Ivy and Elise *REWRITING* *SLOW UPDATES*

Chapter Three

The moment Ivy had escaped her room, she had snuck around the castle gathering all the supplies she needed. The slippery blue silk of her skirt proved to be a challenge but once she had mounted her horse, she knew that she could never look back.

She had a plan. Or at least she had something that felt like a plan. The Viridianian docks were a couple of days away in a town named Greenwater. Following the River Charlotte, she would cut through the woods and hopefully be able to sneak onto a boat. Hopefully being the key word that filled her with indecision.

The glassy surface of the river glowed in the fading sunlight. A memory filled her head. A memory of her father who had explained the names of the rivers. She closed her eyes for a moment and let the past wash over her.

*

"Are you listening to me, Ivy?" King Ivar asked, scowling down at a tiny Ivy. "I'm going to tell you a story."

Ivy looked up at her father with wide eyes. It was rare that he would even talk to her, let alone tell stories. So this was a rare treat.

"One upon a time there was a woman named Charlotte. A fair maiden who lived in the village by the woods. Sometimes she would watch the fairies in the woods and one day she came face to face with Sampson. He was a handsome man, kind and strong. A worthy candidate to any stern father or worried mother. But he was a fairy.

Despite this, the pair fell in love. It was only when their parents found out that things turned sour. The were forced apart and were no longer allowed to see each other. Charlotte was forced to marry a boy from the village and Sampson was to marry a girl form his tribe.

But one night they met up under the glow of the moonlight. Together they shared one last kiss before they threw themselves into the river. At this point there was only one main river that cut through the land but when Viridiana woke up, the river had split. There was a body in each one. The body of Charlotte and the body of Sapmson. It seemed as though even mother nature deemed their romance bad and cast them apart forever.

Now Ivy, this is why you should never go to the woods. Our world is fragile and another break could mean death."

Ivy sat in a stunned silence as her father moved towards the door.

"Oh and Ivy? Don't be the one ruin us all."

The door slammed shut and the resonating click of the lock echoed in her head.

*

Ivy dismounted and looked around fearfully. During the day, the woods had looked so beautiful. Rippling leaves and tall trunks. In the night however, it felt much more dangerous.

Pulling her dress tighter around her cold body, she tried not to notice the pair of dark eyes watching her from the trees. It's just an animal or something. She told herself as she drifted off to sleep. Nothing to fear...

*

Ivy jolted awake.

As she took a moment to separate her dream from reality she noticed the pair of eyes that were watching her before she fell asleep. But the eyes weren't connected to a squirrel or even a bear. They were human.

A girl around Ivy's own age seemed to float down from the tree. Her eyes were scared but the arrow pointed directly at Ivy was intimidating enough.

"Nice of you to pay us a visit your highness but you're on our territory and I'm afraid you're going to have to leave."

A/n: Hi there, I hope you're enjoying the story. Thank you for reading this chapter, I hope you liked it. Have a lovely day and I'll see you next week for Chapter Four :)

- Love from Poppy x