Kidnapping The Princess

[Alistair]

After talks of babies he wonder if he should teach her how to fight. What if he hurt her? Or more ironically-what if he did need to kidnap her again. Even she had pointed out that was not exactly working for him. Still IF she was carrying his child he didn't want her helpless. Standing he walked over to where he had some space,.. ans was back off the river some.

He took a moment to think things through before pulling his dagger from his boot. Looking back at her, he used it to gestured for her to come to him. He would start off with something that had happened the day before. Once she got to him he would reach over and (with out hurting her) grab her by the neck and pull her to him. Turning her so that her back was to him and his dagger was near (but on on) her neck. That bastard who had cut her, was luckily he was dead.

"Time to learn." He told her, once she was close enough for his plan to work. He did as he planned to do, making sure he was not pinning her too tightly to him. "This looks familiar." He started, "from the day before." Hid fingers touches the cut on her neck. "To get out of his hold, put both hands over my arm that holds the knife, then use your heel to stomp down on the toe of my boot. Once you stomp down put the knife arm hard and away from you and run." He let go of her, not wanting her to stomp on his toes.

[isadora]

She stood up, brushing off her skirt, watching him. He was still going to teach her to fight? She was hesitant about actually learning such a thing, even if it weren't entirely improper for a princess to fight, she wasn't sure she'd be any good at it. She supposed she only had to be good enough to get away from one man, because anymore than that and she doubted there was anything he could teach her that would be of use. Still, it couldn't hurt to learn, right?

Eying the dagger warily, she approached him. She wasn't afraid that he'd use the dagger...well, not very afraid, at least. For all that they'd been through and all he'd done, she still couldn't completely trust him. Then he grabbed her, and she yelped in alarm, but his grip wasn't hard and he didn't hurt her, just held her in an imitation of how the man who'd grabbed her yesterday had. There were still flecks of his blood on the shoulder of her dress. Alistair didn't press the dagger to her flesh, but his fingers touched the cut from yesterday, which was already healing. She'd forgotten about it, too distracted by his injuries to worry about her own minor cut.

She nodded at his description, wondering if he wanted her to do that to him; the thought of beating Alistair up almost brought a sadistic smile to her lips, before she banished the thought. He was already hurt too badly for her to be using him as a punching bag. He let her go, making it apparent that his demonstration only went so far as she was getting grabbed. She didn't know if she'd be any good at this in practice, but she figured she'd find out the next time someone tried to grab her. She turned her head to look at him over her shoulder, wondering what he'd show her next.

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[Alistair]

He noticed she remained silent, and he wondered why. He wanted her to be safe. He thought about giving her his knife but knew it was to big and bulky. What would the odds be of her having that when she needed it if she could not carry it with her. She would need something smaller then his larger ones.

"Don't run far, when you run. They will come up behind you; but if they are holding a knife on you then most times it's because there is someone with in range to help you."

He walked around her so he was in front of her. "How did your first kidnapper come at you?" He asked, trying to see what would both help her feel safer and do her the best good. He had to find things that would work with fighting someone stronger then her.

[isadora]

He asked about the first time she'd been kidnapped...honestly, she didn't remember much. She was riding with her knights, on the way to Camelot, when she attacked. Her memories of the actual attack were panicked and unclear, she remembered falling off her horse at some point, blood and battle, men dying or being knocked unconscious. Then things went dark. She assumed she'd either hit her head or had magic cast on her, but she didn't wake up again until she was bound in the catacombs beneath the castle. She doubted he could teach her to defend against magic.

She folded her arms over her chest uncomfortably, she didn't like thinking back to what had happened then. It still scared her. She didn't want to try and recall anything more about the first time she'd been kidnapped, even if he thought it would help her. He was teaching her to protect herself from men like him, not witches who could knock her out with a few words and a wave of their hand. "She used magic...I don't remember exactly what happened." Her inability to remember could be a result of magic...or it could be because of the length of time since then, or because she'd hit her head. She didn't know for sure.

"So what do I do if someone grabs me the way you did, the first time I ran away?" Alistair didn't terrify her nearly as much as the witch had, but he'd managed to catch her just the same. He'd pinned her arms to her sides, and while she'd tried kicking and fighting him off, it hadn't done her any good. How did he think she'd ever stand a chance if someone as strong as he was tried to hold her?

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[Alistair]

She crossed her arms over her and he wished that whoever had hurt her was here right now. They would end up just like the man who held a knife on her. Dead. The fact that a druid did this was (not surprising) but it angered him. He would find out soon enough who had done it.

He wanted to go over and hold her, but before he could she asked him about learning to fight. It was not hard to see she was frightened of this. Why had she said she had only saw her maid be put under a spell? Why had she not told him this before?

"Which time? The first time you ran or the first time you got away?" He asked. She had tried to run before they got into the river, and he had over powered her then; once they were out of the river, she had tired again and managed to get away for a while. He had tracked her, and then forced a kiss on her. Then he tired her and made her walk until she fell.

[isadora]

She had meant the first time she'd run, as soon as she'd realized what was going on and she'd panicked and run off, when he had caught her easily. But she supposed it would be good to learn what to do if anyone grabbed her as he had the second time, too...when he'd twisted her arm behind her back, it had hurt, but she'd been too blinded by anger and pride by the fact that he'd kissed her without permission to even notice. She was still indignant about that, even after she'd done much more than simply kissing him. It was because he had forced her that she couldn't stand it.

"Both," she shrugged, seeing no reason not to learn how to fend him off. She wondered if he would find it insulting that she wanted to know, but he was the one who had wanted to teach her. He didn't want other people to be able to take advantage of her so easily, but this would also help her fight him off, if she ever needed to. Not that she was anticipating a need to fight Alistair anytime soon...once he returned her home, she wasn't going to see him again, right? That was what he had said. She knew that shouldn't depress her, and yet....

"Why did you kiss me then?" She asked suddenly, she wanted to know why he had forced her to kiss him when he'd grabbed her, it was their first kiss, and while she had her own ideas about why he'd done it, she wanted to hear his reasons.

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[Alistair]

Why had he kissed her then? He thought back to that day which felt like it had happened months ago rather then the oh so short days it had been. She had saw his trying to get the armor off and had walked up to him and slowly helped him. Even then he had known it was a trap but had not seen where it would lead him too. When she pulled the chainmail over his head she had turned and ran leaving him trapped. She had used every tool in her power then to trick him, and judging how it had worked for her again Alistair could only come to one of two conclusions . . .

He was a slow learner, or he had trouble learning from his mistakes.

He walked over to her and put his fingers under her chin to tilt her face up to his. "At the time I had thought it would teach you lesson. . . . I am still working on that." He teased her as he lowered his head to kiss her gently. He was speaking of the lesson not to tease a man with an offering she was not going to give him.

As for the other question, "Its a bit harder to get away from someone at that point. You best moves would be done when they are about to let you or or tie you up." He took her wrist in to his hands. "Here is a trick I learned the hard way, when someone bids your hands keep them turned and taunt. Bend your wrist out slightly, and try to hold firm as they get the rope tight." He turned her wrist and used his hands and fingers to mimic a rope around her. "When they are not looking let your wrist relax. The rope will be lose enough that you can wiggle out of it."

[isadora]

Isadora let her arms relax by her sides when he kissed her, her worries and her fears ebbing with the brief contact. She needed to figure out just how exactly he was able to do that, because while it was instant stress relief, it infuriated her how easily he could affect her mood. The contradiction was likely to drive her crazy if he kept it up, but she didn't want to let him know how much he could influence her. "Remind me, what lesson was that?" She couldn't remember what he'd said to him then, she was too busy trying to punch him out, and instead getting herself tied up.

She listened while he explained how best to get away from someone, nodding as he took hold of her wrists, trying to emulate what he instructed with his hands as the bounds. Then she frowned...what had he just said. "You were tied up? When?" She asked, he said he learned it the hard way...which meant someone had tied him up, for whatever reason. She couldn't help but be curious about when and why he had been captured by someone else; she doubted it was anything similar to why she'd been tied up.

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[Alistair]

She asked about which lesson he had meant but at the moment he had wanted to show her the rope trick, so he had shown her that first. However her next question made him fall back to her first. He did not mind talking about life as a small Druid boy, about the day his parents where murdered by the king's men, or even about his plans currently. However the years in between were something he was hesitant to speak of. While he had never fully crossed into the dark side of human nature he had walked well into the shadows.

His hands were still around her wrist, and he lifted them up to his lips so he could kiss the place where the first rope he had bound her with had left burns and bruising. Rilan had healed them, and then were gone but Vaughn had also bound her tightly. It would at lest make it look like she was tired up, for when she returned home.

"I had meant to teach you why you should not tease a man, with offerings you did not intend to give him." He told her, answering her first question and ignoring the other. "As you can tell, I am still working on that lesson." He teased while letting go of her wrist.

[isadora]

She smiled when he kissed her wrist, remembering how he had gone to the trouble of having it healed the day before. It would still be bruised, probably even more painful than it had been by now, if he hadn't done that. She knew she had many bruises from his rough handling of her, most of them unintentional, but none were so bad as her wrist had been. At least when she returned to the castle, battered and bruised, no one would question that she'd been held against her will.

She raised her eyebrows at him when he answered her first question, wondering if he was trying to avoid the second. She wondered why, but didn't press the issue; it was possible he didn't want to be reminded of that, just like she didn't want to be reminded of what had happened to her when she'd been kidnapped before.

"Are you calling me a tease?" She asked with an audaciously teasing tone, smiling wickedly as she turned around. "Maybe you ought to try again." She beckoned over her shoulder, then started walking away, purposely swaying her hips from side to side. He thought she'd teased him before? He had no idea.

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[Alistair]

He knew they had to leave soon, but he was in no hurry to hasten their departure. Watching her walk away, he wondered what she expected him to do. Kidnapper her again? Try to kiss her? Both? Whatever it was that she was trying to get out of him, he was willing to give it.

After his uncle had taken him, he had been forced into that world. His uncle had done any job he could find, which had ranged from sword for hire, to assassin. Tracking and hunting had become Alistair's specialty.

When kidnapping a princess, one needed strategy.

He moved as silently as he could over the ground and to her right, in hopes she would be less aware he was there. Once he was close enough to touch, he reached quickly over he grabbed her arm and twisted it behind her, more gently then the last time. Pulling her body ageist his. "Now, now Princess, does this not look familiar?" He used his other hand to grip her face firmly but not bruiseingly so, and then brought his lips down on her's in a strong kiss.

[The original post for memory lane]

[isadora]

Even Isadora wasn't quite sure how she wanted him to respond, let alone how he would respond. She doubted he'd just walked away; he hadn't shown himself to have that kind of strength of will against her charms yet. She felt more than saw or heard him approach, hyper-aware of him in a way she hadn't been the last time he'd tried this. She supposed she probably could've tried to get away this time, maybe she would have even succeeded, but considering that he was just answering her challenge, that hardly seemed fair.

His lips were firm, but not unforgiving; the kiss was much more pleasant than the last time they'd been in this same position. He still had one of her arms pinned behind her, but she reached her free arm up and wrapped her hand around the forearm that held her face, closing her eyes as they kissed.

After a long moment, she turned her head to break the kiss, putting her weight on him as she leaned up to whisper in his ear, "Don't. Call. Me. That." Honestly, it seemed a bit overly formal at this point...and besides, she liked the way it sounded when he said her name, even as rarely as he felt the need to actually indulge her.

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[Alistair]

Alistair liked calling her princess; it had started off as an insult and slowly turned from that to an endearment, to a reminder of the difference between them. He liked knowing that when someone used her title, after she returned she might be reminded of him. He liked to pretend that it was something no one else would ever call her. Even when she became queen, he would call her princess to get that small rise out of her. He'd only used her name twice, since learning what it was.

Once was just after he had kissed her, and was trying to beg her to to let Rilan. The other was by the river, before she had drugged him in order to escape. He might have keep on calling her by her name, after that point but her actions had reminded him that he needed that constant reminder of who she was.

In that walk to the river, they had spoken as equals. Not two people pretending to be equals, but there had been a brief time there were they just fit. She had reminded him, with her actions that nothing had changed. She might treat him as if he was her equal, or even something more but in the end; he was a druid who had just made sure he was an outlaw in five kingdoms, and she was a princess of the realm.

Giving her a half grin, he let go of her hands at her back and framed her face with his both. "Whatever you say, Princess." Then kissed her again, lightly. Afterward, he gave a soft chuckle and turned to talk back to their camp so he could began packing his things.

[isadora]

Isadora had no idea why he always called her princess; she was never My Lady, or Your Highness, or even Isadora, she was his princess, which certainly wasn't a typical form of address for her. She would have expected that since she told him her name, he would've called her by it, considering that when he called her princess it was impossible to forget what they were to each other. Maybe he did it on purpose; that way, he never would forget. She didn't like it, but he wouldn't obey her commands to call her something else --this was the third time she'd asked, and the first time she'd ordered-- so she didn't know if she could force him to change.

But maybe she could irritate him as much as he irritated her. She rolled her eyes when he brushed off her order and kissed her instead, letting her hands drop down, glowering after him as he chuckled and walked away. She supposed that signaled the end of her lesson, and she watched him return to camp. She wasn't used to being defied, when she told someone to do something, they usually did. So she wasn't sure how to deal with his defiance; it wasn't like she could throw him in the stocks for an afternoon, as much as the idea might bring a smile to her lips. "Fine, be like that...druid." She called after him, turning away to look at anything but him. She hadn't called him by anything but his name since learning what it was, so she hoped he'd notice the difference.

Was she pouting? Maybe a little, although she wouldn't admit it under duress. But as she looked away from him, her eyes caught on the waterfall, sparkling in the afternoon sun, and trailed down to the pool, where she'd decided to bathe last night against his orders, and followed the path of the water down to the place where she'd caught her first fish, smiling as she remembered how she'd beaten the poor thing to death. Maybe not her most dignified moment, but it had been fun nonetheless. She took a moment to solidify in her memory the details, the waterfall and the trees in the breeze, the sun glinting off the water, and then remembering how different it had looked highlighted by the moon instead, and the way the stars had looked when staring at them from below. She didn't want to forget.

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[Alistair]

Alistair chuckled at her words. Yeah, he'd never been called that one before. Even his uncle had called his Druid a few times, rather then his name. Most times it came out as a insult, from non-druids however, so he could take her calling him that as he knew she held no malice. He wasn't sure what was in her tone however, but as he had been trying to get a rise out of her, he took it as goal met. E

He packed up his bag, and kicked some dirt on the fire to make it go out. Tucking his dagger back into his boot he turned to look at her. This was it. The no turning back point. If he really wanted to keep her, he could do it. Force her. Take her so deep into the mountains that no one would find them. Ever. She'd hate him, at first, but with time she could learn to forgive. Learn to love the life he could give her.

Walking closer to her, he knew he could not do it. Not to her. "It's a long walk, if we get started now we will be able to stop and rest whenever you need to. Don't push your self to hard in order to get home faster. You'll need your energy to walk the distance." He told her in a solemn voice, before a slow grin came on his face and he spoke the words that would annoy her (because that was better then the solemn words and the good bye that was coming) "Let's get a move on, Princess."

[isadora]

He didn't take any offense to her words, which was just as well, she supposed. She didn't really want to pick a fight with him just now, hadn't they spent enough of their time fighting over foolish things? She turned back to look at him as he finished breaking camp, wondering if she would miss him after this, and realizing with a pang that she would. Oh, he'd just love that, wouldn't he? Probably just be giddy at the idea of a lowly druid occupying the thoughts of a princess, or maybe just the thoughts of this particular princess. She decided it was probably best not to reveal that to him.

It occurred to her that she didn't really know where he was taking her...she vaguely remembered him giving her directions while he was ill, had he said moss grew on the north side of the tree? Or was it the south? She couldn't remember, so even if he was leading her further away from home, she'd have no idea. She could be suspicious of him, but what would that accomplish? And what did he have to gain by keeping her now? Only the pleasure of her company, since she doubted he'd be able to extract any more money from the crown once he failed to return her this time, and she wasn't sure he'd want that.

Would Alistair really try to keep her? She didn't think so, if only because keeping a princess would be far too much of a hassle. He'd have to keep her tied up all the time, or else take her somewhere from which she had no hope of escape, and abandon all thoughts of helping his people. Besides, she wasn't sure he even liked her enough to bother; he liked kissing her, among other things, and she'd proven she could interest and amuse him, but she had also proven how she could drive him insane and infuriate him at the same time. She wasn't sure she was worth it. Even if he thought she was, though, she had no way of knowing whether or not he was taking her the right way until it was too late, so for now, she'd have to trust him. She frowned when he called her princess again, and rolled her eyes, but didn't respond to his challenge. Now he was just trying to annoy her.

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[Alistair]

Alistair lifted the bag and put it on his good shoulder, before starting to walk back to the woods. He often camped here but he knew he would never again be able to do it with out thoughts of her and last night playing in his mind. This place would be his and his alone, as he would never bring another woman here. (And never Vaughn!!)

"Come now," he said as he lead the way. He was not going to tell her where they were going. She would know where they would end up but not how to get there. Right now they were walking the border line between two kingdoms which was why he was sure they would not find them (they being the knights of Camelot).

He did not know much about the politics between kingdoms but he did know that Gwent and Camelot were not friends with this kingdom. Everyone knew it. It was why he had planned to use the border to get closer to the castle. Camelot's knights would not risk war to cross into this land. They would use the border to travel past any men looking for her and come up behind the castle from the east. Since the random drop off was north west of the castle and the way he had taken her out of the city was west they would assume he was somewhere in between. Giving him freedom to drop her off at the back of the castle with out walking into a trap.

[isadora]

Isadora followed him silently, not sure how he planned to return her to the castle without running into knights, but not questioning him about it, either. She'd been missing for three days now, Uther would have all of his knights searching for a dark-haired woman dressed in blue, and she had no doubt her father would have whatever knights they'd brought with them searching tirelessly, too. Yet, out here, she hadn't seen any of them, so she figured that while they were only a day's ride away, they must be somewhere fairly obscure in order to have avoided any patrols. They would have to be, they were in a place where druids lived in relative safety, after all.

Still, she wasn't worried about running into any patrols. As long as Alistair didn't try to fight them, they wouldn't have any trouble dealing with them; she simply had to tell them that Alistair had helped her escape from her kidnapper and was helping her find the way back to the castle. She wasn't bound any longer so there was no reason not to believe her, she was a princess, after all, why would she help protect the man who had kidnapped her?

It was something that she still wondered at. She barely knew him, and in the time she had, he'd kidnapped her, manhandled her, scared her and tied her up numerous times. He'd also made her laugh, and cry, protected her and held her, comforted her, kissed her, and been with her in a way no man ever had before. She still didn't understand the intense pull she felt to him, ever since the first kiss they'd shared over laundry, and she wasn't sure she ever would. There was just something about him that she couldn't resist.

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[Alistair]

Alistair did not comment on her silence, nor did he break it. Unlike before where he had wished she would talk, this silence was a comfortable one. It was odd to find someone that he was willing to talk to but comfortable just being around them as well. It did however, make the upcoming goodbye more noticeable.

As they traveled he made sure to keep a slow enough pace that a princess would be able to keep up, with out going so slow that it would add extra time to. When they came to anything fallin and blocking their paths and there was no way around it, he would help her cross. A few times there would be creeks, they'd have to cross, and he lifted her silently in his arms to cross it so her dress would not become wet.

It was as if they both knew what was to become of them in a few short hours. They would turn to being a noble Princess, and a outlawed Druid. When they came to fallen tree, he held his hand to help her cross. Once she had cross, instead of letting her go as he had done before, he linked his fingers with her's and keep walking.

[isadora]

They walked in silence, and although she didn't say anything, she appreciated his efforts to walk at a reasonable pace. She knew he probably wasn't used to traveling so slowly, if he was, he'd never get anywhere, but she knew she wouldn't be able to keep up with him if he walked at his regular pace. She didn't feel the need to say anything as they walked, finding the silence too comfortable to risk ruining things between them with words. Emotions ran too high between them when they spoke, they always seemed to wind up kissing, or she started crying, or they finished by just glaring at one another for a while.

Comfortable though it was, it was also foreboding. She knew what was coming as well as he did, the inevitable goodbye. She wanted to postpone it, but knew that doing so would wind up hurting more when they finally did. Another part of her wanted to ask him to take her away forever, to make her his wife and keep her forever, fully aware that if she did, he would. That part was tied with the rational part of her, the one that realized she had duties and responsibilities, and after her indiscretions last night, she didn't think she could bear to give in to her emotions yet again. The deciding vote came from her desire to see her father again, to make sure he was all right and to take care of him; if she went away with Alistair, she would never see him again. She couldn't bear that thought.

She smiled softly when he helped her cross creeks and other obstacles, always making sure she could make it over them with little difficulty, sometimes even lifting her entirely to keep her from discomfort. It was thoughtful, and unexpected, and a pleasant surprise. She didn't object when he helped her over a fallen tree and decided to keep her hand, unable to keep herself from smiling at the sweet gesture. She didn't say anything, afraid that words would ruin the moment.

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