((Not in medieval fantasy!))
Natalia nodded shakily. "Thank you, Your Highness." She stood there, staring at the floor until Larko's footsteps faded from hearing, then she took a deep, deep breath, looked up, looked down the hallway, then turned her back and walked down the passage she had been going. It may be the wrong way, but she would rather find her own way than run the possibility that she might incounter the Prince again.
She found a servant, got instructions, and hurried out of the castle. There was no way she was spending the night after a conversation like that. How was she supposed to act respectfully when he insisted on removing the boundary? She walked through the town, not keeping her eye on the alleyways to make sure there were none that thought they could attack a woman that appeared as a girl. Her sword was easily hidden and she was walking with a slump. One moment she was alone, she moon hiding behind clouds, and the next there were three men around her.
"Hey, lovely. Whatcha doin' in the dark all by your lonesome?" said the man coming from the left. They were approaching quickly, and Natalia was moving slowly. She pulled out her sword, but a man already had her arm. Her hawk, which had been drifting not far above her, dive-bombed the man gripping her, and he lurched away with a cry, but he hadn't let her go! She was pulled along with him, and she dropped her sword. What was wrong with her? This was going all wrong. She could take them! But without her sword she didn't have a weapon in her hand, just her hawk, which was being attacked by a second man. He wasn't doing well -- loosing a lot of feathers and being hurt badly badly if she could hear well. The first man picked up her sword and studied it. He smiled oddly and looked at her. "What's a little girl like you doing with such a weapon? This is a good--" he weighted the sword by lightly bouncing it on one palm while he held it in the other hand "-- sword. I think I'll take it." He tucked it into his broad belt and grinned nastily, walking up to her. "I wonder what about you I'll take?" His eyes scanned her body. She jerked up her foot and managed to catch him in the groin. He stumbled back with a groan, but didn't go down. Holding his hand there carefully he grabbed her chin. "Little bitch. I'll make you pay for that," her growled, spittle hitting her face.
It was only then that she thought to scream, but as she opened her mouth the first man clapped his glove over her mouth. "Naughty, naughty. We can't have that, can we? You'll wake someone up, if you aren't careful, and that would be rude." The first man jerked his head at the alleyway, his piggy little eyes on Natalia. The three men managed to get her over to the alleyway. Natalia managed to barely get a glimpse of her hawk lying prone on the dirt road before she was pulled away.
As it turned out, Natalia was really, really fast without her armor on. She hadn't realized how fast she was, until, fueled by raw panic, her bare feet were pounding on the dirt. The only place she knew to go to was the castle, and it wasn't that far away. At least when you were running like she was. The dirt under her feet turned to cobblestones, but she didn't stop. Up the street she ran, demanding in tears to be let into the castle, and being let in in utter shock. They had seen this woman leave not an hour ago. What was she doing back? And half dressed? She ran on before they could talk to her, and she was soon inside the actual castle. She still ran, going back to the only place she knew -- the room where she had met the others. She knew her way better than she had thought, because she fell to the floor of the hall, sobbing uncontrollably, in only a few minutes.
Several servants went to the Prince, explaining in puzzlement that the woman with the hawk that had left was back, and she couldn't be comforted as she sobbed. She was in the small receiving hall.
