Dark Knight

                                       Dark Knight
CHAPTER 1

         The engagement was in a week. The palace was in a tangle to finish preparations before the event. The maids were running back and forth with clean white bed sheets for the guest rooms. The servants were busy washing and scrubbing the palace until it sparkled. Guards were standing in their posts thankful that they weren’t given any duties besides watching for trouble and getting supplies.
         With all the excitement going on, Nicole wasn’t able to sneak away for sword practice. Her older sister, Rayne, was getting married to the neighboring kingdom’s prince. The neighboring kingdom, Starling, already had a King. They had no use for their prince, but to marry him off. Rayne was the successor of the throne from her father. Her father had no heir, and had died a month ago from sickness. The kingdom was in need for a new ruler. Rayne had agreed, as Queen, to marry to strengthen the kingdom.
         Nicole didn’t like the idea that Rayne was getting married to a guy her sister barely knew, and had only seen once. Didn’t Rayne say to her that she’d marry through love? But what can Rayne do now? Nothing. She had to do this to protect her kingdom. Nicole knew all this, but she didn’t want to admit the thought that her sister was going to rule the kingdom.
         Nicole was stuck in her room getting fit in her gown for the engagement. She was going to be the flower girl. She couldn’t imagine herself throwing petals at the crowd. It’ll make her look like a complete fool. Come on, a 17 year old throwing petals is pathetic.
         Her gown was a light pink and cream color. It was sleeveless and clung to her curves perfectly. The gown fell loosely down to her ankles. She looked like every princess should look.
         “How does it feel?” her maid asked.
         “It’s perfect,” Nicole said, then mumbled under her breath, “After what, like 10 times of redoing it.”
         “What was that?” the maid asked again.
         “Nothing,” she sighed.
         Nicole changed to her original dress, and was about to sneak away, but to have Rayne blocking the door. Rayne’s blue eyes were tired and had a hint of anger written in them. Her beautiful face was set in a frown. Her usual neat brown hair was a mess.
         “He heh…” Nicole gave a hesitant laugh, “Please?”
         Rayne gave a cold smile and said no.
         Nicole stomped into a chair with a ‘Hump,’ and crossed her arms to her chest. She glared at her sister hoping it’ll cause a hole in her head and cancel the engagement.
         “You know that everyone’s busy. Don’t be distracting the soldiers from their duties,” Rayne warned.
         “I don’t distract them,” Nicole countered.
         “Who wouldn’t notice a pretty thing like you on the field?” Rayne raised an eyebrow. Nicole shut up’d.
         She knew the effects she gave the soldiers. It’s not like she did it on purpose. She found joy in swinging and clashing her swords. The thrill always excites her.
         “I need you to stay here and help organize the palace. Will you please do this for me, Nicole? I need you to. Please just this once,” Rayne pleaded.
         Even though they were 5 years apart, their relationship was strong. It was hard for Nicole to refuse her sister’s request, but Rayne rarely asked others to do things for her. She was an independent woman.
         “Fine,” Nicole slumped, “Just this once.”
         “Thank you!” Rayne threw her hands in the air.
         “But,” Nicole quickly added before it was too late, “I get to go to sword practice.”
         “No. You can go to the Room and practice your magic.” The Room was the place where only the sisters knew about. It was a hidden library in the basement filled with books of every magic spell. Rayne had no use for every magic spell besides healing. Nicole on the other hand, craved for every spell she could get her hand on.
“URGH! Fine!!” Nicole gave up. She’ll never get what she wants no matter how
hard she tries, she never gets it. It’s like everything she doesn’t want to happen happens.       
         Today the prince, Walden, was going to arrive at the palace. Nicole calls him “Wall,” because it sounds like it. Everything has to be perfect and in place before he comes. Everyone is weary and nervous. They don’t know what he’s like.
         “Can I just be in the kitchen?” Nicole asked.
         “NO!” Rayne replied, “You are to be up here and give orders, and make things as nice as possible.”
         “But things are as nice as possible already!”
         “You agreed, Nicole!”
         Nicole rolled her eyes before asking, “When will I get time in the Room?”
         “After dinner.”
         Nicole sighed. That’s not until 4 hours later.


         Prince Walden arrived 3 hours later. Nicole thought it was more like 3 days. He arrived with two of his bodyguards and the palace escorts. Everything was chaos the second he set foot in the palace. The servants ran here and there to retrieve their lost equipments, the maids were scattered everywhere, the kitchen was on fire, and most of all Rayne was missing.
         No one could find where Rayne went. The palace guards went searching for her, but couldn’t find her. So in Rayne’s place, Nicole went to greet the arrival of the prince.
         As the prince entered the palace, Nicole walked down the long spiral staircase leading to the main rooms. She looked graceful and elegant while walking down. The Prince was at the bottom of the staircase smiling at her. It was Nicole’s first time seeing the prince. Rayne had described him with lean features: a long face, green suspicious eyes, neatly combed hair, and a tall man. He was all these and plus handsome.
         Nicole was so focused on his face that she missed a step, and slipped with her heels sliding against the marble surface. She regain her balance with her other foot and holding to the rail. How embarrassing, Nicole thought, and turned bright red as she reached the bottom of the staircase. The prince bowed, took her hand and placed a light kiss on it.
         “It is astounding that you did not fall down the stairs, my Queen,” the prince said as he kissed her hand. Then he stood up tall and looked at her, “You were quite the sight, Rayne.”
         Nicole stared at him. “Sorry, but Rayne’s not here at the moment.”
         His eyes bulged out which reminded Nicole of horses’ eyes when they grow big. “You are?” He asked.
         I am none of your business, Nicole wanted to say, but said, “I am her younger sister, Nicole,” she answered politely.
         “I see,” he said. He didn’t look like he saw it.
         “In the meanwhile, I will escort you for now,” Nicole said, “You must be tired from your trip. We will be having dinner shortly, if you will please follow me to the dining hall.”
         Before she could let the “wall” say a word, she spun around and climbed back up the stairs. She walked quickly to keep space in between them. She didn’t like the feeling he was giving her. It wasn’t like anything she felt before. This feeling sent chills up her spine and made her sick to the stomach.
         She led them into a room with lots of glittery things that hurt her eyes. The servants had done an excellent job of scrubbing and cleaning. A reward should be sent, Nicole thought. She had soft spots on the poor. She never tolerated the ideas of punishment the palace gave to the servants. Whenever she could, she would sneak around the palace helping with the cleaning or whatever they did. Of course they refused her help, but she insisted on doing them by forcing them to give her the broom or mop or whatever was available.
         She seated the prince on the end of the table farthest away from where she sat. The servants continue to bring food to the table.
         “I must go find my sister,” Nicole said to the ‘wall,’ “we’ll be right back.”

CHAPTER 2

         She escaped the room as fast as she could. Where was Rayne? What the heck was she thinking disappearing like that, and leaving her betrothed to her younger sister to attain to?
         Nicole knew just the place to look for her, the Room. Rayne always sought comfort with books. She was the genius. At least she thought she was. Just as Nicole knew, Rayne was in there with a book on her lap staring into space.
         “Rayne?” Nicole called to her sister quietly. Rayne looked startled at Nicole.
         “Oh…” She closed her book and set it aside, “How’s everything going along?”
         “Well, let me see, uh…the Prince is here,” Nicole answered.
         “What!?!” Rayne stood up and dusted herself off, “ He’s here already?”
         “Yup.”
         “Where is he right now?”
         “I took him into the dining hall for dinner.”
         Rayne sighed in relief, and then sat down on the comfy chair. “I don’t think I can do this,” she finally said after a few moment of silence.
         “Sure you can. You’ve been through this for this long already, “ Nicole tried to encourage Rayne.
         “I know that you don’t like the idea of me marrying this guy,” Rayne replied.
         “Yeah, but…why are now back downing on, you know? Having doubts?”
         “I don’t know what I want anymore,” Rayne confessed.
         Nicole didn’t know what to do. She barely saw this side of Rayne. Rayne is always head strong and positive about things.
         “Do what you think is right,” Nicole said.
         “I don’t know what is right anymore,” Rayne said frustratingly, “Sometimes doing the right thing isn’t the right thing to do.”
         Like marrying the ‘Wall,’ Nicole thought. She sat on the chair’s arm next to Rayne. Sometimes a person just needs another person’s comforting presence and silence to calm them.
         “I get this really weird feeling from the new guy,” Nicole told Rayne, “I don’t like him. I know I shouldn’t judge a person right away, but this is different.”
         “How?” Rayne asked.
         “I don’t know. It’s like he can see right through me. Like read my mind or something. It freaks me out.”
         “I think you just need to get to know him better,” Rayne said.
         “I don’t think so, sister.”
         Rayne laughed. “You are so like that,” she said.
         “Hurry up,” Nicole stood up and walked to the entrance of the Room, “You have a prince waiting for you in the dining hall.”
         As the sisters neared the dining room, they heard someone shouting. One servant ran out the dining hall in a hurry. Nicole stopped him in the hallway.
         “What’s going on?” she asked.
         “T-The prince is angry about the food, Your Highness,” the servant said nervously.
         “What’s wrong with the food?” Rayne asked in alarm.
         “The prince doesn’t seem to like it. He says, he says that someone tried to-to poison him, my Queen!”
         Rayne looked shocked. Who would want to kill the prince?
         “I told you I should have been in the kitchen,” Nicole reminded Rayne. Rayne jabbed Nicole in the ribs.
         “I will see to this,” was Rayne’s reply. She walked into the dining hall with her head held high. As she entered, the ‘Wall’ yelled, “Where is the Queen?!”
         “I am here.” The ‘wall’ turned to look at her then smiled. Nicole walked in behind her.
         “You do know that someone,” the ‘wall’ indicated with swinging his arm toward the room, “someone in this very palace tired to poison me.”
         “I am very sorry, sir,” Rayne replied, “I don’t know why anyone would want to do such a thing.”
         “We will find out then,” the ‘wall’ said in a sneer. He walked over to Rayne and tilted her chin up with a finger. “You are quite a sight.”
         “Thank you, sir,” Rayne answered.
          The ‘wall’ let go the Queen, took her by the arm, and said, “I shall skip dinner. I must confess that I already ate before arriving. Show me to my room.”
         “Of course,” Rayne answered, then to Nicole she said, “See to the kitchen.” Then she and the ‘wall’ left the dining hall.
         Nicole heaved a sigh, before going to the kitchen. As she entered, everyone was quiet. They had stopped what they were doing and were looking at Nicole with desperate eyes.
         “I swear, Your Highness, we didn’t do anything!” Someone blurted out and started to cry.
         “What happened?” Nicole asked the kitchen staff.
         “It all happened so fast,” the servant who served said, “the prince took a few bites from his plate then spat them right back out.”
         “We didn’t do anything wrong!” one of the cooks replied.
         Nicole raised a hand to quiet the room. “Does anyone of you know who might want the prince dead?” she asked.
         The room was dead quiet. Nicole trusted the palace servants. She grew up with them around. Then someone said, “How does the prince know that someone tried to poison him with only a few bites?”
         The Kitchen staff started to move in the room. Metal hit the floor like someone walking. They were trying to let someone through. The person who spoke walked towards Nicole. It was a Sir Alexander of the Kingdom Knights. He was a father figure to Nicole. She came to him whenever she had problems. His blond hair was turning gray at the roots, his gray eyes were as sharp as ever, and his body was always in shape. As head knight of the Kingdom Knights, he felt a responsibility towards protecting the palace since the death of the former king.
         “Sir Alexander,” Nicole bowed slightly.
         “How does the prince know that someone tried to poison him with only a few bites?” He asked again.
         “That is an interesting question,” she answered, “But what if he were lying?”
         “Who knows,” the knight said, “We won’t know unless we ask.”
         “But that’ll be accusing him of doing it on purpose,” someone said.
         Nicole agreed. That couldn’t just do that to him. He was a Prince.
         “Not unless Nicole asks him herself,” came Alex’s reply. Everyone was quiet in their thoughts.
         “I could do that,” Nicole said.
         “Great!” Alex stepped forward and grabbed her by the arm. “Let’s go do that right now.” He led her out of the kitchen, down the hall, turned a corner, and then stopped to her go.
         “Why’d you do that for?” Nicole asked rubbing her arm.
         “Something’s not right with the man,” Alex whispered, “Don’t look at me with those eyes, Nicole. He has weird vibes around him.”
         “I know. I felt them.”
         “I passed the Queen and him in the hall going towards the sleeping quarters. The look in his eyes…I sense that something bad is lurking behind them.”
         “So do I.” They became silent for a while.
         “Let’s get to your sister before anything else happens,” Alex said.
         With Alex beside her, they walked to the sleeping quarters quickly. They stopped to ask a maid which room the Prince was kept in. They arrived at the room to find no one inside, but had luggage in it. They began to search the palace for the couple. Just before they were about to give up, they heard someone whispering, almost inaudibly, but if you strained carefully, you could make out bits of words.
         They looked at each other, before approaching where the whispers came from. It came from behind a corner used to get to the dungeons. No one ever goes down there. No one is allowed down there. The whisperings began to become louder and clearer.
         “We haven’t have the time to talk without being…disturbed,” they heard.
         A silence came over them. Then they heard, “Stop that!” in a whisper. It sounded like Rayne. Alarmed, Nicole ran to the corner. She gasped when she got there. Alex bumped into her, then saw what surprised Nicole.
         “What the H-” Alex was ready to draw his sword. They had found Rayne embraced in the ‘wall’s’ arms. Seeing this picture made Nicole’s stomach queasy. She looked at her sister in the eyes with a horrible shock. Rayne immediately pushed the ‘wall’ away from her, and then looked away. The ‘wall’ merely smiled at us, then walked away like nothing happened.
         Nicole walked up to her sister. “What just happened?” she asked.
         “My Queen…” Alex tried to find the right words to say, but his mind failed him.
         “I…” Rayne started but couldn’t finish, so she ran away from them.
         Nicole and Alex looked at each other in disbelief. They would get to the bottom of this later, because Nicole said, “We should give Rayne her space. We don’t want to push her to far.”
         “You are right,” Alex said, “I am rather hungry. Care to join me for dinner?”
         “Why not. I am rather hungry myself.” They left disturbed and went to the kitchen.

CHAPTER 3

         Nicole had finally got her time in the Room after dinner. Nicole loved learning new things. Although some tore her mind apart, she managed to learn them. Learning magic is a great opportunity. Many people are born gifted with the ability to do magic some are not. Little or small, magic is magic.
         Nicole was born with a special talent, she could control every element of the world: water, earth, fire, air, light, and darkness. They were mainly used for physical use, but provided valuable in other subjects. Rayne, on the other hand, was born with the ability to heal better than anyone.
         Nicole sat down on the comfy chair exhausted. It had been a long day. She didn’t know if she had the strength to work with magic tonight. But anyone dumb enough to turn this offer down was an idiot.
         She got up and walked to the bookshelves. Since finding the hidden room with Rayne over twelve years ago, she had read most of the books. There were some that were too worn out to rid. Some had missing pages. Others were in different languages. She scanned through bookshelf after bookshelf, looking for a book she’d never laid her hands on yet. At the back of the room with the last bookshelf of the room, a book caught her eye.
         Nicole cocked her head to her side. Curiosity peaked in her. The book’s spine was made of black leather that was worn but still intact to the pages. She took the book off the shelf and studied it. The cover had no title. The other books always had a title. Some were written on them. This one was simply just blank. She skimmed the pages, but it was empty, but she definitely felt magic within the book.
         Confused, she thought there could have been invisible writings on them. She would look at it later in her room, she thought. She continued scanning and again found another book just like the first one, but this one would not open. It seemed to have been locked by magic. She tried a spell to dispel the lock on the book, but it didn’t work. She tried again for two more times. Both attempts didn’t work.
         She went back to the comfy chair to study the two books. They looked exactly the same. She didn’t know why one could be opened, but had no prints, and the other just wouldn’t open. Wanting to open the closed book, she searched through the books in the Room to find a stronger spell to open the book. Most of the books she had already read. Others were unable to be read.
         She went through three shelves with no luck. She had more shelves to look through. She wouldn’t be able to look through them all in one night. Feeling tired and in need of sleep, she left her two books on a counter, and then left the Room to her bedroom.

CHAPTER 3

         The next morning, Nicole became sick. She had a headache and a fever. She didn’t know how she got it, but it could have been from staying up too late from the events of getting the engagement over. The first one to visit her was her sister.
         “How could you be so clumsy and get sick?” Rayne asked.
         “Maybe because of my shock from yesterday?” Nicole countered.
         Rayne looked stung with the statement.
         “Why didn’t you just tell me you were in love with this guy?” Nicole asked.
         “I’m not in love with him!” Rayne blurted out then turned away.
         “If you’re not in love with him then what was yesterday’s scene about then?”
         “I don’t want to talk about,” Rayne looked like she was going to cry.
         “Sorry for nagging you,” Nicole said. Rayne just sat there.
         The door opened and, Alex stepped through. “How are you Nicole?” he asked then saw Rayne. “Your Majesty,” He bowed.
         Rayne stood up and left the room.
         “I’m doing fine,” Nicole answered, “At least I hope so.”
         “Did the Queen say anything?” Nicole knew what he meant.
         “No. She didn’t want to talk about it. Just said she wasn’t in love with the guy.”
         “Ummm…”
         “What do you think?” she asked.
         “I don’t know,” he replied, “Let the Queen tell you when she feels comfortable. It’ll take time, but we must bear through it.”
         Nicole nodded. She just needs some space, she thought.
         “Something happened in the woods yesterday night,” Alex reported to her, “It seems that someone or something killed a wolf, and dragged it into the middle of the field. Two of my men found it there while patrolling.” Killing a wolf was illegal. Wolves were sacred animals. They don’t attack humans unless they felt they were in danger. They had amazing strength and agility. They were adored for their fierce souls, and had been, once in history, kept as pets. Unfortunately, not many were left. They had declined rapidly over the centuries due to the use of land.
          “Who would do such a thing?” Nicole wondered.
         “I don’t know who, but that person must have been pretty powerful to have killed a wolf,” said Alex.
         “Why drag the wolf in the middle of the field?” She asked.
         Alex shrugged. “It gets even more weirder. Around the wolf was a carved magic circle.”
         “What?” No one did magic circles any more unless…
         “Exactly what I thought too Nicole,” Alex frowned, “We don’t use magic circles. But there are those that are used, but are illegal. This person had committed not one, but two illegal crime. This person is crazy. It really wants its head chopped off.”
         “Magic circles were used for sealed magic users only,” Nicole thought out loud, “Clearly this person is not a sealed magic user. I can’t think of anything else that magic circles are used for, but to-” she swallowed, “but to drain the life force of a creature.” That sent chills up her spine. No one knew how to that any more. You can’t find it in any old book no matter how hard you look. They say that it’s passed through mouth only. If it were to be written in a book, who ever touched it would be drained of their life force. That was a scary thought.
         “I’m heading there right now,” Alex told her, “I’ll tell you what we found.”
         “Alright. Make sure to not step in the circle. It could still be in effect. Wash the ground with water to remove carvings of the circle before gathering the remains.”
         “I’ll be sure to do that,” Alex said and left the room.
         Nicole laid back in bed. All that thinking was giving her a bigger headache. She decided that she’d just stay in her room the whole day.
         She did exactly that. She had lunch and dinner in bed. What a relief it was not to be around the commotion. She wished now that she had brought the books she found in the Room with her.
         After dinner, Nicole sunk out to return to the Room. Her books were exactly where she left them last night. She continued her search for a spell to unlock the binding spell on the second book. Her illness had distracted her from concentrating, because she didn’t get very far and went back to her room disappointed but brought the books with her.
         She returned to her room unnoticed. Alex hadn’t returned from the search to tell her what happened. To kill off time, she opened the first book. To her surprise the first page of the book read: To be worthy of magic, one must use it wisely. Only those worthy enough of magic will be able to use this book.  The following pages were blank.
         She flipped through each page from cover to cover, but they were all blank. She read the first page again. So basically this book was saying she was not worthy enough to use the book. Screw it, she thought. What bothered her was why no one threw it away if it was useless like this, but knew better than to do that. The book looked like it had been used numeral of times.
         Frustrated, she placed the books on her side table and fell asleep.
         The following three days were a blur. Nicole had taken the time to sneak into the Room to look for the spell. She searched all the books, but found none. She was lucky and found three books she’d never read before and studied them in bed. She was studying one book that taught how to crush an object. She especially liked the book that taught how to make a love potion, and such things about love.
         Alex had stopped by one afternoon saying that the magic circle was erased, but no one could figure out what the circle was. The wolf’s blood had been drained out completely. Not a drop was left. They buried the wolf near the woods for respect.
         Rayne had stopped by once during her retreat. She looked weary than ever. Rayne was holding something back and Nicole could tell that it was eating her.
         Nicole hadn’t seen the ‘wall’ since his arrival and she was glad she didn’t. She wanted him gone. She hadn’t been able to ask him how he knew that there was poison in his food. Maybe next time, she thought.
         It was the night of before the engagement, and Nicole was still in bed. Of course, she was already better. She only stayed to learn her magic. While practicing, her door opened, and Rayne stepped in looking like a dried fish.
         “What’s with you?” Nicole asked.
         “Isn’t it obvious?” Rayne answered madly. She sat down at the end of Nicole’s bed, and then burst out crying.
         “What’s wrong?” Nicole asked sitting up, “Stop crying! You’re gonna make me cry too.”
         Rayne hugged Nicole then whispered in her ear, “I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry.” She sobbed uncontrollably, “I wanted to tell you, but…but…”
         “But what?” Nicole asked quietly.
         Rayne pulled Nicole away from her. She looked Nicole in the eye. Nicole saw that Rayne was scared. Not just scared, but fear. What did Rayne fear that made her do this? “I promised…I promised…”
         “Promised what?”
         She started sobbing again, “ I promised I wouldn’t, but I can’t…” She looked at Nicole in the eye, “You must go. You must go tonight.”
         “Go where? I don’t want to go anywhere,” Nicole protested.
         “Hush, Nicole and listen to me,” she warned, “It’s not safe here. Take your belongings and go. I don’t know where, but I know there is a place out there that’ll take you in.”
         “I don’t understand, Rayne.”
         You’ll understand it all very soon, but not right now.”
         “But what about the engagement?”
         “I will be with…him…He said if I told anyone…he’ll…he’ll…” Rayne became very quiet.
         “Why must I go? Are you coming too?” Nicole was scared. She didn’t understand what the heck her sister was trying to say.
         “I am not coming with you, my dear. Hurry and take your things and-” Before she could finish, a voice said, “Rayne.”
         Rayne froze, and looked at Nicole. Nicole understood it now. It was Him. Something was going to happen, and Rayne wanted to leave…leave the palace, because of him. Rayne looked at me with panic, grabbed her sister into a hug and whispered very quietly into Nicole’s ear, “Whatever happens to me, know that you will be the next ruler. NOT HIM…” Then the door opened and he stepped in. Rayne became very still.
         “Rayne,” He called.
         Rayne turned around. “Yes, dear?” She said and smiled, “Forgive our tears. It is hard to both of us who are so close to each other, to now be far apart soon. I just wanted her to be ready for today. I feel-”
         “We have to go, sweety,” He said slowly. Nicole looked at Rayne in panic. Rayne stood up and walked over to Him. She turned around and said to Nicole, “I love you, Nicole. Sweet Dreams.”
         “I love you too, Rayne,” Nicole said trying to bite back the tears. She felt His eyes on her, so turned to Him and gave Him a teary, fake smile. “Sweet Dreams.” Then they left with Rayne trembling in his arms.

CHAPTER 4

         Once Nicole thought they were out of distance, she cast a spell to lock her room. Quickly she began to do as Rayne advised, pack up and leave. Nicole wasn’t safe in the palace anymore. She knew she couldn’t pack a big bag. It’ll be too heavy for her to carry. She dressed in her practice clothing: trousers and a shirt, male clothing. Instead of dresses, she grabbed only her male clothing. She only had a few so she grabbed two dresses to complete her wardrobe. She figured she needed money, took her jewelries, placed them in a small bag, and tied it around her waist to secure it. She would sell them if she had to. She wore her riding boots, and placed her flats in her pack. She placed a smaller dagger in her boots for safety. To finish her packing, she took a comb, the two mystery books, the three books she was studying, and toilettes. She grabbed her cloak, threw it over her, blew out the candle, and left the room.
         She cast a shadow over her to cover her from view. She walked quickly and quietly to the kitchen. No one was in. She snuck in and grabbed and stuffed food in her pack. She grabbed a canteen filled with water and left the kitchen. She hoped the cooks wouldn’t mind her raiding in the morning.
         She went over to the stable to fetch her horse. Before she reached the stable, she came across the practice field. She quickly thought of taking a sword or not. Not taking the chance of protection lightly, she silently grabbed a her sword she knew no one would touch. It use to be her father’s. Now it was her’s. She carried it with her to the stables.
         While going there, her pack was making too much noise from bouncing up and down. It caught the attention of one guard. She stopped in her tracks, and waited for the guard to go back to his post before resuming her journey. She cast a silent spell on her pack to rid of the noise it made, plus her bag of jewelries.          
         She went to her mare who she had received on her 15 birthday. It was a black mare with a white patch of fur that was diamond shaped on the middle of the forehead. She settled her mare and took her outside. The other horses were beginning to make loud noises so she calmed them with a soothing wind. It worked on them.
         She took her mare outside and carefully concealed them from the guards. Once she neared the woods she rode her horse and into the darkness they rode. 


         Nicole didn’t dare take any risks stopping to takes rests. She and her mare traveled through the night under the moonlight. She wasn’t taking any chances with any light other than what the moon gave. She and her mare came across a trail in the woods. They followed the trail, but stayed on the sides. Dawn was approaching, and Nicole was tired from her journey. She had not any rest, and she was sure her mare was also tired as she was. The trail led them out the woods, and into open fields of the suburbs just outside the town near the palace. She continued to travel as the sun rose higher above her. People began to come out of their houses and go through their daily lives.
         She arrived at a hill, and was thankful that there was an inn in view. In need of sleep and energy, she headed to the inn. As she arrived, she gave the reins of her mare to a stable boy, who took the mare and placed it in the stables. She entered the inn ready for the comfort of a bed and shelter, but was disappointed by the sight of the inn. Every eye was on her as she walked into the inn. The inn was full of big, muscular built men that looked ready to knock your head off. They gave her one look, and turned back to what they were doing.
         “Welcome,” a man said to her, “Need something?”
         “I’ll like a room please,” Nicole replied.
         The man looked at the front door and said, “Have an escort?”
         “Do I need one?” Nicole asked.
         “Well it’s just that a lady alone in an inn is-”
         “Please, I just a room,” Nicole interrupted.
         The man shrugged, “That’s 50 gin.”
         “I don’t have any gin with me, but-”
         “If you don’t have any money, you might as well get the heck outta here,” the man complained.
         “BUT,” Nicole continued and reached into her bag filled with her jewelries and pulled out something random, and placed it in front of the man, “how much would this be worth?”
         The man stared down at the silver bracelet she took out. He held it in his hands as if measuring it to make sure it was real. He looked back at Nicole and said, “This, if I had to approximate, it would be about 5000 gin. Lady, how did you get your hands on this? WAIT…” He handed back the bracelet back to Nicole. “You must be a thief. Oh-no! I don’t take in thieves. Leave immediately.”
         “What?” Nicole said in shock, “I’m not a thief! I just want a room!”
         “No,” the man said again shaking his head and pointing to the door.
         “The lady’s with me,” a voice said behind Nicole and placed some gin on the table in front of the man. “She’s not a thief, either.”
         Nicole turned around to see who saved her. It was a young man in a suit of black armor with armed weapons, possibly around his early twenties. His long dark hair was tied into a ponytail that rested on his shoulder. His height along with his armor made his aura around him seem extremely dangerous. His extraordinary blue eyes were hidden behind long bangs, but were still visible. Nicole saw a muscle twitch on his handsome face as she studied him.
         “Here,” the man laid a key on the table in exchange with the gin, “Up the stairs, fourth room on the right.”
         The armored dude pushed Nicole towards the stair when she didn’t move. Nicole shot a glare behind her back, then started up the stairs and into the room. Once in front of the room, Nicole turned around and faced the young man who helped her.
         “Thank you, whoever you are,” Nicole said grimly.
         He looked at her with an annoyed look on his face and handed her the key. “You are welcomed,” he said as his deep voice was let out.
         Nicole took the key from him and asked, “Why’d you do that?”
         He simply just shrugged his shoulders. “Because I wanted to.” Nicole smiled. At least he had some sense of humor.
         “Thank you,” Nicole said again and opened her room. The room was small, but a room was better than nothing. The bed was small too. Everything in the room was small, even the door. Nicole walked over to the bed and placed her pack on the bed. She turned around to continue to talk the armor dude, but he was gone. She hadn’t heard him leave, but she was thankful for what he did. She looked in the hall, but no sign of him. She figured if he wanted to continue to talk, he’ll knock or something.
         She closed and locked her door, before lying on the bed. How good it felt to lie on a bed. It wasn’t soft like her own bed, but it better than the ground. As she lied on the bed, she thought what happened just last night. She couldn’t believe she had made her journey from the palace to the inn in one night. It felt like, a whole month. Thinking about her sister was heart breaking, so she decided to get some sleep. She really needed it.

CHAPTER 5

         Nicole woke up in darkness. Her back was aching from the hard surface where she laid. She sat up where she laid. Some how she was on the floor. Did she fall down the bed? She stretched her arms and got up back on the bed. She laid there for a few minutes, waiting for sleep to come back, but her stomach growled in hunger. She got back up again searching the dark for her pack. She was too tired to do any magic with out energy. She found her bag, dug through to find her food and stuffed them into her mouth. Chewing through mouth full, she washed it down with water. Feeling better and with life, she cast a ball of fire to light the room.
         Nicole sat there thinking of her options, to go or to stay. She thought it was safety to ride out at night than in the daylight. She grabbed her pack and left the room. As she was going down the stairs, the innkeeper, the man she tried pawning her bracelet, blocked the stair entry leading to the sitting area.
         “You don’t want to go in just yet,” he told her.
         “Why?” Nicole asked. She looked over his shoulders trying to get a look at what was going on. She saw a group of big, humongous men gathered in a circle surrounding a dark cloaked man. “What’s happening?”
         “Well…” the innkeeper shook his head in disgust, “The royal search group is here looking for someone.”
         Nicole froze in horror as she heard what the innkeeper told her. She tried acting as calm as she could before anyone suspected it was her she was looking for.
         She heard a chilly voice said in the sitting room, “We’re looking for Princess Nicole. She ran away last night. We think she might have been here recently or is here right now.”
         She looked at the innkeeper and said, “ I don’t want to get into this mess,” handed him the key to her room, “ Is there a way out besides the front?” The entrance of the inn was in the sitting room. She would have to cross the room to exit the inn, but she could get caught doing so.
         “Of course,” the innkeeper said, “This way.” Nicole followed the innkeeper to the back of the inn and out a door leading to the stables. The innkeeper led her into the stables to her horse.
         “I hate things like this when people make such a ruckus out of nothing and turns out to be such a bad thing, “ the innkeeper told her. Nicole nodded in agreement.
         “Thank you, sir,” she thanked him, “I hate situations like these too.” With that said, the innkeeper left. Nicole saddled her mare quickly hoping that they wouldn’t find out that the innkeeper didn’t know who she was. She wondered if the innkeeper thought it strange that she was traveling at night. She had fooled him that she was with the armored dude. Did he leave already or was he still inside? She pushed the thought aside hurrying to be on the way.
         As she got on the road leading away from the inn, she let out sigh of relief. After riding for a few minutes, she saw ahead of her a shining light coming towards her. It seemed to be coming fast, because it was getting closer and closer very fast. She heard the sound of galloping horses. She jerked her mare out of the open road onto the grassy area. The light stopped in front of her. Nicole’s heart dropped.
         A carriage was the source of the light. The door opened revealing a woman in armored gear. She had wavy blond hair loose to her shoulders. Her bright green eyes pierced Nicole. Her armor shone brightly in the dark. She had too much revealing skin that made Nicole think that the woman was hired to just to be in the armored gear.
         “Where are you going in the middle of the night?” the woman said in a sharp tone as she looked at Nicole. Clearly she saw that it this person was female.
         “I am following my master, ma’am,” Nicole replied.
         “I didn’t see anyone while coming here,” the woman squinted her eyes at her.
         “He must be resting or something. We stopped at the inn, but there was trouble so we continued on,” Nicole replied. She hoped that lady would fall for her excuse.
         “I see…Eagle must be there already,” the woman mumbled then to Nicole she said, “Hurry up and get with your master.”
         “Yes ma’am!” Nicole said and trotted away quickly before the woman could stop her and accuse her of anything. Nicole traveled quickly not wanting to be caught. She came to an intersection with three leading roads in different directions. They went south, east, or west. The palace was in the northern part of the kingdom. She didn’t want to be seen up there. Rumors travel fast. Nicole thought about going out to a different kingdom, but you needed an approved visa to get out. Her father had been very strict about people leaving and coming out the kingdom, so that wouldn’t do her much good if she were spotted at the gates.
         To the east are the tumbling mountains. There are only five trails that can be passed. The mountains were dangerous. They are the homes to the most dangerous dragons in the continent, the Emeralds, named after the color of their mysterious eyes, and for their scales that shine like the jewel. They were huge creatures with razor sharp teeth able to do anything with it. They are a bit bigger than elephants. It is rare to see one flying in the sky, but if one were given the opportunity to see it, it is a once in a lifetime sight. They do not leave their homes in the mountains unless they are in need of food or such things that creatures need. But there are times when they wander around due to their curiosity of the world.
         They are considered the most dangerous because of their powerful spells they cast. It is said that one blow would kill a person in an instant. Some say that they can be controlled although no one has tried to. They have thick powerful tails that can whip through solid rocks like paper. Their claws are poisonous if they inject it into the bloodstream. They are solitary creatures that will leave you in peace if you don’t mess around with it.
         To the west are the vast plains. They are used a lot for farming. The people of the kingdom live populating these lands. They are most comfortable there. The Troikas Sea lies beyond the plains. Trading makes up a lot of the kingdom’s economic.
         To the south is the Jaded Forest. The elves dominate the area. They live their own separate lives from the kingdom. There is a peace treaty with the elves if we do not mistreat them with cruelty like in the past when the humans captivated them into slaves. They are beautiful creatures that are exotic. They are known for their accurate aim in archery.
         The faeries also dwell with the elves. The faeries are protected by the elves. They are small petite creatures that hid at the sight of danger.
         Nicole didn’t know which road to take.