only one small window. On the ground beside her was a dish of water while beside her were food scraps. Getting up she tried to move but around her ankle was a shackle restraining her. Calling out she tried for someone, for anyone to help her, but all se heard was Henry's laughter and a crack of a whip then a male scream out in agony.

"Edward!" she called out, jolting herself out of her dream, disorientated she noticed she was on the ground, near a dying fire. How had she got down here? turning her head in the flickering light she saw her horse laying beside the fire. Inhaling deeply she tried to calm her racing thoughts when she felt a hand on her shoulder. A scream broke from her lips as she turned her head and saw Edward.

Edward had made a small camp for the night as it was too dark for them to travel safely, he had made shelter and left Margaret there as she was fast asleep. He went off to find them something to eat, he was lucky enough to catch two rabbits and he skinned them away from the princess just in case she woke up and saw what he was doing. He had just washed and gutted the rabbits when he heard her voice, calling out his name in panic so he ran to her as fast as he could. Thankfully he wasn’t far from their camp so once he reached her, he dropped the raw rabbit meat and knelt down behind her.

“Shh, it’s just me love. I’m right here, you just had a bad dream. That’s all,” He pulled her in quickly for a tight hug, she was clearly shaken and he cursed himself for leaving her. He should have woken her to tell her that he needed to go off to find them food, but she had looked so peaceful sleeping that he felt bad if he woke her up.

So as he held her, he whispered sweet nothings into her ear and pressed a kiss on the top of her head. “I won’t let anything bad happen to you,” He promised her as he was no knight, he wasn’t a prince or a king. He wasn’t sure how well he could fight, but he would protect Margaret from anyone or anything that wanted to harm her or take her away from him. He was stubborn and hard headed, he wouldn’t back down from fight, even if it was a fight he knew he wouldn’t win.

---

“You’re mother does have the best hearing in this whole kingdom,” Poppy smiled as she felt his arms move around her waist, his arms felt nothing like Daniel’s. She didn’t feel safe or loved in Hamish’s arms, but she had to pretend like she did just long enough to give Daniel time to plan their escape. Then his lips were pressed to her’s and she hated it, she hated that she had to return the kiss when the one person she wanted to kiss wasn’t there.

“Shall I go help set up for our wedding? Things will be chaos around here,” She pulled back from his lips, her eyes looking into his own as she wanted an excuse to leave his chambers. She wasn’t sure if he would allow her to leave though, his arms weren’t moving away from her body and they hadn’t spent that much time with each other lately as Poppy had been sneaking off to spend her time with the man she truly loved. But then his lips were against her’s again, this time his kiss was different. It was more forceful and Poppy didn’t like it, pulling her head back in an attempt to get away from him.

“Hamish…” Her voice was weak as her heart slammed against her ribcage, his lips continued their assault on her neck and she wasn’t sure what had gotten into him but she didn’t like it one bit. Her hands rested on his shoulders as she tried her best to push him away from her, but he was stronger than she was. His hand moved to the other side of her neck which held her firmly in place, “Hamish stop” She raised her voice in hopes someone was passing by and came to save her from him, a small gasp left her lips when his hand moved from her neck and moved over her breast. He had never touched her like that before, it was disgraceful as it was only meant to occur on their wedding night.

Hamish heard the woman as she told him to stop but he couldn't he had tried to be the perfect gentleman for too long, he had never touched higher then the woman's wrist and he had a desire to fell her. To fell what her breasts felt like. To know what his lips felt like on her sweetly scented skin, he was doing it now and there was no denying that it felt like heaven. The Prince wasn't sure he would be able to stop himself. He wanted to touch her naked breast, trace the curve of her his, feel the smoothness of her stomach. His thoughts were running away with him so much so that he couldn't feel the blonde fighting him off.

That was until he was ripped off his bride to be, a pair of large strong hands pulled him off of her and threw him away as if he weighed nothing. He was about to argue and throw a punch when he saw who it was. Daniel was standing there his eyes wild and his jaw tense.

"What do you think you are doing Daniel? Interrupting me and my bride to be."

"I am putting a stop to what you are doing because it is not moral. You never treat a woman like the Princess like that. Can't you see she is terrified... didn't you hear her pleas?" Daniel seethed as his eyes darted between Hamish and Poppy. The brown haired Prince turned his head and looked at the blonde.

She was shaking violently, her breath coming in short pants and her eyes were welled with tears. He went to touch her and she shrank away whispering him to get away. What had he done! Apologising he turned and left her standing there shaking and scared.

What had come over him?

---

Daniel had heard the Princess cry out, distressed, he knew something wasn't right. When he saw his brother groping her he saw red and ripped him off of her flinging him as far away as possible. Now he had gone he hurried over to the blonde who was shaking violently in his arms.

"It's alright, I am here now," he whispered calmly reassuring her that everything was fine, that she was safe. He had to get her out of here and quickly. "Tonight, we leave tonight." he whispered pressing a kiss to the top of her head and holding her tightly.

---

Margaret was relieved when the brown haired male appeared running toward her, she gripped him tightly as she tried to swallow her tears. She was so scared that she had lost him. As he whispered to her assuring her that she was alright, that nothing was going to happen to her she was able to slowly return to her normal state. Hesitantly she let go of the male allowing him to sit back. Wiping her tears she chuckled.

"I'm sorry... I was having a terrible nightmare," she apologised sniffling as she looked up into the males dark eyes. Comfort washing over her. "Where did you go? Did you get us any food?" she questioned as her stomach rumbled painfully. It had been several hours since her last meal. Breakfast and it was now dusk.

Edward sat back and reached over to gently tuck some stray red locks back behind her ear, “It’s alright love. No need to apologize,” He assured her with a warm smile, but it didn’t matter what happened in her dreams. Nothing would tear him away from her, he would give up his life to protect her and to make her happy.

“Demanding alright,” He chuckled softly but showed Margaret the two rabbits he had found and skinned, he tossed the raw meat onto the fire so the meat would cook. “Not much is around here, well not many small creatures that can be caught easily.” He told her but once they reached his home, there would be a feast for their welcome. He kept an eye on the cooking rabbit, turning the meat over a few times so the flames cooked all sides.

“We’ll sleep here for the night, I already checked and it’s a safe area. In the morning we’ll finish the journey,” Edward told the princess as he looked over to her, he wasn’t sure what overcame him but something did. He didn’t even fully realise what he was doing as he leaned closer to her, he pressed a small kiss to her lips. Her soft warm lips. However the kiss only lasted a few seconds as he noticed what he was doing, and it caused him to quickly pull back. “I’m sorry… I… um I’m sorry.” He mumbled in embarrassment.

---

Poppy didn’t know what had overcome Hamish but she didn’t care, how could he treat her so badly? He had never touched her before and right now he still shouldn’t be touching her, they weren’t married so he wasn’t allowed to take things further like that. The tears spilled from her eyes as she leaned into Daniel’s embrace, she was so grateful that he had been passing and heard her pleads. Otherwise she wouldn’t have been able to get away from Hamish, he had been overpowering her.

“Take me away from here,” She begged as her voice barely made a sound, she didn’t care who they would hurt by leaving the kingdom. She just wanted to get away from the man the prince was becoming, she wasn’t going to marry him and she wasn’t going to pretend to love him any longer. Her body shook with fear but her breathing was slowly beginning to calm as Daniel held her tightly in his strong arms, her head resting against his chest and she listened to his heartbeat.

His heart was beating faster than normal, he was angry with what he saw but the thumping sound still soothed Poppy. She stood there for another minute or two before she finally felt better, “Supper will be served shortly. Go eat, I’ll meet you at the fountain at night fall.” She whispered to him as she was going to leave with him tonight, parting ways she hurried back to her chambers although she did make two stops on the way.

Firstly she snuck into the wash room, she found some clean clothes of Daniel’s and tucked them under her arm. A pair of pants and a shirt for them both, she wasn’t going to escape this hell with Hamish in the dress she was wearing. Then she made her way into the kitchen, using the excuse that she was too busy to eat supper. She took enough food for her and Daniel to live off until they found a small village to live in, then once she was inside her chambers she wrapped the food up in a blanket and braided her blonde locks. She grabbed all the gold she had and noticed the sky was turning dark, she changed into Daniel’s clothes and grabbed her supplies. Her heart was racing as she moved along the shadows, she was silent as she raced over to the fountain but she couldn’t see Daniel waiting for her and her heart sunk.