Forsaken Blood [Weekly Updates]

Prologue

"My little prince, know that not anyone nor anything in this world can ever make you less of a man than you are," the Queen said, her voice cracking with emotion and fear.

Tears fell freely down her cheeks as she knelt in front of her young son. The poor boy who was merely five summers old, clung to his mother's skirts as tightly as he could and asked what was troubling her. It broke my heart to know that this could be the last time that they ever saw each other.

"It is time, milady. We cannot delay," I urged softly, hearing the distant sound of the castle's high clock tower. I counted ten chimes and then the world fell into an eerie silence once again.

The ship would leave by eleven O' clock. The ship that would carry a forsaken prince and a trusted maid far away from all that they knew.

The Queen's thin and delicate hands shook as she cupped the young prince's face with her long trembling fingers. Her bright silver hair shone in the low light of the flame when suddenly the midsummer night became uncomfortably cold. I rubbed my upper arms and took a hesitant step towards the Queen who was the cause of the sudden drop in temperature.

My breath puffed out in front of me as I took the prince's hand and pulled him gently away from his mother. She stood up slowly, her majestic purple gown made a rustling sound as the silken fabric rolled over itself like waves rippling up shore.

I could not bear to look at the resignation and cold fear in the eyes of a young woman who had always been so full of light. I asked the prince to come with me, but he refused and clung even tighter than before.

The Queen tried to mask her emotions as she handed me the letter for King Avon and told me to take the boy away. I could see in his eyes that he didn't want to come, but he had to do as his mother ordered.

We hurried out of the palace and didn't dare look back. We never stopped; in my mind I had one goal, and I was determined to see it through no matter how dangerous it was.

My last memory of my mistress was her hugging herself tightly with a sad smile on her face as she readied herself to face her husband's wrath.

The cold was soon replaced by the heat and humidity the further we moved away from the queen and the wharf opened up in front of us.

The dark, red-stripped hull of the monstrosity that would help me fulfil my goal moved menacingly on the light waves as it stood anchored. The gangway was lowered, and I felt a small tug on my arm.

The little boy had no idea what was happening and stood there in the dark night, looking up at me with hope in his eyes. "Sasha? When will we go back to the palace?"

I took a deep breath and lowered myself so I was level with the prince. "We are going to a different palace, your majesty. There you must tell no one who you are or where you are from. Do you understand me?"

The child nodded slowly. "Like a game of pretend?"

"Yes, exactly," I gulped down the growing anxiety. "Play pretend and if you tell anyone, we will lose. We don't want that, do we?" The prince nodded, and I prayed it would be enough to keep him alive.

The trusted captain called for me to hurry, and I took the prince's hand again as we boarded the ship. Before the ship could set sail, the thundering of horse hooves had me looking across the palace in fright.

He knew.

I started shaking as I saw the line of dark shapes galloping down the mountainside.

"Lift anchor and unfurl the sail. Get a move on, all of you! That is if you value your life!" The captain seemed to have regained his senses before I did, and his shouted commands roused the crew.