Determined to take control of their fates, Arjen and Arien escape Derolina Castle at the age of sixteen after their cruel mother dies. They adopt new names and find a home in the city of Aramore, while the Emperor of Yuriana searches for his missing...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
They hit the road again at daybreak. Since they had left so early in the morning, they were unable to find a wagon to ride on, so their only option was to walk. This was less than ideal considering what had happened the night before. Arjen had wanted to move as quickly as possible, but there was no way they'd get ahead of the knights. However, the twins would be traveling through areas the knights had already searched. The men wouldn't come back this way, would they?
Regardless, anxiety gripped Arjen as they walked along the road. He kept looking for a flash of golden armor somewhere ahead of them. The hoofprints from the knights' horses dotted the road and Arjen noted their large sizes. The beasts had been enormous, and probably the best bred and the fastest. They were likely war horses, too, fearless and eager. He gulped at the thought of a knight on his steed charging toward him, sword drawn to take his head.
I wonder if the emperor wants us dead on sight? Won't he at least give us a chance to beg for our lives? But the idea of begging for his life left a bitter taste in his mouth. Pride welled up inside him. He would never beg for his life. Rurahel had tried to cow him, but now he refused to be beaten back anymore.
Arien stopped suddenly and looked off to the side. "Oh! Is that a...?"
He followed her line of sight. "A cat?" An orange cat had emerged from the tall grass lining the side of the road. It hesitated when it saw them, but then sat down to stare at them curiously.
Arien squealed softly. "Ahh, it is. I've never seen a real cat here!"
Most of the animals they had seen at Derolina were wild, like birds, foxes, or squirrels. Aside from horses, there hadn't been any other domesticated animals at Derolina. Rurahel once had a parrot, but the twins had freed it and it flew away.
They approached the cat slowly. It seemed the friendly type and came toward them, allowing Arien to pet its head.
"It's so soft," she said. "You're a nice kitty." The cat stood up and let her stroke its back, meowing to show its approval. As Arien knelt, her silver hair glinted in the slant of morning light. Arjen hadn't liked the color because he thought it stood out too much, but she had wanted to try a fun color since people in this world often had peculiar hair colors.
The cat had its fill and walked away, and Arien waved goodbye. "I'd like to have a cat someday," she said.
He shrugged. "Maybe we could get one. We might need a mouser."
"Do you think we'll have mice in our new home?"
"I don't know. I hope not."
"Me, too."
Mice had been a persistent problem at Derolina Castle. There hadn't been much they could do about it until they finally learned magic that repelled rodents. They might not need a cat to eradicate mice, but they could at least have one as a pet.
