My shoulders ached and my entire body was sore. The ground was cold and the thin material covering me didn't help to keep out the slight morning breeze. My eyes cracked open and I was greeted by the sun rising over the tops of the trees. The crick in my neck made me wince as I sat up and tried to figure out where I was.

I remembered a lot of running. My muscles were probably going to hurt for a good week from that sudden sprint. Then I remembered Jongin climbing that rocky escarpment.

So that was how I ended up here.

I was inside the cave with a brown cloak over me and his black velvet jacket as my pillow. I looked down and saw that the letter was still safely tucked behind the ribbons of my tattered dress. I would definitely have to get a new one soon.

I rubbed my eyes and turned to the sides of the cave. There were strips of meat hanging on the walls to be dried and I saw a pouch sitting underneath the string of hanging flesh. Beside the pouch were weapons laid out on a piece of cloth. They all looked like swords and daggers to me but I knew each one of them had their own unique names.

I turned to my other side and found Jongin sitting against the wall of the cave, asleep. Was he my saviour or my captor? As long as I was with him, I'd be safe but I'd always be on the run. If he wasn't here though, I'd probably be dead.

I studied his face as the autumn sun rose a bit higher. He looked young, definitely around my age, but at the same time, he looked older. He must've been through a lot already considering he was one of my father's spies. But asleep, he looked peaceful and, dare I say, cute.

He couldn't be bad, right?

Bad guys are ogres and gargoyles with twisted faces. Jongin was just a young man. His hair was slightly messy from the wind and, with one arm slung over his knee, he looked like he’d just come back from a winning fight. I'll admit he was quite handsome.

I was caught unaware as a slow smile appeared on his lips. His eyes lifted to look at me as he said, "Morning."

"G-good morning to you, too," I stammered. It was as if he had heard me praising him.

He stood up to stretch and I noticed that his faded tunic didn't do a good job of hiding his defined arms. How had he scaled the rock wall with me on his back?

"I take it you had a good night's sleep?" He walked past me to inspect his weapons and I saw that his hands were bandaged up.

I couldn't tell if he was being sarcastic or not so I couldn't find a reply to his question. "Is there any way out of here other than jumping off that cliff?" I asked as I pointed to the mouth of the cave where there was a small platform.

"There's a tunnel to slide out of at the back of the cave. That thing's impossible to climb though."

"Then how am I supposed to get up here without your help?"

Jongin shrugged. "I guess you're not going to. Besides, we're getting out of here as soon as possible. We're still too close to the castle."

"Are we going down to the village?" My eyes suddenly lit up at the thought. Maybe I'd finally be able to experience freedom.

"We're going to the village and then we have to keep going. It's too dangerous to stay in one place for too long."

My heart sank. "Are we going to be on the run for the rest of our lives?" I asked dejectedly.

He gave me a glance before pocketing one of his daggers. "Until your father sends out a message to return, we're going to keep running."

I watched as he dug around in his pack for something. "You're kidding me, right?"

"Nope. You're stuck with me until your dad says so." He tossed me something covered with paper and it landed softly in my lap. "Have some breakfast."

I unfolded the lining and found a strip of dried meat along with a small roll of bread. "But what if something happens to you?" I asked as I ripped some bread to put in my mouth. "Then what do I do?"

"Hope for the best," he said as if he knew that that wouldn't happen. "Nothing's going to happen to either of us if you just listen to me."

"How do you know? Are you some expert in kidnapping princesses?"

Jongin sat back and gnawed on his own piece of dried meat. "Actually, I'm pretty close. You're the third princess that I've had to take with me to protect."

My eyes widened and I stopped chewing for a second. "My father has other daughters?"

"No, it's not like that." Jongin almost laughed. "Your father assigns me to work for other kings, too."

"The other princesses also have people after them?"

"Something like that," he answered hesitantly. He seemed to think things over before he continued. "One of them just had a very bad reputation with her kingdom and her father wanted me to watch over her to make sure nobody killed her out of annoyance."

"What did she do?"

"She just wouldn't stop yapping." Jongin smiled at that moment. "Kind of like you."

I opened my mouth to make a comeback but I was bad at those kinds of things.

"But she was full of gossip and ruined many of her family's relations. I had to take her away so the kingdom wouldn't blow up."

"And what about the other princess?" I asked after picturing a princess that wouldn't shut .

Jongin chewed his lip, as if hesitant to talk about the other princess, and the first thought that came to my head was that he had a personal connection with that girl.

But then his whole body froze and his eyes seemed to glaze over as if he was listening to something that wasn't there.

"They're coming," was all he said before he shooed me to the back of the cave.

"Who's coming?" I asked as he pulled me into the darkness. I was nervous but at the same time a bit irritated. I had wanted to hear about the other princess.

"The soldiers are coming to look for you," he said while gathering his belongings. "And don't worry, I'll tell you about the princess another day."

I furrowed my eyebrows but obeyed. I sat in the dark as Jongin stood at the side of the cave with a hand pressed to the wall. After a moment, he swore and began pacing.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

He put a finger to his mouth to silence me and I crossed my arms. He could at least come over here to tell me what was going on instead of leaving me in the dark. It wasn’t like the soldiers were close enough to hear us anyway.

He rolled his eyes and walked to where I sat. My eyes widened as he came closer. How had he known what I wanted?

"We can't run because they're all spread out. I can't fight until they're all in one area or else they'll gather reinforcements" he whispered after he was right beside me. "We're trapped here until they give up."

I wanted to tell him that soldiers weren't the type to give up but I couldn't. To a soldier, duty was everything.

"Exactly," Jongin muttered. "I need some way to get them in one place so I can take them all down together. I can’t let any of them get away and send for reinforcements."

How did he just reply to one of my thoughts? Could he read minds?

"If you let me, yes."

I sat in a stupor for a minute while Jongin continued to think of a plan. What was this guy? A mind reader? A spy? And at such a young age? No wonder my father employed him.

"Wait, I have a plan!" I sat up straight but Jongin silenced me with a finger again.

"You're too loud. Talk to me in your head."

I'll go down there to lure the soldiers in and then once they're all together, you do your job.

"But they're going to take different times getting to you. What if the first one takes you before the last one gets here?"

I'll keep them there for as long as I can.

"And how will I know when you can't?"

I pointed to my temple and winked. Read my mind, of course.

Jongin bit his lip but hesitantly agreed. "Fine. The tunnel is to your right. Just slide down."

I crept to my side and felt the rocks beginning to slope down. I looked back but found that Jongin had already disappeared.

I took a deep breath and positioned myself. Hopefully, I would make it out of this alive.

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