Ducking and weaving through the crowd, Henry tried to follow the short haired girl through the town. He sent up a silent prayer that he was following the right girl or he was going to feel like the biggest creep in the kingdom. Before long she ducked into a small inn and bought a room for the evening. The knowledge that she had a safe place to stay for the night filled Henry with relief. Now he could relax for a while. After three days following her, he know that she rarely left the Inns once she paid for her room. Enjoying a good drink in the tavern, he wasn't expecting anyone to join him at his table and jumped when the very girl he'd been watching earlier plopped down on a chair across from him with a scowl on her face.
"Why are you following me?" She demanded.
"Wha? Who, Me? I mean- I, uh, I'm not following anybody." Henry stammered lamely. The unimpressed look on the girl's face clearly said she didn't believe him.
"You're a rotten liar." She scoffed. "Now, tell me why you've been following me." Ordinarily Henry would have given a vague answer and high-tailed it out of there, but there was a fire in the girl's eyes that scared him. With a deep sigh he reached into his bag and pulled out a thin scroll case. Inside were two scrolls, one opened and one still sealed. Henry unrolled the open one and handed it to the girl. It was a near perfect sketch of her own face, one that she had watched her sister draw. Immediately her eyes widened and she reached forward to grab Henry by his collar.
"This is from Princess Jacqueline's personal sketchbook." She growled. "Where did you get it?" Henry hurriedly gave her the other scroll.
"She gave it to me! She said to find you and give you that!" The girl didn't stop glaring at him but at least she let him go, taking the offered scroll.

    Amber, I know you're not going to be happy about this but there's no way I'm letting you wander around the kingdom by yourself, and if I hadn't sent Henry Father would have sent the entire royal guard to bring you home. I haven't told him who you are. As far as he knows, you're just a simple messenger. I've instructed Henry to send word to the castle every time you leave town, just in case. Have fun on your adventure.
    Love, your sister.

Amber groaned, dropping her head to the table with a dull 'thunk'. Jacqueline would pull something like this. She stared at the soldier sitting across from her, looking at her like a puppy waiting for an order. He looked like the dopey sort of fellow the cook would have guarding the kitchen, not a top royal soldier. Still a few weeks with him had to be better than being escorted home by the entire royal guard. She supposed she'd just have to survive until the got to Castle Choi.
"Well," She started, sighing in defeat. "I suppose if we're going to be stuck with each other we might as well introduce ourselves properly. I'm Amber."
"Henry." The two shook hands and settled back into their chairs, the tension between them all but gone. "Well, better head in for the night. I know you like to travel early and I plan on getting some sleep. I'm at the Inn across from yours if you need me. Goodnight, Miss." Henry nodded to Amber and left. True, they still had a long way to go and she did love to travel in the mornings. A good night's sleep would be best.

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I wasn't going to post this chapter so soon but the OP of the tumblr post that inspired this fic just subscribed so i'm posting chapter 2 out of sheer excitement. YAY! :D