The Crown's Entrapment

At Castle Cordon

It was early in the morning when Freya decided that she wanted to go out of the castle again. The sun had yet to rise, but trying to force herself back to sleep had utterly failed her while she was still in bed. Her roiling feelings were just too volatile for her to properly get a good night’s sleep, and her mind was riddled with more questions than she even had enough brain power to properly answer.

“Ugh…” she sighed.

Sitting back up, Freya knew there would be no more sleeping to be had for her in the future. So instead of tossing and turning in her sheets in the cold early winter, she might as well get some exercise in or something while waiting for the rest of the day to come.

It wasn’t like there was anybody stopping her anyway. Well, maybe a few of the guards might tattle on her, but she could easily side step them anyway. From there, she maybe have a walk around in some random wilderness somewhere to clear her head, and then slip back into the castle with nobody the wiser on where she just went.

Besides, she didn’t want anybody asking questions. She had more than enough of them to go around for the moment.

With her mind made up, she got dressed and quietly made her way to the stables. From there, her feet instinctively took her to her favorite horse’s stable, her mind still astir as she mentally chose her destination.

Where would she go this early in the morning? Perhaps take a casual ride through the forest? Or perhaps go on a few laps around the castle grounds? It might be nearer, but she still had a few responsibilities with her mother come around noon…

“Care for a quick stroll?” she cooed into Speedy’s head, her hands soothingly rubbing her horse’s mane. “I know it’s early, but I just want a change of pace…”

Speedy neighed, a seeming nod of agreement coming from her ever loyal companion as Freya smiled.

“I knew you’d agree.”

With practiced ease, Freya opened the stable gates, leading Speedy out into the open as she prepared her horse for the inevitable ride. Grabbing her saddle, she placed it on Speedy’s back before casually climbing on and getting herself situated.

“Woah there…” she muttered, feeling Speedy getting acquainted with her weight. “Easy…”

A few beats passed as Freya let her horse adjust, the early rays of the sun slowly starting to illuminate the morning sky by the time she was done. Looking around, she knew that a few of the guards might already be starting to change shifts, which meant she probably already had to-

“Freya?”

The princess stiffened at the familiar voice. She hadn’t even gotten out of the stables yet and she was already caught out in the act? And even worse, it was Gideon that managed to catch her going outside. He was sure to tell her Mother about this, meaning she’d get questions that she’d rather not answer at the moment.

“Lord Gideon,” she neutrally addressed, turning around to see the owner of the familiar voice. “I wasn’t expecting to see you up this early.”

“I was going to say the same to you,” Gideon replied, his worried tone only making her even more anxious than normal. “Where are you going with Speedy? Is there something wrong?”

Freya debated on whether or not to even try and lie to the man. His mere presence alone was already starting to affect her decision making, and her body was just naturally pulled towards her in a way that only made her want it to happen even more.

[Then just let it happen~] Poona giggled.

“I’m going out on a short ride,” Freya responded, ignoring her inner wolf’s howls for action as she avoided Gideon’s gaze. “Maybe all the way up to the Moonlight Sea to get some exercise.”

“That’s pretty far up north,” Gideon commented. “And I suppose that explains why you’re up so early.”

She inwardly sighed in relief as she heard Gideon’s thoughts steer him away from further questioning as to why she had been up in the first place. For now, it would seem that the Almighty was with her, but she just knew that he would answer truthfully once Mother saw him with her being missing.

No, she didn’t want to leave witnesses. If she was going to disappear for a few hours, she might as well do it properly.

Thinking quickly, she offered, “Care to tag along?”

***

Gideon wasn’t expecting to see Freya being up that early in the morning. He also didn’t expect her to be planning on leaving the castle for what seemed to be an impromptu stroll out towards the Moonlight Sea with the sun barely being up yet. But for her to offer him a place to tag along on her excursion?

Now that was a sign that she was bothered with something.

She had mentioned being unable to sleep anymore, but he decided that it was for the best that he ignored that statement for now. It was clear that she was troubled and that she wanted to clear her head. For her to invite him along after being clearly caught off-guard meant that she didn’t want anybody telling people where she went, which meant that he almost didn’t catch her if he didn’t decide to do his usual ritual of checking on Speedy every morning.

‘Thank the Almighty for small miracles,’ he inwardly sighed.

With a nod, he replied, “If it wouldn’t be a bother, then sure.”

“Great,” Freya tersely nodded. “Grab a horse and follow me.”

Gideon fought the urge to feel troubled by her tone as he did what he was asked. He couldn’t expect her to act as she had during their prior talks right now, especially since she looked as if she was raring to go as quickly as she possibly could.

Taking the hint, he grabbed the closest spare horse he could find and quickly rode out with the princess. Passing through the gates had been a quick affair, what with the guards still in the middle of switching shifts. And before they knew it, they were already out into the woods, traveling north towards the Moonlight Sea.

They rode in silence, Gideon carefully studying Freya as she rode just over a meter away in front of him. She had visibly calmed down once they were far away from the castle, and he could tell that she was thinking up a storm as she kept on sighing and grumbling to herself.

“Are you alright?” he couldn’t help but ask.

“I-I’m fine,” she promptly answered, clearly distracted as she still did her best to avoid his gaze. “I just have a lot on my mind right now.”

And with that, silence settled between them once more as they made their way to the Moonlight Sea. Gideon couldn’t help but inwardly sigh at how awkward the situation had developed. And to think that he thought he had already made progress with the last few meetings they had… Were they merely just a lucky string of flukes?

[She’s thinking about you, genius,] Eli off-handedly stated.

[You think I don’t know that?] he inwardly rolled his eyes at his wolf. [It’s just… What am I supposed to do?]

As expected, Eli simply gave him the cold-shoulder, a clear sign that his wolf fully expected him to know the answer to his own question. And well, yes… He did know the probable answer to his problem, but did he really want to poke and prod despite the risk of possibly angering her without him knowing?

[Just do it already.]

Taking his wolf’s advice, Gideon steeled himself as he asked, “Do you think I can help?”

He almost flinched when he saw her stiffen. And as if a mental switch had been flipped, she turned to her with a cold smile adorning her face.

“Why, yes, you can,” she smiled, her horse almost subtly speeding up. “Think you can keep up?”

“What…”

Before he could ask any further, Freya made Speedy buck, using her legs to spur her mount to begin sprinting. Caught unaware, she was already a few seconds away from him when he finally caught his bearings.

“W-Wait!”

Calling out to her, Gideon commanded his horse to follow, breaking off into a sprint as the early winter morning winds blew right past his face. Slowly gaining, he kept his pace just so he wouldn’t fall behind, eventually catching up to her as he saw her beautiful hair fluttering behind her.

“Freya!” he called out once more.

“I told you I wanted an exercise, and we’re already burning daylight as is!” his mate vaguely replied back. “Let’s race to the Moonlight Sea. Whoever gets there first gets a reward from the other!”

Gideon almost wanted to protest before his mind quickly supplied him with potential things he could ask of her to do. Already, his resolve was building, a smile forming on his face as he quickly replied.

“I’ll take it!”