Crystal hadn't stopped running for hours. It was noon, by the looks of it and she was exhausted. She was hungry and didn't want to eat the food Margaret had packed for her yet, because she thought she should keep it for an emergency, but her stomach kept growling and she didn't know where the nearest village was.

She had decided that traveling through the woods was her best option and that it would help her hide more easily. She didn't want to get caught and returned to the palace. Alastor scared her when he was calm, so she didn't want to think what would happen if he ever got mad.

Crystal was worried about Caroline, Tristan, Margaret, Andy and Faith. What if they had gotten busted? It would be her fault...

She shook her head and tried to snap out of it. Even if they had gotten in trouble, there was nothing she could do but go back and if she did go back, they would have gotten in trouble for nothing. It was a selfish decision, but Crystal chose to set these thoughts aside and keep travelling.

She didn't really know how to return home, but she was determined and that's what mattered, right?

Eventually, she found a small village and booked a room in a small inn for the night. It was still pretty early, but she didn't want to stay out until nighttime. It would be harder to navigate.

As she entered the tavern, though, she noticed something that shouldn't be there. Well, he was person and was allowed to be wherever he wanted to, but it was weird to stumble upon the same person so randomly.

At the bar, she caught a glimpse of the boy with the grey eyes. She furrowed her eyebrows, but shrugged it off as a coincidence and sat down to have some dinner.

She also thought that she wouldn't be talking to him either, until their eyes met, yet again, and they started staring at each other intensely. There was something odd about the way he held her gaze.

Before she knew it, the boy was pulling a chair opposite her on her table.

“You were staring.”, he narrowed his eyes.

“So were you.”, she tilted her head.

“You were at that inn at Berville a few days ago.”, he stared into her eyes. It was as if he could see into her soul, and that scared her.

“I'm surprised you remembered.”, she took a bite off her food.

“A teenager surrounded by guards in a small inn, inside an unimportant village in the middle of the woods is hard to forget about. What are you? Royalty or something?”

“What are you? An interrogator or something?”, she raised an eyebrow.

“Touché. But you must have been important to be so well guarded.”, he furrowed his eyebrows. “I'm assuming you're on the run?”

“How did you--”

“You're new at this, aren't you?”, he chuckled. “Don't look, but there's a guy in the back of the restaurant. Big. Muscular. He's been staring at your table for a while now.”, he interrupted her.

“Have you been following me?”, she glared at him.

“I've got better things to do than follow some random girl around.”, he rolled his eyes. “Now, do you want my help to get out of here alive, or do you want to stay here and get busted back to whatever mansion you ran off from, princess?”

“How--”, she stopped herself, realising it was just a nickname. “Don't call me that!”

“Well, I don't know your real name, do I?”

“I don't know yours either, but I'm not throwing nicknames around!”, she protested.

“Get up.”, he stared behind her.

“Wha--”

“Just get up and follow me.”, he hissed. She did as he said.

She didn't know why, but for some reason she trusted him. She figured that someone with so sad eyes had probably been through too much to betray anyone, especially a random stranger.

“Whats going on?”, she whispered.

“I'll explain in a while. Whatever you do, don't look back.”, he replied. She forced herself to look forward.

“Fine.”, she grumbled. Once they were outside the inn, he grabbed her wrist and ran behind it, to the backyard. It was empty. “Did you bring me back here to murder me or something?”, she looked at him nervously.

“What? No! The buff guy started heading towards your table. He looked like he didn't care if there were witnesses present.”, he scanned her from head to toe. “Who are you running from, princess?”, he asked her.

“That's none of your business.”, she pouted.

“I just saved your butt back there so you kinda owe me an explanation.”, he argued.

“I really don't. You, on the other hand, owe me an explanation on why you've been following me!”

“I haven't- I haven't been following you! I'm on the run from some pretty bad stuff too.”, he glared at her.

She eyed him suspiciously. “I'm Crystal. Crystal Meadows.”, she extended her arm.

“Scott Harrow.”, he shook it.

“Thanks for saving me back there. And sorry.”, she looked away. She was embarrassed. He had saved her life and she had been nothing but rude.

“Yeah, you should be.”, he rolled his eyes. Her embarrassment and guilt about the way she treated him disappeared immediately.

“What's your deal? Are you always this arrogant?”

“Only to annoying strangers.”

“Seriously?”, she scoffed. This guy was insufferable.

“Yeah. Now, that's pretty much everyone. So far, only two people are worth my time and you aren't one of them.”

“Gee, thanks for your kind words.”, she rolled her eyes.

“Whatever the case, I've got better things to do so I will be leaving you on your way now.”, he shrugged.

“Wait!”, she called. He turned around, raising an eyebrow at her. “No matter how annoying you are, I need your help.”, she bit her lip.

“Sorry, princess. I've already done you a favor.”

“Oh, come on! You said it yourself; I won't last a day out there. Soon I'll be back at the- it doesn't matter. I just want my old life back. Think you can help me out a bit?”

“What do you want?”, he sighed.

“I need your help in order to stay hidden. I don't want guys like him to track me down.”, she looked at the ground. “I don't think I can outrun or fight them.”, she pouted.

“Fine, but you'll owe me, princess.”, he glared at her.

“Fine.”, she crossed her arms.

“Go get some sleep. We're leaving at dusk.”, he told her. She gave him a confused glance. “This guy managed to track you. Soon, he'll be getting his buddies here and even sooner, you'll be locked up in your house again.”, he explained.

“Right. Okay. I guess I'll see you in a while.”, she shrugged. “And one more thing; don't you dare double cross me.”, she glared at him and headed back to the inn to take a nap. He rolled his eyes, unfazed by that statement, and went to his room.

Scott really wanted to contact his mother and sister, but it just wasn't the time yet. He needed to make sure he was on the right track with his new job, and having them meddling around wasn't going to help. He loved them, but he had to keep them away for a while.

If he dared send them a letter saying that he needed to stay off the grid for a while, they would assume he had committed some crime or something, and he didn't want that on his conscience.

He was sure that Phoebe was tracking him and that she would probably kill him when she found him, but that's what little sisters are for, isn't it?

Crystal woke up with a start, when someone came banging at her door. The sun hadn't set yet.

“Who is it?”, she asked without opening the door, which was a good thing, because she would have been busted.

“We're looking for a runaway and would like to ask you a couple questions.”, a man said. He heard a grunt and then another one started yelling at him.

“You're such an idiot! What if she's the runaway and you just blew our cover?”, man number two shouted.

Crystal backed away from her door and ran to the window. It was pretty high for her to jump and she would have to throw her luggage down first. She couldn't risk anything getting broken or having her emergency food smashed, so this wasn't an option.

Besides, if she jumped from this high, she would probably get her legs smashed, so the food wouldn't be alone on this.

She started panicking. She couldn't go back to the palace. There was no way she was returning there.

Fortunately for her, the two guards were busy arguing, so they had forgotten about her for a while.

Her mind was racing. She bit her lip and started pacing frantically around the room.

Then she heard another grunt from outside, followed by a loud bang.

“Hey!”, one of the men yelled. Soon, after a series of grunts, there was another bang, similar to the one heard before.

“Princess? Are you in there?”, Scott called. She nodded, but then realised he was outside, so he couldn't see her.

“Yeah.”, she opened the door and walked out.

“We're leaving a little earlier than planned.”, he stated the obvious. Crystal nodded and got her bags. “Do you have a horse?”

“Yes, why?”, she frowned.

“Because we won't have to steal one, come on!”, they rushed outside. Two more guards were standing at the stairs.

Scott and Crystal stopped abruptly.

“Dammit.”, Scott muttered. “Act normal, as if they're not there.”, he told her and walked ahead.

She gulped and did as he said. Surprisingly, it worked.

For a while.

“Wait a minute... Hey! You two!”, the guard yelled. Crystal went pale.

“Don't run. They might want to talk about something completely irrelevant.”, Scott muttered.

The guards approached them. Crystal tried to stop shaking.

I'm not going back there.

“You look a lot like the runaway we're looking for.”, the guard furrowed his eyebrows.

“Uh... I--”, she started.

“It's her face. She looks like everyone.”, Scott interrupted her.

“Still... We're gonna have to take her to the boss.”, the guard told them.

“We really have to get going... We're travellers and we've got a long way to go to reach our destination.”, Scott frowned. Crystal was surprised at how easy lying came to him.

“I'm sorry, kids. That's not up to me.”

“Run!”, Scott told Crystal, grabbing her wrist again and making a run for the stables.

The guard was shocked for a couple seconds, but soon followed after them with his buddy, who was still at the stairs when they took off.

The two teenagers ran to the stables to get Ash, but he wouldn't budge.

“Your horse is stupid.”, Scott remarked.

“You're stupid! Apologise to him.”, Crystal glared at him.

“We're being chased by guys who are ready to break our bones and you're telling me to apologise to your horse?!”, he asked her.

“If you want to get out of here fast, apologise to Ash.”, she crossed her arms.

“You have to be kidding me.”, he raised an eyebrow. She stared at him. “Fine! Ash, I'm sorry I hurt your horse feelings. Are you going to get us out of here, now?”, he said sarcastically.

“Thank you!”, Crystal sighed and tried to get Ash out of the stable. He rolled his eyes when she couldn't see him.

“What did I get myself into?”, he muttered to himself, his eye twitching. Crystal either didn't hear him, or she just chose to ignore that comment.

When they finally managed to pull Ash outside the stables and to the street, they made a run for the forest, but Crystal froze when she saw who was there, blocking the way along with a dozen more soldiers on horses. They immediately drew their bows and aimed arrows at them.

The colour drained from her face. “No... Not you, anyone but you...”, she muttered in terror.

“Did you really think you could hide? There's no place for you to run, kiddo.”, Alastor growled. Scott kept glancing at Crystal, who was on the verge of tears, and the King, who was smirking smuggly. “You don't have it in you. Just come back, and make things easier for everyone here. I might not execute your friend over here.”

Scott found himself gritting his teeth. He didn't really like the redhead, but he had promised to help her out and no one deserved to be treated like that. Despite all that, he had learned the hard way that standing up to people more powerful than you, especially when you had no back-up, didn't end well.

“Leave me alone! I don't want the stupid life you're offering!”, she yelled.

Welp, it seems like princess doesn't have much experience with authority, Scott thought.

“Listen to yourself! Do you even know what you're trying to give up? Life isn't about what you want, it's about what life wants and what it throws at you!”, the King yelled at her.

“No matter what you say, I'm not coming back so you can turn me into a terrified puppet, like Tristan and Caroline! Your life may be like that, but you don't get to choose what my life will be like!”, Crystal crossed her arms.

“You are given a choice here Crystal. Either come easy and spare your buddy's life, or come the hard way and watch him die. Not only that, but I'll make sure that life back home is hell for you, and when I find out who helped you escape, I'll make sure they have the same fate.”

“How about she doesn't go with you at all?”, Scott joined in the conversation. Crystal shot him a confused but grateful glance.

“Watch your tongue, boy. You don't want to get on my bad side.”, the king growled.

Scott rolled his eyes. “Is that the best you've got? My father has you beat. You're all bark no bite. At least he delivered his threats.”, it felt weird for him, talking about his dad, but it was all he could think of as he saw the conversation between Crystal and the King unfold.

“And who is your father, if I may?”, the King growled.

“Carter Harrow. He used to work for you about seven years ago.”, a chill went down Scott's spine as he said his father's name, as if he's dad could hear him and would appear out of nowhere behind him. He tried to keep himself from turning around to check.

“Right... What would he think if his own son rebelled against the King?”, Alastor perked up as he called himself by his title.

“Nothing. He's dead.”, Scott lied. Well, his father was dead to him, but that didn't really count.

The King narrowed his eyes in disbelief. “Then I guess he won't be mourning you. Time to reunite you with him.”, he sneered. “Fire! At the boy only...”, he smirked.

“No!”, Crystal shrieked. She wasn't ready to see anyone drop dead, especially someone she had practically dragged into this trouble.

“Uh...”, Scott stammered. Crystal opened one eye reluctantly. All arrows had stopped mid-air, inches from Scott, who gave her worried glances.

“I should have known...”, Alastor growled. The soldiers looked at each other in confusion and lowered their bows. Alastor muttered something incoherently and stated barking orders again. “Get them!”

The archers seemed reluctant at first but then their horses started galloping towards the two teenagers, who were both utterly confused and terrified. They started running.

“Do it again!”, Scott urged Crystal.

“Do what again?”, she was shaking and sweating bullets.

“The magic thing!”, he said frantically as the horses closed in.

“I don't- I don't know how I did that! It hasn't happened before!”

“If we make it out of this alive, you owe me big time, starting with some explanations! Especially about the King being your father!”, he snapped. She gulped and nodded. “Now, can you try and get us out of here with that magic thing you did?”

“I don't know how!”, she protested.

“How did you do it before?”

“It just happened, I didn't do it on purpose!”

“Well, do that again!”, he said frantically.

Crystal was crying. The tears that were threatening to spill before had long escaped and she was trying to control her sobs as she ran as fast as she could. Scott felt bad for pushing her so hard, but their lives were on the line so he couldn't do anything else to motivate her.

Suddenly, she stopped and turned around. The archers were pretty close. The fact that they had outran a dozen of horses was weird, and the answer to how they had done it remains a mystery.

“Princess? What are you doing?”, Scott stopped a couple feet ahead of her.

“Trying to do the thing again.”, Crystal gulped. Before he could protest, she focused on the horses and they stood up in terror. “Sorry...”, she whispered.

The archers lost their balance and fell to the ground. The horses ran away, leaving their riders groaning in pina from the ground.

Somehow, Ash started galloping towards them. Scott climbed on him as he passed by, and dragged Crystal. They easily gained their balance and ran past Alastor, who was too surprised to react.

Scott flinched as Crystal hugged him from behind and started sobbing in his back.