Prince Kendrick Burson groaned in a groggy stupor, subconsciously bringing on hand to scratch his stomach as the other stretched luxuriously out, fingertips extended enough to just barely brush against the smooth, solid darkwood bedpost as he begrudged the sun for rising so early in the day. His attendants all waited patiently at the borders of the room, hands at their sides and eyes down at the floor, or rather, the thick fur rugs that lay scattered over the floor to insulate the prince from any morning chill that might try to wander in. The young man used to wonder how long the servants had been standing there, for they were different from the ones who waited on him before his slumber, and they were always there upon his waking, but he'd long since stopped caring.

His eyes opened lazily, brow furrowed in disgust at the light peeking in through the heavy curtains that hung from golden rods encrusted with jewels. Someone would have to be whipped for allowing such a thing to disturb the prince's slumber, and someone assuredly would be. Rolling off the side of the bed and landing somewhat steadily on his feet, he rose to his full height and stretched from his fingertips to his toes, leaving nothing to the imagination of his servants (had they been looking, which they shouldn't have been else they'd be whipped) before lazily lurching towards his waiting bath.

The maidens, always maidens, sat by the nearly steaming hot pool with flower petals lazily swirling atop its surface, each one awaiting the prince to allow them to scrub him clean. This too, used to make him curious, how did they keep the water warm? The question flitted from his thoughts as soon as he slipped into the depression cut into the marble, as it had so many times before. The maidens used to excite him, when he was a youth, but now... They were little more than props, tools for his bath. He ignored them and they went about their duties, probably the best for everyone present that things went smoothly and silently in any case. When he was through, he was dried and dressed. Pants and shirt and coat, all cut to his exact measurements, lined with gold and exotic fur that the peasants could have traded for their homes. The materials, mundane and arcane, shimmered in the light as ghostly, wavering symbols and sigils of his house faded in and out of view.

A servant opened the door back to his bedroom, another the one to the hall, letting the rich, sweet scent sugared meat and salted eggs waft through the air. The prince made hurriedly for the dining hall, where indeed, an opulent breakfast awaited him. Eggs, scrambled, boiled, poached, and fried; rashers of bacon, all still sizzling as if fresh from the fryer; berries plucked and picked from across the kingdom, rich and ripe and in every color under the sun all sat upon the massive hardwood table. He sat down in the cushioned chair, ignoring the fresh round of servants that flocked around him as he picked his favorites from the hoard and ate his fill. He sighed as he pushed his plate away, almost into a servant's waiting hands to remove the soiled dish from the prince's presence, and rose to his feet, straightening out his coat before making his way towards the council chambers...

Rose Dawson woke up in her shabby cot, feeling her quilt had been yanked off of her by her little "sister" Jenny. She wasn't actually Rose's sister, but she was taken in by Rose and the others in the gang and raised as if she were. Rose smiled and got out of her cot, making sure not to disturb Jenny with her movement. She traipsed her way over to the small metal tub where all the girls took their baths, getting into the cold water and not minding that it was extremely cold from last nights winds. She was completely used to it by now, and although she wished for scalding hot water, she knew that was a selfish thought so she took it back. Soon enough she had washed her gorgeous blonde hair and pale skin, getting out and rinising her hair with a bucket of cold water.

She then got dried off with a small rag that they all shared, hanging it by the fire so it could dry. She put I some kindling to the fire, making it spark to life again. She let herself dry the rest of the way off as she polished the tips of her arrows, knowing that some of them still had blood on them from her last kill. Which had been a deer, not a human. Once she was fully dried off she put on her somewhat skimpy clothes, knowing it attracted a lot of men, including the leader of the gang. Or maybe it was her extremely curvaceous body! She honestly didn't know, but soon enough she would find out.

She heard the leader stirring, immediately running for the door but she was too late; he had gotten there before she had by teleportation. "Where do you think your going gorgeous?" He asked, planting a kiss on her lips. She flushed red, knowing she couldn't refuse him his morning tease since he could kick her out of the group as easily as you could eat a lot of bacon. "I'm going to hunt for breakfast." Rose replied softly, making him smirk at her. "Alright beautiful, but don't forget to bring home some more eggs, we need them." He said, going off to get himself ready for the day. She breathed a sigh of relief, heading out the door that was made of a buck skin covering and into the forest outside.

She went off to find what they needed, coming back with a twelve point buck, some pigs, rabbits, squirrels, chickens and their eggs. Everyone was awake by the time she got back, the girls skinning and plucking the animals before cooking them to everyone's satisfaction. Then they sat down and said prayers before digging into their meal, and afterwards they made clothes for some of the newborns some of the clan woman had just had. Then the men set about making their plans to capture the prince, and the only girl allowed in was Rose herself since she had a spectacular power that literally no one could resist.

When she sang, people had to immediately stop and listen. They were frozen, unable to move until the song was over. And the men usually used her ability to take advantage of a situation. And that's the only reason she was allowed in. This plan making went on for three hours before they got word that the prince was I the woods...... And they sent Rose to go find him.

Prince Kendrick slid off his palfrey, landing with a crunch on the foliage beneath his feet, much to the chagrin of the master tracker accompanying him. He shrugged, knowing that there were still miles from their quarry, and a horse would make too much noise to approach without scaring off any beast in these woods. A single attendant, a young lad with blond hair in a bowl cut that had to reach up to assist the prince, adjusted the straps of the royal's quiver as the tracker tugged at the straps of her own equipment. Bow in hand, the prince and the tracker left the servant to mind the horses and ensure they don't run off.

The two padded off softly into the underbrush of the forest, moving at a slow pace to maintain their stealth, drawn out even slower by the prince's silent insistence to avoid anything that appeared too muddy or too dirty. Trousers fashioned from the hide of some beast he couldn't pronounce (a gift to his father from a visiting dignitary) and a hunting tunic of the same material, clung to his chiseled form and he absolutely refused to return from his hunt soiled by the environment. His bow was wrought from an ancient hardwood tree from a foreign land, dark and strong, with elaborate etchings of legendary hunters taking aim at their prey. Even his arrows dripped of a luxury unknown to the rest of the realm, with razor sharp, steel heads, soft wood shafts sanded to perfect smoothness, and fletching in the bright colors of exotic birds' feathers.

After some time, he brought the memory of the tracker's map to mind, guessing they would have to be at least half a dozen miles out from where they dismounted, far from the palace, or even the outskirts of the city. They were truly in the wilderness, presumably alone...

Rose soon caught up to Prince Kendrick and his tracker, arming her bow and starting to sing. "Speed bonnie boat like a bird on the wing, onward the sailors cry. Carry the lad that's born to be king, over the sea to Skye. Loud the winds howl, loud the waves roar, thunderclaps rend the air. Baffled our foes stand by the shore, follow they will not dare. Speed bonnie boat like a bird on the wing, onward the sailors cry. Carry the lad that's born to be king, over the sea to Skye. Though the waves leap, soft shall ye sleep, I cean's a royal bed." She sang, shooting the woman directly in her forehead, and watching the frozen prince's face look at her in horror.

"Rock'd in the deep Flora will keep watch o'er your weary head. Speed bonnie boat like a bird on the wing, onward the sailors cry. Carry the lad that's born to be king, over the sea to Skye. Burned are our homes, exile and death, scattered the loyal man. Yet ere the sword, cool in the sheath, Charlie will come again. Speed bonnie boat like a bird on the wing, onward the sailors cry. Carry the lad that's born to be king, over the sea to Skye. Over the sea...... To Skye." She sang, her voice dying out slowly as she pulled out a tipped arrow that had a sleeping substance on it. She loaded it and shot, it hitting the prince right in the arm.

She walked out into the light, leaning over him and whispering just before he passed out, "Good night your majesty." Before he fell asleep.

Prince Kendrick Burson groaned in a groggy stupor, subconsciously bringing on hand to scratch his stomach as--he struggled to bring his hand to his stomach before his eyes shot wide open, the realization of what had just happened sobering him like a slap in the face. He tried tugging free, once, instinctively, gritting his teeth and grunting against the bindings before sighing in defeat. His shoulders and back were sore, his head throbbed, and his stomach was turned in a knot, an overall unpleasant set of circumstances that blurred his vision a bit as he tried to take in his surroundings. The floors looked like packed dirt that had been sprinkled with dust. Dust on dirt, who could live like this? A few threadbare blankets hung from brown, moldy lines drawn between the dilapidated walls. He'd seen nets with fewer holes than some of these covers. Rays of sunlight slipped in through cracks in the walls, but so did the occasional gust of a chill wind, pushing up little goosebumps over where they brushed against the man's skin.

And it stank. Mud and sweat and filth all colluded to make some horrible stench to assault his senses as he sat there, tied to a chair. He glanced down as best he could before letting out a sigh; the chair had to be the most solid piece of carpentry in this place. Swearing, he decided to take his chances busting out. With as quiet a grunt as he could manage, the prince began hopping, while bound, chair and all, as best he could, slowly inching closer to the ramshackle exterior walls. Unfortunately the creak of the chair's joints, the creak of the ropes rubbing against each other, and the thud of his landings were more than enough to alert anyone in earshot that Kendrick was conscious and trying to get loose.

There was the notching of an arrow behind Kendrick, his chair easily being kicked over by Rose herself so that he face planted into the hard ground that was the floor. "Kendrick, Kendrick Kendrick..... What are we going to do with you?" Rose asked, her green dress riding up a bit as she bent down to look him in the eyes. "Your aren't so powerful, are you? You little adorable thing you!" Rose said in a voice that one might speak to a dog or baby with, standing up and laughing as she looked down at him with those green-blue eyes of hers. She then kicked the chair over so he was on his side, pointing the arrow directly at his forehead.

She smiled deviously, knowing the others would be coming back soon after this since they had been searching for Kendrick as well. Now she'd be the one laughing at their embarrassed faces when they found out a woman had bested them. "So...... Give me a reason I shouldn't kill you now. I honestly know exactly how I would do it, unless I want to do option two which is much more fun and involves poison slowly running through your system till your heart stops! Sound good to you? Or would you like option one that kills you instantly with a bow and arrow?" She asked Kendrick, laughing a bit at the expression on his face.

The prince groaned, face twisted in an expression of pain from his landing. He could feel the heat rising up to the surface of his skin, though he doubted he'd be around long enough to complain about a bruising. Opening an eye towards his kidnapper, he simply sighed. "You elves sure are a vindictive lot..." With a final tug at his restraints, he decided that he wasn't going to be able to burst them like in the old stories his nurses would tell him when he was a boy. "But kill? Be serious," he scoffed, letting his head lull towards the ground. "I'm the prince. You're going to ransom me for... I don't know. Money, or policy, or whatever it is that you have in mind this time."

Kendrick let out a short chuckle, "What would killing me do besides instigate martial law and a determined hunt from my father to find and kill you all in return?" He tried to raise his hand to wave away the thought, having the habit of talking with his hands, but continued on anyway with only minimal frustration at his inability to maneuver so, "Aside from being a very well-dressed page, I have little to do with... Whatever is upsetting you towards the crown. So here's how this works. You send my father a message saying you've got me, and then he'll send someone to come pay you for a trade. It's win-win, you see? I get to go back to..." He paused for a moment, his eyes falling to the floor, "The palace, and you get... Hm..." He looked around briefly, "A new house? Bows maybe? I know you elves do so love your bows... Money, land, maybe even a title if you can convince me to speak on your behalf. Anything you want. Nice and clean, and no one dies."

She kicked him in the chest, as hard as she could possibly muster. "Call us that again and a bruised rib will be the worst of your problems." She hissed through gritted teeth, the flames of darkness burning in her blue-green eyes. She thought about everything for a moment, closing her eyes and twisting a strand of her blonde hair. "You could be right about this..... But, how do I know your not lying? How do I know that your father will send out his best men to find us, kill us, and take you back to your wonderful life of luxury at the palace? No, we have no proof that any of this will happen..... but...... I might as well just take your there myself." She said, smiling down at him as she untied him from the chair but shackled his wrists together with hand cuffs that were held together by a large chain made of tiny little chains.

"These were made with the utmost promise that it could not be broken by strength nor magic since it's made with a dark matter that doesn't come from this realm." She said, pushing him forward towards the door with her strong super-human strength that even the elves didn't have. And she wasn't just an elf. She was also part angel. Her mother was an elf while her father was an angel, and before they split apart and her mother died Rose happened to be born into this world. She was the only one of her kind now. There were no other's that would understand her pain. And so she just kept the truth to herself, claiming to just be an elf although she was something so much more.

Kendrick would have let out a wheezing cough if she hadn't just literally kicked the wind out of him, instead he chose to grimace in pain silently for a few moments until his chest stopped throbbing. "I'm not..." he started, the words straining to come out, "exactly certain what to call you until you introduce yourself. Please forgive me." His eyes rose up to meet hers as he apologized, icy blue orbs that seemingly held a gaze intense enough to see through her.

Sighing in relief as she untied his bindings and freed his arms from the very awkward position of being strapped to the arms of a chair, he managed to sneak in a twisting stretch before she shackled him again. The prince pushed himself off the floor with only a sharp inhale to signal the pain from her kick was still lingering in his chest and did his best to dust off his hunting leathers, which really did very little to make himself presentable. "And, I know you must be thinking it'd be easy to double cross you and come after you once I'm safely inside the palisades, but honestly, ask yourself, do you really think you're the first person to come up with this little plan?" He shook his head slightly, a slight grin on his face as though he were recalling some embarrassing story from his youth, "It's all... Pretty routine by now."

Grunting from her shove, he made his way towards the door, offering very little resistance and shrugged, "It's more expensive than it's worth to try and hunt you down." He stood a few steps away from the door, as if waiting for her to do something, "Between the mages that will poke through my head to see if I recall anything about you, or this place, or how to get here," Kendrick paused for a moment, looking back over his shoulder at the woman, "you should really cover my eyes or something, by the way. But yes, between the mages and the inquisitives and the mercenaries, ugh," he scoffed. "Especially if I'm returned in a timely fashion and... Mostly intact. What would the point be?" Shaking his head, the corners of his lips curled down into a slight frown, "Better just to satisfy you. Cheaper, usually. And generally it ends up that if you're happy with your demands, then you won't be so hostile towards the crown anymore. So it's really advantageous from our perspective, don't you think? I go home happy, you go home happy, and if you're happy enough, you stop plotting to kidnap the prince, you see?"

He waited for another moment, still standing by the door, awaiting a blindfold or a bag or something, "So what is my father doing to upset you so now?

(( Deleted: double post. ))

"My name is Rose. And that's all your getting out of me." She said as she starred into his eyes, her blue-green ones not showing anything but fury way beyond his comprehension. She grabbed a blindfold, placing it gently over his eyes before she tied it as tight as she possibly could. She then pushed him out the door and into a clearing, with bird song and the sounds of a pan flute in the distance. Rose's eyes widened and she guided him quickly out of the clearing and into the dense forest. "We need to get out of here, I just heard our Leader's pan flute about ten miles east of here. We'll both be dead if he finds us! I'm not supposed to make plans on my own, and you'd be dead within seconds the way you talk to people." She said, ushering him around one of their traps before they started to fast walk towards the edge of their land.

"We'll be safe as long as we get through these trees, since us Elves can't go out of the forest for fear of getting killed by your daddy's men." She said, the last part holding so much venom and hate that anyone would flinch just by hearing it. She quickly hurried out of the woods and onto a dirt road that was sure to lead to the palace. Everything always did these days, and just thinking about it was enough to set her off. She continued on her way, hoping that she wouldn't be slain today by one of those stupid soldiers that were hunting for magical creatures so the world would be free of them and the humans could rule the world by themselves. Rose closed her eyes, taking off his blindfold now that they were away from her home that she might have lost due to this sorry excuse for a prince.

She wiped away a tear, thinking of all the friends and family she had lost due to his stupid father. She decided to tell him what was going on in the world outside of his stupid rich life. "Your father has been taking measures to kill off the magical race. I take a great chance just by coming out of the forest since we were exiled here if we didn't want to be killed. There is no guarantee that when I go to your stupid palace that I will come out alive since I am an elf. But I'm not just an elf; I'm also part angel. I'm the last one alive that is like me, and I'm not sure that when I die that my father who is an angel, will damn all of earth for good. I'm not sure of anything anymore. So if I die and it's your fathers fault...... Most likely this world would be damned." She told him, knowing she'd be the last person or thing to go up to heaven while everyone else went down to hell.

The prince grunted as Rose cinched the cloth over his eyes, knowing he'd have a headache in a few minutes from the pressure. His other senses sharpened slightly, without the distraction of his vision to steamroll his other faculties. Birds chirped in the distance and the occasional rustle of brush or branches crunched under their feet or around them. The smells of barks and bushes and sometimes berries wafted by, and despite months of tutoring he wasn't able to bring a single name to any of the scents. The air was still a bit cool since it was morning, he reasoned he must have been out all night else the spring sun would have warmed the world around them. A mental checklist of his duties ran through his head, though it wasn't unusual for him to skirt them and he wasn't likely to have been missed if it weren't for the disappearance of his tracker as well. He let out a small sigh, as one might having dropped some change on the ground.

"You know, not everyone wants to kill me. Some would even call me friend, if you can believe that," he snorted. There was a darkness to the tone in which he said it, something that hinted even he knew the cold ingenuousness of the statement. He stumbled a bit as their pace picked up, his stomach growling from hunger. He'd be glad to get a meal once back inside the palace, if that was the only thing he looked forward to. "And no one's going to attack us when I'm standing beside you. I'm the prince. Maybe I've taken a fancy for you, no grunt would risk his neck by upsetting the prince. They have no idea what's going on and they haven't the gall to ask. We could walk to the throne room in plain view and so long as we look somewhat amicable, no one would question anything." He rolled his eyes moments before she tugged his blindfold off, thankfully before she could see the motion.

His expression remained unimpressed at her revelation, "If there is an afterlife filled with angels like you, then what's the difference between paradise there, and hell here?" He shrugged, sighing slightly as he let his train of thought continue, "Would your father be proud of what you do? What you've done in the last day? Kidnapping? Murder?" Kendrick shook his head slightly, "You will die, Lady Rose. It's not likely to happen today if all goes well, but it's going to happen. And it's probably going to be someone else's fault. If your death heralds in an eternity of damnation... What does it matter if it begins today or in twenty years? Just live for today, in the moment. It's all we really have anyway." He closed his eyes and tightened his stomach, calmly awaiting her to lash out and strike him for his candor.

"No..... My father would not be proud...... He'd be ashamed, and I'm sure he is right now." Rose told him, hanging her head a bit in sorrow. "Murder is a sin..... Kidnapping is a sin..... Maybe I won't go to heaven, but to hell." She said, closing her eyes and letting a tear roll down her cheek. "My father would've said that if he was here; to live in the moment. So now I'm going to do something I should've done a while ago." She said, unlocking the cuffs around his wrists and setting him free. "You are free to go. I'm doing this for my father, not for you. I have no future anyways. So why do I dare try to do something that will either make me or break me. I'm better off alone." She said as she started to walk away.

"Goodbye Prince Kendrick. I hope you find your way back. And just say you got lost..... That's all that needs to be said." Rose told him before she headed off into the woods again. When she got back inside of the trees, she was surrounded by her old group and had a sword at her throat within seconds. She cried out as she felt blood dripping down her neck, knowing she had been cut good. "You dare defy me you little brat!? And you let him go!? You are dead!" Her leader cried, throwing her onto the ground and raising his sword to strike her down. She closed her eyes, waiting for it all to happen.

The prince was, shockingly, left speechless by the woman's admissions. His eyes, pure and blue, gazed into her own curiously as she turned to leave, his own memories of parental disappointment and disapproval apparent in his expression. He half raised one hand to try and call her back, but it was too late. Kendrick shook his head and wondered if he had pushed her too far. His stomach churned with guilt, but the shadows of the forest swallowed the woman up before he could compose himself enough to apologize.

Still standing in the middle of the road, he heard the fearful or angry outcries from just past the trees. Kendrick glanced over his shoulder, knowing that he should just continue towards the palace, probably at a run, but something deep inside him kept him from dashing off. Instead, the prince found himself inching closer towards the sounds of the scuffle, trying his best to keep as quiet as possible. He was trained to sneak up on deer, watching his footfalls and moving slowly, letting the sounds of the wind through the branches and leaves to mask what little noise his movements did make. Leaning a sliver out from behind a large evergreen, he froze at the scene unfolding before him.

He was unarmed. He had no magic. And he might possibly have some broken ribs from the girl. And yet there he was, wanting to help. He gulped nervously, but remained still and silent, hoping for answer...