It’s always been said history will repeat itself sometime after it’s first born and created. History only runs in a circle of pain, hurt, laughter, and love. It dips and turns, runs and walks, grows and shrinks, just like a river, always changing, always moving. Trickles flow into streams, streams into rivers, rivers into bays, bays into oceans, and that ocean swirls and dances but eventually that ocean will have to be sent back to the sky and history will repeat. That’s why history should not be lost to time, because when that time comes, the time for history to repeat itself, we can make the right choices to lead into a better future, or should I say, the past.

...

Queen Eva looked out the window towards the battlefields where swirling dark magic floated above the heads of her men. The men she loved and would do anything to protect, but this time she was helpless. Then she looked back at her bed where a young child was sleeping peacefully, unaware of all the pain happening around her. Then looking down at the paper before her she started to write in a scawling script,

"My lovely child…” she paused, footsteps running down the hall towards her quarters.

Eva gasped, covering her child’s mouth with one delicate hand as the child’s eyes fluttered open curious, and the footsteps dashed past the door. “Oh dear don’t cry now it will all-.” They were interrupted with a fierce pounding on the door.

“Be okay?!” Someone yelled from the hall, “Really? Let me in your mightiness! Although I wouldn’t allow my subjects to call me that if I couldn’t save them from dying at the hands of someone you wish you could destroy but aren’t alive enough to !” A choking laughter escaped from the evil standing outside the door.

Eva barely glanced at the door and registered the banging before she threw the blankets over her child and messed up the bed hoping she would just be thought of as a mess of blankets, the servants hadn’t come that morning anyways.

“Your time has come to meet your lost men. Just open up all sweet and calmly, I wouldn’t want to break down this beautifully ornate door and the deather brothers wouldn’t want their new kingdom to be ruined even by a stubborn entrance.”

Eva shook her head and opened the window looking down onto the ground below. She could escape now and live, but it would mean leaving a child she loved dearly behind. She had to make her decision, leave behind the child and hoped she survived or be killed and hope the child would make it out alive.

She crawled out the window, making her way down the castle and towards the woods. She knew in her heart somehow the child would survive, mothers always knew. They could see the lifetime of everyone pass through their heads if they wanted to. Mothers had a special kind of magic that no one else had, not kings, not lords, not knights, not servants, or even daughters and sons. They had the magic to believe and see the best in everyone.

As she hurried into the forest, taking one longing look back at the kingdom she lived for and would die for. She knew she couldn’t do the same things for her child. A daughter to one day rise and resurrect the kingdom. A princess to steal it back from the devils darkness and reunite the people. A queen to one day become the most powerful sorcerer and creator that would ever walk across the earth and live with the common people. And a panther. One who would be remembered as the kindest and loving soul that was tricked and fooled yet stood tall as she lived to resurrect, reunite, and rule over a kingdom she unburied from ashes.

Mariana krept through the thickening darkness in the edge of the castle parklands, heading towards the town that consisted of thirty tightly packed houses and shops, littering the intersection of two of the most famous rivers; that had yet to dry up with the strange drought this year.

She was hoping to snatch a few bread loafs, stale or fresh, from the town’s vendors before they closed up for the night due to the rising of the shadow moon over their heads.

She paused in her path as she looked up at the creepy blankness of the shadow moon and she felt, in that moment, like all the moon saw was her; her in her baggy gray and brown shirt, once a pale ivory. She shook her head getting rid of distracting thoughts and continued on.

She entered the edge of the town and pushed herself against the buildings in the shadows, targeting the last open vendors, a group in the middle of the square.

“Ahh there it is.” She thought, spotting the bread vendor.

Mariana slid onto the cobblestone path that took a chunk out of the center of town and walked along it acting like a young farmers girl headed home before… The child taker snatched her. Passing the vendor she tripped, knocking a bunch of bread rolls on the ground.

“I’m so… excuse me… sir… miss.” Mariana spoke nervously as she picked up every single bread roll and set them back on the table, then she backed away and ran home, not looking back. Looking back would get her notices.

As she stepped back into the woods she heard the yells behind her and hoof beats. The baker had realized he was missing a whole loaf of bread. It was time for her to disappear into the dark.

Mariana sped up, her legs stirring up leaves and mud. The bread roll held in her dirty hand.

If she could make it to the river she could throw off the scents of the hounds and lose the town jailers. She had spent a night in town jail before for stealing less than bread and knocking over a vendor, which was owned by a highly respected food supplier. She wasn’t anxious to sleep in dirty straw and mucky water again. Yet the river was still a mile away and she could tell the palace hounds had started their chase.

She wasn’t going to make it so she darted to the west heading back towards the castle. The castle was only a half mile away, if she got there she could hide in the servant quarters and dispel her pungent scent amongst the others.

The castle yard was in sight, but the gateway was guarded. How could she have been so dumb. Of course there would be guards and now the hounds were getting nearer behind her.

Her eyes darted back and forth then without really thinking she leapt into the bushes beside the moat. It was a mistake. The ground beside the moat was muddy and slippery and she started to slip into the murky waters, she had never learned to swim!

Her hands flew trying to grab onto anything, the mud, the grass, the roots of the buses yet nothing was helping. By now her bottom half was fully submerged and everything she could have grabbed onto was out of reach of her flailing arms. It was no use, Mariana looked over her shoulder and watched the dirty water move closer. She closed her eyes and let herself sink into the repulsive waters.

…

Marina opened her eyes when she felt hands on her shirt pulling her out of the water and looked up to see an old woman standing there with an older man standing beside the woman.

“Come with us dear,” said the older woman “we can help you out.”

Mariana sat herself up in the grass and looked at both of them “no,” she said. Then she stood up and walked towards the woods on the edge of the parkland where she had been found.

Behind her she heard the man say to the woman “well we tried to warn her didn’t we.”

Mariana spun around and stared at both of them like she was trying to detect their secrets.

“What did you say? What are you warning me about.” The man and woman looked at each other then turned back to her.

“Never mind, continue on your way, we didn’t mean to bother you.” They both turned around and walked down the hill towards the village.

Mariana watched them go, confused mixed in with a concoction of other feelings like anger and laughter. “Old people are so odd and messed up. Their brains are eggs and thoughts are jello.”

She swings back around and struts into the woods, “Old egg brains aren’t going to scare me!”

The woods were starting to glow as the first lights of dawn cut through the leaves and placed wavering spots on the ground, it was almost magical.

“GET HER!”

Mariana froze and started looking around at the sound of the voice, it was a mistake; a bunch of older boys stormed out of the buses and surrounded her, one of them stepped forward.

“My pa told me you ruined his vendor, and now we don’t have a thing to sell, it’s all dirty from the ground. So you’re going to pay up, girly.”

Mariana, in the corner of her eye, saw two of his mates stepping up behind her, but she kept her gaze on the leader.

“So you heard it second hand from your father, but he wasn’t able to tell you a name was he, so how do you know it was me?”

The boy hesitated, “so you admit that it was you who caused my family grief?”

“No I never said it was me, I said, how do you know if it was me?”

“But you just said a second ago…” mariana could tell he was thoroughly confused now and was about to suggest he let her go when the two boys sneaking up behind her reached her and shoved her face first onto the ground.

“Arghh,” she growled, “let me go you big oafs!”

In response one of them pushed their boot onto her back and dug her even deeper into the muddy forest floor, the only thing she got out of it was a mouth full of unexplainable tasting sludge.

The leader, regaining confidence in himself now that he had a helpless target bent down beside her, “I’m taking you back to town and the punishment you deserve.” The boot left her back and in its place a hand grabbed her shirt once again and lifted her to her feet. Another boy, one of the ones who had done nothing but stare at her, brought forward a rope and tied her hands. “There would be no escaping this time around,” she thought submissively.

Mariana held her head high as she was led into town by the group of boys, even as they drew onlookers. She was not going to go willingly once they got to the jail though, if the heavens couldn’t afford to pay for people like her to eat then why should stealing not be allowed? It was a good question for her to dwell on as time passed but she would have to do it later, they were at the jail now.

The boys dragged her up the jail steps and inside where she tumbled forward, to stand in front of the jailer and the lead boy’s father.

The man looked at her then said “You are charged with vandalism and for theft, therefore you will spend a night in jail then be put to use in the town.” He turned around and stalked behind the desk. “Put her in a cell.”

That was when all the devils let loose.

Mariana leapt over the desk and started scratching at the man behind it with everything inside of her. She bit his hands as they tried to grab her then she spun around and started an attack on the vendor man.

“AHHHHH STOP HER!” he screamed and in the confusion most of the boys ran out of the room and into the safety of the crowded streets.

“COWARDS!” screamed the vendor’s son, “GET YOUR LAZY BUTTS BACK HERE AND HELP MY FATHER AND ME, YOU FOOLS!”

“NOPE WE DIDN’T SIGN UP FOR A FIGHT!” Came the reply from the crowd and Mariana could hear large bunches of people muttering as they were shoved aside in the hurry for the boys to get away.

“Your father doesn’t need help,” Mariana said cooly from behind him, “you do.” She bolted at him as he screamed, but at the last second she dogged around him and made for the door that led out onto the street.

It was the third mistake of her day. Upon hearing all the commotion from the town, the castle had sent four guards to figure out the problem and deal with it, and as it happened they had seen her run out of the jail and turned towards her.

“Not again.” Mariana muttered under her breath, and she swirled around to dash down a small alley between two buildings. Being captured once was enough for one day.

Two of the men behind her yelled then swung off their horses and gave chase while one went to round her off. The last slipped off his horse and went inside the jail itself to talk to the frightened men. Mariana had to smile, the jailer was most likely going to be stripped of his job for not being able to handle a wild forest girl who is half starved to death and could use a good whipping.

She had a headstart and the men behind her were clearly not ranked well in the royal guard and appeared to be unfit. She smiled, then pressed herself against the wall, in the shadows, and waited for them to run past. After they were safely ahead she turned back around and jogged back towards town where she could disappear amongst the crowds.

“Thought you could outsmart us ehh, girle?” came from in front of her calmly.

Mariana focused her gaze on the entrance to the street and there stood the guard that went into the jail. To make up for her blindness she said a few choice words.

“You took a dive into trouble girl, I’m not sure how long before you see the light of day again so enjoy it now.” He strolled forward and grabbed her arm roughly, “to the palace with you.”

Mariana put up a struggle, wiggling and kicking but he held on tight, this one was definitely more fit then the fools who had chased her. He led her to his horse and lifted her up and on, then he tied her hands to the saddle pommel then climbed on himself. The guard gave the young stallion a firm kick, “Giddy up boy,” and sent them towards the palace.

Mariana was in an even worse position than when she had been in the jail. In the jail there had only been a single law keeper with no weapon to defend himself from an unruly criminal ,or in her case a troublesome girl, and some untrained boys and a father. Here she was sitting on a moving animal with her hands tied and now there were four fully trained guards all with weapons surrounding her. One was even sitting behind her with complete control of the horse they were both riding. Her luck was out and the castle drawbridge was under them, she had no idea how fast they had been traveling. The guard had been right; she wasn’t going to see light for much longer.

In the courtyard very few people looked up to see what the commotion was unlike the village where they were clearly used to it. Onvia was a well off kingdom but they had plenty of trouble makers and the guard was always bringing in more of them.

The guard who was sitting behind her swung off of the horse and untied Mariana’s hands before lifting her off the horse as well. Then he gave the reins to a stable boy and took her arm again, leading her towards the open door that led into the ground floor of the main turret.

The ground floor was dark but it wasn’t quite as dark as the lower floors would be. Mariana shuddered the lower floor and was not where she wanted to be. She pushed her weight into her feet and would not move.

The guard grumbled something about stubborn females then he bent down and pushed on the back of her legs, causing her to fall into his arms.

Mariana glared at him but he didn’t notice over his continued complaint as he stood up. Then he walked forward carrying her down a set of stairs into the dark.

…

The guard dropped Mariana into a cell then left, still grumbling about his “broken back”. This left her alone to admire the dankness of the small box.

There was a stone bed against one wall with a straw filled pillow, a chain laid on the ground below it.

She shivered at the thought of being changed to the wall and turned her head away to see what else there was around her.

There was a small stool in the middle of the cell with a half melted candle sitting on it. Other than that there was nothing in the cell. Looking out the door though she could see into the other few cells. Only one was occupied and it held a well dressed and handsome looking teenage boy.

He was staring at her with curiosity and interest but he clearly only saw someone who looked like a slave.

So what if he only saw a slave. She was more and wouldn’t let whoever he was get her down.

Mariana stuck her tongue out at him then sat down heavily on the bed. She risked looking up and saw he was smiling. She averted her gaze towards the stairs as she heard heavy footsteps jogging down it.

Two guards came into view, these two looked much healthier and fit then the ones that had dragged her here. They stopped at the boy’s cell and unlocked it, then they stood to the side looking like bodyguards.

The boy stood up and walked out of his cell calmly then in a few strides was standing next to Mariana’s cell. “You shouldn’t stick your tongue out at a prince.” He smiled then waved the guards over. “Take this scum to my horrid brother for her trial.” He turned and stalked up the stairs leaving Mariana gaping at the spot he had been standing just a moment ago.

The guards dragged her through the large and ornate wooden doors of the throne room and threw her on the floor before the king.

She kept her head bowed hoping this was somehow a mistake but it wasn’t, she knew that deep down and the feeling was flooding through her. She promised herself if she survived what was to come to her, she would never steal again, yet once again she knew that her promise would fall to dust like many others like hungar changed to lies.

“LOOK AT ME GIRL!’’ The king yelled but the voice was that of a young boy.

Mariana looked up. The king looked like a slightly older version of the teen in the dungeons, or the prince.

“FROM WHAT MY MEN TELL ME YOU, RUINED A VENDORS CART, STOLE FROM THE CART, AVOIDED CAPTURE, ESCAPED FROM THE JAIL AND CAUSED HARM ON YOUR WAY OUT, AVOIDED CAPTURE AGAIN, THEN ATTEMPTED TO POSTPONE BENG THROWN IN YOUR CELL!”

Mariana gaped up at him blankly, it earned her a sharp, hard kick in the back, she cried out in pain.

“YES OR NO GIRL?! AND CLOSE YOUR MOUTH WHILE YOU ARE AT IT!”

Mariana continued to gap at him then said “How am I supposed to say yes or no if my mouth is closed?”

This time the king’s mouth gaped open. At a quick word from the servant standing beside him, he shut it then, eyes glowing, said,

“Foolish child.”

She winced at the sound of his voice, it was like metal scraping over metal, it scared her more than when he was screaming.

“I can do you so much more harm than you can do to me.” He smiled but no light lit his cruel black eyes. He waved his hand and she was picked up by her arms.

“Take her to the dungeons and give her what she needs. Once she is ready to speak, bring her back to me.”

For the first time, Mariana’s eyes filled with fear as she was dragged out of the room. As the great doors shut in front of her, the image of the king in that last moment, strawberry juice drippin down his lips, like blood, she shivered.

King Jonny was not a futile man and when he wanted something, or someone dealt with he did it himself. When his father died, with him at fifteen years of age, he had learned if you wanted something done you had to do it yourself. His father died making too much noise after all, and almost got too much attention. Luckily his mother was quick to keep it inside castle walls. The people in the village, for all they knew, old king Baram, was passing on the throne at an early age. And that is why when he heard of the village girl, if you could even call her that, was captured by a group of merchant boys, he immediately sent guards to bring her in for trial. If it was the girl he was thinking of after all, she had been causing trouble for a while.

The girl was either a daughter of the devil or just really dumb. Maybe both. But yet he was going to deal with her himself. He wasn't going to let her ruin the kingdom he had worked so hard to revive from his fathers drunk rule. He had killed bandits, well sent his men to do it under his direction, cleaned up villages and reunited them, well the villagers clean and his men reunited them, under his direction of course, and he had done a pretty good job he thought. He had worked hard to get the throne he wanted so badly, and not even a slob of a girl would take it.

When the girl was thrown on her knees before him, and forced to listen to her crimes, he enjoyed it, every minute of it. Yet then she started to annoy him with her smart aleck ways, he decided to have her whipped until she begged him for mercy. Mercy he would gift her, he was a good king, working as a laborer for the rest of her weak life instead of a hanging.

It was a good plan, a foolhardy plan, and it was going to work.

Mariana was hung from chains in a cell, her toes barely touching the cold floor. She was scared and that fear worsened as the guard walked in, a whip in hand.

The guard smiled and unrolled the whip as he walked around to behind her, she tilted her head trying to see as he swung the whip back and forth, building momentum, before he swung it at her back.

She cried out in pain as she felt the terrible lash on her back, ripping her shirt and skin. It was inhumanly yet they came one after another until she could barely feel anything as the pain knocked out her senses. She wasn’t sure how long she had been hanging there, her back being cut into shards, when she felt the chains being lowered and her feet hitting the floor.

She collapsed to her knees, her arms still in the air and hung by the chain. Something touched the wounds on her back and she moaned, her voice spent on screams, at the sting she felt.

“Shhh, It must be done, or else you will have scars for the rest of your life,” came the voice and she opened her eyes to a face framed by blurry light.

It was the prince’s face and she dropped her eyes “Oh your highness.” She stumbled to her feet and made a clumsy bow.

“No none of that.” He pulled her back to her knees. “And you can just call me Jax, you did something for me that I can’t do.”

Mariana stared at him, “And what might that be?” She asked.

“You tripped my brother up on his own words.” He smiled, “But how can I say yes or no if my mouth is closed?” He mimicked her in a high squeaking voice.

“I do not sound like that,” She said and laughed but she cried out again when her wounds throbbed.

“Don’t laugh and don’t cry out. My brother doesn’t know I’m down here.” He patted the cuts on her back with a cloth. “I’m almost done, I would get you a new shirt but my brother would know and he would punish you more. I convinced the guard to take a break,” He paused, “I’m not sure how long he will be though.”

Mariana nodded. “How long have I been down here?” She asked.

“A day and a half, the guard took a leave at one point tho, I’m guessing you were knocked out from the pain then.”

“Oh I didn’t expect that...” she said then looked up as she heard footsteps coming down the steps.

Jax looked up too then rose to his feet. “I best be going, if you are down here much longer I’ll bring some soup from the kitchen, I’m sure you’re hungry.” He walked up the stairs and she heard him converse with the person on the stairs before his footsteps grew faint and the new pair grew louder. It was the king himself.

The king stopped in front of Mariana’s cell and looked at her down on her knees. “I see someone let you...rest.” He said cooly. “I don’t think you should have but nonetheless I’m sure you are more humble.” He walked into the cell through the unclosed door and nudged her with his boot.

“Stand up girl and let me see your back.”

Mariana stood and slowly turned around, her hands still restricted by the chains, and blushed as she felt his eyes digging into her, like she was some animal captured for his entertainment. Her blushing grew into humiliation as he ripped the back of her shirt so it hung openly on her back.

“Someone has been treating those wounds, I would have liked them to scar so you would have a reminder for the rest of your life.” He said and walked around to her front. “Tell me who did it.”

“No.”

He reached out and slapped her cheek and she groaned, falling back to her knees. “Bring me my brother.” He said angrily to the guard outside and the guard ran off.

“You girl will stand trial,” he bent down and whispered in her ear, “You will be guilty.”

The guard came back just as the king was walking out of the cell.

“We can’t find your brother my lord.”

The king roared, a deep sound brought from hell itself. Mariana knew that Jax better run and he better run far.

When Jax was born, he was only a couple months younger than his brother, just stopping him from a throne he didn't care for much. His mother spent most of her time with him, when he wasn't learning from the best tutors, and he learned compassion and love, something his brother didn't quite understand.

When he saw the girl in the cell, her shirt and shorts ragged, hair matted, a dirty face, but eyes filled with spirit and flames, the compassion and love he hadn't felt since his mother moved on, was lit again. For some reason, that most would use to call him crazy, he wanted to protect the girl, even if it meant giving up his heritage. It made him smile, another thing that no one had seen him do in a long time, when she stuck her tongue out at him and turned feistily away, dropping down onto the straw filled clot with an noisy plop, she had no grace, and somehow that made him like her even more.

When the guards came gallivanting down the stairs to release him, he had annoyed his brother a bit more than usual by dropping a toad down his coat in the middle of an important and "Dignified meeting." To be honest, it wouldn't have been that bad if he did a little dance to get the toad out, but instead he dropped to the floor screaming like a baby, infront of two guards, five servants, tweleve nobels, and King Luke, he strutted over to the girls cell.

"You shouldn’t stick your tongue out at a prince." He enjoyed the way her cheeks turned scarlet and her mouth gaped open. The way she acted, and the fact she had no poise, made him chuckle. She was a ways away from the delicate ladies of court, who grappled all over him when he talked to one. He didn't talk to them much anymore.

When she was dragged in front of his brother, he wanted to protect her, especially when one of the guards slapped her. He liked the way she talked to King Jonny too.

When it became noon and he tiptoed down to her cell, he almost cried at the strips of blood on her back, and the way she was hanging there, the shirt stuck to her sides with cold sweat, showing how hungry she had clearly been for most of her life. When he started to apply the medicine he had brought to her back, she woke up and started to yell. He knew it was hurting her, but it would hurt more if he didn't apply it.

Talking to her was calming... but if he had only knew she would change something about him forever.

It was a couple hours later when she heard a grinding sound, like rock on granite, coming from down the hallway where no lanterns were lit. She backed into the corner nervous as wimpers reached her ears, but the chains wouldn’t let her go far. A hooded figure appeared, wrapped in a black cloak, from the darkness, emerging like mist and solidifying. The figure stalked up the passageway and stopped in front of her stall. As the figure started to push back to cloak screams echoed and the figure’s lips were revealed.

“Wake up! Wake up!” The lips moved with his voice and then the shaking started and she was thrown awake to the Prince’s face.

Jax saw her open her eyes and smiled, she looked like an angel. His smile faded and he shook the image out of his head. “You got to stop screaming, it was just a nightmare that’s all. And we got to go Mariana, my brother plans to have you executed and I’m on his revenge list.” He started unhooking the chains from her wrists and then lifted her to her feet, she immediately tumbled back to the ground, too weak from pain, tiredness, and the remnants of the nightmare.

Jaz sighed, he should have known better. He lifted her to her feet again but this time swung her over his shoulder with a groan and a slight bent in posture. He had grown and become a lot stronger than his brother realized in the past year.

Footsteps came hurtling down the stairs and Jax hurried out of the cell as fast as he could with Mariana’s dead weight. He dashed down the hallway and to the end where there was an open door in the wall. He entered then closed the door behind them, so to whoever footsteps they belonged to would just see the normal end of the hallway.

As soon as they were a ways down the hallway and beside one of the many little rooms, meant for storage, he put Mariana back on the floor and walked into the room. A moment later he came back out with a bowl of food, more of the horrific back medicine, a plain shirt, and a blanket.

He first continued to clean the wounds on her back while she hissed quietly each time the cloth with the liquid touched one of the cuts. Luckily the cloth wasn’t covered with as much blood as earlier so that was good he thought. Then he peeled off the old shirt as he looked away and pulled the new one down over her.

By this time Mariana was more awake and she took notice of what Jax had done for her so far and she wondered why. She had done nothing for him except making him laugh and had only caused him trouble. Yet here he was, saving her from death, taking care of the cuts the whip had left, replaced her shirt, and she was sure he was going to do more for her.

Jax noticed she was awake and he was wondering what she was thinking as he wrapped the blanket over her and handed her an apple. Then he sat down across from her, waiting patiently until she was done.

“We need to talk.”

Long after his roars had echoed throughout the castle, at the break out of his brother and the idiodtic girl, and long after he had promised to hunt them down, Long after he was laying in bed with darkness all around him, king Jonny realized how mistaken he was about his brother and prince Jax and the girl.

When he became king he started to think his brother was after the throne, and that he would be able to get it. Jax had always been better at sword play, his studies, and anything else, he on the other hand was always being chided by his father for seeming weak. Everyday he would remember the thing his father had told him when he was twelve, "Stupid boy, this life is no place for weakness! You're my heir to the throne! Show weakness and your brother will take you down! Show weakness and I'll make him the heir instead!" It made him hurt, but what he wasn't able to realize, his brain always was slower then Jax's also, was that his father was drunk at the time, and had been for a while. Yet now he realized that Jax never seemed to want the throne, he never talked to his buddies about overtaking their father, he tended to become bored in his "How to rule" lessons and never, not once, in two years, had attempted to take the throne from him. Jax was clearly an imbecile.

He also noticed that he had called the girl "Dumb," yet she seemed nothing of the such. She was quick witted and had clearly been surving for a while by herself. Even if Jax had helped her escape, he couldn't have done it all by himself. If she was really smart, she would stick a knife in Jax the minute she got a chance. Maybe he would loosen her sentence a little if she did that for him. With his brother gone, that would be one less worry for him. But he was not fully sure a knife would be stuck and Jax's back, so he rolled over and sat up, knowing he had to do something.

He climbed out of bed and pulled his red silk robe over his nightshirt, then set his golden crown on his head. He had to look presentable for where he was going. Then he snuck out of his room through a hidden passageway and tiptoed down the hall.

Once he was out of the passage room and in the servants quarters, he dashed quietly across the hall to the dungeons, and stepped lightly down the stairs. There was a prisoner he needed to see.

Mariana stared at Jax, taking note of his mop of blond hair, tan skin, and blue grey eyes that were staring vividly at her.

“When I was replacing your shirt I saw a saw a mark like a sword piercing the clouds-”

“Yeah... It’s a birthmark I have had for a while, why are you talking about my birthmark?” She stared back at him questionly. “It isn’t important nor does it matter. We should be trying to escape your brother.”

Jax looked at her then looked away. “Do you know the stories of the kingdom that was lost eighteen or so years ago? Silvia I believe it was called.”

“I’ve heard mentions of it in town, I’ve never actually heard the whole thing though. Can we please move on, I don’t need to hear about some lost kingdom. Doesn’t matter to me.”

Jax continued to look at her, and she got the feeling he wasn’t going to stop telling her about Silvia. So she stood up instead and looked down the passageway.

“Sit down.” He hissed at her and Mariana looked at him surprised. He was a prince, used to getting his way and he had cared for her. He wasn’t going to be ignored. So she sat down again, her head facing her lap.

“The story is more important than you think. How old are you?”

Mariana gazed at him curiously for a moment before dropping her head again. “I’m not sure, eighteen or nineteen.”

He nodded, sure of himself, “Eighteen years since Silvia was lost, along with the queen and her daughter. The king was found slaughtered in his tower.”

“I yet understand why we are having this conversation over my birthmark.”

“I’ll cut to the chase so your tiny mind can understand.” Jax growled at her and she blushed angrily.

“WE ARE DONE WITH THIS CONVERSATION!” Mariana roared and jumped to her feet, stomping off down the passageway.

It was a little while later that her feet hit grass and she heard Jax stalking up the tunnel behind her. Not wishing to confront him, she continued on, till her feet fell into a rhythmic pace, right, left, right, left, right, left, right, left, right, left, and the sun reached its lowest point and the sky began to darken. At that point Jax’s footsteps hurried and his hand reached for her shoulder. She spun around about to yell at him again, but he just dropped his eyes.

“It’s time we made camp, we can’t keep walking all night, especially with no idea where we are headed. You aren’t at full strength- don’t debate me- I have never been out of the castle grounds without a carriage full of food and twenty guards, and like I said we have no plan.”

Mariana nodded. “I saw a suitable spot a couple yards back. It should work.” She averted her eyes as well and walked past him, to where the roots of a large tree were bent to form a natural tent. “No fire, we are still too close to the castle.” She sat down and scooted over when Jax sat down beside her.

“How do you know so much about surviving in the woods?” He asked softly.

She took a moment to respond before saying, “when you have been... alone in the woods for as long as you can remember, with only a few flashbacks of what came before, and have no meanings of surviving, you learn to work with the earth, spot what you need to live the next night. I have to steal what is on my back and the little to keep myself fed, it might be seen as hurting other people but you learn that no one else is going to support you, so why should you support others?” She started up towards the stars, hidden through the branches then turned to look Jax in the eyes. “I have to survive, even if it means breaking the law. Why am I any less important than others? Why do I have to be looked at as a slave or someone who should be kept locked away? I just don’t have anyone to keep polite and clean like the little girls on the lane with their hair pulled up in ribbons, or a nanny to keep me out of trouble, not even a sister to share my troubles with. That’s why Jax, that is why I know so much about surviving, because I have no one.” At that point she broke into tears and buried her head in her arms, Jax put an arm around her and pulled her close.

“You’re not any less important... if anything you are more important.” He moved his arm slightly as her eyes appeared out of the gloom. “That is what I was trying to tell you in the tunnel. You could very well be the heir to a kingdom that was once the most powerful of all.”