Chapter four? What does that even mean? Nevermind, you don't have time to think about that. You have to focus on getting to the next town, as you had to abandon everything except your bow. You think wistfully about that rabbit you caught last night. Aeshna probably eating it right now. How he managed to survive the boat sinking isn't completely lost on you, you know he's a perfectly competent swimmer, but you know he couldn't possibly have survived six months outside the palace, alone, and with no servants, or, as far as you could see, supplies. He was always complaining anytime he had to do something himself, and if it was an act, he's an excellent actor. You can't be thinking about this now. You have to get to the next town, shoot some animals, sell them, and get more food and water. Maybe a few more arrows, too. You know Aeshna will figure out which way you went, but he won't think you stopped at the first town, so you plan to stay there.
When you reach the town, you grab a newspaper out of someone's garbage can. You need to know what's happening at the palace. When you flip through to the section of news for the whole kingdom, what you see horrifies you. The first article reads:
Citizens of the kingdom, in light of recent events following the "coronation" of princess Tasmin, it has come to the attention of palace authorities that the old queen, princess Tasmin's mother, has, as of yesterday, her birthday, reached the age where, according to the ancient laws, she is to old to rule. As the queen has not managed to birth any children who have managed to become rulers, she is to be banished from the kingdom. Sir Truffle, her top advisor, is the new king.
The second article is almost worse. It is written by sir Truffle himself. It reads:
People of my kingdom, as your new king, it has come to my attention that outside the palace, perhaps even in the towns closest to it, the ancient laws of our kingdom, in place since the ancients founded it 3,000 years ago, are not as closely followed. So, from this moment on, there will be a troop of guards whose loyalty is entirely to me assigned to each village in the kingdom. Any and all people who are caught by guards breaking the ancient laws will be brought to the palace. At the end of every month, all citizens of villages that have had rule-breakers caught within them will come to the palace to watch the punishment of the condemned.
You run back to the castle in a hurry desprate to save your mother. She betrayed you to sir Truffle, yes, but she's still your mother. You can't just abandon her to burn in flames because your crown broke. That's when you realize. This is your fault. You've condemned your mother to this fate, somehow, because your crown broke. This motivates you even farther, and you begin to move towards the palace. As you walk through the forest, you realize that you made most of this journey during huge surges of adrenaline. This might take longer than you thought it would. You climb a really, really, really tall tree to see where you are and see a giant crowd of people holding pitchforks and yelling. You climb down the tree and start running towards the castle. After several tiring hours of running, you reach the story. Covered in dirt, still in your small underdress, you blend right into the crowd of peasants. Unlike the crowd, however, you know that the gate is now climbable. Unbeknownst to the crowd, your small figure begins to climb up the gate. You manage to climb over the gate into the courtyard, and look across just in time to see the excecutioner light the pyre beneath your mother. Your mother sees your eyes, and uses the last moments of her life to yell "Sir Truffle! It's Tasmin, by the gate. Send the guards and burn her like you burned me!" Immediately, the guards begin closing in on you. You pull your bow and arrows and start shooting up the You pull your bow and arrows and start shooting up the You pull your bow and arrows and start shooting up the You pull your bow and arrows and start shooting at the guards. Then you channel your inner demon and yell at the top of your lungs. "I LIKE WOMEN BECAUSE IM A LESBIAN!" You jump over the gate with your newound adrenaline, and dissapear into the forest.
