If a sweat droplet fell at that moment, it would make a sound. Rock felt time slow down, as he realized that he was caught. He also saw two guards talking to each other and realized that he had to do something.

For the third time tonight, Rock had to think fast, and he was getting quite tired of it. Looking around he spotted an open door and quickly grabbed the princess covering her mouth and dragged both her and her books into the open room and quickly shut the door.

For what seemed like an eternity, Rock held the princess in his arms, covering her mouth and waiting for the guards to pass. She struggled in his arms, and Rock’s heartbeat was going a billion times a second. 

Shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit

  The guards continue to laugh and talk until one of them said:

“Hey, what’s this book doing on the ground here.”

Time froze. Rock was utterly screwed.

“Oh, it’s probably just the princess. She’s always stealing books from the royal library. Might as well return it back.” The other one said.

“Eh, sure. It’s not like there’s anything better to do.” The first one said.

They turned around and walked back the way they came.

Rock breathed a sigh of relief.

***

Once the coast was clear, Rock relaxed.

“Okay, I am going to remove my hand from your mouth now. You are not allowed to scream. If you do, I’ll … I’ll … I’ll do something really, really, really bad alright.” Rock attempted to warn.

The princess quickly nodded.

“You promise? Because I’ll do something really, really, really bad, alright.”

The princess nodded again, this time rolling her eyes.

“You sure, because I really don’t want you to scream, alright?”

“Mphm mphm MPHM mphm mhpm!” The princess tried to say

“What?” Rock uncovered the princess’s mouth.

“I said ‘I get it already!’ Sheesh, you are a horrible kidnapper. Nothing like those in my novels.” The princess said with a huff.

Rock blinked. “Wha-huh?”

“My kidnapper is supposed to be dashing, scary, and also have a sensual aura about him! You -” the princess quickly looked him up and down, “are alright I suppose.”

“Are - are you checking me out? And what the hell do you mean, alright?? I thought I was pretty good looking! That’s what all of the girls in my tribe said!”

The princess snorted. “They were probably just paying you empty compliments. I guess you're pretty enough for a troll, I suppose.”

Rock let go of the princess and started patting his body and face. He suddenly felt extremely self conscious.

“I-I-I’m ugly?” Rock stammed.

The princess rolled her eyes again. 

“Good grief, and my father said that the castle was the saftest place in the whole world for me, and yet some random guy managed to make it in here.” She patted Rock’s head. “There, there, I’m sure you’re pretty in your mother’s eyes.”

“My mother’s dead.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah.”

Rock stood straight and then demanded. “Alright, I want you to take me to the dungeon.”

“And why, exactly, would I let a dangerous man such as you go to the dungeon? To free his comrades?”

“Yes! And stop asking questions! I’m the one in charge here.” Rock said indignantly, his face flush with lava.

The princess giggled. “Oh really. I think I’m the one in charge here if anything.”

“Huh?????”

“If you were a real bad guy, you would have killed me by now.” The princess said derisively, and then continued giggling.

“Why, you…. I could totally kill you! I could kill you right now if I wanted to!”

“Then do it.” The princess smiled. “I’m a liability to you alive.”

Rock froze and stood speechless.

“Well, are you going to kill me.”

“I-uh….”

The princess’s smile broadened. 

“You can’t kill me, can you.”

“I-I-I’m just waiting for the right moment! It’s not like I’m trying to kill you or anything.” Rock crossed her arms and looked away so that she couldn’t see his pouting red face. This girl….

“How about I  *giggle* make you a deal?” The princess said in between bouts of giggling.

“...Fine….” 

“I’ll take you to the dungeon, and in return, you get to tell me ALL about the outside world.” The princess said with a toothy grin.

Rock was incredibly puzzled. “Why???”

“Because, dummy, you are the first person from the outside world I’ve met.” The princess smiled and did a twirl. “I’ve lived in the castle walls my entire life.”

Rock stood dumbfounded. She had lived here all her life? In this nice castle, with an actual carpet, maids, and three meals a day? What a truly spoiled princess.

The princess smiled and opened the door. 

“Well, follow me. I can only hide you in my room. You better be on your best behavior.”

Rock mutely followed. What had he got himself into.

***

They walked quietly for a little while before the princess started speaking.

 

“By the Angel Maria, I hate it here. My father never lets me out of this damn castle except for very special occasions, and as long as I have lived, I have only known my father, Javier, and maybe one or two maids who get replaced every so often. All they ever see me as is just a princess, someone to carry the royal bloodline and give birth to a marvelous king. They never see me as me, you know.”

 

Rock gave an affirmative “Yeah. I get that”

 

“Oh my gosh, am I ranting? I’m sorry if I’m ranting. I really am. I just ...”

 

The princess stopped walking for a moment. 

 

“I just never get to talk to someone from the outside, you know. Especially from outside the valley. I have always wondered what the outside world is like. Could you tell me what it’s like?”

 

Rock sighed.

 

“You want to know what the outside world is like? Well, I’ll tell you. It is rough, hard, coarse, and treats you like trash. Once you finally get to settle down in one town, a bunch of townsfolk will drive you out of it just cuz you look different.” Rock looked away. “I really thought the last town I was staying at was different. The people there were kind, I was friends with some of them, and there was this cute goblin girl I had a thing going with ….” Rock trailed off.

 

The princess sighed. “Well, at least I have my books. They let me live a life outside of this castle. In my books, I can be a ranger exploring a pristine land, a detective solving a mysterious murder, or a fighter in a tournament with his two best friends to avenge his father.”

 

She gave a brief pause then continued. 

 

“But I’ll never get to live those lives. I will always be a sheltered princess. Someday I will be married to a man that my father picks, and then I have to be a loving mother to whoever I birth. I’ll never even get to lead for one second. I hope my foal is a boy so that he never gets to go through what I went through.”

 

She began laughing.

 

“It’s funny right? All those people  out there would give their left foot to be me. All of those people have to actually work to make a living while all I have to do is just sit in the royal library and read story books. I complain about my father never spending any time with me where there are orphans who have to beg for food. I’m just complaining about nothing, aren’t I. I’m just so immature, aren’t I. I should just shut up and be a good mare but I can’t.”

 

At this point, tears were flowing down the princesses face, but she continued talking.

 

“I can’t even express my own emotions and how I feel in front of anyone else. I always have to put on a mask. I can’t believe I’m venting to you, I’m so sorry, I just wanted to talk to someone, anyone. I just wish someone saw me as I am, not what they want me to be.”

 

Rock was quiet for a minute, and they kept walking. He really didn’t know what to say to her. It was true, he would love to be in her shoes. And yet, her life sounded so sad….

 

“Thanks for listening to me rant. I never get to do this with anyone.”

 

The princess paused for a moment and then said:

 

“You know, I have been teaching myself magic. Like, simple spells, but magic nonetheless. Sometimes, I’ve been thinking of just running away from here, and living a simple life as a hermit in the mountains, like one of those youkai saints I read about all the time. I could use magic to cook my own food, hunt, and take care of myself. All by myself.”

 

She paused and then said:

 

“Let’s get you to my room. There’s going to be a banquet for me tonight, and I don’t want to keep my father waiting.”

 

***

Rock laid in the princess’s very expensive down stuffed bed. He had never been in a bed this nice before and wanted to remember everything about this moment.

The princess meanwhile was combing her hair and generally making herself presentable. 

“Uh, aren’t you a bit more worried about having a guy in your room?” Rock said awkwardly.

The princess shrugged. “Not really. If you ever try to do something to me, I’ll just blast your head off. Pretty simple actually.”

“Then why didn’t you just do that back there then!” Rock said incredulously.

“Because I thought that you were stronger than me. Which you obviously aren’t.”

“...That hurts, dude.”

“Oh yeah, by the way, you may want to put this on.” The princess opened a closet door to reveal a pristine suit of royal armor.

Rock was speechless.

“Number one, where did you get that? And number two, why?

The princess ran her hand along the armor. “I stole it from one of the guards to use it as a disguise if I ever wanted to go to the library at night or something. And why? Because you look like you haven’t eaten something in a week and I feel like you need to eat.”

“Thank … you?”

The princess turned away from him and covered her eyes. “By the time I open my eyes back up, if you are naked I will rip your dick off.”

“Oh, okay.”

***

As they entered the dining hall, Rock noticed that almost every Corninian  from town was in the dining hall for the occasion, dressed up in their finest outfit. Additionally, Rock saw the farmer that had helped him earlier dressed up, with his wife arguing with him while their foal was sucking on a sugar cube.

“Woah, why is everyone here? I thought that the castle wasn’t open to the public.” Rock whispered.

“Didn’t you know? Today’s my birthday and the whole kingdom was invited.” The princess whispered back.

“What??? NO ONE TOLD ME ANYTHING!” 

“Wow, you are a really bad bad guy, huh?” The princess said, and quickly chuckled before hiding it.

 

One of the guards led the princess to the seat on the right of the king, with the princess dressed in flowing white robes. The king then stood up and said.

 

“Tonight, we shall have a feast! Our reserves may be low this year, but that does not mean we cannot enjoy ourselves. For this one night, let us remember why the Kingdom of Snowcove is so great!”

 

“Here, here!” The crowd cried.

 

And so the feast began. Rock was sitting with the guards and ate everything on their plate in about ten seconds. However, they noticed that it was not filling, and the princess and the king had less on the plate than he did. Additionally, everyone else in the room had even less, with the food only covering half the plate.

 

“This is barely a feast,” the princess mumbled.

 

The king sighed. “This winter will be especially harsh. Some of my subjects might die this year due to the disease that has been destroying our crops. We might even have to resort to eating meat.”

 

“FATHER!”

 

“What else do you want us to do? Starve? I only do what’s good for the people.”

 

“But-”

 

Before the princess could finish her sentence, a royal guard walked up from behind the king's chair and whispered in his ear. The king nodded, got up from the chair and prepared to leave.

 

“Father, why are you leaving? You promised to spend time with me ...”

 

“And listen to more of your pointless arguments?” 

 

Seeing his daughter’s reaction, he softened.

“I’m sorry my dear, but I have important royal matters to deal with. Perhaps we will dine some other time.”

 

“But you are always dealing with royal matters.”

 

“Some other time.”

 

The king walked away, accompanied by Javier, his minister, and the royal guard.

***

Back in her room, the princess was miserable. Rock felt so bad, that he got up and patted her head.

 

“Thanks, I knew I could count on you.”

 

She sat for a minute in silence until a mischievous smile crossed her face.

 

“Hey, I’ve got an idea. How about we check out to see what exactly these royal matters are. I’m sure they can’t be THAT important.”

 

“Sure, as long as you take me to the dungeons afterward,” Rock said apprehensively.

 

“It will be fine, I promise. Just hop on my back”

 

Together they went to the throne room. While they were walking, the princess giggling mischievously and said:

 

“Hey, check this out. I can turn myself invisible. Watch this.”

 

The princess mumbled a quick spell, and sure enough, both she and Goobert were invisible.

 

“With this, we can check out what my father is doing without any repercussions.”

 

Suddenly, the princess gasped, and went behind a column. Rockland behind the column and saw why.

 

On their knees in front of the throne were three gray humanoids surrounded by guards. Rock quickly recognized them as members from his tribe.

 

The troll in front lifted his head up and snarled, and got kicked in the head in response. The princess gasped, and one of the guards looked at her. He narrowed his eyes, then looked away.

 

“Pray tell, what are these trolls doing here?” The king asked.

 

“We found them stealing food from one of the outer villages sir.”

 

In response, one of the trolls said: “Please, sir, let us go. Our people are hungry and starving. Please, let us have some food!

 

“Ugh, please just send them to the dungeons, I don’t want to deal with such creatures.”

 

As Rock and the princess returned to their seats, the princess said to Rock:

 

“We must never let my father know that we heard that exchange. Promise me you will never tell.”

 

Rock nodded affirmatively.