Bridges and Boundaries

On The Run

I darted outside, barefooted, feeling a shard of glass littering the cobbles lodge into my unprotected foot. I thought about stopping and hiding, but as I glanced back, I saw that I was being chased not only by the guards but by a few loyal nobles. There was no option but to run to port, stow away on a boat, and never return to my kingdom. The thought barely saddened me, though, except that I was leaving my family. I had nothing in Elwes, no money, no friends because anyone could be a spy for the Prince. Maybe elsewhere, there would be food, and a Prince that didn't rule by taking magic. But I doubted it. The world seemed too small to ever be different then it was.

The townspeople stared at me as I ran by, saw my gray eyes. I knew they were wondering why I wasn't using magic. But I really didn't have any at all. My eyes had always been brown. If I could fly or throw fire or teleport to another Kingdom, I surely would have by now. I actually wished I had been the real Taken One, because although I would have been in the same situation, I would have some serious, powerful magic to defeat the Prince.
My legs were growing tired. Luckily, I was only a few blocks from the Dock, so I could just get on some ship heading out to sea and escape my fate. If I could, that is.

But as I neared the creaky wooden boats, a cry was heard. A cry I instantly recognized, because I had known that voice for my whole life.

"Help me!" It was Marissette, held in a head lock by a guard, who unlike the others, was in a green uniform instead of maroon. I didn't stop to think about what that meant. My sister was in danger!
I stopped dangerously, panting and trying to focus. But all I could think about were flames, the green guard going up in flames, setting Marissette free. I started to see red instead of full color, and I felt a sharp pain in my side. I toppled to the ground, and I couldn't get up.

"I'm on fire! That witch girl set me on fire!"
I distantly heard the green guard yelp in a laughably high pitched voice. Marissette kicked him in the shin and darted away to safety. Maybe I had the Magic in me after all! I tried to summon it again, to get me up, but I was so weak. Magic may have saved my sister, but as the world went black I knew it couldn't save me.
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"Wake up, child! Wake up!" I felt a splash and my clothes were doused with a sickly liquid. I opened my heavy eyes. I was behind a few barrels of alcohol. An elderly washerwoman that I had seen before stood over me, anger in the lines of her thin face. Yet I understood the anger was at the Monarchy, not at me. I understood that she had saved my life, and I had to take the gift with gratitude.

"What are you waiting for? A ship is at port now, looking for an extra hand. Join them, and find your destiny. Quickly, if you do not leave now, the Prince shall find you." The woman, I noticed, had gray eyes, like storms. Her shock of white hair shivered and I knew  that I would see her again. She handed me a necklace in the shape of a dove.

"Thank you." I whispered. But she was already gone, like dust in the whistling wind.

I took the old woman's advice, and headed straight for the ships. Up ahead, I saw she had been right. One grand ship, polished and seaworthy, sat front and center at port.

But the Prince, wicked grin dancing on his full, probably enhanced magically lips, stood in front of me, dagger in hand. It was made of liquid silver, yet held its shape somehow, which sent a chill down my bony spine.

"Did you really think treason was an option, Tarla? Being the Taken One is a great honor, not the curse you think it is. I am the Prince. Without me, Elwes would fall into chaos. A few sacrifices is worth the order and peace we have." He said calmly. I almost believed him for a moment, he was so persuasive. But then I saw my table for most of the year. So bare, so empty, while the Prince's was always loaded with food, so much, in fact, that all of the Nobles in the Court needed corsets to hide their imperfect figures.

"I will never help you." I spat.

"Have it your way, my dear. But one way or another, you will have to help me. You should want to help me." When I answered by tossing a rock that missed him, he retaliated by coming at me with his peculiar dagger.

I screamed as the blade just barely touched my calf, because the liquid metal didn't stop there. It climbed up my leg, causing welts to form. But as it came closer to my heart, the dove necklace I had been given began to shake.

I gazed in awe as the pendant absorbed every trace of the silver, and my welts with it. It changed from greenish to a brilliant red color with every bit of silver it absorbed. The Prince howled at his loss.

Taking advantage of his anger, I took the opportunity to head right onto the boat, named The Black Falcon. I was safe.
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As soon as I got onboard, a boy with blond hair and tanned skin came up to me.

"Are you here to take the job as the floor polisher? 'Cause we don't have nearly the numbers we need, not close, I tell ya!" He ranted.

Not sure what to make of him, I took a step backwards.

"C-can I see the captain?" I asked nervously.

"Course you can, Captain William needs ya now!" So I was ushered into a messy captains quarters and met by a bearded man. He barely bothered to glance at me as he uttered two life altering words:

"You're hired."

And so, I began my journey out of Elwes and my new life aboard. Little did I know that peace didn't lay ahead.