Reunited...

It was shortly before dawn when Prince William awoke. He looked over at the beautiful sleeping princess. As silently as he could, he grabbed his things and headed to the suncar. Because he was the driver, he had the keys. He quietly opened the doors and packed all of his things. As soon as the sun peeked over the horizon, he drove off.

Leaving his childhood friend behind, Prince William drove off in the suncar. He was not sure where he was going to go. Since he was close to the ancient highway, he would begin driving upon it. Nevertheless, he was certain he could not go back to where this journey began.

However, where would he go? When he got there, would he be safe? He was currently in the middle of what could be considered enemy territory. Could he make it to his father's kingdom? Further, he did not have any navigation aid to get him home. When he left, he had only consulted the map of Calmondak. It was all he needed when he first left on this adventure. Without navigational help, he knew that if he headed east, he would eventually reach his father's kingdom. In any event, the Prince wondered what obstacles he would encounter on his journey.

He continued driving for a while, but his thoughts kept returning to the stranded Princess Angelina. Despite being well into the mountains, it was still going to be a hot day. How was she doing? Had she panicked? What was she doing?

Further, how was she going to get back home? Did leaving her at the camp sentence her to death? After all, she let him drive. Thus, she trusted him with the keys. She did not even consider that he would run, so she did not even ask for the keys when the bed down for the night. Further, she did not protect herself from any advances he might make. She completely trusted him. Hence, by his actions, he had completely betrayed her trust.

After much debate with himself, the Prince turned around. The guilt was too much for him. He could not abandon her like that. She was far away from civilization in both directions that she would not survive the trip on foot. He would have to improve his situation in some other manner.

When the Prince returned to the camping spot, he found the Princess cooking breakfast over an open fire. She did not even looked surprised as he drove up. He got out of the suncar and walked over to where the Princess sat.

"Breakfast?" she asked nonchalantly.

"You knew I could never abandon you out here..."

"You can never tell with some people, but I can read you pretty well."

"You do know my life is at stake here."

"Of course."

"How could you be sure that I would find your life more valuable than my own?"

"I do not really look at it that way," replied the Princess. "I have given you plenty of assurances that you would live."

"You by no means can assure that."

"While that is true, you knew that I would not survive out here by myself."

"Sure death vs. possible death -- that is a pretty big chance."

"I also had one more thing going for me. I trusted you."

"Guilt. You knew that I would feel guilty about abandoning you."

"It is an ancient emotion that has plenty of power."

"What is for breakfast?" asked the Prince with a sigh.

The pair ate a fine meal. For a pampered daughter of a wealthy aristocrat, the Princess had surprising good cooking skills. She probably had only made herself a handful of meals, yet she somehow learned to be a competent cook. In her youth, she had garnered numerous skills. The surprisingly good meal calmed the Prince's guilty conscience. He quietly ate his meal.

When they both had their fill, the pair packed the remaining supplies in the car and drove off. Because of the incident that occurred earlier, they were behind schedule. Nonetheless, they still had plenty of daylight to make it back to King Jonathan's castle. The Prince drove a little faster, but he knew he could not get lost during this stretch of the journey. He remembered that there were very few turnoffs off the ancient road. He had driven slowly across this stretch the last time, but he was no longer tracking anyone. He could just go.

After several hours of driving and pleasant conversation, the Prince William noticed a roadblock up ahead. It had been the first sign of life they had encountered since they left the ancient city. There were a good number of people attending this obstacle.

"I will handle this," asserted Prince William as he stopped the car and got out.

The Princess attempted to stop him, but he was out of the car before she could warn him. The Prince strutted towards the front of the car, but before he could say a word, the guards fired their tasers at him. In a painful convulsion, everything went black for the Prince. He tumbled to the ground as the group approached. One of the guards drew his long knife as the group made their way to the convulsing Prince.

"Wait!" exclaimed the Princess as she jumped out of the car.

"Pardon us your highness," replied the guard who appeared to be in charge. "But, we are under strict orders to not let the Prince pass."

"You know that I am the Princess and he is Prince William then."

"Yes Miss."

"How would you know that?"

"I am not at liberty to discuss it."

"The tracking device..."

"I do know not of what you speak," lied the guard.

"In any event, you do not have all the required information."

"Is that so?"

"Prince William and myself have additional information that the King will wish to hear."

"I am sorry your highness, but we do have our orders."

"The King will be quite upset when I get to him."

"There is no way to override the King's orders. We cannot disobey."

"I am telling you that you will be in greater trouble if you do not disobey his orders than if you obey them."

"We will take that chance," replied the guard as the one with the knife approached the Prince.

"I know you have long distance communication," asserted the Princess. "I demand you let me speak to him."

"Please your highness, we have our orders."

"We were just following orders is a poor excuse. I am positive my father would want to hear what I have to say."

"What does that have to do with Prince William?"

"Everything."

"I am sorry mistress..."

The guard with the knife walked right to the Prince. The Princess lied across him to block the way. However, another guard removed her from the still quivering Prince. Thus the one with the knife had full access to the vital parts of the Prince.

"Please..." begged the Princess.

"We have our orders," replied the head guard.