The mention of ‘few tricks’ in his sleeve earned a slight arch of Victoire’s brow and a small grin. Somehow it didn’t scare her - there was a feeling that perhaps it -should have- though. This wasn’t your everyday noble man, there were games to play for sure, but it felt more straightforward and honest. She felt there was some chemistry between the two, as much as there can after just few words, but no need to hide it.<br/><br/>Still, she was a princess. Her brother was the King. And here she stood with a<i>peasant</i>man, chatting like they were equal. The fact that he didn’t seem to be afraid of her both scared her and drew her in, and she found herself tugging at the ends of her hair like a foolish young girl.<br/><br/>But the moment he mentioned stealing her away, Victoire’s eyes widened slightly and before she could either scream or run, she found herself on this stranger’s shoulder. Or well, she did know his name. Thadeus, it tasted nice on the tongue, so did the lack of titles.<br/><br/>Perhaps to him, she could be just Victoire too?<br/><br/>“Are you insane?” the woman hissed and squirmed in his grasp, though not as much as she could’ve. There was no fight or flight response, more like ‘wait and see’ one. Was she curious? Or so craving for something human that she would let him steal her away?<br/><br/>Before she could act any further though, Thadeus set her down and she quickly covered her bare legs with her dress. In the darkness she hoped he wouldn’t see her flushed cheeks, but she couldn’t hide the shocked look on her face or stop the nervous laughter escaping her chest. In dark, with her hair down and partly covering her face, with the darkness swallowing the shine of the velvet, she could pass for any other woman. Well, aside from her posture and the look of shock on her face for simply being carried by a man.<br/><br/>She wanted to yell and ask what he’d have done if someone had seen them like that, but instead her pride took over.<br/><br/>“Don’t be ridiculous, I’ve been to nature before,” Victoire muttered and pushed herself up, patting down her dress from any twigs or leaves and stepped beside the man. The woman crossed her arms to her chest and smiled a little, glancing at the small house. No doubt his, or else he’d be taking even greater risk.<br/>“When I was a little girl, I would ride into the woods. We weren’t allowed to go, but even my pony was faster than the guards on foot.” She didn’t mean telling him something as personal, but the walls were coming down. With a soft chuckle she glanced at the man briefly before looking away again.<br/>“But no, I haven’t been… here. Not this far. Leaving the city or even the castle meant having a man in tincan breathing on my neck at all times, kind of beats the purpose of going into the nature, no?” Slowly she turned to face Thadeus, inspecting his face.<br/><br/>“Have you ever been to the city?”