They had left just after first light, heading back to Castle Elmorien. Will dogedly followed his companion, eyes and ears tuned to every sound and movement of forest. Mist must shrouded the wood with shadow. Susan skipped ahead, face down in her book, hardly paying mind to the path. He thought she was reckless, and she thought he worried too much. In her little world of castle life, nothing could go wrong, that is, except that Will wouldn’t leave her alone. She knew that the king had only appointed her a knight because he cared for her and the rising dangers proved she would need protection. But that didn’t make her lot any easier. She was used to going places on her own, now it felt as if her freedom had been stolen from her. A noise, Will rather felt than saw, came from their right. His sword hardly making a sound as he drew it from the well oiled sheath. Will balanced lightly on the balls of his feet, prepared to defend the princess from any hidden attacker. The brush swayed. In a quiet low tone he said, “your highness.” She stopped and threw her head in the air, obviously exasperated. “What is it this time?” She spoke loudly, ignoring his warning tone. The bushes rustled at the unexpected sound, then stopped as she spoke again. “Did the wind blow to loudly for your precious hearing?” She put her hands on her hips and smacked her book closed. Will was still looking into the dark cover of trees, waiting for any sign of movement. He was sure something had been there, but whatever it was seemed to have been startled by the princess. He resheathed his sword and stepped beside the impatient girl. She glared ruthlessly at him but he paid no mind. “I heard something,” he told her. “Course you did,” she muttered under her breath. He raised his eyebrows, “I want you to walk closer to me from now on.” Dispite her frustrations, she did have to listen to him and obediently fell in step. After some time and a little contemplation, she recovered from her bout of anger. She realized that her reaction was immature, after all, he was just doing his job. Now, she glanced curiously at Will. Susan had never really cared to see what he looked like before since she always spent her time trying to avoid him. He had dark wavy hair and deep green eyes. He was taller than her, but actually below average. His mouth was set in a straight line, but she thought he might look quite handsome when he smiled. ”I wonder if he ever smiles,” she wondered, then decided that was silly, everyone has to smile sometime. She was still staring at him when…

Part two?