The Escaping Song

Oh, how he loathed to awake early in the morning! Though school forced him to do this every day, he had not been expecting his roommates to be so noisy today. Really, he had to take care of that situation - he was far too good to have to deal with roommates, only commoners should have to endure such awful experiences! Shiloh was far different from them in status, and he deserved his beauty rest. A Shiloh without his beauty rest was a terrifying thing.

Anyone who knew Shiloh would have understood just why it was so frightening. Normally, Shiloh strayed as far away from animals as he possibly could. House pets, such as cats, were all right in his book - but never in his right mind would he have ever willingly gone to a stable. It was dirty there, the stench of the animals permanently stained the air, and overall was just a filthy place that a prince should never have to witness.

But that was exactly where he was headed, still wearing his furry slippers, silk pajama pants and an expensive long-sleeved shirt. His blonde hair was a tangled mess, and he clearly had yet to have his morning coffee. The coffee probably would have saved him from the horrible situation he was about to walk in on, but sadly Shiloh had forsaken its wonders on this morning.

He walked through the stable doors not long after Beatrice, and as soon as he was through the threshold, he looked around, as if finally waking up. A blank expression came to his face and he gasped upon seeing the young woman before him.

“Young maiden, wait!” he called, loud enough for her hear him but not loud enough to spook the animals. He sprinted to her, arms falling about her shoulders in an overly-dramatic manner. “A young miss as lovely as yourself should not be surrounded by such monstrous beasts! Please, come with me — I cannot allow such beauty to be tarnished by these creatures...”

Regardless of time of day, Shiloh was always a charmer.

... Did it get much easier than this? The young lady turned around in Shiloh’s arms, almost causing the muscles in his lips to smirk as a reflex. He managed to subdue it, however, and instead offered the other teen a soft, warm smile. Lifting a hand from her shoulder, Shiloh moved a few stray locks of hair from out of her face, his touch tender against her skin.

“You have no more reason to fear, mon cher,” he almost purred, releasing her from his gentle hold and taking a few steps back. Turning his back to her, Shiloh proffered his arm, expecting that she would accept the invitation. “Come now, m’lady, I shall escort you back to the school and keep you safe from this treacherisophical beasts!” Of course, he hadn’t realized the word he had used was not, in any way, a word - but Shiloh had difficulty with ‘big words’.

Once she had taken his arm, Shiloh exited the stable at a leisurely pace. “And what does a beautiful young woman like you call herself, hmmm?” he inquired. “I’m Shiloh Lancaster, but you may call me Shi, if you please, my dear.”