As I run through the castle, I can still hear their screams. Or maybe that's just an echo in my ears. Tears fall from my face, and creates a trail of petals. It's going to get me killed. I just killed. I killed my father, I killed multiple people, people that are important to this country. People, who we needed. The vines and roses still followed me, quickly, like snakes reaching for the killing strike. Glass shattered, and the floor cracked. This once beautiful castle was turning into a nightmare. My feet tripped over my dress and the vines sprouting from the floor, I heard the thunder and lightning from outside. Just like the tales. Perfect timing storm. I ran forward, ignoring the shouts from the maids, and hearing the guards stomping in the metal armor.
If I turned around, they would catch me. My heart burned even more, and breath came fast. I ran around the corner, every hall looking the same. Candles flickered, and I ran until I saw the wood door that opened up into the large garden. I ran down and flung it open, my heels clicking on the stone floor. I saw the outside door, and opened it, immediately being greeted by a storm of rain and lightning. Wind blew my dress and hair, and as I stepped out, I was soaked. But that didn't matter. I still ran across the grass, branches and flower petals getting flung at me. I dodged them, still running for the golden gate.
I'm almost there. I'm almost there. I'm gonna be safe. I'll be safe. I scream as an arrow flies past my head, stumbling backwards, I whip around to see guards arrows pointed at me. I can hear the shouts to fire. No! I'm so close! I keep running for it. Running faster than I ever think I have. I reach the gate, and shake it. Its locked. I glance behind me, guards are running towards me. I scream at it to open in the rain. It's not going to do anything. This is when I die. Trees surround me, and flower bushes, vines still crawl towards me. Maybe...
I thrust my arm out towards one of the guards and it takes a few seconds that I think nothing will happen, but then vines gather and thorns grow, and they crawl towards the guard faster than I can see, and in a moment he's being strangled by the vines, until his body goes still and blood covers the grass. I gasp covering my mouth with my hand, trying to stop the power rushing through me. "STOP!" I scream at the vines. Nothing happens, more guards go down, and then the flowers and vines start calming down. They climb up my dress and twist around my waist, not too the suffocating point, roses sprout and climb up my arms and make a circlet in my hair. I shake my head, "this is wrong," I whisper, my eyes widening. I have to get out of here. My breath comes faster as I try to climb the vines, the vines grow in my presence, creating stairs that I climb up on, it holds my weight, but I still have to climb a bit. Yelping as I fall over the gate and land in the mud. I stand up and stare at my home. No. My old home. A place of murder now. I blink. Veryz will be king now, and maybe even Emmalee will be queen. I wipe the mud off my face, but just end up smearing it. My chin quivers. What have I done?
You did what's right, my child.
My eyes widen, what the heck is in my head.
Not what, who. Child, do you know who is speaking to you?
Get out! It try to tell it. This is not me, this is another thing...Being.
Aiyana, your family has done you wrong. This gift is being treated as a curse, a disease. The world doesn't know you. But they should. Your power deserves to be worshiped.
I shake my head, my hands pressing against my temples, "get out!" I scream, running towards the Bridgeberry Woods. I struggle, falling backwards, the voice echoing in my mind. I'm going mad!
The voice is gone now, as if it had been scared off. I look around, the shadows from the trees and thickets creating monsters. My dress is in shreds and I start bawling and I slump down on a tree. Bringing my knees to my chest. What have I done? I killed the Empress and the Emperor, I killed my father. I killed my mother. I'm a fugitive. I don't know where I am, the voice made me loose any sort of sane I had left, so I screamed and ran. Trying to escape from something in my head. Maybe it was me. I hear the Midnight Pixies beginning to wake for hunting. I'll probably be eaten alive by tomorrow morning. The buzzing from there wings helping the headache in my head soothe a bit. I feel the crawl of vines and roses crawl up my body. They're still following me. The buzzing is louder, and I hear squeaks. I ignore it. But they become more rapid, getting angrier, almost. I peek through my cocoon and see a pixie flying in front of me. Its large bug eyes staring at me, with its gray skin, and blue short hair. The antennas are different from the ones I've seen at the castle grounds. They fall low beneath their collarbones, and curl at the ends. White vampire flowers act as a dress on this pixie, and the wings look like stars. It's very beautiful, but will probably begin to feed soon, and then the others will join and nothing but my skeleton will be left. I wait for it to begin. It doesn't. I tilt my head, and hold out my hand, vines are still crawling down, and wrapping around my arm. The pixie lowers itself, and sits in a comfortable position. I smile. But it feels weird. I can't remember the last time I smiled. It nuzzles my thumb, and the squeaks continue. I tilt my head and decide to say, "I can't understand you." My voice is cracked and thick with tears. I see the pixie roll its eyes and it flies up to my ear and whispers, "Hi. I'm Ceilyn, are you the princess? I've seen you around, but I mainly stay here in the forest, but you seem sad whats wrong?" Her voice is soft, and high pitched, but she says it with such sympathy I confide. "I-I killed my father, and my mother. And even the Empress and Emperor. I ended their lives. I made them stop breathing." My voice cracks, and the burn in my heart intensifies. "Why aren't you eating me?" I ask out of nowhere needing to change the subject. Ceilyn shrugs, "Your a daughter of nature. A sister. I can't eat you, you'd taste too much of home." That just makes me cry even more. I feel her soft hand pat my shoulder softly, it tickles. She pauses for a moment and flies up into the tree again. Where is she going?
She comes back with a small piece of... What is that. She holds it out to me. "Your supposed to eat it." she says in my ear. "What is it?" I ask.
"Human flesh." she responds without the slightest bit of remorse. I blink, "no, I can't eat that." I say, she glances at me, and holds it closer to my mouth. I can tell its rotten flesh, the smell gives it away. I shake my head, and begin to speak, but she shoves it in my mouth. I gag, and it falls down my throat. I cringe, the taste is nothing I have ever tasted before. Disgusting, I can't even describe it. But I manage to choke out, "great...Great!" I said, forcing down the rest. If I don't die from pixies or the castle guards I'm for sure gonna die from food poisoning. I though bitterly, but I didn't voice it. The tears are still bubbling at my eyes, but Ceilyn helped, a lot actually. So much fear and sadness still grips at me, but now I feel a bit more relieved. I see many more pixies out now, flying around, all of them different but similar to Ceilyn. "Well, I really should get going." I say standing up, almost falling over. The rose vines stopped crawling, and few are on my skin, but they wind around my dress as if a tailor tailored them. Ceilyn flies higher to reach my ear. "I know a woman in a cabin not to far from here. Her name is Irene, she's very sweet. But, beware of the foxes. Most aren't aggressive, but since the famine, we all haven't gotten much food." I blink "Famine?" She tilts her head. "You didn't know?"
"No one ever tells me anything." I mumble, feeling terrible. I was fed more food than Ceilyn had probably had in a week, though she is smaller. "It's been going on for at least two years, there is hardly any food, but the recent rain has helped." I nod, and say, "I'll help in any way I can." I start walking and she waves goodbye, then I gain the courage to say, "may the Gods, and Goddesses be with you!" Okay, lets do this. The forest seems to just get darker as I go on, at least I see Bubble Gosies glowing in the night. They look like Bell flowers, but they are bright, and make the forest seem more welcoming with the fireflies. I still sniffled and felt the roses latching on to me. I always knew they were a part of me. But my family didn't accept it. So I couldn't, it was like half of me was always covered, like the moon. I stumble through the woods, the rain still coming down hard, but at least the thick trees kept most of it out, I was slightly surprised that Ceilyn was still flying, but my thoughts didn't stay there for long. I rub my arms, and flinch from pressure on my forearm. My eyes widen as I feel the warm feeling of blood, I bring my fingers up to my face and smears of blood coat them, I grip my arm tighter, and inspect it. Its not to deep of a cut, but it still hurts. I take a broken breath through my teeth, continuing on. Even if the woods are bright, I can still feel as if something is watching me. Waiting for the right time to strike.
Dawn is approaching, I can tell. The forest is being lit up by the sky, and I finally feel relief course through me. I am tired, and feel as if I will fall asleep at any moment. Though the world seems to be asleep, I was afraid that the Midnight Pixies would eat me, but I think I over exaggerated, but Ceilyn wasn't lying about the famine. The world was dry, and the amount of animals I saw was very low. My feet ached, and the blood had dried on my forearm but it still ached. I squinted, remembering that Ceilyn had said that someone was living up here, but I couldn't seem to find her. I continued to walk. Thoughts entering my mind that weren't unusual but definitely not what I needed right now. I kept walking. And walking. Until I stopped. I thought I was hallucinating. I hear people, voices. No. I shake my head, but I continue to hear them, "Are you sure they're ripe yet? I mean, we need money for food, but shouldn't we keep some?" I heard someone say not to far away. Hope fluttered in my chest, but I snuffed it out... For now. As I kept walking, I started to see a small cabin behind the trees. A smile crawled its way onto my lips. I started to walk faster, calling out to them. But they didn't turn their heads. "Hello?" I called, then a woman, about thirty turned her head squinting and then a surprised look fell on her face. "Are you alright?" she said, her accent sharp and clipped. I took in a breath of relief. "Sorry to bother you," I said walking closer, my feet stumbling over twigs and sticks. She raised an eyebrow. "But, I've gotten lost, and was wondering if I could have some help to get too the village." Her eyebrows shot up, "You do know the village is that way, right?" she asked, pointing to the right, a hint of annoyance in her voice. Heat exploded in my cheeks, "yes...Yes of course.." I fumbled for an excuse to tell her other than, I just killed the king and am looking for the village to leave the Dreadehan Kingdom, and escape to another kingdom in the empire. I smiled awkwardly at her, no one knew that I was the princess, unless they worked in the castle, because my family was embarrassed by my existence. "I was just wondering if I could have a little help on my feet." Sympathy crept its way into her eyes, and the burn in my chest softened a little bit. She nodded, "Of course, lets get you changed into something more comfortable, and not as destroyed. She led me into her home, where I saw a man packing some radishes into a sack. He had a strong build, and he didn't intimidate me as much as father did, but he was still scary. She led me up a staircase and opened a closet in the hallway. She fumbled through a couple of dresses before pulling out a green chainse with a white floral apron below the waist. "Sorry, but this is all I have." I nodded, even though she had many other dresses in there, I didn't pry. "Thank you for your kindness." I turned around, "Uhm-" I began, but she interrupted, "the bathroom is the door to the right down this hall." She pointed behind me, and I scurried towards it, heat flooding my cheeks once again. I quickly changed into it, and because it was a little small, it exaggerated my breasts way too much, but there wasn't much else I could do, just hope the men don't grab and... I forced the thought out of my head. I'll be fine. I ignored the throbbing pain in my forearm from the tightness in the dress, rubbing it for a second, I walked out of the bathroom, holding my old ripped up chainse. I headed down the stairs, seeing the woman helping the man pack up some radishes. "Would you like a bandanna with that?" she asked, not looking up from what she was doing. I blinked then said, "that would be wonderful," though I had no idea what she was talking about. She left the few radishes that needed to be packed and left into a room, returning soon with an orange bandanna, she pulled it on top of my hair, and tied it below, a few strands escaping its hold in front of my face. I shivered from her touch. No one has touched me like that in years...I smiled at her, clearing my head, and she smiled back.
Before I left, she demanded that I bring a few radishes on my journey. I thanked her, and asked for her name. "Irene." She said, "yours?" I gulped, I couldn't tell them my real name! I thought for a second, "Jorie." I never talk about her much, mainly because she was my grandmother who did care about me, but she never had crossed my mind in such a long time until then. Irene smiled, "have a good travel, Jorie." I waved goodbye, and made my way back into the forest, at least I might see Ceilyn again.