Valorous

Part One

Long ago, the world used to be united

,

as one sole kingdom, until the Lowlands,

-

a dark and cold place, set aside from the other four districts in this huge kingdom,

-

decided that they simply did not want to be the ‘Fifth District’, and a war broke out between them all. The Lowlanders were manipulative and harsh people, and soon took many villages and castles into their cold hands. They tricked the Northern district to join them, and soon, it was the North and Lowlands versus the South and East. The West district tried to play diplomat, yet nothing they did could bring peace. Now, the world has separated into five distinct kingdoms. The Northern Kingdom, is now situated up in the mountains, where is

it

snows often. The East Kingdom,

which is

surrounded by ocean. The Western Kingdom, which dwells in the grasslands and part of another ocean. The Southern Kingdom, which

is

near forests and lakes. The Lowlanders were placed far off on a large island. The Lowlanders succeeded in separating the powerful kingdom, but their plan was not over yet, it just happened to take one hundred years to perform 

Chapter One

Midnight Adventures

“Speira, wake up!” Someone whispered into my ear. I turned over to see the face of my best friend, Layla.

“What?” I whispered urgently.

“Just come on!” She was smiling. I noticed she was not in her nightgown, but in an elaborate gown full of jewels and other sparkly things

(objects)

. “And

please

, change!” She said, eyeing my nightgown, and she ran out of my room.

I flipped my feet over the side of my bed, to find my slippers. I quickly walked over to my dresser, and pulled out my favorite gown; a blue, wavy thing with long and sheer,

see-through

sleeves. I pulled it over my head and slipped my feet into a pair of white-satin slippers. I ran over to my dresser, only to be

displeased

with what I saw. My long,

white-blond 

hair was braided down my back, yet it still managed to look exactly like a haystack. I gasped, exasperated and pulled out the ribbon holding the braid together, letting my hair fall to my waist

(elegantly?)

. I hurriedly combed through it, put on my dainty tiara resting on the pedestal next to my bed, and opened the un-creaking door and wandered out into the corridor.

The castle in which I lived was huge. The floors were wooden and dark, and the walls were white marble, with

artful

pillars every few feet to hold up the massive ceiling that had been painted by some of the most

(talented)

artists in all of the kingdom. I walked past my family’s portraits, each of whom, whether it be a man or a woman, had an elaborate crown painted upon their head. Little red chairs next to massive bookcases lined the walls, too.

The perks of being a princess.

I was not actually a princess, though. I was not the first born. My older sister, Lisette, was the heir to the thrown, and I was to be shunted to the side for the rest of my life. But that was okay. If I was queen, I would not be having my little midnight adventure right now. If one of the guards or servants saw me out of bed, I would definitely be punished, but if I was my sister, I would probably be shut away in a room for two days. She has to uphold the ‘honor’ of our family.

I stopped

(because)

I heard some scuffling behind me. I turned around to see nothing. Suddenly, a soft

hand covered my mouth and

someone 

jabbed me hard in the side.

I gave out a muffled shriek, only to find myself hearing the jeering quiet-laughter of Layla and her twin sister Mae. Mae removed her hand from my mouth, still laughing, as Layla crouched down on the ground, doubled up with laughter.

“That was not funny!” I whispered, angrily.

“Oh, yes it was!” Layla whispered.

“You should have seen your face!” Mae giggled.

I put my hands on my hips and glared at them sternly. This did not seem to calm them down, but they just erupted into a new round of giggles. I rolled my eyes and walked away, but my ears heard a shriek escape Mae’s mouth. I turned around to see Layla covering her sister’s mouth, not unlike Mae had done to me. Yet, both of them had stopped laughing. They looked quite bizarre, both beautifully dressed, one laying on the ground while the other crouched over her, her hand on her mouth. They looked exactly alike, too, except Layla’s hair was a shade darker than Mae’s, and her eyes were a dark green instead of brown.

They both gasped and got up, and ran down my corridor, towards the stairwell that led to the roof. I wheeled around to see one of the maids, a batty old woman who barely could see two feet in front of her named Sal. I ran to join my friends, who were now climbing the spiral staircase. Sal held her lantern up closer to her eyes, perhaps thinking that the light would help her see.

“Lady Speira?” She said. She turned to her left, and then to her right, and then went back down the stairs, as us three girls continued upwards, giggling madly.

“You can not speak of this, Speira!” Layla warned me, as she pushed open the trapdoor to the roof. “If someone finds out that we are out this late, we will be thrown out of the village!” I nodded, smiling. Layla smiled back at me. “Now let’s go before Sal gets back!”

She pushed open the large wooden door and we climbed up onto the flat roof. For anybody but us three, the view would have been breathtaking, but we go on these adventures very often. We were standing on top of one of the towers, turrets enclosing us. Right now, I was facing the tallest tower on the castle. I looked up to see the powder-blue conical spire, that is, the pointy roof. The huge tower in front of me had many windows and balconies. Right beside it were two more towers, not as large, though.  Where we were standing now was considered the “Open Gorge Tower”, but we just referred to it as “The Roof”, since nobody but us ever came up here. If I turned to my left, I would see another “Roof”, the one that belonged to my sister’s corridor. As you could probably tell, our castle was quite large. It took more than a century to build it.

I then turned forward to face the beautiful village of Currey, which happened to be my surname. Looking past the barbican and drawbridge,  the hilly and grassy landscape made the village look something of a fairytale. The little houses were almost all made of stone, and the roofs made of wood. Each house had a long, stone fireplace stretch out into the sky, and almost every one of the chimneys was emitting smoke.Then, enclosing us all, was the long wall, on top of which stood many long parapet walks.

“Let’s go.” Mae said, quietly. I followed the two girls down a long, stone staircase that led straight to the drawbridge and barbican. It took at least five minutes to get down the long staircase that was very narrow. My satin slippers finally met the grassy ground. We walked towards the drawbridge, and then I saw (To my delight, I might add) the simply gorgeous boy that I have liked ever since I knew what a boy was. He was sitting carelessly on the wall of the parapet, right next to the gears that worked the drawbridge. He was Mae’s and Layla’s cousin, and his name was Benjamin. A year older than us, Ben had wavy hair that always managed to looked perfectly windswept. Ben’s father was a very talented architect, and for this reason he was aloud to live in the guest house while he finished designing and building the new throne room. Layla and Mae’s father is also an architect, but their father’s main purpose is to choose the materials and do all of the artsy stuff.

“Ready?” Ben called down to us. Layla and Mae shouted back up to him, but I, trying to look queenly, merely nodded. I doubt I could look queenly, though. I was sneaking out of the castle at midnight, not with a boy, but a boy was in our company. My mother and father would simply be ‘disgraced’. My father did not meddle in my young affairs, but my mother did. She never got mad, she just gave us the cold shoulder in varying degrees, depending on how bad the thing we did wrong was. I would say, this would serve me at least a week without talking to my mother.

It was worth it, though.

Ben started to crank the drawbridge up, and us three girls ran under it. Ben then let the drawbridge close, and he then climbed agilely down the parapet wall. We all stood huddled in the chilly night, and I suddenly wished I had not worn something so summery.

“Hi, guys. Journey through the castle okay?” Ben said, walking towards us. Whatever he said after that was drowned out by my thoughts. I was suddenly aware of how blotchy my face would look in the cold. It would not contrast nicely with my hair. I should have put some powder on, at least! I crossed my arms, and then realized, with horror, that the belt that I usually wore with this dress was gone! It is so un-slimming. I was not aware that my face was screwed up in anger, until Layla laughed and said, “Did you eat something foul? Or is your face always like that, and I did not notice?”

I glared at her, angrily. Her smile faltered, and her eyes darted to Ben, and then she said, “It was probably that cake the cook made us last night. Phew!” She said, slightly awkward, “Is it cold or is it just me?” 

Ben ran ahead of us, saying he promised the others he would be back soon. 

“Others? There are more people?” I asked Layla.

“Yes, we aren’t the only people in the entire village.” She said sarcastically. “No, but it is just a little party that a little bird told me about, and I thought you would like to go.”

“Is the little bird’s face ugly and rather uneven?” I said, as my thoughts were directed to a girl I despised, named Sadrina. Sadrina was considered pretty to some people, but I disliked her, disliked her large feet all the way up to her pasty complexion. She was quite snobby and like to stuff her great, big fat nose into other people’s business.

For some unknown reason, Layla and Mae did not have a problem with her.

“If you are talking about Meredith Lawrence, you are sadly mistaken.” Layla said.

“No, I am talking about Sadrina!”

“Oh, yes then. You are correct.” Layla said, smiling slightly. “I do not know why you dislike her, she is perfectly pleasant.”

“Maybe on the planet she comes from.” 

Layla chuckled. “Let’s go!” She started running towards a little meadow that was known to everyone, but was concealed by a ring of thick trees. I could see an orange glow through the leaves, and smoke rising from somewhere in the center.

Layla, Mae and I ran through the ring and emerged into the clearing, and found ourselves surrounded by people our age, who were sitting around a fire, looking rather scared.

A black haired boy was sitting closest to the fire, and he was obviously telling a scary story. When I emerged into the crowd, I saw many people elbow there neighbors and point at me, and then whisper something into their neighbor’s ear. Though I had been out with Layla later than midnight, I had never come to a big group gathering like this.

I was suddenly aware of how fancy my dress was compared to the other girls’. Some were wearing plain, white-cloth dresses with a leather apron around their middle. Actually, the only people that had on jewels on beside me was Layla and Mae, who did not seem to notice the other girls’ envious stares.

The black haired boy telling the story, most likely sensing that his audience was not as intrigued anymore, said very loudly. “The end.” Nobody seemed to hear him. He rolled his eyes and then looked at me. “What is she doing here?” He suddenly asked, a bit frightened.

“Well it is her village, Damien.” Layla said, defensively.

“She is the duchess! She probably can not wait to tell her father about our little gathering here.” The boy named Damien said.

“Like her father would care what a little stuck-up toad like you would think.” Layla shot back at him.

“My father works in the stables. The king might tell him and then my father’d kill me!” 

“My father will not get involved. He has more important things to do.” I said coldly.

“She is right.” Mae assured everyone. But the other girls and boys did not seem very assured. In fact, some looked like they were seriously regretting coming to the clearing in the first place.

The mood darkened. I hated myself for coming. I let my head hang down, as I sat down on a particularly uncomfortable rock. Layla sat down on my left side. The other’s voices soon rose up again, feeling, perhaps, that they would not let me ruin their night. The girls sat in tight circles, breaking out into shrieks of laughter every once in a while.

“Everyone, I have an announcement.” Everyone looked towards Ben, who had spoken. “This gathering was called, because Damien, Marcus, and myself are going to become knights in a few years. We are now squires!” Everyone clapped enthusiastically.  Then, Ben was mobbed by a bunch of his friends, and he could say no more.

“Hello, Layla.” Said a voice to my left. I looked over to see the face of Sadrina. 

“Hi, Sadrina.” Layla said with a smile.

“Meredith needs to ask you a question,” said Sadrina in her sickly-sweet voice. “Come with me.” Layla looked at me, and I smiled in encouragement, and they both left, leaving me alone on the rock. I looked up to see the boys had started throwing a ball back and forth. I got up to go watch.

I noticed that Damien did not seem very pleased at my company, but Ben smiled at me, and I quickly walked over. I realized that the game comprised of someone standing in the middle, while the two other players passed a ball over the person in the middle’s head. The person in the middle, in this case, a red haired boy, was jumping up, trying to catch the ball. Interesting.

“Want a go, Speira?” Ben asked me, holding the ball. 

“Sure,” I said, a bit too eager. I took the ball, realizing it was rather solid and would hurt very much if it hit someone. This was not good, as I had never even held a ball. It was considered improper. But what else could tarnish my reputation?

Ben was in the middle, and to my distaste, the boy named Damien was on the receiving side. I bent my arm backwards, and let it swing forward. I did not release the ball soon enough, because a second later, I realized it had landed a few inches behind Ben, who hurried to get it.

Some of the boys chuckled, but none laughed louder than Damien. Even after I had taken my place in the middle, he was still chortling, muttering, “Good one.” under his breath. Anger was boiling up inside me, and I shot him the filthiest look I could. He put up his arms in mock horror, and then laughed, as Ben threw the ball to him. I realized Ben was not throwing at his usual height. Was he helping me...?

Damien caught it, and I braced myself for his throw. He threw it way over my head, but surprisingly, I jumped very high, letting the palm of my hand smack the ball downwards. I had been trying to catch it, but it did not work out like that. I then realized the ball had hit Damien squarely in the nose, and he was now crouched on the ground, wailing.

I hardly could contain my laughter, but worriedly, I looked at Ben to see his reaction. He was vaguely smiling and shaking his head as he bent down to help Damien. Many of the girls had rushed over to see what the commotion and sound was all about.

“Oh, my!” Sadrina said. “This is going to be hard to keep a secret.” Some people agreed. “What are we going to do?”

“I do not know, but I need to get out of here!” Damien roared.

“What Is going on here?” said a deep voice. Many of us gasped. A few men by the looks of it, villagers, were coming through the trees. “Marcus?” Said the man, surprised, looking at the red-headed boy.

“Uh...” Marcus looked left and right, and then realizing nobody was coming to his aid he said in a very tiny voice, “Just a campfire, dad. That Is all.”

“You woke about half of the village!” one of the men said. “We thought there was a fight going on!”

“Damien!” Said a particularly ferocious looking man, running towards the bleeding Damien. “Who did this to you?” Damien thought for a minute and then said;

“It doesn’t really matter, dad.” My eyes widened, and I scooted behind a large girl so nobody could see me.

“Yes, it does!” Damien’s father growled. “Who did this to you?” 

Mortified, Damien raised his hand and pointed at the fat girl, the one which I was hiding behind. She turned around, glared at me, and then moved away.

“A girl?” Damien’s father sounded less pleased that a girl had supposedly beaten his son up. He shook his head, and then returned to his original gusto. “Why did you do this to my boy, girl?” He shook an angry finger at me.

“Back away, Lucas.” I turned around to come face-to-face with a huge horse. Confused, I looked up to see that one of the castle’s knights was upon this massive creature. The face I looked up into was familiar. It was Daniel Maverick, and I was relieved to find him instead of another knight. I got along well with Sir Maverick.

“Why should I? This is assault! Maybe attempted murder!” Yelled the angry father.

“You should because this is the duchess of the Southern Kingdom.” Said Sir Maverick, angrily. “I must request that all of you go back to your homes.”

Many people shot angry glances at me, but I did not care. These people weren’t my friends. Mae, Layla, and Ben stood by, unsure of what to do.

“Your mother will not be very happy with you.” said Sir Maverick looking down into my eyes. “I hope, for your sake, she continues to speak to you.” I smiled. I do not know why, but I did. He held out a hand for me, and I climbed up and sat side-saddle right behind Sir Maverick. “I suggest you three walk home before someone realizes your absence.”

Ben, Layla, and Mae nodded, and then ran away into the village. I was so embarrassed, I knew what it was like to wish you were never born. Sir Maverick dug his heels into the side of his horse, and we rode away towards the castle. 

This was the first time I had actually talked to people that weren’t dignitaries or a Lord or Lady. I did not like it much. They did not seem to like me, and I decided the next time I go on a midnight adventure, it’ll be with my friends within the castle walls.

Chapter Two

Nightmares

“Lisette!” I screamed towards the castle. “Lisette!” My hair flew in my face, making it hard to see. My eyes burned and my feet hurt. The castle was on fire! Some man I did not even know picked me up and placed me on his horse, and we were riding away. My sister... What had happened to my sister? It seemed like this was all a terrible dream, and I desperately wanted to wake up. 

But as a big part of my castle’s roof caved in, I knew it was not just a dream, it was a nightmare. 

It started the next day, after our midnight adventure. Sir Maverick silently dropped me off in front of the castle, and warned me that he was obligated to tell my parents. With my head drooped, I wandered back into the castle.

I climbed the long staircase and went down the trapdoor, wandering down my corridor in a dreamlike state. I pushed open the door to my chamber and stripped my dress off and pulled my nightgown on, and climbed into bed. 

The next morning, I awoke with sun streaming in through my window. I sat up and looked around. My bedroom was definitely more attractive in the day time. From the light pink walls, to the fluffy carpets made of some animal. I then noticed someone was sitting in the chair next to my vanity. My mother.

“Good morning. Get much sleep last night?” She asked, as she deftly knitted something that was beginning to look like a scarf.

“Er...”

“Speira, I do not appreciate you going out in the middle of the night with some boy we do not even know.” 

“I was not going with Ben. I was going with Layla and Mae.” I said. Then I realized I just gave my friends away. “Well, wait, no it was not--”

“Do Not worry, their parents already know.” My mother made a particularly fast stitch, with a jerk. “You’re going to have to eat breakfast in the east dining hall. Your father has a meeting in the main dining hall.” She stood up and walked away.

I felt awful. I got out of bed and dressed in a pretty gold dress. It was very plain, in my opinion; there were no jewels. The only accessory it had was a matching gold belt, which was tied around my waist. I put on the same white-silk slippers from last night, and walked out the door. 

I was not very hungry, and on a whim, I fancied a chat with my lovely sister. I walked over a little bridge that was hanging over the entrance hall. I rather loved it up here. I could watch people come and go, and when we were younger, Lisette would go to the bridge directly across from me, and we would throw our dolls back and forth. Nobody knew of this, of course. Over the bridge was my sisters corridor. I walked into the little sitting room where she loved to read, and I found her sitting across from a heavily mustached man, who was saying:

“...and Sir Horgut from the village of Hames is very wealthy. I strongly suggest--”

“I will never be addressed as Queen Lisette Horgut. Next?” My sister said, with a bored air. My sister had an exotic look about her. She isn’t the most attractive flower in the field, as some would say. Her eyes were very huge and very green. Her nose was rather small, as was her mouth. Her hair was a honey-golden color, and it was not as long as mine. When she saw me, she smiled at me.

“Hello, sister.” She said. I eyed the mustached man, curious. She looked at him and then back at me, rolling her eyes. “Match maker. Mother and Father think I can not choose for myself.” She waved her hand in a nonchalant way. 

“Miss, I am very sorry, but this is a private meeting.” The mustachey man said nervously. He then stood up and shooed me away. 

Well, that was not very helpful. I then walked down to the entrance hall, dejected. To my surprise, Layla walked through the huge double doors, looking as bad as I felt. She had two very red marks on her arm and her eyes were rather puffy. 

“Good morning,” She said. She noticed my staring at her arm, and she simply said. “If your mother is ever mad at you, do not pick a sharp switch.” 

I laughed, feeling a bit better. I ran forward and took her arm, saying, “Want to go and hear what the special meeting is all about?” 

“After what we did last night?”

“Of course!” I was still feeling rebellious.

We ran towards the main dining hall. I opened a closet and hopped inside, as Layla looked worried about my sanity. But I knew that this closet was a shortcut to the servants’ hallways. Layla hopped in after me, and we ran out of the other end of the closet, and found ourselves in a creepy looking passageway. We ran downstairs, and then paused. Luckily, one of the servants did not latch the door that led to the dining hall properly. Layla and I got very close to the door, and pushed it open barely two inches.

Father’s back was to us. The King of the South, his hair was a glossy brown and he was clean shaven. He had an air of superiority about him, and it almost instantly made someone feel puny and small.  The King of the North was draped in various animal skins, and his hair was frizzy and white. The Queen of the East was very beautiful, her long red hair braided down her back, but her haughty features were screwed up in concentration. The King of the West was a dark man, who was quite terrifying.

“...We must act now!” The Western King said angrily, slamming his fist onto the table. “Runant will not wait long!” Runant was the King of the Lowlands.

“Leo, if we try to take the Lowlands, we will lose thousands of soldiers.” My father said. “I say we wait until he attacks us, and we will be ready! We will demolish Runant’s troups like that--” he snapped his fingers.

“William,” Leo, the Western King started up again. “One of my people saw that he was training an army! They have not attacked anyone since the war that separated us all! They have had one hundred years of training!” The Queen of the East nodded her head. “I say we all unite to take the Lowlands.”

“Is this meeting over? I am hungry.” The Northern King said in his deep voice.

“Yes, well, I suppose we are.” My father looked distracted, as he clapped his hands.

“Move!” I urgently whispered to Layla. We scuttled up the stairway before the servants could trample us.

“Wow, what a load of garbage. I doubt Runant would dream of taking our Kingdom.” I laughed.

Layla looked concerned. “Yes, I suppose, but did not you hear? He’s building up his army again.”

We ran up the passageway, and back through the closet. We decided to go for a walk in the stables. We walked through the entrance hall and out into the carefully decorated gardens. We walked into the wooden structure and straight to my favorite horse, Mari. She was a beautiful white, and her hair was the softest I have ever known a horse to have. Her tail was braided, and her mane was combed out, making her look like a fairytale horse.

“Oh, no,” Layla said. I looked up to see a very disgruntled Damien shoveling used hay into a wheelbarrow. His father, Lucas, was brushing out one of the knight’s horses.

“Er.. Yeah, I think we should leave.” I said, quickly. Layla nodded and we both crept out of the stable, leaving Mari to look longingly after us. I longed to take her out on a long ride. I was not a very good rider, so I did not do it very often. I had a nasty habit of letting go of my reigns, unknowingly of course, but this caused me to fall off of Mari, who, loyally, would stop and wait for me to get up and dust myself off.

We ran over to the pretty gazebo where my mother and father have tea every evening, giggling. 

“I would have died if Damien saw me.” I said.

“I would have stood by and watched the awkwardness,” Giggled Layla. I playful pushed her off of her chair. “Hey!” She squealed. We then both of our heads turned towards the castle doors, as they were opening. My father walked out of the castle, his crown glittering in the sun. Two servants were holding trays, ladened with biscuit is and tea. Layla and I hurriedly got up. Father was accompanied by a knight.

“...Yes, the one with the lighter hair higher potential than the one with black hair.” Said the knight. I giggled. He was talking about Ben and Damien. And Damien had black hair... “But they are both strong fighters, and thank God for that. Some of the riffraff that has come through here you would not believe.”

“Ahh,” My father said as he finally noticed us. “Speira, Layla--” Layla blushed by being addressed by the king. “-- fancy seeing you out here. It is a lovely day. Me and Sir Alden need to go over some business, so I must ask you to leave our presence for a short time. We are having problems, one with some new squires and two, with lodgings for our royal guests.”

“Yes, father.” I said. I grabbed Layla by the hand and we marched back towards the castle.

“Oh, and girls,” The King of the South turned towards us. “The drawbridge will be under constant surveillance, and I do hope this will not burden you.” I vaguely saw him wink. We sped up our pace back to the castle.

As it was nearing lunchtime, Layla bade me goodbye to go back to her family. I decided to have a relaxing evening spent reading books, but as it would seem that I could not go fetch my book from Lisette’s sitting room, as her match maker considered me nosy and did not want me in a close proximity to the two of them, I was forced to go to my bedroom. I unbraided my hair, and put a dainty flower ornament in it. I was about to go downstairs and perhaps find my mother, when I heard a strange sound.

It was a particularly large bang, but it sounded as if it was a long ways away. Peering out my window, which faces the drawbridge. Nothing looked out of sorts, yet, I could not see the village. 

Then there was another boom, which actually made the crystals on my chandelier swing, and the ground under my feet shake. I looked out the window again, baffled and slightly nervous. Then the doorknob to my room was shaking, and suddenly Lisette popped into my room. 

“Did you hear that?” She asked.

“Yes, and I felt it, too.” She came over and sat on my bed.

“Should we go find mother?” Lisette asked, looking a bit nervous. 

“I think that would be best.” I said. “Are you okay?”

“Well, now that you say it, I am feeling kind of sick.” She said. “Sick of nervousness, you know? That stupid match maker--” the biggest bang yet knocked me off of my feet, and caused Lisette to screech as she fell backwards on my bed. “I think we should go now!” She said, very nervous. I grabbed her hand and we ran out of my room, and down to the entrance hall, where many men were running back and forth, looking harassed.

Lisette stopped one of the men, and asked, “What Is going on?” The man was rather small, and did not look like he was used to being stopped by princesses and being asked questions. He blushed and said, timorously, “Someone’s trying to break the outer village wall.” Lisette’s eyes opened very wide, and she asked,

“Where is Queen Harriet?”

“Our Majesty is...” He looked side-to-side, and then, rather sheepishly, he said, “I am sorry, I do not know.”

Lisette thanked him, and we both started to climb back up the stairs. What was going on? Were those explosions?

Then again, another bang echoed throughout the entrance hall, but then, a few seconds later, we were all thrown off of our feet. I fell down the stairs, and Lisette grabbed the railing before she was flipped over. Many squires, servants, and noble men were also on the ground. I moaned as Lisette hurried to help me up.

“WE HAVE BEEN BREACHED! WE HAVE BEEN BREACHED!” A young man cried as he ran through the entrance hall and out of sight. It was complete silence for a moment, and then suddenly everyone within the castle seemed to be talking. Servants we huddled in corners, discussing what they should do. Knights were preparing to go to the stables. Noblemen and women were brushing themselves off, calling for a cup of tea. Lisette and I continued going up the stairs, and we turned down her corridor. We started to run towards The Roof. We hurriedly climbed up it, and what we saw was terrifying.

The outer village wall had a huge gap in it. There was smoke and dust polluting the sky, making it look hazy. The scariest thing was the tiny black figures that were coming in through the hole in the wall. They just kept coming and coming. Lisette tugged on my arm, and we both climbed back down to the corridor.

I heard a large crash from the entrance hall.

“Should we--” I started to ask nervously. 

“You stay put.” My sister said, as she pushed in into a niche in the wall, where a large ornamental vase stood. She started walking down the corridor, when suddenly, out of nowhere, an arrow sliced through the air.

I watched in a dreamlike state. My sister’s golden hair was shining in the sunlight, which was streaming in through an open window. Her blue eyes turned to look at me. She looked as beautiful as I had ever seen her, and vaguely, I wondered how I could even stand next to her. Her white gown swished around her ankles, and to my surprise, I saw that she was barefoot. 

This was all ruined by the arrow that pierced her heart. Red blossomed over her dress, and she fell backwards, her eyes wide and surprised. Without thinking, I ran out of my hiding place over to her. She grabbed my hand, and looked at me with a very strange look in her eyes. Then she shuddered... And was gone.

I did not know what to do. I just sat there, clutching my dead sister’s hand. I did not realize that someone was preparing to shoot me, too. I just sat there listening to the sounds of screams. My screams. 

Then, as if some unknown substance was awakening me, I snapped out of my stupor. I gently closed my sister’s eyes, and took the necklace that was put around her neck. She would not mind. I kissed her on the cheek, and dived into the same niche where I saw Lisette get shot. Another arrow whizzed past me. Then, without thinking, again, I darted past the shooter, a man who was very big and covered by a black hood. I   quickly ran down the stairs, still not thinking. I barely saw what was happening to the villagers; some where getting tied up and taken away, while others were still fighting. 

I did see my mother, though. I recognized her dress, for her face was covered by a burlap bag. One particularly large woman and one man were carrying her away. I started running towards the kidnappers, only to trip over some unknown-something.

Then, as if I had summoned him, a huge knight towered over me, and I saw him push one of the black invaders down, and then he turned to me and grabbed me around the waist. He ran out of the castle and hopped onto a large horse, putting me in front of him, and soon we were riding through the open drawbridge.  

I noticed some of the black invaders trying to pull me off the horse, perhaps trying to do something more sinister. But the gigantic knight had a firm hold on me.

We rode through the village. I saw many of the little house’s windows broken and doors ajar. Some were even on fire. I glanced past the knight towards my castle. It was burning, too. Great flames licked the sky, and when I looked forward, it was like they were burned into my eyes. They were all I could see. 

Black invaders were still pouring through the hole in the wall. How many were there? How could they take our entire village and castle within ten minutes? How could they kill my sister?

My eyes widened as I thought this. It was true, then, was not it? My sister, Lisette Isabel Currey, was dead? How could this be? She was always the strong one of the two of us. If father had an important task, he would almost always ask her to do it. Maybe it was because she was older.

My father! My mother! I saw my mother get taken away, and with a surge of anger, I wondered why nobody had helped her. Was she still alive? Tears burned in my eyes, as I remembered that she was mad at me. How silly of me to waste the last few hours of my old life with some strange people. Strange people that were disobeying their parents. Like I did to my mother. 

I reminded myself that I could not have known this was going to happen. It was a surprise attack; that is why we lost our kingdom.

Then it hit me. My father’s legacy, his kingdom was taken away from him. This could not be happening.

We rode through the gap in the wall that the invaders had made, my knight hitting some aside with his sword. We were now in the forest.

“Lisette...” I murmured. She would have been the queen. “Lisette!” I screamed. I looked towards the castle, and screamed my sister’s name again.

Chapter Three

Emerald Leaves

I lay on the grass. It was not even grass. It was a bundle of weeds. I slept here every night since the catastrophe. I did not just sleep here, I spent every moment here. I had not moved since the knight had lain me down. I had not spoken a word. If my knight was not here, I probably would not eat, either. He dug up edible roots and found mushrooms. Yesterday, we were blessed with the presence of a squirrel.

It has been three days. I have not even learned my knight’s name. All I know is that he is as perfectly comfortable with silence as I am. He hasn’t tried to move me, he only makes me eat and drink.

We were very deep in the forest. So deep, that when I looked up, I could not see through the thick foliage. It had taken us many hours to get this deep. All the while, I was probably screaming and crying, but I do not remember. 

My knight stays by my side at all times. He leans against a tree, carving a walking stick. The only time he leaves is when he goes and hunts. I have never seen under his vizor. I did not really care what he looked like. I was as good as dead.

I do not know what was different about today, but I wanted to get up and stretch my legs. Maybe ask my knight his name and why he took me away from my home. But I did not. I do not know why, but I just could not summon the energy to move my legs. 

So, I stayed sedentary for another night.

The next morning, I awoke to find a blanket over my shoulders. This small act of kindness seemed to awaken me, and I stood up, wobbling. The knight was snoozing, leaning against his tree. I looked around the forest, taking in everything, from the brown dead leaves on the ground, to the emerald leaves above our heads. The knight’s horse was grazing in a small patch of grass. Or weeds.

With a pang, I thought of my horse. Mari. The big gentle giant that had always been my friend. Thinking of friends made me think of Layla. Was Layla okay? Was Mae okay? Was.. Ben okay?

“Wake up finally?” Said a muffled, deep voice from under the vizor. “Made me wait four days.”

“I was not sleeping.” I said, nettled. My voice was rather crackly and my throat hurt. My eyes hurt.. My limbs hurt.. Everything hurt. “I have been awake.”

“Well, it sure seemed like you were asleep.”

“Please take that off.” I said, pointing vaguely to his helmet. “It Is hard to hear you.”

I could almost hear him roll his eyes. I was not liking this knight much. But, Maybe recognizing an order from the duchess, he removed his helmet. What I saw was not what I was expecting. Wavy black hair, blue eyed, stubbly around the chin, stood before me a man who could not be older than eighteen. He looked at me haughtily, perhaps wondering what I was thinking. What I was thinking was: Why did this man kidnap me? Is he a knight? He certainly fought like one.

“Hungry?” He suddenly asked. My stomach was hurting. I nodded, slowly. “Good, ‘cause I caught breakfast.” He held up a frog.

“I am not eating that.” I said indignantly. “I’ll probably catch some weird disease.”

“As you wish, your majesty. But you weren’t complaining when you ate this last night.” He smiled, lighting up his haughty features.

I ignored this statement about the frog. “Do Not call me ‘Your Majesty’. I would rather die than be hailed duchess at this time.”

He merely smiled.

“What?” I demanded.

“Nothing, Your Maj-”

“Stop!”

“What shall I call you, then?” He asked, looking at me with a quizzical air about him.

“Just... Speira.” I said, slowly. Why had I never seen this man before? “What shall I call you?”

“I like My Knight.” He said, laughing. I felt my face flush as I realized I must have been talking in my sleep. “Do not be embarrassed,” He added. “I’ve heard worse come out of your mouth.”

“What!” My hands flew up to my mouth, instinctively.

“Oh yes, you screamed quite a lot at first. Then you just murmured. I know your whole life story!”

I glared at him, angry. Then I spun on my heel and walked away. I heard his footsteps behind me. When I pushed branches out of my way, I let them swing back, and I hopefully thought Maybe some of them whacked him. I was surprised at how long he let me back before saying,

“We should probably head back to camp before something eats your frog.” I turned around and glared at him. “Sorry for teasing you.” He said, the corners of his mouth were slightly faced upwards.

“You’re not very proper, are you?” I asked of him. “I do not recall ever seeing you before. What village are you from?” I gasped, and then said, “Or are you a Lowlander?”

“Do not worry.” He said, rolling his eyes. “If I was a Lowlander, you would be dead.”

“What is your name?” I quickly shot the question at him, hoping to catch him by surprise.

He looked at me for a moment, as if he was sizing me up. “Aspen.”

“Like the tree?”

He, yet again, rolled his eyes. “No, like the flower.” He said, sarcastically. “Yes, the tree!”

Suddenly, I heard the sound of leaves rustling and twigs breaking. ‘Aspen’ seemed to have heard it, too, for he pulled out a long sword. He edged back and he grabbed my arm, and he ran back to camp.

“Stay put.” He uttered. It struck me that this is what my sister said to me before she--

I would not, could not, think of her. 

To my surprise, I heard a grunt and a clang of metal, and then silence again. A few minutes later, Aspen came around a particularly big rock, and in his hands was a black cape and something metal and shiny. My eyes wide, I did not dare ask any questions.

“An invader, do not worry.” He said, kindly. He tossed the black cape onto the blanket in which I had been sleeping. It made me sick to realize that my ‘blanket’ was not a blanket at all. It was an invader’s cape. “Put this on,” Aspen said, as he set down the shiny metal thing, which turned out to be chain mail.

“No.” I said quickly. “I will not put on a dead man’s garment.” I then noticed my dress. It was torn in places and looked very dirty. I quickly tightened my golden belt, thankful that it had not left my presence. I then touched my neck, where a beautiful necklace sat, a golden figure in the shape of  two girls holding hands, with sapphires on both of their dresses. I remember this necklace. My mother gave it to my sister when I was born. It hurt my heart that Lisette still wore it after fifteen years.

I then burst into tears.

Aspen looked very awkward. I bet he had never been in the presence of a crying girl. Then, I flew at him and gave him a hug. It was not very comfortable, seeing that he was wearing his armor. He awkwardly patted me on the back, but then, hesitantly pushed me away.

“Are you.. err.. okay?” He asked, almost apologetically. I nodded, wiping the tears from my eyes. “Well, we need to move. That was the second one in three days.” He went over and stashed the two capes in a pack on his horse’s side. He helped me put on the chain mail, which proved to be heavy and far to big for me. He then helped me up onto his horse, whose name I found out was Daisy, and then he pushed himself up and sat directly behind me. Soon, we were riding through the forest. 

Daisy was very fast. She dodged trees and hopped over rivers very smoothly. I do not know if Aspen actually knew where he was going, but he looked determined, and that was enough for me. Why have not I ever noticed him before? Well, that is if he lived in the Southern Kingdom. I think any girl would have noticed him.

I then noticed that the trees were thinning. 

“Where are we?”

“I need to see what has happened to the castle.” Aspen said simply. “Your people may have taken it back.” He smirked. “Maybe.” I rolled my eyes, but I felt as if ice were filling me up. I did not want to see my home.

Soon, I saw a light up ahead that just got bigger and bigger as we rode towards it. Suddenly, Daisy came to a stop, and Aspen unmounted. I put his hand up to me, signaling that I should ‘stay put’. He wandered around, checking for invaders. Then, he came over and helped me unmount.

“Be very quiet.” He whispered, and we wondered out to the edge of the tree line.

Part of the castle had collapsed, as I already knew, but the village was nothing more than ashes. Tears filled my eyes, again. I distinctly heard Aspen say, “Please do not start crying again.” but I was not listening to him. I was gazing to my left, looking at the white thing that had just gone over a hill. I then started walking very fast towards it.

“Hold up!” Aspen called, running after me. I ran over the hill and gasped. Her hair glinting in the sun, stood Mari. Her long tail was blackened at the end and was very short. She had many cuts on her body, but other than that, she looked okay.

Despite the circumstances, I ran down the hill towards her yelling, “MARI!” Aspen ran behind me, shhing me angrily. The horse started to gallop away, perhaps frightened, but then she saw who I was, and warily made her way back to me. I ran up and scratched her nose, and she nudged me affectionately. Was it a miracle? Maybe me and Mari had some strange connection like people and animals do in books. I was so happy, I felt like crying again. She was the one connection to home that I have had out here.

“This simplifies riding issues.” Aspen said. “And stop running off, okay? I saved you and you are going to put it all to waste!” He added.

“Sorry.” I was not that sorry.

“Can you ride without a saddle?” Aspen asked.

“No,” I said, rather embarrassed. “I am not a very good rider.”

“Of course.” Aspen muttered. He went over to Daisy and started to unsaddle her.

I remember when I first got Mari. I was seven, and it was my birthday. One of the castle’s valiant knights decided that he wanted to teach me how to ride. This, of course, was Sir Maverick. He and my father went down to the village stables, and picked out a foal. I was simply ecstatic when I saw her. We were instantly friends. I distinctly remember Lisette, who was eleven at the time, begging Father for a horse, too. 

I winced as I thought of my sister'. Hopefully someone buried her. Or Maybe, just maybe, by some magical force she did not die! Maybe it did not hit her heart!

Stop it, Speira. Lisette was gone, and it will not help anyone if you get your hopes up. She was gone because of a man in a black cowl...

I then looked back into my memory. With a heavy heart, I saw Lisette get shot. But I focused on the man... The cowl covered his face, but now I remember something that looked very much like an earring glinting near his head. Good, this is good. I might be able to identify him if I see him in the future.

Not good, not good! What would I do if I saw him? Certainly, I would want to kill him, too. But I am not that type of person, and it is wrong. But avenging your dead sister? Is that wrong? Yes! The good voice in my head said loudly. 

But she killed her sister, Said the sly voice, which I knew must be the bad side of my brain. If someone destroyed my home and killed someone in my family, I would undoubtedly go and find them.

Yes, but Speira would not dare! She was raised right! Unlike you, obviously. The good voice said.

I was raised right! An eye for an eye! It isn’t murder if you kill a murderer...

Yes it is, you slug! Murder means killing someone!

You would not know, your brain is slow and old because you do not know what is best for you!

Ohhh.... I’ll show--

I stopped right there. I did not need tiny voices talking to me. That Is basically weird and dangerous. Yet, both had put up very good arguments.

“And... I am done..” Aspen said, as he tightened the saddle. “Get on. We’re leaving.”

“Aspen, where are we going?” I asked him.

“Err..”

“Surely you would have talked it over with the head knight? Right? I mean you guys obviously seemed prepared to save me, at least.”

“We did not.. exactly plan where we.. where we would go.” He said carefully, as he helped me mount Mari.

“What?” I asked him, as he walked over to Daisy. “You mean you did not have a plan?” 

“Stop asking so many questions,” Aspen snapped. “Okay, let’s go.” 

I kicked Mari forward, and we rode through the forest. I still was a bit wobbly with my riding skills, but after ten minutes of riding, I decided I would be fine. We rode through the forest, and I made sure to keep Aspen in my site at all times. If I got lost out here with all of those invaders about, I would surely and undoubtedly die, either at the hands of those evil beings or I might just have a heart attack. It could happen.

The sky slowly got darker, and finally, Aspen murmured “Whoah” and we came to a halt.

“I think we’ll sleep here tonight, Your Majesty.” He said.

“I will start ignoring you when you call me that.” I said simply. “And do we have any food? I am starving.” Apparently Mari and Daisy were thinking along the same lines as me, for they were both violently eating grass.

“Oh, right.” Aspen said, smirking again. When he smirked, it did not do him any good. The best I have seen him is when he was smiling, and it surprised me when my thoughts jumped straight to Ben when I thought about this happy Aspen. “You are the type of girl who hasn’t gone a day without three meals. I have gone three days without any food.”

“So, are you saying I will not eat?” I asked him, angrily.

He made an over exaggerated gasp and said, “I’ll go find something.”

“Thank you.”

“Stay--”

“Put. Yeah, yeah, I know.” I said, frustrated. I sat and waited for him. The sky slowly turned black. The horses were sleeping, their heads drooping low to the ground. I was getting pretty relaxed, myself. If I was not so hungry, I probably could just fall asleep. Yet, my eyes started to droop, and right before I drifted off into oblivion--

Crack

My eyes snapped open. I looked wildly around, and slowly got to my feet. I do not think it was Aspen. Aspen did not make any noise when he walked. He was as silent as the night it iself. I looked into the depths of the forest, straining my eyes in the hard light. 

Suddenly, a dark figure flew out of the trees. I screamed as loud as I could and ran away, awakening the horses and probably everything in the whole forest.

“ASPEN! ASPEN!” I screeched. I could hear many footsteps behind me. Then, as quickly as it had happened, Aspen flew out of the trees himself and started battling with the cloaked and cowled invaders. I did not watch, but I heard more grunts and clashing metal. Then I heard Aspen was running away, too. I peeked through my eyelashes to see that one of the invaders was on the ground, and the other one was chasing Aspen. The third one was nowhere to be seen. I started running through the forest, trying to catch up with Aspen, but remain unseen by the invader. Then, Aspen turned around, and reached his hand back and grabbed the handle of a bow that was slung around his shoulders. I have noticed it before, but I did not think much of it. Until now. At the same time, but with his other hand, he reached into a quiver that was not on his shoulders, but around his waist, and pulled the arrow and the string back, aiming for the invader. The invader was very close to him, almost too close; I could see him starting to pull back his sword, preparing to lunge it forward and hit Aspen.  He let go of the string, and the arrow flew forward and hit the man directly in between the eyebrows. 

I looked at this gory scene, and then was violently sick. I tried to wander far away from Aspen so he would not see me, but that did not work out, seeing that he was following me.

When I was done, I said, “Sorry.” 

“Sorry for what? You did nothing.” He said.

“Why are they after me? I am just a duchess.” I shivered as Aspen started to lead me back to our camp. 

He seemed to be having an internal struggle, but in the end he said, “They aren’t after you because you’re the duchess, Speira. I would not call a duchess ‘Your Majesty’.” He looked at me somberly. I was very puzzled. Until he said, “You’re the Queen of the Southern Kingdom.

Chapter Four

The Mirrored Room

I woke up and turned over to find Aspen sleeping, propped up against a tree, as usual. I rolled to my other side, finding the horses nibbling on some weeds. I lay on my back and stared up at the dark green canopy above me. It was dawn.

Two days ago I found out that I was Queen. I was Queen because nobody knew where my mother and father were, as they were taken prisoner, and my sister was dead. So obviously, they assumed I was not dead since they could not find my body.  Since I was Queen, this meant that the invaders were preying on me. They needed to wipe out the entire royal family to truly be victorious in the war.

Aspen and I were constantly on the move. We never stayed in one spot for more than a day, and I was slowly getting more and more exhausted each hour. One of the good things that had happened was that Aspen and I now had an extra sword and many lethal looking daggers, which he proved he could wield just as good as he was with his sword.

“Are you good at everything?” I had asked him, exasperated, as he threw a dagger into a trunk of a tree twenty feet away from us. “Are you like some weirdly trained assassin?”

“Let’s just say I am good at everything.” He had told me, smiling.

He was teaching me how to use the sword, which proved to be difficult, because the sword was very big and heavy. Oh, and it was in horrible condition, according to our weapon professional named Aspen. So, I switched over to the tiny daggers. They were easy to use, but I could not twirl them in between my fingers, efficiently shredding the trunk of a tree like Axel could. I could jab, though, and that was all I need, for now. Axel let me attempt to shoot his bow, but after almost shooting Daisy in the posterior, I decided shooting was not for me.

Now, we set up camp along a little stream. The bubbling sounds of the water was quite comforting, and it entertained me immensely to watch the shiny minnows dart around in the shallow water. Aspen said the only bad part about sleeping here, was that since it was along the stream, the invaders would surely be close.

And sure enough, we were on our horses, riding away from two frightening looking women who had almost discovered our hidings spot.

I have been away from my home for a week now, and already, I felt that even if I had a choice, I could not leave Aspen. He had saved  my life countless times, even though he did not have to. The only thing I wish I could leave behind was he sarcastic manner.

“Want a toad for breakfast?” He asked as he sat down on the soft ground. We had stopped for some water and a  bit of food. “It Is like I found a nest of them.”

“No thank you.” I said, plainly. “I will never eat another toad or frog.”

“After all I did for you, you can not just eat one little thing to keep you healthy?” He said, in a tone of mock sadness. “If I ever go back to the Southern Kingdom, and you are not by my side, I’ll surely get hanged.”

I looked on the ground to find a great big walnut. It was cracked, so luckily I could just pull the shell off and put it in my mouth. “No thanks, I am good.” I said.

“Spit that out!” Aspen said, anxious. I almost laughed at how quickly the sarcasm left his voice. “You do not know what it is.”

“It Is a walnut, silly.” I said, actually laughing. Aspen glared at the shell as if it had said something very rude to him. “It Is good, do not worry. There Is a villager who makes money off of selling walnuts. Have you ever been to his shop?”

“No, I have not.” Aspen said, looking rather grouchy.

“Oh it is brilliant. There Is iced walnuts, cakes with walnuts, chocolates and candies--”

“Okay, okay, I get it. He’s obsessed with nuts.” Aspen said impatiently.

“How could you have never been there? My father made visit is personally!“ I said. Aspen was acting strange. He seemed reluctant to look at me. “Aspen?”

“We better get going. I do not want those two thugs to catch up to us.” Aspen said, in what a casual voice would be, but his face, suddenly, was not as animated. He held out his hand and pulled me up from the ground, and then he, as usual, helped me mount Mari. He walked over to Daisy, and swung his leg around her, and hoisted himself up. Daisy and Mari both seemed very restless; they were pawing the ground uneasily.

As we both kicked our horses forward, I noticed that today was a rather subdued day. Aspen was not cracking jokes as often, and even the horse’s ears drooped a little bit. I knew I should be quiet and give Aspen some time to think over what ever was bothering him, but it was difficult.

Usually I can hold my tongue. But today, in the forest, with nothing but the sound of crunching leaves and the padding of hooves, I felt as if I must fill the strange silence. Several times I opened my mouth, but then closed it, not knowing what I would say. Aspen just rode in front of me, not turning around to make sure I was not snatched off of my horse.

Maybe he had super hearing, or eyes in the back of his head. It could be possible, seeing that he has won every battle he got himself into. Who was he? I have never seen a knight fight like that. No knight got a bullseye every single time. No knight ever shredded the dummy in less than a minute. I do not think our knights are even trained to use daggers. Who was he?

It crossed my mind several times that he was a lowlander. But he said this before, and now that I’ve seen him fight, I would believe it, but he said that I would be dead if he was a Lowlander. He could be lying, but I pushed that out of my mind. I could not stop trusting him, because I decided that if I could not trust Aspen, I could not trust anybody. Except Maybe my parents and Layla. And Lisette, if she was alive.

Thinking of Lisette brought me back to thinking about her killer. The man with the earring. Or what I think is an earring. I looked back into my memory again, and envisioned the man. He was rather skinny, but very tall. His cowl cast a shadow over most of his face, that is, is eyes and most of his nose,  but I noticed that the end of his nose drooped downwards. His mouth was rather large. So far, this man was not looking very attractive in my mind. 

“Aspen, how much longer?” I finally asked him, after a few hours of silence.

“We’ll stop soon,” He said, scanning the forest. “I think we shouldn’t be near the stream, seeing how Lowlanders seem to have a camp along it.”

“I agree.” I said. “But Aspen, where are we going? We can not just stay in the forest. I think, since I am Queen, I should be helping my people...” It felt strange saying ‘my people’. Very strange.

“I am working on it. You have to understand that the Lowlands might have taken more villages. They might’ve made an alliance. They might’ve taken another Kingdom. See, so much could have happened while we are in here, that we can not just march up to a village, because it might not be your village anymore.” Aspen sighed. “Hopefully your knights are holding up.”

“...Our knights.” I said hesitantly. Slip of the tongue, Maybe? But I have been considering this. He is like some weirdly trained ninja. He knows moves I have never seen before. And this brings me back to wonder why he did not teach any of the knights these tricks... Or who taught him in the first place.

We unmounted and spread out our things as usual. Sleeping on the invader’s capes were actually quite comfortable. They were made of some type of fur and were very warm. I led Mari over to a tree, and took my belt from my waist, and tied to her the tree. I, honestly, did not want to lose her. Then I laughed, remembering how I would have never left the house without a belt or some slimming accessory. How I have changed in the past week.

“Aspen, where are you from?” I asked him, uncertainly.

“Why do you ask?” He said, looking over Daisy to me. He stopped digging through the packs that were slung over her.

“Well, I have watched the knights practice for battle... And well, honestly, I have never seen them train with daggers.” I did not add the part about his superb sword wielding skills or his alienish talent to shoot an arrow.

“Speira, I am from the Southern Kingdom,” He said, not looking at me, but his voice was very strong and it made me feel bad for ever doubting him. “My uncle was a brilliant dagger throw, wielder, etcetera.” 

“Oh. Okay.” I said, a bit embarrassed. I plopped myself down onto the grass, and lazily watched Mari eat a dandelion. “...Aspen?”

“What?”

“Who is your uncle?”

He did not say anything.

“Aspen?” I said, uncertainly.

“He doesn’t live in Currey.” Aspen finally said. “He lives in one of the small villages out in the country.”

“Oh.”

I decided not to ask anymore questions. Surprisingly, I did not doubt him. On the contrary, I felt as if truth rang in every syllable in every word. It was perfectly believable that some strange man out in the country could wield daggers, and he taught he nephew. What was weird about that? Everything, I thought, a bit exasperated.

We ate some roots that Axel had dug up, and then we tried to sleep. I could not. There were too many thoughts spiraling in my head. But, eventually, when the moon was directly over us, I fell asleep. I woke up in the dark. I must not have slept very long.

The hairs on the back of my neck were standing up. I felt as if we were being watched... Aspen apparently did not sense any problems with his weird sixth sense, for he was still asleep. I uneasily uncovered myself from the capes, and stood up. Mari abruptly woke up, and huffed uneasily as she sensed movement. I went over and stoked her velvety nose.

Then I started to walk back to my little nest of capes, but I turned to my left, and I gasped. Someone was staring at me, her hands over  her mouth.

“A-Aspen..” I whispered. “Aspen!” 

The girl was also whispering something, something on the ground which was shining. I then looked at Aspen, whose armor was glinting in the light of the full moon. I understood. I was looking at my reflection. I slowly walked towards myself, and reached out and touched the cold surface of a mirror. I then realized it was not just one mirror, it was several. They were reflecting the forest perfectly, and I realized that it would be almost impossible to tell that there was a structure here unless you saw yourself.

I then studied my appearance, and gave an imperious sigh.

I looked awful. If I thought my hair looked like a haystack a week and a half ago, I was wrong. My hair was matted so much, that my waist long hair only went down to my shoulder blades. My dress was so dirty, it looked more like a strange shade of brown than gold. My satin slippers, which I fully despised, as they gave me many blisters, were no longer white. They were coated in dirt and other scum from the ground. How could Aspen look so perfectly normal? 

“Aspen!” I said loudly. My words had made him wake up with a jolt, and he looked wildly around as if he was expecting someone to materialize and stab me, or something. I chuckled.

“What?” He asked, a bit angry that I had woken him up.

“Look at this!” I grabbed his hand and pulled him up, and tugged him to the mirrored wall. “Is it a house?” I walked around the corner, and my guess was right. It must have been some kind of safe house or hideout. But for what?

“Speira,” Aspen called to me, from the other side of the house. I ran around the corner, and then around the other one to Aspen. He was standing in front of a tall mirror paane, and smiling at me, he gently pushed it, and it opened. He went inside.

I followed him, and to my surprise, it was very pleasant in here. The walls seemed to have wooden panes on the bottom, and then red paint above the wood. It was very dark, but things protruding from the walls told me that these were torches. On one wall, it was totally covered by a huge shelf, it is drawers going all the way up to the ceiling. There were four beds along another wall, and a very tiny looking table-set in another corner.

Aspen walked in and glanced around. Obviously thinking it was safe, he waved me forward. He walked over to the shelf, and opened a drawer, and pulled out what looked like ammunition. He grimaced, and put the large canon ball-like thing back into it is drawer.

“What is this place?” I asked Aspen. He moved to the next drawer.

“It Is a safe house.” He said, preoccupied with what was in the drawer. “I think.” he added. “It might have been used for invaders.”

“This is an invaders’ house?” I asked, disgusted.

“Maybe. That Is why we’re here to loot them.” He said, moving on to yet another drawer. “Ahhh,” he sighed, pulling out a small sword with a jeweled hilt. “Here we are.”

“Wow, it beautiful.” I said, reaching out to touch it. He gave it to me.

“Now we can properly train you.” Aspen said. He pulled open a drawer above the one that he had found the sword, and said, “This might interest you.” I walked over and stood on my tiptoes and peered into the drawer. There was a golden brush.

“Oh, goodness.” It looked exactly like the one I had at home. I carefully took it out, sat down on one of the beds, and started to get rid of the mats in my hair

“Whoever is in charge of this place is not very smart.” Aspen said, grimacing yet again. “They left a lot of ammunition and weapons. Pathetic.” He said, with a surprising bit of bitterness in his voice.

“I think it is lucky. I needed a weapon, and this brush is greater than any treasure to me, right now.” I corrected myself in my head; Well, the most important treasure that isn’t alive... Or was alive...

I got half of my hair smoothed out, and Aspen was still digging through the drawers. Eventually, my hair was full of static, but my hair was smooth and brushed out. Aspen then threw two bundles on to the bed, on which I was sitting. I picked one up to find a dress. I held it up to me, only to discover it was far to big. 

“It Is too big,” I told Aspen. I picked up the other one, which was a dark blue with a  gold waist. It was far too big. I could fit two of me in it. “Same for this one.”

“You aren’t wearing that,” He said, sounding rather mysterious. “You get to wear this.” He held up some black pants that were clearly meant to be worn by a man, and a black shirt with chain mail.

“Never in a million years will I ever, ever wear pants.” I said, determined. “I  never have and I never will.” That was a lie. Two years ago, Mae, Layla, and I broke into the knight’s storage center, where they had all of their armor. We pranced around, pretending to be knights. We had to end when Layla and Mae were getting too rough with each other, and Layla cut off half of Mae’s hair.

“Oh yes you will.” He said, looking just as determined. “These will ensure your safety. And this is the only thing that would fit you.” He set it down on the bed, and crossed his arms and glared at me. I glared back. “Please.” He added, and then put on such a sweet look that it stupefied me for a moment.

“O-okay.” I said hesitantly. Aspen, who seemed rather smug, gave me a huge smile and then stepped out of the room.

The pants were surprisingly comfortable. I could sit down, and not worry about my undergarments showing. The shirt was comfortable, too. But the bad thing was the chain male. It was extremely heavy, and when I first put it on, I almost fell over. Aspen came in, studied my appearance for a moment, and then turned towards the shelves, not saying anything. I felt a bit self-conscious. Almost embarrassed. He pulled open another drawer and tossed me some funny looking boots. I looked at them, and made a sound of distaste.

“Those boots are amazing. They do not hurt your feet at all, even after weeks of riding.” He told me. I obediently put them on. 

I felt my hair, and knew that even though it was as smooth as silk now, it would be a disaster in a few days. “Is there any ribbon?”

“Does this place look like it would have any ribbon?” Aspen asked me, incredulous.

“You might want to be nicer to me, you know.” I said, my feelings a bit hurt. “I am your queen. Remember?”

Aspen glared at me for a moment, and then, to my surprise, went over to a box on the ground and pulled out a strange contraption, which consisted of a belt, which had a clear string attached to it, and then another belt at the other end of the string. “This is a ‘Tree Tripper’.” Aspen told me. “You fasten these two belts to two trees that close together. Then, the string will be pulled tight, and any horses or men coming through that area well get tripped and fall all over each other. The Lowlanders have used it in many battles. The knights get tripped, and then our bowman take charge.” He took the Tree Tripper, and surprised me, yet again, by biting of the string with his teeth. “Here.” He said. “For your hair.

I reluctantly took the string, and began to braid my hair. When I was done braiding, I tied the string in a triple knot for good measure. I then went outside and examined myself. I looked like one of the woman knights. The pants were slimming, which I thought was a bit improper. My hair looked like the braid was holding it iself, which fascinated me. I wondered how they made that string transparent. And how Axel knew of these contraptions.

“Can we spend the night here?” I asked Aspen hopefully, thinking of the soft beds.

“No, it is an invader’s camp, which means that the Lowlanders will undoubtedly come here. We must keep moving”

I nodded. I trusted him. And hopefully he knew that. Maybe, he trusted me, too. But as I rode behind him, with him repeatedly looking back at me, I knew, deep down that he did not. For someone to survive this long and to get this talented, and to protect me, I might add, he could not and would not trust anybody, because his life depended on it.

Chapter Four

Lost

Aspen decided to ride North. He said that we might run into a nice cave. I did not approve for many reasons, but he just acted as if I did not say anything and rode on. 

I did not want to stay out here in the forest any longer! I wanted to ride into a village, and have the people cheer at my survival. Aspen was just totally against it for some reason. He agreed with me that we would eventually have to go back, but he never specified when. Which angered me. I found myself not talking to him anymore. I just sat on Mari, and kept my mouth closed stubbornly. But to my great distaste, I think I was amusing Aspen. He kept looking over his shoulder at me, and then he would chuckle. This angered me even more.

“You’ll have to talk to me sometimes.” He kept repeating. “I think I know you well enough, that when you are over your little problem, you will not be able to stop talking.” 

I was sad to leave the mirrored house, but Aspen was right; invaders would be going back there. On the plus side, I had a new sword and a brush for my hair. Aspen was still teaching me how to wield the sword, and I was slowly improving.

The air started to get colder, too. It might be because we were moving south, but also because winter was on it is way. Every night, I was sleeping on one cape, and had two draped over me. Aspen insisted that he was fine, but when he was asleep, I went and fetched a cape from his packs on Daisy, and draped it carefully around his shoulders.

He said it was stupid of me to even suggest we make a fire. I knew it deep down, too, but the nights were just becoming so frigid. We had been out in the wilderness for two and a half weeks, now. It must be nearing the end of October. 

I thought longingly of the days when Layla and I would run through the meadow behind the castle. We would pull out tufts of grass and throw it at each other, and then when we were tired, we would lay out in the sun. The meadow also had cherry trees, which Layla and I sabotaged whenever the cherries were ripe enough to eat. In the winter, the village and castle of Currey did not get that cold, so I was not used to the harsh weather.

I woke up, and saw smoke. I instantly sat up, hoping for a campfire. But I realized that the smoke was coming from my mouth, every time I exhaled. Interesting... It must be because of the cold. What strange new experiences living in a cold and unfriendly forest have brought me. I looked over at Aspen, who was sleeping with his mouth open. The misty stuff was coming out of his mouth, too. I stood up and stretched. I knew I should wake Aspen up... But I had an idea. I wanted to go hunt on my own and bring something back to him and impress him!

I went over to Mari and put the halter on her.  And I then walked over to the saddle, and struggling all the while, I was able to put it on her. It took a long time, though. It was getting less cold. I quickly, and with trouble, mounted Mari. I turned her around and we rode into the forest, my sword in my hand.

Mostly, we just walked around until I could find something. And then; there it was. Like some heavenly angel, a squirrel fell out of a tree. I stopped Mari, and hopped off, and face planted on the ground. The squirrel gazed at me curiously. I got my sword and edged towards it. The little thing must have been very stupid. It was not running away.

Slowly, very slowly, I lifted my sword above my head, and edged ever nearer to the little rodent. And then--

WHAM

I threw the sword down with all of my might, but sadly it missed the squirrel, and it squeaked and started running away. I chased after it, and soon it was climbing up a tree. I started trying to hit the squirrel on the tree, but again missed it every time. The stupid little thing finally got to high for me to reach. I stepped back and admired my handiwork.

It made me slightly sick to see how much damage I had done to the tree. I had shredded it, probably not unlike what Aspen did to the invaders. He probably did it more professionally than me, though. I started to walk back towards Mari, who seemed to have gotten a bit frightened by my sudden outburst. I stroked her nose until her breathing was back to normal, and then I prepared to mount her.

Thud

I anxiously looked around. Nobody was in sight, but I definitely heard something. I raised my sword above my head again, and wandered over to the horribly gnashed tree. I looked side-to-side, still not seeing anything. Then I looked down. It was the squirrel, and it looked very dead. I reached down and nervously put my finger on it is chest. I honestly did not want it to bite me. I did not feel a heart beat.

Overjoyed, I picked it up by the furry tale and skipped back to Mari. Poor squirrel, I thought to myself, I probably gave it a heart attack. Yet, it was hard to be sad when I was going to have a decent meal. I mounted Mari with difficulty because of the squirrel, and then I started riding back into the direction we came.

I felt giddy with success. Aspen was going to be very surprised that I ‘caught’ and squirrel on my first try! I kicked Mari to go faster. We were running through the woods yet again, except this time, I had a squirrel held high in the air. 

Maybe it was my head was so clouded with my success, I did not realize that I was not head South, back to Aspen, but I was actually heading North. I rode on for a very long time, and then stopped Mari to take in my surroundings.

There was a huge moss covered boulder up ahead, and the trees seemed to be condensing. The mountains were definitely closer, too. I turned Mari around, and started to panic. I kicked her to go full speed and we ran through the forest. We ran like this for some time, and the sun was slowly moving over us. I then stopped Mari again. It was no use. I was lost.

I felt hot tears come into my eyes as I looked all around, Maybe for that tree that I had maimed. Nothing. I knew I could not just stay here, that was like a death sentence. Dying, all alone, in a forest swarming with invaders. I decided to ride on.

Mari was running through the forest, yet again. But this time, I did not let her stop. I knew I would run into some sort of civilization, soon, for the North was abundant in small villages.  We rode on for what seemed like hours, until I stopped Mari near a stream, so she could take a break and I could stretch my sore legs. Mari drank and I paced. I was feeling oddly hollow. Like I had not wrapped my head around what was happening.

Mari decided she had drank enough, and she started nibbling on some grass. I knew I should eat, too. I looked dolefully at my squirrel and sighed. I could not start a fire without Aspen. I set the squirrel down and walked over to a tree which was full of some kind of nut. It was not walnuts, though. I took one and repeatedly through it against the ground, and finally cracking it, ate the sour nut within. Ew.

After doing this with about ten of these strange little nuts, I mounted Mari and rode on, leaving the squirrel behind, for it was making me a bit sick. We rode on. Tree, tree, tree. Nothing else to see, except the occasional boulder or small stream. The sun was starting to set in the East. I knew it was time to find a safe place to stay for the night, if that was possible.

Three rocks were stacked upon each other, creating a small cave-like thing. And, the rock on top hung far over the little cave, creating a little place where Mari could sleep. I crawled into the little space and curled up, hoping that sleep would meet me. It did not. I lay awake for what seemed like hours. Finally, though, my eyelids drooped and I was swept away into oblivion.

A few times in the night, Mari snorted and awoke me. I would look at her, and she would look at me, and then as if we came t an unspoken agreement, we both would look away and drift into sleep again.

I was very grateful when the sky started turning purple. I rolled ungracefully out of the little cave, and onto the soft forest floor. Steam was coming out of my mouth again. I thought dolefully of Aspen, who must be worried sick about me. I wondered what he was doing... Was he perhaps looking for me? Undoubtedly. Hopefully he was hunting. I hope he was feeding himself, for the last thing I needed was to come across an incredibly dead Aspen. I could envision it: Him lying with ruffled leafs all around him. He was pale and his eyes were open and glassy. 

Okay, stop, Speira, I told myself furiously. I was already terrified, and I did not need any disturbing thoughts clouding my mind. 

I walked over to Mari, and realized I forgot to unsaddle her. I rubbed around her saddle, just in case she was sore. I then mounted her. Since she did not flinch, I guessed her saddle was not hurting her. I steered Mari towards the mountains, and rode on. Mari seemed to be a bit nervous, too, for her ears were twitching.

We rode on until the sun was directly above us, and then, sadly, it started to rain. Rain was actually an understatement, it was pouring. Mari was getting jumpy because of the thunder. Eventually, she was almost bucking me off. I had to veer her off under some thick foliage, for I could not contain her. We stood there. The rain could not get through the thick filter of leaves, but we were still getting slowly soaked. Mari looked so pitiful. Her white coat was now a damp gray, and her tale was slowly turning to dread locks. We stayed here until the pouring had stopped, and it was barely a trickle. 

I mounted Mari, again, and we continued our journey to the mountains. Soon, cliffs were on either side of us. The plant life became less and less common, and soon we were standing in some gravelly pit. I unmounted Mari, and we walked over a little hill, and to my delight and surprise, a small village stood before us. I almost jumped with joy, and I ran down the hill, with a very foul smell meeting my nose as I noticed the extremely fat pigs in a rather small fenced off area. 

I let go of Mari’s reigns and ran towards the first house that I saw, and violently hammered on the door until a rather fat woman opened her door a fraction of an inch, looking very scared.

“Who’s there?” She said anxiously, looking over my head. I cleared my throat, and the woman looked down at me, and shrieked. I looked curiously over my shoulder to see Mari looking a bit terrifying, glowing in the moonlight. She also was doing something with her lips that showed all of her teeth, and this probably scared the woman. “What do you want?” The woman asked me menacingly.

“Just.. Just will you listen to what I have to say?” I asked. My voice cracked and was hoarse. “Please?” I added hopefully.

The woman leaned out of her door and looked left and then right and then beckoned me forward saying, “Alright, but you better be quiet.” I gratefully walked into the house, and looked back at Mari who was happily munching on a patch of dandelions. She was very preoccupied and I knew she would not leave. The woman’s house had the walls that were a sickly pink, and doilies were on every sing little table in her house. She must be a sad old spinster.

“What is your name, dear?” She asked me, nervous yet curious at the same time. “And what are you wearing!” She asked in a scandalized tone, looking at my pants.

“Er...” 

“Never mind, never mind. Do Not be nervous, hun. We must trust some people in these dark days. My name is Madam Mary Margaret Elizabeth Laiden.”

“My name is.. Spei-isha....” I changed saying my name in mid word.

“Sorry, dear” Said Madam Mary as she cupped her hand around her ear, looking at me as if I was daft. “Must’ve misunderstood you. Spisha?”

“No, sorry...” I said, thinking fast. “My name is Leah.” That was an innocent enough name, right?

“Interesting. I could’ve sworn I have seen you before.” She looked at me ponderingly. “What brings you to Monty?”

“Monty? Are we in the Southern Kingdom?” I asked her, imploringly.

“Heavens no, dear. We are in the Kingdom of the North.” Madam Mary said, laughing. “See those cliffs out there?” She pointed out of a small window. “That Is the borderline between the South and the North. So I am guessing you aren’t from around here, hun?”

“Actually, I am from Currey.”

“Ah, my brother is a squire there”. Said the old lady. I felt panic bubble up inside of me. Of course, I though tom myself, I was stupid to even imaging people would not recognize me. I was technically a worldwide a celebrity. I was probably famous for my hair. Who else has waist long, white blond hair? Nobody! It was like some alienish trait that I had inherited from my great-great grandmother. The old lady looked at me inquiringly, and I tried my best to ignore her. 

“Who are you traveling with, dear?” She asked me.

“My...” I had almost said ‘knight’. “My friend Aspen. But we got separated.”

“Oh, why that is a shame. Hopefully you two can find each other again.” She bustled off into her kitchen and brought out an absolutely huge tea tray with different colored breads and strange smelling teas. “Hungry?”

“Not really.” I lied. “Ma’am, I am sorry to intrude.”

“Oh, why of course, dear!” She said happily. “Stay here as long as you want. We do not get much company anymore. Not since Runant’s army running amok.” She waved a dismissive hand. “Someone should teach him some manners.”

I glared at her. Did she think just his manners were bad? That man was crazy! He has killed thousands of people. And she thought he just needed an attitude adjustment?

“I suppose.” I said politely. I was feeling very restless and jumpy. My heart felt as if it had migrated to my stomach. I was worried sick about Aspen. This could not be it, could it? I would absolutely have to see him again, to thank him for what he had done for me. I also thought this lady was a bit too nice for her own good.  

I went outside and unstrapped Mari’s saddle, letting it slide off of her back and on the hard cold ground. It was too heavy for me to pick it up, so I dragged it over to near the house. I then sat down on the steps, and started to cry.

Why me? I kept saying this over and over in my head. My sister died. My house burned down. My parents are probably dead. My friends are probably dead. My body guard is lost, and I am staying with a sad old spinster who probably would trust anybody. I was in a very bad situation.

I fell asleep in a clump of weeds. Madam Mary offered me a bed, but I declined it, saying she was doing enough. I actually wanted to sleep next to Mari. She was the only tie to home I had. Mari was a restless sleeper, just like me. She kept jerking her head up with a huff, and then, realizing that there was no strange animal there to eat her, she would allow her head to droop, and she would finally drift off into sleep.

I woke up with my face hurting. My eyes opened a fraction of a inch to find a very bright sunlight shining in my eyes. I felt my face, and realized it was sunburned. Mari was grazing a little bit to my left. I slowly got to my feet and brushed some of the dying weeds off of me. I groggily walked over to Mari, and gently started to comb out her mane and tale with my fingers. It hurt me and her; soon, my fingers were sore and raw, and I imagine that since I kept yanking on her tale, it hurt her, too. When I was done combing, I began to braid her tale. This was long and hard, too. I had to start over two times because I lost my grip on the strands. When I finished on the third attempt, I artfully and neatly knotted the hair so the braid could hold. I then moved to her mane and started to individually braid small strands of hair. This took me all morning, but soon, she looked like a beautiful pony, fit enough to be a knight’s.

I went over and knocked on Madam Mary’s door. She did not answer. I waited ten, fifteen, and soon twenty minutes. To my fury, I saw the curtains snap shut on the other side of the house. I sincerely hoped she did not find out who I was. I was very scared.

Mari came over to me and nudged my shoulder, as if she was saying, “Hey, pay attention to me!” I turned to her, gave her a scratch, and started walking down the village’s cobbled street.

It was an attractive little place; most of the houses were made of stone with wooden roofs. A lot of them had pretty flowers growing outside their doors. Soon, people started coming out of their houses. Pretty women with strangely puffed up skirts started chattering in high voices to their neighbors, with a Northern twang. Highly polished men approached their huge storefront windows, and turned a wooden sign with the word “Closed” on it to “Open”.  Some of the shops had elaborate dresses with lace and ribbon draped all over them. Others had delicious looking cakes, decorated with flowers and little candies. 

I soon wandered to what appeared to be the village square. Mari came up behind me and nudged me with her nose, again. I reached my hand back and pushed her away from my hair, which she seemed to be thinking of eating. I walked forward to a pretty fountain, with shiny coins in the bottom. Many shops and carts were set up all around the square. I walked around, ignoring people’s gasps and grunts of disgust at my pants.

“Girl,” One plucky woman said. She was clutching a frilly umbrella in one hand, keeping the sun off of her blotchy face. “What the hell do you think you are doing?” She glared at me with one huge beady eyes.

“I am sorry?” I uttered, perplexed.

“The last person who wore pants in this village were burnt at the stake!” She shot at me viciously.

“Marge, she was burnt for being a witch.” Said a man with a nasally voice, coming up behind his wife. “She wore pants because she was actually a he.”

“Oh. I always thought she-- Excuse me, he-- looked rather suspicious.” Marge said. “Are you a boy, girl?”

“N-no!” I stuttered, embarrassed. “I swear, I am a girl.”

“She swears, too!” Said Marge, throwing her hand up in disgust. “Well, you better run along.” She waddled away, her short husband dangling off of her massive arm. “Children these days. They are so ignorant.” 

I kept myself from launching at the hideous hag. Yet, from that moment on, I stayed in the shadows. Eventually we left, because Mari went over to the fruit vender and started munching on a big apple. The vendor held up a harsh looking spear and threatened to chase us with it if we did not get out of his sight.

I hurriedly ran on to an edgy looking backroad, with Mari close behind me. I marched down the tiny road, which was next to a small lake. I walked around the lake, into a pine tree wood. I liked my aspen filled forests. Aspen. How ironic. These pine tree forests were all too prickly and unfamiliar. The bark was too dark. Everything was too dark! 

I started to panic. I ran out of the forest, finding my ankles meeting the freezing cold water of the eerie lake. I began to slosh back up to the bank, to Mari who was pawing the ground nervously. I started to shiver, and I was very mad that Aspen gave me these boots they held all of the water in. I took of the boots and dumped all of the water out of them, and angrily shoved them back onto my sopping feet. I grumpily walked over to Mari, and leaned on her huge body. She was always sturdy. Always warm. She was my best friend.

I heard a rustle of leaves behind me, in the forest. I slowly turned around, sweat beading on my forehead. I did not want to see what was in the forest, mostly because I did not think I could take anymore trauma or surprise. I opened my eyes to see three young men standing at the edge of the wood, big axes were carelessly resting in their hands. They must be lumbermen, I thought to myself. One of the tree, a big red head, with huge arms and a small neck, whispered something to his neighbor, a stalky brunette with a stubbly chin, and they both laughed. The blonde one, who was tall and childish looking stepped forward.

“Hello, little lady.” He said, in a polite tone.

“Hello.” I said, stupidly. I clutched the hilt of my sword. My thumb traced the octagonal ruby entrusted in the hilt. I went over the thrusts that Aspen had taught me.

“Are you alone?” The blonde asked again. This time, glancing back at his friends, who continued to whisper to each other, chuckling occasionally.

“Y-no.” I almost said yes. I almost slapped myself for saying that. I started to edge back towards Mari. I then realized she did not have her saddle. I refrained from slapping myself, again. I would just have to struggle up on to her, kick her forward, and hope she doesn’t run into a tree or the lake.

“Who are you with?” The blonde man asked. “And why are you wearing pants?” He sounded perplexed.

“That is not any of your business!” I said, in what I tried to make a scandalized tone. I then realized I totally gave it away that I was lying. My breathing began to speed up

“Isn’t it?” He asked, and the red head and brunette guffawed raucously. He took a step forward. I backed up, and soon he started walking towards me. I quickly drew my sword out of it is sheath. The blond man eyed it warily and backed off. “No need for weapons.”

“I think there is a definite need for weapons!” I said as loudly as I could. I was trying to attract attention to myself. I noticed that the two thugs behind the blond one were swinging their axes intimidatingly. I braced myself for the worst.

I stuck my sword out directly in front of me, and then, to my own surprise, I shrieked as loud as I could and I charged the group. They dispersed as I ran through their group, two of them, I do not know which ones, uttered gasps. Then, before I even knew what I was doing, I turned around and ran right back through their group, managing to jab the brunette. I then sheathed my sword and prepared to launch myself off of the ground. Mari looked very startled, but she did not run away as I ran towards her. I pushed off of the ground with all of my might, and managed to jump onto Mari’s back. I was slung over her, but I managed to swing my leg around her, and hoist myself up. I kicked her forward, and she ran loyally away. Away from the thugs and towards the lake! As gently as I could, I tried to pull her braided mane back to signal to her to stop. She got confused and stood up on her back legs, and pawed the air nervously. I slid off of her back, and landed into the shallow water of the lake, getting the wind knocked out of me.

I stood up to see Mari bucking the air, probably very scared. I saw the men approaching me warily. The red head was chuckling. I drew my sword again, and thought my head “Imagine that they are a tree, and you are trying to hit a squirrel”. I Brought the sword above my head, and then brought it down with all of my might. The red head looked violated. They finally started to back away. 

Until the brunette had an arrow and bow in his hand.

Then, I could hear the sound of hoofbeats. There was a scream, and I looked over to see the blond on the ground. A black figure spun around and hit the brunette in the stomach with the hilt of his sword, making his bow and arrow fly out of his hands. The red head started running away from his friends, into the forest. The black figure ran after him, and drew a dagger out of a bag on his hip, and viciously threw it at the brunette. I looked away, burying my face into Mari’s side.

I felt a hand on my shoulder, and pulled my sword out of it is sheath again, as I swirled around to come face-to-face with Aspen. I gasped, and then burst into tears and ran at him, and caught him in a hug. He stumbled back a little bit by the force of my hug, but he reluctantly put his arms around me, too.

“A-a-aspen!” I gasped through my tears. “I am s-s-so sorry!” 

He pushed me away, and looked at me angrily. He was a little worse for wear; His dark hair was tangled, and he had very dark circles under his eyes. He had many small scratches on his face. His skin seemed to hang loosely on his face, and I wondered if he had eaten in three days.

“You left me!” He said, not yelling, but definitely not keeping his voice low. “Why?”

“I did not leave you!” I cried. “I wanted to go hunt and bring back something to eat and impress you!”

“Likely story. You’re just grateful I saved your neck!” He turned away from me, and walked a few steps away from me.

“No! It Is not like that! I am telling the truth; I got lost!” I walked up to him, and grabbed his arm. He shook my arm off, but turned around. His features were less angry.

“It Is hard to believe you.” He said, softly. “I thought you were dead.”

“Why?”

“I saw this tree... It was like someone was hacking away someone’s face.” He looked very somber, and looked to the ground.

Suddenly. I was laughing.

I was laughing so hard, my sides hurt. I fell to the ground, and held my sides and laughed even harder. I propped myself up against my arm and looked into Aspen’s face, which brought on a new round of laughs. Tears burned in my eyes, and were soon streaming down my face.

Aspen looked concerned. “Are you okay?” He asked, hesitant.

“Yes!” I gasped, hoisting myself up from off the ground. “Yes, I am fine.” I looked at Aspen’s expression, and added, “I did that to the tree.”

“You did that? Why?” He asked me. “What did the tree ver do to you?”

“I was trying to kill a squirrel!” I said, laughing again. Aspen smirked.

“Really?”

“Yes! I told you I only left to go and hunt!”

Aspen dramatically shook his head, as if he was disgraced. And then said, “Your lips are blue.” He went over to Daisy, and brought back a cape, and he fastened it around my shoulders. I then realized how cold I was. Falling into the lake was not a very good thing at all. My shoulders ached, and I felt as if I broke my tail bone. I started to shiver. Aspen scooped me up and placed me on Daisy, and then he mounted. He called Mari’s name and then we rode away.

I was the happiest person in the world. Becoming warmer in the black cape, and next to one of my most favorite persons in the world. Mari was trotting behind us. It finally seemed as if luck had given me a gift.

Chapter Five

Caves and Arrowheads

Two days after my little encounter with the thugs, Aspen and I were riding back into the Southern Kingdom, just along the border of the Southern Kingdom. 

Aspen said that it could be disastrous if anybody found out that I left the Southern Kingdom. The invaders could have taken my leaving my surrender, and the Southern Kingdom would rightfully be theirs. This piece of information made me feel extremely guilty, as it was my doing that we were even in the Northern Kingdom at all.

Now, we were riding at the base of the huge mountain which used to be a volcano. The mountain is referred to as the Pine, because it is covered with pine trees, and because it shoots straight up into the air like a pine tree. The peak was covered in snow, and it was slowly getting colder.

I found myself sleeping next to Aspen every night. He slept sitting up as usual, but it still gave me a sense of comfort and security. He was like the big brother I never had. I could not help it, but I started to love him. Not love love, but love like if he left my life, I would be sad and lonely. I thought of Ben again. I could live without him...

Before we left the little village in which I almost got... Whatever the men were going to do, Aspen taught me how to ride without a saddle. It was surprisingly easy once you got the hang of it. The only problem was that you are more vulnerable to slide off of your horse.

As we rode through the forest, not the aspen one, I might add, I could literally feel the air get colder every minute. We were riding in no particular direction, in my opinion, but Aspen seemed to know what he was doing. We would turn at random spots, and ride a different direction for a few hours, and then turn again. Aspen soon came to a stop, and I followed his actions. He cupped his hand around his ear, and then leaned forward. I copied him, but I did not hear anything.

“Hear that?” He asked me.

“No,” I said. “What is it?” I strained my ears.

“I hear a river.” Aspen said, almost sounding amused. “We will have to cross it to get to our destination.”

“Aspen, please tell me where we are going.” I asked him, now worried that I would be half frozen from crossing a river. “You would not tell me a thing back at Monty.”

“We are heading towards a cave I know of.” He said. “We can stay there for a while.”

I suddenly felt very angry at him. I stopped Mari, and jumped off of her. Aspen halted Mari a few feet ahead of me, looking puzzled. I marched up to him, my hands on my hips and my bottom lip jutting out, and said in the most firm voice I could,

“I will leave you. I will.” I looked at him, and he looked at me. “I will leave if we do not go to a city soon. Very soon.” I added, trying to look threatening.

He started laughing. It was weird to see him smile so much. It definitely took me off guard, for his laugh was echoing off of the mountain and trees and it sounded like music to my ears. His features really did get handsomer when he was smiling. I was mesmerized. He then looked at me, and his smile slid off of his face.

“Do Not worry.” He told me. “I know what I am doing.”

“Well I don’!” I yelled.

“Do Not what!” He asked me, angrily. I glared at his big eyes, and then tried to calm my temper.

“Do Not know what you are doing! We have been out here for almost a month and I need to know what is happening! I will positively  break from stress and curiosity if we do not go to a village or a town soon!”

“We were in Monty.” Aspen pointed out.

“In the Southern Kingdom.” I verified. “I need to know.”

“I am sure you will find out soon enough.” Aspen said. Seeing my offensive glare, he added, “We will go looking for a village after we rest up at the cave.”

My spirits lifted considerably, I went back to Mari and led her to a stump, on which I hopped up on to her. Aspen kicked Daisy forward, and we were running through the forest again. The sun was stating to set when Aspen turned left and I found my self facing a large river.

“We better hurry and cross this thing.” Said Aspen, looking up at the starry sky. “I do not want to get lost in the dark.” He urged Daisy forward.

I eventually had to get off of Mari, for she had basically swimming across. We swam through the freezing water and emerged on the other side, half soaked. Mari emerged, and vigorously shook herself dry. She stumbled a bit, probably a bit dazed from the cold. I started to shiver. 

Aspen insisted we keep going, and I mounted Mari again, and we rode forward. I could not feel my fingers. Or toes. Or nose.

Soon, thankfully, Aspen Came to a stop before a cliff face, and a beautiful waterfall that was falling gracefully, eventually getting separated into two different flows when the water hit a large rock jutting out of the cliff. Through the curtain of water was a deep and dark hole.

“We are here!” Aspen said happily. “Let’s get in there.” 

I grudgingly led Mari through ankle deep water, and going through the magnificent waterfall to find myself in a warm cave. The bad part was the air that was blowing in from the waterfall, creating a breeze.

Aspen surprised me when he went back outside, and brought back with him a pile of sticks and leaves. He set them down, not near the entrance, and went to Daisy, and pulled out of her pack two stones. He smacked them together and sparks flew everywhere. He eventually got a fire going, and I gratefully crawled up to it. The breeze from the waterfall was pushing the smoke away from us.

Aspen when outside again, and did something that startled me greatly. He got his sword and jumped up, hitting the ruck that was spreading the water. The rock fell with a large bang, and the curtain was closed, creating one big body of water going down the cliff.

“There Is a big hole that goes from the top of the cliff. That Is why we aren’t getting smoked out.” Aspen said wisely.

“Why is there a hole?” I asked him.

“There used to be a town up above us, and suspect that they would send supplies down to the miners.” He said. He was so knowing. It was a bit unnerving.

“What happened to the town?” I asked him curiously.

“Destroyed by the Lowlanders.” Aspen spat bitterly. “They did it because they could. But this was one hundred years ago.”

“So this is a mine?” I decided to ignore the disturbing fact that the Lowlanders destroyed more than a few lives.

“Yes.” Aspen said. “I think they mined ores.” He said no more.

I grabbed a few capes and dragged them over to Aspen. As we were still wet, it was going to be a long a chilly night. I buried myself in the capes, and tried to cover up Aspen a little bit, who seemed to be extremely deep in thought.

I lay down, feeling very lonely. Aspen might be very handsome and he did have a sense of humor, but he did not talk with me. He was a travel companion; nothing more. Yet, even though I knew nothing about him, I still considered him my friend.

“Aspen?” I asked.

“What?”

“Where are your parents?” I asked. I was truly curious.

“Fighting in the war, most likely.” He said, cautious. “Why?”

“Just curious.” I said truthfully. “Is your dad a knight?”

“No, but he fights like one.” He looked at me and smiled. “My uncle was the Lord Knight. Best of the best.”

“He taught you to throw daggers?”

“Yes.” He said, slightly bitter.

“Do you not like your uncle?” I asked.

“I-- We’ve had issues.” He said in a measured voice. He was not looking me in the eye.

“What happened?”

“None of your business.” He did not sound hostile. On the contrary, he sounded strangely kind.

There was a long silence.

“What about your friends? Who are they?” He said in a strangely cheery voice.

I opened my mouth, but then closed it. Where to start?

“My best friend is Layla. She has a brain the size of a walnut, but makes up for it in enthusiasm. I love her to death. She has a sister, named Mae. Mae isn’t a close friend because she is a bit on the vain side. She is gossipy, too. Ben is their cousin--” I blushed furiously. “And then there is my friend--”

“Tell me about Ben.” Aspen demanded. I blushed even deeper. What would I tell him? And why was I being so self conscious?

“He’s been my friend for years.” I said, nervous.

“What does he look like?”

“Er.. He has light brown hair and pretty eyes.” I suddenly hated myself for saying ‘pretty’. “He’s a knight.”

“Oh he is, now?” Asked Aspen. I could not see his facial expression. “Do you like him?”

“Do Not be stupid, of course I like him. He is my friend.” I said, exasperated and a bit panicky.

“I see.”

More silence.

“Tell me about Lisette.” Aspen said. Tears sprang into my eyes. His question caught me off guard. I am surprised he remembered her name.

Soon, I was giving a long monologue about my sister.

“She is the most beautiful thing ever. She was proposed to three times, once by some strange foreign dignitary, another time by a prince of the Northern Kingdom, and then finally by the duke of the West. She said no, because she said she wanted to love, not deal with her partner. She had shoulder length gold hair and her eyes were like crystals. She was one of my best friends. She died for me.” I choked on tears and then was quiet.

Aspen patted my back. I did not feel as lonely anymore.

I missed my sister more than I had ever missed anyone. Yet, I knew it was silly to keep crying over her. She was gone and there was nothing I could do to bring her back. I just had to accept it! She lived a charmed life and she was happy. She died instantly, not suffering. She was the lucky one.

I looked at my situation. Freezing. Hungry. Cold, and definitely not happy. Kind of. Aspen made me happy. I had lost a family member, Maybe even three. I was dressed like a boy and I had stabbed a man. My heart jumped in my throat when I realize what I did. 

“Aspen?”

“What?”

“Why do you kill people so easily?” It was a very hard question to ask, but it was plausible that I ask it. He killed some of those invaders without even stopping to reason with them.

“I owe them nothing.” He said fiercely. “They ruined my life. And since they ruined it, I will not be taken prisoner or get killed. It’s killed or be killed, Speira.”

“Oh.” That kind of made sense. “Thank you.”

“For what?” Aspen asked curiously.

“For saving me.” I said groggily. Sleep was going to take me over any moment.

“Why would not I have saved you?” Aspen asked. He sounded in distress.

“Because you did not know me.”

“I know you now.”

“Thank God for that.” I said, snuggling deeper into the blankets. “What do you think of me Aspen? Am I a good person?” I did not wait for an answer. Unconsciousness took over before he could utter his answer. I was happiest as I had been in a very long time, it seemed.

I woke up. Wait, no, I did not wake up. I was dreaming that I woke up. I was standing alone in a grassy field that stretched from horizon to horizon. Aspen was no where to be seen.

The sky was strangely misty and pinkish. The grass was to bright of a green. I turned around in a circle, and gasped when a forest had appeared out of no where. It was an aspen forest. I walked towards it, grateful for the sense of familiarity it radiated.

Then Ben walked out of it’s depths.

“Speira!” He called to me, his arms wide open. “Come on!” Suddenly, instead of him looking happy, he looked scared. He turned and ran away. I followed him, strangely happy.

Suddenly, Aspen walked out of a tall aspen tree. His bow was loaded, and he stared straight at Ben. Ben gasped and grabbed my hand and tried to run away, but Aspen’s arrow left his bow, and it shot through Ben’s chest. He faded into the mist.

I turned and faced Aspen, very angry. I launched at him, but before I could touch him, an arrow went through my chest, and I fell back, looking at the beautiful yellow leaves above me. 

Aspen only cared about surviving. Would he kill me if he felt that I threatened his existence? Hopefully not! I felt awful when I woke up. My stomach hurt and so did my head.

And a place in my chest where in imaginary arrow pierced my heart.

***

The dream that I had dreamt last night bothered me greatly. I could not look Aspen in the eye the next morning. It was foolish of me to even worry about the dream, but what I dreamt was true! He was vicious, and I just happened to be exempt from this viciousness. What would happen if I ran into Ben or Layla? Would he kill them right on the spot?

“Speira, wake up.” Aspen said. He was still sitting by my side, as he patted my pack firmly.

“I am awake.” I mumbled lamely. “I do not want to get up.” My head hurt. 

“Oh... Err, shall I go find breakfast?” He asked me, sounding worried.

“Yes, please do.” I flipped over in the blankets, trying to sit up.

“Uh, okay. Stay put.” He said.

“I know.” I said firmly, and a bit angrily. He got up and left, edging along the edge of the cliff to avoid getting wet.

I lay in the capes for a long while. Finally, feeling restless, I got up and started to walk around. I sat at the entrance of the cave, letting the breeze cool my face, which felt oddly hot. More walking. Sitting. Walking...

Aspen came back with an arm full of squirrel. He set up the fire again and began to roast the poor thing. I kept pacing.

“Speira,” Aspen said, sounding worried. “You look awful! What Is wrong?”

“What do you mean?” I asked him. My eyeballs felt like they were to big for my head. I rubbed them angrily.

“Look at yourself!” He led me over the the water’s edge, and I gazed into the depths.

The reflection was not the best quality, but I could tell I was very pale and blotchy. It might’ve been the water, but my eyes looked glazed over.

“Yeah, I do not feel to good.” I said, stepping back from the water and collapsing onto the capes.

“Not at all I would guess...” He looked extremely worried. He looked at me with a strange expression in his eyes. I buried myself in the capes again.

A while later, he woke me up again, saying, “Squirrel?”

I sat up with difficulty, and took the skewered squirrel meat. I ate it grudgingly. Suddenly, it wanted to come back up my throat. I ran over the the water’s edge and watched my squirrel sink into the depths. I leaned back into the cave, and found myself very clammy and feeling very cold. Aspen led me to the blankets, and buried me, because I was incapable to do so.

I was asleep for a very long time.

I woke up and my stomach was not hurting anymore. I got up, still with difficulty, and stumbled over to Aspen who was sitting towards the waterfall with his back to me. I sat next to him.

“How are you?” He asked me, right when he saw me.

“Fi--” I was about to say fine, but I started to cough. My chest hurt with each one, and I vaguely wondered if I was dying.

“Here do not talk.” Aspen said, anxious. “Just do not do anything, okay? I think you’re really sick.”

“Finally figured that out?” I said through my coughing. My eyes were watering and I could not see. Or smell. Or breathe.

Aspen sat with me through that long night. We just sat there, not saying anything. I felt like I was dying. I had never been sick before!

Aspen eventually fell asleep, leaving me to contemplate the mysteries of the universe through a foggy mind. 

Maybe this is what Lisette felt before she died. Maybe she did not feel anything, and I hoped for that. There was one time when Mother had been very sick. 

I remember that she was pregnant again, but they thought it was a boy because of how her belly was shaped or something like that. She was nearly nine months when she started feeling awful.

I remember I could hear her wailing through the castle. Those were the worst nights of my life, up until now. I remember Lisette would come into my room and sleep with me because I would start crying, too. 

After a week of torture like this, my mother went into labor. She almost died. The doctor of the village came in and quickly ripped her open to get the baby out. They sewed her back up, and she lived. Sadly, something went wrong with the little baby, and he died.

This is one of my saddest memories. I had nightmares about little baby Charles for two years after that. Mother was never the same. She seemed to have lost her loving gene, and that is why she would give us the silent treatment instead of work it out with Lisette and I. 

This was one of two bad childhood experiences  I had dealt with in my life. The other one was when the wheat barn and butcher’s shop caught on fire. I was ten, and I remember being out with Mother on an afternoon walk. Suddenly, we heard a enormous boom from a block over. Mother steered me towards the castle, but she did not block the twenty foot flames and screaming people from my eyes. Five people died.

The winter following the disaster, there was a food shortage. I remember having only one course during meals and sometimes skipping lunch. Luckily, nobody died from starvation.

I snapped out of my daydreaming, and turned to Axel, who still was sleeping. I finally felt tired, and then drifted off into a short sleep.

I awoke to the sound of yelling. I stood up very fast, and almost fell over because of my terrible balance. Daisy and Mari’s heads both perked up at the sounds of the shouts, too. 

Aspen was already on his feet, loading his bow. He adjusted his chain mail and walked out of the cave. I sat there, clutching my knees, rocking slightly. The horses were getting jumpy, and they were nervously pawing the ground.

I heard more shouts, but they sounded more like shouts of laughter this time. I nervously got closer to the wall of water, and peered through it. All I could see was the outline of several black figures. I gasped.

The laughter instantly stopped at my gasp. I hurriedly ran over to Mari and grabbed my sword. I dragged my feet over to the entrance of the waterfall, and voices met my ears, but I could not tell what they were saying.

I felt a cough building up. I tried to, as silently as I could, to clear my throat. I was thankful that it barely made a sound, but then a ginormous sneeze caught be totally off guard.

“ACHOO” I was so embarrassed, and scared, I started to cry. This did not help the quietness. The invaders burst into raucous laughter, and I could hear movement.

Then, I heard the sound of metal banging into something solid and slightly liquid. This made me want to hurl again. I heard many grunts and someone shouted,

“Look! Look guys! Its him--” Some yelled before getting cut off.

Then I heard something that made my heart do an unpleasant flip. It was the sound of Aspen roaring and then many sickening thuds followed. I couldn’t help myself. I burst through the waterfall, nothing caring about being soaked. I heard many of the invaders laugh.

I saw Aspen lying unconscious on the ground. A heavily muscled woman was standing over him, a strange expression on her face. 

I charged her first. I let out a scream and ran at her, my sword above my head.

I did not really have a clue what happened after that. I knew that I probably injured many people, for I kept thinking in my head ‘let them be the tree’. I was like a crazy tornado that people were to afraid to move away from. None of invaders seemed to be trying very hard, or I just caught them off guard.

I snapped out of my stupor when my head hit a large rock, blurring my vision. I looked up to see a hostile man looking down at me, a spear held in his hand.

“No!” I cried, my voice cracking.

The man looked at me with some ferocious gleam in his eye, but suddenly, a blur ran past his and the man was grabbed around the waste and thrown off of his feet. I looked up to see someone in armor on a brown horse. I looked over at Aspen, and I anxiously crawled over to him. He had the head of a spear lodged into his calf. His eyes were closed, and some blood was trickling out of his hair down his face.

“Aspen.” I whispered. “Aspen!” I said louder.

Someone came over and put a hand on my shoulder, which I threw off, angrily. I clutched Aspen’s shirt and shouted loudly, “Aspen wake up!”

Someone picked me up around my waist, but I flailed and kicked him, and he eventually had to put me down. My vision started to blur, and I was feeling queasy. I crawled a few feet, and then collapsed, to tired and sick to do anything. I did not protest when the man picked me up and sat me down on the horse.

I had enough strength to murmur, “Horses.” And gesture to the waterfall. I was barely aware of the person sitting himself behind me, as Aspen did. 

We then rode out of the forest, out of the unfamiliar pine.

Part Two

Chapter Six

Bellaire

I woke up with a jolt. I tried to remember what had happened.

I was laying in a large bed, with a rather complicated quilt. The room I was in was very grand. The walls were elaborately painted with golden swirls. I saw an old lady sitting in a chair across from the bed. He head was tilted back, her mouth open, and her glasses askew.

I remember the ride to this place vaguely. I remember I cried a lot, and the knight that was riding behind me seemed to be the leader, for he was constantly yelling instructions to people.

I think the whole ride I was either sleeping or to brain dead to know what was happening.

I flipped my legs over the side of the bed to find a soft fabric that made me want to lay in it. I got off of the bed, and felt the soft fur carpet. It has been so long since I had seen anything pretty. I rubbed my fingers through it, savoring the feeling, and then I got up and walked over to the door. 

I then noticed I was dressed in a satin nightgown. I felt my head, where a large lump was from me falling and hitting the rock. I also noticed that my throat felt better. I could breathe easier.

I started to turn the door knob, which opened with a mighty squeak, which awoke the old woman who had started to snore.

“Oh, goodness!” She said, and she got up and bustled over to me. Her arms hovered over me, trying to make of their mind. She seemed to want to push me back into bed, but she did not know where she could touch me without hurting me. “Dear, you shouldn’t be up!”

“Sorry.” I said, simply. I began to turn the knob again. The old woman did not look very happy, but she followed me out.

The floors were a dark wooden color. The walls were an off white, and these where all beautifully painted, too. The ceiling, which was not as tall as my castle’s ceilings were, but were beautiful all the same, was gold and had some red fabric hung onto the ceiling somehow, creating a long red stripe.

Many people were bustling around, looking harassed. A rather large man in armor walked past me, looked at me and did a double take, and then walked over to me and the old lady.

“Why isn’t she resting!” He cried angrily. 

“S-she.. She was--” The old woman began to say.

“I couldn’t sleep anymore.” I interrupted. “And I want to know what is going on. Where am I and where is Aspen?”

“Who is ‘Aspen’” The man asked me. It felt like I had a pit in my stomach, but before I could say anything else, he said, “You are in Bellaire.”

“Aspen is the--” I started to say, but the man took me by the arm and steered me into a sitting room, in which I collapsed into a squishy chair. There was a handsome fire crackling in a huge fireplace. Many paintings lined the walls, and many fur carpets covered the floor. It was very cozy.

“My name is Sir Flux.” The man said, sitting down in a red chair across from me. “I am the Captain of the Guard, that is, the head knight.” He cleared his throat, and clapped his hands and a maid scooted forward, and set down a tea tray. “Bellaire is the biggest village in the Southern Kingdom.” Of course, I already knew this. “What is your name?”

This question puzzled me. I am, technically, the queen. Shouldn’t they know who I am? I glared at Sir Sir Flux quizzically. “Speira.” I said, simply.

The knight shook his head, as if I was telling him something he was afraid of hearing. “Girl, so many people have come up claiming to be you.”

“But I am the duchess-- or queen!” I said to him. “Would Not you know what your queen looks like?”

“Its difficult.” Sir Sir Flux said. “You do not understand that most people in the kingdom do not know what you look like. We have only heard rumors. You could be an invader, trying to trick us.”

“Is anyone from Currey here? They could verify--”

“All of the Currey knights are far to busy.” Sir Sir Flux waved his hand carelessly. This man was starting to anger me.

“Are their jobs more important than the queen’s? What if I am the real Speira? They’ll see me eventually.” I think the weight of my words finally sunk into his head. If he was rude to me, he could be deposed. Since I was Queen.

“Fine.” He said, curtly. “Fine!” He stood up. “Follow me, if you will, ma’am.” I got up and started to follow him back to the entrance. We went through some beautiful wooden doors and I found myself in the midst of many armored men. They seemed to be having some sort of meeting. They were all talking loudly. When they saw Sir Sir Flux, they would bow towards him, but then continue arguing. I stayed close to Sir Flux, because honestly, these knights were a bit frightening. He led me up on to a little wooden platform which raised us about two feet above everyone else.

Sir Sir Flux started yelling for quiet, but nobody could hear him over the chattering. I was strongly aware that I was still in my nightgown. Oh well. I wore pants for a very long time; nothing could scar me now. I shuffled my feet nervously. The men in the front seemed to have realized the attempt for quiet, and they all started trying to get people to be quiet, too.

Suddenly, I heard my name. I looked at Sir Sir Flux, and he to was scanning the crowd to look for the shouter. My name was shouted again, and the chattering quieted down. They all looked at Sir Sir Flux. And then, like a breath of fresh air, Sir Maverick stumbled to the very front of the crowd.

“Speira!” He gasped.

“Is this the Queen, Maverick?” Sir Flux asked him.

“Yes! She is!” Sir Maverick exclaimed. There was much muttering in the crowd now. 

“Lead her to the conference room, immediately.” Sir Flux ordered Sir Maverick. “But fetch a maid and tell them to get our Queen some new clothes.” Sir Maverick held out his hand, and I took it and jumped lightly off of the platform. Still holding my hand, he took me into the small castle.

He called to a lady to bring me some decent clothes, and the tiny maid ran away and came back with a blue dress. I took it to my quarters and slipped it on, putting my feet into some slippers. The dress was rather dull, but it felt great to be wearing something beautiful again.

Sir Maverick escorted me to a long room that was rather gloomy. The floors were plain wood, and so were the walls. It was very dark, and the chandelier looked dusty and uncared for. I sat at the head of the table, and Sir Maverick sat on my left.

“I am so happy you are okay,” Sir Maverick told me. He looked strangely flushed. “We had search parties out looking for you, but nobody knew what you looked like. I always told your father we should have portraits painted of each of the royal family and sent to each village.”

The door to the room burst open, and in came many men and a few women. They all sat down, talking in urgent whispers. Sir Sir Flux came in last, and then sat down on my right side. Silence fell immediately.

“How much do you know, your majesty?” Sir Sir Flux asked me

“How much do I..?” I asked, confused.

“How much do you know about the war,” Sir Sir Flux said, impatiently. “Obviously you disappeared from the world for six weeks. We need to know what you to so we can discuss our next move”

“Well... The invaders have taken Currey.” I said lamely. “That Is all.”

“Well, there’s much, much more than that.” Sir Sir Flux said. “The Lowlanders have managed to take two other forts in the South. They have made an alliance with the Northern Kingdom--”

I gasped. “How long ago--?”

“A week ago. Some villagers decided to flee the North, and they came and told us what had happened.”

“That Is terrible--”

“Yes, it is quite sad.” SIr Sir Flux said, sounding almost bored. “Now, we haven’t seen or heard from your mother or father. Nobody knows what happened to them. Yet, if the manage to be found of they come back, they will take your place as queen.” He sounded almost hopeful.

“What else has happened?” I eagerly asked.

“Most of the Kingdom has fled to Bellaire, even though we request they stand strong in their own villages.” He rolled his eyes. “We have tried to take back Currey two times, but both times our armies were sabotaged on their journey to Currey. We have made an alliance with the East, but the West is afraid that the Lowlanders will target them if we come together.”

I knew someone who could help us, but nobody seemed to know where or who he was. He could train the knights... “Where’s Aspen?”

“Who?” Asked Sir Sir Flux crudely.

“The man you found me with...” I said, worried. “He had a spear head in his leg.”

“Oh, yes, the man who saved you?” He asked, a bit sarcastic. “We do not appreciate our Queen disappearing in a time of great crisis. And talking to him will not help anyone. You probably do not want to know...” Many of the men and women shook their heads.

“You do not understand.” I told them. “We did not know what was going on--”

“Excuses are--”

“Am I not your queen?” I asked Sir Flux, feeling very hurt. They did not understand! If only we could talk to Aspen, he would know what to say.

Sir Flux glared at me, and said cooly, “I am sorry, your majesty.” 

“Someone tell me where he is.” I demanded.

A lady in a poorly sewn brown dress sat forward and said in a strong voice, “He is in the hospital.”

“Thank you.” I said, standing up. “I need to go and see him.”

“We need to discuss our plans!” Sir Flux said, angry.

“I will not discuss anything without Aspen.” I said. “Take me to him please.” I said to the lady in brown. She stood up and glanced at Sir Flux with a nervous expression, but opened the door for me, and we walked through the castle.

We went up some stairs and walked through two big doors and I found myself standing in a room with white walls, and a dark mahogany floor. Many of the beds were filled with men and woman. Most of them were sleeping.

A man in a long white robe walked out to us and said, “Who are you looking for?” 

“I am Speira, and I want to see the man I was traveling with.” I said.

“Q-q-queen Speira?” The doctor stammered. “Oh, goodness!” He looked wildly around. “You’re alive!” I glared at him, probably a bit more sternly than I should’ve.

“Follow me.” He walked to the very back of the hospital, and he yanked a curtain open to reveal a sleeping Aspen.

I ran forward and looked scanned his face. He was awfully pale, but he was breathing.

“Aspen, wake up.” I whispered.

“Your Majesty--”

“Aspen!” I said a bit louder.

“Queen Speira, he will not wake up.” The doctor said, solemnly. I looked at him, and expected him to say ‘Just kidding!’ but he did not.

“What?”

“This young man-- Aspen you call him?-- he hasn’t been awake in two weeks.” The doctor said kindly.

“What?” I asked him. “But we have only been here for a day--”

“You were asleep for two weeks, Your Majesty.” The doctor said, not meeting my eyes.

“What! That Is impossible! Two weeks?” It seemed like I had only slept a short amount of time. How strange..

“You had a horrible case of pneumonia.” The doctor said. “We did not have anything to help you, but your immune system did the job. We had to knock you out though.” He looked at me, and then looked away quickly. “To let you heal.”

“He will wake up, will not he?” I asked.

“Well, Maybe...” The doctor said. “We do not actually know what is wrong. He lost a lot of blood, and he had a few bumps of the head, but we just can’t see anything that would keep him asleep.”

I stared at Aspen’s face. He couldn’t stay asleep forever, could he? I turned around and walked out of the hospital. I heard footsteps behind me, but I did’t stop. I headed down the stairs and went straight to the hallway where my room was located. I walked into my room, closed the door, and locked it. I angrily threw the key out of the window, and I heard it thud against the ground.

Many people came to my door and tried to coax me out, but I was unyielding. The news about Aspen was too much for me to handle. He was as good as dead, for I couldn’t talk to him or ask for his advice.

I just lay on my bed for the rest of the day, not crying at all. I would save those tears when he died. Or if he died. He was the one thing that was my connection to the world that he wasn’t even in. I thought of Mari, and had an impulse to go see her, but I did not. I did not know where she was, or if she was even here.

Night fell. I was still sedentary, even though my stomach growled. About every hour, someone would come and knock on my door for ten minutes. A few even went up to the window, but I angrily shut my curtains closed. I was on the edge of sleep, when I heard a knock on my window, making my eyes snap open.

Whoever knocked on my window had just murdered any chances of me sleeping. I wanted revenge. I huffed angrily and hopped out of bed, and I marched straight to the window and yanked the thick curtains open.x

It was light outside. The moon made everything glow. I gasped and fell backwards as I saw who was in my window.

It was Ben. His light colored hair was cut short and he seemed to have gotten noticeably taller. It had just been a month and a half! His features looked more grown up, too. Yet, not as manly as Aspen’s.

He smiled and waved at me, and then he signaled for me to open my window. I hurriedly unlocked it and struggled to open it.

“Speira!” He exclaimed happily. His smile did not reach his eyes, though. I wonder why...

“Ben, it is so good to see you.” I said, very happy. “Is Layla--”

“We haven’t seen Layla or Mae. Or their parents. Or my parents.” Ben said sadly. “But that doesn’t mean they are dead!” He said quickly and falsely cheery when he saw my expression. “They could be out in the forest like you were-- man, Speira, everyone is talking about that! You will go down in legend...” He looked dreamily up to the sky. This was  the first real conversation I have had with him. “Coming?” He suddenly asked me.

“Coming? Where” I asked, surprised. He did not really expect the Queen of the South to go out on a midnight stroll did he?

“To see the horses! Someone told me Mari was in there and you had not seen her yet.” Ben said happily. I was touched by his solitary act of kindness.

“Alright,” I said, smiling. “I’ll be right there.” I then disappeared in my room and opened the closet to find the boots that Aspen had given me back at the mirrored hut. I slipped them on, put my hair in a ponytail, and then climbed out of the window.

Ben started to run towards the stables, a big wooden structure with many windows and doors. I followed, running closely behind, overjoyed at the simple pleasure of sneaking out in the middle of the night with a  friend. Ben pushed open the stable door and we ran inside.

“That,” He said, pointing at a huge black horse. “Is Noir. He’s my horse.” He put his hands on his hips, and puffed up his chest.

“Wow,” I said. “When did you get a horse?”

“When I became... a knight.” He said dramatically. I clapped my hands and he smiled enthusiastically. “Yes, they decided because of the war, they should speed up the training. I am a full out knight! I have even been in a siege before!”

I did not like this part. A siege meant that Ben would be going out into the war, putting his life on line to defend his Kingdom. Noble, but I still hated the idea of it.

“Who was the guy they found you with?” Ben asked, looked at me out of the side of his eye. He started walking towards the end of the stable. “They said he was hurt pretty bad.”

“Aspen,” I sighed. “He’s the knight who saved me.”

“Hmph.” Ben said, sounding slightly disbelieving. “Nobody here knows him. And we have knights from Currey, Wiltondale, Hartwood--”

“Okay, okay.” I said, a slight bit annoyed. He was a knight. He had to be, because why else would he save me. “Is that Mari?” I gasped at a beautiful white horse, whose head was drooped in sleep.

“That Is her!” Ben said, happily. I ran up to Mari and hugged her. She woke up and nudged me affectionately. “It took forever to brush out her tale.”

“Thank you for doing that.” I told him kindly.

“Well, it is a knight’s duty. To take care of the royal family.” I could tell he was very proud to be a knight. He looked at my boots and said, “What are those things?”

I looked down. My boots were a bit hideous. They had scratches and were fading in parts. “Boots.”

“Well, yes boots, but why are you wearing them! You’re a queen for crying out loud.”

“They’re a special journey memento.” I told him, smiling to myself. “They have much sentimental value.”

Ben did not looked convinced. He quickly changed the subject, “Damien is alive!” He said happily. “His nose is a bit crooked, but he says it makes him look like he has been through many battles. I bet he might even thank you for doing that to him. His father was a bit happy when he found out that the queen was the one who set his nose right.” 

“Good for him,” I said, laughing. “I still do not fancy seeing him. He isn’t the most charm full person.”

“You’d be surprised.” He said. He looked out one of the windows, gasped and pulled me down, and I fell into the hay.

“What?” I said, a bit louder than I intended.

“Speaking of the devil... Look!” He crawled up to the window. I followed.

In the moonlight, I saw the shiny black hair of Damien tugging a girl with an ugly uneven face.

“Sadrina?” I asked, perplexed. “Ergh, what is she doing here?”

“I do not think she wanted to die. So most likely, she came here with her family.” Ben laughed. “Let’s get out of here.”

Chapter 7

Plans

Life at Bellaire was action filled. I barely had time to get up in the morning and braid my hair, before Sir Flux came a swept me away to the conference room, where we made endless plans of how to take back the kingdom.

I found out that this establishment was meant for grand officials like kings, queens, dukes, and duchesses visiting Bellaire. It was two stories high, yet it was very wide. 

My little get together with Ben was repeated several times over the past week, but not at night. I decided that If I was caught out of the castle at three A.M, it would not be with a boy. How improper.

“So, in conclusion, I think that we should simply march right into Currey, kill Runant, and take back our Kingdom!” A skinny and hopeful looking bespectacled man said enthusiastically. I just stared at him. I had not slept in almost two days, and I decided that I would not mingle with common stupidity such as this.

“No,” I simply said. “We might be able to kill Runant, but we are not just marching into the kingdom. That’s suicidal and basically, I just do not want to kill off one thousand men in attempt to kill Runant. You must remember that he will be well protected, and I doubt we can march in to his throne room and shoot him.”

The man’s head hung, and he looked ashamed. He should. His idea was very pathetic. Except it wasn’t the most pathetic thing I have heard all week. One man said that we could use me as bait in the middle of the forest and see if any invaders come and try to kill me, but our army would secretly be hiding in the trees, waiting to shoot.

One, that would be very hard to do, because probably, right when their eyes set on me, they would shoot me. They didn’t want me as prisoner. Second, invaders aren’t drawn to my scent. They would have to wander upon me accidentally. And who knows, most of them are probably taking villages and killing kings.

I found out that all of the kings and queens of the other Kingdoms were missing, too. I finally realized why we were attacked at that time; it must be a perfect time, with all of the kings and queens in one room. I hated my father, just a tiny bit, for thinking that they could stroll on the grounds without a guard. That’s what they did. Apparently, after his gazebo tea, he went out with the King of the North, West, and East and took a stroll in the garden. They haven’t been seen since. 

Now, the North’s princess is the queen. She is an ugly girl, who doesn’t have enough brains to fill a teaspoon. She was the one who made the alliance with the Lowlanders. I really wanted to go and smack her. She seriously couldn’t be that stupid!

We had planned two attacks on the Lowlanders. Someone had found their camp, which was located up high in the mountains. They said that their general, a very fat man, was being careless with defense. They said that they partied most nights.

In two days, an army of two hundred was going to go out there and attack them. We gave them specific orders to not kill the general, but to bring him prisoner. The only thing that I disapproved about this siege, was that Ben was going.

Ben was my only friend here, now that Aspen was gone. Aspen was still asleep, but according to the doctor, he was muttering in his sleep. The doctor would not tell me what he said, for some reason.

I had a nice litle chat with Sadrina She came up to me in the garden one afternoon. It was a very unpleasant experience for me, anyway. She laughed and seemed as happy as a witch in a broom factory. 

“Oh, I am soooo happy you’re not dead!” She shrieked happily. “My mother got out alright, but my father was skewered. Do Not worry,” She said, when she saw my horrified expression. “I didn’t like him much anyway.” 

“Okay...” I said, kind of creeped out. THat’s when I walked away. I saw her later that day with Damien, whispering and laughing. I wondered if it was about me. 

Ben had said that damien had dropped out of knight training. He said that he saw someone die back at Currey, and was never the same. Maybe a bit more brutal. He said that his father was also ashamed that he had gotten beaten up by a girl. I laughed when Ben told me that. 

It was nearing lunch time, and I had one more story to hear before I left. After lunch, I had sword fighting lessons. After my lessons, I had a meeting with the knights. After that, I finally got to sleep. I was looking forward to tomorrow very much, for it was the first day that I had nothing planned. Nothing at all....

Maverick stood up, and said, “I have an idea of how we can take back Critchton Grove.” Everyone’s head perked up and looked at him, interested, for nobody had any plans for this particular village. 

“What?” I asked, finally interested in what someone had to say.

“Well, Critchton is known for its rivers and streams.” Maverick said, slowly. “We could travel down the river so no tracks would be left behind. Then, as some of you might remember, there is a huge gate that filters one of the rivers as it comes into Critchon. We then could go between the bars, as the bars are set far apart. The gate is loacted behind the fort, and then we could climb the wall and climb through the balcony in the Master’s bedroom. And then climb through the door in to the throneroom and slaughter the general that is positioned there!” He ended brilliantly. Everyone looked at him, dumbfounded.

“That might actually work.” Sir Sir Flux said, surprised. “We could do that...”

Everyone nodded, and the woman that had a brown dress the first day that I woke up said, “Yes, I know the perfect knight who could arrange for this to happen.” SHe looked bemuseldly at Sir Sir Flux, and he puffed out his chest, involuntarily iI might add, and breathed in, making his mustache ripple. The lady in brown, whose name I have yet to discover, laughed and then said, “I think Sir Sir Flux would be more than qualified.”

I looked at her, a bit frustrated because I didn’t know her rank, and she was giving out missions without consulting me. “Who are you?” I asked her, a bit rude, but it wasn’t my fault that she was doing things without consulting me! I was queen!

“Lady Kate.” She said, nodding to me. “I am Sir Sir Flux’s assistant.” 

Oh. My. God. Did this lady honestly think she outranked everyone? “Well, you can’t really give out orders...”

“Oh, come on, Queen Speira.” Said Sir Flux, laughing airily. “Kate just likes to give her opinions.”

I looked from Kate to Sir Flux, and then sighed loudly and said, “We are done here. Maverick, you are in charge of this assignment.” Sir Flux looked at me angrily, and gasped, but I walked out of the room before he could say anything.

I walked straight to the dining hall and sat down at the head chair, as I usually did. The very petite maid that I seemed to notice everywhere scurried forwards and served me a big pile of ham and other green vegetables that nobody really cares about. Yum... ham...

I dug in, not caring enough to wait for anybody else. The maid stood in the corner, watching me mournfully. I was feeling a bit self conscious, and asked, “Err.. Ha’e you ea’en yet?” I said this with a mouthful of ham.

The maid looked around, as if looking for someone else who I could be talking to. She hesitantly pointed at herself, and I nodded. The maid said, “No, your majesty, the servants eat at three.” I nodded and then beckoned her forward. She walked over to me in a very nervous manner. “Sit down and have some ham.” I told her. She looked scandalized and said,

“Oh, but madam, are you sure this is proper?” Her voice was high and girly.

“Its proper if I say it is.” I told her happily, and shoveled ham onto the plate in front of her. “Dig in. I can’t eat this all.

She obediently started cutting her food.

“So, what is your name?” I asked her.

“Merida.” She replied. “Merida Livenoak.” I smiled at her interesting name, and she nervously returned the smile.

“Where are you from?” I speared a strange looking vegetable, and looked at it suspiciously.

“Here, madam. But my father was from Critchon.” She said, seeming more comfortable talking to a high authoritative figure like myself.

“I am from Currey.” I told her.

“Everyone knows that.” She said, smiling. “If someone wrote a book about you, nobody would read it because everyone knows everything about you already.”

“Really? Who has been telling everyone at Bellaire?” I asked her, truly curious.

“Well, I think some man named Lucas Maverick has been telling everyone what you look like.” She looked thoughtful and then added. “And Damien Matthews and Ben Stellar has been telling everyone your life story.

I felt touched that Ben had actually been paying attention, but I angrily said, “Ergh. Damien. Has he been telling bad things?”

“No, but he does tell it with attitude.” Merida said. “I heard it from Sadrina that--”

“Wait, you know Sadrina?” I asked her incredulously.

“Oh yes, she is one of the night maids!” 

“What? Why? Isn’t her father a blacksmith?” I asked, very intrigued.

“Well, the town already has three blacksmiths, and he doesn’t have any equipment to start a shop.” It made me sort of sad to hear this news, but my strange dislike for Sadrina blocked out the pity. 

“That’s sad.” I said. 

I bade her goodbye, and then walked out of the dining hall. People were just starting to come in, and some looked questioningly at me. I just walked past them. I knew I should be a bit more polite, but I just didn’t want to burden anyone with my company Yep, that’s how I felt. It always seemed to burden the adults that they had to listen to a fifteen year old girl.

Suddenly, a man came into the castle screaming, “Doctor Christoph! Doctor Christoph!” The man looked at me and yelled, “Where’s the doctor? Someone has been attacked!” People started emerging from their rooms and from the dining hall.

Christoph came out of the hospital and walked down the stairs saying, “What’s wrong?”

“Someone has been attacked!” Said the hysteric man. “Been hit by a shovel by the looks of it.”

Doctor Christoph looked at the man incredulously. “Are you serious?” He asked the man, a hint of a laugh in his voice, as if he expected the man to laugh and say “Haha, I got you!”

“Yes, it’s absolutely awful.” The man said, walking towards Christoph. He grabbed his hand and led him out the door. I followed. We walked down the steps and then, carried by two other men, a man with a huge purple lump on his head. I instantly wished I could look away, but it was like I was in a trance and I couldn’t take my eyes off of him. Someone grabbed my arm and pulled me back so the men could get through the door. I felt sick to my stomach and I rushed inside after them. I hated myself for my puniness. Shouldn’t I be able to look at him without me feeling sick?

The man was brought up the stairs and into the hospital. I went in straight after them. I had to be more responsible if I was going to be queen. He was my villager.

He was set down on a bed next to Aspen, who had the curtain pulled around his bed. There were less soldiers in here than last time, and that’s mostly because we haven’t done much to injure anyone. I looked at Aspen, whose, to my relief, face looked much healthier than it did a week ago. It almost glowed. I looked at his face while they took care of the man.

“...yes doctor. A Lowlander attacked him right outside the castle walls.” The man said to Christoph. I spun around and looked at him, horrified. “He was going out to hunt with one of the knights.”

“Which knight?” I asked him.

“Someone young, I think.” The man said, distracted. My heart hopped into my throat.

“Was it Ben?” I asked him, extremely restless.

“No...” The man said, looking at me as if I was mental. “No, it wasn’t him”

This is what I had to go through every time I heard someone mention a young knight getting hurt or getting put in danger. I nodded solemnly, and then walked out of the hospital and towards the garden, where the knights would be waiting for me.

They were all sitting in the grass, as there was no room big enough to house all of them. Even though this was not all of the knights, there were at least thirty of them. I walked forward and sat down, apologizing for my lateness. Ben was sitting next to a bearded man, across from me in the circle. He smiled at e encouragingly. 

“Alright, Queen Speira, we have been discussing going back to check up on the status of Currey.” Sir Sir Flux said. I now realized he was sitting on Ben’s other side. “All of the men here at today’s meeting volunteered to go.” I malevolently glared at Ben. “We don’t have any plans, as there’s no easy way to approach a village out in the middle of a field. So we all decided just to go and break into the castle through the outer gates.”

“I want to come.” I heard these words, but I didn’t realize they were mine until I had said them. It was slightly embarrassing, as I had no real training with a knight. “As queen, I think I have a right to go. I can ride a horse pretty well, and I can wield a sword.”

“My apologies, Your Majesty, but you need to be a trained knight to come on this mission.” Sir Flux said in a sickly sweet voice. He looked anywhere but at me, probably anticipating my stare of death.

“Well, I will train until we leave, and then I shall accompany you all to Currey, where we shall take back our castle!” I said, happily. Some of the knights clapped their hands.

“Most of these knights have been in training for years.” Sir Flux said, unsmiling.

“I was only in training for three weeks.” Said Ben. His eyes widened and he suddenly looked down as if he had interrupted something very grievous. I doubt he had ever spoken at a meeting before.

“Good point, Ben.” I said, encouragingly. “See, I was out on my own for more than a month and I survived!”

Sir Flux didn’t seem to have anything to say. He frowned and then said, “Who would be willing to teach you? I am far to busy.” I really wanted to smack this man.

“Sir Maverick.” I said instantly. 

“Lucas isn’t trained to be a teacher.” Sir Flux said. His voice was starting to give me a headache.

“I will be trained by Maverick, whether you like it or not!” I suddenly said, in one breath and very quickly. I took a deep breath and said, “Sir Flux, I am queen, remember? So my opinion outweighs yours.” I said this smiling. I noticed some of the other knights smiled, too. Especially Ben.

“All right, your majesty.” He said, standing up and dusting himself off. “Have a good time getting trained. We leave in two days.” I wasn’t expecting the short time, but I was still wanting to go. Sir Flux walked away.

“Get back to work everybody!” I said, happily. They all got up and dispersed. I found myself in the company of Ben.

“Are you sure you want to go back there?” Ben asked me, quietly. “I mean, it was your home...”

“It was your home, too.” I said, without even pausing to think about it. “If you can go, I can go.”

“Yes, I know, but even Lucas doesn’t want to go back there. That’s why he wasn’t at this meeting.” This news disturbed me. How bad was my old home?

***

The next day, I woke up early and instantly went to go find Maverick. I was in a very bad mood, because today was supposed to me my day off. I was dressed in a light yellow dress, a dress that I didn’t really care about, and I was okay if it got torn up in today’s training.

Maverick was waiting for me, holding two swords. I noticed that they were silver and ugly, and I had an instant urge to go back and grab my bejeweled sword, but I moved grudgingly forward. 

“Good morning.” Maverick said to me, happily. He handed me the sword and led me inside a stable. We walked to the far east corner, where about five different burlap sack dummies stood. I rubbed my hands together excitedly. I was going to shred this thing! “Show me what you got.” Maverick said, in an interested tone.

I grabbed the sword and approached the dummy. I instantly brought it above my head and swung it down. I repeatedly hit it violently. My eyes closed. I whacked it, and whacked it, until I heard a nervous voice cry, “Okay, okay, stop!” I paused with my sword high above my head, and slowly opened my eyes.

I seemed to have beheaded the dummy, as well as shredding it’s torso to fluffy mass of  feathers. I couldn’t help from smiling. I was glad that I knew I could defend myself.

“What.. Was that?” Maverick asked me, looking horrified.

“Squirrel Technique.” I said, instantly naming it.

“Well, I don’t know how much good that will do you against a moving target, but it seemed to do your unmoving target a horrible amount of damage.” He walked around it, and nodded, apparently impressed. “Now, it’s time for the challenge.”

He led me around the stable, and opened a door that led to a shed. He pulled out a large wooden thing, and I soon realized that this had a dummy on it, too. The dummy was on a track, and the track was on a platform. Maverick went over to a little lever and pumped it, and the platform tipped to the opposite side, making the dummy slide down the track. He pumped it faster, and the dummy was suddenly constantly moving.

I trained like this for a few hours: trying to make stabs at the dummy, which proved to be very hard when it wasn’t moving. Maverick would sometimes stop me and help me with my stabbing technique or how to hold my sword. 

After several hard hours, he stopped me, and he bade me goodnight, as it was already dusk. I would walk back into the castle, stuff myself with food and then go to sleep.

The next morning, we practiced on the moving dummy, and then moved on to riding Mari and I had to try to push Maverick off of his horse with my rubber sword. This proved to me even more difficult, but at the end of the day, I felt very accomplished.

I collapsed in my bed, again, feeling as if my limbs had turned to rubber and wanted to fall off. I was very proud of myself! And I realized that tomorrow, I was going to my first battle. I was very nervous.

I just wished Aspen was awake, and he was the one teaching me.

Chapter Eight

Currey

That next morning, I woke up to feeling very sore. I went into the dining hall, and ate a bit of breakfast. I then walked out into the entrance hall, where to my happy surprise, I found Ben and Maverick. Maverick held out a pair of breeches and a black shirt.

“I know how improper it must feel for you to wear pants, but it’s what all of the female knights wear.” Maverick smiled, and I smiled back, took the pants, disappeared into my room and reemerged, looking almost exactly as I did in the forest with Aspen.

“Shall we go?” Ben asked me, offering me his arm. I took it, silently, and we walked out to the stable. Many knights were already lined up at the gates, preparing to leave for the two day journey. I mounted Mari, and rode her out to the other knights. Ben, on Noir, followed me.

I was strangely aware of the uncomfortable saddle that I was sitting upon. I, and this surprised me, wanted to take it off. But I knew that this was not proper. Ben rode up along side of me, and smiling happily (even though his smile didn’t reach his eyes, again), he said, “Don’t worry. You will be well protected.” That wasn’t what I was worried about. I almost felt as if I didn’t want to see my old home. I was scared of what I would find.

Sir Sir Flux rode to the front of the group, and I followed him, closely followed by Ben. Sir Sir Flux signaled to the guards on the parapet to open the gates, and we rode through the grand arch, into the meadow. We rode at a steady trot towards the pine 

forest. I felt at my waist, and felt the an ugly sword that was unfamiliar to me. I hated myself for forgetting my gold sword, again.

Soon, we rode into the pine. The air was frigid, and it seemed to stick to my skin. I soon became very cold. Yet, I had to ride on. The soldiers might want to send me back if they found out that I wasn’t prepared. Nobody talked at first, but soon, the forest was alight with laughing men and women. The only silent person in the group was me. Ben was chatting to a soldier besides him about some girl who went missing in Bellaire.

“Yes, June was a forgetful little girl,” The man shook his head solemnly. “I bet she wandered away and forgot how to get back.”

“Or something more sinister happened.” Ben said to him, quietly, yet I still heard it. I hoped Ben would not start to hide things from me for ‘my own good’.

“Yes, that could be true, too.” The man said from behind me, now. He must’ve slowed his pace. “The Lowlanders are trained like nothing I have ever seen before. They can take down five of our knights one at a time. Of course, we are now more prepared, but at first, it was a disaster.” This interested me. So, this man knew about Lowlanders, did he? And men and women with crazy mad skills? I listened up.

“Oh, yes. I do remember” Ben said to the man. “That’s when I was aloud to become a knight.”

“I’ve learned that the Lowlander’s rankings are different than ours.” The man said, as if he wasn’t truly listening to Ben. The man, who I know noticed had chocolate brown hair, and very pale eyes seemed to have a very proper air about him “They have the beginners, which I heard the people who out ranked them call them Fresh Meat.(Why, of course, I forgot to mention I spied on their camp for a week!) But their proper name is just ‘Cadet’. The intermediates are called the Hooves, for these guys usually ride horses to battle. The highest up rank, though, are the Arrows. They are trained in everything. These are the guys who could kill five of us with one swing of the sword.”

“Dangerous...” Was all Ben muttered.

“Why, I had a nasty encounter with two Arrows.” The man continued. “Nearly sawed off my leg, they did.” He suddenly shivered. “That was the absolute most terrifying moment of my entire life.”

“What is your name?” I suddenly asked the man. He looked at me, dumbfounded. 

“Sir Stanton Maraude, Madam.” He bowed his head. He didn’t say anymore. Maybe being addressed by the queen was a bit much for his cocky brain.

We then rode the rest of the way in silence. Aspen wasn’t an Arrow, he was far to kind. Plus, I’d be dead if he was, as he kindly mentioned.

The sun started to set, and we then set up to make camp. A little sleeping bag was handed to me, and I arranged it on the ground. I crawled in and listened to the chatter slowly die down. I was still extremely nervous, and I felt slightly sick to my stomach, again. Ben was sleeping a few feet away from me, and I watched his eyes flutter close and heard his snores begin. It was strange how I didn’t like him as much as I did. I mean, I liked him as my friend. Maybe a traumatizing turn of events changes someone.

The mens’ snores were very annoying. I bet they echoed off of the mountains. they were so noisy. No wonder they had three guards on duty; it would not be very hard for a Lowlander to stumble upon us. Yet, finally, I fell asleep.

I was awakened by someone yelling, “Get up!” I instantly stood up and saw that everyone else was getting up, as well. I tried to straighten my hair as well as I could without a comb or brush, or mirror, and then mounted Mari. Within ten minutes, the sleeping bags were put back on the pack horses, and we were riding again.

Nobody talked this time. We were nearing Currey. The trees starting thinning, and for an hour, we rode through a grassy field. We soon emerged into an Aspen forest. What a strange transition, I thought to myself. We rode through the forest, occasionally riding through little streams. Undoubtedly, these were the streams that Aspen and I had depended on a month ago. 

Riding..

Riding.. And more riding. I was actually getting sleepy! I hoped vaguely that we would arrive soon. And then--

Bam!

It was as if some invisible force had hit me. We emerged from the forest, me at the head of the group, and I could now see the walls that enclosed the castle and village.

“Prepare yourselves!” Sir Flux yelled. “Hiya” He kicked his horse forward, and we ran down the hill towards the walls. Sir Flux was doing a bit over dramatically; he had his sword held up over his head, his other hand holding his horse’s reigns, and he was shrieking some sort of war cry.

We were nearing the walls; I could see individual bricks. Sir Flux was still yelling, and he had not taken a breath. I wondered if he would pass out from lack of oxygen... I suddenly felt like laughing! This probably wasn’t a good sign.

We soon came to a halt outside of the wall. Sir Flux started to breathe normally, and then directed us to our left, towards where the invaders had infiltrated us. I saw the hole, but I couldn’t see through it.

“Why aren’t there any Lowlanders guarding?” I heard Ben ask loudly.

He had a good point. Many of us should have been shot dead by now. We rode on, and Sir Flux and his horse rode through the hole. I followed, and I gasped.

There was no castle. There was no village. There was only ash and rubble. I rode forward, past Sir Flux, and dismounted Mari. I bent down and examined the ground. There was nothing there, except an inch thick layer of ash.

I felt no tears. This surprised me, as I was seeing my home in a state of utter destruction. I stood up and turned to Sir Flux, and calmly said,

“Well, there’s nothing here.” I started to walk back over to Mari. I mounted her, and kicked her forward. We ran at a very fast pace, away from the group. I had my eyes set on one thing: the only standing structure, a square thing made entirely of bricks. It was the base of The Roof. I unmounted Mari, again, and ran towards it. I then just stood there, like an idiot, and stared at it.

I heard hoofbeats behind me.

I went back to Mari, and rode away from them again. Into the forest, somehow knowing which ways to go. I didn’t want to talk to anybody, not even Ben. 

I just hated everything at the moment, especially anything that reminded me of home 

Chapter Nine

Jolt

I barely slept that night. The news of my home was devastating. And my first siege was kind of pathetic. Why they have to burn in down? 

I barely ate, too. I just rode Mari, not talking to anyone, only stopping when I was going the wrong way, and I had to go back. The only thing I wanted was to be back where Aspen was. Even if he wasn’t fully there, he was still a sense of comfort. And he didn’t remind me of home

When I saw the Bellaire wall, I literally forced Mari to go faster. I was finally home! Yes, that’s right, I called this place home. Currey was gone, so I couldn’t technically call a pile of ashes home. I wonder what happened to Lisette’s body...

Before I knew it, I was riding through the gates and into the beautiful city. All of the knights followed close behind, and soon I realized that many people were waiting anxiously for our return. Many women ran up and hugged their husbands, children bouncing after their mothers. One of the servants from the castle came up to me, and offered to take Mari back to the stables for me. I dismounted his, gave her a long stroke on her furry neck, and then started to push my way through the crowd.

“Speira!” Someone called from behind me. I just kept walking, because I honestly did not want to talk to anyone. And I wanted to get out of these awful pants!

“Where are you going?” The same voice called from behind me. I walked faster, not willing to let myself be seen with this type of attitude.

“HEY SPEIRA, STOP WALKING.” The same deep voice shouted. I felt anger bubble up inside of me. I was Queen! When were these people going to learn some respect? I wheeled around and marched right over to the man, and opened my mouth to start yelling my head off at him, but--

“Hey, Speira.” Said Aspen, sitting in a chair with wheels attached to it. “Long time, no see.” I looked at his face, which was alive and actually moving. I felt the anger vanish, and it was replaced by some strange feeling, which reminded me of a time when I was sad and happy at the same time. “Are you okay?” He asked in a quizzical tone.

I flung at him and gave him a big hug, and this was quite a feat, seeing that he was sitting in a chair. I was glad that no tears came.

“You are miraculously unchanged...” Aspen said, in a fake disgusted voice, but he was smiling. “Miss me?” I then noticed Merida was the one who must’ve pushed him down here. She smiled at me, but I was too caught up in Aspen actually talking.

“I thought you were going to be dead one of these days!” I said very loud, and people started looking over at me. “Its been awful with you asleep, Aspen.”

“I am glad I got to sleep.” He said lazily, stretching out in his chair, almost hitting Merida in the face. “Apparently, my leg has almost healed. And I needed a nap.” I laughed. “Well, let’s go back into the castle so we can catch up, yes?”

“Alright,” I said, almost laughing. We started to walk up the hill to the castle, when I felt a hand on my shoulder.

“Who’s that?” Ben whispered into my ear. I looked over my shoulder to see him looking a bit concerned.

“This is Aspen.” I said happily. “He finally woke up!”

“Great... Well, see you, Speira.” He then walked away.

“What’s his problem?” Aspen said, curious. 

“I have no clue. Maybe seeing our old home was a bit scary for him. It was for me.” Aspen then heard the entire story, of how it looked, smelled, and how it felt to be standing where once much happiness was. This reminded me of what Maraude had said about the Arrows, and I promised myself that right when I got Aspen alone I would interrogate him.

“Thank you Merida,” I told her, and she smiled again. “But I think I can take it from here.” She then left, without saying a word. I wheeled “ Aspen into the castle, and steered him right to the little sitting room next to my bedroom.

“Aspen, you’ve been lying to me.” I shot at him, once I had slid the door shut. He looked at me, as if daring to question him. I dared. “You said you were a knight, but nobody has even heard of you before! You know what you sound like to me?”

He raised his eyebrows, but said nothing.

“You seem like you’re trained to be an Arrow!” I finished significantly, but I was slightly crestfallen when I saw the bemused expression on his face. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Speira, Speira, Speira,” He said in a very annoying fashion. “I shall come clean. I am a spy.”

“A spy!” I gasped, loudly, and then added, “You’ve been spying on the Southern Kingdom?”

“Heavens no,” Said Aspen, actually chuckling. “Have I actually obtained any important information from you? I should think not, for you no nothing more than a villager.” 

I had nothing to say to this.

“So, stop worrying!” He said to me. “Remember, I told you if I was a Lowlander, you would have been dead already.” This calmed me slightly, but I still had my suspicions.

“Now, can I have a tour of this place?” He asked me, in a very polite tone. I rolled my eyes and went to take hold of his chair.

I steered him around the entire castle, giving every ounce of knowledge that I knew about the place to him. From the entrance hall, to the dining hall and then through the entire second story. I then came across a corridor that I didn’t know existed. It was very dull, apparently not attracting attention.

“Well, aren’t you going to show me this?” The expectant Aspen asked.

“Well, I’ve never been in here before...” I said, hesitantly. I didn’t want to get in trouble... Even though it was technically my castle.

“Well, just let’s explore!” Aspen said, and the leaned forward and pushed open the door. 

We walked into the room, which smelled strangely damp. It was also very cold, and it was so dark, I couldn’t see. Aspen grunted, and wheeled himself in. I felt along the wall, and my hands found a little metal switch. I flipped it, and I heard a sizzle, and suddenly torches on the walls burst into flame. I gasped and jumped back, surprised, but surprisingly, Aspen  didn’t even move a muscle. He wheeled himself forward and looked around.

I, myself, was a bit dazed from the sudden burst of flame, and it took me a moment before I could take in what I was seeing. But now, I got the full blow. I was looking at many shelves stuffed full of strange spears, knives, and what looked like a couple of huge canons were sitting on the floor. I walked forward, starting to get angry. Why had not anyone told me about this?

“These are Lowland weapons.” Aspen said, a bit withheld.

“How do you know?” I asked him. If I was going to learn more about him, I needed to dig in more.

“I have had many encounters with those.” He said, as he pointed at the canons. “The Lowlands used these and a bunch of dynamite to blow up your walls.”

“Interesting.” I said, plainly. I glared at the canon with a gaze that I hoped would melt it. So, you were the thing that blew up my home? “I am leaving.” I said, and I walked towards the door, leaving Aspen to frantically wheel himself behind me.

“What’s wrong?” He asked me, a bit of mock sadness in his tone.

“Nothing,” I said, but I noticed that my voice was very high, which signaled I was lying. I took one look at his face, and knew he had not bought it. “Okay, fine. I am actually upset that nobody told me about this. Let’s go find Sir Flux.” I said, a bit snappish. I grabbed the handles on Aspen’s chair, and marched out of the armory, down the stairs, and straight towards Sir Flux’s ‘Office’, which actually was the library,  but he shooed everyone who entered away.

I hammered hard on the door, and it snapped open, and I was met face-to-face to the lumpy face of Sir Sir Flux.

“What is it, Your Majesty?” Sir Flux said, in a sickly sweet voice. “I thought you were out.. Being a child.”

“One, I am fifteen. That is not a mere ‘child’.” I said, angrily “And-why-do-you-have-a-secret-armory-that-the-Queen-doesn’t-know-about?” I said this in one breath, and very fast.

He looked a bit amused, and then a bit amusing. His mouth was open in a stupid gape, and I stood there, my hands on my hips, staring him down. He chuckled in an embarrassed sort of way, and then said,

“Well, it never came up.” He looked down at his feet, and vaguely smiled. “Now, I have a meeting to get back to.”

“A meeting I don’t know about?” I asked him. I pushed my way in, and then felt the anger hit a boiling point. There was Sir Maraude, Sir Maverick, A bearded man with a monocle, and a white haired man that had skin that looked like paper. “Oh, well lookey here.” I said, sarcastically.

“Who is this...?” White haired man asked curiously.

“I am the Queen! Or has Sir Flux and these guys neglected to tell you this?” I said, angrily. “I am deposing you Flux! You are no longer a knight!”

“You can’t do that!” Sir Flux said, suddenly looking very flushed. He walked forward to me, a threatening finger held out.

“Yes I can! I am the Queen!” I yelled at him.

“Speira, calm down.” Aspen chuckled. He actually looked amused at my anger

Suddenly there was a gasping sound. We all turned around to see Sir Maraude clutch his chest and fall to the floor. I heard yelling, but was a bit transfixed on the man.

Many people started running into the room, Doctor Christoph was among them. He got a couple of people to help pick up Sir Maraude and carry him out of the room. I felt strangely hollow, and I couldn’t hear any sounds as well as I could of. I guess I had become brain dead. I stood there, like an idiot, until Aspen touched my arm.

“Are you okay” He asked me, wary. “Don’t worry, he wasn’t dead when they carried him out...” That didn’t really help. Aspen was so unsentimental sometimes. I noticed his face was a bit gray... He must not be feelings good. This must have been the most exciting day he has had in... Three weeks. I smiled to myself.

“What?” Aspen demanded, noticing my smile.

“You must be tired.” I said simply. I grasped his chair and started to wheel him out of the room. “This has been a very busy day for a sick man like you.”

“Hmph.” He said. He didn’t seem to like the fact that he was utterly useless. I smiled again. I finally had the upper hand! I was queen, and I was basically his legs until he could walk again. “Speira, you know that maid?”

“Yes, Merida.” I said, remembering the petite maid.

“Yeah, well she’s the one who is supposed to be wheeling me around.” He said, and I could actually hear the grouchiness in his voice. I laughed, and he shot me a disgusted look.

“Are you staying in the hospital?” I asked him, thinking of how I was going to get him up and down the stairs.

“No, Christoph said that I was assigned a room downstairs.” He said. “Go ask him.” I huffed, a bit frustrated, and he quickly added, “Please.”

“Alright.” I said. “Stay put,” I then walked away laughing. I ran down the corridor and pushed open the hospital door to reveal a harassed looking Christoph. His frizzly white hair was sticking up in the back, and his eyes had dark circles under them. I felt very sorry for him.

“How’s that guy that got attacked?” I asked him, curiously.

“Dead. Died last night. I was awake all night trying to save him, but we just don’t have anything that can do the body any good on the inside.” This troubled me.

“You saved Aspen.” I said pointedly. “You’re truly a great doctor.”

“Thank you, Your Majesty, but Aspen’s body healed itself. All I had to do was get out that arrowhead.” This troubled me a bit, too, because if I was going to a battle, I wanted to have a good doctor that would be able to stitch me up if I was injured.

“What about Sir Maraude?” I asked, feeling my heart jump a little bit, in fear of the answer.”

“He’s alive, but he is having much trouble making any movements.” Christoph shook his head solemnly.

“Okay, well, can I ask you a quick question?” I asked him, remembering that Aspen was waiting for me.

“Of course,” Christoph said, looking at my face curiously.

“Where is Aspen going to be sleeping? He said he wasn’t going to be staying in the hospital anymore...”

“Oh, yes, the corridor across from your’s has a room that is all made up for him.” Christoph said, walking into the hospital and checking up on one of the patients. “Its the door across from the bookshelf.” 

“Okay, thank you.” I said, and I turned away from the busy doctor, and exited the hospital.

I found Aspen twiddling his thumbs and looking up towards the ceiling, looking haughtily bored. When he heard my footsteps, his head turned towards me. He smiled, but it was more like a grimace. I felt very guilty that I had kept Aspen awake and busy for so long. I hurriedly called for a few maids, and we carefully rolled him down the stairs. Aspen’s face had seemed to have permanently contorted into an angry grimace. I gingerly rolled him down the correct corridor, and stopped at a wooden mahogany bookshelf, filled to the top with thick books. I made a mental note that I would have to read one of these soon.

“Christoph said you’ll be staying in here,” I said, as I pushed open the door. I rolled him in a took a look around. The bed was large, but not as large as mine was. There was a dresser and a large mirror set up next to each other. The floor was covered by a beautiful rug that had golden swirls and red flowers covered all over it.

“This is fancy...” Aspen said reluctantly.

“I’ll.. err, call someone, shall I?” I said awkwardly.

“What? Why?” He asked me.

“To get you into your bed...” I said uncertainly.

“Don’t worry about it,” Aspen said, and to my surprise and horror, he hoisted himself out of his chair, and stumbled and fell on to his bed. I gasped and rushed forward, not knowing what to do. He managed to situate himself on top of the covers, soon enough, though.

“I’ll just be leaving then,” I said, still awkward. “Have a goodnight.” I walked out of the room.

“Speira,” I heard Aspen say, in a strangely deep voice. I walked back in. “‘Bye.” He said. 

I grimaced and inched my way out of the room, chuckling as I closed the door. He looked quite funny when he had said goodbye. I turned around to find myself face-to-face with a flustered looking Ben

“I haven’t seen you all day,” He said to me. “You should be resting from that journey.” He suddenly paused, looking suspicious. “Why are you so happy?”

I hadn’t realized I was smiling. “Oh, just the news about Aspen being okay.”

“That’s all?” He asked me, skeptically. “Nothing else is lifting your mood?”

“No... What’s this about, Ben?” I asked him, a bit scared of his answer.

“Well, for starters, yesterday you found out that your home was in ruins. One of your villagers was murdered, your head knight deposed, another knight had a heart attack, and not to mention we are at war.” He crossed his arms and looked at me, expecting an explanation. I stared at him incredulously.

“Ben, I just haven’t been focusing on the bad things...” I said, reluctant. He still looked at me, wanting a better answer. “Aspen is my best friend, okay? I am happy that he is okay!”

“Oh, I see.” Ben said. “Forget about Layla, Mae... Or me.” He turned around and started walking away. “Good day, Your Majesty.” He waked around the corner, and away from me.

Chapter Ten

Dresses and Tree Leaves

I stood there, feeling angry and betrayed. Why was he all of a sudden hating me? What did I do?

Well, you should be more concerned about the welfare of your kingdom... The reasonable voice said inside my head.

I am! I just happen to be worried about Aspen a bit more... I realized that this sounded awful, and I added, He saved my life! What do you want me to do?

I understand that he saved your life, The voice of reason said, But there are thousands of people depending on you...

Oh, hush, you. I said, a bit angry at myself, which was sort of strange. I need to be there for Aspen! Who else has he got?

You want to be there ‘cause you loooove him... Reason said in a sly voice.

No I do not! I do not, do not, do not!

Repeating it won’t make it untrue, sweetie.

Okay this was getting weird. I decided to end that conversation, but now I was feeling a mixture of guilt and confusion. I slowly started to walk towards my room. I finally felt the depression of today’s events hit me, and I desperately wanted a friend. It would give someone a heart attack if they found me talking to Aspen in the middle of the night, so I was forced to go straight to my room.

Actually, I wasn’t! I raced into the dining hall, opened the servant’s door, and snuck silently down the staircase. I had never been here before. My feet touched the brown, stoned floor. I walked down the narrow staircase, and came into a room with a long table in it. A couple of servants were sitting in these chairs, and when I walked into their eyesight, they all stood up and bowed. fThis caught me off guard, and a nervous laugh left my lips.

Then, I saw who I was looking for; Merida. It was strange that I wanted to talk to her... I didn’t even know her age. But she radiated truth. So I said in a polite tone, “I wish to see Merida, please.” All of the servant’s heads swiveled around on their necks to glare at Merida, as if to say ‘What did you do!’, but Merida obediently walked around the table and followed me back up the stairs.

When we reached the dining hall, she asked me, “What is it, Your Majesty?” She didn’t look nervous in my presence, as all of the other servants did.

“I-- I just needed a friend.” I said, uncertainly. I noticed how this made me look a bit frail. I then noticed that I was noticing these things, and this surprised me. The only other person I knew to feel like this was Aspen.

“Oh, okay.” Merida said, not looking alarmed for my sanity as I thought she might. What queen wants a maid as her friend.  “What did you have in mind?” She asked me.

“Oh-- I..” I actually hadn’t really thought of what I would do once I got her. “I have a really cool braid that would look great with your hair.” Her hair was a pretty mahogany color, with red streaks running through it.

“Really?” She asked me. “Nobody ever wanted to do hair with me before.” She laughed, but then, as if realizing who she was in the presence in.

“You can laugh...” I said, a bit awkward about giving someone the permission to laugh.

“Madam Johnson (she’s our chief maid) said we should keep clean of all emotion while in the presence of those we serve.” She said very quickly, not meeting my eyes. It sounded like she had memorized this.

“Please don’t when you’re in my presence.” I said. “I think life without any emotions would be dreadful.” Merida nodded.

We both went to my room, and I showed her many tricks that she could do with her hair. After a while of this, she noticed my closet, whose door was ajar, and she ran towards it and started to eagerly look at all of the gowns.

“Take whatever you want.” I told her. “But not the pink one, I am sort of fond of that one.” And suddenly I remembered-- “Or the gold one with the gold belt. I am extremely fond of that one.”

Merida grabbed the gold dress and held it up. “This ratty old thing?” She asked, crinkling her nose. “Why?

“That’s the dress I wore when I was in the forest.” I said, simply. Merida’s eyes widened and she gingerly hung it back up. She came  over to one of the little sitting chairs in my room, and she sat down.

“You’re lucky.” She said, a bit envious.

“Why do you say that?” I asked her.

“Because look at you! You have a big bed, a huge closet, you have us to serve you...” She didn’t say it spitefully, just as if she wished she could have these charms. “The only friend I got would probably be you.” She said, she, as expected, hung her head as if she said something shameful.

“Your life is a bit better than mine.” I said, as I leaned back into my comfortable chair.. “I mean, for starters, your entire family wasn’t killed by the invaders,” I looked over to her, to make sure this was true, and she nodded her head in a defeated way, so I took this as an affirmative, “and you don’t have to organize raids and sieges, you don’t have everyone looking up to you, like they expect you to know all of the answers.”

Merida looked at me with a solemn expression. I was sincerely hoping she wasn’t feeling sorry for me, because I knew I was having a little pity party for myself. I suddenly didn’t want to sit in this room. I abruptly stood up.

“What is it, Speira?” She asked me curiously, as she too stood up.

“Let’s go down to the creek.” I had never been down there, but I knew where it was. It was close to the outer wall, and it was basically about an acre of trees and grass. There was a little creek running through it, which gave it it’s name.

“T-the wha--?” Merida stammered.

“Just follow me. It’ll be fun!” I grabbed her hand and towed her out of my room. I stopped, and ran back into my room, and grabbed my sheath with my gold sword in it, for good messure. I then ran to the end of the corridor, and stuck out my head to check and see that we wouldn’t get caught. To my displeasure, one of the guards was standing right in front of the door. I cursed under my breath, and scooted over to a little sitting table, where a vase full of rocks and flowers stood. I picked up a smallish rock, and inched my way over to Merida, who looked terrified.

I chucked the rock all the way over the entrance hall, and into Aspen’s corridor. To my delight, the rock hit a tall and metal ornamental vase. It clanged loudly, and the semi-conscious guard’s head jolted up, and he rushed over to Aspen’s corridor. I waited for his back to be turned, and then I grasped Merida’s hand and ran towards the door. I heard the guard’s footsteps, as he made his way back into the entrance hall, and I pushed open the door and ran down the steps, and hid around the side of the them. The guard’s head peeked around the door, looking a bit scared and confused, but then slowly closed it. 

I heard a deadbolt click.

“How will we get back in!” Merida exclaimed in a worried voice.

“Don’t worry,” I said, even though my brain was working furiously. “We’ll get back in through a window.” If one was unlocked...

I stood up, and walked over a little mound of dirt, feeling spring’s chill bite at my skin. I looked out upon Bellaire, the biggest city in the South. The stone huts were all glowing in the light of the moon, and some of the windows were glowing, as they were probably close to a fireplace. The city stretched far away from the castle, and it would probably take half of a day to walk to the opposite wall. The main gate was to our left, and it was relatively close to the castle. The creek was to our right, and I could see the trees. Behind the castle, was the stables and stronghold and armory. I remembered the secret armory up in the second story, and felt proud of myself for deposing Flux, one of my first official orders.

“This way.” I whispered to Merida, who grasped my hand. I led her down the hill, and broke out in a run, letting go of her hand and putting my arms up in the air. I laughed loudly, but then my foot caught on a rock sticking out the ground, and I fell forward. I heard Merida’s anxious footsteps coming up behind me, and I sat up on my knees, in spite of my pain, smiling.

“Are you okay?” She asked, looking harassed. She took my hands, and looked at the long scratches running down them.

I giggled, and said, “Don’t worry about me,” I stood up and felt a jab in my knee. I pulled up my dress and looked at the big and bloody cut. Ew..

“Oh my!” Merida said, and she frantically started looking around, as if searching for a bandage. “We must go back up to the castle!”

“No, no, I am fine.” I said, and truly I was. “The cut isn’t too deep.”

“Okay...”

“And besides, we are going to the creek!” And in spite of recent events, I stared running, again. I heard Merida’s footsteps close behind me, and to my surprise and delight, I heard her giggle.

When we were at the edge of the little forest, I stopped and looked at Merida’s face, which was a mix of curiosity, cheer, and nervousness.

“Let’s go!” I said, happily. We walked into the pretty forest, which was full of spindly trees. Little heads of grass were sticking out of the ground, and flowers were starting to grow, as it was spring.  We wandered through it, occasionally pointing out a funny looking tree, or laughing at the guard’s expression when we tricked him. We then heard the bubbling of water, and we ran towards it.

The creek was sending a chilly breeze towards us, and Merida and I instantly huddled together. We inched towards it. 

“Did you hear that?” Merida asked me. I strained my ears, and suddenly heard a shriek of laughter and mutterings. I tugged Merida behind a big rock, as the sounds got louder.

“Oh God, oh, God.” Merida said, as she took quick, deep breaths. “We are going to die... Going to die, die, die!” She was gripping my arm so hard, it hurt.

“No, we aren’t.” I told her. “We can come out here if we want to, and those people are probably people like us trying to get an out after curfew thrill.” Merida looked a bit more comforted at me saying this.

Suddenly, I heard footsteps. I peered around the rock, and saw Sadrina.

“Stop it, Damien.” She told him, stern but teasing at the same time. “Ben probably wouldn’t like that...” Ben?

“I honestly don’t care, Sadrina.” I heard Ben say. “Do what you want, Damien.”

Merida noticed my sour expression and looked at my questioningly, but I just vigorously shook my head.

“It would be a great trick.” I heard Damien’s voice say, and then he went and stood near Sadrina, allowing me to see his face, which, to my pleasure, wasn’t as pleasant as it was before his nose was broken. “Putting a toad in her room would scare her out of her whits..”

“I doubt it, Damien.” She’s been through a lot.

“Why do you keep standing up for her?” Damien asked aggressively. “She chose that nobody over a knight, obviously she’s addled...” I then realized they were talking about me, and it was Merida’s pressure on my arm that kept me crouched down, instead of picking up a rock and throwing it at Damien’s face.

“So?” Ben asked him. Thank you for sticking up for me, Ben I thought sarcastically. What a friend you are. “She’s still the Queen. And I am a knight.”

“Oh, stop it with the nobleness, Ben.” Sadrina said. “You need to stop being so serious. Obviously she doesn’t want your company anymore.”

“Sadrina is right.” Damien said, in a viscous sort of way. “That girl mingles with servants and Lowlanders.” Sadrina’s eyebrows travelled up her forehead.” Yes, Drina,” -- I gagged-- “I believe that that man is a Lowlander. Didn’t you see him? Has the looks of one. Big and ugly.” I clutched my sheath. “I would love to have a go with him sometime. Maybe I could put an end to all of this arguing. My dad said he’s tempted to leave the South, because our queen obviously doesn’t care.” My other hand clutched the hilt of my sword. “Or Maybe Speira will just fail the kingdom. She’s doesn’t have the looks, guts, or brains to do it--”

I sprung out from behind the boulder, but I stopped when I heard a splashing sound, and Saw Merida run across the stream, come over to Damien, and punch him in the stomach. Damien crouched down on the ground, and Merida marched back across the stream, and right to my side. I could almost feel the heat radiating off of her from her sudden outburst. I was not surprised that I was smiling. I realized I had drawn my sword, and it was lifted above my head.

“Speira!” Ben exclaimed, looking terrified. “Err--”

“No need to explain, Benjamin.” I said, lowering my sword. “I heard it all.”

“That was an awful thing to do!” Sadrina shot at Merida.

“That was an awful thing to say!” Merida shouted back at her. Her brown hair was  all ruffled up, and she looked something of a woman-knight, yelling at Sadrina, with Damien still crouched upon the ground. “Who are you to judge looks, when you are uglier than a slug!”

“Take that back!” Sadrina yelled, her big hands in fists at her sides

“I could have all of you kicked out of the South, you know!” I shouted at them. “Remember, I am Queen!”

This seemed to hit Sadrina in the face, and she quickly stepped back, looking scared. Ben gazed at me incredulously.

“And you said you wanted to fight Aspen?” I asked Damien, who was slowly getting to his feet, with the help of Sadrina. “Well, fight me! He taught me everything I know!”

“I would never fight a girl...” He said, a bit out of breath. “Improper...”

“No, you wouldn’t do it because its improper, you wouldn’t do it because you know you would lose!” I shouted, and heard Merida laugh loudly.

“Speira!” Ben shouted again, but he looked amazed, not angry.

“Shut it, Ben,” I said angrily. “I get it, okay? You’re jealous, and that’s alright. Just don’t come whining to me when you need a favor or.. was it a friend I was called? Or were you just sucking up?”

“No, it wasn’t that!” Ben said quickly. “We were friends!”

“Were not are.” I told him angrily. “And you guys better get back to your houses before I put you in the dungeons for verbally assaulting me!”

“You can’t do that!” Sadrina said, and I realized she was crying.

“Stop crying.” I told her. “I won’t fall for that. And what Merida said was true, so you might as well accept it.”

“Merida?” Damien said, incredulous. “The maid? Hah! How pathetic, she can’t even get have a life because she’s to busy waiting on you. Talk about suck ups...” I felt Merida wilt besides me.

Suddenly, an arrow whizzed past my ear, and hit the tree right behind Damien’s face. I wheeled around to see Aspen, limping towards us, occasionally grasping a tree for support. Damien was gasping, and touching his face, as if to see if it was still there.

“You children are the most rude, immature, and stupid things I have ever seen.” Aspen said angrily. “You should know to never talk about your queen like that! Or to talk about me like that, especially when I am armed.”

“Hello, Aspen.” I said, cordially. “I am glad that everyone is here.”

“You guys can leave, now.” I said rudely, to the three of them. “And I don’t want to see you guys in the castle.”

“But-- I am a knigh--” Ben stuttered, looking alarmed.

“Well, knights can be banned from the castle, can’t they?” I spat at him. “Now go away, before Aspen shows you how well he can aim.”

The three of them hurriedly ran away. Within thirty seconds, the sounds of their footsteps (and Sadrina’s sobbing) was gone. I turned to Merida, who had convinced me she was my friend.

“You were brilliant.” I told her. “I didn’t know you could punch like that.”

“Me neither.” She said, and I noticed she was shivering because of the water on her dress.

“Let’s go.” I clutched her arm, and took Aspen’s arm in my other. This seemed to alarm him, but I didn’t care. He could help me win any argument, and I was happy about that.

“I really need to get some friends my own age,” He said sarcastically.

“Hey,” I said to him. “I am sixteen in a month!” I then looked towards Merida. “How old are you?”

“Fifteen in a week.” She said, a bit embarrassed. “It’s young--”

“We were all fifteen once, I suppose.” I said, but I didn’t care. She could be a ten year old for all I cared. We all slowly walked back towards the castle, making idle chit chat. Merida seemed traumatized, which highly amused me. I vaguely wondered how many more times Damien would get hit before he realized that he needed to hold his tongue.

And then there was Ben. Dear Ben. I was sad that our friendship had come to a close, for I had really liked him. Especially as a friend. I hoped this isn’t what my life would be like forever... Making friends and breaking them. I had the upper hand in everything, so people probably respected me for my title, not me in person. If I gave up the crown (which had perished in the fire), I would lose all respect. At least I knew I had two friends: Merida and Aspen.

Chapter Eleven

Dreadful

A week after our little encounter with the three slugs, everything was going wonderful. People actually were listening to me, probably because I had deposed Flux. Aspen was walking again, and he was helping to train the knights how to properly wield a sword and shoot an arrow. Our army was never looking better.

I had made Sir Lucas Maverick Captain of the Guard, and he was performing his duties wonderfully. 

Merida and I got together everyday for tea and on some nights, we had little adventures. Yet, none were as exciting as the first one. Merida proved to be witty, funny, and very colorful when she was being shy (which was any time she was around someone, other than me).

I have only seen Ben once since last week. He walked by me, and I smiled pleasantly, but he ignored me. Like I cared.

But I did care! He was my old-best-friend’s cousin, and my only link to her! But that didn’t matter, anymore. I had to focus on the now.

I walked into the conference room, for I had a meeting to attend. Everyone was waiting for me. We had some small talk, but I soon stood up and called the meeting to order.

“Okay, so I called this meeting because we are in need of something good to happen.” I said, a bit plain.

“That means...?” Said a man, who’s name I forgot, but I knew that he was in charge of funds for Bellaire.

“She means we are in need of some activity or something happy. Something that brings smiles to faces.” Said Aspen, who always attended these meetings again.

“I am sorry, who are you, again?” The man asked, chucking incredulously.

“Advisor to the queen.” Aspen said hostilely. “And personal trainer to the knights...”

“Yes, but is this your place to talk?” He asked again.

“Yes it is.” I shot at the man, who instantly fell silent. I calmed myself and then said, “So, any ideas?”

I called this meeting especially for Aspen. He had been so down, lately. I think it was because the walls made him feel trapped. Merida was the one who proposed we do something that was actually entertaining. So many people had been stressing out about the war and feeding their families, that they had nothing good to look forward to.

“A banquet?” Said a lady in the back.

“No, no.” The funding man said. “We don’t have to food to spare.”

“A parade?” Someone else asked.

“Heavens, no.” The man said again. “We would need the money to make floats.”

“A ball?”

“No, we would have to fund for food, music, etcetera...” The man said, ticking off his fingers with each expense.

“I like that idea,” I said to the crowd. “I think it would be very fun. And there doesn’t have to be a meal, just some snacks. And for music, I am sure some people will volunteer. We have the ballroom, which acts as a storage room right now. Is that anyway to be using it?”

“I should think not,” Said the lady that suggested the ball. “We could plan it for this Wednesday.” She pulled out a little book, probably her schedule. “Yes, see, we haven’t anything going on.”

“What is your name?” I asked the lady.

“Verona Sanders.” She said to me, bowing her head, as most people do when they speak to me. “I am in charge of supplying the furniture for your house, My Lady. And for all of the public yards, for that matter...”

“Good, then, you’re in charge of planning the ball, okay?” I asked her.

“I would be honored.” She said, happily.

“Great!” I said, clapping my hands together. “Let’s get back to.. whatever we do, then!” Everyone stood up and started to walk out of the door. Everyone, but Aspen.

“What is it, Aspen?” I asked him. 

“I want to go hunting.” He said, grouchily. “Can they just let me into the forest for an hour? So I can get some food, or Maybe even a Lowlander?” I didn’t even shiver when he said things like this, anymore. Nothing gory or scary had bothered me since my ride to Currey.

“I could probably persuade them.” I said, thinking of how I would like to go with him, out into the forest. “But you’ll have to take me with you.”

“I’d be delighted.” He said, happily. He stood up, and walked out of the room, undoubtedly going off to train another knight.

I decided it would be best if I went and asked Maverick for his permission and blessing to go out in the forest. I walked out the front doors, and around the back to the armory. I found Maverick picking sharpening his sword on a stone wheel. He looked up when he heard the door close.

“Aah, Queen Speira, to what do I owe this pleasure?” He asked happily, stopping the wheel and sheathing his sword.

“I was wondering if you could raise the gate for Aspen and I to go hunting today?” I asked him in my most sweet and innocent voice. His eyebrows came close together, and he crinkled his nose as he thought.

“Your Majesty, you know it would be unwise to do that in such times.” Maverick said, in his deep and reassuring voice. “It would give the villagers false hope, and we do not need that right now.”

“Please?” I asked, trying to look sad. “It would just be for an hour, and nobody else has to know...”

Maverick seemed to be having an internal struggle. He opened his mouth, and then closed it an thought some more. He finally ‘hmphed’ and said, “Well, I suppose you can go. Do you wish to take a view guards with you?”

“No, that’s alright. Thank you, though.” I reassured him. “Aspen will be guard enough.” 

“Why don’t you go and get him, and I’ll meet you at the gate in half an hour?” He said, as he strapped his sheath to his belt.

“Alright!” I said, very excited. I then ran out of the armory and into the yard where the knights usually train. I saw Aspen sitting on a bench placed under a tree, shouting direction out to the knights on the field. I ran up to him.

“We have permission!” I told him happily. “But let’s go now, because he’ll only let us out for a moment!” 

“Great!” Aspen said, standing up. He slung his bow around his shoulder, and sheathed his sword.

“Let me grab my sword!” I said, and I ran up the stairs, into the entrance hall, down my corridor, into my room, and I dived into my closet and grabbed my sword, and hurried back. Aspen and I then ran all the way down the hill (I didn’t trip this time), and we skidded to a halt before the gate, my dress flapping around my ankles.

Sir Maverick was up in the parapet, and he gave the signal to two guards, who started cranking levers that opened the gate. Aspen ran forward, and rolled under the gate, which was barely two feet above the ground. He sprang up gracefully on the other side, and then proceeded to make taunting faces at me, for I wasn’t as agile as he was, and I was in a skirt.

I ran through the gate and ran right passed Aspen, who looked highly amused at me being so crazy.

“You’ll scare away all of the food.” He said, mournfully. Yet, I could hear the smile in his voice.

“Oh well,” I said, sarcastically. “We are fed fine right in there.” I pointed towards the castle.

“Yes, but it would be nice to kill something.” He said, even more sarcastic. My eyes widened and I turned towards him and glared.

“Excuse me?”

“What?” His smile faltered under my furious glare.

“So you need to kill something every week to keep your sanity?”

“Speira, its been nearly two months and I am still sane.” He said, rolling his eyes. “And I was just kidding.”

I wasn’t convinced.

We advanced into the forest in silence. Within the first fifteen minutes, Aspen managed to kill a big fat goose. He looked at it triumphantly, but then set it aside.

“What?”

“I’ll keep it right here, just so my hands can be free.” He said, in what a casual voice would be, but I realized he would need both hands if we came across any Lowlanders. We went on...

***

Three hours later, we had successfully killed two more geese, three squirrels, and a buck. An hour in, we ran back to the guards and gave them our loot, and requested more time, which they generously gave us. Now, Aspen and I were sitting in the forest, chatting and shooting down pigeons that came across us. Actually, I didn’t kill anything; that was all Aspen.

“I can’t believe that one of the knights said that!” I said incredulously. Aspen was telling me a story of how one of the knights accidentally jabbed his friend with his sword.

“Yes, these Bellairians are not the best of fighters.” Aspen said casually, as he picked up an acorn and threw it far away from us.

We were laughing and talking loudly, and I almost didn’t notice the black blur that just ran past us. I gasped and stood up. Aspen looked wildly around, and drew his sword. I quickly stepped behind him. I felt a breeze and turned around to see a man with a scarf pulled above his nose. 

I screamed as loud as I could, and then Aspen wheeled around and tried to jab him. Amazingly, the man didn’t fight back. He put his arms out in front of him, but he dodged each of Aspen’s jabs.

“Aspen, stop!” I then realized that this was a woman, because she did not sound remotely like a man. “Stop!” Aspen was still trying to jab her.

“Stop!” A man came up and pushed Aspen up against a tree.

“No! Jaime, stop!” The woman yelled, and she ran into her friend, knocking him off of Aspen. I was backed up against a tree, not feeling my legs and unable to run.

“Aspen, is that you?” The girl asked again. She pulled her scarf down to reveal a pretty, yet somehow spiteful, face, curtained by black hair. “Look at me!” She said, rather harshly. Aspen looked at her face spitefully. “Its me, Amara.” She told him.

“Is this the guy you were talking about?” Jaime, a huge black man, asked, eyeing him with some malevolent pleasure. 

I looked into Aspen’s face. He suddenly, and very quickly, mouthed the word ‘run’. Jaime noticed, and grabbed my arm, and pulled me back, for I had taken a step forward. I fell to the ground in a heap.

“Who is this?” He asked, in his creepily deep voice. He nudged me with his toe.

“Forget her,” Amara said. “Aspen, where have you been? We have been looking everywhere!”

“Busy.” Aspen grunted. He dusted himself off, and said, “We will be leaving now.” He reached for me, going to pull me up, but--

“You aren’t going anywhere.” Amara said. “Runant has been looking everywhere for you...”

Runant? Oh, no... 

Aspen looked at her angrily.

“Did you finish the mission?” She asked him. Aspen didn’t answer.  “Aspen, answer me.” She said this with such authority and power, that even Aspen faltered under his silent state, yet he managed to stay silent. “Grab the girl, Jaime, let’s go.” Jaime leaned towards me, and I let out a squeal--

“Stop!” Aspen said. Amara looked from Aspen to me, and then back to Aspen, and then her mouth opened into the perfect ‘O’. 

“Is that her?” She asked him. “Is that the duchess?”

“No, Amara.” Aspen said, fiercely. “It isn’t.”

“So you did it, then?” She pressed on, totally ignoring Aspen’s expression, which was defiant and slightly embarrassed.

“Amara, can we talk later--”

“So you’ll come back with us?” She asked him, pointedly.

“No--!”

“Then we will kill her.” Jaime said, with some fierce pleasure.

“NO.” Aspen shouted. And struggled away from the tree and out where he wasn’t near any of them. He could run, but I knew he wouldn’t.

“Aah,” Amara said. “I see. You were on your way to do the mission, but you met a girl...”

“N-yes.” Aspen said, in a defeated tone. “Yes, I did. I am sorry.”

“Runant won’t be happy...”

“I’ll go and tell him myself, just let her go.” He pleaded with them. Me and him? Impossible! Why would someone like him ever--

“She’ll die in the forest. Its better if we take her.” Jaime said, though he didn’t sound as if it would be better.

“N-No, she can take care of herself” Aspen said quickly.

“Just leave her, Jaime. Maybe its better if she dies...” Amara said, smiling in a strange and twisted way.

“J-just leave her.” Aspen repeated. “I’ll come!”

“A-Aspen--” I started to say but he looked down at me fiercely, and his glare made me stop.

“Let me have a word?” Aspen asked Amara. “Please? We grew up together--” I gasped. “Just let me have a moment.”

“Fine.” Amara said, breaking under Aspen’s seductive stare. “Jaime, load your bow. And take their weapons. Jaime can over and pushed me over and violently took my sword out of the sheath. He then went over and took all of Aspen’s arrows, his bow, and his sword.

“Stand guard over there, Jaime.” Amara pointed to a big tree, not to far away from where we were standing. They slowly walked away, facing us, with their weapons loaded.

Aspen tugged me up and then bent down and said in an urgent whisper, “Listen, you must get back to Bellaire.” He took a quick glance over to Jaime, and continued: “They will kill you if they find out you are who you are. Run, please, as fast as you can!”

“Aspen.” I said, my eyes didn’t betray me and fill up with tears, but my voice shook. “You lied... You said--”

“Forget what I said!” He said loudly, and then returned to his quiet whisper. “I lied to protect you--”

“I am not leaving!” I said, and I grasped his arm. I wasn’t! He saved me, and maybe, I thought hopefully, I could somehow save him.

“You are!” Aspen said angrily. “You must!”

“No! Aspen, you never left me!”

“That was under different circumstances!” He said angrily.

“I will not--”

“You will!”

“Aspen, no I won’t! I will not--”

“I was supposed to be the one to kill you back in Currey.” He said, his anxious gaze now filled with anger. “I was the assassin. I cou-couldn’t bring myself to do it!”

I was at a loss for words.

“I was supposed to shoot you with an arrow and then bring your body back to the Lowlands.” He said this full of hate.. spite. “But I couldn’t.”

“I--” I didn’t know what I was supposed to say. My knight, my savior was actually sent to kill me? He lied about everything. He lied! He lied! This was too much to take in. I thought I had at least one person I could tell anything, but in the end, he was one of the people who killed my sister. And I thought he actually cared!

My sister! If he was the assassin, and I was his victim, was he the one who shot the arrow at me right after my sister had died? If he was, that meant he killed my dear Lisette!

“I HATE YOU!” I screamed at him. “I hate you! I hate, hate, hate you! And I hope you do die! At their hands!” I could hear my voice echo off of the trees. Jaime and Amara started to advance on me, but I took off running through the forest, not caring which way I was going. No tears, no tears.

I ran, ran away from them. I could hear their footsteps behind me, but I was going much faster. Aspen.. wasn’t good. He lied to me. He probably was waiting for the right time to kill me. He didn’t care at all. He was one of them: awful, cruel, and disgusting. He was no more that the mud on my boots. I angrily looked down at my running feet. Those were the boots he gave me. I came to a stop and yanked them off of my feet, throwing them far, into the forest. I didn’t care how much pain my feet would have to endure.

I ran, ran, ran. My bare feet were not as coordinated as they were with boots, and my foot caught on a root sticking out of the room, and I fell forward, hitting my head on a rock. I stood up again, stumbled a bit, and angrily ripped off the bottom half of my skirt, leaving a knee length hem. I started to run again. 

The sun lowered, making the sky blood red. I ran.

The sky turned purple: it was twilight. I still kept running.

It was pitch black outside, and finally I collapsed in a heap on the ground, cutting my knees and reopening the would that had almost healed from the night at the creek.

I felt my face, and felt the wet, hot stuff on my forehead where I hit my head. I didn’t care. Let me bleed out.

Aspen wouldn’t care.

And for the first time in weeks, tears came streaming out of my eyes. I cried hard, making my wails be heard through the entire forest. I cried harder than I ever had, even when Lisette died. When Lisette died, I was mourning the loss of my sister. Now, I am mourning the loss of my friend, guardian and probably my sanity. I was also crying for my kingdom, because how were we going to stand up to those brutes? I cried, and cried. 

Soon, though, my tears stopped flowing. I just lay there, not willing myself to move. I needed to stay strong. I would never, ever let anybody in my Kingdom see me cry again. I would become as hard as a stone. I would actually be okay if I stopped feeling emotions altogether; I was too passionate for my own good. I heard people call my name. I saw the lights of lanterns flash pass me. I silently got up and followed them, a good three yards away from them. I was as silent as Aspen was.

I followed them back all the way to the gates of Bellaire. Only then did they see me. They ran forward, and one of them scooped me up in their arms. He carried me through the gates and into the entrance hall. I caught a glimpse of myself in a mirror in the entrance hall. I had blood running down the side of my face, my hair was matted, my legs were also bloody, and my dress was utterly destroyed.

I don’t remember anything else.

Chapter Twelve

Stone

I woke up the next day to find that it was night. I must have slept the entire day. I slowly got out of bed, and I found myself in a blue silk nightgown. I walked over to the closet and pulled out the matching robe, and walked out into the entrance hall.

The entrance hall was draped in ribbons, and little tables stood around the place, with white table cloths and flowers. I saw Verona rush around looking harassed.

Oh, right, the ball.

Why are they still doing this? I walked forward, and instantly many men and women swarmed me.

“Are you alright?”

“Go back to bed!”

“Want some water?

“Are you sure you are alright?”

“Someone get Maverick!”

“Are you sure you are alright?”

Suddenly, Maverick came around the corner, and ran towards me. He came to a complete stop. And looked at me, mournfully. I walked towards him and embraced him. Many people gasped, but I didn’t care.

“What happened, Speira?” Maverick asked as he led me into the sitting room, away from the crowd. “You wouldn’t say anything yesterday...”

“Aspen was an invader.” I said. My voice didn’t even falter. I was stone... I was stone. “He was sent to kill me, but didn’t for some reason. We ran into some Lowlanders, and they took him away.”

“Did they hurt you at all?” Maverick asked, eyeing me anxiously.

“Not a finger laid on me.” I said, sounding perfectly casual. “I hurt myself more than they could of, anyhow.” I pulled the hem of my gown above my knees and looked at the nasty cuts. “So the ball is still on?”

I could Maverick wanted to pursue the subject of Aspen, but he relented and said, “Yes. We didn’t think you would want to call it off. Now, would you like me to send some search parties out for Aspen--?”

“No.” I interrupted. “Let him be.”

Maverick looked at me, doleful. “Queen Speira, I doubt he is evil. I bet he had a conversion, for you would have been kill--”

“Lucas,” I said, feeling a bit annoyed. “Everything he told us was a lie. I just want him out of my life, okay?”

Maverick said nothing more on that matter.

After a while, I excused myself from everyone’s presence, and I went and lay in my bed. I vowed never to think of that certain somebody again.

Soon, I heard a knock on my door. I rolled over and yelled, “Come in!” and in came Merida, ladened with a cake.

“I am so sorry,” She said, and she set down the cake and gave me a hug. “I convinced the cook to make you a cake. Would you like some?”

“If you’ll have it with me,” I told her, smiling. She brought the cake over, and sat down.

“You probably don’t want to talk about what happened,” Merida said, wisely. “So I’ll talk about something unimportant...” She suddenly smiled and said, “Micon Marrow, one of the squires, asked me to the ball!” I could tell that this was very important to her.

“That’s wonderful!” I said, truly happy for her “Maybe you can be the wife of a knight some day...”

“I truly hope so. I don’t want to become an old maid!” Merida said. “I should get back to the kitchens, I am not supposed to be here.” She got up, and started to head for the door, but I said:

“No, please stay.” I grabbed her hand and pulled her back to the bed. “Queen’s orders.” She smiled.

“Alright, but Madam Johnson won’t be to happy.”

We talked for a very long time. She told me how Micon cornered her in the library and demanded (in a sweet way, she said) that Merida go to the ball with him. Merida, of course, said yes. 

Suddenly, there was a knock on the window. Merida closed herself up in the closet, and I walked over to the window, and fiercely ripped open the curtains, to reveal a sad looking Ben. I opened the window.

“What.” I demanded, hostile. “I am busy, remember? Being ugly and untalented takes up a lot of time...”

Ben looked uncomfortable. “Speira, I didn’t agree at all with what Damien said.” He shifted on his feet. “I am here to say I am sorry, and I hope I can reconcile with--” He said his name, but I successfully blocked it out,--”because that is not enough to jeopardize our friendship. Forgive me?” He must not know that he left the Kingdom.

I looked at him, and then gave in. “Of course Ben.” I was happy to have him back as a friend, anyway. “It’s about time, too.”

“Great!” He said happily, but suddenly looked awkward again. “Err Speira?”

“What?”

“You’re going to the ball, right?” He looked extremely uncomfortable.

“Of course I am!” I said, laughing. “I am the one who wanted it to happen, anyway.”

“Will you be my dance partner?” He asked, blushing. I gasped, and almost laughed. This question took me totally off guard.

“Of course, Ben!” I said, happily. “But what am I going to--”

Suddenly he leaned in and kissed me. He then ran away. I stood there, feeling very awkward.  I slammed the window and belly flopped on to my bed. I will go to hell, I thought to myself. Why do I feel like such a bad person?

Merida gingerly opened the closet. 

“Err,” She seemed like she couldn’t help but smile. “That went well, didn’t it?” She then burst out laughing.

“Go away, Merida.” I grumbled to my mattress. “I am a horrible person.”

“No you aren’t!” Merida exclaimed, looking amused. “Why would you say...”

“Because!” I said loudly. “I just am!” I lifted my face up and glared at her. “Give me the cake.”

Merida quickly brought over the cake, which turned out to be delicious. 

“Oh!” Merida said, looking at the clock on my wall. “The party starts in an hour! I have got to go, Speira! I’ll see you there.” She stood up and ran towards the door, wrenched it open, and disappeared.

I sat on the bed for a long time. I then realized I only thirty minutes, and I hastened to get up and get dressed. I picked out a dress that was very similar to my favorite blue dress back at Currey. This one was a sparkly silver, with the long and flowing sleeves that I loved. It was tight fitted around the waste. I picked out a pair of high heels, that I usually would never wear, but mostly all of the queens and kings of the South in the past wore them. They were white, and they had an inch and a half high heel.

With my hair, I tied it up in a silver ribbon. It didn’t look as I had planned, so I took it down. It kept flying back into my face. I tried to put it in a pony tail, but there were some strands pulling very hard, and it hurt. My hair was just too heavy.

Before I knew what I was doing, a sharp knife was in my hand, and I cut off all of my hair. I stood there, shocked. My hair came down to my chin, now, and honestly, I could pull off this look. But I was still shocked. I had always had long, long hair. I put a dainty white bow in my hair. I looked actually really good.

I walked out of my room, five minutes behind. I hurriedly walked into the entrance hall, and many people’s heads turned and gaped at me. I blushed self consciously. I then spotted Ben. The awkward silence that ensued us was almost unbearable. He just stood, gaping at my hair.

“You look pretty.” He told me, awe and wonder full in his voice. “I didn’t know you were going to cut your hair..”

“Me neither.” I told him. “But it doesn’t look half bad, in my opinion.”

“No, it doesn’t,” Ben smiled and took my arm and we walked into the ballroom. My vision was obscured by Merida’s face. She had ran up to me, tugging a tall and nice-looking man behind her.

“This is Nicon, Speira!” She said happily. I was glad she was having a good time. I smiled at her, and shook hands with Nicon.

“Nice to meet you,” I said, politely.

“This was a simply splendid idea, Speira!” Merida said, as music started to play. 

I thought so, too.

To sum it all up, the ball was very fun. There was much dancing and eating, and some of the adults perhaps drank too much. Ben never left my side, which I was grateful for. Sadrina and Damien were there, but, luckily, they avoided us the entire time. The night turned out to be great.

At the end of the ball, Ben, Merida, Nicon, and I went down to the creek. Nicon turned out to be a very smart seventeen year old, whose entire family was killed in a siege back at Critchon Creek.

“Let’s go!” I yelled, as I ran down the same hill that I had tripped and fell on. We all were running, even Merida, who proved to be a crazy partier. We reached the bottom of the hill, and ran into the wood. The Spring air was slowly turning warmer, to my great pleasure. I had been at Bellaire for almost five months, and six away from home. If I could see into my future, back when I was at Currey, I was sure I would have been happy with what I saw. But I wouldn’t have known that Lisette had died, mother and father were probably dead, and my best friend turned out to be an assassin.

We all collapsed in the grass, laughing. I then found that I was sitting on something sharp, I reached under my skirt and pulled out a tiny, lethal looking knife. 

I felt something hit me in the chest, knocking me over.

“Are you okay, Speira?” Ben asked, his laughter dying. I propped myself up on one arm, realizing that nothing had hit me, but this was his knife. I then looked over to a tree, across the creek and saw an arrow, lodged into the bark.

“Let’s leave.” I said, abruptly standing up. Merida glanced at the knife in my hand, and sighed knowingly. She, too, stood up.

“What’s wrong?” Nicon asked, a bit timorously, as he looked around the dark forest.

“Nothing, let’s just go.” Merida said, falsely cheery.

“No, no, you guys stay...” I told them.

“We aren’t leaving you alone, Speira.” Ben told me, and he stood up. “Shall we just go for a walk?”

“That’s a great idea,” I said, grateful for a change of scenery. Yet, I don’t know why, but I pocketed the little knife.

We all took off towards the gate. Slowly, our playful laughter and talking started up again. I seemed to feel better, now that I was away from the small forest. We were slowly approaching the gate. 

I then heard something... It sounded like a wailing, like an animal dying. I stopped the others.

“Do you hear that?” I whispered to them. Merida and Ben shook their heads, but Nicon was strangely pale and his eyes were as round as quarters. “It sounds like something dying.”

The wailing instantly turned into a scream. 

“Oh my!” Merida gasped, clutching Nicon’s arm. “I hear that!”

“Me to,” Ben said. Ben and I were the only two who didn’t seem scared. I drew out my knife, being a stone, not letting my memories take over what was at hand. Ben and I slowly approached the gate. The screams slowly got louder.

“Help! Help me, heeeeelp!” The person, who sounded like a lady, was screaming. I started to run. I couldn’t feel any long hair flapping behind me, which was slightly confusing to me.

Ben started running, too, and as he was a boy and not in a skirt, he soon passed me and was far ahead of me. He ran directly in front of the gate, gasped, fell to the ground clutching his heart. What would make Ben that surprised? I soon was at the gate. I turned and looked through the bars.

Standing there, looking ghostly pale and sick, was a girl who’s light brown hair was so dirty, it looked dark. Her brown eyes were not like chocolate anymore, but more like mud. She had dark circles under her eyes, and she was bone-thin. I looked in horror at my best friend’s sister, Mae.

Chapter Thirteen

Flux

“Mae!” I yelled. I ran up to the gate, and clutched her hand. She was sobbing, her tears clearing the dirt on her face. “Ben!” I yelled at him, who seemed to have gone into shock. “Ben, open the gate!” He seemed to have heard that, for he quickly got up, climbed the latter up to the parapet, and started cranking the lever.

Mae fell to the ground, and scurried under the fence before it was even open. Ben let the gate slam shut with a boom. She stood up and grabbed my hands. She didn’t look good at all, something in her eyes told me that she was not the same Mae.

“Sp-Sp-Speira?” she stuttered, not looking into my eyes, but staring at my hands.

“Yes, Mae?” I asked, totally scared and shocked. She didn’t answer, she just continued to shiver and sob. Ben climbed down the latter, and scooped up his cousin, and started to run towards the castle. I ran after. I totally forgot about Merida and Nicon, but I heard their footsteps behind us. The castle was only five minutes away, now. We were running as fast as we could, and the only sound being made was Mae’s crying. I saw the same guard who was guarding the night that Merida and I snuck out, and I shouted to him, “Open the doors!” He seemed to have been in a daze, for I had to shout this two times before it registered with him, and he hurriedly opened the doors, allowing Ben to run right in.

“Help!” Ben yelled, as he ran up the stairs to the hospital. I spun around and grabbed Merida’s arm.

“Go home, okay? I’ll come and tell you what has happened when everything calms down.” Merida, who was very out of breath, nodded, and grabbed Nicon’s arm. They were gone.

I ran up the stairs, and walked into the hospital, to find Mae laying on a hospital bed, with a nurse trying to calm Ben, who seemed to be arguing with her.

“..Where is he?” He yelled at her.

“Doctor Christoph was making home-visits!” The timid nurse said, in almost a pleading voice. “He’ll be back soon.” I rushed forward and grabbed Ben and pushed him into a chair, forcing him to relax. I turned around to Mae, who was staring up to the ceiling, unblinkingly.

The maid busied herself with cleaning Mae. She had a washcloth, and was hurriedly wiping all of the dirt off of Mae’s face. Ben got up, and marched right through the door, letting it swing shut behind him. Mae jumped at the sound of the door closing.

“B-B-Ben?” She asked, and she started to cry, again. I rushed forward, but the nurse shoed me back. I obediently went back to my chair, but I said,

“Mae, Ben went to go...” I didn’t really know where he went, but I guessed he was finding the doctor. “find the doctor. You’ll be okay, okay?”

“Speira, I can’t-- I c-c-can’t--” She was interrupted by Christoph running into the hospital, with Ben at his heels.

“I was down the hill when Ben found me,” The doctor said, and he went over to Mae. “Oh, my.” He said kindly, and he to started to clean her, along with the nurse.

“Dear,” He asked her. “How long have you been blind?”

Blind? 

“F-f-for a few weeks.” Mae said, shakily, tears streaming from her unmoving eyes. 

“Oh, I see.” Christoph said, and he started to do all of the normal procedures. He looked in her ears, and in her mouth. I sat there watching, and soon I felt very tired. My eyes started to droop, and I soon drifted off...

***

I awoke in my bed. I lazily turned over, trying to remember last night’s events. It suddenly appeared in my head, and I gasped, and sat up quickly. I dressed in a plain yellow dress, put my favorite slippers on, brushed my very short hair, and ran out of the room. I ran up the stairs, and opened the hospital door, to reveal Mae’s bed curtained off. I rushed up to Ben, who had also fallen asleep in the chair. And tapped him on his shoulder. He tiredly opened his eyes and looked at me.

“How is she?” I asked him anxiously. He ruffled his hair with his hand, and then sat back in his chair and looked at me.

“Blind as a bat.” He said, tiredly. “Christoph doesn’t understand it... She has absolutely no damage done to her eyes.” He shook his head and leaned back. “Maybe its temporary.”

I doubted that. I have never heard of temporary blindness.

“At least she’s alive!” I said, truly grateful. Ben looked at me and smiled.

“Yeah, at least she’s alive.” He looked at her. “I always have remembered her as an outgoing, smart, and courageous girl, but looking at her like this... is just..” He put his head in his hands.

“Its okay.” I said, patting his back. “I understand.”

“I bet you do.” He said. “I bet you understand more than I do. Your mother, father, and sister are all gone. My parents might be alive, but I know for sure that my cousin is alive.”

“Is Layla...” I asked, scared for the answer.

“We asked her last night.” Ben said, sounding exhausted. “She said she didn’t know. She went blind, and apparently there was a camp not to far away from here. She said that a Lowlander declared her useless, and they were going to kill her, but they must have something against killing kids, so they just dropped her off in front of the gate.”

“How long was she out there?” I asked Ben, feeling my heart get heavier with each word he said.

“She was out in front of the since sundown.” He muttered. I could tell he was tired, so I let him be. I returned to my room for a nap, but I just couldn’t sleep, even though I felt as tired as Ben looked.

Ben knocked on my door around twelve o’clock. I opened the door, and he looked less tired. “I got to sleep a bit.” He said, and I envied him a little bit. “But one of the patients want to see you,”

“Mae?” I asked, thinking the obvious.

“No,” Ben said, shaking his head. “Sir Maraude can talk again. He was chattering away, asking for you. He said it was urgent.” I nodded and left for the hospital, with Ben at my side.

I pushed open the door to find Sir Maraude laying in a bed, whose curtains were open, talking to nobody in particular. He saw me, and his eyes bulged.

“Your Majesty!” He exclaimed grandly. “I must tell you something important! Its very crucial.”

“What is it, Sir Maraude?” I came over and sat at the foot of his bed.

“That young man you’re always with,” He started babbling. Oh, no... “The tall one, who has a rather good-looking face? Yes, well he’s an Arrow!” 

“Sir Maraude--”

“He was the one who tried to kill me! Him and another--”

“Maraude--”

“It was a girl! I know it was. I think they were lov--”

“SIR MARUADE.” I yelled, waking up several patients, including Mae. Sir Maraude looked at me, dumbfounded. “I already know, okay? He’s gone!”

Maraude seemed to have deflated. He leaned back against his pillows, and gazed at me with a satisfied smile. Well, I know who won’t be rejoining the guard... it doesn’t seem as if he is one hundred percent sane.

“Speira?” Came the soft voice of Mae. “Can I tell you something?”  I rushed forward, towards her bed. She turned her head towards the sound of my movement. She looked at me, unknowingly and unblinkingly.

“Yes, Mae?” I asked anxiously. “What is it?”

“I know a lot of exciting things have been happening, but I must burden you with one more piece of information.” She said, her features screwed up with concentration.

“Yes, tell me!” I said, curiosity burning inside of me.

“T-the Lowlanders are living in Critchon.” She said, wisely. I nodded, but forgot she couldn’t see me, so I simply grunted to let her know that I understood. “Yes, well, I heard them talking to someone, a man by the sound of it, and he was telling them that you are located here, and that you people tried to go and take back Currey.”

“What?” I said, feeling angry. So there was a traitor in my presence? Was it him? “Did you hear a name?”

“Y-yes, I did.” She said. She seemed close to tears, again. “It was something like F-Fluke? F-F-Fred? Flux?”

THAT TRAITOR! 

“Flux!” I snarled. I left her bed and went out of the hospital. I went downthe stairs, through the front doors, down the hill and towards the village. I walked straight to his house, a little wooden thing, very ugly and not manicured. I went to the front doors, and hammered as hard as I could, until my knuckles hit nothing but air, and I found myself looking into the mustached face of Flux.

“You’re a traitor!” I shouted. “You told the Lowlanders everything about us! I bet you knew they had a camp near here...”

“Preposterous!” He shouted back at me, but he didn’t look as confident as he usually did. In fact, he looked a bit peaky. “I, Sir Harigard Daniel Montage Flux, would never betray his Kingdo--”

“Tell me the truth!” I demanded. I saw, out of the corner of my eye, a couple guards run towards us, probably because of the shouting.

“You’ll go to the dungeon, wether you tell us or not, so speak up and tell the truth, and maybe you’ll get your scrawny neck out of the trouble you are in!” I said, and I sensed the guards close behind me.

This broke Flux.

“My wife!” He said. I didn’t know he was married. “T-they have her! I bargained with them, but they d-d-didn’t keep to the d-d-deal.” His eyes filled up with tears, and my anger dwindled. It was honestly kind of sad. “They kept her.”

“I could still have you thrown in prison.” I said, threateningly. 

“Please! I’ll do anything to stay out of prison!” He voice shook as he said this.

I considered for a moment. I then had an idea. “Fine,” I told him, “But you’ll have to go and fight in some battles with the army, okay?”

Flux smiled, hesitantly. “Okay. I love a good fight.” 

“You’ll be on call,” I told him. “Be thankful that I am merciful.” I said this in a deep and powerful voice, and I liked the effect, but I felt a bit overdramatic. I turned on my heel and walked back to the castle, feeling rather grand. Being Queen definitely had it’s perks.

One of the guards tapped me on the shoulder.

“Queen Speira,” He said, in his rather high voice. “Sir Maverick has requested to see you.” 

I nodded my head. “Thank you, Sir.” I told him. I then made my way back up the hill, to the castle. I pushed open the doors and went straight to the conference, expecting Sir Maverick to be there.

I wasn’t wrong, but not only was Lucas there, but so were about twenty other people. I hesitated before I sat down, a bit nervous about why the meeting was called. Maverick stood up.

“Your Majesty,” He said, making a little bow towards me. “We want to discuss our next attack. We have not been very successful, and I think it is time we start working towards better horizons.”

I listened to each word he said, very carefully. I could feel the tension in the room. Nobody fidgeted or made any sounds. A few seemed like they ceased breathing. I stood up, too.

“Of course,” I told him. “What brought this all on?”

“The girl that you rescued last night.” Maverick said. “I finally got a chance to talk to her, and she said that Runant and the leaders of the Lowlanders are stationed at Critchon.”

“Yes?” I prompted.

“Do you, by chance, remember the plan I proposed? About taking back Critchon, I mean.” He said, folding his arms, making him look strangely more impressive.

The memories of that day flowed back into my head, and I said, “Of course. Travel down the creek, and go through the gate.”

“Yes, exactly.” He said, smiling.

I saw many problems. “The Lowlanders are smart, they will definitely have the gate sealed off. And they would have known that Mae would tell us everything.”

“Even the enemy can make mistakes,” Maverick said, still hopeful. “I doubt that when they dropped off Mae at the gates, that they knew she knew anything. Her release might not have been authorized!”

He did have a point. 

“Or they could have fed her false information.” I said, gearing up for an argument.

“Your Majesty,” Maverick said, with another bow. “I know this information is false. I sent out a scout, and they came back saying that Critchon was their headquarters, and the gates are not closed.”

I didn’t authorize that, but I let it go. I needed to stop being so tense and uptight. “That was a good idea.” I said, but I was also stumped on my side of the discussion. “You know what, Maverick? I trust your instinct.”

“Thank you,” He said generously.

“I want you to organize a siege.” I told him.

“A siege won’t be enough.” He said, pointedly. “We will have to organize a full blown attack.”

A full blown attack equaled more lost lives. But, I knew we couldn’t hide here forever.

“Speira,” Maverick said. “Our army has never been better. We could take them, I am almost positive.”

“A lot of people will die, though.” I said to him. He nodded is head in a solemn way.

“But is it worth it for the price of freedom? With the Lowlanders in charge on everything, that means even more lives lost than if we attacked them!” He banged his fi