𝘚𝘦𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘴, 𝘓𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘓𝘪𝘦𝘴

The Girl in the Woods (part 1)

The young boy with messy brown hair was sprinting through the dense trees. His breath was becoming faster, not from the running but from the panic. His father was after him.

After a while, he decided that he could go no more and collapsed under an old oak tree. He tried to steady his breathing by doing the techniques he taught himself.

Inhale... exhale... inhale... exhale...

He began shaking as the full force of the hit to the face reached his brain and he realized how much his father had hurt him. The physical pain he usually could take. The words his father yelled at him were deadly. They stuck in him like a spear and when it was removed, he almost bled out, but never quite made it, as his father would always find him again.

Slowly, the boy regained his senses. Somewhere, there was a mans voice. Unlike his fathers, which was rough and grating, this voice was calming and low. Accompanying this male voice were two girls voices.

Intrigued, the boy with the messy hair rose to his shaky feet and stumbled towards the people.

As he got closer, there were more than just three people there. Surrounding the voices there were Guards. These people must be wealthy and of high status to require so much protection.

He took a closer look at the people in the centre of the circle: there was a man - wait, there was the King! And there was the Princesses of Mythgrave.

He turned and silently moved away from the gathering, back towards his hell of a home.

***

His father had taught him how to hunt before he changed to become the monster of a man. With the bow in one hand in the string taut in the other, he swiftly and silently moved around the trees of the woods. He would cook whatever he had hunted and fill his belly with what it had been lacking.

Very soon, he was roasting a rabbit over the flames of his fire.

Having reached his full - after eating the whole rabbit and berries he had gathered - the young boy set out again.

Like in the previous day, he heard voices. This time, he listened to what what was being said:

"But what if I want to hunt and fight and do all the things men do?" One of the girls voices said.

"You can not." The mans voice replied, obviously agitated. "What good would all these skills give you? You were born to marry and have children and carry the throne on for years to come."

"How dare you say that!" The same voice replied, raising to a shout. "I was born to do more than marry and have children, thank you very much."

"Hilda," came a second girls voice, "don't speak to Father like that."

"So will you just let him decide everything in your life?" The other girl, Hilda, snapped.

"Listen to your sister, Hilda." The King growled. "Lena, don't let her cloud your thoughts."

"No Father, I will do what you like, you know I will." Came Lena's voice.

***

"How can you?" Hilda said after a while. Their father had possibly left them alone for a few moments, so the older sister took the time to question the younger one. "How can you let him dictate your life?"

"Because I have accepted that I am a Princess. You just need to do the same."