Sara

A strong burst of unnatural white light shone through the moonless night breaking through the deep darkness over the quiet castle town of Erithia, as shadow soldiers storm the battlements and guard towers. At the foot of the castle two black cloaked figures with their hoods up keeping their faces hidden, slip into the castle unnoticed. Sticking to the shadows of the long marble hallways slinking in and out of doorways as maids scuttle around their nightly duties preparing for a new day. Moving past statues of empty ancient suits of armour and velvet draped portraits of previous monarchs of this castle and kingdom, turning left into royal bed chambers. They crept up to the door guard’s quickly blowing a mysterious blue powder into their faces that sent them into a strange sleep like trance. Entering the private chambers of the king and queen they split upon reaching the 4 poster bed. One figure moving to the side where the queen is snoring, pulling the hood back to reveal a woman with haunting faded emerald eyes, accompanied with a short sharp bob cut black hair that is threaded with greying strands and thin weathered figure that has seen many years of hard living to match, leans over the sleeping woman and smiles while chanting to make the bedspread move to tie down the royal couple. The other figure that’s distinctively male remains at the end of the bed drawing a broad sword with blood red jewels winking from the pommel and cross guard. While flowing down the blade is a bisterne dragon scribed through the length of the sword ending in the words, “Despair of the forgotten.” The edge of the sword worn with age pointed at the king’s throat. The queen begins to struggle against the bonds of the bedspreads but stopped as she saw the sharp blade against her beloved’s neck. The cloaked woman removes her hood then lights a fire in her palms highlighting her features to the royal couple in the bed, leaning in closer to the queen the cloaked woman leans her face to the side.“Hello Stella”Stella cries out “Not you” “Guards” Screams the king“oh there is no point yelling for your idiotic guards no one will be coming to your aid” the woman says smugly as she walks to the window glancing down as her troops breaks through the front door into the castle. “they cannot hear you, I have come to take back what you stole from me all those years ago, now I’m going to take your kingdoms from you, your husband and children, everything. Welcome to your banishment. Daughter.”The door opens to a surprised looking maid who quickly backs out of the room shutting the door again. The cloaked woman looks to the figure at the end of the bed.)

“You know what you need to do, go now before the wall is in place.”

“Miss Sara, Sara wake up. Please you need to wake up now” breaking away from a dream of a hot summers day spent relaxing in a field of wildflowers and wine, I open my eyes trying to adjust to the pitch black of night seeing Nancy leaning over and shaking me, there was faint clanging sounds echoing through the hallway outside my room. I pull away from Nancy trying to pull the covers up over my head. “Why have you woken me at such an hour?” I mumbles as I start to drift back to sleep. “Don’t go back to sleep miss, get up!” Nancy grabs the silky covers and pulls them to the floor. “What are you doing? Explain yourself”. Feeling irritated I drag myself out of bed making my way over to the window while rubbing sleep from my eyes. I takes a step back in shock from the fire raging down the hill in the town. Nancy runs over to the wall grabbing my heavy winter cloak down and throws it at me. “The castle is under attack, your parents have already been captured. Come with me, I know where there’s a secret passage that leads out of the castle. It’s close to the nursery”. She throws the cloak at me and turns to look through the door. I pull the heavy material of thecloak around my shoulders. “I can’t just leave my parents behind, there must be something that we can do.” I feel my heart tearing in two. I can’t do this without them. Nancy walks back into the room placing her hands on my face forcing me to look into her eyes. I can see that she is just as frightened as I am. “Listen to me we can’t stay here and you have been training for this moment for a while now and there is nothing you can do for your parents. Help is on his way to them. We need to get to your siblings before they are found by those who hunt us.”I feel like I’m choking with my heart stuck in my throat, I know she’s right. I couldn’t fully understand why they have been so hard on me. I guess they knew this would happen one day but not so soon. They’ve been preparing me for this moment since the moment I could walk. They should have told me what was coming this could have been prevented, I could have prevented it. Growing furious I stomp over to my dresser and force my feet into leather boots, I open my top draw an run my hand along the inside roof of the dresser until I feel the bump that I’ve been looking for, I rip it from its bonds and look it over. I pull my moonstone encrusted dagger for a quick inspection and replace it in its sheath then placing it in my boot. “Hurry up they’re through the main door now.”“I’m ready.”We run through the short distance up to the north tower to where the nursery lies. At the bottom of the steps stand four guards men protecting the tower. I run to them trying to summon as much authority as I can. “Leave now and protect the castle, the soldiers have already broken through the front door they’ll be here any second.” I keep striding past them making my way up the stairs. “We must follow protocol your highness, we are posted here to protect the children, and we are coming with you.”I stop and turn around squaring my shoulders taking one step towards the soldier raising my chin. “Fine but you 4 stay down here and wait for us to come back with the children. Nancy comes with me.”“Yes ma’am” The soldiers retreat back down the stairs blocking the entry point.Racing up the first flight of stairs we arrive at the first landing which holds the rooms for Rose and Emmaand their joint sitting room. “I’ll get Emma she will be harder to get moving you …”“What’s all the noises” Rose’s door open to show two wild eyed girls stumble out. “We heard loud banging and crashing noises, the towers are all on fire.”“We will explain later, hurry up and get your cloaks and shoes, nothing else.”“But...”“Nothing else” I growl cutting Emma off and her storms into her room, Rose has already returned to her room. I turn to Nancy to find that she has already disappeared to the next floor. The governess hobbles down the stairs with her old limp. “Nancy is taking care of the younger ones, what should I be doing.”“Get away from the castle as fast as you can.”Rose and Emma appear again in unison and we turn to go up to the next floor to find Nancy, but as we start climbing my heart leaps as I hear baby peter wailing echo off the walls we met them halfway I take peter from Nancy and hug him close, he reaches his tiny arms out around my neck and lowers his head down to rest on my shoulders. I look Elizabeth over to make sure she is ok, I can never be totally sure as she never has made a sound in her life. I glance up at Nancy, I can’t remember the last time I felt as helpless as I am at this point, completely relying on Nancy now to guide us. She pushes past me and walks back down to the first level. “All of you need to keep as quiet as possible from here onwards, they will be close now. There is a safe passage that leads downwards through under the castle that leads into the forest. When we get back into the hallway we need to go right and to the end straight into the abandoned servants’ quarters.”I remembered that Mother had said that they had to shut that room off because it got flooded with the big storm last fall. “But that has all been shut off how well we get in?”“I will explain it later, come on let’s get moving.”“I’ll stay in the back to make sure no one stays behind” I wait until Nancy takes the front, Rose takes Elizabeth’s hand and they follow Nancy, I push Emma ahead of me with one hand and I slowly follow behind with peter still in my arms letting out little whines but still quiet. My blood is pounding in my ears as we quietly move through the winding stairs leading back down to the hallway slowing when we hear shouting echoing up to us. We start quickening our steps into a faster stride, my breath quickens as I started freaking out thinking that we’d be stuck in this tower. Reaching the bottom of the steps I see Nancy suddenly stop holding her hand up to make us stop in our tracks. Elizabeth presses her face into my cloak grabbing hold of my legs as we hear the crashing noises of soldiers pushing over porcelain statues, smashing over the floor. Our soldiers at the foot of the steps run into action pulling out their swords, at the sound of sword meeting sword Nancy turns to us and lends in. “We are going to make a run for it while they are distracted, lift the bottoms of your nightdresses, on my signal go as fast as you can.” She turns around again and leans out again watching leaving her hand in the air. The girls look back at me, and I can see the fear in their eyes, I stand straighter hardening my face and point towards Nancy, sending them a message to be strong, to be ready. Nancy lowers her hand then and whispers. “Now” I hitch up my skirt with one hand and hold Peter tighter with the other. Stepping forward and starting to run staying behind the girl to make sure none of them trip or get left behind, Seeing the old servants door looming up in front of us, I slow my steps down to look behind me, everything slowed around me as I saw all but one lying on the floor, holding a small silver blade dripping with blood staring at me under a shimmering hood of black darkness showing no features at all. All our soldiers were lying dead on the floor in pools of blood, I look back at the girls all running through the servant’s door I follow through after them, seeing Nancy at the large fireplace running her fingers under the mantle. I pass Peter off to Rose I rush back to the door pushing the heavy door just as the shadow soldier reaches the door throwing himself against the other side flinging the door back wide open splintering the wooden frame as he pounds through it, the children start screaming behind me, I can hear their feet shuffling away from behind me, I start to shake paralyzed with fear never letting my eyes stray from his hood waiting for him to make a move. There was a groaning of old wood moving behind me, and I hear a voice murmuring behind me then there was a tugging of my cloak ties pulling at my throat, the tugging turned into a strong pull nearly pulling me off my feet. I unfreeze twisting to see that there was a hole in the back of the fireplace I run towards the hole where Nancy just disappeared. I stumble and trip falling towards the ground cracking my head on the stone floor everything going hazy, my ears ringing making my own screams echoing in the empty room. I feel a soaring white hot pain down the side of my leg with the soldier standing over me reaching for my hair yanking it backwards dragging me off the floor to a standing position, I bring my leg up, sliding my fingers down my leg trying to reach for my dagger, instead my fingers comes across the small silver dagger that the soldier was holding in the hallway, sticking out of my leg. I clench my teeth squeezing my eyes shut, I grip my fingers around the hilt of the dagger with an intake of a sharp breath I pulled as hard as I can twisting at the waist at the same time building momentum swinging the knife with behind burying it in the chest of the soldier, as he staggers back I make my move towards the hole in the fireplace as I pass through Nancy pulls a lever on the way sealing the hole with stone backing of the fireplace sliding into place securing us from view. We move quickly through the secret passage, breathing shallowly as complete darkness surrounds us, with no light to guide us. I shuffle my feet along feeling weak in my left leg as screaming pain sets in and blood pouring from the wound. I can barely lift my leg as I felt a weird tiredness that hit straight to the bone. I lean against the wall as I feel the ground starting to sloop beneath my feet, afraid of losing my balance. “How do you know where we are going, we can’t see anything.” I whisper afraid of being heard by anymore soldiers. “There is only one entry and one exit, the tunnel leads under the castle ending into the woods outside. You don’t need to whisper no one can hear us down in here.” I jump as Nancy words echo off the walls bouncing around us. Emma and rose gives a startled squeal and peter starts crying. “Give him to me.” I heard Nancy say in a quieter voice. After what feels like an eternity travelling in the dark with the only noise is Peter’s little whining, we reach a closed passage with a lever which Emma went ahead and pulled. With moonlight to guide us now we cautiously step outside and looked around, I feel a weight lift off my chest seeing no one was around. We are only a couple yards away from the tree line, we start walking towards the forest looking around ourselves watching for any movement that could be more soldiers. There is a burst of loud metal noises scraping against the narrow walls of the tunnel behind us. Turning ice cold with my stomach clenching I yell to run. I can feel frustrated tears running down my face as I can barely manage an awkward hobble. The others ahead of me reach the tree line as the first shadow soldier breaks through the tunnel. I fall to the ground just half a meter outside of the forest Nancy turns around to come back to help me. “Stop just carry on you won’t make it with me holding you back.” She stops moving but instead of turning around to carry on with the others she looks up at the sky her jaw going slack with surprise and fear. I roll over to my back holding my dagger in my hand ready for a fight but seeing the dozen soldiers all out of the tunnels half way to us also standing still staring at the sky. There is a bright green ball of light flashing straight into the sky from the middle of the town, then with a force of an explosion the green light bursts out going miles to surround the whole town and making its way over the castle arching heading down to our small field. The soldier starts running towards us but coming to a complete stop just a stone’s throw away from my feet as the green light slams to the grass igniting it into a wall of green fire, a fire that does not burn any further than the ground it is sitting on, there was a deep blood curdling howl that pierced the air as a shadow soldier caught by the fire wall ignites and disappears into a black smoke that gets carried away in the light breeze that is picking up from the mountains. The wall of fire stretches out around the town as far as I can see. No one can get in or out. The whole kingdom is trapped. I lay flat on my back trying to catch my breath with this sudden break from being chased, keeping my head on the ground I look behind me seeing the world upside down I see that Nancy has gone back into the woods to gather my siblings. Closing my eyes rubbing my eyes to try releasing some of the pain throbbing behind them. I opened my eyes struggling to stand up the pain increased in my head, my vision blurring I fall to the ground with colours swirling before my eyes. Taking a deep breath I raise my pain fill body onto my hands and knees clenching my hands through the grass letting the feeling of the rough dirt lumps on my soft skin keep me grounded I open my eyes, a jolt runs through me as I realise that I’m not on the verge of the forest no longer but in fact a totally different place with midday replacing night time. Moving to a sitting position looking around, there is no people around at all. I appear to be sitting in a small rose garden maze with the shrubs short enough for me to see over from where I’m sitting. Two girlie laughs breaks the warm summers air as two little girls break through a door leading into a glorious castle bigger than any I have ever seen. I hit the ground afraid that they will see me, I couldn’t even begin to explain why or how I am here or what they would do to me if they did find me. I roll to my stomach and lean up. Shit they’re coming this way, just around the corner. I get up on my knees and start to crawl away. I suddenly stop because my leg isn’t hurting anymore I run my hand down over my nightgown down my leg and feel nothing, there’s no stab wound. The laughing children round the corner now running straight towards me not slowing down. I wait for them to notice me stuck on the ground. I catch my breath and turn around as the taller girl with long black curly hair in a little white play dress starts yelling to her sister.“Stella, look at that.” I look at her as she is pointing at me. The shorter girl with blonde plaited hair walks forward looking in my direction. “Ssssorry, I don’t know...” I start stammering trying to think of an excuse that would keep me from being thrown in their dungeon because in a castle like that there was bound to be a dungeon but as I was stumbling my way through I was interrupted by the blondie. “Look at what Josie, I don’t see anything.” She looks up at her sister who walks towards me pulling her sister with her and knees down next to me. “What are you d…?” I get cut off as the girl named Josie leans towards, I feel an electric shock that goes through me as she reaches out a hand that goes right through me reaching under the bush that I am now leaning against pulling out what looks like an oversized lizard. “Ohm so pretty what is it?” Stella reaches out and takes the lizard from Josie and places in her lap.Josie reaches out stroking the lizards. “This is a green Iguana. They are one of the most common large lizards around but right now this one is still small so it’s still growing up. They are also very intelligent one of the smartest reptiles that you can think of.” The little girl starts giggling. “Don’t be silly sissy, how could something like that be smart.” Josie starts frowning at her sister but while this was playing out I was feeling my stomach where the hand went through me trying to make sense of what is happening. I reach out to tap the older girl and my hand passes right through her. I must not really be here it must be here, I’m in a dream. I stand up and look around taking note. I still don’t recognize this place I have never visited here before, so why would I be here? I see their mother has finally made it around the corner looking for her daughters, disapproval all over her face. I turn around and watch them interact with the lizard they both jump a little at their mother’s voice for scolding them they both stand with their heads looking down following their mother. As Josie the older sister walks past me she slows her step and looks right up at me. I feel frozen looking at her staring back at me, it’s like she can actually see me. She winks at me before she scurries off to catch up her with her sister, once she reaches her she looks back at me over her shoulder, Stella nudges her to look forward. I take a step back and trip falling backwards that seems to last a long time.

I jolt sitting upwards knocking heads with Nancy who lands of her butt rubbing her head. I look around wildly trying to get a grip on my surroundings. I’m confronted with the bright green wall of fire and the children standing in a semi-circle around me. Reality comes crashing back down on me I’m back in the present. I look back at Nancy to see if she is ok but there is a man leaning over her. I can’t see his face but his hair is a wavy chestnut brown colour I can’t see much of his body through the long black cape he is wearing but he is very lean and tall. “Who are you?” I mumble to the figure leaning over the guy. He turns around looking at me and I recognize his face, his hazel eyes seems to be taking me in letting the seconds slip away. I look over his smooth olive skin and narrow nose and full lips, he his strangely high cheek bones for a man and a well-defined chin I carry on staring at him trying to remember where I know him from I think he work in the stables. He coughs showing some discomfort having already said something that I missed. I look sheepish as I ask him “sorry what?”He moves over to me squatting down. “My name is Ethan, I run your stables.” Giving off an insulted vibe he remains staunch while looking me over. Now it clicks into place, it is around the stables I have seen him I feel embarrassed that I didn’t recognize who he was, I should have taken the time to get to know all the servants around here. “I’m sorry for being so rude and for not knowing your name. How did you make it out of the castle before the siege?” I don’t remember seeing him anywhere in the last few days. “I wasn’t in the castle when it began miss, I was returning from visiting family in the village of Shyree, it’s a day’s walk away from here. When I was travelling through to the castle in the west side I saw those shadow soldiers marching from the south and I tried to rush to warn anyone but I was to slow by the time I reached the castle the towers were already in a blazing fire, so I instead went to the stables to set the horses free and the stable boys I lead around the castle and into the forest here not so long before you guys came through the hole that appeared the castles wall. Your sisters and brother was in the forest hiding with me when you fell on the ground and didn’t get back up. I believe you fainted miss.” He said all this with a humbled manner but something didn’t seem to add up but I didn’t know what. My whole body contorted in pain from my leg the wound making itself known once more. “My leg, it’s been injured with a dagger. I’ve been losing a lot of blood, it’s hard to move it with so much pain that’s why I fell, and I’m not clumsy if that’s what you were thinking.”Elizabeth puts her arms around my neck trying to comfort me, I can tell that she is very frightened by the shaking of her small body and I look at each of them in return reflecting the same frightened look back at me all of them staying unusually quiet. It hurts my heart to see them in such turmoil but I have no comfort that I can offer them. I wrap my arms around Elizabeth and then lightly push her back in the direction of the others. I speak quietly, trying not let them know how much pain I am in. I tell them to go sit quietly under an oak tree. Nancy joins me again on the other side of Ethan, Ethan addressing me says. “It didn’t even cross my mind, let me look at that leg and see what I can do.” He reaches for the hem of my nightgown which I kick away with my good leg. “You may not look there, not at all. It is purely indecent of you to even suggest it, get off with you.” I spat at him indignant that he even tried it. “Don’t be so stupid how you suppose we get far with your leg so injured. You’ll be dead by morning if you bleed out.” He whispered the last part so that we couldn’t be overheard. Nancy pipes in before I could reply “I will look it over and tell you what I see and you can tell me what I need to do to help it, first you turn around.” I didn’t see anything that I could object to so I don’t say anything. He turns around and waits for Nancy to start. She lifts up my nightgown to my hip gentle pulling the cloth away from my wound as part of it has stuck to the opening, I hold my hand of my mouth to stop myself from crying out. She pushes me over to my goods side so to bare my wound up into the moonlight and green glare. “The opening is smaller than my little finger, but it goes very deep. The bleeding seems to only be leaking out a little bit now.” Ethan tears the bottom part of his pants of, tearing it into 2 pieces and passes them back to Nancy without turning around. “Tie one on the wound and the above it to stop the bleeding. It could have gone deep enough to cut through some muscle, I know an apothecary in a village not so far from here.” He starts walking away into the woods before either of us could reply.Nancy makes quick work tying the fabric over my leg, taking shallow breaths trying not to pass out again but before long my gown is being pulling down, I shiver with disgust as I smell the metallic tang seeping through my nightgown and as I move to sit up I feel the material stick to my leg dragging against my skin still wet from my blood. Ethan returns from the forest carrying a large round tree branch moving to sit next to Emma on a fallen log starting to rip the smaller thin branches off. Nancy pulls me to my feet. I wrap my arm around her neck and we start doing an awkward three legged walk towards all them. “What’s that for?” It is a relief that he came back out at all but that was the last thing that I expected him to bring out.“ For you to walk with, you can’t walk far with a leg like that and I’m not carrying you princess.” He stands putting the stick against my shoulder, the length of the branch reaching just above my shoulder, and grabbing my arm wrapping it around the branch, which is thick enough for me to wrap my fingers around comfortably, I run my hand over the smooth almost soft surface, I recognize it from a paper birch tree. I test placing my weight on it afraid that it will snap under my weight but it stands strong. “Don’t put your hand on the top of the branch, its sharp.”“I wasn’t expecting anyone to carry me, it’s not like I wanted this to happen now do I. Now we need to start moving we have been here too long and we didn’t just escape to get caught again.” Feeling an adrenaline surge through me I rally everyone to their feet I can’t see anything through the fire which still hasn’t moved outwards from its line, I don’t hear any more voices on the other side of the fire at least which means that they are trying to look for a way in or they have gone for reinforcements. “What about mommy, daddy.” Whispered Emma. “There is nothing we can do now. All we can hope for is that they are safe as long as they are needed through whatever this is.” My energy starting to already ebb away, slowly being replaced with a powerful urge to cry takes place, I am trying to keep the tears away because they need me to be strong but I don’t even know what to do, so I look at Nancy because she is the only person I can trust and look for guidance. Rose starts to hyperventilate so I place my hand on her back and push her shoulders down. “Take deep breaths, slowly now.” Peter crawls over and grabs the bottom of her cloak, looking up at her with water eyes waiting for his big sister to calm down again. “I remember sometime about 6 months ago father saying in case something happens and we need to hide or safety there’s a very small village made for soldiers as added protection, it lays just outside of a cave that was warded to only let blood ties to past its entrance, no harm can come to you girls and Peter. We raise an army to take back our home. ” I look between Nancy and Ethan, Ethan shakes his shoulders to show he has no idea what I am talking about. “That cave is at least two days ride from here in better conditions than we are facing it lays in the south of Serinfirth which is on the other side of this castle. With no horse or wagon that would take at least 5 or 6 days by foot and in your condition more like 7 or more days. Before we even chart a course there we need to stop at the town Ethan spoke of to get you looked at, we need to gather supplies before we go further.” “Assuming Ethan is going to travel with us,” Ethan gives a grunt at that remark. “How are we even going to pay for any of this? We can’t pay for an apothecary or supplies, I didn’t have any time to get any money before leaving.” thinking of my valuable moonstone dagger strapped to the inside of my boot I will not part with our only weapon that my mother gave me for my 20th birthday as I had just mastered using dagger’s in my secret classes. Nancy pats her waist under her own cloak with a grim smile. “Have some money I was putting aside to send my daughter back in Alagoria. That will be sufficient enough to get where we need to.” I watched with a feeling of being kicked in the stomach, as she looked down and turned to get the children moving, I hardly know anything about her or Ethan I never stopped to get to know any of the servants beyond commanding them around, Never thought I had to, I’m so selfish. “I never realised you had a daughter, I’m sorry.” I feel truly ashamed. Here I am putting our lives in her hands, because I never took this serious enough to be prepared not only risking our lives but now also her family, even Ethan before now I never had much to do with they are basically strangers.“Well no why would you waste your time on such a trivial matter. Now stop fussing, Ethan if you will, lead the way.” Nancy’s voice gave no indication of how she was feeling but from how rigid she is carrying around her body I know I have upset her. I stay quiet not wanting to risk making it worse for anyone here. The girls were groaning, looking exhausted. What happens from here on out is going to shape all of them for the rest of their lives I just hope that they live to actually live. I look at the sky with the endless dark blue starting to lighten into early morning. Each of us in turn start staring at Ethan to move. “I will accompany you to the cave village to ensure you make it there in one piece, I’m sure your parents would expect no less but that is as far I take you what happens to you after that is on you. There is a village on the other side of this forest that will suffice for what we will need, we should be there no later than nightfall tonight. Let’s move.” He glances briefly over us, Nancy reaches for peter after which Ethan turns around and starts walking into the forest keeping his walk slow so we don’t have to struggle to keep up with him. Emma and Rose follow linking arms offering each other silent support, we are all still in shock, I feel sluggish like I’m trying to swim through mud I lean on the stick with every step that I take, I grab onto Elizabeth’s hand put on cloak for her to hold onto so she doesn’t stray and so I can still feel that she is close, her being a mute after all these years still bothers me like nothing else ever had, it is just so unnatural but she is more clever than any of us were at her age. I love them all dearly but out the 3 girls she is the one I feel the most connected to she holds a special place in my heart. I place both of my hands onto the stick to keep a better hold on it I grimace looking at my hands covered in blood. We follow keeping in line with Nancy not willing to let her stay behind us. I glance over my shoulder one last time taking in the view of the castle in silent darkness only guessing at the turmoil roaming inside of those walls that are reflecting the green light from the fire before it all disappears from view being replaced by the never ending view of ancient trees that have filled these lands from what I can guess as the beginning of time.