Sequence 1: The Attack
The sun shined overhead in the village in the forest. The people were preparing for the day ahead of them. Everything had been going very smoothly so far which was unusual for these times with the recent attacks from our longtime enemies the Greulocs. They are creatures with a dark essence. They have muddy brown bodies. Claws as long as knives and their faces look as if they have been squished together to form a mutilated blob. They travel very quickly on their hands and feet. We are Tremians. We have lived in this forest for ages, always at war with the Greulocs. My name is Grace. I am 15 years old and this is my story.
I woke up this morning with a feeling of dread. My body ached from archery lessons the previous day and I longed to take a nice cold bath in the lake. Luckily, there were two lakes around our village. The one to the left of our village was for the males and the one to the right of our village was for the females, like myself. It was strictly forbidden for a male to go over to the right lake or vise versa and the punishment for it was ten lashings for the guys and five lashings for the girls. I still remember staring in fear at the people as they received their lashings. It was simply horrible to watch their faces writhe in pain. I remembered wishing for them to stop but no amount of pleading in my mind would cause them to stop the torture to those poor people.
I got up from my bed and walked into the kitchen. Despite us living in the forest, we still had a lot of technology that people in the city had. The only difference was we were a small village and we had no cars or indoor plumbing. We preferred to stay as close to nature as comfortably possible. My mother was already preparing breakfast when I entered the kitchen and I could smell the bacon and eggs the second I walked in. I smiled and said, “Good morning, mother.”
My mother smiled back at me and said, “Good morning, Grace. Breakfast will be ready soon and your father should be back from his duties any moment now. Today is a wonderful day to go spend time with your friends.“ My mother always tried to make the way things really were now seem as if they were not that bad as if to protect me from the horrors. However, bits and pieces still got through to me. I still was able to see that things were not as good as they could be but I had no idea of the true horrors that were facing our village every day and I would not know about them for some time.
I looked at her and trying to keep my mask of not knowing that anything was going on said, “Your right, as soon as I eat breakfast and go take a bath at the lake I’ll go see if my friends are doing anything.”
Just then my father got in from his duties and the way he looked at mother seemed like someone had died but he didn’t say anything except, “Morning, Grace. How are you feeling today?” He had a smile on his face now and everything.
I looked at him and said, “I’m feeling pretty well. I just feel… different… You know? There’s something strange about today.”
My father looked at my mom and my mother put her hand on my shoulder awkwardly and said, “Now, Grace it’s about time you heard about this. When a girl becomes a woman…”
I cut her off after rolling my eyes and said, “I’m not talking about that, mom. It’s just something feels strange like something in the air is different. It feels as if something big is going to happen today.”
My mother looked a bit disappointed, as if she couldn’t wait until she’d be able to tell me all about puberty for women. I chuckled to myself at the thought. Were they really so oblivious to not realize that I was already going through it and had been for two years now?
I then sat down and my mom brought breakfast in for my dad and me. I ate it hungrily. I really wanted to hurry up and get started on my day. I then walked outside in my sleepwear with my clothes for the day. I headed outside of the right side gates which were being guarded by Terra and Luke today. Terra had auburn hair like me but she had blue eyes while mine were emerald. Luke was a man of 21 and he had dark brown hair that was almost black and midnight blue eyes. As I reached the lake I heard some noises in the distance. I couldn’t make them out but I decided to shrug them off because they didn’t sound too important.
I took off my sleepwear and got into the lake. I smiled as I began to feel my muscles relax. I ducked my head under the water so that I could clean my hair. When I came up I heard the voices coming closer and they sounded menacing and angry. I quickly got out of the lake and went behind a tree with my clothes making sure that whoever or whatever was coming would not be able to see me when it reached the lake. I then saw them. The horrid looking things we knew as the Greulocs. They had swords on their backs and there were massive humanoid creatures, that I had no idea what they were called, carrying torches. They were heading towards the village. Luckily, they didn’t see me.
I waited until they had completely passed and then I quickly got dressed in my clothes. I then climbed up the nearest climbable tree and started heading back to the village using the branches for travel. I jumped down when I reached a stream and some birds flew away from me. When I reached the village I met with Luke and Terra. I apparently got here before the Greulocs did because if I had not there would most likely have been chaos going on. I said to Luke, “The Greulocs! They’re coming! I saw them out by the lake!”
Luke nodded and said, “They must have amassed during the night. Thank you, Grace. Go get yourself and your family somewhere safe.” With that I ran to into the village to go get my mother and father.
Meanwhile back where Luke and Terra were the greulocs were starting to make their way onto the scene. Terra looked at Luke and he told her, “Listen to me Terra. Go get reinforcements. I’ll try to hold them off as long as I can.”
Terra looked at the greulocs. There must have been at least a hundred of them now. She said to Luke in protest, “But-“
“Go!” Luke shouted cutting her off. The Greulocs started advancing even more. They just kept on coming.
Terra nodded and said, “I’ll come back for you.” She then ran off into the village. Luke stood his ground waiting for the greulocs to make their first move.
Now, back to where I was. I ran until I reached my parents. I told them, “Quick, we need to leave. The Greulocs are coming. They’ll kill us all if we don’t hurry.”
My father looked at my mom and said, “I knew that it was only a matter of time until something like this happened. We need to go, now.”
My mother took hold of me and my dad took hold of her. He started to lead us out of the house until he was interrupted by one of the greulocs standing in front of our door. The greulocs stood on its hind legs, unsheathed its sword and stuck it clean through my dad. I watched horrified as my dad crippled to the ground holding his wound.
My mom then said to me, “I’m going to run towards the greuloc so you have a chance to escape. Here take this. It was always meant to stay in our family and my mother passed it down to me when I was your age.” She took an emerald pendant off of her neck and placed it around mine. I then tucked it inside of my shirt and then my mom charged at the greuloc.
The greuloc took its sword and stabbed her but while it was preoccupied with my mother I hopped out of the window and started running for my life. The village was on fire now and debris was falling everywhere. Embers flew through the air and the smoke was thick. I coughed, hardly able to breathe. When I had escaped the village, I continued to run until it was dark. I couldn’t see any signs of the village anymore and the sounds of the monsters were not to be heard.
I climbed a nearby tree and then sat down on a high branch. I leaned against the trunk of the tree and cried. I had nothing. My mother and father were both dead, all of my belongings were lost forever or destroyed, and on top of that I was completely alone in a part of the forest that I had never been in before.
The moon rose high over the trees and strange sounds could be heard around me. The sounds frightened me and I could not bring myself to get up and try to find a better form of shelter for fear that something might attack me as I walked and it was too dark to jump from tree to tree.
Somehow, I fell asleep though. I slept soundly but tears leaked out of my eyes as I slept. I had a dream in which I was in a completely black area, sort of just floating there. Suddenly, I heard a voice that said, “Grace, you have suffered much. That I cannot change. Also, you will suffer much more in the times to come. However, don’t lose hope. You will find someone when you awake that will help you. Follow him and he will show you the way to reclaim part of what you have lost.”
I looked around but I couldn’t see anything. I called out into the darkness, “Who are you? Where are you?” I was freaking out. I had never had a dream like this before. Someone was talking to me as if they were real but nobody was really there.
The voice spoke again but this time more distant. It said, “I am a human and I am not. I am a bird and I am a cat. I am everything you see, hear, and feel. When you are troubled I will be there for you to rest your head on. Just call to me and I will help you however I am able. I must go though. Good luck, Grace.”
I woke up to the noise of a horse walking around down below. The sun was shining and the plants and trees were green as ever. All that was visible of the terrible event that had occurred was small patches of gray smoke in the sky near where our village would have been.
I climbed down from the tree and saw a man on the horse I had heard. He came over to me and said, “You look like you’ve just been through a storm. Is there anything I can do to help you?”
Maybe this was the person who the voice had said would help me. I said, “Yes, my name is Grace and my village was just destroyed. My parents were killed and I have no food or shelter.”
The man looked at me sympathetically and said, “You poor thing. You must be scared out of your mind. Here, let me help you up and I’ll take you back to my base.”
He held out his hand and I walked up to him and took it. He picked me up and swung me around to the back of him. He then said, “You’re lucky I found you. There’s supposed to be a huge lightning storm in these parts tonight. I think you’ll like it at the base. I’ll help you get settled and make you feel nice and comfortable.”
I smiled as the horse started walking and I said, “That sounds nice. It will feel good not being alone anymore.”
The man nodded and said, “My name is Richmond by the way but you can call me Ritchie if you want.”
I nodded too worn out to talk despite my night’s sleep. I held onto him so that I would not fall off as we rode on. I was glad that things could actually be starting to turn around for me. The voice in my dream was right and very helpful. I looked down at the pendant my mom had given me and thought to myself ‘One day, I will avenge you, mother. You too, dad.’
Sequence 2: The Prince and his Bow
We continued along on the trail until we reached a town. The town was a lot bigger than my village was. It had houses that were a little more advanced and there was a giant castle in the middle of the town. The castle seemed to loom over the city as if exerting the control it had. There was a cliff surrounding it on all sides and there was a bridge connecting from the main part of town to the castle.
When we reached the stables he got off of the horse and said, “We’re here.” He helped me off and I started to look around the town. People here seemed like they were preparing for war. They were wearing all kinds of armor. As they walked I looked back at Richmond.
Richmond stood smiling at me and I said, “The town is very… big.” I blushed. This always happened whenever I was talking to someone that I found handsome. Its like the words would be in my mind but I just wouldn’t be able to get them out.
Richmond chuckled to himself and then looked out at the town he then said, “Well, let’s go eat then. I’m starving.”
He took my hand and together we walked out into the town. I followed him to a sort of cafeteria type thing where there were tables and chairs and at the back was a place to order food. He let me sit down and then said, “Stay here. I’ll be right back.”
I nodded and he went off to go get some food. While he was gone, I thought about the day’s events. I was an orphan now. That much was clear. My village was destroyed and whatever remnants were left of it were probably overrun with the Greulocs now. If I was to one day get my village back there would be a long fight laying ahead in my future and I would be ready.
He came back with some food and we began to eat. While we were eating I couldn’t keep my eyes off of the castle. Richmond seemed to notice this because he said, “What do you think of it?”
I snapped myself back to reality and said, “It looks very regal. Does a king live there?”
He nodded and said, “Yes, a king does live there though I fear for his well being. You see he’s getting old and his two sons are fighting quite a lot lately. It’s always like this. A king gets old in his days and any heirs he has start bickering for the throne as if they can change their father’s decision. It can lead to murder sometimes but that hasn’t happened in a long time.”
I listened to what he said and responded with, “It’s awful to even think that it does happen, though. If I had a brother or a sister I wouldn’t be able to even think about hurting him or her. It would break my heart to actually kill my own brother or sister if I had one.”
Richmond sighed and said, “Sadly not many people think that way. It would be nice if they did but in times like these the niceties of kinship have almost been erased completely. It’s kind of ironic, though. You’d think that in times of war the people would want to stand together and become a stronger force than if they were on their own.”
We continued to eat our meal in silence. When we were done eating he bussed our table and said, “I’ve got a question for you.”
I looked at him curiously and said, “What is it?” I was curious as to what his question could possibly be.
He said to me, “What is your best form of combat? Do you use bows, swords, staves, or daggers? Me, myself I use swords mostly and sometimes go for the occasional dagger.”
I laughed and said, “I’m a good archer. Why do you ask?” He was acting curiously as if this topic was a big secret or something.
He smiled and said, “No reason, I was just curious. Anyways now that we’re done eating I’ve got to go do a few things. You should explore the town a little bit. Get comfortable with your surroundings.”
I nodded knowing that this really was most likely the best idea. If I was going to be staying here for a while it would probably be best for me to learn as much as I could about the place.
He got up to leave and said, “Meet me at the drawbridge to the castle at sunset. I have something that I want to show you.” I agreed to meet him and he left. The air was getting colder on my skin but I was used to it. It was always like this out here in the forest. Even if I was in a town right now, the town was still located in the midst of the forest. I got up and began to walk around.
I passed many buildings while I explored. One I recognized as some sort of blacksmith shop, which must have been where all of the weapons for the town were made. There were also some shops selling food scattered around. There was a church building for those who were religious and there was even a public swimming pool. I wondered where the bathing areas were. They weren’t anywhere that I could see so I wondered if they had indoor plumbing here. After I had made my way back to the drawbridge it was nearing sunset. I had purchased a nice hat to keep my ears warm. Well, it was more like a beanie with pink and white zigzags and laces that hung down onto the front of my shirt. It did accomplish its job though and kept me warm.
I sat down and after a little while, Ritchie arrived at the drawbridge and said, “I see you’ve made yourself quite comfortable indeed. I like the hat, by the way.”
I smiled, happily acknowledging the compliment and said, “Thank you. It didn’t cost very much and it has kept me warmer than if I didn’t have it.”
He reached out his hand and helped me up and then asked, “Well, are you ready for what I have to show you?”
I nodded and said, “Yeah, I can’t wait.” He walked with me over to a shed and opened the door he flicked on a light and inside were a large assortment of weapons. What really caught my eye, though, is at the end of it was a group of weapons including throwing knives, a bow with a quiver, an axe, a sword, a mace, and many others. The thing that made them stand out above the rest though is that they were all covered in gold. I walked up to the bow and quiver that was a art of the group and picked it up. I felt a strong feeling surge through my body and it looked as if the bow glowed a little bit but then it was back to normal the next second so I wasn’t sure if it was just my eyes playing tricks on me.
Richmond stepped forward and said, “Do you like it? We can try it out if you’d like.”
I smiled up at him and said, “That would be wonderful. It just feels weird because when I picked up a strange feeling coursed through me.”
Richmond looked at me curiously and said, “What do you mean? Are you sure you’re feeling okay?”
I nodded and said, “Yeah, I’m fine. Forget I said anything. Let’s just go see how I do with it.”
I walked with Richmond to a room that looked like a training hall. Around it were dummies and targets that were used for all the different types of weapons. I chose a target board for me to aim at and stood at the marker. I took an arrow out of the quiver, which, like the bow, had a golden tip at the end of it. I strung the bow and pulled back lining it up with the target. I let go and the arrow flew straight into the bulls-eye. It just felt so right using this bow.
I looked at Richmond and he seemed completely shocked by what I just did. I wondered what he was so amazed at. I told him, “I usually shoot that well. It’s nothing to be surprised about.”
He shook his head and said, “No, I’m not surprised at the fact you are able to get bulls-eyes. It’s that bow. Normally whenever someone shoots that bow they miss terribly even when with other bows they’re able to hit the target perfectly. That is the prince’s bow. Only two people have been able to shoot a bulls-eye with that bow. That is the prince and now you.”
I took in the idea of what this meant and then realized that since this was the prince’s bow I would have to put it back. I said to him, “Well it doesn’t really matter then because it isn’t like it can be my bow, right?”
Richmond then chuckled to himself and said, “Not exactly true. You see, I’m the prince. I didn’t want to let you know right away because I wanted to see what you would think of me, without the knowledge of my status. I wanted to be treated like a regular person. Not very many people can see me and just act natural around me and it was nice to finally be able to meet someone who would.”
I opened my eyes wide, shocked that I had actually been spending time with the very prince, or at least one of them, that he had been telling me about in third person earlier. I felt the urge to bow to him but figured that he would not want that. I smiled at him and said, “It is an amazing pleasure to have spent this amount of time with you and gotten to know you.”
He smiled and shook his head saying, “The pleasure is all mine and about the bow? You can have it. Like I said, I’m more of a sword and dagger fighter. Now I was wondering would you go with a walk with me please? You may not have known this but the town is actually very close to a beach.
I smiled and said, “Sure thing.” He must have been the better of the two brothers that he was telling me about. I slung my new bow over my shoulder.
He offered me his hand and I took it, happily. He smiled and together we walked out of the hall and through the shed. We walked out of town through an exit, which was at the opposite end of where we came in. After about half a mile of walking, we reached the beach.
We walked out over to the shoreline and I felt the nice cool sand against my feet. I looked at Richmond and saw that he was intently looking out across the water. He looked as if he was thinking about something. I asked him, “Hey, what’s wrong?”
He shook his head and said, “It’s nothing. It’s just… Sometimes I wish, I don’t know. Sometimes I just wish things could’ve been different. I wish that I wasn’t a prince sometimes. Then I wouldn’t have to face the quarreling with my brother everyday and I wouldn’t have to try so hard to live up to my father’s expectations and become the kind of ruler he wants me to be. To be honest, I envy you.”
I laughed quietly and said, “Why would envy me? You can practically have anything you want when you want it. I’ve lost everything, my village, my family, and my home.”
He looked down at me and said, “But you have something I don’t have. You can have a future. Me, I’ll be stuck here ruling the kingdom. I’ll never be able to go anywhere and I’ll always be looked at as some all powerful being rather than just a regular human being.”
I nodded and looked out at the water. I told him, “I see what you mean.” We stayed silent for a little while, just watching the waves come in and go out. The water sometimes came up to my feet, which felt nice after a long day of walking.
I then thought about something and said, “Wait a minute, who says that when your king you won’t be able to go anywhere?”
He looked at me and said, “Well, someone has to keep things in order. The kingdom can’t run on its own.”
I shook my head and said, “It wouldn’t have to. I think I’ve found a way to end the quarrels with your brother as well. You see, whenever you wanted to go out and get some fresh air you could just get your brother to rule for you. I’m sure he wouldn’t mind and I think he’d even be happy that you would let him do that. Then you could have a future and you wouldn’t be stuck in boredom.”
Richmond thought about this and said, “I’ll think about it but I don’t know if it will work. Thank you for helping me.”
I smiled at him and said, “Don’t mention it. I’m happy to help someone in need. Especially if that person is someone nice like you are.”
He then opened his arms and I hugged him. He hugged me back with his warm arms. I smiled as I took in the feeling of happiness. After a bit I let go and so did he. I said to him, “That was nice.”
He smiled and said, “If you want you can stay at the castle tonight. I’m sure my father won’t mind. He is very open doors policy as long as it’s okay with me or my brother. I nodded and said, “That would be good considering I don’t really have anywhere else to go.”
He then replied saying, “Alright, let’s go back to the castle then.” We walked back to the town under the guidance of moonlight and when we got to the castle the doors were opened. His coat was taken by one of the two people that were standing ready at the door and the other person said, “Greetings Prince Richmond.”
He looked at the man and said, “This lady here is Grace. She is to be treated with the same respect you would show me while she is here. I’d like an extra bed brought up to my room, if you will.”
The man nodded and said, “Is that all, sir?”
He nodded and the two men went off. He then said to me, “So what do you like to do in your free time?”
I thought and said, “Well, I like to read. I used to read a lot back at my village. It was one of the few things I was able to do when I wasn’t training. We weren’t nearly as advanced as this place is.”
He smiled and said, “Follow me.” He led me down a staircase and through a doorway that was at the bottom of it. We walked through a hallway that opened up to reveal a huge cavern of books.
I looked all around me, shocked at how many books were around here. I had never seen so many books located in one place before.. I looked at Richmond and said, “This place is amazing.”
He said to me, “I’m glad you like it. I’ve read a large quantity of the books in here but it would take an entire lifetime and more to read absolutely everything here.”
I could imagine what he meant. I walked ahead to get a closer look at the books. I noticed that some of them had weird names such as, White Magic and Healing Spells, The Dark Side of Magic, and The Art of Conjuring Creatures. I laughed at some of the titles thinking them ridiculous and then said to him, “These can’t be non-fiction, can they? I mean, I know there are things such as Greulocs and giants which the rest of the world seems to not know about other than the other villages and kingdoms but how can there actually be magic?”
Richmond smiled and said, “Like this.” He held his hand forward and the book called White Magic and Healing Spells came flying into his hand. I just stood there amazed by what I’d just seen.
I walked up to him and said, “This shouldn’t be possible.” Never before had I seen magic like this. This, I knew was no illusion. It was real magic.
He said, “Ah, but it is. You see, most people don’t think its possible because they never take time to actually try to learn it. Now, some people are able to learn easier than others because their minds are more open. It might take someone whose mind is not very open an entire five years to learn a simple spell but its possible for anyone to learn to do magic. If what you were saying about the bow when you picked it up is true then you might be able to do magic quite easily.”
I beamed at him, excited by the fact that I might actually e able to learn to do magic like him. If this was possible I might actually be able to get my village back easier than I had originally thought. I took the book from his hand and looked at it. I could definitely read it even though it seemed to be in a totally different language.
Richmond took the book back gently and said, “By the look of things you can read it which is a good sign. People who aren’t able to do magic very easily have a hard time reading the spells but it seems as if you can read them quite easily. We’ll work on them tomorrow if you’d like.”
I nodded and said, “That would be wonderful.” Richmond was so nice. He was actually offering to teach me how to do magic; something that I didn’t even know was possible until five minutes ago. I, then, felt my tiredness catch up to me and felt myself starting to lose my energy.
He chuckled to himself and said, “You should get some rest. You’ve been through a lot today. Come on, I’ll take you to my room.”
We walked up the staircases to the second floor and walked along a hallway until we reached the second door on the right. He opened it and let me inside. When I walked inside I noticed two beds next to each other only a couple of feet apart and a dresser in between. There was a bathroom that was placed in front of the beds and I looked at him asking if he had any nightclothes for me.
He said, “I’m sure we can find something.” He then pressed a button and said into a box. Could we please get some nightclothes brought up here for Grace?”
The man on the other end replied, “Right away, sir.”
The clothes came quickly and Richmond handed them to me. I went into the bathroom with them and got into them. They fir me loosely but well and I came out smiling. He looked at me and said, “You look beautiful, Grace.”
I told him, “Thank you.” Richmond was always so quick to compliment me and I liked it a lot. It made me feel special to him.
He then said, “I’ll just be a second He went into the bathroom with his things and came out a few minutes later ready for bed. I got into bed and so did he.
I looked at him and said, “You really know how to make somebody feel special. Like they actually mean something.”
He smiled and said, “You do mean something. To me, at least.” Then he turned off the light and said, “Good night.”
I closed my eyes and said, “Good night, Ritchie.” I fell asleep quickly, as the bed was so comfortable.
Sequence 3: Leaving Harmony
I slept late the next day. I didn’t notice that Richmond had gotten out of his bed. He had gotten dressed and went out into the hallway only to be told that his father was requesting to speak with him in the throne room. He quickly went off to thethrone room and opened the door. He walked up to his father’s throne and kneeled on one knee before him, as was custom. He then got up and said, “I was told you wished to speak to me.”
His father nodded and said, “Yes, let us get right down to business, okay?” He paused as if to let something sink in and then continued saying, “I’ve heard that you have a guest in our castle.”
Richmond nodded and said, “Yes, father. Her name is Grace. She’s very nice. I’m sorry I didn’t have time to introduce you to her last night. It was late when we got in.”
The kind nodded and said, “Hmm, I see. Now, son, you know that normally I would not question your actions but I can’t help to think about the fact that you met this girl just yesterday. We are in a time of war, Richmond. You seem not to realize that the Greulocs could have sent this girl as a spy so that they can infiltrate our kingdom and strike when we least expect it. You were a fool in your actions of bringing her here.”
Richmond furrowed his eyebrows and said, “She is not against us, father. Her village was attacked by the Greulocs and I found her cold and alone while I was out on horseback yesterday.”
His father responded saying, “That is what she told you is it? If she was against it is obvious that she would want you to believe that. I will grant you that I’ve been receiving reports lately about a village being destroyed but who’s to say that this girl didn’t betray her village. As it stands she could very well be a traitor and I will not have a traitor in our castle.”
Richmond glared and said, “Father she is not a traitor. Forgive me but you are being paranoid. She doesn’t have a single traitorous bone in her b-“
The king cut him off and said, “Enough! I will not here any more of this. She will leave the castle and you will escort her out of our village!”
Richmond held his arms out on both sides of him and said, “And then what? Let her starve to death? She’ll die out there!”
The king said firmly, “If she does then its all the better. We will have one less enemy to deal with.”
Unbeknownst to them I had heard the entire conversation and just then I opened the door hoping I could change something but not knowing what I could possibly say. But then I heard Richmond say, “Very well.”
My heart burst then and I could hardly keep the tears from my eyes. I had trusted him. I had put all of my faith in him and now he had betrayed me. I turned and ran out of throne room and, as I was completely dressed and had everything of mine with me, I ran out of the castle not caring who was in my way. I ran to the outskirts of the town and into the surrounding forest I climbed a tree and sat down on a branch crying.
While this was happening, Richmond said to his father, “I’m going to go after her. You have crossed the line from loving father to terrible ruler and I cannot have that as my father. I hope you will be happy with Darian as the next king because I am never going to come back”
The king said, “No, Richmond, wait” but it was too late. Richmond was already out of the door and running to the stables. He got onto his horse and started riding around town calling for me.
I heard him but I did not want to speak to him so I did nothing. If he really cared about me like I thought he did he would not have agreed to get me out of the town. If he didn’t want me around he could just have his castle to himself and I wouldn’t bother him anymore. I sat there crying feeling the pain in my chest.
After a while his calls seemed to be getting closer and I looked behind me, with my now bloodshot eyes, and saw him about 20 feet away looking worn out but still worried about me. He saw me then and went up to the tree. He climbed up it expertly and I scooted over so that he could sit down because it would only have been civil politeness to do so. He sat down next to me and said, “Grace, I’m sorry it came to this.”
I looked away from him and said, “No you’re not. I heard you agree with him and you didn’t care at all.”
He shook his head and said, “That’s not true at all. Yes, my father wanted you out of our town and kingdom but I would never leave you. You mean too much to me.”
I looked down and said, “You should have fought harder for me then. If you really cared you wouldn’t have given in.”
Richmond said, “You don’t understand, Grace. If I had argued further my father could have imprisoned me and had me put to death. I can only push him so far before it gets to a point of no return.”
I looked at him then and said, “So, you really do care about me?” I wanted to believe that so much but from what I had heard at the castle it was hard.
He nodded and said, “I do, Grace. You’re the first person I’ve ever met that I can honestly say I have an attachment to. I would give up everything for you. I have already given up my place in line for the throne.”
I was shocked and said, “You didn’t need to do that for me. I’m not so important to give up your entire life for.”
Richmond looked into my eyes and said, “Grace, my life is nothing without you. I’ve been feeling this way since yesterday and now I know it to be true.”
I looked at him in awe and saw the angel of my dreams. I said to him, “I feel the same way about you. That’s why I ran out of the castle so fast when I heard what you had said. I couldn’t stay. It would have been too painful to stay and have you walk with me out of the town and see you leave me there.”
He then hugged me, wrapping his arms around me. I felt safe and warm, like everything would be okay. He made me feel like everything around me could be blowing up and yet none of it mattered except that we were together. He then let go and said, “We should probably get moving and find a shelter. Luckily I brought my horse so we have a faster form of travel than walking.”
I nodded and said, “That sounds good but what about the Greulocs? They explore the forest at night. If they find us they’ll kill us for sure.”
Richmond shook his head and said, “Not necessarily. I know some concealment spells. Like I said, “I have read a lot of the books that were in the library.”
I frowned and said, “I guess I’ll never be able to learn magic like I was hoping.” I had really wanted to learn how to do the kind of magic that Richmond had been talking about but now it seemed like that would never happen.
Richmond said, “No, sadly you will not be able to learn magic as you hoped… Instead, I will teach you.”
I opened my eyes wide and said, “Really? You’d do that for me? That would be absolutely wonderful.”
He smiled and said, “Grace, I’d do almost anything for you. All you have to do is say the word.”
I laughed at how good that sounded and said, “Well, let’s head out of here. I’m ready to go find a place where we can stay.”
Together we rode off in search of a place where we could make our temporary home. We came to a cave and got off of the horse. We tied the horse to a tree and I went to look around a bit. Richmond lined some rope out from his pack as a boundary for our encampment and said some words, which sounded like an enchantment, at each of the four sides of the camp.
I walked around and found some plants that looked like they could be cooked and eaten. I brought them back to our main camp and set them down in front of our stuff. He came back and said, “I see you’ve found some food. However, we need to cook these and we have no way of making fire. Or do we? This will be your first lesson, you are able to make fire with using magic. All you have to do is picture the energy flowing through your body and try to concentrate it all into your hands. After that push your hands forward and you should be able to make the thing you want to catch on fire, catch on fire. I’ll be right back.”
He came back quickly with a bunch of sticks and placed them in a pile after moving all of the leaves and grass out of the way. He placed rocks on the bottom and around the pile. I then sat down and tried to do what he told me. I tried to picture my energy flowing through my body and a surge went through my body that felt warm. I focused on the feeling and the energy in my body and moved it to my hands. I then pushed my hands forward and instead of making fire just an ember came out. I looked down and said, “I can’t do it.”
He shook his head and said, “Don’t give up you almost had it.” He must have thought I was really close or something.
I tried it two more times and on my third try I actually got the fire going. I looked at the fire and said, “I did that. I can’t believe I did that.”
Richmond smiled and said, “I knew you had it in you, now let’s get cooking.” We easily cooked the food and when it was done we ate. Now that it was dark and we were both happily fed we went to sleep. It didn’t matter to me anymore that we were stuck out in the forest. I had lived in the forest most of my life and now I had Richmond here with me. Things were going to be alright after all.