---Thorn's POV---
That night, the two saplings and flash of gold replayed over and over again in my head. Tomorrow the hunting party begins, and I needed answers.
I slept terribly that night, stressing over anything that worried me even remotely. Mutated wolves returning to the wild, having to get shots to go into the forest, even becoming the Earth Nation Ambassador when I turned 18. I definitely wasn't ready to go on a search for a murderous assassin that killed my aunt.
But the assassin was a girl. What was so scary about a girl? Stereotypes these days. My sister is a perfect example of that. She's only 3 years older than me, but could have me pinned with a blade to my throat within 10 seconds. An assassin that has been training for who knows how long could kill me before I knew what was happening. These thoughts didn't help me sleep at all, and I woke up the next morning feeling as though I hadn't slept for days.
"The king is waiting in the weapons room, Your Highness, and don't bother wearing robes; we don't want them getting ruined now, do we?" Kai's voice came from the other side of the door. When have I ever bothered wearing robes, anyway?
---Rayne's POV---
~Day before~
"How long have you been here?" I asked Logan, still recovering from my shock.
"Well when I turned 16...so that's last year...I was in the middle of a training session when I was summoned by the prince, Thorn, into the forest where he threatened to exile me after he caught me talking to his sister in private. Over-protective, that boy was, no matter how much younger he was." Logan explained. I stared at him, gaping.
"What did you say the prince's name was?" I asked slowly.
"Thorn," Logan replied, "haven't you heard of him?"
I stared some more. Thorn...where had I heard that name?
"Anyway," Logan said, confused at my expression, "I've missed you. What's happened while I was gone?"
I paused, wondering if he knew about the assassin I was.
"Ah...nothing much," I decided to sound casual.
"Well, why are you in the Earth Nation anyway?"
I froze. I was out if ideas.
"It's pretty dangerous, after all the rumours I've heard of an assassin from Ice Nation in the forest I would've thought you'd be far away from here."
Logan had no idea. I sighed and collapsed to the ground. Sitting up, I looked directly into his eyes.
"Yes, I've heard about the assassin." I said, somehow managing to keep a straight face. He betrayed me, and now it was my turn to return the favour.
---Thorn's POV---
My father stepped into the open, wearing armour and had weapons stashed throughout it. I could see a small knife poking out the tip if his boot. I smirked. An obvious place for a spare blade.
"Thorn, before you head on your search this morning, I need you to be prepared incase of the worst." The king gestured towards two suits of armour. "You and Ivy will be fully suited with extra weapons that not even the greatest assassin in all the Nations could beat."
Great. Armour. The loudest, most annoying pieces of metal ever created. The assassin would know exactly where we were from the Fire Nation.
"But it would be hard to move and sneak around." I pointed out. The king narrowed his eyes.
"This is an order. If I find you've taken it off, there will be punishments."
My life is a punishment I wanted to yell in his face, you think I'm living the life, don't you, but this is already my idea of hell! I wanted to turn and run directly into the forest. Nobody knows who I am from the other Nations anyway, so taking refuge in Water Nation wouldn't be hard. I could disguise myself to look like a lost Tribute from 2 years ago. I could live how I've always wanted. But I can't. If I ran now, my dad would send out all the guards until I was tracked down. After that he'd probably kill the Water Nation Ambassadors, just like he did with Ice. I was trapped here.
Still, I didn't give up. I walked straight up to my father. I put my face up to his.
"How would you punish me, Your Highness? What would you do that is worse than me being here? You think I like being royal? Training to find an assassin that will probably kill me as soon as I leave your sight? I want to be free, and no punishment is worse than living here." With that, I turned, grabbed the first weapon I saw and plunged it into the dummy's head, breathing heavily. The king sighed and looked at the dummy.
"Armour is designed to keep you safe, as are these temples. All I've ever wanted is for you to be where I can see you, where I know you're safe at all times."
When he said that, I considered taking the sword and stabbing him in the stomach.
"Because you don't trust me? Is that what this is about? I'm not a little boy anymore! Stop treating me like I'm 4, why can't I go out alone?!" I asked loudly.
"Because I lost the two people I loved more than anything when I wasn't paying attention!" my father yelled. I stared. I had completely forgotten. Suddenly all I felt was sympathy. My mum and aunt were both killed...and he wanted to protect me. All this time it was out of love, not selfishness. I dropped my sword and walked back to my dormitory. The search party would have to wait another day.
---Rayne's POV---
Logan was pitching the tent he had brought behind a nearby tree when I interrogated him about how he got here and what he knew about the assassin.
"So...the prince just...told you to leave?" I clarified.
"Yeah pretty much. He must've assumed I died in the forests or something..." He trailed off.
"Why didn't you come back to the Ice Nation? Come back to me?" I looked at him, waiting. He never stopped to look back, but answered me anyway.
"I would have if I could have, Rayne, but there was always something stopping me."
"What could possibly have stopped you from letting me know you weren't dead?" I shouted, fighting back tears. "I was 9 when you left me, and 5 years later you rock up assuming everything's going to be ok?"
"I didn't rock up to anything, you found me!"
"And that's a surprise to you? You think I'm not capable of tracking someone down? Look at who I am, for crying out loud!"
Logan narrows his eyes, and my heart pounded when I realised what I had just said.
I nearly gave away my identity.
"What's that supposed to mean? You're a 14 year old girl. You should be at home, with mum and dad, safe and sound." He tilted his head. "Why are you here?"
I froze, thinking of what I could say.
"I-I got lost." I shook my head at myself. I could do better than that. "I was a Tribute in the Water Nation, but my kayak crashed into a rock on the side of the creek. It tipped and I've been stuck here since." Yes, my lie was coming together now.
"So we've both been trapped here, no one knows who we are from Earth Nation...why don't we talk to the king and see if we could stay here a while?"
Well, that plan backfired. I shook my head.
"What could we say that doesn't sound stupid?"
"That doesn't matter, we can wing it, but for now let's rest," Logan was finished with the tent. I climbed inside and zipped it closed behind me. I lay down and closed my eyes.
Then it hit me. My eyes flew open.
The boy at the training's name was Thorn.
The prince has seen me.
