 
# The Ashen Queen

## by Sidney Gray

# © 2018 Sidney Gray All Rights Reserved.

Smashwords Edition

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# CHAPTER 1

Sofia Addington was born to be Queen. She came into the world on the last day of a long, sweltering summer, just as all the Queens before her had, and because of that, she has never been able to live a normal life. She had no desire to be a Queen; a normal life was all she wanted. Well, as normal as could be in Latheria, a land full of magic. Latheria was split into five countries: Arandale, Bordonia, Meraya, Darnu, and Eliador. All of them spreading out from the great mountain in the center. The people of Latheria all had magic running through their veins, it affected everyone differently and manifested in very different ways, from healers to telepaths and everything in between, everyone was unique.

And one day she would be the Queen of Arandale. It was a frightening thought to be responsible for so many people, and she hated the court life, she put on a good front, but she had grown more and more tired of it. She had realized at a young age that nobody was even as they seemed in a room full of other nobles and they were constantly plotting and scheming against each other. Her mother was one of the worst and as the mother of the future Queen; nobody could do much about it. She loved lording that power over everyone.

While Sofia tried to avoid the schemes as best she could she did enjoy finding out people's secrets and what they were really like behind closed doors, which was why she was currently hiding in the corner of the Hallewell twins' sitting room spying. Her invisibility definitely came in handy with that. Somehow the Hallewell's always found out the latest news before everyone else and loved to gossip while they were getting ready. Sofia had become tired of them keeping secrets, so she had started spying on them more and more lately.

Her mother would have a fit if she knew what Sofia was up too, but she had some time before her lesson with Queen Marianna so she had to take the opportunity when she could. There had been a lot of whispering amongst the servants the past couple of days and Sofia was hoping they would know what it was about. However, the two girls were currently discussing afternoon tea the day before, giggling over one of the other girls spilling wine all over her dress, so she might have to wait a while.

She shifted uncomfortably; she had had to squeeze into a corner behind the lounge to avoid the many servants rushing about. Although the party wasn't until tonight, they would spend the whole day getting ready for it as if it were the most important night of their lives.

Chelsea and Rebecca Hallewell were both blessed with their mother's beauty, and they considered themselves the most popular girls at court. Which was partly true, mostly everyone was just too scared to act otherwise. They had been known to completely destroy the reputation of anyone they didn't like.

"She's so clumsy I cannot believe the Queen hasn't banished her from attending parties," Chelsea said, flicking her blonde hair out of her face. She was carefully examining a collection of dresses held up by half a dozen nervous servants using her telekinesis to move them around, throwing the ones she didn't like on the ground.

"One of these days she's going to knock over a candle and set the whole palace alight." Her sister agreed, and they both snickered loudly.

"She's just as bad as her aunt," Chelsea remarked.

Sofia realized who they were talking about and vowed to be extra friendly to Kelsie, she was a bit clumsy, but she was incredibly nice, far too kind-hearted for court life.

"I can't wait until I marry the Sutton heir then I will have the most beautiful jewels in all of Latheria instead of this rubbish," Chelsea said as threw a necklace onto the ground in disgust.

"Chelsea you do realize Lord Sutton is engaged," Rebecca replied, she was lying on the lounge while one of the servants painted her nails.

She scoffed, "Oh that means nothing, I will change his mind, don't you worry." She replied easily as gestured to one of the dresses and the servants all rushed to help her into it.

"Well, if he doesn't change his mind after seeing you in that dress then he is crazy!"

"I know," Chelsea smirked as she studied herself in the mirror.

Sofia sighed quietly; she couldn't handle listening to them anymore. She slowly crawled out from behind the couch then waited until someone opened the door to slip through. She hurried down the hall as she quickly brushed the dust from her dress, it was times like this she wished that she could use magic to get rid of it; unfortunately, hers didn't work that way.

"And what could you possibly be doing here, I wonder?"

She startled, looking up to find her future husband, Prince Alexander Dalton and his five guards blocking the hallway in front of her, staring in her direction.

Nicholas Clark, or Cole as he preferred, was the one who spoke and he stood leaning against the wall smirking, as per usual. Cole was Alex's cousin and closest friend, born only weeks apart, they were inseparable. Cole was annoyingly handsome, and he knew it. He was also Captain of Alex's personal guard and would be commander of the Royal Guards when Alex became King. Why anyone would give him that kind of power, Sofia would never know. They had always fought growing up, Alex said it was because they were both so alike but she didn't see it.

Alex just raised his eyebrows, but he had a hint of a smile on his face. All the girls at court were in love with him, and she didn't blame them. He was handsome and charming, with dark hair and brown eyes, many people said he looked like the King when he was younger, but Sofia could never see the resemblance, she could only ever see his mother in him.

Alex's other guards; Jack Barlow, Hayden Fielding, Lex Shaw and Blake Rutherford, all looked amused. They had all been chosen as guards because of their different magical abilities at a young age, they had trained together growing up, so they had all become like brothers. Alex was never without at least two of them. The way Sofia saw it was that Jack and Hayden were the spies while Lex and Blake were the muscle. Lex and Blake spent most of their free time working out while Jack and Hayden often disappeared for long periods of time. No matter how much Sofia pushed no one would tell her where they went but it was always when one of the King's Guards was away as well.

She groaned, making herself visible again. "I didn't realize I was being followed" She glared at Hayden, silently cursing him and his enhanced senses; he was the only person she couldn't hide from.

"Actually, we just happened to be in the area, we were coming to rescue you, we thought you must have been kidnapped because why else would you be in the Halliwell's suite?" Alex said with a raised eyebrow.

"Well, that's very gallant of you..." she replied sarcastically

"But now it all makes sense." he continued, while the others nodded in agreement

"What makes sense?" she asked innocently.

"How long have you been spying on the Halliwell's?" Lex interrupted, he could never be quiet for long.

"I don't know what you're talking about." she protested.

"We should have known," Cole said, shaking his head, "how else could you have known exactly who in the Hallewell family was competing in the tournament."

She rolled her eyes in a very unladylike gesture stalking past them.

"You should be more careful, or you'll get into trouble, as per usual, and then we'll have to bail you out," Blake added winking at her. He was a huge flirt.

She scoffed, "What do you mean as per usual, I never get into trouble!"

"No, you just never get caught," Jack spoke up, he was standing back from the group, he was the tall, dark and brooding type. Only Hayden stayed silent, he was the quietest of the group, but that was probably just because he couldn't get a word in, and the most serious.

"Exactly," she replied smirking.

They all burst out laughing at her, and she turned to Alex, mock glaring, with her hands on her hips. He was laughing along with them.

"Are you going to just let them talk to your future wife that way?"

He half shrugged, "Well, they are the ones who have to bail you out."

"One time," Sofia exclaimed.

"Who taught you to count!?" Lex joked.

She just rolled her eyes at them again, groaning.

"So what did the Hallewell's have to say?" Alex asked, despite his immaculate appearance he looked tired, and she wondered if he was getting enough sleep. They didn't talk a lot these days, well not about anything significant, they still joked around, but she couldn't remember the last time she had had a proper conversation with him. They used to be close when they were kids, spending their days exploring the palace together; she had been madly in love with him back then. But then he grew older, and his father and the council demanded more and more of his time. Teaching him everything from politics to war strategies and training him to fight and lead armies. She also had her own training and had started to realize what being a Queen would actually mean and the fairy tale ended.

The only time she saw him most days was when they were training. All children of noble families were trained at a young age to control their magic along with some basic weapons and hand to hand combat. After they knew the basics and passed a control test, it was up to their parents whether they continued with this training or not. Sofia's Father thought it was necessary as the future Queen that she should know how to defend herself, so she had continued. While most of the other noble girls had been more interested in improving their social status and securing a good marriage. For Sofia, this was never a choice, so she had thrown herself into her training and become an incredibly good fighter. Not something her mother was proud of, unfortunately; she had refused to even consider the idea of Sofia competing in the tournament, to her frustration.

"Nothing of interest," she replied shrugging.

Alex raised an eyebrow but didn't push her further.

"I don't know how you stand it, it's hard enough having to put up with them at parties," Lex groaned, "I mean do they ever stop talking?"

"You're one to talk," Jack drawled, and they all laughed while Lex smiled sheepishly.

"I know, but I just hate that smug look on Chelsea's face when she tells me something I don't know. I wish I knew how they find out before everyone else." Sofia grumbled.

"Wait, shouldn't you be preparing for the party tonight" interrupted Cole.

Sofia shrugged. "Oh mother is much happier when I'm not getting in the way," she said sarcastically.

Alex shook his head, "I doubt that. You should get back before your mother has a fit." he knew her mother too well.

Sofia smirked, "My being there is hardly going to stop that."

It would probably just make it worse, she thought. If only Evelyn, her sister had been born first, she would have loved to be Queen. For Sofia though, it just meant less freedom. She had loved exploring as a child, and that hadn't changed when she grew older, she just had to be sneakier about it. But she was still confined to the city; there was a whole other world out there that she wanted to see. She had heard so many stories over the years from her grandfather, places she could only dream of. Nobody had ever asked her if she wanted to be Queen and it was something she always resented.

"Actually, I have a lesson with the Queen soon so I should hurry before I'm late." She turned to walk away.

"Wait," Alex said behind her, and she turned around.

"You missed a bit," Alex reached out to brush some dust from her cheek, 'wouldn't want the Queen to see that."

"Thank you." Her cheek tingled from where Alex touched it, and she turned quickly and hurried away. She could hear the guards sniggering as she left. She didn't completely understand the feelings that she had for Alex; it had been a lot simpler when she was younger. Now her feelings were mixed up with resentment and frustration in a life she didn't want but that wasn't Alex's fault, she had to remember that.

# CHAPTER 2

She hurried through the palace to the royal wing for her meeting with the Queen; she made sure to stay out of the way of the servants along the way, all rushing about getting the palace ready for the arrival of the other nobility of Arandale, who would all be arriving in a couple of days for the tournament. There were servants with earth magic sweeping away all the dust and dirt while those with wind magic aired out the curtains and cleaned the hard to reach places, there were also telekinetic's moving the furniture around for others to clean underneath. The palace was vast, and it took a small army to keep in clean normally, but the Queen had insisted that it be absolutely spotless for the tournament, so she had hired extra help from the city. She still felt bad for the servants though, it was going to be a busy week for them, and most wouldn't even get to see the tournament. There was still a general air of excitement though, as there always was when guests arrived at the palace and they greeted her with cheerful smiles as she hurried past.

Sofia arrived just in time for her lesson with Queen Marianna, luckily, she had learned long ago that the Queen didn't appreciate tardiness. Sofia had been going to lessons with the Queen once a week since she was twelve to teach her everything she would need to know when she was crowned. She had already had a lesson that morning with her governess to go over the events of the tournament one last time, this would be her first time meeting a lot of the nobility from other parts of Arandale, and she needed to make a good first impression. She had been preparing to be Queen her whole life, but now that she was only a couple of months from her 18th birthday everyone was putting more and more pressure on her to be perfect.

Thankfully with the tournament starting in a couple of days, her lessons had been put on hold until it ended. It was a relief to have a break, even for just a couple of days; it was the only part she was looking forward to. Along with her governess, she also had tutors, to teach her history, politics and the three languages of Latheria. Although Latheria was now split into five countries, it used to be only three, until the great war tore the country apart and split Bordonia from Arandale and Darnu from Eliador, Meraya was the only country that wasn't torn apart, and because of that, it was now the largest of the five countries. The countries had never fully recovered from the war centuries ago. It often felt like they were on the brink of war with Bordonia and one wrong move would tip the scales. Eliador and Darnu often had skirmishes over their borders, which was why it was so crucial for the Royals, Council members, and other high ranking officials to be fluent in every language so they could maintain the relationship between the five countries.

The Queen was sitting in her usual chair in her sitting room staring silently out the window; the servants had opened the doors to the balcony, so there was a gentle breeze ruffling the curtains. The Queen's sitting room was the very picture of luxury, everything made of the highest quality in deep reds and browns. She looked very serene and poised, as always, there wasn't a hair out of place. She couldn't imagine ever looking the part quite as much as Queen Marianna. Sofia found it exhausting already, and she wasn't on display nearly as much as the Queen. When she was younger, Sofia had found the Queen incredibly intimidating, but since their lessons, she had grown more comfortable around her.

Queen turned to her upon hearing her announced, inspecting her as usual and giving her a nod when she found nothing to comment on.

"How have you been, Sofia?"

"Very well, thank you," she replied taking a seat in the armchair opposite the Queen.

"And your studies, your tutors mentioned you have been distracted lately," she frowned watching Sofia closely.

She winced inwardly but kept her face calm and poised.

"I'm sorry Your Majesty, I'm just excited for the tournament," she said trying her best to sound convincing, she didn't want to tell her the truth. She had been in denial for so long, trying not to think about it but she couldn't ignore it any longer, the fact that she was going to be Queen and the very idea terrified her. She had been having trouble sleeping lately and been spending her nights wandering the city, so she was often too tired to concentrate on her lessons.

The Queen was watching her silently, so Sofia forced a smile.

"I'll do better."

"Yes, you will." She said with a nod before she beckoned for a servant. "Today we will be doing something a little different. For the last couple of months, we have been discussing all the noble families of Arandale you will be meeting during the tournament. Today I thought it would be a good idea for you to actually see the people we have been discussing."

A small dark haired man entered the room bowing deeply to the Queen,

"Your Majesty."

"Mr. Mallard, lovely to see you again, thank you for agreeing to do this."

"Of course, it is a great pleasure to serve the Queen." He said smiling widely.

"I would like to introduce you to Lady Sofia." The Queen said waving her hand to Sofia.

"Your Highness," he said bowing again; people often addressed her this way even though she wasn't technically a princess, she nodded in greeting.

"Mr. Mallard is a very talented illusionist from the circus, he has met and performed for most of the nobles of Arandale and has agreed to help us with our lesson today."

"It is an absolute honor, Your Majesty." He said joyfully.

They spent the rest of the morning going over every noble family member in Arandale and testing Sofia on various details about each. Mr. Mallard was quite entertaining and often told tales involving the nobles he was projecting. The Queen seemed amused by him and was happy to let him talk.

There were a lot of noble families in Arandale, but the largest and oldest were the Hallewell, Emsworth and Sutton families. The Sutton's were in charge of the mines while the Emsworths' controlled the sea, they had one of the largest fleets in Latheria, and the Hallewells' were the blacksmiths. Well they owned blacksmiths, their ancestors had been blacksmiths, now they just hired people to do the work for them, but they made all the weapons used by the guards and soldiers of Arandale. They also created specialized weapons suited to different abilities.

The Daltons were considered the oldest noble family and had ruled as far back as anyone could remember. She had read stories of uprisings from other noble families but thanks to the support of the priestesses, that hadn't happened in a long time. Nobody would dare defy the gods.

There were also a few smaller noble families, like the Hanleys' and Bartons' who both owned a lot of farming land, while they weren't large families they were old, and that meant a lot in Arandale. Then there were those like the Richmond family who were rarely at court and hated the politics. Others nobles considered them improper and looked down on them while they in return did their best to act as uneducated and un-noble as possible or so her mother told her. She was actually quite excited to meet people who disliked court as much as she did.

Sofia's family were not noble, they were strictly middle class, but because of the day, she was born her family had immediately risen to noble status. Her father had been born in the city and had become a King's guard when he was a child. Her mother was from a village in the far north of Arandale but she refused to talk about her childhood, she didn't even know how her mother and father had even met.

Some noble family members chose to spend most of their time in the city, especially if the had daughters, but the majority of the noble families of Arandale were not often in the same room together, only at the tournament every six years. There was a lot of history between the families, so there was a high chance arguments would break out. They spend a fair amount of time discussing the various feuds between the noble families, and there were a lot of them. Some she knew about, but others spanned decades and had been forgotten by most, except the families involved. They often involved land, or love or lack thereof.

After a couple of hours, her head was swimming, and she was itching to get up and move. She was looking forward to her training session and hurried out the door as soon as the Queen dismissed her. Before she could escape though, Queen Marianna brought up the subject of her own guard, when Sofia was Queen she would be expected to have her own personal guard, just as the King and Prince had and just like Alex's mother had had before she died. Queen Marianna was the replacement, as some called her, so she just had members of the Royal Guard rotate around as her personal guard. She had heard rumors that the High Priestess had advised the King that the Gods would frown upon him allowing Queen Marianna her own guard, it was bad enough he remarried, according to the High Priestess.

Queen Marianna had given her a list of potential guards a couple of months ago, and she had been avoiding looking at it.

"You need to choose them as soon as possible Sofia so they can start their training." Queen Marianna reminded her.

She nodded, "of course, I'm just reviewing the list you gave me."

"You will need to decide by the end of the tournament, Sofia." The Queen said dismissing her.

She winced inwardly, that would only give her another week, and she still had no idea who she was going to choose. She didn't mention to the Queen that her mother had already picked out the girls she wanted Sofia to choose as her guard. Of course, she had chosen the worst girls possible from the list. Not that any of the others were much better. The problem was she barely knew any of the girls on the list, and she was annoyed at herself for putting it off for so long. Once she chose them, they would be her constant companions, and they would be with her for the rest of her life. This wasn't a decision she could make on a whim. She would have to pay extra attention to the girls on the list during the tournament. A lot of them would be competing, and it would be a good time to observe them. As Mal always said, the way a person conducted themselves during battle said a lot about them. How they placed in the tournament would also mean a great deal, if they were knocked out in the first round they were hardly fit to be a guard. Hopefully, she would have a chance to meet them during the tournament as well.

It just felt like it was all happening so fast though. It was only a couple of months until Sofia's eighteenth birthday, and she would be married to Alex soon after and she would probably be expected to have children soon after that and on Alex's twenty-fifth birthday when they would be officially crowned. She felt overwhelmed at the thought.

# CHAPTER 3

Sofia walked quickly from the Queen's sitting room, down the many halls until she reached the entrance to the Royal wing. The two guards opened the door, and she hurried through, once out of sight of the guards she looked around quickly before making herself invisible. There was something she had to do before training, and she didn't want anyone to know. She also had to hurry, or she would be late, and it was unacceptable for a lady to run in the palace, as her mother had told her on numerous occasions when she caught her.

Luckily, while growing up in the palace, she had had plenty of time to learn all the shortcuts and secret passageways, so she was able to make it to the kitchens in no time at all. The kitchens were packed with people, more than usual, because of the tournament. The cooks had been trying out recipes for weeks, trying to find the perfect dishes to serve. She had been allowed to try some herself with the Queen. She carefully dodged around everyone taking small rolls and pastries here and there as she went so no one would notice them missing, being careful to avoid the pots and pans the telepaths had flying around. Once she had enough, she went out the back door where there was a large garden full of herbs. She pulled off leaves from various plants, again being careful to only take a few so no one would notice.

Most of the palace was surrounded by beautiful lush gardens, but one side held the stables and training grounds which was where she was headed. She stood for a moment soaking in the sun, a light breeze ruffled her hair. It was nice after being indoors all morning. She loved this type of weather; it brought back memories of trips to her grandfather's estate in the summer. The fields of grass and flowers stretching out as far as the eye could see, animals roaming around. Sofia and her sisters used to go swimming in the lake with some of the other children, she wondered if she would ever be able to do that again.

Reluctantly she hurried on and all too soon she arrived at the entrance to the training grounds. Two guards waved her through, the large rectangular building in front of her looked out of place next to the gleaming palace but it wasn't built for beauty, it was built to house and train the royal guard when they weren't on duty.

She carefully hid the bag of food under a few bushes outside then she ducked into the changing room to change into her training clothes before she sat down to start her stretches, she could hear Alex and his guards getting ready in the room next to hers. She had started training with them when she was ten, not long after most of the other noble girls stopped their training. Once she had chosen her own guard, they would also train with them.

The training grounds were in the middle of the rectangular building, open to the air with sleeping quarters at the back, equipment and high ranking officers' rooms at the front. The others were all waiting for her in the center of the training grounds, standing in a line facing their trainer General Malaby, or Mal as everyone called him. She quickly joined them.

Mal had served the King's father as Captain of the Royal Guard for many years. After King Edward had been crowned Mal had been made general of the Arandale Army. Most high ranking generals preferred to let the captains do most of the training but not Mal who spent time working with all the new trainees. When Alex had first started training, Mal had insisted on overseeing it, and he had done the same when Sofia started training. Mal and her father had butted heads a lot about Sofia's training, but luckily for her, Mal had won out in the end, and her father had stayed out of it. As far as she knew he didn't have any family and spent all of his time at the training grounds, she had often wondered what had happened to them but hadn't ever dared to ask.

"All right get on with it" Mal barked in his usual no-nonsense way.

They paired off immediately to fight one-on-one. Since there was an odd number of people, one person would have to fight against two people then they would switch until everyone had fought each other. Mal watched everyone like a hawk to pick out any weaknesses and mistakes, especially Alex, as future king Mal expected a lot from him.

The Royal families of each country of Latheria were said to have the most power out of everyone, their magic connected to the very earth itself. Some, like the Bordonian's, considered themselves to have more powerful bloodlines than others, which was part of the reason for the great war. But there was no proof that they were more powerful. Magic was like anything else, it took practice and discipline to master. Mal said the reason that the royals and noble families were often more powerful was that they had money to pay for training, the more money the family had, the better teachers they can afford to train their children, and they usually started training them as early as they could. But there were still incredibly strong people that did not come from wealthy families, some even had multiple abilities or had rare abilities, like Sofia, so there was no evidence to suggest it had anything to do with bloodlines.

Alex had the ability to manipulate and create light, he could create balls and beams of light to blast at opponents, and he could also create a shield of light to protect himself and others from attack. He had trained hard his whole life and was incredibly powerful because of it.

Cole had both Fire and Earth magic. He could create fire out of nothing and make the earth shake, he was stronger with fire magic, but Mal had been making him train purely with his earth magic lately, and he had improved significantly.

Jack could sense, block (at times) and also control others abilities. Although he could only do that by touching someone first so had had to practice his sword and hand to hand combat skills a lot to be able to get close to his opponents.

Hayden, with his enhanced senses, didn't miss much. He could hear through walls and see for miles, Mal had also trained him to pick up slight changes in breathing and pulse to determine when an opponent was going to attack, which made him an incredibly formidable opponent and a perfect spy. It was rumored that one of the King's Guards was secretly a spy and that was how the King seemed to know everything that happened all over Arandale. Sofia had long suspected that Jack and Hayden were being trained to be spies as well.

Blake and Lex, on the other hand, both had physical abilities, Blake could manipulate his body, stretch and enlarge certain areas, which he loved to brag to women about, he could make himself taller, make his fist the size of a dinner plate or reach out and grab something three arms lengths away. It made him an excellent guard as he could easily protect Alex without having to be right next to him.

Lex, on the other hand, had enhanced agility along with speed, which Blake often said was the reason he talked so much. He was also the best swordsman out of all of them.

They had all been training practically since they could walk; fighting was like breathing to them. Because magic was like physical strength, it would weaken with prolonged use, and they had to train to become stronger and more controlled. When Sofia was younger, it had taken a lot of energy for her to make herself invisible and she could only hold it for a few minutes before she would collapse with exhaustion but after years of training, she was able to hold it for hours. She was also able to make objects and other people she touched invisible as well.

Along with magical training Mal also still insisted on weapons training and hand to hand combat. Mal was one of few people in Arandale that believed that learning how to use a weapon was still important. He said they never knew what was going to happen in battle or when their powers may fail them, so you needed to be prepared for anything. Soldiers in Arandale were all trained with weapons, but higher ranking officers were often chosen for their magical abilities and had only basic training. Mal thought this was ridiculous and had spent a lot of time arguing with the other council members over it, but he was always outvoted in the end. However he had ignored their decision when it came to training Alex and the others, he said it was too important.

She studied Cole while they warmed up, wondering what the girls of the court saw in him, sure, he was good-looking, but he was just so damn cocky. She couldn't help but tease him about the upcoming tournament.

"So only a couple of days left," she said, "Nervous yet?"

"No!" he replied narrowing his eyes at her.

"Hmm, if you say so, you know if I were allowed to compete I would easily beat your ass." She made herself invisible and darted to the left.

He smirked, seemingly unconcerned, "don't let anyone hear you say that, that's no way for a lady to speak."

She snuck up behind him and kicked his feet out from under him.

"See," she said making herself visible so she could glare down at him.

He glared back up at her and then the ground suddenly shook under her feet and she struggled to keep her balance, hastily turning invisible again while he jumped to his feet.

"Sofia, stop showing off and concentrate," Mal yelled.

Cole closed his eyes for a second and Sofia knew he was using his earth ability to work out where she was so she had to move quickly. They were both fairly evenly matched though neither would admit it so by the time Mal yelled to switch they had each taken the other down a couple of times.

Lex came over to take Cole's place while Cole moved on to fight Jack. Mal was training the Cole and Jack extra hard in preparation for the tournament. They were the only two Guards who were competing, so there was a lot of expectation put on them. She wasn't sure why the others weren't competing, but she assumed they had their reasons.

The whole city had been buzzing with excitement the past couple of months, but Sofia didn't share in that excitement. She had been too young to attend the last tournament, and she had hated not being allowed to go at the time. She had thought it would be so exciting and had been furious at her parents for months afterward but after years of watching the guards train and training herself, she found she much preferred fighting to watching others fight, she was still annoyed she hadn't been allowed to enter the tournament. Her mother had actually started laughing when she had brought up the subject.

After they had each fought one another they went and picked up their weapons. They each had specifically designed weapons, Sofia had a set of throwing knives, because of her ability and small size, Mal decided it was the best weapon for her. They spent some time practicing with their weapons before they moved onto magical training.

Mal had recently been her trying to get her to make objects invisible without touching them. So she stood a couple feet from a practice mannequin squinting her eyes and trying to make it invisible. She gave up after a couple minutes glancing around, Mal was distracted working with Cole, so she took a moment to watch the others. Alex was practicing his aim, shooting beams of light at discs Blake was waving around above his head. Lex was running around Jack while he tried to slow him down, Jack managed to knock him off balance so he crashed right into Blake and they all started laughing. She smiled despite herself. She envied them their friendship. With a sigh, she went back to her own training.

They practiced until they were all completely worn out. Sofia almost protested at one point that just because Cole and Jack were competing didn't mean they all had to suffer but knew it would do no good. Mal could be a tyrant sometimes. The training ended late, but Sofia was still too distracted to make any progress. She could tell Mal was disappointed and he held her back after.

"What's wrong with you, you're distracted," he said, to he surprise he didn't sound angry just concerned. "You have been a lot lately."

"I know. I'm sorry."

"In a battle, distraction will get you killed." He reminded her.

She sighed, "I know but when am I going to need to know this anyway." she said, suddenly angry, "it's not as if anyone will let me fight, ever, not even in the tournament! I don't understand why I can't enter, I'm just as good as any of the others," she finished and almost stamped her foot in frustration but held back, she was already embarrassed about her outburst the last thing she needed to do was stamp her foot like a child.

"Well, unfortunately, that's not up to me," Mal said as he crossed his arms with a sigh, making her wonder if he had fought for her to compete, "but it's important you are prepared, you never know what will happen," he continued.

"I understand that but it's still so frustrating, I'm learning all of this, and I'll probably never get to use any of it, even though I want to. I just don't want to spend the rest of my life dealing with nobles and having children."

She slumped down onto the bench behind her and Mal sat down next to her.

"Sofia, you have a very important role in Arandale, you can do great things when you are queen, just because Queen Marianna acts a certain way and does certain things doesn't mean you have to when you are queen, become the queen you want to be."

"That's easier said than done," she remarked.

He shrugged, "yes but I believe in you."

He stood up and walked away leaving her there to think about what he had said. After a minute she walked back to the changing room still thinking, she didn't know how she was supposed to be the queen she wanted to be when she didn't want to be queen in the first place. And it was a lot easier for Mal to say that, as a man, he didn't understand what it was like being a woman and the expectations and limitations put on her. Besides she couldn't think about that now, she needed to focus on choosing her guards.

# CHAPTER 4

Sofia waited until the others had all left before grabbing the bag she had hidden earlier. She weaved back through the gardens to the front corner of the wall that surrounded the palace. No one ever came this far from the palace, so the gardeners left it alone, preferring to spend their energy on the gardens where the Queen frequently held parties, like the one later that day. She could see why the Queen loved spending all her free time out there, it was beautiful and peaceful. She could hear the birds chirping and smell the flowers all around her as she walked. It didn't take her long before she reached the small clearing in the corner of the gardens, it was well hidden by thick overgrown bushes, and she had to push her way through a small gap.

Bree was already waiting for her; she was mostly hidden by trees and bushes except for her bright red hair. She jumped out of the bushes when Sofia arrived crossing her arms and pretending to look mad.

"Took you long enough, princess!"

Sofia grinned and ran forward to hug her tightly, she had only had two true friends in her whole life, and Bree was one of them. Sofia didn't know how she would have ever survived the last couple of years without Bree. Bree was an innkeeper's daughter from the city, and she loved exploring just as much as Sofia; they had met the first time Sofia had found a way through the palace wall. She had stumbled upon it by accident while exploring the gardens, it was only a small hole, hidden right in the very corner of the wall, not big enough for a grown man but she and Bree could just squeeze through. It must have been made by someone with earth magic to be able to get through the wall they thought, but she still didn't know how they had been able to put a hole in the magical barrier around the wall, it had been made long ago using ancient magic. As far as anyone else knew the only way in or out of the palace grounds was through the front gate, which was heavily guarded.

She had tried to sneak out the front gate once when she was ten, but one of the guards had earth magic and had felt her coming, and she had been taken back to the palace to the King. He had been kind and merely cautioned her about the dangers of leaving the palace grounds and sent her on her way, but he kept her father back afterward. When her father had finally come out of the King's office, she had felt the waves of anger radiating off him, it was the first time she had ever been truly scared of her father.

Afterward, she wondered if he was more angry at her for trying to leave or because she had been caught. He was a proud man, and a disobedient daughter was an embarrassment to him. The King had made sure to always have a guard with earth magic stationed at the gate since then, but her father had kept a closer eye on her after that, restricting everything she did. She hadn't been allowed to go anywhere on her own, and it had been a lonely couple of years for her, but eventually, her father had become busy with other work for the King and loosened his grip on her life. She had started exploring again and had been lucky to have found the hole and even luckier to have found Bree.

Sofia had been very naive back then, and if she hadn't had Bree to guide her, she might not have survived her first trip beyond the palace walls. If only Bree had been born into the right family, she would have loved to have her by her side as a Guard.

Bree was able to manipulate air and had trained a lot as a child but after her youngest sister was born her family couldn't afford to send her to the training center in the city and she was needed to help at the Inn. So, unfortunately, she just wasn't strong enough, and her family wasn't respected enough for her name to have made it on the list, there was no way the Queen would ever allow her to choose Bree.

Bree was very different to the noble girls Sofia was used to, she swore for one and talked a lot, she ate like a boy and didn't care what anyone thought, she was carefree and adventurous, and she showed Sofia every part of the city, the good and the bad.

Sofia learned more about the city from Bree then she ever had in any of her lessons.

They talked about everything, and she trusted Bree to keep her secrets as she kept hers.

"Sorry, training ran late," Sofia said as she reached over to pluck a few bits of leaf out of Bree's hair before she flopped onto her back on the grass.

"Argh I'm so sore, Mal has been training us so hard lately because of the tournament, I don't know why since only Cole and Jack are competing." She complained.

Bree groaned, "Really Sof, I can't believe you're complaining, do you know how much I would love to be training with Nicholas Clark, I can just imagine him hot and sweaty, and with no shirt on." She stared dreamily into the distance.

Sofia rolled her eyes. "Gross, I can't believe you actually like Cole."

Bree dropped onto the grass beside her.

"Please just sneak me into one training; I'll be your best friend." She begged, clasping her hands in front of her and fluttering her eyelashes, she was always so dramatic.

Sofia laughed again pulling her into a hug, "You are my only friend Bree."

Bree hugged her back. "That's not true."

"The girls at court don't count; You're the only one I can trust." She had learned that the hard way.

"Fine I guess I'll just have to rely on my imagination, but can you at least tell me you found out some new gossip from the terrible two," Bree asked, she loved drama and gossip, and she knew Sofia regularly spied on the Hallewell twins, who she had dubbed the terrible two.

"Yes, that I can do," she said laughing, "apparently Chelsea has her sights set on the young Lord Sutton. After his older brother ran off with that waitress, he will now take over the family when his father passes."

Bree gasped, "scandalous."

"of course he is also engaged," she added.

Bree snorted, "but that would never bother Chelsea of course."

"No I think she actually likes the challenge, I'll keep you updated, I think it will definitely be interesting," she said with a laugh. "Other than that it's just the usually snide comments about everyone else, oh I almost forgot." She reached over and grabbed the bag of food she had dropped earlier, handing it Bree, "I don't think I'll have time to bring any more until after the tournament is over."

During one of their first trips through the city, Sofia had noticed a lot of people sleeping on the streets, and she had asked Bree about them. Bree had given her a strange look and told her they were homeless. Sofia had been horrified, she had never known people lived like that, it was the first time she realized how sheltered she had been and ever since she had been bringing Bree bags of food and herbs stolen from the kitchens so she could give them out to the homeless. Sofia pulled out a raspberry tart she had grabbed especially for Bree, and she grinned at her squeal of delight.

"You know how to make a girl happy," Bree mumbled through a mouthful as she started levitating and Sofia laughed harder, whenever Bree was excited she started levitating.

"We are really busy at the moment anyway," Bree said after finishing off the tart, "I had to beg Father to let me leave today, he even hired extra people to help at the Inn and you should see outside the city, there are already tents everywhere, and stalls have been set up. Everyone is trying to get the best spot along the road so they can catch the attention of the noble families on their way to the arena. I just hope Father lets us go. It would be so exciting."

"Don't worry Bree, I'm sure he will, with everyone at the arena there will be no need for you at the inn," she reasoned.

"Even if it's just one day, just a chance to see him up close." Bree sighed blissfully.

Sofia groaned, not Cole again, Bree had had a huge crush on Cole ever since she had seen him fight in a small city tournament a couple of years ago. All the young girls in the city did, along with a few older women.

"You know if you met him you would change your mind."

"It's different for you, you grew up together."

"Yes although he hasn't actually grown up much."

"Really I think he looks very grown up," Bree said winking.

Sofia laughed, "I meant he hasn't matured."

"I know," Bree sniggered, and they both fell into a fit of laughter.

"Don't worry I'm sure you'll see him at the parade at least," Sofia added when she caught her breath. At the end of the tournament, all the winners were paraded around the city in open carriages for everyone to see.

"Well, of course," Bree said matter of factly, "he has to win, nobody else stands a chance, Father said the whole city has bet on him to win."

"Really?" she asked, she hadn't expected that, although she shouldn't really be surprised, he was technically royalty.

"Yes, I've heard competitors talking in the Inn. Apparently, Cole is the one to beat."

"Hmm, I wonder if the other noble families think the same," she wondered aloud, then groaned "argh, I'm tired already, just the thought of all the people I will have to meet and talk to."

"Oh, of course, I didn't think about that. Your mother must be putting the pressure on you." Bree said sympathetically.

"Yes, she is, speaking of which, I should get going before she sends guards looking for me." She dragged herself to her feet, hugging Bree tightly before she made her way slowly back to the palace.

# CHAPTER 5

When Sofia had been born her family had been given a wing of the palace, the wing was large with its own separate kitchen, dining room and sitting room. It had four separate bedrooms each with their own bathroom, and a small sitting room and they also had their own servants and guards.

Sofia walked through the main door to their wing and one of the servants, Julia, rushed towards her and discretely handed her a sealed envelope. Her mother must have heard her come in because the door to her parents sitting room burst open, Sofia quickly made the envelope invisible before her mother could see it and tucked it into her dress. She knew her mother would burn it if she ever saw it and who knew what her father would do if he found out she had been writing to her grandfather. Luckily for her, Julia had been with them forever and adored her grandfather, so she had been happy to help Sofia sneak letters to him.

"Where have you been Sofia? We're going to be late," her mother snapped, she was elegantly dressed with not a hair out of place, Sofia couldn't remember a time her mother had even looked imperfect.

"We still have hours mother, there's plenty of time." she sighed.

Her mother ignored her and grabbed her arm, marching her towards the main sitting room. "You're covered in dirt! Where on earth have you been," her mother was obsessed with cleanliness, and she used her earth magic to easily sweep the dirt of Sofia with a wave of her hand.

"Maybe she has a secret lover, and they were just fooling around, it would explain why her hair is such a mess," Evelyn said snidely from the doorway of her room. She couldn't help herself, she always had to make a snarky comment. Their mother just ignored her, too busy fussing over Sofia. She quickly ran her fingers through her hair, pulling out the tangles, it wasn't that bad she thought as she caught a glimpse of herself in the hallway mirror before her mother ushered her into the sitting room.

Sofia glared at her sister as she walked past but held her tongue, she knew better, fighting with Evelyn would only earn her a lecture from their father or worse.

She didn't bother to answer her mother, all she ever wanted was freedom; her mother would never understand that. All she cared about was status, money, and power, just like her father.

"Sofia, answer the question, your training finished over an hour ago," her father said calmly, suddenly appearing in the sitting room doorway with his arms crossed, Evelyn hovered in her doorway smirking.

She tensed, "Just in the gardens." She didn't ask how he knew when her training had ended, he always knew everything, it wouldn't surprise Sofia if he scared the servants into giving him information on her whereabouts.

"With who?" Her mother demanded.

"No-one."

Her mother gasped as if that was the most horrifying thing in the world, "the future queen should not be seen wandering the gardens alone," she scolded as her father studied her, she glared back at him. He was a tall, foreboding man with a constant stern expression, but it wasn't just his demeanor the scared people, it was his ability. She wasn't sure how it worked, but he was able to make a grown man cower in fear just by looking at him. It was why he was Captain of the King's Guard.

She could feel the fear growing in the back of her mind the longer she looked at him, her hands started to shake and she broke eye contact and strode past him into the sitting room, she hated herself for giving in, but she couldn't stand it any longer. It brought back horrible memories of her childhood, cowering in fear underneath her father's gaze until she was covered in sweat and it felt like her heart would explode out of her chest. It was his punishment for misbehaving, and she hadn't been a particularly well-behaved child, so it was a good thing her father had been away a lot. She had dreaded when he returned from his trips.

Sofia had always suffered the worst growing up, being the most disobedient but Evelyn had her share as well when their father thought she talked too much or said the wrong thing. The only thing Evelyn and Sofia had ever agreed upon was that Lucy; their younger sister, should be protected from their father. They had often taken the blame when Lucy did something wrong, like the time she had broken a vase in their main hallway, she had only been trying to make the plant grow, but Evelyn had covered for her. There had still been times when they hadn't been around to protect her though, and she hated her father for hurting her sweet sister.

"The Queen mentioned a new statue in the gardens and said I should have a look at it," she lied quickly, focusing her attention on the dresses her mother had lined up for her, trying to appear unconcerned.

"You should not be wandering the gardens alone, don't let it happen again," her father said shortly over his shoulder as he left, presumably going to his study where he spent most of his time when not with the King.

Sofia glared at his retreating back, her mother had already forgotten about the exchange moving onto more pressing concerns, like the state of Sofia's hair. She spent the next two hours standing in the middle of the room being poked and prodded. Her mother fussed over every detail before announcing she was finally ready. Just in time too or she would have pushed Evelyn out the window. She spent the entire time complaining that her dress wasn't as nice as Sofia's, but of course, their mother paid her no attention which only aggravated her more. Evelyn's had a magical ability with fabrics, she could create beauty out of anything; cotton, wool, silk. When they were children she had prided herself in always making the most beautiful dresses until one day their mother forbade her, she had decided that making clothing was servants work and it was beneath Evelyn. Evelyn had of course been furious, she had loved the attention she had gotten when people saw her wearing her dresses, and she had complained ever since about the quality of the servants' work. Luckily, Evelyn was still allowed to make tapestries, and she had thrown herself into creating the most beautiful tapestries in the whole city; the Queen was so impressed by her work that she had one hanging in her sitting room, something Evelyn loved to brag about.

Sofia often thought about how much easier it would have been if Evelyn had been born first. She loved court life and being the center of attention. She was exactly like their mother in that way.

Lucy, on the other hand, while she was a miniature version of their mother in looks, their personality couldn't be more different. In fact, Lucy reminded Sofia so much of their grandfather, they were both so kind and loving.

She missed him so much, their grandfather, he was the only person who had ever encouraged her sense of adventure and just let her be herself. When they were younger, they had spent every summer at his castle in the country, and he had taken the girls all over the countryside teaching them everything he knew. It had been her favorite time of year, up until her father and grandfather had gotten into a huge fight, and they hadn't been to visit him since.

Sofia often wished Lucy had been able to spend more time with their grandfather, she had still been quite young the last time they visited, and she wasn't sure how much Lucy remembered about him. Luckily she was still able to communicate with him through letters, but it wasn't the same.

She didn't know how her father could possibly be his son, they were complete opposites. Her grandfather used to say Sofia took after her father, she did have his dark hair and blue eyes, but she didn't think that was what he had meant. Other than looks the only similarity she could find was that they both hated the court life.

Finally, they were all ready, and Lucy stood and stared at herself in the mirror with wide, excited eyes; she was still so innocent and was just excited that she was finally allowed to attend a party. She had no idea how boring it was going to be. Normally, Lucy had to sit around and watch while everyone prepared but today she had been dressed up just like everyone else, and she could barely stand still.

"Now Lucy, as this is your first party I expect you to mind your manners. All the mothers there will be judging you. You must do well if we are to find you a husband." Her mother started fussing over Lucy's dress, getting rid of creases and dust only she could see.

"Mother, she's only ten!" Sofia exclaimed annoyed, "in case you have forgotten child marriage isn't legal in this country, maybe you should focus on finding Evelyn a husband," she continued trying to distract her and stop her ruining Lucy's night. Lucy hated when their mother got mad and tried her best to make her happy, but she deserved some fun tonight at her first party.

"It's never too early to start looking Sofia," her mother scolded her, "and we already have a perfect candidate picked out for Evelyn."

"Yes don't worry Sofia, Lord Sutton will make a fine husband," Evelyn smirked pulling on her elbow length gloves.

Sofia's eyes widened, and she had to press her lips together to stop herself from laughing out loud as she realized that Evelyn and Chelsea were both going after the same man. She turned away before Evelyn noticed, she didn't want to spoil the surprise, she wished she could tell Bree, she would find it hilarious.

"Does his fiancé know that?" She asked innocently.

"She's nothing but a farm girl, why he would choose to marry her is beyond me," her mother snapped, "Evelyn would make a much more suitable wife."

"Maybe they're in love?"

Evelyn and their mother burst into laughter and Sofia rolled her eyes at Lucy behind their mother's back, Lucy stifled a laugh. Sofia pulled Lucy into her side squeezing her tight as they followed their mother out the door.

"Don't pay her any mind; just have fun with your friends," Sofia whispered.

"Do I have to get married," Lucy asked, suddenly frowning.

She hesitated before she replied, "no of course not."

"Good, boys are gross," Lucy muttered.

Sofia laughed quietly, "just don't tell Mother that yet. I don't think her heart could take it."

# CHAPTER 6

They arrived at the party precisely on time, despite their mother's worrying. The party was to celebrate the start of summer and was held in the gardens, which were full of lights, they were covering every bush and dangling from the trees above, and there were ribbons of every color spilling down from trees and over bushes as well. The huge fountain in the center was actually glowing as if filled with tiny lights and there was an abundance of food being flown around by a couple of telepathic servants.

The gardens were Queen Marianna's pride and joy, and they were filled with every type of flower and plant imaginable, during one of their lessons the Queen had taken her down to the gardens and taught her the name of every flower and plant in the gardens. Sofia could, unfortunately, barely remembered any of the names, she did not have a green thumb like her sister, Lucy. Lucy absolutely loved plants and spent every free moment roaming the gardens, she had even tried to smuggle plants into her bedroom. She looked down to see Lucy staring around wide-eyed and was glad she had been allowed to attend.

Father led them through the throng of guests, all dressed in bright colors and sparkling jewels, toward the King and Queen, occasionally stopping to greet someone of importance.

"Your Majesty" He greeted the King, bowing while they all curtsied. King Edward Dalton was a large man, mostly from all the wine he drank, she had heard he had been a handsome man in his youth, but as he grew older, he had spent far too much time drinking and less and less time training. Two of his guards stood at his back, as always, one of which was Blake's father. Blake looked so much like his father it was uncanny, she quickly looked away before he caught her staring.

Lucy wobbled a bit while curtsying but luckily their mother was too busy gushing over the Queen to notice. Although Queen Marianna wasn't the true Queen, their mother still liked to be in the Queen's good graces.

Alex's mother, Queen Juliet had died when he was very young. She always thought it must have been hard for Queen Marianna, following in the late Queen Juliet's footsteps, she had been incredibly beloved by the people, she had been kind and gentle and had always cared a lot for her people. Of course, Sofia barely remembered her at all but people still talked about her often enough that she had heard many stories over the years. It seemed like the entire city had been in mourning after her death.

The King, however, never talked about her, Sofia had once mentioned her name at a dinner with the King and had been punished afterward by her father and told to never mention her again. It had always seemed strange to her in a land of magic and healers that the Queen had been able to get sick at all. It was rare for people to die at a young age in Arandale unless they didn't have access to a healer.

She did remember seeing Alex after the funeral, she hadn't been allowed to attend, her mother thought her too young, so she had been in the gardens hiding from her nanny when she found him, punching a tree. He had been so angry, almost breaking his hand, before he suddenly collapsed with tears streaming down his face. She had sat with him holding his hand while he cried, they had never talked about it since.

Sofia often wished she could have had a chance to talk to Queen Juliet, to be able to speak to someone else who had been in her position and understood what it was like for Sofia, growing up knowing she would be Queen someday. Queen Marianna had at least been able to have a normal childhood; Sofia had been practicing her curtsies before she could walk.

"Sofia my dear, you look lovely as always." The King greeted her warmly, taking her hand, he had always treated her like a daughter, and Alex often said he had a soft spot for her. They moved on quickly so the King and Queen could greet their other guests.

However as soon as they had finished talking to the King and Queen, Sofia was surrounded by girls. The Hallewell twins each grabbed one of her elbows and guided her toward a table, talking over each other as usual. They considered themselves Sofia's closest friends and always situated themselves at her side during parties, she would have found it incredibly annoying, but they talked so much no one else could get a word in so it actually made it easier to get through the endless stream of parties and small talk.

In the group, there was also Janet, who was a cousin to the twins but her father had married down, and so she was only tolerated. Hannah and Kennedy, both from lesser noble families but had somehow managed to get in the twins good graces and Jennifer Hanley, she wasn't as bad as the others, she was smart but she rarely showed it, her parents were trying to arrange a marriage for her, and she suspected Jennifer wasn't too happy about it.

Chelsea asked her a question, and she opened her mouth to answer but was distracted by the sight of Alex and Olivia, alone in the corner talking, their heads bent close to each other. Olivia was Alex's Priestess; well she was training to be. All of the Kings of Arandale had a High priestess to guide them in the way of the gods. Sofia had spent many lessons learning about the gods growing up, but she had never put much trust in them, she supposed that was her grandfather's influence, and her father's, neither of them cared much for the gods. They often said it didn't matter how much the farmers prayed, the rain came and went when it wanted to, unless they had a weather mage, so why bother.

However, a lot of people put a lot of faith in the gods and sent their young girls to be trained at the temple of the gods. The temple was built on a small island off the coast of the city, and once a child was sent to the island, they rarely returned. The King's High Priestess had selected Olivia a couple of years ago, Sofia had disliked her ever since they first met when Olivia had decided to inform her of all the ways she should be serving the gods and Alex.

It didn't help that she was undoubtedly beautiful and Alex seemed so enamored with her. They would have made a perfect couple, she thought bitterly. Not for the first time she felt a twinge of envy and sadness. Her mother said the High Priestess was just another advisor but Sofia heard the rumors and whispers of the servants, all the late nights the King and his Priestess spent together. She wished she could ask the Queen about it, but even after all their time together she still didn't feel comfortable enough to talk about it.

Ever since Olivia had arrived, she had felt like an outsider. The only time she really spent with Alex was during their training sessions, and Mal kept them working too hard for much talking. It was hard to find Alex without Olivia, and since she tried to avoid Olivia as much as possible, they didn't spend a lot of time together.

Chelsea caught her looking at Alex and Olivia and frowned.

"Honestly I don't think a priestess should be allowed to attend parties," she said glaring at Olivia. "Shouldn't she be communing with the gods or something?"

Sofia could always count on Chelsea to take her side, she hated Olivia almost as much as she did, although she wasn't sure why.

"Especially in that dress," Evelyn commented snidely from behind her, she half turned to see Evelyn at the table behind them, with her group of friends.

"She looks like she should be standing on a street corner," Evelyn added, wrinkling her nose in disgust.

A couple of the girl's gasped but Chelsea laughed loudly, and the others soon joined in. At this rate, her sister was going to turn out just like the Hallewells', she thought.

"Besides isn't it against their beliefs anyway?" Rebecca asked looking to Sofia for confirmation.

Sofia shrugged. She had no idea and didn't care to find out; she made it her mission to avoid anything at all involving Olivia.

"Well, it's not like she's a real priestess anyway, she's still in training," Jennifer said dismissively, "I wonder if they have to pass a test to become a Priestess?" she asked narrowing her eyes at Olivia.

Sofia shrugged again, in all honesty, she had no idea, nobody did, the priestesses were a mystery to everyone, apart from the High Priestess and Olivia, the others mostly stayed locked away in their temple. Doing the work of the gods, as they were told, but nobody actually knew what that work was. Sofia had always found the High Priestess an intimidating woman, she was so stern and serious and would never be seen attending a party of any sort, she had more important tasks to attend too.

The other girls continue to talk amongst themselves about the mystery of the priestesses, Sofia occasionally adding something so as not to appear rude but as soon as she could she excused herself, faking a need for the bathroom.

Once there she locked herself in and sat down on the floor, leaning her back against the wall with a sigh. She just needed a break from it all. After a couple of minutes, she walked out of the bathroom with a fake smile painted on her face only to run straight into Olivia.

"Oh there you are Sofia; your mother is looking for you," Olivia said, looking her up and down like her mother did when she was inspecting her for any trace of dirt or dust.

"Really? and she sent you to find me?" She asked sarcastically, her mother wouldn't be caught dead talking to a Priestess, she thought.

"No. I just overheard her asking your sister." Olivia stepped closer, reaching her hand out and Sofia backed away, Olivia had this look in her eye, the one she got when she was about to spout some wisdom about the gods and their plan for Sofia, and she was just there to help. She had heard it all before, many times and she was not in the mood for it.

"Oh, so you were eavesdropping?" She snapped before Olivia could say anything else.

"Calm down Sofia," Olivia said placatingly, "I'm just trying to help before you get into trouble, again," she added, "the gods expect great things from you Sofia, you can't keep behaving like this."

"Olivia stop, just stay away from me!" She snapped before she turned and walked away as fast as she could without actually running. Once she turned the corner, she slowed, reluctant to face her mother. She had been disappearing a lot from parties lately, and she knew her mother would be furious; unsurprisingly she couldn't understand why Sofia didn't love parties and gossip as much as she did. It was going to be a long night, she thought.

She arrived back at the party to find her sister and her friends had joined her table and they were all laughing at something Evelyn had said. She immediately turned in the opposite direction, she spied a tray of drinks floating nearby and quickly grabbed a glass of wine, she needed it. There were a couple of councilmen speaking nearby, and she skirted around them hoping they hadn't noticed.

As she took a sip of wine, she noticed Kelsie sitting on her own at a table and headed towards her. Out of all the girls her age at court, Kelsie was the only one she could actually have a conversation that didn't involve gossip, dresses and who they were going to marry. She knew Kelsie's mother put a lot of pressure on her and Kelsie had never lived up to her expectations, that much was clear, so they shared that in common. Kelsie had never really fit in at court and been accepted by the other girls but if Sofia weren't going to be Queen, she probably wouldn't either.

"Is this seat taken?" she asked when she reached the table, indicating to the chair next to Kelsie.

"No of course not, please have a seat." Kelsie startled and started to rise to her feet.

"It's fine, Kelsie, I'm not Queen yet, you don't need to stand." Sofia waved her back down.

Kelsie just nodded and stared down at her hands, knotted in her lap.

"What's wrong, if you don't mind me asking, you don't seem yourself," Sofia asked concerned.

"It's nothing really, I, I don't want to bother you," Kelsie replied, shaking her head.

"It's no bother Kelsie, maybe I can help."

There was a long pause before Kelsie took a deep breath and spoke, "well I don't know if you are aware, but I have an aunt who lives in the city."

Sofia thought back to that morning in the Hallewells' room, they had mentioned Kelsie's aunt. As far as Sofia knew, she was considered the black sheep of the family because she was a healer and had decided to set up a shop in the city to heal the poor. Sofia thought she was brave.

"Yes, she's a healer right?"

"Yes that's right," Kelsie lowered her voice and leaned in closer. "Except... she's sick."

"Kelsie that's not possible, healers don't get sick. They can't." Sofia replied immediately.

Kelsie nodded vigorously, "I know, I know it doesn't make sense but a couple of nights ago I went to visit her in the city, and I found her collapsed on the floor of her shop. She was white as a sheet and barely breathing, I called for a healer straight away, and they brought her to the palace, but I haven't heard anything since then, no one will tell me what's going on." She said, she looked close to tears. "I don't even know if she's alive."

Sofia was shocked, she couldn't imagine a healer ever getting sick, but she couldn't imagine Kelsie lying about something like that either, as far as she knew Kelsie had never lied about anything.

"I'm sure she's fine Kelsie, perhaps she just hit her head on something, and she was knocked out," she said trying to come up with a plausible reason for a healer to have collapsed, "healers are the strongest of all of us, I'm sure it was nothing." She said, trying to comfort her.

"You didn't see her. It was awful, her hands," Kelsie shook her head as if trying to shake an image from her mind, "they were completely black and... well I don't know how to explain it, but it looked like it was spreading, like some kind of rash."

Sofia didn't know what to say, she put her hand over Kelsie's but before she could come up with something her mother interrupted them and dragged Sofia away, her fingers digging into her arms. She winced and mouthed sorry to Kelsie as she was pulled away.

"Honestly Sofia, of all the people you could find to talk to at this party, you chose her."

Sofia groaned inwardly and plastered a smile on her face as she was herded around the party to greet each of the guests her mother deemed important enough to talk to. She didn't see Kelsie for the rest of the night, but she couldn't shake the memory of the look of despair Kelsie's face as she told her about her aunt's hands.

# CHAPTER 7

The party dragged on and the questions about her upcoming birthday and the wedding after were endless, not to mention everybody prying her for information on her guards. She smiled at the appropriate moments and let her mother do most of the talking until someone mentioned children, and it was all she could do to hold it together, she could feel the weight of her dress dragging her down, the corset was digging in and making it hard to breathe. Finally, it ended, and she managed to make it into her room before she collapsed in a heap on the floor, the quiet hit her like a brick wall, and all she could hear were her quick gasps of breath. She leaned forward and pressed her head to her knees, rocking back and forth until her breathing finally slowed. It felt like hours, but it must have been just minutes, the servants hadn't arrived, thankfully, but they would be soon to help her out of her dress. She had to get herself together. If they saw her, it would get back to her mother. She stood shakily, just in time because there was a knock on the door and she quickly dismissed the servants before they saw her shaking hands. Once they were gone she struggled out of her dress, after a lot of cursing, she finally managed to get it off, and she threw it on the ground in frustration and shakily changed into some plain clothes. The pressure was getting too much; she felt like she was suffocating. The thought of children made her sick to her stomach, she wasn't ready to be a mother but the way the women at the party were talking, she would be expected to bear children as soon as she was married to Alex. She almost screamed in frustration, she needed to get away from it all, if only for a couple of hours.

She took a moment to compose herself before she made herself invisible and left the room, there would be more servants than usual in the palace, and she needed to be careful, or she would be caught. As usual, she snuck out through the servant's entrance to their wing, the main entrance was guarded, but the servant's entrance never was. The ability to make herself invisible definitely came in handy when avoiding the guards pacing the halls. She moved slowly to avoid the servants still rushing about, but when she reached the gardens she broke into a run, finally reaching her escape route, she squirmed her way through the small tunnel in the wall, wincing at the smell and trying to ignore the many bugs crawling around.

Once outside she scaled the side of the nearest building and breathed in deeply, taking in the view of the city spread out below her. The city of Selinus was built on the side of an enormous hill with the palace almost at the very top. One side of the palace was overlooking the sea while the other side looked out across the city as it spilled down the hill, stopping at the ocean on one side and spreading out across the land on the other. If she went to the very top of the palace, she could see the whole city and the green countryside stretching out beyond.

The city was packed with people from all over the country who had been arriving over the last couple of days, and the Inns in the city had already booked up. Those that couldn't find or afford an Inn had pitched tents on the land surrounding the city.

Sofia wandered aimlessly for a while, watching the people around her and wondering what it would be like to have their life, she imagined they wondered the same about her. It seemed everyone was in a good mood, there was laughter and excited chatter everywhere she went. It was contagious, and she already felt better, being out of the palace, and amongst all these people, after all, it wasn't as if anyone could force her to have children if she wasn't ready, could they.

After a while she decided to visit Bree, her father's Inn was bound to be packed, and Bree would be too busy to spend time with her, but still, she loved the atmosphere, Bree had such a positive energy that radiated to everyone around her.

It took her a while to make her way to the Stone Inn which Bree's father owned, having to avoid the many people filling the streets; she stuck to the roofs as much as she could.

The Stone Inn was tucked away at the end of a long windy street, it was in a nice area of the city and was one of the most popular Inns in the city, so it was almost always busy at night. However in the early hours of the morning Bree could usually slip out unnoticed, and they would explore the city together, sneaking over the rooftops, sometimes they would venture to the very edge of the city and explore some of the countryside, often times they would head over to the docks and listen to the stories the sailors told. They always had the best stories; having traveled far and wide. Sofia envied them, she would love to be able to travel and visit other countries, but she doubted that would ever happen. Royals did not travel often; it was safer to send ambassadors.

When she arrived, the Inn was completely packed with people, like she had thought it would be. She could see Bree inside through the window rushing around, levitating a handful of glasses while carrying a stack of plates. She was definitely the queen of multitasking.

Sofia looked at the packed doorway of the Inn and decided to go through the back entrance, so she headed around the side and jumped the fence, careful to avoid the trash cans underneath. She crept silently through the back door, and as she passed Bree in the hallway, she whispered hello. Bree jumped slightly but before she could say anything her father called her name and she hurried back to work. Sofia sat down on one of the stools to the side of a stage Bree's father had set up for performers. It was quiet and out of the way, and she could sit and listen without having to worry about people running into her.

After a while, Bree came over to clean a nearby table. She looked in Sofia direction smiling cheekily, then said out the side of her mouth.

"The men at the table by the fire, aren't they cute? do you think I could get one of them to take me to the tournament?"

Sofia looked over at the table and grinned.

"I think you could get them to do almost anything." She whispered back. Sailors were notorious for bed hopping, they were away so often most didn't bother to marry.

"Are they competing in the tournament?" she asked studying them.

There were probably around half a dozen men, all crowded around a table, she was immediately drawn to one man who seemed to be monopolizing the conversation, he was dark-haired and handsome, save for the larger scar running down the side of his face, although a lot of women would find that more attractive. The rest of the men at the table were all relatively young and seemed to be in awe of him, listening intently to every word he said. Beside him sat an incredibly muscular man covered in tattoos, if anyone was competing it had to be them, she thought.

"A couple of them are competing, they have been bragging about it all night. Although I don't think they know what they're up against." Bree added.

Sofia doubted they would either, Alex's Guards training was kept fairly secret.

She listened to them for a while, they were close enough that she caught most of the conversation. But she soon grew bored of the dark-haired man talking, it was mainly about himself and his many achievements, in the arena and between the sheets. She hoped he would get knocked out quickly in the tournament, that might decrease his ego a bit.

She looked away from the group to watch Bree as she chatted to a couple of men, she was so at ease, laughing and joking with everyone. Everyone adored her, and she knew her father had had many requests for her hand in marriage. Bree's father was an imposing man so it would take a lot of courage from them to ask him, Bree loved to tell her all about it afterward, but he had never pushed Bree to accept any of the proposals, he loved his daughters too much to force them into a marriage they didn't want.

"Course Tommy here is scared of some bloody trees, so he's not gonna make it far in the tournament."

Sofia looked back at the group by the fire curiously to see the dark-haired man nodding to a small man sitting quietly in the corner.

"Those bloody woods are cursed, I'm telling you, they're bad luck!" The man insisted.

She leaned forward to hear better, she guessed they were talking about the dark woods, she had heard stories from her grandfather about the rumors surrounding the dark woods.

"At night you can hear screaming coming from them, the locals tell stories of children disappearing, faceless people moving in the trees, nobody goes near them, not even animals," the man continued.

The others scoffed at him.

"It's just myth. Those people are scared of their own shadow." One man snapped.

"The locals just tell these stories to scare people," said another, "they're just trees."

"Nah, I'm telling you, whatever they did it that banishing, it did something to them woods. Changed them and now people are getting sick," the small man shivered as he said this.

"You better hope there aren't trees in that arena or Tommy here will be shitting himself." The dark-haired man said, and everyone laughed.

They went on to talk about the tournament, Sofia was hoping they would talk more about the woods, but it didn't come up again. They carried on for a while longer before they started to get too rowdy and Bree's father kicked them out.

Bree managed to rush over for a minute to whisper to her. "I'm sorry I don't think I'll be able to get away. They don't look like they're going anywhere fast." She said, gesturing towards all the people packing the Inn.

"It's fine, I should probably get back anyway." It had been a long day, and she needed to get some sleep, or she wouldn't make it through the next couple of days.

Another group of sailors was starting to get a bit handsy with the other waitresses, so it was probably a good time for her to leave anyway. Bree's father was keeping a close eye on them though, and Sofia felt a pang of jealousy. Bree's father was a good man, he worked his daughter's hard, but he was still kind and really cared about them. His wife, Bree's mother, had died during childbirth, Sofia wasn't sure how Bree never talked about it. In fact, Bree rarely talked about her mother at all, she had been only seven when she passed away while giving birth to Bree's sister Katie. It must have been hard to grow up without a mother even though Bree's older sister, Liza, tried to take over that role. Although now that she was getting married that would probably change. Bree complained about her future brother in law often, she didn't understand why her sister was marrying him or even why their father had approved it. He was a soldier but hadn't finished his training so he could be stationed anywhere in Arandale, she suspected that's why Bree disliked him, she hated the idea of her sister leaving, Liza had practically raised her. She also wasn't sure how Bree's father would cope if Liza left, she supposed Bree would have to take over from her sister, although her other three sisters were older now and could mostly look after themselves.

Thinking of Bree's mother dying had reminded her of Kelsie's Aunt getting sick, she had forgotten all about her. She had never heard of a healer getting sick before, it was impossible, she thought, but she wanted to ask Bree about it. She might have heard something, surely word would have gotten around about a healer getting sick. It was too late now though, she thought as she watched Bree rush into the room with a tray full of drinks, she would have to ask her next time, although with the tournament she didn't know when she would next get a chance.

# CHAPTER 8

Sofia slipped quietly out the back door and was just about to climb the fence when she heard Bree's voice behind her.

"Sofia wait," Sofia turned around, making herself visible so Bree could see her.

"I didn't get a chance to tell you. Father is letting us all go to the tournament. He said a lot of the businesses are closing on the last two day of the tournament, everyone will be at the tournament so we won't get a lot of customers anyway," Bree was grinning with excitement, "I don't think even he wants to miss out."

"That's great!" Sofia said earnestly, "I wish I could be with you in the stands. I'm sure it would be a lot more fun."

"Honestly Sofia every girl in the city would kill to be you." Bree chastised in an almost perfect imitation of her mother, screwing up her nose.

She burst out laughing then covered her mouth hoping nobody had heard. Bree had never met her mother, yet her impersonations were incredibly accurate. Bree's father called for her again, and she hurried back inside before Sofia thought to ask her about Kelsie's Aunt.

Sofia walked back through the streets to the palace, distracted, still thinking about Kelsie's Aunt, the streets were mostly quiet at this time of night, but she made sure to avoid the other bars and inns in the city. She reached a large building almost directly in the middle of the city and ducked down the small alleyway next to it, the side of the building had grooves dug into it that were perfect for climbing, she stumbled upon it almost a year ago and had found it had an amazing view of the city. She liked sitting up there, watching people as they made their way home or just to another bar, she was also close enough to hear music from nearby bars and the drunks singing loudly and terribly.

She made it to the top and looked out past the city to the countryside stretching out below. It was too dark to see, but in the light of day she imagined she would be able to just make out the very edge of the dark woods, the woods the sailor had been talking about, she had to admit it gave her an eerie feeling, even this far away. She shivered; she didn't understand how people could stand to live near it. Nobody talked much about it anymore, but her grandfather had told her the story when she was younger of how it had gotten its name.

A couple hundred years ago there had been a cult made up of people from all the countries of Latheria. They practiced dark magic, roaming the land, killing and torturing people for power. The royal families from all the countries in Latheria had gathered together to perform an ancient spell to banish the cult to the dark woods, trapping them there for the rest of their lives. Some said they could still hear their screams and cries for help coming from the woods, her grandfather said that was just the wind, the people were long gone.

She reluctantly climbed back down from the building and started back towards the street.

"Hey, sweetheart, where you going?" A voice slurred from in front of her.

She jumped and looked up in surprise, cursing under her breath, a couple of sailors had just come around the corner and seen her. She had let her invisibility drop while on the roof, she had allowed herself to get distracted. Mal would have admonished her for dropping her guard.

She backed away slowly while studying them carefully. There was four of them now, staggering down the laneway towards her. Four against one were not great odds if she had to fight them, but they had been drinking, and they would underestimate her. Everyone did, she was small and a girl. Still, it was probably better to avoid a fight if possible, she thought. Her best option was to run.

Before they could get any closer, she made herself invisible. They were surprised by her sudden disappearance, but it didn't deter them as she had hoped, they continued to make their way down the alley waving their arms about trying to find her. She worried that they were too spread out for her to risk trying to weave her way through them, so that left her with only one option. She moved quickly, trying not to make a sound, back to the wall with the grooves and started climbing but in her haste, small bits of brick came loose under her feet and fell to the ground. One of the sailors noticed and yelled to the others. She climbed faster, but one of them must have had strength magic because he pounded on the wall with his fists and she lost her grip, landing in a heap at their feet, still invisible, but they grabbed for her anywhere they could, to stop her from getting away.

She cried out in pain as one of the men grabbed hold of her arm and twisted it while another grabbed her by the throat and pushed her up against the wall, he stank of alcohol and fish. At that moment she realized she was in serious trouble. She decided to try a different tactic and abruptly dropped her invisibility. Once he saw her face the man loosened his grip and smiled.

"Well now isn't that better, a lovely face like yours shouldn't be kept hidden." He sneered.

She glared and pulled at his arm, trying to loosen his grip on her throat but he was solid as a rock, he must be the one with strength magic, she thought.

"Do you have any idea who I am and what will happen to you if you lay a finger on me," she gasped, trying to speak calmly even though she was anything but.

They all snickered.

"Sweetheart we couldn't care less if you're the bloody Queen, we're only here one more night, and we plan to enjoy everything this city has to offer," he smirked as he looked her up and down.

She scowled and brought her knee straight up into his groin. Just like Mal had taught her. He toppled over groaning and cursing as she made herself invisible again and jumped over him. The other men grabbed for her again but they were drunk, and she had caught them by surprise. She dodged around them, breaking one man's finger in the process, and ran towards the street. She had just rounded the corner when she ran straight into someone.

She looked up to find Jack glaring down at her; Hayden was just behind him looking equally as annoyed.

She dropped her invisibility and winced, "I guess there's no chance that we can keep this just between us then?"

They both shared a look before they grabbed her by the arms and pulled her along in the direction of the palace. She went quietly; she knew she was in a lot of trouble. Once they were nearing the palace gates, Hayden went on ahead, presumably to talk to Alex.

"One day we're going to find out how you sneak out," Jack said shaking his head.

She stiffened, she hadn't realized they even knew about her nighttime excursions.

Sofia faked a grin, "I doubt it."

Jack just raised an eyebrow, "we'll see about that."

They continued on for a couple more streets, and Sofia berated herself the whole way. If she hadn't let herself get distracted thinking about the dark woods and Kelsie's Aunt.

"Hey, wait, Jack do you know anything about a healer getting sick? Kelsie Barton's aunt," she asked suddenly.

"Healers don't get sick," Jack replied frowning.

"I know that's what I said, but Kelsie was..."

They were interrupted by the guards at the palace gate, demanding to know who they were. She sighed and stepped closer so they could see her face and Jack did the same, lowering the hood of his cloak.

"Sir, My Lady, very sorry, I, ah, didn't realize who it was." The first guard stammered when he saw their faces. He bowed hurriedly to Sofia, and she frowned, she wasn't Queen yet, and she hated when people bowed to her.

"How did you find me by the way?" She asked Jack when they were out of earshot of the guards.

"You're lucky we were there," he replied shortly, ignoring her question.

"Ok, don't tell me then," she huffed under her breath.

Jack sighed. "I'm not trying to annoy you it's just better if you don't know."

"How very kind of you," she replied sarcastically as they reached the palace doors, "why is it better if I don't know? Why do you all treat me like a child?" she snapped.

Jack shook his head but didn't answer her, and she stormed ahead frustrated.

They entered the palace, and Hayden appeared out of the shadows making Sofia jump. He opened his mouth to speak but stopped when he saw her face. Instead, he turned and walked away, she followed silently.

Alex and Cole were already waiting for them when they finally arrived at Alex's rooms, Sofia fuming the whole way, Alex had his back to her staring out the window; the only light was from the fire.

"You can leave now," he said quietly to the others without turning around.

Cole gave her a smirk as he brushed past her and she glared at him, furious with everyone but mostly herself, if she had just been paying more attention, this would never have happened. Now Alex would probably make sure she wasn't allowed to leave the palace for the duration of the tournament. He would probably make his Guards babysit her.

The door closed behind Cole, and Alex turned to her furiously. "How could you be so careless, you could have been seriously hurt. The tournament is starting in two days, do you have any idea how important this is Sofia, do you have any idea how much pressure we're under, this is our chance to smooth the waters, to make peace between the nobles, with all the skirmishes that have been happening along the borders, we need this tournament to go well. We need the lords to start getting along, and I can't do my job if I'm worried about you out there... gallivanting around."

She stared at him, shocked by his outburst, she hadn't known anything about the skirmishes, why would she, she wasn't important enough to know, she thought bitterly, she was suddenly furious, "I wasn't gallivanting, and how was I supposed to know any of that, nobody tells me anything!" she yelled.

"That's not true, stop being so dramatic."

"Yes, it is," she exclaimed, "ever since Olivia arrived..."

"Not this again,' he interrupted her. "You're being paranoid, Olivia is here to help me, help us."

"Help us!" she exclaimed.

"Yes, in case you forgot she tried to help you and be your friend."

Sofia was shocked, "Is that what she told you? I can't believe you would just take her side like that. She never tried to be friends, she just wanted to tell me all about the god's plan for me and try to control me, just like everyone else in my life."

"Nobody controls you Sofia." Alex snapped. "When will you realize you can't go gallivanting around the city whenever you feel like it."

"Maybe it would be good for you to go gallivanting around the city once in a while; you might learn something about what's actually going on in your own city! When was the last time you actually left the palace?"

"I'm sorry I'm too busy trying to run a country to sneak out at night and get into trouble." He snapped, ignoring her point entirely.

"It was one time and the only reason..."

"Just exactly how often do you sneak out?" He interrupted again crossing his arms.

She sighed, "often enough, I can't help it, I just can't stand being cooped up in this palace all the time, don't you just want to escape?"

He shook his head. "I can't escape I have responsibilities, so do you remember."

"Yes, I am aware, it's hard to forget when everyone reminds me constantly."

"Because no one thinks you're taking this seriously; you're sneaking out all the time, you barely talk to the other noble girls, you're distracted in your lessons, Olivia thinks..."

"Oh enough about Olivia, please, why do you always have to bring her up. What does this have to do with her?" she snapped, "you know maybe you should marry her, it seems like she would make a perfect queen."

"Stop acting like a child."

"Stop acting like you're the king, you can't tell me what to do Alex."

"Yes I can when you're putting your life in danger!" he yelled angrily.

She didn't know what came over her at that moment, but she just wanted in all to stop, she was so tired of the fighting so without a second thought she stepped forward and kissed him. He froze for a second before she felt his lips move against hers. His hands grabbed her waist, and he pulled her closer as her hands tangled in his hair.

The moment was broken by the sound of the door creaking open, and they both pulled back abruptly.

"Sorry, just checking to see if you were both still alive," Cole said stifling a laugh.

He ducked back out, closing the door behind him and Alex cursed under his breath, "I'll never hear the end of this now." he muttered.

Sofia laughed and shrugged, "everyone already knows you can never stay mad at me for long!"

He shook his head but smiled, "just be more careful." he said seriously.

She nodded, "I promise."

The guards didn't even try to hide their laughter as she opened the door, she rolled her eyes at them and walked past. They let her go, but she was sure that Alex would send one of his them after her to make sure she didn't try to sneak out again.

Not that she would have time anyway, after the arrival of the other noble families of Arandale and the start of the tournament she wouldn't have any time to sneak out.

"Hey, wait up."

She turned surprised to see Cole jogging up behind her, and she raised an eyebrow questioningly.

"I'm not here to yell, I just want to make sure that you stay out of trouble over the next week. Alex is under a lot of pressure from his father, this tournament has to go smoothly."

She scowled at him, "I'm not a child Cole, you don't have to chastise me, I'll behave."

"Really? Because you don't act like it, we have a responsibility..."

"I know." She snapped before he could finish, "I have been doing this for as long as you have Cole, I know what my responsibilities are."

She stormed into her rooms, resisting the urge to slam her door in frustration but it would just wake everyone up, and the last thing she wanted was to wake up her father. She sighed, she just couldn't understand why Alex couldn't see her side, he was so stubborn.

Maybe it was partly her fault, she reluctantly admitted to herself, she just became so frustrated and started yelling, they both did. After a while, she had given up trying to talk to Alex. That was partly why she had started sneaking around more and more and what she found surprised her. Alex only knew what his advisors and spies told him, Sofia has seen the city, all the good and bad parts of it, as well as the other lords and council members, she knew all the secrets and scandals. She knew which lord was cheating on their wife and the council member with a drinking problem. There wasn't a person in the palace that didn't have one secret or another.

She often thought Alex was too trusting. He relied too much on the information that others gave him. He was smart and had a kind heart, he would make a good king, but if he wasn't careful, he would be lead astray by people with hidden agendas. Most worryingly, Olivia. She didn't trust her at all.

Sofia was glad he at least had Cole and the other guards to guide him. Cole, in particular, was good at seeing through the masks people put up, and he wasn't afraid to tell Alex if he thought he was making a mistake.

She collapsed onto her bed thinking about the argument and wondering what had come over. She couldn't believe she had just kissed Alex, what had she been thinking? Had she just made everything more complicated? Or would it make it easier? She was going to marry him after all, but she had avoided thinking about that for so long it was hard to really accept that it was actually going to happen. She struggled to sleep that night, tossing and turning, all those questions turning over in her head but the most surprising thing was how much she wanted to kiss him again.

# CHAPTER 9

"Oops, sorry" Sofia called apologetically to a servant she almost ran into as she was rushed around a corner. The poor girl looked stressed, like most of the other servants in the palace, all trying to finish the last minute preparations before the arrival of the other noble families of Arandale. There had been a huge commotion earlier, when someone had dropped one of the chandeliers while trying to clean it, the Queen had been furious and had had to call in glassmakers from the city to fix it.

She dodged around more servants as she cut through a narrow passageway. She was relieved to finally be out of her rooms. She had spent the entire day before cooped up with her mother going over every detail of the tournament, every noble attending, every outfit she would be wearing and everything she should and shouldn't mention. She suspected her father was putting pressure on her mother to ensure Sofia was fully prepared, and so it had been a long day.

Thankfully her mother had been distracted that morning, so she had taken the opportunity to sneak past her. Although she might regret it later, she was just enjoying the small amount of freedom she had. Finally, she arrived at the royal wing of the palace, and the guards opened the doors when they saw her coming.

"Thank you." She called rushing passed.

She skidded to a stop in front of Alex's room, impatiently waiting for the guard to knock and announce her arrival and burst through the door as soon as she heard Alex say, "let her in."

She was annoyed, but not surprised, to see Olivia already there, lounging in an armchair along with Alex and the guards. She ignored her, heading straight for the huge balcony opposite the door and she threw open the doors to reveal the most amazing view of the bay and the beautiful sparkling blue ocean, stretching out as far as the eye could see. She envied him this view, it was breathtaking.

"Did you see it?" She exclaimed.

"See what?" Lex asked curiously, he was the first to get up and follow her over to the balcony.

She smirked, "I was right! As always."

She heard various groans behind her but chose to ignore them. Instead, she just pointed toward the harbor, and to the largest and most beautiful ship she had ever seen, she heard the other exclamations behind her as they all saw the ship for the first time. It was well known that the Emsworth family spent more time at sea than on land which was why they had the most impressive ships in all of Latheria, well according to Lord Emsworth. They had been hearing rumors for months now about this ship and Sofia had heard a couple of sailors talking about it a couple of weeks ago, claiming it was twice the size of the Emsworth's other ships. Not only was it large but Lord Emsworth was a powerful water mage, so he had created a gigantic wave to help push the ship along.

"I told you, didn't I, and none of you believed me!" she said smugly, they thought she had been exaggerating when she told them the size of the ship.

"I wonder where you heard that," Olivia muttered behind her.

Sofia ignored her, she was too busy watching Alex, he looked exhausted like he hadn't slept in days. Alex glanced at her and the memory of their kiss the other day sprung to mind, and she looked away quickly, she tried to push the memory aside, but it was hard to ignore with Alex standing a couple of feet away. She had spent the last two nights tossing and turning, unable to stop thinking about their kiss, trying to sort out her feelings. She had seen Alex at training the next morning, and he hadn't acted any differently so neither had she. She wondered if he had even thought about it all. She was trying to pretend it hadn't happened but still she couldn't stop thinking about it.

"He sure likes to show off doesn't he," Jack commented.

Olivia frowned, "Lord Emsworth should be more careful, or he will upset the god of sea."

She saw Jack roll his eyes and Olivia must have noticed as well because she turned on him, furiously.

"They are dangerous, and he should show them more respect." She snapped.

Jack just shrugged, unconcerned, "go tell him that."

Olivia huffed and left, announcing she had other more important business to attend to. The other guards seemed to relax once she had gone and they spent some time outside on the balcony watching the ship, laughing and joking. It had been a while since they had had visitors to the palace, so she was starting to get a bit excited, and nervous. She really did want to make a good first impression and not just because her mother would be furious if she didn't. At least she had until the party that night to prepare herself.

They were suddenly interrupted by a loud knock on the door before it was thrown open and the King strode in, not bothering to wait to be announced. The guards immediately stood to attention.

"Ahh, I see you have noticed the arrival of some of our guests," he said as he saw them all standing on the balcony, "it is quite impressive isn't it! Alex, I expect you are ready as they will be arriving soon?" he said to Alex, not bothering to wait for an answer before he turned to Sofia. "Sofia, I'm glad you're here. I thought it would be a great idea if you were there to greet our guests as well. As the future Queen, it will be a good experience for you, I have already sent a messenger to your rooms to inform you. I expect your parents will have already received it and will be wondering where you are," he finished with a wink and strode back out the door leaving Sofia slightly queasy, she thought she would have the rest of the day to prepare and her mother was going to be even more furious with her for leaving now.

"You ok there? you look a little pale." Alex teased.

"Oh, Mother is going to have a fit." She muttered, while the others just laughed.

"I should get back; maybe they haven't received the message yet." She said hopefully, rushing across the room.

"Remember it's unladylike to run," Cole called after her as she threw open the door and rushed out. She walked quickly, trying not to run, she wished she could just turn invisible and run back to her rooms but there were too many people around, and she would just end up running into them. It seemed to take her forever, but finally, she made it, only to find her parents already waiting for her, her heart sank at their furious expressions. Her mother gasped when she saw her.

"Where on earth have you been?" she hissed, "a messenger just arrived..."

"I know I know," she said interrupting her, "I was just with Alex, and the King arrived and told me, I came as fast as I could."

But her mother was barely listening, in fact, she looked like she's going to faint. She dragged Sofia into her sitting room where there were already servants rushing around frantically.

"I haven't had time to prepare, you don't have anything to wear." Her mother muttered to herself, which was never a good sign.

"Well you need to find something Louisa, they will be here soon. I need to leave now, make sure she is there on time." Her father said sternly as he walked out the door. Her mother ignored him as well, still muttering to herself.

The next few minutes were a mad rush as she hurriedly tried on dresses while servants pulled at her hair and applied powder to her face. By the end of it she was hot and sweaty and had almost been hit over the head with various pairs of shoes, but they had finally found a suitable dress and her mother had deemed her presentable, although she still fretted on the way to the entrance hall.

"Appearance is everything Sofia, it's the first thing people notice. This is your first meeting with the other nobles, and you need to make a perfect impression, Lady Emsworth will no doubt pick out every flaw she can find." her mother muttered as they walked.

They arrived to find everyone waiting for them in the entrance hall, it was Sofia's favorite room in the palace, and she took a moment to look around before anyone noticed them arrive, it was incredibly beautiful with murals painted on all the walls. Chandeliers hung from the ceiling, the crystals catching the light and almost giving life to the murals. The room was also circular with corridors spilling off in all directions and a grand staircase at the end. The royal family stood in a row in the center of the room, their guards stood on either side along with the council members and other nobles who lived in the city, servants hovered behind, ready to help with luggage and direct guests to their rooms.

Their heels clicked over the tile floor, and everyone turned towards them. The Queen gave her a small nod of approval, and she could almost hear her mother's sigh of relief behind her.

"You look lovely, Sofia, I can't imagine it was easy finding something to wear on such short notice." She commented glaring at the King.

"Oh nonsense Mariana, Sofia always looks perfect."

Sofia clenched her hands behind her back, suddenly nervous, while her mother smiled smugly. She went to stand beside Alex relieved when the King and Queen turned their attention away from her. Alex smiled at her reassuringly.

"Just think of all the food there will be tonight, especially the dessert, Father has brought in the greatest chefs from all over Arandale," he said quietly.

She laughed quietly, Alex knew all about her sweet tooth. She remembered when they were younger, and he used to sneak into the kitchens and steal desserts for her after Lady Hallewell had made a comment about Sofia's weight and her mother had then put her on a strict diet. She had complained to Alex about it, and the next day he had surprised her with a small cake, stolen from the kitchens.

She could feel the weight of her father's gaze on her, but she refused to look at him, she knew he would be evaluating every interaction she had, but she couldn't worry about that now, she had to focus, the last thing she needed was him making her feel even worse. Thankfully the nobles started arriving, and he turned his attention to them, she breathed a sigh of relief.

Sofia wondered briefly how they were going to fit everyone in the palace when she noticed the number of servants the nobles had with them before she hurriedly plastered a smile on her face.

Lord Emsworth was the first to arrive. He was a tall and arrogant man, he waltzed up to the King with barely a bow as a greeting, his wife and daughters trailed behind. He barely gave the Queen a small nod of greeting before moving on. The Emsworth family were one of a few nobles families who didn't agree with the King remarrying, while they would never be directly rude to the Queen they were in no way friendly. Alex, on the other hand, was greeted like a long-lost son, even Sofia received a much warmer greeting than the Queen. She was quite surprised seeing as their daughter, Elizabeth was only a couple of days younger than Sofia and had narrowly missed out on being Queen herself, the family had been quite upset after that, but it had been 17 years. She caught Elizabeth eyeing Cole and wondered if the family had other plans in motion.

Lord Sutton arrived next with his son, Eldridge, an unfortunate name, she thought, it was his grandfather's, in some noble families it was tradition to pass down names. He was actually quite handsome and seemed very friendly, she actually felt sorry for him, not knowing what was to come. The Sutton family oversaw most of the mining in Arandale. Their family was very wealthy and always had the most spectacular jewels, no doubt the main reason Chelsea and Evelyn were so eager to marry him.

The morning dragged on until finally the last of the nobles arrived, Lord and Lady Richmond, their family lived near the border of Bordonia and oversaw trade negotiations. She had heard a lot about them from the other nobles, and it was never good, so she was eager to meet them. It would be nice to meet an improper noble, she thought.

"Ah it's about time," said the King in greeting, "I thought you were going to miss the whole tournament."

Lord Richmond chuckled, "One time I overslept, and you never let it go."

They embraced each other like brothers.

"It's been a long time old friend."

"Too long, I'm sorry I haven't made the trip in a while, not as young as I once was."

"Yes, what I would give to be young again." The King replied looking pointedly at Alex and Sofia before he introduced them and the palace servants rushed forward to help them with their bags, as far as Sofia could tell they hadn't brought their own servants, they really weren't like the other nobles.

At last, they were allowed to leave, and she hurried to follow behind Alex to the training grounds, eager to avoid her mother. It would be their last training before the tournament, and she needed to let off some steam.

She poured all her energy and frustration into her training until she was utterly exhausted.

"If you keep going like that you won't have any energy for the party tonight" Jack commented at one point.

"Honestly I was avoiding thinking about it," she replied.

Training ended, and she went back to her room and took a long bath to soothe her aching muscles. The servants had already filled the bath with oils and rose petals and one of the servants, Julia, gently combed out her hair, humming to herself.

Her mother burst through the door interrupting them.

"What in heaven's is taking you so long; we need to start getting her ready." She snapped at Julia.

"Sorry my Lady," she said quietly.

Her mother stormed out again yelling at another servant as she went. Sofia groaned sinking lower in the bath. She couldn't even get a little privacy.

# CHAPTER 10

The party that night was held in the ballroom, which was reserved for only special occasions. It was a large rectangular room with four archways leading to balconies along one side. Beautiful blue curtains sparkling with silver stripes flowed down from the windows and silver vases filled with blue flowers decorated every table. The silverware sparkled and the people even more. The ladies, in particular, seemed to be covered with as many gems as possible, everyone trying to outdo each other.

It had been six years since the last tournament, and the nobles had all been in the same room with each other. Even though Lord Emsworth wouldn't stop talking about his ship and the Sutton's were practically falling over from the number of jewels they were wearing, she was surprised that everyone was mostly civil. It seemed they were all on their best behavior.

Her mother flowed around the room, greeting everyone as she passed while Sofia and Evelyn trailed behind. She was in her element and loving every second of it.

Evelyn, however, did not seem her usual self but before she could wonder why dinner was announced and she hurried to take her seat at the royal table next to Alex. The food was incredible just as the Alex had promised but unfortunately, she wasn't really in the mood to enjoy it.

After dinner she stayed by Alex's side, as instructed by her mother, making small talk with the other Ladies while the Lord's argued about who was going to win the tournament. It was obvious some of the Lords were fishing for information about Cole and Jack, but Alex wasn't giving anything away.

She had already noticed Lords making bets around the room. According to Bree, most of the city was betting on Cole to win, but she wondered who the nobles were betting on.

She was distracted from her thoughts when someone dropped a glass of wine, a couple of servants rushed in, and the mess was gone in an instant. She took the opportunity to excuse herself for a minute while she used the bathroom.

On the way back she ran into Lady Richmond, and they had a very entertaining conversation. Her husband had been in charge of the border as long as Sofia could remember, so they often had delegates from Bordonia with them, and she had picked up quite a few swear words from them and had a lot of stories to tell. Unfortunately, her mother soon found her and dragged her away, to her annoyance, on to a respectable group of ladies where she was pulled into more tedious conversations. More often than not they were about the dress she was wearing, which she struggled to answer as her mother had picked it out, but her mother also seemed to have a sixth sense and would appear at her elbow almost immediately. She didn't mind really, it saved her having to make something up, she made sure to give the appropriate compliments on their dresses as well, although she found most of them awful, the style this season was feathers, and some ladies thought that to mean the bigger, the better. Unfortunately, it just made them look like large brightly colored birds. Thankfully the Queen did not follow the trends, and her mother always followed the Queen, so Sofia was not forced to look like a peacock.

She caught sight of Mal as he wove through the crowd, he was often required to attend these parties, but she had learned over the years that he was very good at hiding, he was always seen often enough that the King was happy but always seemed to avoid actually dancing and interacting with people. She wondered how he was doing in a room surrounded by the most important noble families in Arandale considering his immense dislike of them, of which she still she wasn't sure the reason for. He had never told her, no matter how often she asked.

She also noticed Elizabeth Sutton had managed to trap Cole in a corner and he looked uncharacteristically uncomfortable. She thought about rescuing him but then remembered their conversation the other night and decided against it, maybe it was spiteful, but she was glad to see him suffering a little.

Later that night a group of musicians set up in the corner of the room and started to play. The King lead Queen Marianna out onto the dance floor to a round of applause, and they glided around the room effortlessly.

She looked around the room and saw Alex watching her, he smiled and strode towards her.

"Care to dance?" he asked with a little bow he held out his hand. Sofia couldn't help but smile as she took his hand and he led her out onto the dance floor.

She felt the heat from his hand on her back through her dress as he pulled her close, she avoided his gaze, suddenly nervous, concentrating on the people around them. From the corner of her eye, she saw him frown, and he looked like he wanted to say something, but luckily it was a fast song, so there wasn't a chance for him to speak, she wasn't sure she wanted to know what he was going to say; she had enough on her mind at the moment. If she could just make it through the next week, she would worry about it then.

The song ended, and before Alex could talk they were in interrupted by a Lord asking her to dance, and she barely got a moment's rest after that, it seemed every Lord in the country wanted to dance with her. Some more than once, like Lord Herman, he talked a lot and stepped on her toes, after their third dance she was grateful when they were interrupted by Lord Richmond.

"If I may Lord Herman, I have yet to dance with our future Queen."

"Of course," she said, smiling at apologetically at Lord Herman.

Lord Richmond was an exceptional dancer and a lot of fun, just like his wife.

The night passed surprisingly fast but still, she hurried into her room after saying goodnight to her mother, her father had already disappeared into his office. He hadn't spoken a word to her on the walk back, so assumedly she hadn't done anything wrong that night. She entered her room and was surprised to see Lucy on her lounge asleep. She stirred having heard Sofia come in.

"Finally, I wanted to hear all about the party." She mumbled sitting up and rubbing her eyes.

"It wasn't very exciting, don't worry, you didn't miss anything."

"That's easy for you to say, you were there!" She exclaimed. "Please, you have to tell me everything." She begged.

She sighed, "fine but not here."

She leaned over and scooped her sister up, carrying her into her bedroom as Lucy giggled like mad. She dropped her onto the bed and jumped on after her, too tired to bother changing. They talked and talked until finally, Lucy fell asleep. She pushed her hair out of her sister's face smiling, she was still so innocent, she hoped she stayed that way for as long as possible.

Sofia couldn't remember ever being that way as a child. She had always been treated differently. She had been full of energy as a child, but instead of playing outside with the other children she had been forced to sit inside with her nanny, where she was taught to be quiet and well behaved. She had been given all the toys in the world but all she wanted was to play in the mud and run around like the other children, it wasn't fun on her own.

She had once begged her nanny to take her outside, and she had had the best time playing with the other children, but her mother found out, and the next day her nanny had been replaced. That's when she stopped asking and learned to sneak around instead and discovered her ability to turn invisible. She didn't know what she would have done if she been born with another ability.

She had been so excited when Evelyn was born. Finally, she would have someone to play with, but her mother had decided she was too young to play with toys and hired her a governess. She rarely saw Evelyn growing up, although she supposed Evelyn hadn't had it much easier, she had grown up in Sofia's shadow, the same expectations but none of the attention and she had envied Sofia her whole life because of it.

Lucy had been luckier. By the time she came along their mother was too distracted with the other girls to worry too much, she had been given more freedom, and she had had a great nanny growing up, who spoilt her and snuck her outside to play in the gardens.

The girls had all adored Martha, but it wasn't long before she was replaced. Sofia suspected her mother didn't like them getting close to the servants. Now Lucy was old enough they didn't have a nanny at all.

She sighed and closed her eyes, it had been a long night, and she was so tired she didn't even have the energy to change into a nightgown. She heard a knock at her door and groaned before she dragged herself up onto her aching feet to check who it was.

She opened the door to find Alex standing with his hand in his pockets, looking tired. His tie was undone and his hair a mess, like he had run his hands through it many times. But still he was as handsome as ever, and her stomach fluttered.

She ignored it focusing instead on what he was doing here, she couldn't remember the last time he had shown up at her door.

"Did I wake you?" He asked quietly.

"No." she replied, shaking her head, "Long night?" she asked cautiously after a pause.

He chuckled softly, "Yes, very."

She hesitated briefly before she opened the door wider for him to come in. It was probably a bad idea, her mother would think it improper, but there must be something important on his mind for him to show up like this especially, she looked behind him, without his guards.

"No guards?" she asked

"I can survive without them, occasionally." He replied.

"I know, it's just unusual."

"I snuck out," he admitted.

"Wow I'm shocked." she joked but she actually was shocked, she didn't think he ever went anywhere without at least one guard.

She walked over to the lounge closest to the fire hoping to get some heat from it, the maids had lit the fire earlier, and the embers were still burning. Alex stayed standing.

"I know I just wanted some time alone." He replied, sounding distracted.

"So you came here to be alone?" she asked raising an eyebrow.

"Yes, no," he said half laughing "I was out walking, and I just realized...." he turned to her suddenly serious. "You were right the other night."

"About what exactly? I am right about a lot." She said as she leaned back against the lounge crossing her arms.

He snorted a laugh. "Not as much as you think you are." He started pacing, and she was suddenly worried, he was acting too serious.

"We haven't spent a lot of time together in the last couple of years, and I'm sorry if you thought I had replaced you. I never meant to, I just got busy and distracted." He paused thinking. "My father and the council, it feels like they plan out my entire day. It's just been a lot, and it doesn't give me time to do anything else I want to do." he started pacing again. "These past two years have gone so fast, I thought I would have longer to just be a child. It feels like it changed overnight, one day a child, the next day a king."

"I know exactly what you mean." She said as she reached up and pulled him down onto the couch beside her. "And I'm sorry too, I hadn't thought about the fact you were probably feeling the same way. You always seem so calm and in control." She said she had just assumed he was fine, but she realized now he was probably just putting on the same show she was.

He laughed bitterly, "hardly, we probably would have known this about each other if we hadn't stopped spending time together, I know that's my fault, I should have made time for you, I'm sorry."

"I'm sorry too,"

"Maybe after the tournament, we can organize some time together? away from everyone, although I doubt we'll be allowed to leave the palace."

"I would really like that," she said honestly, "but what about your guards?"

"They are like my brothers, but we still need a break from each other."

She nodded, "I don't understand at all how you put up with Cole."

"That's funny he says the same about you." He said laughing.

"Don't worry there's plenty of places in the palace we can go where no one can find us," she said with a sneaky smile.

"I'm sure you know all of them," he replied smirking before he suddenly frowned "about the other night, I'm sorry that I yelled, I was just worried."

"I'm sorry I yelled too."

"I know you sneak out of the palace and if it's something you need to do I don't want to stop you, just please be careful."

He looked so worried she didn't know what to say, so she just nodded, and he smiled, relieved.

"Anyway I should go, it will be a long day tomorrow, and I'm sure you're tired after today."

He stood up to leave, and she walked him to the door still thinking about what he had just said. She was thankful he wasn't going to try to stop her, but she didn't realize just how worried he had been.

He started to walk out, and she opened her mouth to wish him good night, but before she could get the words out, he suddenly turned back and pulled her towards him. He leaned down, brushing his lips against hers, it was soft and gentle not like when she had kissed him but no less intense, after what seemed like an eternity, he pulled away.

"Goodnight." He said softly before turning and walking away.

She stood in the doorway for a couple of seconds in shock before shaking her head and walking back to her bedroom, feeling confused but slightly more hopeful than she had in a long time.

# CHAPTER 11

The first day of the tournament dawned bright and sunny. It seemed the entire city was out on the streets, watching as they rode by in their carriages, or making their own way to the tournament. The tournament was being held in an arena, built outside the city; it would take them an hour to get there by carriage, and the road to the arena was lined with stallholders from all over Latheria selling all kinds of goods. Sofia would have loved to look around at all the stalls, but her father had refused to even consider it when she had asked, adamant it was too dangerous. She insisted she could look after herself, but he hadn't listened. She had considered asking Alex, but after the other night, she doubted he would have thought it a good idea either, so she had to make do with looking out the carriage window as they trundled slowly on their way to the arena. The roads were packed with people as well, but they all moved aside for the nobles in their carriages.

She actually felt quite excited for the tournament; she had taken a look at the list of potential guards that morning with Bree, who had managed to slip away from the inn while all their guests were sleeping off hangovers. They had met briefly in the corner of the gardens, and she had hurriedly told Sofia everything she knew about each of the girls. It turned out Bree's love of gossip had come in handy, and they had been able to narrow the list down to six girls. What had seemed like an impossible task was now a lot easier.

The first of the six girls on her list was Claire Blackwood, she was known to be one of the most powerful girls in the city and would be competing in the tournament. Bree didn't know a lot about her because she tended to keep to herself and she spent most of her time training, but her father was a high ranking captain in the army and from what Bree did know she was highly respected by all her peers. Claire also had an unusual ability, she was able to create duplicates of herself, it was incredibly rare, almost unheard of. Her father had also been training since she could walk so she could handle any weapon given to her with ease, and she could even get her duplicates to use weapons. There was no doubt Claire would make an exceptional guard, but Sofia wanted to meet her first before actually making any final decisions, it wasn't just talent she wanted in her guard, she wanted what Alex had, people she could trust and who would hopefully become her closest friends. She was feeling very optimistic, but still, she didn't want to get her hopes up too high, she had to be realistic as well.

The next name on her list was Kyla Oakes, also competing in the tournament, she was one of only a few girls on the list that Sofia actually knew of. Kyla was renowned for her talent at controlling the weather and was often called out to help during storms. Sofia had heard a few stories at the Stone Inn over the past couple of years. Bree also said she had a large family, with lots of brother and sisters and they were quite poor, so they relied a lot on Kyla to bring in extra income.

Georgia Tyson was up next. She was a popular girl from the city and came from a very respectable family, her mother was one of the most popular dressmakers in the city. Georgia was a healer, so she wasn't competing in the tournament, but from what Bree had heard, she was quite talented. Georgia was also one of her mother's picks which automatically made Sofia hesitant, but Bree insisted they should add her to the list.

Megan, the fourth name, was a wild child according to Bree, but in public, she was very well respected. She was a very powerful telekinetic and was definitely in the running to win the tournament.

Taylor Prescott, the fourth girl, worked at the palace, Sofia had met her a few times as she worked and trained with the horses, her ability was with animals although neither Bree or herself knew exactly what she could do. Her family lived on a farm on the outskirts of the city, so Bree didn't know a lot about her, but she had always been friendly the times Sofia had met her. She also wasn't entered in the tournament so Sofia wasn't sure yet how she was going to decide if she would make a suitable guard.

The last two girls on the list were Stephanie and Daniella, both would be competing and were considerably powerful. Stephanie was a shapeshifter and could change into a multitude of different birds while Daniella was telekinetic like Megan, although not as powerful. However, she could also emit telekinetic blasts which was unusual.

All of the girls were around Sofia's age, Georgia was the eldest at eighteen while Kyla was the youngest at sixteen. Being a Queen's Guard was considered to be a great honor so most of the girls competing would see the tournament as an opportunity to show the Queen and Sofia what they had to offer. Although Sofia was allowed to choose her own guard, the Queen had the final say so if she deemed a girl unworthy, Sofia wouldn't be allowed to choose her, which was why the Queen had given her a list. Although there was always the possibility that the Queen had missed a potential guard as there would be people from all over Arandale competing, Sofia wanted to keep her options open, just in case. Most towns in Arandale had training grounds of sorts, and it wasn't unheard of for a guard to be picked from outside the city. Queen Juliet herself had chosen a guard from a town that was nobody had ever heard of. The Queen had also talked to her about the importance of having guards with a variety of abilities, so she had to take that into consideration as well.

She suddenly heard a cheer from outside the carriage and looked out the window to see a group of performers had set up a small stage along the road and were doing tricks for the people passing by. She quickly reached over and pulled Lucy to her side of the carriage so she could see the performers, Lucy's face lit up immediately, and she started bouncing up and down in her seat in excitement.

"Please, can we stop for a look," Lucy begged.

"Don't worry Lucy there will be plenty of performers at the tournament." She said quickly before her mother could say anything.

"Really?" she asked excitedly while their mother frowned at them.

"Yes, in between the matches, the King has organized some of the best performers from all over Arandale to entertain the crowd. It will be a lot of fun." She promised, gently pushing her sister back to her own side before their mother told her off.

They finally arrived at the arena, and she couldn't believe just how large it was. The whole arena was built in a circle with areas underneath setup for competitors to prepare and on one side there was a large square building connected to the arena just for the nobles. It was filled with tables of food and seating areas so they could mingle during breaks in the tournament. During the actual tournament, the noble families had their own boxes set up so they could watch the tournament in comfort rather than sit in the stands like everyone else.

Sofia had spent a very long morning with the Queen figuring out where each noble families box should be, trying to keep feuding families apart while also deciding who would be closest to the King's box. It was exhausting work trying not to upset the nobles, they took offense at everything.

While the nobles had their boxes, everyone else in the city would have to fight for a good seat in the stands, she had heard from the servants that people had been lining up for days, mostly the families of competitors who didn't want to miss seeing their loved ones compete.

They descended from the carriage and were greeted by Blake and Lex.

"We are here to take you to the Kings box, my Lady," Lex said formally to her mother.

"Of course," she replied with a smug smile. Her mother had been so happy when they had been invited to sit in the King's box, she had bragged to anyone who would listen.

Blake and Lex turned and strode ahead without another word, and Sofia hurried to catch up to them while her mother was distracted by the wrinkles in her dress from sitting in the carriage.

"So... how are Cole and Jack? I bet they're nervous." She whispered.

"No, they're fine," Blake replied chuckling.

"Oh come on, give me something. The whole city has bet on Cole to win. He must be nervous. Perhaps I should go and see him, them, just to wish them luck."

Lex grinned, "you just want to make Cole squirm."

She snorted, "well yes it would be nice. He's always so cocky and sure of himself it would be nice to take him down a peg or two."

"Sofia!" Her mother hissed from behind them, Blake and Lex both smothered laughs.

"In trouble again." Blake teased quietly while she slowed to walk beside her mother.

"They are guards! you shouldn't be talking with them." Her mother hissed.

"They are the Prince's Guards mother, and we were just talking about Cole and Jack. They are competing today remember?"

But her mother wasn't listening; she had just seen Lady Hallewell and was heading towards her, smiling smugly. They stopped multiple times to greet other nobles so that she could brag to them about their seats before, but eventually, they reached the King's box.

Blake and Lee took their places beside Hayden at the back of the box along with the King's Guards, Blake stood only a few feet from his father and again she couldn't help but notice how similar they looked.

They greeted the King and Queen before Sofia took her place beside Alex while her mother and sisters sat behind them along with a few councilmen, their wives, and the King's sister - Coles mother, Lady Elaine. Cole's father had died during battle when he was young.

She leaned over to Alex. "So I heard the whole city has bet on Cole to win."

"Where did you hear that from," Alex asked raising an eyebrow.

The King overheard and leaned over. She didn't realize he had been listening.

"Yes, I would quite like to know myself?" He enquired.

She smiled slyly, "Oh I could never reveal my sources."

She heard he mother's small gasp from behind her, but the King just chuckled, "well, of course, Cole is going to win he has the Dalton blood running through his veins."

She saw Lady Elaine frowning out of the corner of her eye.

"He has been training day and night, wearing himself thin. He's already putting a lot of pressure on himself, so he doesn't need you adding to that." Lady Elaine chastised her brother.

"Now Elaine a guard have won every tournament for the last century, they need to keep the tradition going, and as only two guards are competing this year, the pressure is already greater," The King said glaring at his son.

"Cole and Jack will both do well," Alex replied smoothly glaring back at his father.

Luckily the Queen distracted the King before he could reply, Sofia was surprised as she hadn't ever heard Alex argue with his father before. In previous years, most, if not all of the King's Guards had competed in the tournament. Now that Alex's guards were old enough they would be competing instead but she had assumed the King had agreed with Alex's decision to only have two guards competing, but it didn't sound like it.

Alex suddenly turned to her, "so have you chosen your Guards yet?" he asked.

She glared at him, "no and I wish everyone would stop rushing me."

He grinned, "well I heard Lauren Owens is telling everyone she has already been chosen."

She stared him aghast, "why on earth would she think that?"

"Well, I think you mother may have said something...."

She hissed fuming, "I can't believe her."

He chuckled, "don't worry I wouldn't let your mother force you to choose Lauren even if she was the last competitor standing,"

She smiled, "Well that's good to know."

"You would probably end up trying to killing each other, and I'm not sure you would win," he continued, "then I would have to find a new Queen."

She bristled, "how could you possibly think Lauren would beat me!" She exclaimed, and he started laughing harder.

"Argh, you're so annoying. I can't believe I have to marry you," Sofia complained, but she couldn't help but laugh as well, it felt good to fight, it was like how they used to be as kids.

"Here, let me help, show me your list," he said holding out his hand.

She pulled it out as discreetly as possible, their hands brushed as he took it from her, she wondered if his hand tingled like hers did.

He looked it over, nodding his head, "they all look like good choices," he said, indicating to the names she had circled, "how did you find out all this information about them?" He asked, referring to Bree's notes beside each one.

She just shrugged with a sly smile.

"Fine, don't tell me," Alex said smiling, "well now you just have to narrow it down to four."

"I know, I'm hoping the tournament will help."

"It will I'm sure, you know what Mal always says, you can tell a lot about a person by the way they conduct themselves in a fight."

They turned their attention back to the arena as trumpet sounded, announcing the arrival of the competitors. A tray of drinks appeared floating in front of her, Alex reached out and grabbed a glass of wine, so she did as well, ignoring the weight of her father's glare behind her.

All the competitors then started to enter the arena while the King stood to make his speech to start of the tournament. Sofia didn't pay much attention as she was too focused on all of the competitors. They entered through two huge doors on the opposite end of the arena. Cole and Jack led the competitors, walking in unison and looking very focused. Claire was behind them, her face expressionless. Kyla was a bit further back, and she looked uncomfortable with all the attention. Sofia also hadn't realized how small Kyla was, most other competitors towered over her. She noticed a lot of the competitors had chosen to wear very flamboyant and impractical outfits, she wasn't sure what they were thinking.

Walking next to Kyla was someone she wasn't surprised to see, Parker Farley, smiling and waving, he seemed to be a favorite among the crowd, she guessed it was mainly because of his looks. He had been in the running to be one of Alex's Guards but had been knocked out at the last minute by Jack, who hadn't even been in the running. He would probably be out to prove himself now.

Jack was an orphan, nobody knew where he had come from, he had just shown up at the palace gates one day. The guards had noticed him and thought he was lost, he had only been a couple of years old and didn't remember where he came from, the palace had taken him in, and a couple of the servants had taken care of him and raised him.

When Alex was choosing his guards a lot of boys had shown up to try out, Jack happened to be helping out that day when one of the boys had lost control of his ability and almost killed Alex, Jack had stopped him and saved Alex's life. Jack could barely remember how he had done it, but Mal had seen something in him and so had Alex.

Everyone had been shocked by the decision as Parker's father was one of the King's Guards and it was well known Parker's father had been training him since he could walk to be a guard. Parker had hated Jack ever since.

Parker was still one of the most sought-after bachelors in Arandale though but as far as she knew he had never spent more than a couple of nights in one girl's bed. Lately, he had been notably absent from the last few palace events, he was obviously taking this tournament seriously, perhaps he saw it as a way to redeem himself, she thought.

The competitors made their way around the edges of the arena before stopping directly in front of the King's box. They bowed their heads and waited as the High Priestess along with Olivia stepped out into the arena. The High Priestess raised her hands, and everyone bowed their heads as she blessed the arena and all the competitors. Finally, the prayer ended, and the King stood up.

"Let the tournament begin!" he bellowed.

# CHAPTER 12

The crowd cheered, and the competitors left the arena to prepare while Mal entered along with two other captains, who would be overseeing the tournament and ensuring nobody was hurt. Mal started shouting instructions to the people around him, and barriers began appearing around the arena to protect the crowd.

The tournament would be held over four days, on the first day the arena would be split into five sections for ten competitors to compete in at a time, one on one. The first two days worked on a points system to determine who went through to the final two days. Her governess had explained it all to her, but she hadn't paid a lot of attention as she was still frustrated about not being allowed to compete. But at the end of each day, all of the competitors who had made it through to the next day would be announced. The first day would narrow the competition down to thirty-two competitors, then the second day would narrow it down to just eight. Those eight competitors were considered almost royalty, the best of the best. The third day would reveal the final two competitors, and that match would be held on the fourth and final day. Then there would be the awards ceremony and yet another party.

Weapons were also optional in the tournament, depending on the competitor's ability, some would need them while others wouldn't. All competitors had a shield of sorts placed around them, weapons could still cut but not enough to cause serious damage.

The morning passed by quickly, Cole and Jack breezed through their rounds, beating their competitors easily; although she could tell they were both holding back, not ready to reveal all their power yet. All the girls on her list made it through the morning as well, she hadn't been able to see all of their matches, but during the breaks, a couple of the performers had come out and, using smoke, drew the winners names in the air for everyone to see.

There was plenty of entertainment in between matches as well, Lucy especially loved the acrobats soaring above the crowds while doing flips and spins. She could hear her gasps and squeals of excitement along with their mother shushing her.

There were a few surprises during the first round of matches, so there were a few heated discussions and money changing hands during the breaks.

The afternoon was much the same, apart from an alarming moment when one of the competitors accidentally set fire to a section of the arena. The crowd starting panicking and trying to get to the exits, luckily Cole, who was nearby, put it out with a wave of his hand while still fighting his own opponent. The crowd cheered, and the girls in the stands swooned.

Sofia must have made a sound of disgust because Alex started laughing at her.

"He's just having fun."

"I wish I could be out there having fun," she said with a sigh, she looked around at the boxes near them and noticed that most of the ladies she could see were sitting at the back of the box chatting or looking bored, while the lords stood at the front shouting and cheering competitors on. Apparently, she wasn't the only one who would rather be somewhere else.

During the next break a large group of performers entered the arena led by a tall man with a long beard, he stepped onto a small stage set up in the center of the arena while the others spread out around him in a circle facing the crowd. She had seen him before at plays held in the palace, he was the narrator, and the others were the actors. He spoke in a loud booming voice that carried to all corners of the arena, and the crowd went quiet in anticipation.

"Today we tell you a story, perhaps the most important one in all of Latheria. It is a dark tale, full of dark people. The people of nightmares but these people were real, they lived a long time ago, and they were like us, in the beginning, born to everyday families, some on farms, others in cities,"

The narrator turned slowly as he spoke, addressing everyone in the crowd. The actors around him all moved about, some tending to fields of crops that had appeared out of nowhere while others walked through streets and markets stalls that had suddenly risen from the ground.

"But there was something inside them, something dark, hiding, just waiting to be released. It started out quite simply. A small boy of only ten was working in the fields one day when he came across a bird."

Everyone eyes turned to the small boy as he knelt in the dirt and gently picked up a small black crow.

"The bird was injured, it was barely breathing, and there were no healers nearby. The boy remembered when he was much younger when one of their horses was injured, his father had said that there was nothing to be done but to put it out of its misery. So without a second thought...."

A loud crack echoed around the arena.

"The boy broke its neck, and in that one single moment, he opened up something inside of him, a gap, just large enough to feel the pull of the darkness, the power of the darkness and it craved more, more death. So he gave it more."

The boy walked from the fields to the horses grazing nearby, the crowd watched silently as the horses fell one by one, blood dripping from their necks. Sofia felt sick but couldn't turn away. The boy walked into his house, his eyes cold and dark, his parents turned to him with smiles on their faces, and then the house suddenly vanished along with the people inside of it.

"A mother, who had just given birth to a beautiful baby girl."

They turned to another scene, this time a woman sat in a rocking chair with a baby in her arms.

"But the baby wouldn't stop crying, it was sick."

The baby's cries filled the arena.

"The mother thought to end her child's suffering."

The baby's cries were cut short, and the scene vanished just like the first.

"Freeing the darkness within her."

The narrator turns to his right.

"An old man, poor and living on the streets."

The next scene was dark as if it were night time. An old man wandered the streets alone, suddenly he was attacked, they fought, and the attacker was knocked backward, he hit his head on the ground, blood pooled out from the wound. The old man stood over him silently.

"Freeing the darkness within him... But the more death they caused, the more they craved, it was never enough. The boy moved on from his small farm to towns nearby, people began disappearing, rumors started of a dark creature roaming the streets at night."

There were multiple scenes in front of them now continually changing, showing the boy roaming the countryside, people and animals dropping dead in his wake, the woman moving silently through the streets of the city, people crying and falling to the ground behind her.

"But the old man was smart, he refused to give in to the craving, for there was something he wanted more... power, he had lived on the streets his whole life, at the mercy of others; he wanted to be the one in control. He had heard the rumors of others like him, so he set out to find them. He traveled all across Latheria, finding others like himself and so the cult began, by the time the rumors reached the royal families it was almost too late. The cult had grown to a terrifying number; they roamed the countryside of Darnu, killing as they went."

The crowd was transfixed as they watched a group of people moving from village to village, houses burned and bodies lay motionless as they passed.

"The King of Darnu sent out his army, five thousand soldiers, all slaughtered. The King sent urgent messengers to the other countries of Latheria, begging for help. They all sent their best fighters."

A great battle appeared before them. Plains filled with soldiers, marching towards a small group of people standing in a circle, she watched as they too were slaughtered and heard the terrifying sounds of laughter coming from the cult members and the boy from the farm covered in blood.

Sofia knew it was an illusion, but it was terrifying just the same. The scene changed to a group of royals all gathered together in a large tent, arguing loudly. One voice rang out above the others.

"I have an idea." A small woman in a long robe spoke as she stepped into the tent.

''It was a historian from Eliador that spoke." The narrator continued. "She had heard rumors of the cult and had spent months scouring the books in her library for a solution. But it came not from history, but from a story her grandfather used to tell her. A story of a wolf that had been banished from its pack and from the woods it called home. The wolf had been banished using magic performed by a group of humans. It had given her an idea, it was clear now that the cult could not be stopped, but perhaps they too could be banished. If they combined all of their magic together, using the ancient language. The ancient language had been long forgotten by most, only the royals families still had that knowledge, and so they worked together through the night, and the next day one member of each royal family gathered together to create the most powerful act of magic ever seen, the great banishing."

The battle scene appeared again, and the same small group stood together in the middle of the plains, only this time bodies littered the ground around them. The royals approached the group chanting, and a great shimmering wall of light appeared and drove the cult into the dark woods, the light surrounded the whole woods, trapping the banished inside.

The crowd erupted into applause but Sofia just felt sick to her stomach, she forced a smile and applauded politely. She looked over to see the King frowning. She knew that a lot of it had been dramatized but it was still a terrifying story, not particularly suitable for children, she thought, she hoped Lucy hadn't been scared by it.

There had been many stories over the years about the banishing, but no-one actually knew the whole story of what had happened that day, all the royals who had performed it had died while doing so, the power had been too great for their bodies to endure. There had been few witnesses, and they had all been too far away, they had seen the barrier appear and drive the cult into the woods but when they had gotten closer there was no trace of the royal family members, they had vanished as if into thin air.

So they had declared the cult banished, forever trapped in the barrier that now surrounded the entire woods, they believed the royals had sacrificed their lives to create the barrier, word spread throughout Latheria and people celebrated the sacrifices of the royals. Until, over time, they forgot, only remembering at times like this. Her grandfather had always been skeptical of the stories though. He didn't trust them, never believe something you haven't seen with your own eyes Sofia, he used to say to her, there are always two sides to every story.

# CHAPTER 13

Sofia was glad when the day was over. It had been exciting at times, but it had also been a lot of sitting and smiling, and she had grown restless. She had watched the girls on her list closely and wasn't surprised they all made it through the day fairly easily.

Kyla, she noticed, never hesitated, she was always sure of herself and her abilities, even with a gigantic bull charging at her. Sofia envied her confidence. The King was even impressed and had mentioned to Sofia she would make an excellent Queen's Guard. She just hoped her mother hadn't heard his comment or she would badger Sofia about it until she gave in and chose Kyla.

Claire was also doing well. Her opponents were constantly having trouble getting around her duplicates. She used them as a shield around her only stepping out to deliver the finishing blow. She was not as openly confident as Kyla, more calculating, always considering before she acted which Sofia thought could make her a valuable Guard.

Megan, on the other hand, was trouble, without a doubt, she briefly wondered how she had even made it onto the list until a couple of matches in, and they saw just how powerful she was. She ended up dropping a mountain of bricks down on her poor opponent, probably breaking a lot of bones in the process. The sheer number wasn't even the most impressive part it was the fact that there were no bricks in the arena. Mal wasn't very happy and had given her a warning, but Meghan hadn't seemed at all worried, she was too busy waving and bowing to the crowd, she was enjoying this too much. Yet the very idea that choosing her would infuriate her mother meant Sofia was reluctant to rule her out just yet.

Stephanie seemed to be struggling the most out of all the girls. She was undoubtedly impressive in her eagle form, but she was a little slow to shift, and once her fellow competitors figured that out, they were always quick to make the first move. Her matches were only getting harder and harder.

Daniella was doing well, although not as powerful as Megan, she could hold her own in a fight, although, unlike Megan, she appeared hesitant to actually hurt anyone and that had almost cost her the match more than once. Sofia wasn't sure if either Stephanie or Daniella would make it to the end of the second day.

She had also seen one of the sailors from the Stone Inn compete, the dark-haired man, and to her delight, he was knocked out easily. He had been on the other side of the arena, but she had caught the end of the fight.

Cole and Jack had both made it through, to nobody's surprise, although Lady Elaine seemed to find the whole thing too much and spent most of Cole's matches with her hands covering her face. Lucy couldn't stop talking about Cole as they made their way back to the carriages, she had always had a crush on him, just like everyone else it seemed. Sofia sighed and leaned her head back on the seat of the carriage, she was surprised at how tired she was, seeing as she hadn't really done anything. Lucy continued to chatter on, and she felt her eyes drift shut.

Sofia was jolted awake as the carriage came to a stop at the palace gates, they passed through, and she stretched her neck from side to side trying to loosen the muscles. It had been a long day of sitting, and she felt stiff all over, she would have loved to go down to the training grounds, but as soon as they arrived at the palace, their mother rushed them back to their rooms to get ready for the party that night. Sofia was already exhausted just thinking about it, and she would have to go through this every night until the tournament was over. Lucy had already passed out in the carriage on the way home and had been sent straight to bed.

As with the previous night, she stayed by Alex's side most of the night making conversation with the other ladies, but when there was a break in conversation, she took the moment to pull him aside and ask him something that had been bothering her.

"What was that with your father? Before the tournament started."

"Oh that, it's nothing" he replied shaking his head, she nudged him, and he reluctantly continued. "Father wanted all of my guards to enter the tournament, as a show of strength."

"And you disagreed."

"Yes, I don't think it's wise to let everyone know what my guard's abilities are and Mal agreed, needless to say, Father wasn't happy."

Sofia thought Alex was being smart, it was rumored that other countries sent spies to the tournament, but even if that wasn't true, it was still a good idea for Alex to keep at least some of his guard's abilities quiet. She knew Bordonia, in particular, were very secretive about their own abilities and were very strict when ambassadors were visiting. They were at peace at the moment, but their relationship with Bordonia had never really recovered from the last war, Mal often spoke of growing tensions between the two countries, and after what Alex had said about recent skirmishes, surely it was better for them to be a bit more cautious.

And it also made sense, choosing Cole and Jack to compete, everybody already knew Cole's abilities, he had trained with all the other nobles as children, and none of them could keep a secret, and Jack, well after the incident when he was younger, his abilities were hardly a secret either. As for the others, she didn't think a lot of people knew much about their abilities, Sofia only knew because she trained with them and she had been told by Mal when she started she was not to talk about their training with anyone.

As for the Kings guards, none of their abilities were a secret. She had overheard her father talking and knew he thought the King should be more cautious at times. Perhaps this was one of those times.

"It's just a tournament, why does everyone care so much," Sofia asked, suddenly frustrated, "I mean, I understand why someone from a poor family would care but for the nobles, it's just the prestige, the honor of being declared the best in Arandale, there are much bigger matters to worry about."

"Yes, there are." He agreed to her surprise before they were interrupted by yet another Lord congratulating Alex on his Guards performances. Why they were congratulating Alex and not Cole and Jack she did not understand.

Although Cole had been notably absent for most of the night, Elizabeth Sutton had been all over Cole the moment he had arrived, no surprises there. Cole had had a sour look on his face as Elizabeth flirted with him, luckily Blake came to his rescue, and he had disappeared after that.

All of Alex's Guards were at the party, although Hayden, Lee, and Jack generally avoided parties if they could, they were all forced to be there during the tournament. Blake normally liked to attend anyway so he could flirt with the noble ladies as did Cole if he was in the mood. Jack, however, hated parties and had spent the entire night hiding in corners, brooding. But still, plenty of girls fawned over him, whispering behind their hands and sending him longing looks but none were game enough to approach.

She excused herself to get some food, the party was not a sit-down dinner, and she had barely eaten all day, so she was starving, unfortunately, as soon as she stepped away from Alex, she was immediately accosted by the Hallewells'. She almost groaned out loud in frustration.

"So, who do you think is going to win Sofia?" Chelsea asked, taking her arm.

Before she could respond though Rachel jumped in. "Of course it's going to be Cole, nobody else stands a chance, in fact, we should congratulate him on his performance today."

"Yes, you should! He is right over there." Sofia said indicating to Cole where he stood not far away, talking to Lord Richmond.

"But we wouldn't want to leave you on your own," Chelsea replied.

"I'm sure I'll survive." She muttered under her breath.

"Then again," Janet added, "Parker did look very impressive out there," she looked over at him smiling, he caught her looking and winked. She blushed.

"Honestly Janet, he wasn't good enough to make a guard how could he possibly win?" Chelsea chastised, she had her back to Parker and didn't see him approaching.

He bristled. "Don't worry Chelsea, I have something up my sleeve."

"My Lady." He said turning to Sofia and, ignoring the others, he reached out and took her hand, kissing the back of it, she tried not to squirm. "I'll make your Prince regret not choosing me as a guard."

"Oh, I doubt it." She replied smoothly, and he frowned, he still had a hold of her hand and squeezed it tighter.

"I wouldn't be so sure." He replied narrowing his eyes.

She saw Hayden approaching from the corner of her eye and Parker suddenly let go and stepped back as if nothing had happened.

"Have a good night, Princess." He said quietly, looking at her intently before walking away.

There was a tense silence which was broken by Chelsea, "see Janet, he's clearly unhinged. The humiliation of failing to become a guard has made him delusional, you should stay away from him."

Sofia couldn't help but agree with her, there was definitely something off about Parker, he was never that serious.

Hayden arrived at her side, "My Lady, the Prince has asked for you."

"Of course, thank you." She said excusing herself and following Hayden, to her surprise, he led her over to the tables of food set up against the back wall.

He smiled. "I thought you would be hungry."

"Starving more like it." She said through a mouthful of bread. "How did you know?"

"You're always hungry." He said grinning.

She just laughed and grabbed a plate, piling it with food.

"So what was that with Parker?" He asked frowning.

"No idea, " she said honestly "but I think Jack needs to watch his back over the next couple of days. Parker has definitely not gotten over being beaten by him for the guard position." She said shoveling food into her mouth, very unladylike but it was only a matter of time before her mother found her, so she had to be quick.

"I'm not surprised, I'll let him know," Hayden said, he looked concerned.

"Oh and keep an eye out for my mother," Sofia added glancing around.

He grinned. "Don't worry she's talking to the Queen, that should keep her distracted for a while."

The party finally ended after a lot more dancing and an uncomfortable conversation with the Queen and her mother regarding her guards. Her mother acted as if Sofia wasn't there, happily telling the Queen the guards Sofia would be choosing.

"Of course, it will all depend on the outcome of the tournament, we can't very well have guards who can't even make it past the second day," her mother said chuckling.

"Of course," the Queen agreed, watching Sofia closely while Sofia tried hard to keep her expression neutral. She was furious, but she did not want to have an argument with her mother in the middle of a party, especially in front of the Queen.

"Although perhaps we have to make an exception with the girl, Megan, she seems hardly suited to the role, she has such a temper on her, I don't think she would be a wise choice," her mother continued.

"No, I don't think so either. Sofia, what is your opinion on the matter?" The Queen asked.

She groaned inwardly but spoke calmly, "well, I would hate to judge prematurely, I think we should wait and see what happens over the next couple of days before deciding anything."

Her mother glared daggers at her, but she refused to meet her eye. Luckily they were interrupted by the musicians' who were just starting to play, and she spent the rest of the night being twirled around the dance floor, just like the previous night she barely had a moment's rest and her feet soon began to ache.

It was close to midnight by the time she was able to escape the suffocating dress she had been forced to wear. Exhausted she collapsed into her bed, burrowing underneath her covers wishing she didn't have to get up and do it all over again the next day.

# CHAPTER 14

The second day of the tournament turned out to be far more interesting than the first. During one of the first matches of the day Cole had almost been knocked out by a city man who had the unusual ability to grow vines from his fingers and toes, it had caught everyone by surprise, how he had managed to keep it a secret for that long was impressive. They had been sparring with swords when all of a sudden the vines just appeared at Cole's feet, wrapping around his ankles and pulling him to the ground, holding him in place while the man rained blows down upon him, it happened so fast Cole hadn't even seen it coming, and neither had anyone else. Cole just barely managed to stay conscious enough to use his fire magic to burn the vines around him, causing the man to jump back into a sinkhole that Cole opened up behind him.

She knew Cole would be furious that he underestimated his opponent. Sofia was surprised, Cole would have never made that mistake during training, perhaps he was more nervous than she had thought. Although losing one match wouldn't mean he was knocked out of the tournament it would still affect his scores and wouldn't look good for Alex.

The biggest surprise of the day, however, happened outside of the arena. During the morning break, she saw out of the corner of her eye a small, blonde haired girl poke her head into the room, judging from her clothes Sofia assumed she wasn't a noble but she looked vaguely familiar, and she wondered if the girl was a competitor. She watched her curiously, then suddenly she was gone, Sofia startled, looking around for the girl and noticed a blur of movement at a nearby table where food seemed to be disappearing but she was so fast nobody else seemed to notice her. Sofia was impressed and kept watching, the blur stopped for a second materializing back into the girl as she grabbed a glass of wine, she looked up and caught Sofia's eye and, to her surprise, winked before disappearing back into a blur again. Sofia almost laughed out loud, she couldn't wait to find out who this girl was and she kept a close eye out for her during the afternoon's matches.

It turned out she had one of the last matches of the day, by then the crowd was getting rowdy, and a lot of the men were drunk. She was also up against a popular man from the city, well, Sofia assumed so, judging by the cheers that went up when he was announced.

The girl was fast, incredibly fast and although Sofia had been expecting it, she was still as amazed as everyone else. She darted in and out so quickly it was hard to keep track of where she was, and she was making her opponent look like a fool as he scrambled to defend himself. The crowd was going crazy. Sofia had never seen anyone move that fast before.

The King whistled, impressed. "Who is that girl?"

Blake's father answered, never taking his eyes off the match, "her name is Alyssa, I believe she is from a small seaside village up the coast."

"Where did she learn to fight like that, surely not in a small village," Alex asked leaning forward in his seat.

"You would be surprised at how many soldiers and guards chose to retire in a small village," the King replied.

Alex looked surprised then suddenly frowned, Sofia suspected he was probably considering how Alyssa would affect Cole and Jack's chances. Alyssa finally finished off her opponent after a couple of well-placed blows.

Parker's match was the last of the day, and it did not take long. He was clearly determined to win, and the match soon got out of control. Parker took his opponent down within the first couple of minutes but didn't stop there. He slammed the poor boy's head into the ground knocking him unconscious and then continued to hit him repeatedly over and over, blood pouring out of the boy's nose. Mal and a handful of guards rushed to the boy's aid, yelling at Parker to stop but he didn't listen. Mal motioned to one of the guards, and two long ropes appeared from the guard's hands and wrapped themselves around Parker, pulling him off. The crowd was deathly silent as healers rushed in to take care of the boy. The King rose to his feet and stormed out of the box, yelling at his Guards to follow, Alex was close behind him. Performers rushed into the arena to distract the crowd from what had just happened. Sofia turned around to check on Lucy, she looked pale and frightened and was gripping Evelyn's hand tightly.

"Don't worry Lucy," Sofia said quietly leaning towards her, "the healers will take care of him."

"He didn't look very well," she insisted sniffling.

"He will be fine," her mother hissed, "dry your tears, Lucy, you're much too old to be crying."

The others in the box were whispering amongst themselves now, but the Queen remained stoic, focused on the performers. Sofia turned back to the front, following her lead. Parker would have to be punished for his actions surely, she thought. A long time ago the tournament had once been a battle to the death however now the rules were very strict.

She had trouble focusing on the performers in front of her, and she shifted uncomfortably in her dress, it was a warm day, and the dress was far too tight. A couple of fans levitated in front of her, which gave her a slight reprieve from the heat. She had now lost any excitement she had for the tournament and was ready for it all to be over. After what seemed like forever Alex eventually came back to the box. However, he looked, if possible, even angrier than when he had left.

"What is it?" she whispered.

"They're still letting him compete." He said furiously.

"What?" She hissed, outraged.

"Parker's father convinced my father that Parker had just been caught up in the moment and it wouldn't happen again. I can't believe he trusts his guards' opinion over his son's."

"That is ridiculous, he could have killed that boy!" she protested.

"Yes, I know," he snapped, "but it's not my decision."

Sofia sat back, still fuming. "What did Mal have to say about it?"

"He was furious. Obviously, you should have seen his face. He looked like he was going to strangle Parker, but even he couldn't change my father's mind."

Alex sat silent for a moment before he turned to her, looking worried. "He's up against Jack tomorrow."

"Don't worry, Mal won't let anything happen, he'll keep a close eye on him." She said, trying to reassure him.

Before Alex could respond the King arrived back, followed by his guards, he immediately stepped up to the front of the box, and the performers all stopped and turned towards him, causing the crowd to do the same.

"I would like to apologise for the events you just witnessed, the contestant has been reprimanded for his actions and has assured me it will not happen again," the King spoke in a calming voice, "however, tomorrow two of my own Guards will be present during every fight to ensure nothing like this happens again."

The King didn't wait around to hear the crowds response, he left as quickly as he had arrived with the Queen followed close behind. A few in the crowd booed as the King left but the performers were quick to distract the crowd and soon they were cheering again before the results of the day were revealed.

Cole, Jack, Claire, and Kyla had all made it through to the third day. Stephanie and Daniella, as Sofia had suspected, hadn't made it through that day. It didn't necessarily knock them out of the running, although she guessed in her mother's eyes it would but being a Queen's guard wasn't just about physically protecting the Queen.

Megan also hadn't made it through to the third day, which was probably a good thing, she was incredibly powerful, but like her mother had said, she had a temper, and she had let it get the better of her, and she made mistakes. After she lost her second match, she stormed out of the arena yelling at the guards escorting her.

Sofia stood up to leave with her family, but Alex grabbed her arm and pulled her back.

"I'm going to go and check in on Cole and Jack, do you want to join me?"

"Yes I would love to," she replied immediately, she was curious to see what was underneath the arena and also she was secretly hoping she might run into Alyssa, she was incredibly curious to meet the girl now. She quickly informed her mother and followed Alex through the crowd of nobles leaving their boxes, they were stopped often, but eventually, they made it to the competitor's preparation area. Alex spotted Cole and headed over, but she was distracted by the sight of all the wounded competitors. They were all gathered in one area, and she was surprised at how serious some of their injuries looked, the injured competitors were rushed out of the arena as soon as the match was over, so she hadn't taken much notice, but apparently, the tournament was more brutal than she had thought.

She was about to follow Alex when she noticed a tall, slim girl weaving her way through the competitors and clearly she wasn't the only one. Heads turned as she walked, it was impossible not to notice her, she was certainly pretty, but it was the bright smile on her face that seemed to captivate everyone she directed it to.

"That's Georgia Tyson," Hayden spoke quietly from behind her.

She startled slightly, she hadn't realized he was there.

"Of course it is," she said with a snort, "is she really as nice as people say?" she questioned suspiciously.

Hayden chuckled, "actually yes, not only is she loved by everyone she meets but she also heals the poor for free in her spare time."

Sofia groaned under her breath, "she wouldn't last a day at court."

"I wouldn't be so sure," Hayden replied with a smile. "Come on, I'll introduce you."

"Wait, you know her?" she asked, hurrying after him.

Georgia looked up when she heard them approaching and gave Hayden a huge grin before rushing over and throwing her arms around him. Sofia stared at them surprised. Apparently, they knew each other quite well. Hayden pulled back and turned to Sofia, "Lady Sofia, I would like to introduce you to Georgia Tyson." She was surprised at how happy Hayden looked, normally he was so serious.

Georgia curtsied to her, still smiling, "your highness, it's such an honor to finally meet you, I have heard so much about you, all nice things, of course, I love your dress, by the way, you always wear such lovely dresses! How are you enjoying the tournament? It's such a perfect day for it, don't you think." She gushed, all in one breath. Sofia watched her, amused, she wasn't sure which question to answer first.

"Ahh, thank you, yes, I am enjoying the tournament. How do you two know each other?" She questioned gesturing to her and Hayden.

"Oh, we actually grew up on the same street, before Hayden moved to the palace of course, now we only see him when he has a break, which isn't as often as his parents would like but of course it's such an honor to be a guard, they are just so proud of him," she looked at Hayden affectionately.

Hayden just laughed, "yes, and every time I visit, you talk my ear off."

She smiled sheepishly, "well someone has to do the talking," she teased.

"Yes, Hayden is a man of few words." Blake interrupted, winking at Georgia, she hadn't noticed him wander over, but she shouldn't be surprised, Blake always showed up when there was a pretty girl around.

"You know I actually hurt my arm the other day in training, would you have a look at it for me?" Blake added, he couldn't help himself, he was such a flirt.

Sofia rolled her eyes, "your arm is fine Blake, in case you hadn't noticed there are others who are actually in a lot of pain," she said indicating to those around them.

Georgia started, "oh yes, I should get back to work, it was lovely meeting you, your highness."

She winced, "I wish people would stop calling me that." She muttered after Georgia had rushed off to help a contestant.

"Well, you should get used to it, it won't be long before everyone is calling you that, your highness." Blake teased.

"Argh don't remind me," she groaned.

They found Cole and Jack and left the arena. Unfortunately, they hadn't seen Kyla or Claire at all, but at least she had been able to meet Grace. It was only as they were leaving that Sofia realized there were no carriages, they had all ridden there on horses. Sofia looked down at her dress, knowing it was going to get filthy, "oh well, I'll just tell mother it was your fault," she said to Alex with a smirk as she strode to his horse, Rain, and hoisted herself up.

"Well hurry up, or I'll leave without you," she said patting the horse's neck. Alex pulled himself up behind her and grabbed the reins from her hand.

"I'd like to see that, what would your mother think, I wonder if word got out you had ridden a horse back to the palace on your own?"

She laughed quietly but didn't reply as she was suddenly distracted by his arms around her. She had never been this close to Alex in a long time. She could feel his breath on the back of her neck, and she felt a shiver down her spine. She tried to ignore it as they rode, joining in on the guard's conversation.

As they rode, she noticed there were still some stalls set up along the road back to the palace so quickly, before Alex could stop her, Sofia slide from the horse, ignoring his cursing. Unfortunately, Jack dismounted in front of her, catching her arm before she could go any further.

"Come on Jack, just a quick look," she pleaded, smiling sweetly.

He raised an eyebrow, "don't bother, that doesn't work on me," he said dryly.

She rolled her eyes and turned quickly when she heard Alex dismount behind her, but before she could even open her mouth, he spoke, "be quick."

She laughed with delight and ran to the nearest stall before he could change his mind, Jack and Alex close behind her, the others chose to stay on their horses until Blake noticed a couple of the stall holders daughters hovering nearby and dismounted with a wink at the others.

Sofia turned her attention to the items in front of her, trying to take it all in, she had never seen so many beautiful things all at once, handmade jewelry, tapestries, woodwork, it almost made her wish she hadn't stopped as she didn't have any coins to buy anything. The stallholders were all incredibly excited and didn't seem to mind that they didn't buy anything, they were just happy to meet the prince.

They reached the last stall full of beautiful handmade jewelry, and the stallholders wife couldn't stop babbling excitedly to Alex. Sofia was immediately drawn to a beautiful necklace, she picked it up carefully, it had a delicate gold chain with tiny diamonds hanging from it like little droplets and in the middle was a sparkling sapphire.

She put the necklace back carefully with dismay, but to her surprise Alex reached out and grabbed the necklace, asking the woman how much it cost. Sofia stood back, slightly stunned, she hadn't expected Alex to buy it for her, he had given her gifts over the years but she suspected the Queen picked them out, this felt a lot more personal. He turned to her and carefully placed the necklace around her neck, she couldn't help but wonder if it was her imagination that his hands seemed to linger, she thanked him quietly before they went back to the others.

They rode back through the city joking and laughing, Sofia couldn't stop glancing down at the necklace she wore, smiling. As they entered the city people came out to watch them as they wound their way through the streets, all of them cheering for Cole and Jack. The guards instinctively spread out around Sofia and Alex, but people were more interested in Cole and Jack. Jack seemed uncomfortable with all the attention and even Cole, while he waved and smiled at them, wasn't his usual self. They arrived back at the palace and found Olivia waiting for them, tapping her foot impatiently.

"We need to talk," she said to Alex, ignoring the others.

Alex immediately jumped down and strode after her, leaving Jack to help Sofia down from his horse. Lex and Hayden rushed to follow Alex, leaving the others to deal with the horses.

She could barely hide her hurt expression at being dismissed so easily.

"I'm sure it must be important," Jack said quietly.

"It always is," she said bitterly, she quickly turned away from him and focused on Rain. She led her back to the stables where a couple of stable hands were waiting for them, she wasn't surprised to see Taylor Prescott was with them. Because of her ability, Taylor was highly regarded by the stable master and was in charge of the royal family and their guards' horses.

"It must be nice getting to work with the horses every day," Sofia commented when they had settled Rain in her stall.

"Yes it is, my Lady, honestly I prefer them over people most days," Taylor said jokingly.

"I know exactly how you feel," Sofia replied with a laugh as she studied Taylor and wondered what type of guard she would be. "I wish I could just stay here all night instead of going to the party."

"Yes, I definitely don't envy you that."

The way she said it made her wonder if Taylor would even want to be her guard, it would mean a lot less time with animals and a lot more time surrounded by nobles.

She hesitated before suddenly deciding to just ask. Taylor seemed surprised at her question.

"Honestly I had no idea I was even in the running, but it's not the type of offer I could say no too," she replied hesitantly.

She seemed to choose her words carefully, and Sofia wondered what she meant by that. For the first time, she wondered if any of girls on her list even wanted to be her guard, she had just assumed they would, but perhaps she was wrong.

Blake soon came over to flirt with Taylor, and to Sofia's surprise, she flirted back. She had met Taylor a few times but she was usually so serious and focused on the animals, it was nice to see a lighter side of her. Sofia led Rain into his stall and ran a brush over her back, enjoying the peacefulness of the stables.

# CHAPTER 15

Her peace was soon disturbed by Evelyn, who their mother had sent to fetch her. She seemed happier than usual and chattered the whole way back to their rooms, apparently, the Queen has decided the party that night should be to celebrate all those that had made it through the tournament so far, because of that those competitors and their families had all been invited to attend. The nobles were predictably entirely against the idea of being forced to mingle with commoners. Their mother included. Evelyn told her in great detail their mother's reaction, and Sofia was soon in hysterics over her impression. They had been getting on well lately, and it was a nice change, she hoped it would stay that way but she worried it wouldn't, they were just too different.

They reached their rooms and were greeted by a handful of servants, their mother was too busy complaining about the Queen's decision to question where Sofia had been, and she was thankful for that.

Secretly, Sofia was also happy about the Queen's decision. Hopefully, this would mean she would have a chance to actually meet Claire and Kyla and possibly Alyssa. She hadn't seen any of them in the competitors' area under the arena, although she wondered now if they had a separate area for the women.

"I can't believe the King allowed it to happen," her mother grumbled, "it is ridiculous and embarrassing. What are they even going to wear? Do they know there will be a dress code, they can't just turn up in anything."

"I'm sure they are aware, Mother, and what is so bad about meeting the competitors and having a conversation with them?"

"What could we possibly talk about?" she said aghast.

"I don't know!... The weather?" Sofia replied sarcastically as she pulled her necklace out from under the neckline of her dress.

Her mother looked horrified at the thought before noticing the necklace.

"Where in heaven's did you get that?"

Sofia's hesitated before reluctantly telling her, she knew she would make a big deal about it.

"Well I expect it will be the first of many." her mother said smugly, fiddling with the necklace until it sat perfectly.

"Sofia it's time to go." Her father strode through the door, interrupting them, he was escorting her to the dinner as she would be arriving with the royal family. He didn't say a word the entire way, Sofia wasn't sure if that was good or bad, needless to say, she was relieved when they arrived at the small room off the side of the ballroom where the royal family waited to be announced.

She heard voices as they arrived and entered the room to find the King busy arguing with two council members. The Queen motioned for her to take a seat and she did so quickly, curious to find out what was happening.

"It is the middle of the tournament; surely we can discuss this another time." Councilman Atherton was saying, he was one of the oldest councilman, a grey-haired man with little patience. She had heard Alex complain about him often, he refused to listen to anything Alex said, treating him like he was still a child.

Better a child then nothing at all Sofia had thought, at least Alex was allowed to attend Council Meetings, the Queen had never been invited and neither would Sofia when she was Queen. Well not entirely, she thought. When she was younger she had found a way into the ceiling above the council chambers, she had thought it would be so exciting to hear what went on in the meetings, in reality, it was not, and she just became frustrated at the way they fought over everything. They made so little progress, all too busy with their own agenda to worry about what was happening in the city. So she had stopped listening in, there didn't seem any point, there wasn't anything she could do anyway, nobody would ever listen to what she had to say.

She studied the Queen for a second and wondered briefly how she felt about it, but she was just as impassive as ever, she never let her expression give anything away.

"I'm sorry your Majesty but I believe that this matter is getting out of hand, we need to investigate as soon as possible." Councilman Whitby insisted, he looked nervous, he was the youngest and most inexperienced member of the council, but he wasn't backing down, and she admired his resolve.

"It's not just isolated to a few villages; it is happening in villages all along the edge of the dark woods. If this is some kind of disease, then we need to act right away, with all the people traveling here for the tournament we could have put the whole of Arandale at risk."

"Have there been any outbreaks near the city?" Alex asked, he at least seemed to be concerned; the King looked far more interested in the contents of this glass.

"Not that we are aware of, but we don't know how long it takes for people to present symptoms, it may be too soon to tell."

"People have been arriving for months now, surely if it was a disease we would have seen evidence of it here by now," the King questioned.

Councilman Atherton looked smug, "Exactly what I have been saying your Majesty, there is no reason to bother the King during the tournament. We have enough to deal with at the moment with all the nobles under the same roof, besides this is all just rumors and we know the villagers who live near the dark woods are prone to exaggeration, all those tales of strange noises and lights. I would hardly say this is cause for concern. We can decide what to do after the tournament."

The King nodded his agreement while Councilman Whitby looked increasingly frustrated. It was clear the King had a tendency to listen to the older, more experienced Councilman more but she didn't think Councilman Whitby would have bothered the King like this if he didn't think it was important.

Alex frowned and spoke again, "well even so, perhaps it would still be a good idea to send someone to investigate, surely it can't hurt."

"and who are we going to send?" Councilman Atherton questioned Alex condescendingly, and Alex glared at him.

Councilman Whitby started to speak again but was interrupted by the King.

"Councilman Whitby, I'm sure it's nothing to worry about, but we will discuss this at our next meeting." The King said, clapping him on the back. "Relax, have a drink, enjoy the evening, we will handle it all after the tournament is over."

Councilman Whitby looked upset but left the room without protest, Alex was clearly annoyed while Councilman Atherton smiled smugly. The King held out his hand to the Queen, and they exited the room while Sofia followed behind with Alex.

Dinner was quiet, Alex was distracted and didn't talk much. She wondered briefly what Olivia had had to say earlier, but she was still annoyed with Alex and didn't ask. Instead, she watched the competitors, they had all been fully healed and had obviously dressed up for the evening but it in no way compared to the noble's attire, sparkling with gems and crystals, who had been planning their outfits for the last year. She could see the Hallewells' snickering behind their hands.

She noticed Cole kept his eyes firmly on his plate, avoiding conversation with those around him. He had been unusually quiet on the ride back to the palace as well, and she wondered if he was still worrying over his mistake that morning.

"Is Cole alright?" she asked Alex, forgetting that she was still mad at him.

"I'm not sure, " he admitted with a sour face, "I think he's putting too much pressure on himself."

"Well at least it's almost over," she muttered.

The dinner ended, and everyone got up to mingle, Alex and Sofia spent some time talking with the other nobles before Sofia noticed Claire standing on her own holding a drink, she didn't appear to know what to do with herself. Sofia thought her father would be with her, but she couldn't see him anywhere. She said something quietly to Alex, and they excused themselves before walking over to her, Claire seemed surprised when she noticed them approaching, but she greeted them politely.

"You've been doing well in the tournament, your father must be proud," Alex commented.

"Thank you, your Highness, I just hope to do well tomorrow," she replied and Sofia noticed that she had avoided the subject of her father which only made Sofia even more curious but she stopped herself from asking where he was, Claire seemed uncomfortable enough, she didn't want to make it worse.

They only managed to get a few more words from her before they moved on, Claire wasn't at all talkative, a stark difference between her and Grace, but maybe that was a good thing, she thought, they would balance each other out. They were both currently her two top choices for guards. They were smart and talented and so far she couldn't find any reason not to choose them.

She spotted Kyla not far away and quickly pulled Alex towards her, she was eager to meet her and Alyssa as well, although she hadn't seen Alyssa at all since dinner, she hoped she hadn't left already.

"You are very talented, I'm curious to know who trained you," Sofia asked Kyla after they had exchanged greetings.

"Thank you," Kyla started to say before she was interrupted by Kyla's mother. Well, she assumed it was her mother, they looked so much alike.

"Kyla has had many teachers over the years, she is very dedicated. She has already been approached by two Lords offering jobs." her mother gushed beside her. She was even smaller than Kyla, but she didn't lack confidence.

"Really, that is great news," Alex commented sincerely.

"Yes, her family is very proud of her, she has done well. We knew, even at a young age that she had great talent and she would go on to do great things one day."

"and she has, making it this far is a tremendous achievement," Alex replied.

"Of course your Highness and tomorrow she will do even better," she smiled at Kyla, who looked uncomfortable with all the attention.

Alex jumped in quickly as Kyla's mother looked like she was going to keep talking, "I'm sure she will, we should move on, there are so many people to greet, excuse us."

"Well that was interesting," Alex said to her quietly as they walked away and Sofia nodded in agreement.

The met a few more competitors, although unfortunately, Alyssa wasn't among them, so Sofia excused herself to use the bathroom. She walked into the room to find a young noble girl in hysterics over a tear in her dress while her servant tried frantically to fix it. She quietly backed out of the room before they saw her and stopped a nearby servant, asking her to get someone to help the girl. The palace had plenty of servants who could fix it easily.

Unfortunately, as she made her way to another bathroom further away, she almost ran straight into Olivia, who was walking with Councilman Atherton. She greeted them politely before hurrying on, she did not want to be drawn into a conversation with either of them. She entered another bathroom and was surprised to find it wasn't empty. Jennifer jumped back from the sink in shock when Sofia entered the room.

"What you doing back here?" Sofia asked.

"Hiding," Jennifer replied honestly, surprising Sofia, "what about you?"

"Someone is having a meltdown in the other bathroom. What are you hiding from?

"My future, as you are probably aware, I'm not exactly thrilled at my mother's choice of husband or having a husband at all."

"Oh, what do you want?" Sofia asked curiously.

"I want to be an ambassador, I want to travel to other countries, but the best I can probably hope for is to be an ambassadors' wife, although that's unlikely as my mother would see that as marrying down." She finished bitterly, she suddenly straightened and shrugged, "I guess neither of us is going to get what we want."

She left abruptly without waiting for a reply. Sofia stared at the door as it closed behind Jennifer, surprised by the conversation, she had had no idea Jennifer felt that way about marriage. Had she not been paying attention or was Jennifer as good at pretending as she was she wondered. Although she couldn't be as good at pretending as she thought as Jennifer had obviously seen through her facade.

Finally on the way back from the bathroom she found the person she had been most wanting to meet. Alyssa Lindsay was standing alone in a corner, eyes darting around observing everyone.

"My Lady," she said acknowledging Sofia with a nod of her head when she approached her, apart from that she didn't move from her position, casually leaning against the wall, she didn't seem at all bothered by the fact she was in a room with the Royal family. All of the other competitors they had met that night had been nervous or uncomfortable or both.

"Please, call me Sofia."

Alyssa just nodded, watching Sofia expectantly.

"You were very impressive today. Where did you earn to fight like that?" She asked, curious to find out more about the girl.

"Well, it's quite a long story actually."

"I have time," she said, "of course if you don't feel comfortable telling me that fine." She added uncertainly.

"No, I don't mind," Alyssa said with a shrug, "Well, the village I come from is by the sea, so sailors often wind up washed up on our beaches. The rocks are very dangerous, and it can be difficult for ships to navigate around them."

"Why hasn't anyone done anything about it?" Sofia interrupted concerned. "Surely sailors they know to give the area a wide berth."

"Yes but some choose to take the risk anyway if they are behind schedule."

"Oh,"

"Anyway, our village is quite used to opening its doors to injured sailors. Usually, they only stay a couple of days, weeks at most but when I was younger my mother took in a sailor who was very badly injured and allowed him to stay with us for as long as he needed while he recovered. About a year after he washed up on our beach there was a nasty storm that hit our village, a couple of villagers lost their lives, my mother was one of them. The sailor stayed and looked after me until I was old enough to take care of myself, he also happened to be a highly trained swordsman, and he taught me everything he knew."

She spoke so calmly of her mother's death, but Sofia guessed she had gotten used to putting on a brave face, she would have had to to survive on her own. She was tough, exactly the type of person Sofia needed as a guard.

"That wasn't that long of a story," Sofia commented, not sure what else to say.

"No, I guess not," Alyssa replied chuckling.

"Have you chosen your guard yet?" Alyssa suddenly asked.

"No, I'm still deciding."

"I heard you have a list of acceptable girls you have to choose from," Alyssa said watching her closely.

"You might also have heard I'm not great at doing what I'm told." She replied with a smile.

Alyssa smiled back, "We are very alike in that way."

She wished Alyssa good luck for the rest of the tournament and left, meeting her had only made Sofia like her more, but there was no way her parents would approve of Alyssa as a guard, and she wasn't sure if the Queen would either.

Unfortunately, she didn't have time to come up with a plan, she was pulled into a conversation with Rebecca Hallewell. Chelsea, was busy flirting with Lord Sutton and Rebecca seemed lost without her twin, Sofia actually felt a little sorry for her. Rebecca had always been the nicer of the two, and she had always followed Chelsea's lead. She noticed Rebecca had been glancing at Jack, who was leaning against a wall nearby, while they talked. She had always suspected Rebecca had a crush on him. Sofia quickly made an excuse to leave, and once Rebecca's attention was on someone else, she sidled over to Jack, nudging him in the side.

"You know it doesn't look good on Alex, you sulking in a corner all night, looking bored."

"I am bored."

She rolled her eyes.

"Well I think you should ask Rebecca to dance," she said, inclining her head to where Rebecca stood chatting to a couple of girls, "who knows maybe you will even have fun," she added, although she doubted it.

"with Rebecca?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

Sofia laughed and shrugged, "she's actually not that bad, without her sister." she added.

Jack gave a long exaggerated sigh before he slowly pushed himself away from the wall and approached Rebecca. Sofia smiled at the look of joy on Rebecca's face when Jack asked her to dance.

She had hoped after she had done that good deed she might be able to hide away for the rest of the night but it wasn't long before someone found her and she was dragged out onto the dance floor as well, her feet were still aching from the last couple of nights. She wondered if she started stepping on the Lord's feet they would stop asking her to dance.

A particularly handsy Lord was thankfully interrupted by Cole before she did something she would regret or her father would make her regret.

She breathed a sigh of relief, "Thank you, do you think we could go outside for a minute, I need some air."

"Is all this dancing too much? Mal would be disappointed in your lack of stamina." Cole chastised.

"You try dancing in these shoes!" she glowered.

He looked her down at her feet, "right, never mind," he led her through the crowd to the balcony closest to them. On the way they passed Chelsea dancing with Lord Hunter, he looked uncomfortable. Poor man, she thought. Finally, they reached the balcony, there was a cool breeze blowing, and she took a deep breath, exhaling with a sigh as she leaned on the ledge looking out over the gardens to the city beyond, she wasn't surprised to see the entire city was lit up.

"It looks like we aren't the only ones partying," Cole remarked.

"I wish I could join them," she muttered.

"Really? You look like you're having a great time," he said sarcastically.

"What about you? Normally you would enjoy flirting with all the noble daughters." She teased.

He didn't crack a smile but rather rubbed his hands together nervously. He was silent for a while before he finally spoke, "Did you know my father won the tournament twice?"

"Oh, no I didn't." She replied in surprise, Cole rarely spoke of his father. It was strange seeing him vulnerable, but he must be under a lot of pressure to live up to his father's image she thought.

"It must be hard," she said softly.

"Not as hard as growing up without a father."

"I'm sorry Cole," she said sincerely, "but for what it's worth, I don't think you should worry. I will deny it if anyone asks but I think you are an incredible fighter and your father would be proud."

He gave her a rare smile before saying, "don't worry, no-one would believe you said it anyway."

They stood in comfortable silence for a couple of minutes before she reluctantly left Cole and went back into the party before her mother came looking for her.

It wasn't long before her mother found her though and tried to convince her to distract Chelsea so Evelyn could dance with Lord Sutton. Evelyn looked surprisingly unhappy with the whole thing, but it wasn't long before Chelsea was whisked away from Lord Sutton by another young Lord and their mother quickly pushed her into Lord Sutton's line of sight. She watched on as Lord Sutton lead Evelyn onto the dance floor while Chelsea glared at her, completely ignoring the poor boy she was dancing with. It would be interesting to see how that turned out, she thought.

# CHAPTER 16

The party finally ended, and Sofia was even more frustrated, meeting her possible guards hadn't helped as much as she had hoped, she felt like she needed to know more before she could make a decision.

Luckily, the final competitors had all been given a room at the palace so they could rest up for the last day. It would be the perfect opportunity to do some spying, she thought, however, she knew she wouldn't get far with Alex's Guards watching her, but she was hoping they might help. She changed into her dark clothes and slipped out her door silently to the servant's entrance down the hall, she quickly made her way down the stairs, out the door, and down the hall, keeping an eye out for servants and guests who might still be wandering around.

"Where do you think you're going?" Hayden asked, as she turned a corner and almost ran into him. She jumped slightly in shock. Lex was just behind Hayden and was looking around trying to work out where she was.

"It's about time," she said making herself visible and putting her hands on her hips, "how far were you going to let me go?"

"Well actually, I thought we should follow you and see where you were going, but Lex insisted we stop you," Hayden replied grinning as Lex looked on in confusion.

"Well it is our job," Lex grumbled quietly.

"Come on then it's time to make yourselves useful," she said smiling.

They exchanged worried looks.

"Relax," she said grinning, "I just wanted to spy on some of the competitors."

"Ahh," Hayden said nodding in understanding.

Lex still looked confused. "But that's cheating."

"Well it's a good thing I'm not competing." she replied rolling her eyes, "I just want to check in on a couple of potential guards."

"Ohh," Lex said, finally understanding. Lex was a man of action, he wasn't good at the planning and scheming side of things, he was too kind-hearted.

"Why?" Hayden asked as he crossed his arms and leaned against the wall.

"I just want to see them as themselves." She replied evasively, she was hoping seeing them on their own in their rooms would give her some insight, some idea of who would be the best guards for her. She had always found it helpful in the past in determining what kind of person someone was.

He studied her for a minute. "Okay I'll help, Lex can wait here."

'Wait, why?" Lex asked.

"No offense, but you're not very good at being quiet," Hayden commented dryly.

Lex glared at Hayden while Sofia chuckled.

"Just wait here, we won't be too long," Sofia said.

Lex hesitated before he nodded. Sofia grabbed Hayden's hand and together they disappeared down the hallway.

"So why did you agree to help me," she asked curiously as they walked.

"Well, honestly I feel bad for you," Hayden replied. "I mean, It was different for Alex, he grew up with most of us. You should have been allowed to get to know these girls a lot sooner."

She was surprised by his kindness, Hayden didn't speak a lot so it was hard to know what he was thinking and she was beginning to realize there was a lot about him that she didn't know. That and her conversation with Cole earlier made her wonder if maybe she didn't know the other guards as well as she had thought either.

She smiled. "Thank you, Hayden."

They made their way to the competitor's rooms, ducking through secret passageways to avoid anyone out late. The servants were busy cleaning the palace so every now and then a handful of brooms would whiz past them and they had to press back against the wall to avoid the servants rushing after it. Luckily, Hayden's enhanced hearing helped a lot with that.

"So there is actually one competitor I really would like to choose, although I don't think anyone else will like that," she trailed off, uncertain.

"Of course, trust you to pick someone who wasn't on the list." Hayden teased as he nudged her smiling, she reluctantly smiled back.

"How do you know she's not on the list? I didn't even tell you her name." Sofia asked curiously.

"Because I know exactly who you're talking about and since she is not from the city or from a noble family I assumed she wouldn't be, am I wrong."

"No," she admitted. "Can I ask you your honest opinion of Alyssa?" she was curious to know what Hayden thought.

"She is an incredible fighter," Hayden replied.

"Apart from that," she said rolling her eyes.

"I don't know a lot, other than that," he said shrugging, "I haven't heard anything bad about her if that helps, unlike Meghan," he added sourly.

"Yes, she is definitely not in the running," she said darkly. According to Chelsea, after Meghan lost her match she threw a fit and destroyed a section of the competitor's area under the arena, everyone had been talking about it at the party. Her mother had made it very clear to her she should not be choosing Meghan and so had the Queen, to her frustration, they clearly didn't trust her to make her own decision. She had expected that from her mother, but she thought the Queen might have a little more faith in her.

They arrived at the competitor's rooms and snuck in, although Hayden couldn't make himself invisible, he could hear where the guards were so it was still fairly easy.

"Alright let's go to Claire first and make our way from there," he said, she was glad to have Hayden with her, it would be nice to have someone else's opinion.

Getting into the rooms would be the biggest hassle as no servants would be going in and out the door, like the Hallewells', that they could sneak through.

"It's a pity Blake isn't here, he would probably come in handy right about now," she whispered. Hayden paused for a moment concentrating on something before he suddenly broke into a grin,

"Wait here, I'll be back in a minute," he said as he turned back the way they had come. Sofia raised her eyebrows but didn't say anything. A minute later Hayden came back with Blake in tow, looking quite rumpled and pleased with himself.

"Nice night?" Sofia asked smirking.

He grinned and wrapped his arm around her shoulders.

"Oh Sofia, don't be jealous, you know you'll always be my favorite," he teased.

"Uh huh, who was the lucky girl tonight?"

"A gentleman never tells, now Hayden said you were in need of my particular skills," he said with a wink.

She rolled her eyes with a groan.

Hayden laughed, "we just need your help getting onto some balconies."

"Oh spying, does Alex know about this?"

"No," they both replied at the same time.

"In that case, I would love to help," he said grinning.

Sofia laughed as she grabbed his arm and pulled him along. With Blake's help, they were able to climb from a nearby balcony onto Claire's, lucky for them the occupant was still out.

Claire was alone in her room; neither of her parents were there, which surprised Sofia. She had expected her father to be there, giving her last-minute advice or going over her mistakes. It made her wonder if they had had a falling out.

She had to hand it to Claire though, she was very dedicated, even now she had a sword in hand and was practicing against two duplicates. She appeared to be having a hard time as if she had been doing it for a while, there was sweat dripping down her face. It must be confusing controlling two duplicates while trying to fight them at the same time, she thought, and she wondered how Claire managed it, but then again she had been training her whole life.

She looked around Claire's room, her dress was thrown over the bed, but apart from a small bag, she didn't appear to have any other belongings with her. They stayed a while longer, but it was clear Claire wasn't going to stop anytime soon.

"Well, we can always come back later," Hayden said as they climbed back to the balcony Blake was waiting on.

"I don't know if there's much point, it doesn't look like she's going to do anything but practice," Sofia replied with a sigh.

They moved onto the next room, which belonged to Kyla, her mother was with her, pacing around the room as well as a boy she assumed had to be her brother, running around making a mess although Kyla didn't seem to mind.

"You have done well so far Kyla, but you should be more careful, that girl almost knocked you out today, you let her get too close." she scolded.

Kyla nodded wringing her hands together nervously, "I know mother, I'm sorry, I'll try harder I promise but at least I have made it this far."

"Yes of course." her mother replied absently, her attention had turned to Kyla's brother who had started climbing the walls.

"And it won't matter if I don't win as long as I'm chosen to be a guard," Kyla added uncertainly.

"Kyla, the princess has hundreds of girls to choose from, if you win then she will have no choice but to choose you." her mother snapped as if they had already had this conversation.

"Of course mother, you're right," Kyla agreed quietly.

"Your father is looking after the shop on his own just so I could be here to support you," her mother continued.

"I know mother, but you told the princess that we had already had job offers, so it doesn't matter if I win does it," Kyla said although it sounded like a question.

"Of course it matters Kyla," her mother was growing increasingly agitated, "don't you want to win!"

"Well yes," she said, although it didn't sound convincing, "but I'm up against two of the Prince's Guards tomorrow who have spent their whole lives training," Kyla continued quietly. It was strange seeing Kyla so unsure of herself when in the arena she was the exact opposite.

"Yes but neither is as powerful as you," her mother stated, frowning and Sofia wondered if she really believed that, "right now you just need to focus, you should do some meditation while I put your brother to bed."

"Maybe we should go," Sofia whispered to Hayden, she felt like she was intruding but it had given her some insight into Kyla's family. They obviously put a lot of pressure on her, they shared that in common and at least she knew Kyla could perform under pressure but she wasn't sure if Kyla's family would get in the way of her guard duties, she didn't seem able to say no to her mother.

They went to Alyssa's room last only to find it empty, the balcony doors were thrown wide open but she was nowhere in sight, and there were no clothes or anything personal at all that she could see.

"I wonder what she's doing," she said, disappointed.

"Maybe the same thing we are," Hayden said with a mischievous grin.

"Really, you think so?" she asked smirking.

"Well she seems like the type, maybe that's why you like her so much."

"You're one to talk, why don't you tell me what you and Jack get up to when you disappear for days at a time!" she retorted. "Wait, why didn't you tell me her room was empty?"

He shrugged, "I thought there might still be something interesting in there."

Blake raised his eyebrows in question when they came back after only a few minutes

and she just shook her head in frustration.

"Well if you don't need me any longer, I'll just be on my way," he said grinning.

Sofia rolled her eyes again, but it made her smile.

"Thanks for your help anyway Blake."

"Of course, I've got to keep my favorite girl happy." He replied with a wink.

He strode off, whistling as he went, Hayden shook his head at her smiling. They left the competitors rooms and were just walking back down the corridor outside when they almost ran into Lex.

"Lex what are you doing here," she hissed without thinking, wincing when Lex jumped in surprise, she had forgotten they were still invisible.

"I was just coming to look for you, you've been gone a long time, what were you doing?"

"We haven't been gone that long Lex, honestly," she said shaking her head, he was so impatient.

They suddenly heard voices up ahead, and Sofia quickly grabbed Lex and Hayden, making them all invisible as she pulled them back against the wall before two people rounded the corner. Mal, she recognized straight away, but it wasn't until they got closer that she realized the other was Alyssa.

"You shouldn't be wandering the halls alone at night. If you're not careful people will think you're spying." Mal admonished, and she felt Hayden nudge her in the side.

"Competitors are restricted to this area." Mal continued.

Alyssa rolled her eyes, "I was just looking for the kitchens," she grumbled.

They reached the door leading to the competitor's rooms, and Alyssa went inside grumbling the whole time.

Mal turned around and looked right at the wall they were pressed against, "that goes for you three as well. You shouldn't be wandering the halls either."

Sofia winced and let the invisibility drop around them.

"Yes, but we aren't competing! besides what we are doing is important." She said defensively.

"Really? well, perhaps I should inform the prince."

"Really Mal." Sofia said annoyed, "I was just... gathering information about potential guards."

"And what did you find?" Mal asked.

"Nothing, really," she replied dejected, she still wasn't sure who she was going to choose.

"Well... not nothing," Hayden interjected.

"Really, what did you find out?" Lex asked curiously.

"We didn't find out anything," Sofia said glaring at Hayden.

Hayden just shrugged. "Well, what were you hoping to find?"

"I'm not sure." she admitted, "A reason to choose them or not, I guess."

"Well I'm afraid you are running out of time, this choice was never going to be easy, Sofia, trust your instincts," Mal said leading them down the hall, she reluctantly followed.

"That's easy for you to say, you have great instincts," she muttered.

"So do you, you just don't listen to them."

"Well I can't help it, I'm distracted by everyone else telling me what I should do," she said furiously.

"This isn't their decision, Sofia."

"Really? Because it doesn't seem like it!"

"Give us a minute," Mal said to Lex and Hayden, they nodded and went on ahead.

"Sofia, you will be Queen someday, and that gives you a certain amount of power. You need to learn how to use that power and stand up for yourself, make people listen to you and what you want." Mal was being surprisingly kind; it made her feel bad for taking her frustration out on him.

"But I don't know what I want," she said sadly.

"I think you do."

She lay awake that night thinking about Mal's words. She realized he was partly right, she did know what she wanted, well at least one thing, Alyssa. She also knew it would be hard to convince everyone else of that which was why she was so hesitant. But Mal was right, she needed to stand up for herself, and she wanted guards who weren't afraid, to be honest with her and question her decisions. She realized that ruled Kyla out. If she couldn't stand up to her mother how could she stand up to a queen, she thought. And if Sofia was going to stand up for herself, the first thing she needed to do was face her own parents.

She also decided that she would choose Grace. Both Hayden and Bree liked her, and she trusted both of their opinions. Although she still wasn't entirely sure about Claire, she wanted to wait and see what happened the next day, she felt good about her other two choices, she just hoped the Queen would agree with her.

# CHAPTER 17

The third morning of the tournament was dark and gloomy, perhaps she should have seen that as an omen of what was to come but she ignored it, too focused on her task. She strode into her parents sitting room full of determination, to her surprise her father was there as well, sitting in an armchair reading some papers. He was normally training at this hour of the morning and Sofia had actually been hoping to avoid him. She had planned to tell her mother first and then let her explain it to him, but it was too late to back out now. She took a deep breath steadying herself.

"I have decided to choose Alyssa Lindsay as one of my Guards." She announced then held her breath as she waited for the backlash.

Her father just frowned at her disapprovingly.

Her mother, on the other hand, scoffed. "You have to be joking Sofia, she's an orphan from a town nobody has even heard of. She is a completely unacceptable guard, and I won't hear any more about it." she turned back to her needlework, dismissing her.

Sofia gritted her teeth in frustration. "Haven't you been paying attention at all to the tournament, Alyssa is incredibly talented, and I believe she will make an excellent guard. It's my decision, and I am going to choose Alyssa."

"Don't be silly Sofia," her mother replied with a laugh, "it's the Queen's decision, and I have no doubt she will agree with me."

"Queen Juliet chose someone outside the city as one of her guards, once I explain my reasons..."

"That was completely different, the girl came from a respectable family."

"Why does that even matter? why are you always so concerned about lineage." She replied exasperatedly.

Her mother stood up from her chair and stalked towards her, she looked ready to deliver a lecture, but her father suddenly chose that moment to speak up.

"Sofia your mother is right, the girl may be talented, but we know nothing about her, the King will never allow it," her father said dismissively.

"it's not up to the King, it's my decision," she insisted, although she was starting to doubt it.

"Not normally but if you insist on pursuing this, then I will have no choice but to bring it to his attention and the Prince's." He finally looked up from his papers and glared at her with narrowed eyes, she flinched but stood her ground, her mother shifted uncomfortably between them.

"No, this is my life, it's my decision! besides I'm sure if I talk to Alex, he will support my decision."

"Do you really believe that?" he asked coldly.

She hesitated, suddenly unsure of the answer, she had been sure Alex would support her but now trapped under her father's gaze she was starting to have doubts.

Her father continued, "the Prince cares more about your safety than keeping you happy."

The way he spoke made her wonder if he knew about her little excursion the other night. Her worry increased.

"But it's not up to either of them anyway," she insisted, she had been so sure of her decision when she walked in, but now her confidence was fading. Would they really not let her make this decision?

"The King always has the final say." her father replied simply before he strode out the door. Her heart sank, and she walked back out the door fuming, she ran back to her room and slammed the door in frustration. She could feel tears burning her eyes but she was still determined to talk to Alex about it, he would take her side, he had to.

It was a tradition that at the start of the third day the royal family would wish all the competitors good luck before their final matches. Sofia had been invited to join them and rode in the Queen's carriage to the arena, it was actually a relief for her to have a break from her mother after their conversation that morning. Lucy had begged to be allowed to come along, their mother had surprisingly agreed, she suspected she had grown tired of Lucy's constant chatter about Cole.

King and Prince rode on horseback alongside the carriage, waving to the people who had come out to see them while Sofia and Lucy sat in the carriage with the Queen. The Queen was silent the whole journey with suited Sofia fine anyway, she was too distracted to hold much of a conversation and Lucy was too in awe of the Queen to say anything, she sat perfectly still and silent the whole way.

Sofia couldn't stop thinking about Alyssa, if Alyssa won the tournament it would solve her problem, they would have to allow her to have Alyssa as a guard. However that would mean Cole would lose and she had begun to hope he would win, it seemed so important to him. She couldn't bring herself to ask the Queen about Alyssa, not after her disastrous attempt with her parents. She convinced herself it would be better to wait until the tournament was over.

When they arrived at the arena, they made their way to the competitors' area, and Sofia wasn't surprised to see the competitors already lined up ready to greet the royal family. The King led the way down the line, shaking hands and congratulating each competitor on making it to the third day of the tournament. The High Priestess and Olivia followed behind, bestowing the blessing of the gods on each of the competitors. She rarely saw the Queen and High Priestess in the same room together and watched them closely, curious to see if there was any tension between them, but neither acted any different. At one point she heard the King laughing and looked over to see him talking with Alyssa, she couldn't hear what they were saying, but even the Queen looked amused. She caught Alyssa rolling her eyes after the priestesses had blessed her and she frowned, she hoped nobody else had seen, it wouldn't look good for her.

Eventually, they made it back to the King's box where they took their seats.

"Are you okay?" Alex asked her, "you seem distracted."

"Yes, I just didn't sleep much last night," she replied briskly.

Alex nodded and opened his mouth to say something else but the competitors entered the arena, and he was drowned out by the roar of the crowd. Sofia briefly searched the crowd for any sign of Bree but couldn't make her out, there were too many people.

For the third day of the tournament, the King had decided to make it a little harder and more interesting for the competitors and had ordered the arena transformed into a different terrain for each match.

When they arrived at the arena, it was already set up in a forest landscape for the first match which would be between Alyssa and a young man named Nathan. Sofia was nervous. Nathan had proven to be very resourceful throughout the tournament and had a lot of people cheering for him, although there was also a lot of cheering for Alyssa, she noted happily.

The match began, and Nathan immediately started to morph into a bear, but Alyssa had anticipated this and didn't wait to attack, she flew at him fists raised but was met with a gigantic claw. She darted away barely escaping, he had changed fast, much faster than previously, he must have been holding back, Sofia thought impressed, she had never seen anyone change that quickly before. And he was still growing, larger and larger until he was twice the size of an average bear. He let out a chilling growl and leaped forward towards Alyssa, she darted around him, dodging his claws as he swiped for her.

Alyssa was smart, keeping just out of reach, Sofia guessed she was trying to wear him out, it was what she would do in that situation. However the terrain was slowing her down, no doubt the mountain like setting was better suited to a bear, but the steep slopes were causing Alyssa to slip and slide and soon she had what looked like a couple of nasty cuts on her legs. Nathan was smart as well, always aiming for her legs. If he could cause enough damage, she wouldn't be able to run.

The crowd was going frantic, screaming and cheering, she couldn't tell who they were cheering for, it was all just a roar of sound. However, the match didn't seem to be moving fast enough for Mal as he bought in a couple of weather mages who soon had a huge storm brewing and unleashed it upon the arena; shields had been set up between the stands and the arena so the storm wouldn't get to the crowd.

Nathan appeared undaunted by the weather, Alyssa, however, shivered noticeably.

Nathan launched himself at Alyssa again, but she quickly became a blur of movement, however this time, instead of attacking his body she aimed for his head, coming in from the side. Nathan couldn't turn his head quick enough to catch her before she darted away again. Nathan shook his head a couple of times, but Alyssa didn't wait for him to recover. She took another leap towards him but her foot slipped at the last second, and she fell onto her side, the crowd gasped, Sofia clenched her hands together, Nathan attached head first, sharp teeth out, aiming for her leg. At the very last second, Alyssa brought her fist back and slammed it straight into his nose. Nathan staggered back for a moment, looking dazed and Alyssa sprung on him, raining blows down upon him until he finally fell to the side unconscious.

The crowd was silent in shock for a couple of seconds before they erupted in applause. This was apparently not the way everyone had thought this match would go. She could see Lord Hallewell shaking his head in anger. Sofia had had high hopes though, Alyssa was smarter then she let on. Mal came forward to announce her as the winner and Alyssa met her eyes and smiled. It was a smile that made Sofia wonder if Alyssa really had slipped at all.

During the next break, she grabbed Alex and pulled him out into the hallway while everyone was distracted by the performers.

"I need to talk to you," she said quietly, she hoped it would be a good time to ask Alex about Alyssa after she had just won, she needed to know what his opinion was.

"Can it wait?" he asked distractedly.

"No, it's important," she took a deep breath before announcing. "I want to choose Alyssa as one of my Guard."

She had his full attention now.

"Why?" he asked surprised.

She was suddenly lost for words; she had been expecting an argument like she had that morning.

"Well... because she's an incredible fighter, she's strong and brave, and I met her at the party last night, I like her." She added simply.

"Sofia, you met her once. Don't you think you should spend more than a second thinking about it before you decide you want a complete stranger, who we know nothing about, as one of your closest guards?" he asked reasonably, "the Queen spent a lot of time putting together that list of trustworthy girls."

She hesitated, he had a point, but Mal had told her to trust her instincts, and so she was, "just because they come from good families doesn't make them trustworthy," she argued.

"Maybe not but I know the Queen has had people look into these girls extensively to make sure they are suitable."

Sofia was surprised, the Queen had never told her that. Although, it made sense now that she thought about it.

"Well, what about Hayden or Jack? Can't they find out more about her?" she asked.

He groaned in frustration, "Really?"

"Yes, please, Alex, this means a lot to me."

Hayden poked his head around the corner, surprising them both, "Sorry, I couldn't help but hear, I could ask around and find out a few things."

Alex sighed, "I guess."

She smiled, "really, thank you," she said as she quickly reached up to kiss his cheek, he looked surprised but smiled back. She mouthed thank you to Hayden as they passed him on the way to the break room.

Jack and Parker were up next, and she realized that was why Alex had been distracted before, he looked as if he was going to jump out of his seat at any second.

She remembered the conversation she had just had with the Montero's during the break and started to get nervous herself. Apparently, the boy Parker had almost beaten to death had been taunting Parker before the match about not being chosen as a guard. That was why Parker had gone crazy, she couldn't imagine what he would do to Jack, who had taken his place.

The arena for this match was set up like a desert, sand dunes covered the arena floor, and the wind was already blowing the sand around, Mal wasn't going easy on them. She didn't know if the arena setting would make it easier or harder on Parker's ability but they would soon find out. They both entered the arena with swords in their hands, Parker swung his around a couple of times, and Alex tensed beside her, even the King looked wary. She had heard rumors of Parker's impressive skill with a sword and knew this was going to be a tough match for Jack, especially if he couldn't get close enough to touch Parker and get his ability, he could block some of his opponents' abilities, but it was always a bit unreliable.

They circled each other a couple of times, the sand dunes making it harder to move. The sand under Jack's feet suddenly started to move, and he was sucked down to his ankles. Alex swore as Parker attacked. Jack brought his sword up to meet Parker's, and there was a clang of metal that echoed around the arena. Jack dropped to the side, reaching his hand up to grab Parker's arm. The sand all around them swirled into a tornado, as though it was fighting itself and Alex breathed a small sigh of relief, now that Jack had made contact, he could control Parkers ability, the match was about to get very interesting.

Parker yelled as he tried to free himself from Jack's grasp and take back control of his ability but it was too late. Parker finally broke free but a huge mass of sand pushed him flying back into one of the sand dunes, and he was immediately sucked into it. There was silence for a couple of seconds before the entire dune erupted and Parker rose from the ground on a pile of compressed sand. The sand around him swirled together to form rocks which he then threw toward Jack, who used his sword to knock the rocks aside. The sand around Jack started to press together to build a wall around him. Parker roared in frustration and flew towards Jack, he tore the wall aside only to find the space behind empty. The sand underneath Parker erupted, and Parker was knocked to the ground with Jack pointing his sword at Parker's throat. She felt Alex relax beside her as the crowd erupted again and Mal rushed forward to call the match, Sofia's father by his side. Parker flew into a rage, but Mal grabbed his arms behind his back and pushed him roughly towards her father, with one look from him Parker went limp before their eyes and allowed himself to be dragged from the arena. Jack looked towards their box and met Alex's eyes, and they both grinned.

Claire was up next, but her match wasn't nearly as exciting. She was up against Richard Hanley, he was Janet's brother and an excellent fighter, his enhanced agility helped with that, but he couldn't compete with Claire's duplicates. The terrain was a forest, and he used that to his advantage, ducking in and around the trees, swinging from the tree branches but in the end, Claire had him surrounded, and there was nothing he could do.

She looked over to his family, curious to see their reaction, his sister was crying into their mother's arms while his father sat tight-lipped next to them. She thought it was a slight overreaction, they should be proud he had made it this far.

Cole and Kyla had, by far, the longest match of the day, neither willing to give in. Kyla created a storm so fierce, Cole's fire was virtually useless, he had to rely on his earth magic, but Kyla used the wind to lift herself from the ground so Cole couldn't do anything to trap her. The crowd was on the edge of its seat. Alex as well, she had never seen him look so nervous. At one point she noticed light shining through his clenched fists and she quickly reached over to grab it, and he smiled gratefully at her. Thankfully his father hadn't noticed. She glanced behind then to see Cole's mother with her hands over her eyes. She hoped the match would end soon one way or another, for the sake of Lady Elaine, she had always been overprotective of Cole. It must have been hard raising him on her own.

Sofia turned back to focus on the match, she had to admit she was impressed by Cole's determination. The rain was so heavy, it was hard to see, and Cole was drenched through, but he was still fighting hard, throwing boulders, rocks and anything he could find at Kyla, even she was having a hard time seeing and was getting hit often. At this point, she wasn't sure if Kyla was even controlling the storm anymore. Finally, one Cole's boulders found its mark and knocked Kyla to the ground where Cole used his Earth magic to trap her in a mountain of sand. Everyone in the box breathed a sigh of relief.

She watched Kyla's reaction, she was looking nervously towards the stands, Sofia guessed her family was sitting there, but the storm was still too strong to see. She was so impressed by Kyla's ability she was almost reconsidering her as a guard. She had never seen anyone with that kind of strength before. Perhaps she was being too harsh, was it really fair to judge Kyla when she rarely stood up to her own mother? Maybe Kyla deserved a chance after all.

# CHAPTER 18

Finally, it was time for the last two matches of the day, and Claire and Jack were up first. The crowd was screaming and cheering like crazy at this point, but Claire appeared unfazed, during the tournament she had proven herself to be a calm and competent fighter. She never did anything particularly impressive for the crowd, just what was needed to be done to win the match. It would be interesting to see how she would handle herself at court.

Sofia was actually incredibly curious to see how this match would turn out. Jack and Claire had had a chance to see each other fight plenty of times during the tournament so they should have a fair idea of each other's strengths and weaknesses. She wasn't sure if Jack would be able to get a read from one of Claire's duplicates or if he would need to get to Claire to access her power. She imagined Claire would be doing everything to keep him away.

They both had weapons for this match, Jack had his usual sword meanwhile Claire had opted for two smaller swords that were slightly curved. Mal announced the start of the match, almost immediately two of Claire's duplicates appeared behind Jack, and he swung around to deflect them. Luckily, Jack and the other Guards had had training against multiple opponents. It was something Mal insisted upon, and that training was definitely coming in handy for Jack. From the matches she had seen previously, Claire's duplicates were capable fighters, but she could only make them do so much, and they often stopped moving altogether if Claire was distracted by something.

Jack fought for a while against Claire's duplicates, but neither side really seemed to have the upper hand. Alex was leaning forward concentrating, a mirror image of the King, they were both so engrossed in the match they had forgotten about everyone around them.

The sound of metal upon metal rang through the arena as their swords met again and again. Jack wasn't holding back this time, using everything he had to get close to Claire but she was standing back and using her duplicates to keep him at bay. But Jack was fighting three of them, and she wasn't sure how long he could keep that up. He would have to find a way to get close to her if he was going to stand a chance at winning. As far as she could tell, Claire's duplicates couldn't be hurt like an actual person could, it was just using her energy to control them. But Claire didn't look close to tiring so she must be able to keep going for a while.

The crowd was starting to get restless, and she noticed Mal out the corner of her eye indicating to someone, so she knew something was going to happen, she didn't quite expect what did happen though. In the blink of an eye, the entire arena floor turned to ice. The crowd gasped, but Claire and Jack were so busy concentrating on fighting they didn't notice until Claire's duplicates started slipping on the ice. Jack almost fell as well but managed to recover and began distancing himself from them.

Claire's duplicates, however, were not coping well with the slippery ice and she was forced to get rid of one. She started moving the other two towards Jack again, slowly edging them closer until one of the duplicates slipped, as it fell it tried to use its sword to stop itself. The sword plunged through the ice and a huge crack formed. Everyone froze as the ice around Claire's duplicates started to move, and Sofia suddenly realized there must actually be water under the ice. Jack and Claire must have both come to this conclusion as well as Jack was moving faster now, putting as much distance as possible between himself and the cracked ice but also, she noticed, shifting slightly in Claire's direction while she was distracted by her own duplicates. Claire seemed unsure what to do, and she hesitated before getting her duplicate to slowly remove its sword from the ice, the crowd seemed to hold its breath but no other cracks formed and they started creeping towards Jack again. However, they only made it a couple of steps before another crack echoed through the arena.

More cracks formed through the ice and Claire frowned. Sofia wondered why Claire didn't just get rid of her duplicates and create new ones away from the cracked areas but if she hadn't there must be a good reason, she thought, maybe it took too much energy to create new duplicates in comparison to just controlling them.

The ice was cracking more with every step the duplicates took, meanwhile Jack was making a loop in Claire's direction, who had yet to move, all her concentration on the duplicates. They started to move faster, ignoring the cracking completely, quickly gaining ground on Jack. Jack took a couple steps towards the duplicates and swung his sword at the ice at their feet then sprang backward again. The duplicates leaped towards him, but one slipped on the ice, it landed with a thud, and the ice cracked completely, everyone gasped as the duplicate went under the water. The cracks had spread all throughout the arena now, and the ice was incredibly unstable. Claire's last duplicate had made it to Jack, and they were sparring. After another small hesitation, Claire joined in, she was breathing hard now.

It was an incredible fight to see, there wasn't a single eye in the arena not focused on them. Claire was fighting hard, but she was struggling on the slippery surface, Jack has gained the upper hand. He managed to knock the sword out of her duplicates hand, and it disappeared, it was just Claire and Jack, and he was driving her back. Claire's feet slipped again on the ice, and Jack pressed his advantage, pushing her back towards a cracked section of ice, her foot slipped into the water, and Jack charged, ready to knock her to the ground but before he had a chance, a sword sliced up through the ice beneath him and straight through his right foot. Jack yelled in pain as he fell and Claire leaped forward with her sword to his throat.

They stared at each other, breathing hard, while the crowd sat in stunned silence. Claire had won, Mal stepped into the arena, and the crowd suddenly erupted into screams and cheers. Sofia remained seated, still stunned, she realized she hadn't really considered the possibility of Claire winning, she knew most people would not have been expecting that either. There was complete silence in the King's box. She chanced a glance at Alex, and he appeared thoughtful but he didn't look mad unlike the King, and he wasn't the only one. There was lots of muttering and shaking heads in the boxes around them; she guessed a lot of people would have lost money on that match. Still, they all stood to applaud Claire as Mal announced her as the winner and Jack limped forward to shake her hand.

She wasn't sure what losing meant for Jack. It wasn't as if it was his fault, Claire had been smart, and she had used her duplicates well. It did, however, mean that she would have no choice but to choose Claire as a guard. The King and Queen's Guards were supposed to be made up of the best fighters in Arandale and Claire had without a doubt proven herself capable of being an excellent guard.

There was barely a break before the final match started and she felt nervous again. Cole was up against Alyssa, and she honestly had no idea who would win or even who she wanted to win.

"Cole has come this far so surely no one would be disappointed if he didn't win this match." She said to Alex quietly.

Even as she was saying it she realized how ridiculous that was, the guards were supposed to be the best in Arandale. Now that Jack had lost his match against Claire, if Cole didn't win it would look bad on all of the Prince's Guards. Cole was now under even more pressure. But still, a part of her secretly hoped Alyssa would win and then they would have no choice but to let her be a Queen's Guard. The first thing her mother had said to her after Claire's win was that she would need to be her first choice as if she didn't already know that.

Alex just frowned and shook his head, but he didn't answer, he was too focused on the match. She held in a sigh, this was going to be a long match.

For this match, the entire arena was covered in grass with a few hills around the outside and a lake in the very center. Cole didn't waste any time, as soon as the match started he immediately caved in the ground at Alyssa's feet, but she was prepared as well and took off running before she could be trapped. She started doing laps of the arena and Sofia knew she was preparing to attack; Cole wasn't playing around though and threw up an impressive firewall in front of her. Alyssa frantically skidded to a stop to avoid it, and Cole threw up more firewalls around her, closing her in. He strode casually towards her, letting the crowd get worked up. Alyssa crossed her arms, amused, she appeared to be enjoying this. Cole strode through the wall of flames while stirring up a dust storm inside the ring of fire he had created; it was so thick she couldn't make out what was happening inside. The crowd screamed louder until suddenly Alyssa burst through the wall of flames, or was thrown through, it was hard to tell, but she ended up landing in the lake with a huge splash, disappearing beneath the surface. Sofia wondered briefly if she could run in water until the water started rippling and Alyssa burst out running. Sofia looked back at Cole, but the dust storm had begun to move beyond the circle of flames and the arena filled with dust. The shield around the arena protected them from the dust, but it didn't help them see what was happening inside. Soon she couldn't even see Cole or Alyssa.

Jets of flame burst out from the middle of the dust storm, shooting off in random directions and she thought Cole must be having trouble finding Alyssa as well. He could normally use his earth magic to find someone, but if Alyssa was moving too fast, it would be hard. Sofia leaned forward in her seat as she strained to see. The dust started to clear slightly, and she just caught sight of Cole, Alyssa must have as well because there was a blur of movement and then Cole was sent flying into one of the hills at the side of the arena.

She heard Cole's mother gasp behind them and had to stop herself turning around to check if she was ok. She kept her eyes glued on Cole. He was getting up slowly. He had built a wall of flames around himself to keep Alyssa at bay, but the hit had been hard, and she wasn't sure how hurt he was, he needed to end it soon, the flames and dust storm were draining his energy. He could only maintain it for so long before he collapsed. Through the dust, she could just make out the blur of Alyssa as she ran towards Cole again. At the last minute he suddenly pushed the wall of flames away from him catching Alyssa by surprise, she skidded to avoid it and while she was distracted Cole threw a massive rock at her, catching her in the stomach. She flew backward and landed on her side clutching her stomach, he surrounded her with flames again while raining rocks down upon her and the crowd roared its approval. They started chanting Cole's name as he walked through the flames again. What happened next was a blur as they fought hand to hand combat while the dust continued to swirl around them. The dust soon grew out of control and the flames made it impossible to see but then it all disappeared in the blink of an eye and Cole stood standing over Alyssa as she lay unconscious at his feet.

The crowd went wild, as did everyone in their box, the King especially was ecstatic, standing and applauding with great enthusiasm, Alex just looked relieved. She stood up to applaud as well but couldn't help but be disappointed, she felt happy for Cole, but she couldn't shake the feeling of worry that sat over her. She had pinned a lot of her hopes on Alyssa winning; she didn't know what she was going to do now.

The final match between Cole and Claire would be held the next day, along with an awards ceremony to celebrate the winners and all those who had competed. Claire and Cole were both brought out to thunderous applause from the crowd. Surprisingly neither of them were smiling; they both looked drawn and weary. It had been a long day for them, and they had fought hard. She wondered what surprises the next day would bring.

# CHAPTER 19

She sat quietly on the carriage ride back to the palace, Evelyn couldn't stop talking about Cole's victory in the last match and Sofia started to wonder if she had a crush on the prince's guard. She watched her curiously, she seemed happy and excited, chatting away with Lucy while their mother prattled on to Sofia about arrangements for the medal ceremony, what would be expected of her, all of which she already knew. For once Evelyn's was not concerned about their mother's attention, and she briefly wondered what had changed, something was different with her sister, but she couldn't work out what it was. She caught a glimpse of red through the carriage window and hastily peered out for any sign of Bree. She had scanned the crowd often during the day hoping to catch a glimpse of flaming red hair, but she hadn't seen her, she hoped she hadn't had to stay back at the Inn, she would have been so disappointed. Although she dreaded having to hear Bree gush all over Cole, she missed her friend.

The finally made it through the crowds of people lining the streets, celebrating, and she was allowed to retire to her room for a rest before the party that night. She had just flopped down onto her lounge when there was a loud knock on the door, cursing she reluctantly got up to open the door to find Alex, again, only this time he looked furious. He was also accompanied by Lee and Blake who both looked strangely uncomfortable.

"My father just spoke to me, how could you not tell me your father was going to talk to him about Alyssa," Alex said as he stormed in, not waiting for an invitation, Lee and Blake hovered in the doorway.

Her heart sank, "I didn't..." She started to say before Alex interrupted her.

"Just forget it Sofia, it's too dangerous to choose someone we know nothing about, and it's a waste of Hayden's time when you already have thirty girls to choose from."

"I thought you were on my side, you said you would help me." She snapped, dismayed.

"I am helping you!" he snapped back. "Queen Marianna will never allow it anyway, and ultimately it's up to her."

"Alex, how can you say that? you saw Alyssa fight, don't you think she deserves a chance, at least."

"No actually I don't, considering the village she grew up in, it's lucky she was even allowed to compete."

"What are you even talking about," she asked confused.

"They worship the god of the sea, Sofia, her people should not be trusted."

Of course, she thought furiously, she should have known Olivia would have an opinion, the high priestess (and Olivia) believed the god of sea was evil, and anyone who prayed to that god was dangerous and not to be trusted but even if that was true it didn't mean that Alyssa worshipped the god of sea.

Alex just didn't understand how important this was to her, it wasn't as easy as he made it seem, after all, he had grown up with his guards, they were like brothers to him. He had trained with most of them even before he chose them as his guards and he had had Cole to help him. She had grown up relatively alone in a court of backstabbing girls, and it made it hard for her to trust people, it had taken her a while before she could even fully trust someone as kind as Bree.

She had finally met a girl she liked, it was the same feeling she had when she had first met Bree. Alyssa was different, she could tell instantly, she didn't care about the politics, and she needed someone like that. Mal had told her to trust her instincts, and she was trying to, but nobody would let her. She was suddenly furious at how unfair it was. It was her life she should be able to have some say in it.

Alex stormed out the door before she could think of something to say to change his mind, it was probably useless anyway, she thought, he always sided with Olivia over her.

Her mother suddenly appeared in the hall, frowning at Sofia disapprovingly and Sofia wondered how much she had heard, "The Queen wants your choices first thing tomorrow. Of course, I told her who we had decided on, but she insisted on hearing it from you personally."

Sofia didn't reply, she couldn't come up with anything to say.

"You do remember who we decided on don't you Sofia?" her mother prodded.

She nodded numbly before she turned around and went back into her room, closing her door behind her. She pressed her ear to the door, listening carefully for the sound of her mother's door closing, after what seemed like an eternity she heard the latch click and took a few deep breaths before she made herself invisible and opened the door again. The hallway was empty, and she quickly walked as quietly as she could to the servants' entrance. She raced down the stairs and down hallways, trying to calm her breathing so no one would hear her as she rushed past. She didn't know if she wanted to cry, scream or hit something, there were too many emotions running through her but she did know one thing, she needed to get out of the palace. Now. Before she did something she would regret.

She was so distracted she wasn't paying attention to where she was going and took a wrong turn, she skidded to a halt just in time to avoid crashing into Councilman Whitby. He was talking to Lord and Lady Richmond and luckily hadn't heard her. She backed away slowly as they continued talking.

"I agree, something must be done, but you must convince the King of that, not me." Lord Richmond said quietly.

"I've tried, but until the tournament is over he won't even consider it, surely you can try, you are his oldest friend, he trusts you." Councilman Whitby pleaded.

"Maybe but I am not a council member."

"You can at least try." Lady Richmond admonished him, and he frowned.

Sofia rounded the corner and broke into a run, she was too distracted to worry about what they were talking about, to desperate to escape. She ran the rest of the way, hoping that she wouldn't run into anyone, luckily everyone she passed was too drunk to notice anything. She reached her escape and squirmed through the gap in the wall, made harder by the fact she was wearing a dress.

As soon as her feet hit the city streets she ran as fast as she could, not caring about the people she bumped into along the way, they were all too drunk to notice anyway. The streets were still filled with people celebrating, the excitement was no longer infectious but rather claustrophobic, it was too much, it felt like the walls were closing in on her, trapping her. So she kept running, pushing through the crowds of people until she reached the gates to the city, they were still open, allowing the last stragglers from the tournament into the city. She didn't stop to consider the consequences, she was past caring, no one stopped her as she ran through the gates and no one chased behind her as she kept running, leaving the city far behind her. Her breath was coming in gasps, and her dress was filthy and tangled around her legs when she finally collapsed to her knees.

Shaking, she sat there rocking back and forth until she could breathe normally again.

She had never had many choices in her life, she hated it, but she learned to accept it and now the one choice she was supposed to have had been taken away from her. She felt, not for the first time, completely alone and helpless.

She had often dreamt about another life, she thought about that now, running away, far away, to another country, or joining a circus, there were a few that traveled throughout Latheria, she could see the whole country or travel across the sea, where nobody would ever find her.

Lucy's face popped into her mind, and she started crying as she realized it would never be possible. She could never leave her sister, and even if she could somehow take Lucy with her, she had nowhere to go, no money, she wouldn't get far before she was found.

She could go to her grandfather's but it would probably be the first place they looked, and it would likely cause him trouble if he was found helping her. She couldn't do that to him. She suddenly remembered the letter her grandfather had sent her, she hadn't had time to read it, so much had been happening but she had kept it with her always, and she pulled it out and opened it carefully. Now more than ever she needed her grandfather's guidance, but she would have to settle for his letter.

Dearest Sofia,

I hope you are well, I know your birthday is approaching, and I can't quite believe how fast you have grown. It seemed just yesterday I was carrying you around on my shoulders. Try not to worry, the future will be what it will be. I truly believe you will make an incredible queen, you are strong and kind-hearted, don't let the anyone take that away from you. (she suspected he was talking about her parents) I miss our time together, but I don't want you to worry about me. I have a household full of people to take care of me and a stable full of horses to keep me occupied. Take care of your sisters and yourself. Just remember that I love you and I am here for you always.

She read the letter multiple times, as her eyes filled with tears, she missed him so much. She clung to the letter, it smelt like the horses he spent so much time with.

Her grandfather had always had a gift with horses. For a time he had trained all the royal guards' horses before he had moved to his estate in the country. She suspected he had grown tired of the politics, just as she was. But it didn't matter, she had responsibilities, and she had no choice but to accept that, she thought, sitting up and taking a deep breath. She looked around her and suddenly realized how close she was to the edge of the dark woods, she had come further than she had realized.

People said the banishing had left a dark hue over the entire forest which was why it was now called the dark woods, before that it had had a different name, but no-one used it anymore. She studied it now; it looked just like a normal forest to her. Until something moved in the bushes.

# CHAPTER 20

"Sofia," a voice came from the bushes, she gasped, she hadn't heard that voice in years.

"Ella?" she whispered, questioningly.

She stared wide-eyed as a small girl stepped out from the trees, skin the color of caramel with bright blue eyes, it had been so long, she couldn't believe it was actually her. The last time she had seen Ella they had been just children, but she still remembered the day they met like it was yesterday, it had been a cool spring day when Sofia and Evelyn were playing in the gardens of her grandfather's estate. Her grandfather had managed to distract their mother long enough for them to sneak out. Sofia had slipped and fallen down a crevice between some rocks and Evelyn had run for help. She was alone, scared and in pain when Ella's face had appeared above her, the ground suddenly shook beneath her and slowly pushed her to the top of the crevice. She had just stared in shock at the girl who had just rescued her when she heard her mother yelling her name from not far away, Ella put her finger to her lips in a silent plea before disappearing into the gardens. She hadn't said a word to anyone even though she wasn't sure why she needed to keep it a secret. She had never seen the girl at all during any of their visits and was curious as to where she had come from. Her young mind had come up with various mysterious reasons over the next couple of days, she searched the gardens but couldn't find the girl anywhere. She went back to that spot every opportunity she had, finally, just as she was about to give up, Ella suddenly appeared again.

They spent a lot of time together over the next couple of years; every chance she could get Sofia would sneak down to the gardens to see Ella. They had to keep it quiet though, from her mother as well as Ella's, who didn't like her straying too far from home. Ella was unlike any other person Sofia had met and her first real friend. She was free and open in a way that Sofia envied, she didn't care about her appearance or getting her clothes dirty, she loved being outside and exploring just as much as Sofia, and most importantly, she didn't care that Sofia was the future Queen.

Sofia rushed forward to hug her friend, and Ella held her tightly for a minute before she took a step back.

Ella's smiled at her, "I missed you."

"I missed you too," she replied earnestly "I'm sorry I didn't get a chance to say goodbye, my father and grandfather had a fight, that's why we haven't been visiting the last couple of years."

It was years later, and she still didn't know what their fight had been about; her father had just dragged them all into carriages late one night. He had been furious and hadn't even let them say goodbye to their grandfather. She had sat huddled with her sisters in the carriage, tears streaming silently down her face wondering what had happened.

"Wait, what are you doing here?" She asked as she suddenly realized how far away from home Ella was. "Are you here for the tournament?"

"Yes, of course,' Ella said quickly, then she grinned, "I was hoping to find you, I want to show you something." She suddenly grabbed Sofia's hand and started pulling her along.

"Well, that sounds incredibly mysterious!" Ella had always been that way, dragging Sofia along on her adventures. Unfortunately, they weren't children anymore, and as much as she hated it, she had responsibilities.

"But I'm sorry Ella, I wish I could but I have to get back. I've already been gone too long. I'm sure people are starting to worry." She tensed at the thought of facing her parents, she should have been on her way to the party by now.

"Really Sof, come on, you need some fun in your life." Ella teased. "It won't take long."

Then Ella suddenly tensed and dropped her hand, looking at something behind Sofia, she turned quickly and caught a flash of steel before Parker jumped out from behind a group of trees a hundred feet from her.

"Well, what do we have here?" He said, casually striding towards her.

"What are you doing here?" She asked uneasily.

"I could ask you the same question; it's not safe for you to be out here all on your own, princess."

"But I'm not.." She started to say as she looked behind her confused but Ella had suddenly disappeared.

"There's no one here, princess."

She turned back to Parker, suddenly anxious, and found him a lot closer than she thought, she stepped back instinctively trying to put more distance between them.

"You're right, I really shouldn't be out here, it's getting late. I should get back to the palace."

He laughed at that, a chilling sound, shaking his head. Sofia took another step back, towards the woods.

"Oh I don't think so, now that I have you here, I want to have a little fun." He looked her up and down, greedily, "I'm going to make your prince regret not choosing me." His fists clenched by his sides. She could almost feel the anger coming off of him.

"Parker is that really what this is all about? You're still so bitter after all these years? I'm sorry you didn't get to be a guard, but it was years ago, you need to move on. You just made it to the third day of the tournament, I'm sure there are plenty of opportunities out there for you now." She reasoned.

"I should have been the one chosen," he suddenly exploded, "not the orphan. You can't imagine what it was like for me after he took my spot. My father was so angry; he would barely look at me!" He started pacing, "and now after losing the tournament, I can't go back. I've disgraced the family," he finished bitterly.

There was a long pause as Sofia struggled to think of something to say to calm him down. She felt a little sorry for him, but mostly she was worried about what he was going to do next and why Ella had suddenly disappeared. Parker's expression suddenly changed as he looked up at her, "but it doesn't mean I can't have a little fun before I go!" He smirked.

"You will only disgrace your family even more." She said stiffening as she realized she was just a tool to cause Alex as much pain as possible for what he did to Parker all those years ago. She could only imagine what he had planned.

He grinned, "only if they find out and I don't plan on letting that happen."

"Chelsea was right, you really are mad," Sofia whispered, before making herself invisible but he was ready for that, he immediately turned the ground underneath her feet to quicksand, trapping her. He grabbed for her, caught some of her hair in his hands and used that to drag her towards him.

She hissed in pain but managed to land a punch to his jaw. He ignored it and grabbed her arm as well, she fought back hard, but he didn't seem to care about the pain, he was too focused on getting what he wanted.

He dragged her kicking and screaming halfway out of the quicksand, leaving her feet trapped so she couldn't fight properly. He pulled out a knife, and she grabbed his wrist, twisting it so that he dropped the knife. He scrambled for it while she frantically clawed at the sand holding her feet.

She saw him grab the knife before she saw something out the corner of her eye. She turned frantically hoping it was someone coming to help, only to see a huge black panther coming right towards them, she screamed in shock.

She heard Parker swear behind her before the panther, to her surprise, skirted around her and pounced on him. She felt the quicksand around her feet loosen and hastily pulled free, scrambling to her feet. A hand reached down to help her, and she looked up to see it was Ella, she grabbed her by the arm and started pulling her towards the woods.

"Quick, we have to get out of here."

Sofia ran as fast as she could, her heart beating fast. The ground shook under them, and they both scrambled to keep their feet. She heard growling behind them, but she didn't dare look back. They made it to the edge of the woods, and Ella pulled her behind a tree, whispering for her to be quiet. Sofia peeked out from behind the tree to see Parker bleeding hard from a number of cuts and scratches but he was now angrier than ever, and huge cracks were opening up in the ground around him as he tried to catch the panther that was running back towards them.

Sofia opened her mouth to scream again, but Ella clamped her hand over her mouth as the panther disappeared into the trees not far from them. Parker was looking around frantically, and she realized he was trying to find her. When he couldn't see her, he let out a huge scream of rage and started running back towards the palace, no doubt thinking she had gone that way. He didn't know that she was in the woods, she thought relieved.

She froze and gasped as she actually realized, for the first, where they were and the danger they were in, she hadn't even noticed that they had passed through the barrier, she could see the faint outline just in front of her. How was that even possible? Nobody could pass through the barrier? Or so she had thought.

"Ella, we have to get out of here" she whispered peering around, expecting the banished to jump out and attack them at any minute, either that or the panther.

"Sofia, it's ok."

She turned to Ella, who didn't look at all worried.

"Ella, we shouldn't be here, it shouldn't even be possible."

"Well, actually the ancient spell cast only stops people from getting out of the woods, not in," Ella replied nonchalantly.

"How do you even know that?" She exclaimed.

"Because... I've been in these woods before," Ella said with a sigh. "It's perfectly safe Sofia, I promise," she added when Sofia didn't look convinced.

She stood, shocked as she tried to process everything that was happening. Ella was watching her closely. She trusted Ella, but everything she had said went against everything she had been taught, it just didn't make sense.

"I know this must be hard to believe with everything you have been taught about the dark woods, but I would never have brought you here if you were in any danger. Besides I did just save your life."

Right, she had almost forgotten about Parker. She peered back around the tree to make sure he actually was gone, momentarily distracted from worrying about the banished.

"Thank you," she whispered turning back around to hug Ella, still peering around nervously.

"Who was that Sofia and why was he trying to hurt you? Ella questioned, concerned.

"He has a grudge against Alex, and he was going to take it out on me."

"Oh, maybe your life isn't as easy as I thought," Ella replied after a pause.

"You thought my life was easy?"

"Well I just thought, you have all those servants and that big castle with all the food and luxuries you could ever need. It doesn't exactly sound hard."

She laughed, "yeah I guess not. I should get back though and warn everyone. Parker is clearly more dangerous than anyone realized."

"Look Sofia, it's too dangerous to go back now, it's getting dark, and he could find you before you make it to the city, please just come with me. I really do need to show you something, and by the time we get back he will probably have given up, and it will be safe for you to go back to the palace, I will even escort you to the city gates myself."

Sofia hesitated, she was worried Ella was right and Parker might find her again. She really did not want to fight him again, but she also needed to warn Alex and let everyone know where she was, they would be starting to worry and besides wasn't it more dangerous in the woods, with the banished? She thought.

"Ella, what about the banished?"

"The banished died a long time ago Sofia, these woods are completely safe now."

Seeing her hesitation, Ella continued, "I know it's been a couple of years Sofia, but I used to know you better than anyone, and the girl I knew dreaded the thought of her future, it made her miserable so I can only imagine what you're feeling now."

"I'm fine." She said automatically, confused by the sudden change in topic. "I have no reason to be miserable, I have everything every other girl in the country wants." She continued bitterly.

"You ran away for a reason Sof."

"How do you know I ran away?" She asked.

"Why else would you be all the way out here, on your own."

Sofia shook her head in exasperation, "where are we going?"

"Well now, this is the part where you just have to trust me."

"What are you talking about Ella, just tell me."

"I'm sorry, I can't," Ella stepped forward to take Sofia's hands in her own. She was surprised at how warm they were. "But I promise that it will be worth it."

She looked so serious Sofia was torn. She trusted Ella more than anyone, they had been so close only a couple of years ago, she hadn't realized until now how much of a hole it had left in her life, not having Ella around.

"As long as we can get out of these woods."

"Well actually, what I want to show you is further into the woods."

"You can't be serious," she protested, it was one thing standing here on the edge of the woods where she could see the barrier but going further in was crazy.

To her surprise, Ella started laughing, "come on Sofi, where's your sense of adventure!" Ella said smiling mischievously. Her grandfather always said her love of adventure would get her in trouble one day. Not that he even tried to stop her. But she had come this far, and she trusted Ella.

She took a deep breath before smiling as she said, "Okay, lead the way."

# CHAPTER 21

She followed Ella through the woods asking her a million questions about her home and family, trying to distract herself from thoughts of the banished, but after a while, she stopped, and she just started taking in the peace and quiet of the woods around her. The woods were actually incredibly beautiful, so alive and vibrant, she caught glimpses of brightly colored birds flying above her head. She barely noticed how much time had gone by, it reminded her of being back with her grandfather, she felt so free. It almost felt like old times, Ella dragging her off on some adventure but she had changed a lot since then and no doubt Ella had changed as well.

"How much longer is this going to take?" She finally asked.

"We're almost there," Ella replied without turning around, she suddenly noticed how relaxed and sure Ella was. It like she had been here often. As they moved deeper into the woods, it grew darker, and the trees grew taller until Sofia could barely make out the sky through the canopy above.

"We're here," Ella suddenly said as she stopped.

Surprised Sofia stopped as well, in front of them was a wall of rock with a small entrance, partially hidden by vines and bushes. Sofia couldn't see anything inside.

"Don't worry the tunnel will light up when we go inside," Ella said.

Sofia looked at her skeptical but Ella was already entering the tunnel, Sofia hurried after her, and to her surprise, a small glow lit up the tunnel when she entered. She looked up to see hundreds of tiny glow worms on the roof of the tunnel.

She gasped. "That's amazing."

"Yes, it is," Ella said grinning.

"Is this what you wanted to show me?"

"Partly," She replied mysteriously.

"Ella, wait, what does that mean," she protested, "we must have been walking for hours, you have to tell me where we are going?"

"I can't explain it Sofi, you just have to see it."

Sofia stopped, shaking her head. She had been gone too long already, she had to go back; Parker would surely have given up by now, and she needed to go home.

"Please, Sofi, just trust me, just one more time, I promise it will all make sense, besides you've come this far, we can't turn back now."

"I...just," she groaned, Ella looked so hopeful, and a part of her still felt guilty for leaving her grandfather's estate without saying goodbye, even though she hadn't had a choice. Surely she could do this one last thing with her, whatever it was, she didn't know when or if she would ever see Ella again after this and she was curious to see what the surprise was.

"Ok" she reluctantly agreed.

Ella laughed as she grabbed her hand again and they walked for a while longer before Sofia started to hear the sound of running water, they soon emerged from the tunnel to find a large clearing full of flowers with a huge waterfall cascading down the rocks opposite them. Sofia stared at the waterfall transfixed until she heard voices and turned alarmed to find a small group of people emerge from another tunnel on the other side of the clearing. Sofia stopped dead in her tracks, but Ella kept walking towards them, gipping Sofia's hand tightly.

"Ella what's going on, tell me now," she demanded as she started to panic.

"I will tell you Sofia but just don't panic; no one is going to harm you." Ella looked worried which scared her more.

"Well now I'm definitely panicking," she muttered.

Ella took a deep breath before she said softly, "I'm banished."

"What?" Sofia whispered back, stepping back abruptly as she pulled her hand away from Ella's.

"Well actually we call ourselves the Ashen, but that doesn't matter, the important thing you need to know is we aren't what you think Sofia," she continued quickly, "we're not monsters. Your ancestors banished the wrong people."

"What?" Sofia said again, it seemed to be the only word she could get out, she was too shocked and confused, a million questions ran through her mind, she didn't know if she wanted to run away screaming or find about more.

As if sensing her thoughts Ella stepped closer. "I know, I'm sorry this must be confusing for you, but it's just a little bit further, and then it will all make sense. Please just trust me. Sofia, we've known each other a long time, you know what kind of person I am, and you know I'm not a monster. Remember when we met."

Thought were racing through Sofia mind, but she thought back to the first time they met, Ella had saved her life. But she had always been told the banished were evil, and most people believed they had died in the woods a long time ago, Ella had told her that only hours ago. But she couldn't imagine the monsters she had been told about as a child saving anyone's life and Ella had saved her life twice.

"What about them?" she asked pointing to the group of people shakily, thankfully they hadn't come any closer, but Sofia was keeping a close eye on them, ready to run at the first sign of trouble.

"They're not monsters either Sofia, I promise. I know it seems impossible, but all the stories you were told about the banished aren't true."

"Why would my people lie Ella?"

"Well they're not lying, not really anyway, they believe that the banished were evil."

"I don't understand," she said shaking her head as she took a step backward.

"I know, and that's why I've brought you here, to the mountain," Ella said as she pointed to the mountain looming above them, Sofia hadn't noticed it before, she had been too distracted by the other people, "I promise it will all make sense once you go inside," she pointed to the waterfall.

"Ella."

They were interrupted by an old man with a long grey beard standing not far from them, Sofia jumped, she looked around wondering where he had come from. He hasn't been with the other group; there must be other tunnels she thought growing more worried. He approached slowly, using a walking stick for balance.

"This is her?" he asked studying Sofia closely.

"Yes," Ella replied.

Sofia shifted uncomfortably under his gaze, his eyes were piercing, they reminded her of her father's.

"Sofia this is Elder Yarrow, he is one of the leaders of my village. He is here to guide you." Ella said hesitantly.

"Guide me where?" Sofia asked as she took another step back warily.

"That is the question we all seek the answer to," Elder Yarrow replied cryptically, "soon you will know."

"Know what?" Sofia almost yelled, frustrated. "I can't just keep following you blindly, I need to know what's going on and I need to get back to my home."

He just nodded, ignoring her outburst, "all in good time, you must come with me now," he said as he walked towards the waterfall, she turned to Ella expectantly.

"Sorry Sofia, only Elder Yarrow can take you the rest of the way."

She stiffened, "no." she said immediately.

"Come on, where's your sense of adventure?" Ella joked.

"How can you joke about this!" she screeched.

"Sorry," Ella replied wincing, "it's just that a couple of years ago you wouldn't have hesitated, and now you can't stop protesting. You've changed Sofia," she said with a shrug, "I know that it's normal, we all change when we grow up, but it's like you've lost that spark, the fire in your eyes, I remember how you used to be. Whenever someone told you that you couldn't do something, you did everything possible to prove them wrong. Or when they told you that you shouldn't do something and it just made you want to do it more."

Sofia stood silently for a minute as she realized Ella was right, sometime in the last couple of years she had stopped fighting for what she wanted and had become the type of person she had despised as a child, someone who did exactly as they were told.

Maybe she resisted at times, but at the end of the day she always gave in. Even now she could hear the voices of her father, her mother, Alex, Cole, Olivia, even Mal, telling her how dangerous it was and how irresponsible she was being, she should just turn around and leave. So for the first time in a long time, she ignored them, because she could, and she wanted to be reckless. One last time. Maybe it was stupid, maybe it would end badly, but she was going to do it anyway because for the first time in a long time no one was there to stop her.

So she turned and followed Elder Yarrow who was waiting for her next to the waterfall, to her surprise he made no comment, he took her hand and led her to a narrow ledge tucked behind the waterfall, and they carefully made their way over the wet slippery stones to another cave entrance. Once they were inside the cave lit up, just like the first one.

"Now we just follow the lights," he said with another smile.

They walked silently for a while; Sofia shivered suddenly feeling the cold.

"How far do we have to go?" she asked.

"Patience child."

"Sorry, I'm just not really dressed for this, and my shoes are practically falling apart from the walk through the dark woods," she looked down at her once pale blue dress, which was now an array of colors and her broken shoes, they were not made for walking apparently. She already had gaping holes where the seams had split, and she could feel the rock cutting into the soles of her feet.

Elder Yarrow took off his cloak and handed it to her, she took it gratefully.

"I'm afraid I can't do much about your shoes," he said looking down at her feet, "but it's not much further."

"Why do you call them the dark woods?" Elder Yarrow asked as he turned to continue on.

"Oh, that's what everyone calls them now, I'm not even sure what their original name was." she started to say before she tripped over a rock and stumbled. The lights were getting further apart, making it harder to see.

"It used to be called the Ashen Woods, it was considered a place of beauty and peace," he said seemingly unaffected by the uneven ground.

"Why was it called the Ashen Woods?" She asked, curiously.

"I believe it was because of the black and grey color of the trees."

"Oh, so that's why you call yourselves the Ashen," she said remembering what Ella had said earlier. She hadn't really noticed the color of the trees in the woods, but it had been getting dark.

They walked in silence after that, Sofia was too tired to talk, and it took all her concentration just to stay on her feet, it didn't help that the ground was so uneven, the tunnels twisted and turned, sometimes going uphill and then sloping down again. There were also other tunnels leading off in other directions, it was like a maze, and she just hoped Elder Yarrow didn't leave her down here because she would never find her way out. It felt like they walked for hours before Elder Yarrow suddenly disappeared in front of her, and she gasped rushing ahead, she almost smacked straight into a wall but Elder Yarrow reached out and pulled her aside at the last minute, he was surprisingly strong for someone who looked so frail. She realized that at the end of the tunnel there was a small gap in the rock to the right which Elder Yarrow had stepped into. They shuffled along a couple of steps until they stepped into a dark space, there were no glow worms to light it up this time, and she could only just make out walls around then from a tiny circle of light above their heads. She turned to Elder Yarrow beside her and opened her mouth to ask him what was going on when she felt a wave of nausea hit her before her legs collapsed, her head swam, and her eyes grew blurry before she passed out.

# CHAPTER 22

Sofia opened her eyes, and she was back in the woods. But it was completely dark this time and eerie, everything was slightly out of focus. The trees creaked and moaned, and she felt a shiver down her spine. It felt like the forest was watching her.

She looked around desperately, hoping to see Elder Yarrow but she couldn't make out much in the darkness. The trees moved in the wind, but she couldn't feel it touching her skin, and she started to realize that this wasn't real.

She stood up gingerly, hoping her legs would support her. She reached out to a nearby tree, and her fingers slipped straight through the trunk. She stared amazed, it was like she was in a dream. She paused wondering what to do next when she heard screams and yells coming from behind her. She turned, scared but couldn't see anything, curiosity got the better of her, and she ran silently through the woods towards the sounds.

She stopped cautiously when she reached the edge of the woods, she could just make out people through the gaps in the trees, she crept closer and realized, to her horror, there were dead bodies scattered everywhere, and the ground was shining in the moonlight from all the blood. She wanted to look away, but for some reason, she couldn't take her eyes off the scene before her.

Two groups of people faced off across a field. The scene felt familiar to her, and she soon realized why as a figure stepped forward from the group closest to her and brought down a bolt of lightning from the sky, straight into the group opposite, who she now realized were soldiers. It was the banishing; it had to be she thought. She watched as the same figure created a tornado out of nothing, others fought beside him, and another bolt of lightning ripped through a line of soldiers, while the earth was torn apart at their feet. The opposing soldiers struggled to hold them off, she could see a small group huddled together behind the dwindling line of soldiers, that must be the royals, she thought.

The fight dragged on, the cult was too powerful, the soldiers didn't stand a chance. Finally, when there were barely any soldiers left, the Royals, led by a man with a long beard, all formed a line and started chanting louder and louder. A massive wall of light sprung up in front of them, pushing the cult back, further and further until they reached the edge of the woods where Sofia stood. Suddenly, there was a blinding flash of light which seemed to last forever before it finally faded and the barrier appeared before her, they were trapped.

She stared around at the vacant expressions of the banished cult around her before suddenly they all just seemed to come to life and she was shocked by the confusion and fear on their faces. They cried and beat their fists against the barrier, they threw magic at it over and over again, but nothing worked. As she studied the faces of those around her, all she could see was despair, there was no sign of the evil monsters she had been told about. She had never seen a group of people look so lost and beaten before. She also couldn't see any of the people the performers at the tournament had talked about, she wondered if any of the story at the tournament was true because the people she saw now were nothing like what she had been told.

The banished stayed at the border for days, as did a group of people outside, always watching but they couldn't see in or out, Sofia realized, as she stepped from one side of the barrier to the other. It really was as if there was a fog trapped in the wall like the narrator at the tournament had said, but that didn't make sense, she had been able to see through the barrier where she had entered the woods. In fact, she probably wouldn't have even noticed it if she hadn't known it was there, yet she couldn't see anything through the barrier here. She was distracted from her thoughts by the people around her, they moved about quicker now, unnaturally so, everything was moving faster than it should, the sun rose and fell within a couple of minutes over and over, but still, the banished stayed at the edge of the wood, scared to venture too far. Eventually, one man convinced them to move. They had to find food and water he said. Some refused, too scared to leave while others followed the man, glad to have a leader.

They walked for days, Sofia following behind them. Eventually, they found water and food and started to build a village. Days blurred into one another, and Sofia felt dizzy from all the images melting into one another. Finally, it settled, and she was in the clearing with the waterfall again. There was a group of kids playing, she watched as they discovered the tunnel behind the waterfall and she trailed behind them as they followed the lights just as she had. They came to the same cavern Sofia had been in when she had collapsed before the images suddenly shifted again, and she was back in the village.

The group of kids she had just been with were arriving back, they all looked tired and worn. One of the oldest boys stepped forward and explained to the rest of the people what they had seen in the mountain. He said it had shown them how to use the power of the land to help them. The people were skeptical and scared, and there were a lot of arguments, but then, together, the kids went to a patch of land and placed their palms against the soil. Suddenly flowers started to grow from the earth. From there the village grew, and the people flourished.

Then everything went pitch black and quiet, she waited for her eyes to adjust and she started to make out trees, she was in the woods, but it was different this time, the trees were completely silent and bare, without a single leaf. She couldn't hear any animals or birds, or even the wind, it was utterly devoid of life. She felt a prickly feeling on the back of her neck and sickness in her stomach. Then it started getting darker, she could see less and less until she was in complete darkness again. She tried to run away, but she couldn't move, she tried to scream but nothing came out, she was trapped, and she couldn't do anything. She had never been more scared in her life.

Sofia sat up gasping for air, her whole body shaking, she looked around wide-eyed, trying to figure out where she was, it didn't look like the cavern she had started in. She stood up cautiously, it was dark, but she could still see, and she could make out a tunnel in front of her, where the light was coming from. She walked slowly towards it, treading carefully, still shaking from what had just happened, she was confused and just wanted to go home. At the end of the tunnel she emerged into another large cavern, she looked up amazed to see it stretched up as far as she could see.

"It's spectacular isn't it?"

She jumped, startled by the voice, she hadn't seen anyone in the cavern when she entered. She was even more surprised to see the voice came from a boy, the same boy she had just seen and the leader of the group that had gone into the mountain.

She stared at him, too shocked to speak. She didn't know what to make of any of this, it was all too confusing. She shivered, but she didn't know whether it was from the cold or fear.

"Don't be scared."

Her mouth opened but nothing came out, the boy just smiled.

"I don't blame you, I felt the same the first time I came here," he waved his hand around, and for the first time she noticed the writing on the walls, it was everywhere, she stared transfixed. It was familiar but different, it didn't make sense, the letters were all mixed up, and there were symbols she didn't recognize.

"Why am I here?" she asked abruptly.

"Because you are important." the boy replied.

"Why did you show me that, the banishing?"

"Because you needed to see it to understand."

She glared at him in frustration, she was getting nowhere.

"What was that at the end, was that part of the banishing?"

"Do you know what is written on the walls?" he asked, ignoring her question and gesturing to the writing on the walls.

"I don't know," she replied exasperated.

He chuckled, "yes you do Sofia, just think back to what you just saw."

She frowned at the wall in front of her, trying to make sense of the writing, one word was jumping out at her, it looked familiar like she had seen it before, or heard it.

"It's the ancient language," the boy explained, and her eyes widened in realization. "This mountain is the center, the beginning of all magic in Latheria, and we are in the heart of it. The writing on the walls is the ancient language our ancestors used to speak before they learned to use magic without it. They grew lazy, and they forgot."

She thought back to her lessons with her tutors, they had told her something similar, the ancient language was just a way to access their power, but when they had learned to use their magic without the ancient language, there was no need for it anymore.

"Except at the banishing?"

"Yes, that was the first time in hundreds of years it was used, but the people didn't understand it." He paused for a long time before continuing, "they didn't understand that the ancient language allows a person to combine their magic with the magic of the land around them. And because they didn't understand it, they didn't know how to use it, and they created something they didn't mean too."

"What did they create?" she asked intrigued.

He shook his head, "not yet, in time it will all become clear. For now all you need to know is that you need to learn this language and how to connect with the land if you are to stop what is coming, but for now, you should rest, you've been through enough."

He smiled at her sympathetically before he disappeared and she was lying on the cold, hard floor staring up at Elder Yarrow, hovering over her. She breathed a sigh of relief as she realized she was back in the cavern she had started in.

"You're okay, just take some deep breaths." Elder Yarrow said soothingly.

He helped her sit up and held a flask of water to her lips, she drank deeply, she was surprised at how thirsty and weak she was, her body didn't feel like hers, and she struggled to hold herself up.

"Relax, you shouldn't move too fast." he cautioned.

They sat there for a while before Sofia finally began to feel more like herself. Her mind was racing, and she was glad Elder Yarrow didn't badger her with questions; she was still trying to wrap her head around what she had seen. The banishing had been terrifying, all those dead bodies, but it didn't make sense, the people who had been banished into the woods were so confused, it was as if they had no idea how they had even gotten there and they were scared. But she had seen them only moments before ripping apart the soldiers standing against them, completely unemotional.

Her head was swimming, but one question kept running through her head, why her? Why did Ella want her to see this and why did the boy say she had to stop what was coming?

# CHAPTER 23

She followed numbly behind Elder Yarrow all the way back through the winding tunnels to the entrance behind the waterfall. They moved slowly, stopping often to rest, Sofia's body felt heavy and awkward, and she struggled to stay on her feet.

She couldn't stop thinking about the images she had seen. It was just all so overwhelming. Only a couple of hours ago she was worried about which four girls she was going to choose as her guards, it seemed so inconsequential now.

When they finally arrived back at the clearing, they found Ella and a couple of others still waiting for them. They had built a fire and were all huddled around it, but jumped to their feet when they saw them emerge from behind the waterfall. Elder Yarrow went ahead to talk to the others, and Ella started to rush over to her.

"Give her a minute to herself," she heard him say to Ella as he passed her.

Sofia sat down on the ground with her back against a tree, she didn't know how she had even made it back through the tunnels she was so tired. After a while, Ella came over and sat down next to her silently, she put her arm around Sofia and pulled her into a hug.

"We should go back to my village so you can get some rest."

Sofia just nodded, too tired to argue, they sat a minute longer before Ella stood and pulled her to her feet. She let Ella pull her along, she had no idea where they were going, all she could think about was sleep. She stumbled through more tunnels and then finally back into the woods, Ella was practically carrying her at that point. They eventually reached what looked like a house, although it was dark and she was so tired it was hard for her to keep her eyes open. Her feet finally gave way underneath her, and she collapsed from exhaustion.

She woke up to the light shining through a window above her, her head spinning. Ella was there beside her, she had a bowl of water which she dipped a towel in and used it to wipe Sofia's face.

"Sorry, I should have warned you about that," she said quietly, "don't worry, you'll feel better soon, just drink this tea." She pushed a mug of steaming tea into Sofia's hands. Sofia gulped it down immediately but grimaced at the taste, it was not normal tea.

"What is this?" she asked warily.

"Honestly, I don't know what's in it, but it will help, just drink it."

She reluctantly had another sip and found Ella was right, the more she drank, the more her head stopped spinning, and she was able to think again.

She looked around the room she was in, it was small with just a bed and a small table, but it pretty. There was a brightly colored rug on the floor, and little wooden carvings of animals lined the shelves on the wall.

"Sofia, what did the mountain show you?" Ella asked softly. Reluctantly she told Ella everything that she had seen, Ella watched her closely but didn't comment until she had finished.

"So do you believe me now?" Ella asked.

"I don't know what to believe anymore, I thought I knew the story of the banishing." she shook her head, trailing off.

"Do you still believe we are evil?" Ella prompted.

After a long pause, she finally answered, "no I don't."

Before Ella could say anything else, they were interrupted by a pretty, middle-aged woman who poked her head around the door.

"Are you ready for breakfast, Ella?"

"I think so," Ella replied looking questioningly at Sofia who nodded quickly, she realized she was starving.

"Sofia, this is my mother, Azalia," Ella said introducing them, Ella's mother immediately bustled over and wrapped her in a warm hug, she smelt like roses.

"It's nice to finally meet you, sweetheart, you should finish your tea outside, the fresh air will do you good. I'll let you know when breakfast is ready." She said kindly.

Ella helped her outside, and they sat down on a large rock in the shadow of a tree. Ella and her people lived in a village set in a valley beneath the mountain. She wouldn't have even known it was a village had Ella not told her because the houses and other buildings were all built in and around the trees, there were even walkways built from one tree to another. Ella's house was on a hill looking out over the village.

When they were younger Ella used to tell her stories of different people and places in her village, Sofia had thought she was talking about the village near her grandfather's estate. Ella had often talked about houses made out of trees, but Sofia had just assumed she meant the wood from trees.

"It's beautiful," Sofia said, feeling envious Ella had grown up surrounded by all of this.

Ella smiled, "I can't imagine living anywhere else. When our ancestors discovered the mountain they decided to build this village in its shadow, they were lucky to even find the mountain, some called it fate, but without the mountains knowledge they would never have survived, they struggled for many years, none of them were farmers or builders. It was hard, even with the mountains guidance but it took a lot of work to achieve all of this."

"But didn't they ever miss the outside world? have you ever tried to leave, surely the mountain could help you?"

Ella shrugged. "Our ancestors didn't want to leave, they didn't want to go back to those that had banished them. When they were first banished, none of them knew what had happened to them but slowly over time their memories started to come back to them, and they pieced it together. There was a lot of resentment, they felt betrayed. Besides, we love our lives and our home, we're happy here. Our ancestors told stories of your cities, people living on the streets with no food, violence, and hatred, there is none of that here, we are all a family and we support each other, we work together every day, everyone is happy here."

Ella paused before saying slowly. "Sofia there's something else I need to tell you."

Sofia looked at her concerned; Ella was acting very nervous, fidgeting with a couple of sticks.

"When you were in the mountain... well, you were in there a lot longer than I think you realized."

Sofia gaped at her.

Ella rushed on, "we believe the mountain, well it seems to puts you in a kind of trance, so it wouldn't seem like a long time to you but it was actually awhile."

"How long Ella?" she growled through clenched teeth.

"Three days."

"Three days!" She exclaimed. She couldn't have been gone for three days, how was that even possible.

She stood up abruptly but immediately sat again when she was hit with a wave of dizziness.

"I can't believe this, I.. I .. wait you knew, you had to know this was going to happen, I can't believe you didn't you tell me?" she exclaimed.

"I know I shouldn't have lied, I'm so sorry, but you wouldn't have come if you knew, it was hard enough convincing you otherwise. Besides, this was important Sofia, you saw how important."

Sofia flinched remembering the banishing and the boy's cryptic words.

"Yes I did see," she whispered, although she was still confused as to what it all meant.

"Sofi, this is bigger than us. This could affect the whole of Latheria."

"I know that Ella," she whispered.

"But you didn't before, I know you, Sofia, that's why I was given this task, and I knew if I had told you what would happen, you wouldn't have come, you wouldn't even have believed me!"

She thought about what Ella had said, she was right. Again. Sofia wouldn't have come, as much as she hated the idea of being Queen and everything that came with it, she wouldn't willingly leave her sister for that long, Lucy needed her. She worried about her and just hoped Evelyn was taking care of her.

Azalia came out to tell them breakfast was ready so they went inside to eat, Sofia was starving but she barely tasted the food as she ate, she was too distracted by her thoughts.

Once they had finished Ella spoke again hesitantly, fiddling with her cup.

"The other Elders would like to meet you."

Before Sofia could reply she spoke again. "Are you still upset?"

"Yes, I understand why you did it, but it doesn't mean I'm happy about it," she replied honestly. "There's still something I don't understand though, how were you able to leave the woods?" she asked, "you said yourself that the barrier only stopped people getting out."

"Honestly I have no idea. The day I met you was the first time I left, and it was like I felt you calling to me," Ella replied, "the Elders believe it is all part of the great mountains plan."

"What is the mountain though, is it magical?" Sofia asked.

"The mountain is the source of all magic in Latheria. The Elders believe it is alive."

She shuddered thinking of the boy, "It felt alive."

"I'm still confused though, why would my people lie about the barrier," Sofia said after a minute.

"Maybe they don't know," Ella replied with a shrug.

"Or maybe they just told people that to keep them away from the woods," Sofia added before she stood up slowly, "we should go and meet your Elders, I have a lot of questions."

They had just left the house when out of the corner of her eye she saw a black shape out of the corner of her eye, and she turned her head to see the large blue eyes of a panther staring at her. She jumped in fright and opened her mouth to scream, but nothing came out. To her surprise, Ella started laughing.

"Her name is Shade," Ella said reaching out to scratch its ear.

"It has a name?" Sofia exclaimed, she couldn't believe Ella was touching it.

"Yes Sofia, calm down, she is not going to hurt you, she saved your life remember."

She did remember, although so much had happened since then it felt like a dream or a nightmare. It was actually probably the least crazy thing to happen in the last week.

"It wasn't long after you left that summer that I found Shade, or rather she found me, I know it probably sounds silly but I think she knew I needed her." Ella finished softly.

Sofia winced, she leaned over and wrapped her arms around Ella in a hug, pulling her in close. Although she still kept a close eye on the panther, she didn't completely trust it no matter what Ella said.

# CHAPTER 24

She could feel eyes on her as they walked along the dirt path winding through the village to the meeting hall where the Elders were waiting. She stuck close to Ella's side, suddenly uncertain, it was one thing to trust Ella, but she was still wary of the rest of the Ashen. Sofia couldn't believe how beautiful the village was, flowers and plants were growing everywhere, not neat and perfect like the gardens back at the palace but wild and free just like the people. Most of the people she saw wore plain clothes, in various shades of green and brown to match the earth, with their hair loose and wild like the woods they called home.

Ella spoke quietly as they walked, pointing out different things she had told Sofia as a child, she had thought Ella had just been telling stories when she talked about walking above the treetops, but she could see the bridges swinging above her head reaching from tree to tree. And the animals, Ella used to tell her all about the animals in her village, and it was true, they were everywhere, and not just the usual dogs and cats like there were in the city but wild animals, like foxes, squirrels, rabbits and even monkeys, swinging from the trees. She actually thought she saw a bear before Ella grabbed her and pulled her along impatiently. She was just in awe, she almost wished she could stay here forever. Azalia stopped often to talk to people as they passed and she was always greeted with smiles and laughter. It eased Sofia's mind a little to hear then exchanging jokes and talking about the weather. Ella soon became impatient with her as well, and they left her behind.

They arrived in what Ella told her was the heart of the village, it was a small clearing with a dome-shaped building in the middle, built around a huge elm tree. The tree poked out from the top of the building, the leaves and branches spilling out and over. They entered the large round room to find it was full of people, they stopped talking as soon as they saw her. A few of them she recognized from the day before, but most were unfamiliar.

A boy who looked to be her age turned around to glare at her.

"I'm just saying maybe you should have talked to everyone before bringing her here," he said angrily, pushing past her.

"Sofia, how are you feeling this morning? we were quite worried," Elder Yarrow asked, breaking the awkward silence that had followed the boy's exit.

"Better, thank you," she replied politely.

"That's good to hear. Come, come, I will introduce you to everyone."

Introductions were made, Ella had already explained to her that there were ten Elders in her village that were in charge, she guessed it was similar to being a council member. Only nine Elders were there to greet her, however, the last, Elder Hazel was attending to some other business, although she noticed they didn't say elaborate. They all took their seats around a table at one end of the room, and she sat down at the table with them, while Ella took a seat on one of the benches behind. She felt uncomfortable being on her own without Ella by her side, but she had to remind herself these people were not the enemy. If she had had any doubt about that, it was almost certainly cleared up during her walk through the village. The people were peaceful; she could find no evidence that there was anything sinister about them, in fact quite the opposite.

The Elders were very interested in what she had seen in the mountain and asked a lot of questions. By the time she was finished their faces ranged from confused to worried, especially during the part where she was felt like she was trapped in the darkness. She opened her mouth to tell them about the boy, but for some reason, she couldn't get the words out. Instead, she asked something that had been worrying her a lot.

"What do you think it meant? the darkness?"

They all exchanged looks before Elder Yarrow finally spoke, "We are not sure yet, but the mountain wanted you to see the great banishing for a reason. So you would understand, maybe it will help you to stop what is coming."

He was very vague in his answer, and it made her suspicious, they were hiding something from her, she was sure. And what did he mean, stop what is coming? It was all too confusing.

"What is the mountain? Ella said it was the source of all magic in Latheria but how does it work? I don't understand." she asked, changing the subject.

"I'm afraid, we don't completely understand either Sofia, ever since we found the mountain we have been trying to understand it but it is still very much a mystery to us, we hope that is where you can be of help."

"Me? I don't understand," she replied, confused.

"The mountain sent us to find you for a reason. If anyone has any hope of finding out how the mountain works it's you."

"Oh, I guess, but I'm not really sure what I'm supposed to do, am I supposed to break the barrier and free you from the dark woods. You said I am to stop what is coming, but what does that mean?"

Elder Yarrow shook his head, "we are already free Sofia. The mountain brought you here because there is a great evil spreading in the land, that is what you need to stop."

"What are you talking about, what evil?" she asked frustrated, "And how does the mountain expect me to stop it? Are you supposed to teach me the ancient language like they used in the banishing?

"I'm afraid we don't have that knowledge, only the royals families were taught the ancient language, perhaps you need to ask your prince about that."

"How do you know that Alex has even learned it, maybe the King decided not to pass it on?" she replied. If Alex knew anything about the ancient language he had never mentioned it to her, but that didn't mean much anymore. Even if he did know she wasn't sure if he would even tell her if she asked.

"It wasn't just King of Arandale that used the ancient language in the banishing, Sofia, it was all the Kings and Queens of Latheria. Do you really think that the Bordonian King would let that kind of power go?" Elder Yarrow replied wisely, it made her wonder how he seemed to know so much about the outside world, but he had spent the most time in the mountain, according to Ella, so perhaps the mountain had shown him.

"No, definitely not, it actually wouldn't surprise me if they were still using it." She said worriedly, "and they have become awfully powerful in the last couple of decades." she continued.

She shuddered at the thought of Bordonians' with ancient magic. She had met the ambassadors from Bordonia, and they always scared her. They were too confident. It was like they knew something everyone else didn't. Maybe this was it.

"Oh, can I ask something else? the banishing, after it happened, the people looked so confused, almost as if they didn't know what had happened."

"Yes, I'm afraid they had very little memory of any of it, they had to struggle to piece together what happened to them but they all remember one thing, the face of a man as if it were burned into their minds." Elder Yarrow replied, "Cold, dark eyes and a scar across his cheek, they believed that this man who was controlling them, although you might not have seen him, he could have been hiding behind his army."

"Mind control, I didn't even think that was possible? she exclaimed, "and why wasn't he banished with the others?"

"That is what our ancestors believed, and it fits with what you saw in the vision, the fear and confusion of our ancestors after the banishing. We don't know how but our ancestors believe he somehow managed to escape, but we also believe, or the mountain does, that he was weakened by the banishing, which is why he hasn't continued with his slaughter and controlling of other but make no mistake he is out there, somewhere."

She felt chills down her spine just thinking about him, and her people had no idea of the danger they were still in.

"I think there were others that escaped with him, there were a couple of people that I didn't see after the banishing."

"If one man escaped, it's possible others did as well." Elder Yarrow mused, "although that doesn't mean they could use mind control, perhaps they had other abilities he found useful." he added when he noticed the worried expressions of those around him.

Sofia sat back listening as the Elders continued to discuss the possibility of others until finally, she spoke again.

"If you have no more questions I think it's time for me to go home." She said tiredly and was surprised to find that her words were met with shocked expressions all across the table.

"You can't leave yet," Elder Yarrow spoke first, looking concerned.

"Well I can't stay; I have to warn the others of what I have seen." She protested although she wasn't sure how she was ever going to convince them, she barely believed it herself.

"Sofia, you are not the only person the mountain has spoken to. We all have our own duties, and ours is to help you and teach you the way of our people. You need to understand our magic if you are to heal this land." said Elder Sage, she looked to be the youngest of the Elders.

"Your magic? I don't understand?

"Sofia, our magic is very different to the magic you were brought up with." Elder Sage explained. "Magic doesn't just exist in people, it is all around us, in every animal and every plant and every tree that surrounds us, we over time, with the help of the mountain, have learned how to sense that magic and use that magic. Our own magic doesn't manifest into an individual power as it does with your people Sofia, we connect with the magic around us."

So the mountain had taught them how to access the earth's magic but not the ancient language, she wondered why that was.

"Isn't that what the cult did?" she asked confused, "I mean the people who were supposed to be banished. They used the power of animals."

"Yes, they stole the magic from animals by killing them, but we do not take power, we do not kill, we borrow magic and combine it with our own, taking too much magic from an animal will kill it, that's what the cult did. Learning how to connect with the land around you is very different to what the cult did, and that is what we need to teach you, but it will take time."

"How much time?"

"As long as it takes," Elder Yarrow replied simply.

"What if it takes years," she exclaimed, "you can't expect me to stay here that long?"

"Well, you need to stay at least a couple of months," another Elder interrupted. She couldn't remember his name.

"But I can't," she protested, she couldn't stop thinking about Lucy, they just didn't understand, she couldn't just leave.

"I'm sorry, Sofia, but you have too."

"Can I at least send a message?" she asked desperately.

"Do you really think that is a good idea?" Elder Yarrow asked.

No, she thought dejectedly, she wouldn't even know what to say, but it just felt so wrong, disappearing without a trace, Lucy would be so worried and Bree, she wouldn't even know what was happening, but on the other hand, she couldn't ignore it. If the mountain was right, whatever was coming would affect everyone, including Lucy, and she would do anything to protect her sister even if it meant hurting her now.

"Fine," she agreed reluctantly, "as long as we start straight away."

"Very well. Ella, why don't you and Reed show Sofia around the village and introduce her to everyone." Elder Yarrow said as he turned to Ella.

"Reed? are you sure?" Ella questioned as Sofia stood to leave.

"Yes, I'm sure, I think it will do them both good." Elder Yarrow replied

"Over the next couple of days, you will be spending time with many villagers, learning their story and how they communicate with the land, everyone is different." Elder Sage added.

The Elders all stood to leave as well, and Sofia followed Ella to the door, her mind spinning, going over everything they had talked about, she was still so confused, she knew she needed to learn the Ashens' magic and the ancient language and combine that knowledge in order to stop the evil, whatever that meant? But how was she supposed to learn the ancient language if the Ashen didn't know it?. The ancient language had been written on the walls in the mountain, but she couldn't learn from just that, it would be impossible. She just had to hope that Alex knew it and would be willing to teach her. She was beginning to think this was just an impossible task.

But one thing at a time, Mal would say if he were here, she needed to focus on learning the Ashens' magic first. Everything else would have to wait for now. She pushed her worries about the ancient language and leaving her family to the back of her mind, determined to focus on the task at hand, the quicker she learned the Ashens' magic the sooner she could go home. Although a voice at the back of her mind questioned whether she really wanted to go back to Selinus and the future she had been dreading.

# CHAPTER 25

She followed Ella out of the hall, and she led her over to a boy about their age, leaning against a tree not far away, and she realized that it was the same boy who had stormed out of the meeting hall.

"Sofia, this is my brother, Reed," Ella said introducing them.

"Brother?" She studied him surprised, Ella had never mentioned a brother, but she could see the resemblance, especially in the blue eyes though his were slightly darker and more piercing and right now, annoyed, at her it seemed.

"I take it you're not pleased to see me," she asked.

"No," he said abruptly, turning away.

"Reed, you're being rude." Ella chastised.

"Why don't you want me here?" Sofia pressed.

"Why would we? Your people banished us here! Why would we let one of them in our home, especially a spoilt princess, I don't understand why the Elders think you're the..?"

Ella interrupted him before he could finish, snapping at him "Reed! She's here to help us!"

"Why are you mad at me?" Sofia exclaimed, "It was my ancestors that banished your ancestors not me, besides it doesn't look that awful here." She said waving her arm around.

"Our people were innocent victims, and they struggled for years to survive, this village may look beautiful now, but a lot of work went into building it, our people suffered because of your ancestors."

"Yes I know that now, but my ancestors didn't know that. They were just trying to protect their people."

"How do you know?" Reed asked furiously.

"Know what?"

"That they didn't know that they were banishing innocent people?"

Sofia was momentarily stumped, she hadn't thought of that possibility, what if they did know that some of the people were being controlled, but chose to perform the banishing anyway?

"Reed now is not the time to argue over this. We have to introduce Sofia around to the rest of the Ashen." Ella said while Sofia stood speechless still thinking over Reeds comment. It worried her that her ancestors would do something like that but then again, did they really have a choice? They weren't strong enough to stop the cult, and if they hadn't done something, more people would have died.

"Why do you need me? You can show her." Reed asked, surprised.

"Because Elder Yarrow said we both should show her around," Ella said glaring at him.

Reed looked annoyed but didn't protest again as Ella grabbed Sofia's hand and pulled her along.

"How many of the Ashen are there?" Sofia asked, trying to distract herself from thoughts of the banishing as they wandered back through the village, it was relatively quiet, most people had gone out to do their chores for the day. She wondered what it would have been like to grow up there, so different from the palace she had grown up in.

"There are probably around a hundred of us here in this village. Then there are a few other villages in the woods as well, though not as large. There are also quite a few people who prefer to live alone," she replied, and Sofia was surprised, she hadn't realized there were other villages.

The entered a building closest to the meeting hall, and she knew even before she entered that it must be a kitchen, the smells coming from it were amazing. Ella introduced her to their cook, Willow, she had long white hair and an exuberant laugh. Willow also had a number of helpers, two of which were Ella's friends, Ivy and Holly, they were twin sisters, not identical thankfully. They seemed nice although they bombarded her with questions about the palace and the world outside the woods and it made her suddenly realize how sheltered they were, they knew nothing of the world outside the woods, only stories they had been told. The twins were so curious, it made her wonder if everyone was as happy there as Ella had made it seem.

Next, they climbed up a ladder to a nearby tree, they walked across a couple of bridges until they came to a tall tree with another ladder leading up. Sofia stared at it hesitantly, but Ella gave her a reassuring smile and so she followed Reed up and up until they reached a platform built high in the trees. Reed held out his hand to help her onto the platform, and she took it gratefully.

She gasped in surprise when she stood up and looked around her, from the platform they could see the entire village and across the tops of the trees to the mountain on one side and hills on the other. She stared around her in awe as Ella pointed out different landmarks she could use to navigate her way around the village, it was a lot larger than she had realized.

They climbed back down, and Reed led the way over to a large cottage surrounding by plants, rows, and rows of them, she had never seen so many in her life, even in the gardens at the palace. She spotted a man crouched down amongst them, pulling out various plants and placing them carefully into baskets, he briefly looked up as they went approached before turning back to his task.

"That's our herbalist," Ella said quietly, "he uses plants to helps us when we are injured, he doesn't say a lot."

Ella called him a herbalist but it sounded like a healer to her, the only difference was he used plants.

"Oh, so those are all herbs surrounding his cottage?" she asked.

"Yes, and you should see the inside. I'm not sure he even has a place to sleep. Our mother helps him a lot, I think she's the only person he actually likes."

From there they went to the very edge of the village to a large field full of cows and goats. Reed went over to pat the animals while Ella introduced her to Larch, the keeper, and his son, Ash, who looked after and protected the animals.

"Why do they need protecting, don't you control all the animals in the woods?" Sofia asked.

"You can't control wild animals." Ella replied laughing, she hurriedly went on when she saw Sofia's frown, "we can communicate with them, the animals in the village have all been rescued for one reason or another, and they just decided to stay, but we don't make them."

"Oh," Sofia said, she was confused as to how it was they communicated with the animals, but before she could ask, Ash grabbed her hand and led her over to the nearest cow.

"You should come back tomorrow morning, and we can show you how to milk them," he said excitedly.

She hesitated; she had never milked a cow before.

Before she could reply Reed jumped in, "I think that might be a bit early for the princess," he said, as he raised an eyebrow at her.

She glared at him, offended by his tone, "actually, I would love to." she said to Ash as he glanced back and forth between them confused. Reed just shrugged and turned away. It frustrated her that Reed blamed her for the actions of her ancestors, but she didn't want to get into another argument with him, so she ignored him and followed Ella as they left the animals and walked through more woods until they came to another clearing, this one was filled with rows and rows of crops. People were working in the fields, kids as well.

Ella explained how connecting with the earth allowed them to grow better crops, they could tell when they needed water and when they were ready to be harvested, which they were doing now. There were also a few villagers who could tell when it was actually going to rain.

"Should we help too?" Sofia asked Ella, she heard Reed scoff behind her, but she forced herself to ignore him again.

"Not today. There are still people you haven't met." Ella replied, glaring at Reed.

"Who's next then?" she asked.

"Hunters, but they are probably out hunting at the moment, we'll never be able to find them so we'll have to head back to the village and wait for them there."

On the way back to the village, she also met a group of anglers down by the river that ran through the valley. Ella explained how the anglers were able to feel where the fish were in the water and use nets to catch them. She watched fascinated until Ella dragged her away, they followed the river back to the village and arrived at the same time as a hunting party was arriving back.

"How did it go?" Ella asked the nearest hunter, a tall, muscular boy about their age.

"Not great," he replied shortly, "traps were all empty, but we managed to find a deer."

"It's been that way for a couple of seasons now, animals are dying," Reed explained quietly to her.

He went off to talk to the other hunters who were carrying the deer and Sofia sat down heavily on a rock nearby. She couldn't remember ever being this tired in her life, her whole body ached, and her head was spinning. Ella noticed her sitting and came over.

"Are you okay?" Ella asked concerned, "I'm sorry, we shouldn't have done this much today, you should be resting."

"I'm fine," she insisted, although she wasn't' sure that was true. It was just a lot to take in, she was in the middle of the dark woods with complete strangers who were convinced she was the only person who could save them. And she still had her doubts, of all the people in Latheria, why her?

"Wait here, I'll get you some water," Ella said rushing away.

After a minute, Reed came over to find her with her head in her hands.

"This is crazy," she muttered.

"Yes, it is," he agreed quietly, "but if Elder Yarrows believes this is what you need to do then you should do it. I guess you're not really used to doing what you're told."

"Actually that's all I do," she muttered.

He snorted, "Yeah, right."

"I'm not Queen yet, and even when I am, I'm not in charge. The King is. I don't have a choice in anything," she said bitterly, "My whole life has been planned out for me since I was born."

"Well now's your chance to change that," he replied before walking away.

She thought about it and realized he was right. Mal had said something similar to her as well only a week ago. It felt like so long ago, so much had happened since then. But it was time she stopped thinking that her future was set in stone. If she wanted to change it, she had to act. She had been complaining her whole life about not having choices, and she was tired of it, she was done waiting for people to decide for her, from now on she would make her own decisions. She knew it wouldn't be easy but she would be the Queen one day, she had to start standing up for herself.

Ella came back with water, and they sat in silence for a couple of minutes before Sofia realized she didn't know what Ella and Reed's roles were in the village, everyone also seemed to have a specific job, but they hadn't mentioned there's.

"Well, Reed works in the fields a lot," Ella replied when she asked, "he has always loved working with plants, while I spend most of my time with the Elders, and basically help out wherever we need it,"

"Wait, so does that mean your training to be an Elder?"

"Well that's not really what we call it, there's a lot of work that goes into becoming an Elder."

"But the Elders are your leaders and they make all the decisions, don't they?"

"Yes and no, the Elders make the decisions, but every village member has a right to have their say and can object to any decision made by the Elders. Elder Yarrow overseas the council but he still only has one vote although if they cannot come to a decision, technically, he is allowed the final say. Although that has never happened as far as I know."

It was interesting how very different it was to how the council in Arandale worked, where the council members were basically just advisors to the King. The King always had the final say, and the council members couldn't make any major decisions without his approval. She briefly wondered what it would be like if they made their decisions the same way the Ashen did, probably a lot of arguing, and nothing would ever get done, she thought. Although at least everyone would have a say, but in a city the size of Selinus maybe that was just wishful thinking.

# CHAPTER 26

She spent the next couple of days with the Ashen, getting to know them and how they used their magic. She was eager to start training, but Elder Yarrow insisted this was the best way for her to learn and so she reluctantly agreed.

She spent her mornings with Larch and Ash, learning how to milk the cows and watched closely at how they both interacted with the animals, they almost seemed to know what the animals were thinking and when they were sick or scared or hurt.

"There is magic in all animals, you just need to open yourself up to the magic, let it in," Larch explained as he led her over to the cows.

Easier said than done, she thought, she didn't even know where to start; she hoped her training would begin soon.

As Larch introduced her to all the animals one by one, she tried to do as he had said, but she couldn't feel anything at all. Still, working with the animals was by far her favorite part of the day. She didn't get to spend a lot of time with them at the palace, aside from horses there weren't any other animals within the palace.

Her grandfather had taught Sofia to ride when she was younger, much to her mother's disapproval. He had even given Sofia a pony for her birthday one year, but her parents had refused to let her keep it, stating it wasn't suitable for a Queen to have.

After spending some time with the angler's and watching how they used their connection to find fish and use the water to guide them towards nets, she would work in the fields for a couple of hours where they showed her how they used their magic to draw the plants from the earth when they were ready. They could also sense where the best soil was and when plants needed water. Then she would head to the kitchens to help prepare food, it amazed her how Willow seemed to know exactly how much she needed of each ingredient without even needing to taste the food. Magic was such an integral part of their day to day life, but it was so different from what she was used to.

But she was surprised by how kind and helpful the Ashen were, she thought some of them might share Reeds hostility, but if they did they didn't show it.

Curious, she asked Reed about it later that day when they joined the hunters on a hunting trip instead of helping in the fields like she had the past couple of days. In truth, she was trying to distract herself from the fact that they were actually going hunting. After spending her morning with the cows and goats, the thought of hurting an animal was making her stomach sick, but she was determined not to let it show. Reed words about her being a spoilt princess had hit close to home, and she wanted to prove him wrong.

Ella walked ahead with the other hunters, so she dropped back to talk to Reed. She tried to move as quietly as possible, but she hadn't grown up in the woods and found it impossible to move with the speed and stealth the hunters did.

"Everyone in the village is very nice," she commented.

"Yes they are, when you grow up in a small village like ours you learn to take care of each other," he said shortly.

She glanced at him sideways. "I was surprised that no one else seems mad at me like you are," she ventured.

He sighed, "They are more forgiving."

"Or maybe it's because they know it's not my fault your ancestors were banished and I'm just trying to help."

"Are you?"

"What do you mean? of course I am, I'm here aren't I."

"Yes you're here but are you really trying, it's been here almost a week, and you haven't made any progress. You're still as clueless as when you arrived." He snapped angrily before he stormed off.

She stared after him, shocked at the outburst. How could he possibly expect her to learn anything, she hadn't even had any training. She hurried after him suddenly furious, but after a few minutes realized she didn't know where he was, she had expected him to be waiting for her up ahead; she did a slow circle scanning the woods carefully but couldn't see him anywhere, and she realized she had no idea where she was. She sat on a nearby log to wait until he calmed down and came back for her, muttering furiously under her breath.

Hours later the sun was starting to disappear behind the trees, and fear was starting to creep in. How could he leave her like this? She thought furiously. She had never been alone in the woods, and the noises and creaking of the trees were starting to spook her. At one point she swore she felt like she was being watched. She yelled and shouted for help, but nobody came.

She knew Reed had been angry, but she still couldn't believe he would leave her out here on her own, especially now it was getting dark, he had to be coming back for her, she thought desperately. She paced back and forth before finally deciding she couldn't wait around any longer, they hadn't been walking that long before he had left her stranded, so she decided to try and follow her tracks back to the village. If a bear or other predator found her, she had no weapons to defend herself. She had seen how dark the woods could get at night and she really didn't want to be stuck out here on her own any longer, she had to get back to the village.

An hour later the sun had completely set, and she was terrified. Following her tracks had not been as easy as she had thought, once the sun had started to go below the tree line it became harder and harder to see until she couldn't make out any tracks at all. She was also worried that what she thought were her tracks might not have been at all, it wasn't like she had any experience tracking, it was a stupid idea, and she should have just stayed where she was, she berated herself.

The woods reminded her of the darkness she had been trapped in when she was inside the mountain and panic started to creep in. She couldn't go through that again. She hadn't been able to sleep without a light on since then.

She heard a snap of a branch behind her and spun around trembling. She couldn't see anything, but that didn't mean there wasn't something out there.

Its ok, she thought trying to calm herself, nothing can hurt her if it couldn't see her. She took a deep breath and tried to pull her invisibility over her, but nothing happened. She tried again, but still nothing, and she started breathing hard. She had never had trouble using her invisibility, and she felt helpless without it. She couldn't think rationally anymore so she did the only thing she could think of, she climbed a tree. She didn't even bother trying to find a large one she just climbed the tree closest to her, at least then she wouldn't be on the ground where any animal could stumble across her. The forest had gone quiet now, too quiet; having grown up in the palace, she wasn't used to this kind of quiet. Memories of the darkness in the mountain came rushing back to her. She sat on a branch halfway up the tree with her arms wrapped around the trunk of the tree and her cheek pressed against the rough bark. Every now and then she could hear the soft sounds of the wind rustling the leaves of the tree, and it calmed her fractionally. The darkness in the mountain had been dead quiet, the slight noises of the woods were reassuring.

She tried to distract herself by thinking of home, but it only made her feel guilty for not being there. Had she made a mistake staying? She wondered miserably. Maybe she should have gone home? At least then she wouldn't be lost in the dark woods, scared and alone.

She heard a noise below her and stiffened in fear, she peered down shakily to see the face of a hunter staring up at her. She gasped in relief, she had never been so relieved in her life. She shakily clambered down from the tree, and the hunter passed Sofia his coat before he turned, without a word, and led her back to the village. He barely said anything the whole time, but Sofia was too relieved to care and too tired to question how he found her, she just made sure to keep as close as she could, so close she almost ran into the back of him a couple of times.

They arrived back to find the whole village in chaos and people came rushing towards them when they saw Sofia. Azalia was the first to reach Sofia, pulling her into a tight hug.

"Are you okay? Have you been hurt?" She asked, frantically examining her for cuts or bruises.

"No I'm okay," she stammered, she was still shaking and was starting to feel embarrassed by all the attention. She was supposed to save everyone, but she couldn't even handle being lost in the woods for a couple of hours. Luckily Azalia seemed to sense her discomfort and sent everyone away. She wrapped an arm around Sofia and led her through the village to the meeting hall. She looked around surprised to find the hunter had disappeared as well; she hadn't even had a chance to properly thank him.

"We'll just let everyone know that you're okay then get you off to bed." Ella's mother said soothingly as they entered the meeting hall, nobody noticed them enter they were all focused on Ella and Reed.

"How could you be so careless, she could be hurt!" Ella screeched at him, looking close to tears.

"Ella sweetheart, she's fine," Ella's mother said interrupting them

Ella gasped and ran up to Sofia and pulled her into a tight hug.

"I'm so sorry Sofia. I should have been with you, I'm sorry," she babbled.

"I'm fine." She said pulling away "I just want to sleep."

"Of course, you must be exhausted," Elder Sage said sympathetically, "Ella why don't you take Sofia back to get some rest."

"Sofia, we are truly sorry, and I promise you, this will never happen again." Elder Yarrow added with a pointed look at Reed.

Ella walked her back to her house, apologizing the whole time profusely.

"I promised I wouldn't let anything happen to you, I'm so sorry I let you down if I hadn't been so... distracted. Argh Reed, I could kill him."

"It's ok Ella it not your fault." She said tiredly for the fifth time.

Ella made her drink some tea before she went to bed, she was exhausted, but she struggled to get to sleep, she heard Ella arguing with Reed in the other room before Reed opened the door quietly and stuck his head in.

"Sofia," he whispered hesitantly.

She closed her eyes pretending to be asleep, she was not in the mood to talk.

She heard the door close quietly, and she finally drifted off.

The house was empty when she finally woke the next day; she made herself some tea and went outside to sit on the rock under the tree. It had taken her a while to fall asleep the night before, her mind buzzing with questions.

The day before had made her question if she had really made the right decision in staying and it had terrified her that she hadn't been able to use her invisibility when she needed it. She practiced a couple of times while sitting on the rock just to make sure it was working. She didn't have any problems, but she wasn't scared and alone. She had never felt fear the way she had in the woods.

To her surprise, while she sat practicing, Shade came up and sat beside her. She tensed, unsure of what to do but the big cat ignored her, intent on cleaning one of its paws and she soon grew used to her company. It was almost as if she knew Sofia didn't want to be alone.

After a while she grew tired of worrying and decided to find the hunter who had saved her and thank him, she was also to curious to find out how he had found her. Before she could get up though, Elder Sage found her.

Sofia was beginning to really like Elder Sage, she was the youngest of the Elders, but she was still wise and incredibly kind.

"I wanted to apologize again for what Reed put you through, and try and explain to you why he did it." Elder Sage said as she sat down next to her.

Sofia looked up at her in surprise, it hadn't occurred to her that Reed might have a reason, she had just assumed he was angry with her.

"He thought it would help you become attuned with the land, if you just focused and needed it enough, it would happen." Elder Sage explained.

"So he wasn't trying to get me killed," she replied, only half joking.

Elder Sage looked shocked, "Of course not, Reed is young and was raised this way, he doesn't understand anything else. Our children are often left on their own for short periods of time in the woods to see if they can find their way. He mistakenly thought it would work for you; he did not take into account that you are not a child. Children are more open and intuitive. He also didn't take into account that you have grown up with a very different type of magic, it will take time for you to find your connection with the land."

"How exactly are you going to teach me then?" she asked.

"Well, honestly, we are not entirely sure," she admitted, she hurried on when she saw Sofia worried expression, "but Elder Yarrow has spent a lot of time in the mountain, more than anyone else, he is confident that in time you will find that connection. He believes it is best for you to spend time with the villagers and see how they interact with nature before you begin any kind of training, he is a very wise man Sofia, I trust him, and you should too."

"Do I have a choice," she asked begrudgingly, it made sense, but it was still frustrating, not knowing how long it would take. Although Elder Sage had relieved some of her concerns.

"Of course you do, you could leave anytime you want, no one would force you to stay," Elder Sage replied immediately.

"Really?."

"Yes, of course!"

She nodded, it was nice knowing she had a choice; she could leave at any moment if she decided too, but she knew she had come too far to turn back now.

"The hunter, did he say anything to you about how he found me?" She asked curiously.

"No he didn't, but that's not surprising, he doesn't speak a lot, but he is one of our best trackers."

"Do you know where I can find him?"

Elder Sage led her to the hunter's house, telling Sofia about the history of the village as they walked, Shade followed along behind them. Hunter Clay's house was at the opposite edge of the village, and they found him sitting outside on a log sharpening a knife when they approached; he nodded a greeting at Elder Sage before she left.

Sofia hesitated for a minute, suddenly nervous as he watched her silently.

"I ahh, I just wanted to thank you for finding me."

He paused for a moment before nodding and turning back to his work.

"How did you find me?" she asked curiously.

He didn't look up, "I'm a hunter, it's what I do."

"Oh, well thank you," she said again and turned away, it didn't seem like she was going to get anything else out of him.

She suddenly realized how hungry she was and headed to the kitchens, hoping Willow might take pity on her and give her something sweet. Along the way, she ran into Elder Yarrow, and he stopped to ask her how she was, sounding concerned.

"I'm okay, thank you," she paused for a minute before continuing, "actually can I ask you a question?"

"Oh, of course."

"When your people talk about being in tune with the land, what does that feel like?" she asked curiously, she suspected that was how Hunter Clay had found her, but she still didn't understand how it worked.

"I imagine it feels different for everyone," he replied unhelpfully.

"Yes, but how does it feel for you? I need to at least get an idea of what I'm supposed to feel."

"Well," he paused for a long time before finally saying, "It feels like there is a buzz of energy around me, I am one life amongst many, all breathing and living together."

She stood waiting for him to continue but he didn't so she thanked him and continued on to the kitchen, thinking over his answer. It didn't make a lot of sense to her but then nothing the Ashen said made much sense to her really. Maybe Ella could shed some light, she thought.

She spent the afternoon with the animals, she found she didn't want to be around people, and the animals were calming. She thought a lot about her home and what she had been taught about magic growing up, no one had ever spoken of magic being a part of the land, she had always been taught that only people had magic inside of them. She just didn't understand how her people didn't know that magic was all around them.

When she next saw Ella that night, she asked her the same question she had asked Elder Yarrow.

"Oh well I'm not sure how to describe it actually," Ella replied hesitantly, "I guess it's like a hum. As if there is an energy around me. Or like an insect buzzing around your face, but its constant. Why do you ask?"

"I was just curious." She replied, deep in thought, both Ella and Elder Yarrow's answers had been similar, and it had given her some idea of what she was supposed to be feeling, but it wouldn't help her much until she actually started training and she had no idea when that would be.

# CHAPTER 27

The next week passed by quickly and she fell exhausted into her bed every night but it was a good feeling, she felt like she had done something productive instead of the endless parties at the palace. She spent her days working with animals, learning to fish, harvesting crops and helping in the kitchen. She hadn't had to go on another hunting trip, thank the gods. She was still frustrated Elder Yarrow hadn't started her training yet, but it was nice, getting to spend time with Ella and getting to know the Ashen.

Reed was especially kind to her, he had apologized many times before Sofia had forgiven him, he did seem to feel truly bad about what he had done. She knew he had been punished by the Elders although she didn't know what that entailed. In Selinus, they would have locked him in a dungeon, but punishment in the woods was probably very different. But she understood that Reed had just been trying to help so she couldn't stay mad at him forever.

She soon realized Ella was right the about the Ashen, they were like a very large family, everyone looked out for each other. There was no violence, nobody was even trained in combat or any kind of fighting, and if one person in the village was sick or injured, everyone stepped in to help them. They also had meetings weekly where everyone in the village was encouraged to voice their ideas and opinions. She couldn't imagine that ever happening in Selinus but she supposed it was a lot easier in a small village than a city as large as Selinus.

During that time she spent a lot of time worrying about her ability to turn invisible and why, when she needed it the most, she hadn't been able to use it. It had never happened to her before, and she didn't understand why? She had trained her whole life and even when she had been attacked by Parker her invisibility had worked.

She wished Mal was there, he would know what to do, she thought.

A couple of weeks passed by with the Ashen and the middle of summer arrived and with it a huge feast to celebrate the summer solstice; apparently, it was a big celebration every year. Everyone was excited but the realization that her birthday wasn't far away just made her nervous, but Ella said there would be music and dancing and a huge bonfire and Sofia had never seen a bonfire before so was excited for that.

She spent the day in the kitchen helping to prepare all of the food for the celebration. It gave her a chance to get to know Ivy and Holly more, and she could see why Ella was friends with them. They talked a lot and often at the same time, which she found entertaining, they also liked to gossip which reminded her of Bree, but mostly they were just carefree and fun. They spent the day telling Sofia all about the village and everyone in it. It was surprising how much gossip there was in such a small village. They also told her about Ella's crush on one of the hunters, and she briefly wondered if that was why Ella had blamed herself for being distracted when they were hunting, not that it was Ella's fault anyway, she didn't know her brother was going to leave her stranded in the woods. But she would have to remember to ask Ella about him later, she was curious to find out more about this hunter.

After they had finished preparing the food, they all gathered at Ella's house to get ready for the night. Ivy braided her hair with flowers while Ella and Holly ruffled through Ella's clothes trying to find something for her to wear. Holly noticed her necklace as they were getting dressed and started to ask her about it but she quickly changed the subject, she didn't want to get into a conversation about Alex, it was just too complicated.

Once they were all ready, they made their way to the clearing in front of the meeting hall where the celebration would be held. There were already tables and chairs set up and an abundance of flowers surrounding the clearing. There was also a soft glow over the entire clearing, Ella explained that the hunters had gathered glowworms and placed them all over the trees and vines above their heads. It wasn't as fancy and spectacular as the parties back at the palace, but she preferred it that way.

There was plenty of food, and she ate until she couldn't fit anything else, they talked and laughed until someone brought out a guitar, and a few of the Ashen started singing, and soon everyone joined in. They sang songs Sofia had never heard before, songs of trees and mountains and adventures, they told stories with their music and Sofia listened mesmerized until the tempo changed and everyone stopped singing and started dancing, and not just the people but the trees too, she stared mesmerized as the branches swayed to the rhythm of the music. Ella laughed at her shocked expression before she dragged her out to dance, but she was hesitant as she didn't know the steps, she quickly realized that nobody cared, they were too busy laughing and dancing to even notice.

They danced late into the night, but after a while she retreated back to one of the tables and sat back watching, feeling strangely peaceful and happy. She still missed home, but it was nice being surrounded by so much happiness. Ella came over to where she was sitting and handed her a mug; she assumed it was tea, but after taking a sip she quickly realized she was wrong, it smelt strong and tasted bitter, she almost spat it out.

"It's our version of wine," Ella told her laughing.

"Really? It tastes nothing like wine."

"Yes but it has the same effect, or so I'm told," she added with a shrug.

They both laughed before Ella was pulled away by one of the hunters who asked her to dance, she wondered if he was the one Ella had a crush. Judging by the color in Ella's cheeks, it was, she thought. Ella seemed to really like him, he made her laugh a lot at least. She felt a twinge of jealousy, she envied them, no one was watching their every move, dissecting everything they said. She wished she had had that with Alex, maybe if they hadn't been forced together, they would actually have fallen in love. Instead, she was consumed with feelings she didn't really understand. If he was just a boy and not a prince she could imagine herself falling in love with him, he was kind and funny, and handsome. But they had never really gotten the chance to just be them; their responsibilities seemed to always get in the way. Also, it was hard to get privacy in the palace, she had gotten so used to it, she hadn't realized how much it bothered her until she was here, with all this space.

Reed appeared from behind her and took a seat next to her on the rock. "I thought you liked dancing," he said quietly.

"I do," she smiled, "they wore me out, besides I like watching them, they all seem so happy."

"So do I."

"Yes, I have noticed that," She commented, "why aren't you up there dancing?"

"I have never been much of a dancer."

"Wow so there is something you can't do," she exclaimed feigning shock, she had noticed that Reed seemed to be a man with many talents.

He surprised her by laughing.

"Nobody's perfect," he replied with a shrug.

They watched in silence for a while longer before he suddenly turned to her.

"I want to show you something."

"What is it?" she asked, surprised.

"It's a surprise, but it will be worth it," he said smiling, she had never seen Reed this excited and she curious to know why.

But still, she hesitated, "you know that's what Ella said to get me here."

"And look how well that turned out," he replied grinning, "I promise I won't leave you again," he said, correctly guessing at her hesitation, "I just really think you will like it."

"I just wish you would tell me what it is first."

"If I do, it will ruin the surprise."

She frowned, now she was definitely curious. She jumped to her feet, surprising him, "Okay then, lead the way."

To her surprise, he held out his hand, and she took it, this time without hesitation. It was dark and quiet in the woods, they could only just hear the music from the village, but surprisingly she wasn't scared, maybe that wine was stronger than she thought. But she still didn't want to be left on her own again, so she squeezed Reeds hand tighter, just in case.

He turned to her concerned, "I promised I wouldn't leave you again."

"I know, just making sure," she said with a small smile.

They walked for a while longer before he suddenly stopped, "Alright close your eyes."

"You're joking," she replied amused, and he sighed heavily.

"Just close them."

She closed her eyes reluctantly, and he pulled her forward a few steps.

"Now you can open them."

She opened her eyes to reveal a small pond surrounded by flowers, sparkling in the moonlight, and above the pond were fireflies, hundreds of them. It was completely magical.

"It's beautiful," she whispered, "How did you find this place?"

"I just stumbled upon it one night."

"You like exploring don't you?"

"Yes, I love being outside surrounded by nature and magic, I couldn't imagine living in a palace," he said after a moment, "our grandmother tried to explain it to us once, the city, I couldn't understand why people would choose to live like that, doesn't it feel suffocating?"

"Yes, it does," she admitted, she paused before continuing. "When I was younger, in the summer we used to travel to my grandfather's estate in the country. It was huge, he had horses and other animals and it was surrounded by gardens, there was so much green, and a lake where my sisters and I used to swim. It was my favorite time of year." She added sadly, suddenly missing her grandfather more than ever. Reed reached over and squeezed her hand again.

"It must have been amazing growing up here," she said changing the subject, "surrounded by all this." She waved her arms about encompassing the whole clearing.

"It really was, it's the only world I know," he said quietly.

They lay down in the middle of the clearing and watched as the fireflies flew around them, Reed even managed to coax them into creating pictures to amuse her.

They lay there for what seemed like forever before finally making their way back to the party. No-one had noticed them missing, and as soon as they arrived back, Ella dragged her out to dance. Reed disappeared, and she didn't see him for the rest of the night. It was very late when they all finally went home; Sofia fell exhausted into her bed dreaming of dancing on a sparkling lake with her sisters, surrounded by fireflies.

# CHAPTER 28

Sofia woke the next morning shaking and covered in sweat, she hastily pushed back the covers and crept quietly from the room so as not to wake Ella. She needn't have worried though; Ella slept like the dead and could rarely be woken before dawn.

She stood outside the house staring out over the town. She shivered, her dreams had turned into yet another nightmare, the fireflies had disappeared, and she had been trapped in darkness, she could hear her sister crying and calling for her, but no matter how hard she tried she couldn't move, she couldn't do anything.

She had tried to distract herself from thinking too much of her sisters in the last couple of weeks, or she thought her guilt would consume her. She could only hope that Evelyn was taking care of Lucy. She sighed loudly. It was too late to turn back, she reminded herself, she had to see this through. All the same, she realized she dreaded going back and facing all those she had left behind.

Ella found her still sitting on the rock hours later as the sun rose above the horizon.

"Are you okay? You've been getting up early lately, I thought a princess would want her beauty sleep," she teased.

Sofia smiled half-heartedly, but Reed interrupted them before she could reply, calling from the doorway of the house "Ella, we have to go, the others are waiting."

"We haven't even had breakfast yet."

"We'll eat on the way. I've packed plenty of food, but we need to leave now if we are going to make it back before dark."

"Where are you going?" Sofia asked curiously.

"Not just me, you as well Sofia, come on, we should get ready."

Ella dragged her back inside to change, and then they all set off.

"Why won't you tell me where we are going?"

"I can't, you just have to see it," Reed replied.

"I wish, for once, you would just tell me," she muttered.

They reached the middle of the village and found Elder Yarrow and Elder Sage along with a handful of hunters waiting for them, she was glad to see Clay was amongst them. They left the village, and although they still wouldn't tell her where they were going, she realized they were taking her in the opposite direction to the mountain, which had been her first guess. The hunters set a fast pace, but she didn't find it difficult to keep up now that she didn't need to worry about being quiet, all her training with Mal had kept her fit.

The group made its way up one of the hills surrounding the village, the walk was steep, and she could feel her muscles burning. They stopped for a quick rest at the top, and it gave Sofia a chance to take in the view. It was breathtaking, she couldn't even see the village because of all the trees, but she could see the mountain in all its beauty, rising up from the trees and stretching up into the sky. It was so much larger than she had expected, everybody talked about the great mountain, but she hadn't realized just how big it was.

"I've never seen so much green in my life!" she exclaimed.

Reed chuckled as he came up to stand beside her, "a bit different to what you are used to I suppose."

"Yes, just a bit."

After a brief hesitation, he spoke again, "what's it like?" he asked.

"What?"

"Your city, the palace you grew up in? Our conversation last night made me wonder, I've heard stories of dirty streets and houses falling apart, packed in so tightly that people can barely move."

How strange it must be she thought, to know nothing of the outside world.

"That is true, but it's not all bad," she replied honestly, "the city is right next to the sea, which is a beautiful, sparkling blue, and it stretches out as far as you can see. The streets are mostly paved with stones although some are dirtier than others," she admitted. "but it's actually quite beautiful, in its own way. There are trees scattered among the streets and in some areas the houses are all painted different colors and palace has the most beautiful gardens, full of flowers and water fountains, although it doesn't really compare to this."

Reed was staring at her intently as she talked. She realized it wasn't often that people actually listened the way that Reed did, without interruption and as though he really did want to hear what she had to say. She would have gone on, but they were interrupted by Elder Yarrow telling them it was time to move on.

They walked, or in Sofia's case, slid down the other side of the hill, then skirted around a sparkling lake the Ashen called Lake Ebony, before reaching the mouth of a narrow canyon. The canyon was normally full of water during the winter months, but since it was dry, they could cut through and would reach their destination a lot quicker.

She felt it before she saw it, a sense of dread that settled inside her. Her steps slowed as the dread increased, the trees in front of her were slowly getting darker, leaves were falling as they moved further in. It started getting quieter, and she stopped dead in her track as she realized this was what the mountain had shown her. The trees in front of her were now completely black, the ground was black, there was a dark mist shrouding everything that only got darker the further back she looked. It was just like she remembered from the mountain, from her nightmares, the silence was suffocating, she could feel everyone watching her, and she turned on them furiously.

"This was what I felt in the mountain, you lied to me, you said you didn't know what it meant," she said accusingly, directing her anger at Elder Yarrow as everyone else shuffled uncomfortably.

"I'm sorry Sofia, we didn't want to overwhelm you, we believed it would be better if you had time to process everything you had experienced in the mountain before we showed you this."

Elder Sage approached her cautiously and put her hand on Sofia's arm as she backed away from the darkness.

"Sofia, It's ok, it won't hurt you this far out." Elder Sage said reassuringly, "We learned that the hard way, unfortunately, we sent people in and they never returned, we have kept careful watch since then. But It's moving, creeping closer every day, and faster. Like it's gaining strength."

"It probably is, if it's draining the land," Sofia muttered.

"Is that what the mountain told you?" Elder Sage asked, surprised

She paused for a minute thinking, "the mountain didn't tell me anything, it just showed me, but that's what it felt like, it felt like it was draining the life out of me."

She still didn't mention the boy, again something was holding her back.

"It makes sense doesn't it, that's why the trees are black, and there are no animals. Everything has had the life drained out of it," she paused, releasing something, "I think it might be affecting people as well. A healer in the city, she was sick, and her niece said her hands were black."

Everyone was silent as they took in what she had said.

"But why her, and why so far from the woods, have you heard about other people getting sick?" Reed finally asked.

"Not in the city but there were rumors of sickness in villages near the edge of the woods. I'm not sure if they were true or not."

"Didn't they send people out to investigate?"

"I'm not sure," she admitted reluctantly, the King had not deemed it important enough during the tournament and with her disappearance; they might be using all their resources to look for her.

The thought that the disease might be affecting people had everyone on edge, and Elder Yarrow made them all move further back from the edge of the darkness, just in case.

They followed along the edge of the darkness as Elder Sage talked about when they first discovered it, only a year ago. Ella said it had spread a lot since she had last seen it, which worried Sofia. After a while, they came to a stream and just like the trees, the color faded to darkness as it wound its way into the darkness.

"Is the clear water still drinkable?" she asked.

"As far as we can tell, yes," Elder Sage responded, "it doesn't seem to be tainted at all, we tried testing the darker water before it gets completely black, but whenever we tried to get a sample it destroyed whatever we tried to put it in, dissolved it completely."

"What about fish?"

"We haven't seen any go near it." One of the hunters spoke this time. "They are afraid too, even they can sense it's dangerous."

"Have you tried to stop it?" she asked Elder Sage.

"How?"

"I don't know, can't you put up some kind of barrier spell like my people used in the banishing?"

"We don't know how to perform that kind of magic," Elder Yarrow replied, "but perhaps that's your purpose, to find out how your people performed the banishing, we may be able to do the same to the darkness," he added thoughtfully.

"Maybe that's why the mountain showed you the banishing." Ella added, "Do you remember how they did it."

"Not really, I was too far away to really hear what they were saying, not that I would have understood anyway."

"The mountain showed you that vision for a reason, just remember that." Elder Yarrow replied, "perhaps something will come back to you that you didn't realize was important at the time. We need to head out now, or we won't make it back before dark." Elder Yarrow added, looking up at the sky.

He led a brisk pace back to the village, but Sofia was so deep in thought she barely remembered any of it, consumed by the realization that the darkness was real, and she was supposed to stop it.

# CHAPTER 29

The next day Elder Yarrow decided it was finally time for Sofia to start her training, she wasn't sure what she had been expecting, but meditation surely wasn't it.

Elder Sage was to be her instructor and Sofia soon realized why, she had a soothing voice and she spoke softly as they sat in a small clearing with their eyes closed for hours as Elder Sage tried to get her to open up her other senses to the forest, focusing on all the sounds and smells around her. All the Ashen did this as children to open them up to the woods and all the magic surrounding them.

Elder Sage explained that some Ashen found it easier to connect with animals, insects or fish, while others with the land, plants or trees which was why everyone had different jobs in the village.

She struggled at first. She was too impatient, until one day, she felt it, like a buzz of energy coming from a small bird in a nearby tree. She gasped in surprise when she felt it, and she could tell Elder Sage was excited as well. Although being able to feel the magic in a bird was still a long way away from actually being able to connect with it, she was happy she had made some progress, and she continued to find it easier as the days went by. She found it a lot easier to feel the magic in birds, but Elder Sage insisted that she continue practicing with trees and other things as well.

One day she became so focused on her meditation that she completely lost track of time. She was focused on a bird, following the buzz of magic as it moved from branch to branch when there was a noise from behind her, and the bird flew away startled. Her eyes snapped open, and she spun around to see Ella appear from the trees behind her.

"Sorry I didn't mean to interrupt, but it was getting dark," Ella said.

"Oh that's my fault," Elder Sage said apologetically, "I didn't realize how late it was."

Sofia looked up to see the sun almost completely hidden by the trees. She followed behind Ella as they walked back home, it was strange how much she thought of the little cottage as home even after only a couple of weeks. Ella's mother was great, she was warm and caring, unlike her own mother. She had yet to ask Ella what happened to her father, Ella never talked about him, and she didn't want to push her.

Sofia was surprised about how much she enjoyed spending time with the Ashen, even though she now knew about the darkness and felt that weight of responsibility on her shoulders, she didn't feel the pressure from the Ashen like she often had at home, they didn't expect her to be perfect. Elder Sage especially was incredibly kind and patient while teaching and Azalia treated her as if she were her own child, she spent her nights with her learning how to mend clothes and mix herbs to treat injuries.

She also began exploring the woods more and more with the help of Reed. She guessed he was still trying to make up for leaving her alone in the woods, but he was a great companion to have. He was incredibly knowledgeable, he knew all the different types of plants and showed her how to tell the difference between them, some were familiar, they were in the gardens at the palace, but most she had never seen before. He also showed her how to track and identify birds from the noises they made, but most importantly he taught her how to move silently through the woods. She found the more time she spent in the woods, the more comfortable she was and she no longer jumped at every sound and movement she saw out of the corner of her eye.

It also gave her a chance to get to know Reed better, he was a lot like Ella, they were both strong and cared a lot about their people. She realized that his anger was because he was trying to protect his people, at least he seemed to stop blaming her for the banishing.

She started meditating on her own as well as with Elder Sage. Exploring further than she had ever gone before, moving from tree to tree she opened herself up to their magic. That's when she felt it, a small tug, she had never felt anything like that before, but she followed it anyway, curious. The tug led her to what she thought was a small bird, she still found it difficult to tell when she was so far away. But she decided to try moving closer to it, so very slowly she stood, still concentrating on the tug and she opened her eyes. To her surprise she didn't lose the feeling, normally when she opened her eyes, it broke her concentration, but the pull was so strong. She walked slowly in the direction of the pull, she hoped it wasn't too far away, it didn't seem that far but she still often found it hard to tell distances. She didn't want to wander too far from the village although she was a lot more familiar with the woods now and Reed had shown her how to use the sun and stars to navigate.

Luckily it wasn't far, and she soon found the animal causing the pull. She let her concentration drop, gasping in relief, she had never done that before, and it had drained her energy. She moved closer to the animal surprised to see it wasn't a bird after all but what looked to be a small dog curled up under a bush, shivering. She moved closer, cautiously.

"Careful," Reed said quietly from behind her, she almost jumped in fright.

"Are you following me?" she asked without turning around.

"Yes, I wanted to make sure you weren't getting into trouble," he smiled when she turned to glare at him. "I didn't want to interrupt you, you looked like you were concentrating, how did you find it?" he asked curiously.

"I felt it, like a tug of energy," she replied, and he looked at her surprised.

"You connected with it?" he questioned.

"I guess, what is it?"

"It's a wolf."

She had never seen a wolf before.

"But it's so small."

"It must be a runt, probably left behind by its mother."

"That's awful," she said, grimacing down at the poor animal.

Reed frowned. "Don't even think about it," he warned.

"But it will die if we don't do anything and you have other animals in your village already?"

"You can't just bring an animal into the village without the Elders approval."

"Then we'll take it to the Elders for approval."

He sighed resigned.

"Fine," he said and moved to pick up the wolf.

"Wait I want to do it, I found it," she protested, Reed shrugged, took off his jacket and handed it to her.

"Here wrap it in this and move slowly, it may be small, but those teeth will still be sharp."

To both of their surprise, it barely stirred as she picked it up.

Reed frowned again, "it must be worse than I thought, we should hurry."

Reed led her back to the village, they moved quickly, Reed only stopping to help her over a log or uneven ground.

They reached the healer's cottage and found Azalia outside picking herbs, she ushered them inside straight away. It was dark and dingy inside the cottage and packed with shelves full of plants and bowls, Ella was right there was barely any space to move. The healer, Wren, looked the wolf over while Azalia held him carefully, inspecting his mouth and claws before he gave a grunt and, muttering to himself, began pulling out different bowls and jars. He sent Reed outside for firewood and started throwing items into a pot over the fire and soon they had a stew brewing. Once it was done, she gently held his head up while Wren carefully spoon-fed the little wolf.

"So can it stay?" Sofia asked the healer.

"Well, I don't think it will be going anywhere soon," Wren commented, "we can discuss it at the next meeting."

"And It is a boy," he added with a small smile.

After a couple of hours, they were able to take the wolf home, and she stayed in the house most of the next day with the little wolf under the supervision of Azalia, encouraging him to eat more of the stew. He seemed to be gaining strength but never made any move to bite her.

The following day she got up, as usual, to help with the animals and was surprised when the wolf jumped up to follow her out the door. She tried to encourage him to stay, but every time she went to the door he followed.

"Well it looks like you might have to take him with you," said Ella's mother, chuckling.

She laughed as well and let him follow her out the door. Unfortunately, when they got closer to the animals, the animals all started making a huge racket. She looked accusingly down at the little wolf who was looking up at her with big innocent eyes.

"Well, what are we going to do now?" she muttered.

She heard a chuckle behind her and turned to find Larch watching her. "I heard you had gone and got yourself a little wolf, didn't quite believe it myself."

"Sorry, he followed me here. I tried to leave him behind."

He waved her off, studying the wolf carefully.

"We can handle the animals without you, seems the little wolf thinks you're his mother."

'Really? she replied aghast, "how do I get him to stop?"

"You can't."

"But I can't be his mother!" she had wanted to help him but being his mother seemed like a big responsibility, and she didn't know if she could handle any more responsibility at this point, she already had the fate of Latheria on her shoulders.

"Don't think you have much of a choice. Why don't you go to the kitchens and find something for him to eat." He motioned to the little wolf, "and perhaps you should spend the rest of the day getting to know him, you might learn something important."

She left, wondering what he meant by that. What could she learn from a wolf?

She arrived at the kitchens, and everyone came over to see the wolf, gushing over him, he seemed nervous by all the people crowding around him, but luckily they didn't try to get too close. They could probably sense his nervousness, she thought, the Ashen were all very intuitive, especially when it came to animals.

"He's so cute!" Holly exclaimed, "do you have a name for him?"

"No, I hadn't thought about that," she said, she had no idea what to even name a wolf.

She spent the rest of the day wandering the woods with the little wolf. She stopped often to let him rest, but he seemed to have bounced back smoothly enough, although he was very cautious and didn't stray too far from Sofia's side.

They ran into Elder Sage along the way, and she was curious to hear the story of how she had found him.

"It sounds like he connected with you," Elder Sage mused after Sofia had finished her story.

"I didn't know that was even possible,"

"It is unusual, but perhaps he felt your magic and was calling to you for help."

It did make sense, she thought. Either way, at least she was making progress.

The little wolf stretched out at Sofia's feet that night, worn out, as they sat around the fire at Ella's house talking, and Ella, to her surprise, brought up the subject of Sofia's birthday. Sofia hadn't realized that Ella even knew when it was.

"It's important Sofia, we should celebrate it!" Ella insisted.

"I really don't feel like celebrating Ella, I'm sorry."

She had never really enjoyed her birthday all that much, her mother always planned an elaborate party and invited everyone, Sofia had to spend the day talking to people she barely knew and this birthday especially wasn't something she had been looking forward too.

Ella opened her mouth to protest, but her mother cut her off.

"Of course Sofia, it's your birthday; you should do what you want to do." She said firmly, giving Ella a hard look, to her surprise, Ella didn't argue further.

Sofia lay awake that night thinking about home, wondering again if she was doing the right thing, talking about her birthday just made her think of home and her family. Her birthday had always felt like just another stepping stone on her way to being Queen, and she worried about what was happening at home in her absence. She had been gone almost two months now, she was making progress, but it was slow, and she still didn't understand what the point of it was. How was learning all this going to help her? Elder Yarrow had told her to trust the mountain when she had brought up her doubts to him, but she found it hard to trust something she didn't understand.

She tossed and turned for hours before, to her surprise, the little wolf jumped onto her bed and snuggled into her side, and she finally fell asleep.

# CHAPTER 30

Over the next couple of days, she tried to get back into her routine. The animals started to get used to having the little wolf around, and he learned to keep his distance. Although he never went out of eyesight, the little wolf grew more and more confident as the days went by, happy to explore on his own. He still wouldn't let anyone but Sofia pet him without growling, but he was growing more used to them being around.

He also loved chickens, they were always wandering around the village and at first, he had been scared of them, keeping his distance, but as he grew more confident, he started to chase them, and it soon became his favorite game.

She made sure to keep a close eye on him but he didn't seem interested in hurting them, he just liked chasing them and other animals as well, it wasn't long before he was chasing cats, rabbits, and even insects.

Ivy and Holly both found it incredibly entertaining, especially when he was chasing some rabbits one day and ran straight into a tree. It didn't stop him though, he just shook his head a couple of times and went straight back to chasing them.

"You should call him Chase," Holly joked, "since he seems to love it so much."

Sofia laughed as well but then thought about it seriously for a second. She had been racking her brain trying to come up with a name for him for days. She couldn't keep calling him little wolf, and Chase definitely fit.

"Actually that's not a bad idea," she said, grinning at the twins.

She turned to the little wolf who was now lying down panting, watching the chickens with a mischievous glint in his eye.

"Chase?" she called, and to her delight, he looked right at her.

"Well, I guess that settles it," Holly said with a laugh, and she couldn't help but join in.

She started meditation again the next day but still wasn't able to connect with an animal the way she had with Chase. Elder Sage was very positive though and just insisted she needed to keep trying. It was exhausting though.

Her birthday crept closer, and Ella started suggesting ideas, always out of earshot of her mother though. Finally, after all of her party ideas were shot down, she gave up. It was Reed, of all people, who came up with the perfect idea. Although he wouldn't tell her what it was exactly, only that it wasn't a party, he promised her she would like it, and his mother agreed, so she gave in, she knew Ella wouldn't be happy until she agreed to do something.

"Why is this so important to you, Ella?" She asked as they walked through the woods on the way to Reed's surprise, it was just the three of them, and Reed was carrying a large bag on his back, although he wouldn't tell her what was in it, the smells wafting from it gave her a pretty good idea.

"Birthdays are important, especially the eighteenth year. We always have a celebration to honor the occasion, and I know you miss home, so I just wanted to do something to make you feel better."

"That's really sweet of you Ella, thank you," she said sincerely.

She had been too busy to think of home the last couple of days, but she did then, wondering and worrying about what her sisters were doing. If they were ok. It felt strange to be so cut off from them and everyone else she had ever known.

She heard it before she saw it and knew exactly what it was, she raced towards the sound pulling Ella along behind her, suddenly incredibly excited. They stepped into a clearing and straight ahead of them was the waterfall cascading down from the cliffs above. There was a small group of people already waiting for them, Ivy and Holly were there along with a couple of others around their age. They had set up blankets and were starting to spread out food, it was perfect, she thought.

"I know how much you loved swimming in the lake with your sisters when you were younger so I thought you would like this. But first, as the birthday girl, I think you should be the one to jump first." He grinned, pointing to the top of the waterfall.

Sofia laughed then stopped at their serious expressions. "You can't be serious."

"It's perfectly safe, we have all done it before." Ella added, "it's almost a rite of passage."

She followed the others to the top still unsure if they were joking or not. She stared apprehensively over the edge of the cliff to the water gushing below.

"Are you ready?" Ella asked.

"What if I hit a rock or something?" she protested.

"Come on princess I thought you liked adventure?" Reed teased.

She frowned, it felt strange hearing Reed call her that. She was so far away from being a princess and to prove it she took a deep breath before she threw herself over the edge. The water was shockingly cold when she hit, but she was buzzing from the adrenaline and didn't care. It was terrifying and exhilarating all at once, and she wanted to do it again.

It was by far the best birthday she had ever had. It was everything she thought a birthday should be, even Chase joined in on the fun, jumping into the water with them. She suspected he was trying to catch the little fish that darted around just out of reach. He also spent a lot of time chasing Shade, who had suddenly shown up after being absent for the last week, she could tell Ella had been worried, but Shade seemed fine. She couldn't tell if Shade actually enjoyed playing with Chase or if she just tolerated him, she suspected the latter.

They ate lots of amazing food and played games, some she knew but others she didn't. Holly and Ivy begged her to show them her invisibility, they were incredibly curious and gasped when she disappeared before their eyes. She circled around them and appeared from behind to scare them, and they screamed in fright. Ella laughingly suggested a new game, and they spent the rest of the afternoon playing a game of hide and seek where the Ashen tried to find her using their magic. Reed was unsurprisingly very good at it.

She slowed down to walk with Reed on the way back to the village to thank him for the surprise, nobody had ever done anything so thoughtful for her before, it had been the perfect birthday, and somehow Reed had known exactly what she needed. She realized that during all their time together Sofia had told Reed more about herself than anyone else, even Ella, he was just so easy to talk to, he never judged her or thought she was being silly. He just listened, and she liked that.

"I'm glad you liked it, you've been so serious lately, it's nice to see you having fun."

"It was a nice break, I really needed it."

He frowned. "You should take a break more often."

"Yes, I should, too bad there aren't any waterfalls in Selinus."

She woke up late the next day, and she rushed to her meditation with Elder Sage, full of apologies but Elder Sage waved away her apologies, she looked excited about something.

"What's going on?" Sofia questioned.

"I've had an idea," she exclaimed, "I don't know why I didn't think of it sooner, we have been trying to get you to connect with animals around you when we should be trying to get you to reconnect with Chase."

"I don't understand, how will that help?"

"You have already connected with Chase so you should have some sense of what that feels like which should help you to reconnect with him, once you get used to what that connection feels like it should be easier for you to find that connection with other animals."

She looked down at Chase, and he stared right back up at her, she couldn't imagine what he was thinking but she was curious to know, and it couldn't hurt to try at least.

They sat on the ground, cross-legged with eye closed, as they normally would but this time she focused solely on Chase, trying to sense him the way she did the animals around her, to her surprise she found it surprisingly easy almost as if he was already open to her.

She felt that little pull straight away, stronger than it had been the first time she had felt it and a buzz of energy, like she felt with the birds.

"I feel something, like a pull."

"Do you feel anything else?" she said asked

"It's like I can feel his heart beating and... his breathing, but that's it, I can't sense what he is feeling, like Larch can."

She chuckled, "well I didn't really expect you too. Animals feel and sense differently, so it is hard for humans to connect and even understand what an animal is feeling, but hopefully, with practice, it will get easier." she continued, "I want you to practice this as often as possible. Try and see if you can do it without really concentrating fully, just open yourself up to him while you're doing something else, I also think we should take a break from our meditation today."

"We can't take a break, I need to learn this."

"And I believe that's part of the problem, you're trying to learn too much too soon, most Ashen spend their entire childhood learning this. You're trying to squeeze it all into a couple of months, it's not possible. You just need to concentrate on one thing at a time, the mountain never said you needed to master everything."

She left feeling dejected, it felt like she was failing. The longer she was away from home, the guiltier she felt but how could she go back without learning everything? She felt unprepared, and she didn't know how she was going to learn everything.

She sank to the ground and brushed angrily at a tear that rolled down her cheek, frustrated. Nobody really knew how she was supposed to stop the darkness; just that she was the person who would. How was that fair? Putting all that pressure on her but giving her no answers.

She was still there hours later when Reed returned from working in the fields.

"What if I fail? Latheria will be destroyed, and it will be all my fault!" she burst out suddenly before he could even ask what was wrong.

"At least there will be no one left to blame you," he replied then winced at her distraught expression, "sorry that was a terrible joke. I was trying to make you feel better." he sighed and rubbed the back of his neck, "Look Sofia, no one knows how to stop the darkness, but also no one knows what it will do when it reaches the mountain, maybe the magic in the mountain will be enough to stop it, maybe you are just a precaution. My point is you can only do your best and hope it's enough. Nobody expects you to somehow master our kind of magic."

She laid back on the ground staring up at the sky thinking about what Reed had said, darkness was creeping in, but Sofia didn't want to leave. Reed lay down beside her. They stayed and watched as the sun went down and stars started appearing in the sky until there was too many to count. Reed didn't say another word until finally she reluctantly got to her feet. Her tears had dried up long ago. Reeds words had helped, if only a little. She was still worried, but he had given her an idea, she wanted to visit the mountain again, she needed more answers.

She asked Elder Yarrow about visiting the mountain again, but for some reason, he was hesitant and insisted she trust the mountain and continue with her training, but she still felt as if she was missing something.

# CHAPTER 31

A week later she met up with Elder Sage again. To her frustration, she still hadn't made much progress with Chase though Elder Sage didn't seem to be worried about her progress.

"Actually I have been thinking a lot about our last session," Elder Sage said eagerly, "and I think it would be a good idea for you to spend the day with the hunters and learn how they use their senses to track animals. They are all chosen for their connection with animals, and I believe it would be useful for you to understand how others connect with animals. Animals are not my strength, I've never had much of an affinity with them. I'm afraid, so there is only so much I can teach you."

"What about Larch and Ash, they both have strong connections with animals don't they?" She questioned.

"Yes they do, and you already spend every morning with them, the hunters are the only group you haven't spent a lot of time with." Elder Sage frowned, "after what happened last time no wanted to push you, but I really do think it will help."

Sofia hesitated, "I don't know, I don't want to hurt any animals," she shuddered at the thought. She couldn't understand how anyone with a connection to animals would be able to harm them in any way, let alone kill them.

"You won't have to, this will be purely tracking and sensing animals."

She had been glad when nobody had pressured her to go out with the hunters after her first disastrous outing, but she had spent a lot of time in the woods since then and felt a lot more comfortable then she had the first time. If there wasn't going to be any killing, what did she have to lose? she thought.

"I guess, if you really think it will help?"

"I do." Elder Sage replied with a relieved smile.

Unfortunately going hunting meant she had to leave Chase behind and he wasn't happy about it, she locked him in Ella's house so he couldn't follow her and she could hear him howling as she left, it made her heart ache, but she kept walking. She had grown so attached to him and hated seeing him upset, he slept curled up next to her every night, and she slept better knowing he was there.

She followed Elder Sage to the edge of the village where the hunters gathered before setting off for the day and introduced her to Rowan, the hunter Ella had a crush on. She was curious to meet him, he hadn't been around much the last couple of weeks. Ella had said he was visiting another village.

"Rowan will be your guide for today," Elder Sage said, and Rowan nodded at her in greeting, but he didn't look overly happy with the job, "you will stay close to him and learn everything you can, even just by watching him I'm sure you will learn a lot."

With the introductions made, she left.

"So I get the pleasure of spending my day with a princess," Rowan commented smirking.

She frowned, "I'm not actually a princess."

"Really? coulda fooled me," he said dryly, he looked her up and down disapprovingly, "you can't go dressed like that."

"Why not?" she asked as she looked down at the clothes she had borrowed from Ella, she was lucky they were about the same size. It was just a plain top with pants, she didn't understand what was wrong with them. She was never allowed to wear pants at the palace except for training, but she often saw women in the city wearing them, and she could understand why. They were a lot more practical than the skirts she normally wore and she had grown attached to them.

"It doesn't really blend into the forest now does it."

He gave her some clothes to change into and left her standing there wondering where she was supposed to change, there were no buildings in sight, she frowned as she realized he expected her to change where she was, after a brief hesitation she pulled the clothes on over the top of what she was already wearing. She looked down at herself and almost laughed out loud. If only her mother could see her now.

They met up with a couple of other hunters and Rowan introduced them, but Sofia was distracted by the giant longbows they held and started to worry that there was actually going to be killing, after feeling the connection with Chase she couldn't imagine hurting an animal. It made her sick to think about it.

She pulled Rowan to one side.

"You're not actually going to kill anything are you?"

"Of course we are, princess, that's our job."

"I know that but Elder Sage said we wouldn't be killing anything, I was just here to learn!"

"Exactly! she said you wouldn't be killing anything." Rowan replied before he walked away, leaving her to follow in his wake and wonder if he was joking or serious. He set a hard pace, and she struggled to keep up with him. Not long into their journey one of the other hunters dropped back and spoke a few words to Rowan.

Rowan stopped and turned back to her, "You're being too loud." he said sharply. She winced inwardly. Apparently, she hadn't learned as much as she had thought from Reed.

"At this rate, we won't catch anything," Rowan added under his breath.

"Good." she snapped, and he turned to her with raised eyebrows, she ground her teeth in frustration, trying to stop herself from acting like the spoilt princess he thought she was. "You're going too fast, I didn't grow up in the woods like you, what did you expect," she said frustrated, she was used to moving silently around the palace and during training, but that was different than being in a forest with sticks and leaves and rocks everywhere. How was she supposed to be quiet while trying to keep up with him?

He sighed, "ok, relax, you're overthinking, just stop and listen to the woods around you and try and match your footsteps to the sounds of the woods."

She stared at him skeptically, but she was determined to try and prove herself.

"And stop breathing so heavily," he added.

"This is how I normally breathe" she snapped frustrated.

"Well then stop breathing," he retorted.

Fuming silently, she followed Rowan through the woods, trying to make her footsteps to the sound of the woods as he told her. She also paid close attention to Rowan, trying to match her pace to his. The hunters were all so at ease in the woods, she couldn't even see any of the others anymore except Rowan, they blended in so well with the woods around them. They kept walking for what felt like hours until they all suddenly came to a dead halt, Sofia just barely stopped in time before she ran into Rowan's back. She looked around but couldn't see why they had stopped. She turned to Rowan, he had his eyes closed and was concentrating hard, so she closed her eyes as well. She tried to push her mind out and feel the animals around her, she could feel the birds straight away, they were easy enough, but she struggled to feel anything else. She frowned concentrating harder, she almost felt something in the distance, the faintest flutter but it slipped away every time she got close. She gave up in frustration opening her eyes to see Rowan watching her, he raised his eyebrows in silent question, but she just shook her head feeling defeated. He turned away and started moving forward again, slower this time. Sofia followed as quietly as she could. The other hunters slowly melted into the trees around them disappearing from her sight. They reached a couple of large bushes, and Rowan motioned for her to go under them, she scrunched up her nose but did as he indicated, together they lay unmoving, waiting, for what she didn't know but her whole body ached from being in one place too long. She could see and feel the bugs crawling around them, and it was starting to creep her out, she had never liked bugs, but she was determined that she would not move until Rowan did. He thought she was just a spoilt princess, and he was right to a certain extent, she had been spoilt, but she wanted to show him that wasn't all she was, she was more than that. Mal had shown her the value of discipline and patience. She appreciated that now, although she had hated it at the time, all the training sessions spent standing silently in one place until someone came close enough to attack had taught her a lot, she didn't need to attack them first, if she was patient they would come to her.

So they waited and waited until finally, she saw it, a lone deer, plodding its way through the trees; its ears were pricked up twitching back and forth listening intently. Rowan nudged her, and she looked over, he mouthed the word concentrate to her.

She closed her eyes again; the deer was right in front of her so she should be able to feel it, but still, all she could feel was a faint flutter. She opened her eyes again and saw it was coming closer; soon it would be right in front of her. She squeezed her eyes shut and swore silently in frustration, why was it so hard. She could feel the birds around her easily, but the deer was still just a flutter. She could even hear the deer, its hooves crunching in the leaves as it passed right by the bush they were hiding under. Sofia could hear its breath. She could feel the flutter now even with her eyes open, and she realized maybe that was all she was supposed to feel. She had thought that because it was a bigger animal, it would have a bigger energy than the birds she felt so easily, but the deer was so delicate, just like the flutter she felt.

Rowan suddenly sprang up from beside her, pouncing on the deer before it could even react and sliced his knife through the deer's throat. The deer dropped to the ground in front of her and Sofia lay there shaking, staring at the now blank eyes of the deer.

She rose to her feet slowly, "how could you do that," she whispered to Rowan, aghast. "You could feel it; feel its energy how could you just kill it?" She could feel tears in her eyes but refused to let them fall.

"Calm down princess," Rowan said with a roll of his eyes.

"No, it's horrible, I can't believe..." she couldn't even finish her sentence she was so angry and upset, she couldn't even look at the deer, she stormed off, wanting to put as much distance as possible between her and the deer.

Rowan yelled after her. "Where are you going, you're going to get yourself lost."

She froze, torn between anger and fear over being lost in the woods on her own again. She swore under her breath and stopped, she kept her back to Rowan and the deer until the other hunters arrived back. She realized now that they had been herding the poor deer in their direction.

"It's the way of life Sofia. We need them to survive just as they need us, a cat doesn't feel guilty for killing to feed itself, why should we, I'm sorry It's not as pretty and perfect as what you are accustomed too, but you'll have to get used to it if you are going to staying here." Rowan said quietly as the other hunters went on ahead carrying the deer, she fumed silently, trailing after him. She hated to admit he had a point, she had eaten meat all her life with barely a thought to how it got on her plate, but he didn't need to kill it right in front of her. That was just cruel.

# CHAPTER 32

She slept badly that night, with dreams of being chased by deer and the woods closing in on her until it all went black and she woke up gasping for air. She threw off the covers, sweat dripping down her back. Chase nudged her hand, and she patted his head before checking to make sure Ella was still asleep. She didn't want to worry her, she had been quiet that night at dinner, and Ella had looked at her worryingly all night. She had left the hunters as soon as they had reached the village to try and find Elder Sage, determined to find out why she had lied to her, she had promised there would be no killing, but she hadn't been able to find the Elder anywhere.

She returned home, still angry and frustrated, Ella was already there when she stalked through the door and immediately asked what was wrong when she saw her face. She angrily told her what had happened and to her surprise, Ella stormed out the door to talk to Rowan herself.

Ella was quiet when she finally arrived back, and Sofia didn't press her for answers, she was too tired from the day and went to bed early. Hours later, after a lot of tossing and turning she finally gave up tiptoed out of the room and outside into the cold night air. The woods were so still, and she would have been frightened if not for the moon shining brightly above her head. She went over to a patch of grass and laid down, Chase stretching out beside her. She stared up at the stars, marveling at how bright they were here compared to the city, she started counting them as she listened to Chase's soft breathing beside her. She slowly drifted off, but tensed when she suddenly heard a noise in the bushes, she sat up abruptly and looked around her, but she couldn't see or hear anything, Chase lifted his head watching her, his ears twitching. She shrugged and laid down again, closing her eyes but as soon as she started drifting off, she heard it again, a rustling noise but when she sat up she couldn't hear it anymore. She closed her eyes again, but this time when she heard the rustling she didn't sit up straight away, she stayed where she was concentrating on the noise. It sounded like something moving in the bushes, maybe an animal, she heard more rustling, trees moving, and then she heard another noise, snoring. Ella's snoring, it was unmistakable, she heard it every night.

She sat up with a gasp and looked over at Chase in shock and a jolt of realization hit her, she had been concentrating on his breathing when she had heard the noises.

She tried again, concentrating on his breathing, this time it was almost instant, the sounds hit her all at once, like a brick wall and she sat up again gasping, she didn't realize how loud the woods were to a wolf.

Determined, she tried again and again until she could pick out all the individual sounds, she also began to get a sense of what sounds were caused by, the slight rustling from an owl, the leaves moving from the wind. It was incredible. She lay there for hours listening to the woods until exhaustion overtook her and she fell asleep.

Reed found her there, hours later as the sun was just spilling over the tops of the trees.

"Have you been out here all night?" he asked.

She nodded, "I couldn't sleep."

Excitedly she told him what she had happened and what she had felt when she connected with Chase.

"I have to tell Elder Sage," she said as she jumped to her feet and raced back into the house to change. She couldn't wait until her meditation session to tell Elder Sage, so she went straight to her house, Elder Sage was just as excited and put her to work straight away. They both sat down outside Elder Sage's house, she closed her eyes, and Elder Sage asked Sofia to tell her everything that was happening around them, everything that Chase could hear, smell, and even see.

She was able to do it almost straight away, to her delight, and after that, it became easier and easier. Soon Sofia was able to walk around with her eyes closed letting Chase's senses guide her. It was incredible now that she knew how to do it, it was almost too easy.

The next week was a blur as Sofia spent all of her time with Elder Sage training, and to her surprise and delight, she progressed rapidly, moving onto other animals in the village, the cow, Sweetie, that she milked every morning was the easiest after Chase. She was also starting to get an understanding of animal's emotions and get a sense of when Chase was unhappy or excited, like when he was chasing chickens.

As spring disappeared and they started into summer, the days grew longer and hotter, and she began to spend more time at the waterfall, she was often joined by Reed and other villagers looking to cool off in the afternoons.

The Ashen often gathered together for dinner in the warmer months, and she would often help out in the kitchens with Holly and Ivy. It felt like a completely different world than what she was used to, everyone talking and laughing together. At the palace, dinners were often spent in silence or defending questions from her mother and arguing with her sister.

On one particular night, she was sitting with Ella, watching as everyone danced around the fire, Reed was twirling his mother around, and Holly and Ivy were waltzing around making everyone laugh. Ella had just arrived back from visiting another village with Elder Hazel, and she was glad to have her back. She noticed Ella had been keeping her distance from Rowan all night and asked her about it. Apparently, their conversation after Sofia's hunting trip hadn't gone well.

"Maybe he isn't the person I thought he was, at least Reed can admit when he's wrong," Ella said bitterly.

"Maybe he doesn't think he is wrong," she said with a shrug, "I think you should try talking to him again."

It was obvious that Ella still liked Rowan and she didn't want to come between that. After all, Rowan had just been doing his job, and she had come to accept that even if she wasn't quite ready to forgive him yet.

Ella suddenly turned to her.

"I'm glad you're here."

"Me too," she replied, surprised that she really meant it. She was glad she had followed Ella into the woods even if she did feel guilty for leaving.

"Although I have to ask, what is going on with you and Reed?" Ella asked hesitantly.

"What do you mean?" Sofia replied confused.

"Well, you have been spending a lot of time together and... well, I've noticed he can't stop looking at you."

Sofia was momentarily speechless, she had never actually thought about Reed in that way, she hadn't thought about any boy that way, in fact. She had been practically engaged since she was born, it had never occurred to her. She wasn't like other girl, boys didn't flirt with her and try to impress her growing up, she had always been off limits. She could feel Ella watching her closely, but luckily someone approached to ask her to dance, and Sofia was saved from having to give an answer she didn't have.

She avoided Ella for the rest of the night and the next day, afraid she would ask again, as she tried to come up with an answer. She found herself watching Reed more, and their eyes met more often than not, so Ella was right about that, but she still didn't know how she felt about it all. She was supposed to marry Alex so it wasn't as if anything could happen between her and Reed but still she couldn't help but compare the two.

Alex, who made her laugh and who she shared so much history with but he was incredibly stubborn and often made her feel like she actually was invisible. Or Reed who made her feel the complete opposite, no one had ever looked at her the way Reed had, he made her feel like her opinions mattered and seemed to always know what to say to make her feel better. But did she actually have feelings for him? That she couldn't figure out.

She soon grew exhausted thinking about it, so instead, she threw herself into her training and continued to make progress, to her relief. She found it easier and easier to connect with the magic around her, and she soon learned how to move small branches on trees and the ground beneath her feet, she even made a flower grow. It felt incredible to connect to the magic around her, and a couple of days later she made a surprising discovery. Sofia was connected with a small rabbit, it was hopping along when she sensed something up ahead, at this point, she could distinguish between different animals, and she quickly realized it was a snake and, without thinking, she pulled on the rabbit to make it turn away from the snake.

Elder Sage was surprised when Sofia told her what happened and even more so when she asked Sofia to repeat it, and she saw for herself. Elder Sage explained how unusual it was, there was only one other villager that could do it, the hunter who had rescued her, Clay. He had rescued an eagle many years ago and was able to guide its movements but Elder Sage wasn't sure how it worked so she ended the session early to find the hunter and ask more about it.

She struggled to sleep that night, she wasn't sure why but her mind wouldn't rest. The moon was bright in the sky as she stood outside staring up at the mountain, wondering about all the mysteries it held. She still felt like she was missing something, she needed to know more, about the mountain and the darkness and especially, how she was supposed to stop it all. Even if she learned the ancient language and learned how to connect with the land, how was she alone supposed to stop the darkness?

Reed found her there hours later, questions still spinning in her head. He watched her for a minute silently before he disappeared back inside before he emerged with two coats and a bag slung over his shoulder, he handed a coat to Sofia silently, and she gave a small laugh.

"How do you do that?"

"Do what?"

"Know exactly what I need?"

"Because I know you," he replied, surprising her before he walked off in the direction of the mountain leaving Sofia to trail behind, even more confused about her feelings.

The journey was quick, she was deep in thought the whole way, trying to work out what she needed to know from the mountain. Reed let her think without badgering her with questions, it was one of the things she appreciated most about him she realized, he never put any pressure on her, not anymore at least. After he had left her in the woods that day, it was like he was a completely different person.

She shook her head trying to clear her mind, she shouldn't be thinking about Reed she needed to focus on the mountain, and getting the answers she needed.

They finally reached the cavern, this time, thankfully, she didn't collapse. Instead, the cavern around her simply disappeared, Reed along with it, and the boy appeared from the shadows again. He studied her.

"You have questions?"

She nodded, taking a deep breath before asking, "why me?"

"Why not you?"

"That's not an answer," she protested.

"You have no idea of the strength you possess Sofia, you are the only person capable of accomplishing this."

"How do you know that?"

"I can feel it, this mountain is connected to every living thing in Latheria,"

"Are you the mountain?"

"It doesn't work like that Sofia, I am merely a memory the mountain is using to connect with you. The mountain holds all the memories of the people of Latheria. The banishing you saw was real, it was a memory."

That was what she had thought, but it was nice to have it confirmed. She had so many questions, and she struggled to decide what to ask first.

"How was the darkness created?"

"The banishing created the darkness, it destroyed the people who created it, and they became trapped in their own magic, dark magic. When someone or something dies, the magic is released back into the earth, but the spell they used not only created a barrier around the dark woods but also around themselves. They became trapped in a section of the barrier, in the place where they created it and their magic became trapped as well, unable to release back into the earth, and it became infected, dark, some would call it, and slowly it began to spread."

She was relieved to be getting answers, but at the same time scared of the answers she was getting.

"So are they still alive?" she asked, uncertain.

"In a way, yes, their souls live on, trapped, although their bodies deteriorated long ago."

She was confused, but she pressed on, asking another question.

"What about the cult leader, is he still alive?"

"Yes, I'm afraid so."

"What happened to him?"

"Sofia, I'm afraid we have run out of time, you must leave now before you lose any more time."

"But it hasn't been that long."

"Speaking with me takes a lot of magic; it has been a lot longer than you think."

She blinked, and again she was back in the cavern she started in, Reed was sitting beside her, and he handed her a water bottle. She drank deeply before she tried to stand but her legs gave way underneath her, and she needed Reeds help to make it back to the village.

It was the middle of the day when they arrived back, although she was almost certain it wasn't the same day, she was too tired to care. The Elders were all gathered waiting for them when they finally arrived back at the village, again she tried to tell them about the boy, but she still couldn't get the words out, so she had to lie and tell them she had another vision. She tried to explain to them about the barrier as best she could but she was exhausted, and she still didn't completely understand it. Elder Hazel suggested they visit the darkness again the next day and take a closer look at the barrier and they all agreed before Elder Yarrow sent her to bed.

# CHAPTER 33

Sofia slept most of the afternoon, and when she woke up the next day, to her relief, she felt more like herself, although she was still slow on her feet and trailed behind Ella and Reed as they went to meet the others. Elder Hazel was leading the group with a handful of hunters. She was surprised Elder Yarrow had chosen to stay behind, but Ella reassured her that Elder Hazel had spent the most time studying the darkness, so it was best that she go.

Sofia hadn't spent a lot of time with Elder Hazel but knew that Ella thought very highly of her. Elder Hazel struck her as a very inquisitive person and asked a lot of questions about Arandale as they walked. She seemed particularly interested in the priestesses, she seemed skeptical that anyone could actually commune with gods.

"They are are a higher power, they aren't human and don't concern themselves with lesser beings, they do what they wish," she said when Sofia pressed her.

She had long been skeptical of the priestesses, she had never trusted them and now even more so. Why did they hide themselves away in that island? What secrets were they keeping? She wondered. She soon dropped behind the others, deep in thought. Reed slowed down to walk with her, helping her where he could, she was still tired from her visit into the mountain. He was quiet for most of the journey until he suddenly turned to her, "You don't have to go back, you know."

She stared at him confused, "what do you mean, go back where?

He sighed like she was being deliberately daft.

"To Selenis, to the palace."

She continued staring at him blankly, not sure what he meant.

"Of course I do."

"Sofia you're supposed to save Latheria, no one said you have to be Queen to do that or go back to Selinus at all, did you ever consider that maybe this is where you're supposed to be."

She was surprised, she had never considered that. She had to go back, didn't she? She had assumed to save Latheria she had to be Queen, although now that she thought about it, no one had ever said that.

But what would happen to her people if she didn't? She had always thought it ridiculous that her people believed that just because she was born on a particular day, she should be Queen. But it had been that way for centuries, and her people believed it was the will of the gods. What would they do if she didn't go back?

And what about Alex, her sisters, and Bree, could she really just leave them like that.

There was also the ancient language to consider. If she didn't go back how was she supposed to learn that, Elder Yarrow had made it clear that they had no knowledge of it and she had a feeling in her gut that somehow Kelsie's Aunt and the sickness was connected, it had to be?

He was watching her closely as she stood frozen thinking it through. Reed was in a way giving her a way out of the life she had never wanted, but still somehow she couldn't bring herself to take it, she didn't know what it was, but something was holding her back.

"I don't know Reed..."

He stepped closer, "just think about it."

She hesitated again as he took another step closer, he reached out to touch her cheek as he leaned down to kiss her. She leaned into him, his hands slid around her waist and pulled her closer, she lost track of everything around them. Reed pulled away and held her face gently between his hands.

"Please think about it."

She felt warm and safe in his arms, and he was offering her what she had always wanted, Reed's eyes slid to the necklace on her chest, and her mind went to Alex. She pulled away slowly, feeling guilty and confused.

"Ok I'll think about it," she said quietly before they were interrupted by Ella.

"Elder Hazel says we need to pick up the pace," Ella said looking back and forth between them.

Reed nodded and went on ahead leaving them behind, and Ella shot her a questioning look.

She hesitated briefly, but she felt like she needed to talk to someone about it, so she told her about the conversation she had just had with Reed, leaving out the part about the kiss.

"Would it be that bad, if you stayed?" Ella asked, "you don't owe them anything Sofia."

"I know, I just don't like the idea of deserting them."

"Why don't you just worry about saving everyone first and then decide," Ella suggested, and she nodded in agreement, it was probably a good idea, but still, she couldn't stop herself from thinking about it.

She was conflicted; she felt something for both Alex and Reed. The idea of staying was tempting but could she really just abandon her family and her people like that. She was supposed to be the Queen. She didn't even know what would happen if she wasn't. As far as she knew the Queen has always been born on the first day of summer. It was the will of the gods, or so they were told by the priestesses. She was so distracted by her thoughts she didn't realize she and Ella had been lagging behind the others through the canyon and she couldn't see them anymore. She looked around them as they emerged out on the canyon and suddenly realized everything around them was quiet.

She tensed, "something's not right."

Ella went still as well, "I know, I feel it too."

The others had disappeared into the woods ahead, and Ella moved forward slowly in that direction beckoning Sofia along. Together they crept along trying not to make a sound. She was glad she has been practicing. Her palms started to sweat, and she tried to slow her breathing.

The attack came out of nowhere, everything was quiet then suddenly there was a huge gust of wind, and she was knocked off her feet and into someone's arms. A hand covered her mouth, and she was dragged backward, she slammed her elbow into her attacker's stomach and heard a gasp followed by a curse as she turned invisible and pulled away from her attacker's grasp.

She had barely any time to feel relief that her invisibility was working before she heard a scream and she spun around towards the sound but couldn't see anything, the wind had picked up again blowing leaves and dirt around obscuring her view. She grabbed the nearest tree and used it to help pull herself toward the sound, another scream, and she flinched thinking of Ella. The wind suddenly dropped, and everything was still, she could just make out Ella through a gap in the trees and Shade, who was standing over the body of a woman, blood dripping from her mouth.

She heard the sounds of fighting around her but she focused on getting to Ella, she ran towards her friend, trying not to panic as a man jumped out of the tree above Ella with a sword in his hands, and Ella fell to her side to avoid the sharp steel. The man landed on his feet and one of the Ashen hunters, Briar, rushed up behind him with a spear in his hands. She stared in horror as another arm grew from the man's side and he easily deflected the weapon, slicing through the spear and Briar's arm with his sword, Briar fell to the ground, crying out in pain. The man turned back to face Ella and Sofia saw, for the first time, the mask on his face, and she was suddenly terrified.

She had heard stories as a child of Bordonian Assassin who wore masks of death. They were highly trained killers, hand picked as children, and they trained their whole life. They were the most feared fighters in all of Latheria, and the Ashen were not trained to fight at all. They didn't stand a chance she realized, on the verge of panic.

She screamed at Ella to run, but Ella ignored her, standing her ground with Shade by her side. Ella closed her eyes, frowning, and the trees around them started to move, the man took another step forward, he was focused on Shade and didn't see the branch drop but he must have heard it because at the last second he jumped forward to avoid it, but he was off balance and Shade attacked.

Sofia suddenly heard a sound behind her and turned to find herself face to face with another mask. She lost her focus, and her invisibility slipped, luckily her training kicked in, and she immediately brought her foot up to kick his knee but he was fast, and he grabbed her arm twisting it behind her back, she was off balance and fell to the ground. Chase tried to help, launching himself at the attacker but he was still only small, and the Bordonian knocked him aside easily.

Reed suddenly appeared behind the assassin, and tree roots at her attacker's feet suddenly sprung up and wrapped around his ankles pulling him back as she scrambled to her feet. Unfortunately, Reed didn't see another Bordonian sneaking up behind him. Sofia grabbed the first rock she could find and hurled it at the Bordonian. It missed its mark, but it was enough to alert Reed to the danger behind him, and more tree roots sprung up around them. She didn't know how long Reed could keep this up and without a weapon, she wasn't much help. She needed to find one. She turned invisible again and approached the Bordonian closest to her while he was still distracted by the tree roots holding him in place. She sprung forward and kicked his knee to bring him down and grabbed for the dagger at his waist. He was trained for this though, and he grabbed her wrist before she could pull away. She twisted the knife in her hand and sliced through his arm, but his grip didn't loosen. She spied another dagger in his boot, and she dropped to the ground as she grabbed for it. She managed to get it loose before he could stop her and used it to slice through the tendon in his ankle, he fell to the ground, and she slammed the hilt into the back of his head, he went down immediately. Now that she had two daggers she felt slightly more capable.

She looked around her frantically, Reed was struggling to hold three Bordonian's in place with tree roots, and Ella had trapped an assassin in a pit of quicksand, who was trying to use wind to get himself free, he must have been the one who attacked them first. Shade was fighting against what looked to be a lion, she assumed it was a shapeshifter but couldn't be sure. Briar and another hunter lay injured on the ground while Elder Hazel tried to use the trees around them to build a wall of sorts to keep the Bordonian's away but they just sliced away at the branches and roots with their swords and it wasn't slowing them down enough. They needed a way out, she looked around trying to get her bearings and saw the canyon entrance not far away, and an idea came to her. If they could block the entrance they might be able to get away. She just hoped the Bordonians' wouldn't try to follow them for fear of getting lost.

But the Ashen were too scattered, she realized, she had to get everyone together, they needed each other if they were going to make it out alive. She grabbed Reed's arm and pulled him in Ella's direction.

"Can you pull the trees over?" she shouted at him.

"What?" he yelled.

"We need to create some kind of distraction, something to stop them, so we have time to get away. If we can make it to the canyon, we might be able to block the entrance."

"I'm not strong enough to do that, but Elder Hazel might be able to."

"Ok then, we have to get to her."

"How exactly? I'm a little busy at the moment."

She looked around them, trying to come up with a plan. She noticed Clay's eagle attacking one of the Bordonians', and she had an idea. Hopefully, it would work.

She closed her eyes and cast her mind out hoping to find an animal, trying to concentrate like she had been taught, she was relieved when she found two birds almost immediately. She hadn't had much practice, so it took her a few tries, but she managed to get them to fly to her, and then she directed them to swoop the assassins. Reed immediately let the Bordonians go while they were distracted by the birds and she grabbed his hand and made them both invisible as they ran towards Ella and the others.

She heard an explosion of sound behind them and spun around just in time to see one of the assassins shooting bolts of lightning at the birds attacking them. Reed pulled on her arm to keep her moving, weaving in and out of the trees.

Ella was struggling to hold the assassin in the quicksand now, Sofia let go of Reed and ran up to the man just as he pulled free, she used one of her knives to slice straight through his stomach, trying to ignore the blood now covering her hands, she ran back to Reed.

She saw the body of the lion, slowly turning back into a man as he lay bleeding not far away and realized then how lucky they were to have Shade, they wouldn't have stood a chance without her. She heard the man screaming before his cries were cut short, she gritted her teeth and kept running.

She grabbed Ella and Reed, turning them both invisible and ran to help Elder Hazel. Sofia saw fear in her eyes as her wall was cut down in front of her, they were too far away to help but luckily Shade wasn't, she launched herself at the assassin's, giving Elder Hazel and Clay time to pull the injured hunters back.

They reached the others, and Sofia hurriedly explained her plan, while Reed created a maze with the tree roots to slow down the bordonians', Elder Hazel agreed immediately, determination crossed her face.

Sofia moved into action, barking orders, there was no way that she could make everyone invisible long enough to make it to the canyon so they would need to slow the Bordonian's down. She instructed Ella to create quicksand behind them as the ran while Reed continued to create blockades with the tree roots and she and Clay swooped them with birds. They were running out of time, and the Ashen were not trained for this, they were tiring quickly, to her relief they managed to keep the Bordonian's at bay long enough for all of them to make it into the canyon.

Once there it took all of Elder Hazel's energy to push over the trees closest to the canyon, barricading them in. She collapsed to her knees, and Clay picked her up as they all turned to run.

Suddenly Sofia heard a noise above and looked up to see two assassins drop from the cliffs above them. She gasped as they landed in front of them, blocking them in, one of the assassins, who was covered in scales, pulled out two knives and he threw them at Ella. Sofia jumped towards her, knocking her out of the way but she felt a sharp pain in her stomach and knew one of their knives had found its mark, she screamed in pain, collapsing to the ground. It was chaos all around, screaming and shouting, she couldn't tell what was happening. She felt a blow to the back of her head and her vision went blurry, she heard Ella screaming her name, but she couldn't move, arms grabbed her, and she was lifted up and dragged, she screamed with pain before she passed out.

# CHAPTER 34

Sofia woke in a dark room with no idea how she had gotten there, panic started to set it, she could just barely make out heavy curtains covering what must be a window, and there was a tiny sliver of light coming from under the door. So it must be daytime, she thought, she tried to slow her breathing and calm herself down. Her head felt heavy, she reached up and felt a large lump on the back of it, but she couldn't remember where it had come from. She tried to think back and remember how she had gotten here, but it felt like she was struggling through thick fog. She just couldn't get her brain to work properly.

She heard someone stir next to her and turned her head to see, gasping at the sudden sharp pain.

"Sofia?" Alex whispered leaning over her, "You're awake."

She opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out, the room was spinning, and her ears were ringing. Alex yelled for a healer, and suddenly she was surrounded by people, all talking at once.

"You said she wouldn't wake for days."

"I'm sorry Your Highness. I didn't know that she would, with these type of injuries she should have been out for at least a couple more days, I wonder if it has something to do with the herbs we found in the wound."

"What herbs?" she heard her father demand, at least she thought it was him, her vision was blurry, and she was fading in and out.

"A mixture of herbs, it looked like someone had packed her wounds to help her heal."

"Why would whoever kidnapped her try to help her?"

The word kidnapped kept repeating in her mind as she struggled to remember how she had gotten here. What had happened to her?

"Perhaps they needed her alive," her father muttered.

"Oh Sofia," she heard her mother whisper and felt a hand softly stroking her hair, "everything's going to be okay, you're safe now."

She needed to tell Alex something else, but she couldn't remember. She pushed her mother's hand away trying to sit up, hands grabbed her shoulders and pushed her back down.

"No, My Lady you need to rest, I'm sorry Your Highness but I think there are too many people in here, it seems to be making her agitated."

She shook her head back and forth, trying to find the words, trying to remember.

She opened her mouth, but nothing came out.

"What's the matter with her? Why can't she talk?" she heard her mother ask, aghast.

"She took a lot of damage to her head, it will heal, but the brain takes longer than the body, just give her time."

She tried to sit up again, but strong hands held her down.

"Alright everyone out," Alex ordered sharply.

"Alex," she whispered she needed to tell him; she could feel herself slipping away but couldn't fight it any longer.

The next time she woke, someone had opened the curtains a fraction, and she could see the room around her, there was a slight breeze coming from the window. She breathed in deeply. She was relieved to no longer be in the dark.

"Well it's about time, everyone is worried sick, you know."

She turned her head, slowly, remembering the last time she tried to sit up too quickly. Her sister was sitting in the chair beside her. Her head didn't hurt this time, but it still felt foggy.

"Where? How?" she managed to get out.

"You're home, you've been in and out for a couple of days, when they found you at the edge of the woods everyone thought you were dead, but then the healers came and worked their magic," Evelyn waved her hands around, "what happened to you anyway?"

Sofia shook her head, trying to clear the fog.

"I can't remember," she whispered, frustrated.

Evelyn sighed, "fine then, I should have known you wouldn't tell me. I'll get the healer."

Sofia rolled her eyes in frustration, but even that movement made her feel worse. The healer came in, a different one this time but she looked vaguely familiar.

"My lady, I'm going to help you sit up slowly and get you to drink this."

It tasted bitter but the healer made her drink all of it before Sofia asked about Alex, she needed to speak to him, she felt an urgency about it but the memory was just out of reach, she hoped that seeing him might trigger something.

"He's attending to important business, but he'll be back, he's barely left your side, don't worry My Lady, you're safe now.

Why did everyone keep saying that? safe from what? Evelyn had said they found her at the edge of the woods, why would she be there? Images had started to come back to her, dark tunnels and endless trees but her mind was so fuzzy, she didn't trust it at the moment. But above everything else she felt an overwhelming need to see Alex, she had to tell him something, but she couldn't remember what it was, it felt like it was right at the edge of her memory, just out of reach. She reached down to touch her necklace but realized it was gone.

"The Prince has posted two of his own Guard outside the door," the healer continued oblivious to Sofia's growing agitation. She had her back to Sofia now, fiddling around with the bag she had brought with her. Sofia pushed herself on her elbows, her head swimming but she was desperate, she needed to see Alex now, she swung her feet out of bed to the floor, pushing herself up. She wobbled and collapsed to the ground, her legs failing to support her.

The healer screamed when she turned around and saw her fall. The door burst open, and Blake and Lex ran in. Sofia tried to speak, tried to tell them she needed to speak to Alex but it was too much, and she passed out.

The next time she woke, she was a lot more lucid and realized immediately that she was in Alex's bedroom, she recognized his sitting room through the gap in the door. She had just assumed she would be in one of the healer's rooms and she worried about why she was in Alex's room.

Her memory, thankfully, started coming back to her. It was slow at first, just a couple of images; trees, fireflies and a waterfall. Then she remembered the tunnel behind the waterfall and the mountain, then it hit her all at once, and she remembered everything, including the Bordonian's attacking. She must have hit her head because she didn't remember anything after that but the Ashen must have escaped somehow she thought, the Bordonians' wouldn't have taken her to the edge of the woods where she was found, so it had to be the Ashen, that thought gave her some comfort, and she clung to it. She couldn't think about the possibility that Ella or any of the others had been hurt, she couldn't bear the thought. Besides she had to work out what she was going to say to Alex, she thought she would have more time to prepare, and more importantly, more time to learn with the Ashen, she had only been with them a couple of months, she wasn't ready yet.

She also had to warn Alex about the Bordonian assassins' that had attacked them in the dark woods. Why were they there? Had they been in the dark woods before and did they know about the darkness in the woods?

She hoped the Ashen were taking extra precautions, thankfully the woods were vast, and it would probably take the Bordonains' a while to find them, if at all. But she didn't know how close the other Ashen villages in the dark woods were to the darkness. She could only imagine what the Bordonian's would do if they found one of the villages and her heart beat faster at the thought. The Ashen wouldn't stand a chance, they would be slaughtered. She couldn't hold down the fear and worry anymore, and tears welled in her eyes. Unfortunately, Alex chose that moment to arrive back.

He rushed over to her and pulled her into his arms.

"It's ok," he whispered, "you're safe now."

She flinched and pulled away, he thought she had been kidnapped, she had to pull herself together and explain, she thought.

"Alex, wait."

I tried to find you," he said distractedly, "we sent soldiers out in every direction, but they couldn't find any trace of you then we found Parker...," he finished bitterly.

Oh no, she had completely forgotten about Parker, she thought. It seemed like so long ago now.

"Wait, what did Parker say?"

Alex struggled for a minute before he finally spoke "...Parker told us he saw Jack leaving the palace with you, he saw you kidnapped, but he didn't know who it was." He said through gritted teeth.

"But that's ridiculous," she exclaimed, "why would you believe anything Parker said?"

"Jack was guarding you when you disappeared. He admitted he saw you leave the palace, he let you go! Either way, it's his fault. He should have been watching you. He's the reason you were kidnapped."

"But it's not Jack's fault, you can't blame him," she shook her head, she was getting off track, "but it doesn't matter because I wasn't kidnapped, Alex."

"What!?" he exclaimed confused.

"It a long story and I need you to let me tell it without interrupting me, please," she added quietly.

He was struck silent but reluctantly agreed, and she hesitated as she tried to work out where to start, she finally decided to just start at the very beginning.

"When I was younger I was playing in the garden at my grandfather's castle with Evelyn. I fell down a crevice and got stuck, Evelyn went to get help, but while she was gone, I was helped by one of the banished, although I didn't know it at the time." She added quickly, Alex's expression was unreadable. "Her name was Ella, and she used her magic to get me out, but I never told anyone. We played together for years, and we became friends, and in all that time she never told me she was one of the banished."

She took a sip of water before continuing, "I left the palace that night, I know it was wrong and stupid, but I just had to escape, I ran as far as I could until I reached the edge of the dark woods. That's where Ella found me, I hadn't seen her in years, I thought she was here for the tournament, she said she wanted to show me something, and then Parker showed up, he followed me from the palace, and he attacked me, Alex."

"What!" he exclaimed furiously jumping to his feet

"Please Alex let me finish!" she begged, pulling him back onto the side of the bed. "Ella saved my life, again! and we escaped into the woods, I didn't want to leave until I knew Parker was gone so I let Ella take me somewhere, but I didn't know it would take this long!" She wasn't doing a very good job of explaining, and she stumbled over her words as Alex's frown deepened. "She took me to a mountain, she told me it was the source of all magic in Latheria, I went inside the mountain and ahh.... it showed me memories, it showed me the banishing."

Alex was starting to look like he wanted to say something, so she rushed on.

"I'm sorry I know it sounds crazy but I can't explain it, I just felt this presence," she started talking faster, rushing her words, "and then I was standing in the dark woods and I saw it, the banishing, and it was horrible, there were dead bodies everywhere." she shuddered as she remembered what she saw.

She hesitated again glancing at Alex, he was watching her intently.

"The mountain showed me a darkness, a sickness that is spreading through the woods and infecting everything around it, and Ella and the others took me to it."

He abruptly stood up; he looked worried, "the others?" he questioned.

"Yes, the other banished, well actually they call themselves..."

He cut her off, "you were with the banished this whole time?

"Well, yes," she said hesitantly.

"They've done something to you."

"What," she said surprised, "no, I..."

"That cult was banished for a reason Sofia, they are dangerous, they practice dangerous magic, who knows what they could have done to your mind," he started pacing, "if they have somehow managed to break the barrier, I need to alert my father."

"Alex no, that's not what I'm saying, you're not listening to me," she protested but it was no use, she was talking to herself now, Alex was busy pacing, ignoring her.

"They must have used magic to trick you into thinking you were helping them, but how did they manage to break the barrier?" He muttered to himself.

"Alex no!" she shouted at him, he turned to her in surprise, "they didn't trick me, they are not evil, your ancestors banished the wrong people! besides the barrier only stops people getting out, not going in," she said, hoping he wouldn't ask how Ella got out.

"Then how did you get out?" he asked instead.

She hesitated, she hadn't thought about that, "Well, I don't know but.."

"Exactly Sofia, they have obviously used their dark magic on you and twisted your brain into thinking this is all true. They want to hurt us, punish us for banishing them, we need to prepare..."

"Wait, Alex, you said you would let me finish, I haven't even told you all of it yet."

"What more could there be?"

He was shaking his head now, and she knew it was hopeless.

"I should have known you wouldn't believe me," she whispered, hurt by his dismissal.

"Sofia, what you're saying doesn't make sense!"

"Then what about Kelsie's Aunt, the healer, she was sick."

"Kelsie's Aunt? She disappeared before you left. She wasn't sick she probably just ran off with a man she met. That's what her sister said."

"No, I talked to Kelsie, she said..."

"Kelsie hasn't seen her Aunt in a year," he interrupted again, "Sofia, please you need to rest, I'll call a healer to give you something to help you sleep."

With that he strode out the door, leaving Sofia staring open-mouthed as he left. She was close to tears and wishing, more than anything, she was back in the forest with the Ashen. Reed would have believed her, she thought bitterly.

Her heart ached at the thought of Ella, Reed and the others, she had no idea if they were even alive. She finally broke down in tears at the thought and cried until she fell asleep, exhausted. It wasn't long before she was disturbed by a healer coming to check on her but before the healer left she asked if she could open the curtains a fraction. There was very little light coming into the room, and it was starting to remind her too much of the darkness in the woods. The healer gave her a surprised look but pulled back one side of the curtains, and she stared at the light dancing off the walls until she fell asleep.

# CHAPTER 35

Alex came in again later that night with a worried look on his face, he was followed closely by a small man wringing his hands together nervously.

"What's going on, who is he?" She asked starting to get worried.

"He is ah... well, he has a talent for seeing the magic of others, their aura, I guess. Everyone has a distinct color, I wanted him to see if you were being mind controlled or something."

"Seriously, Alex, I'm not being controlled!" she snapped furiously.

"How do you know that Sofia, that's exactly what you would say if you were being mind controlled."

She sighed in defeat, "I guess if it makes you feel better."

The man studied her intently for what felt like hours until eventually, he announced he couldn't see anything unusual about her aura. Alex doesn't look entirely convinced though.

"Are you sure?"

"Well, I don't have any experience with mind control exactly, but I have seen something similar, and I would expect it to have the same effect on her aura. I believe if she was being controlled she would have other colors mixed in with her aura, the color of the person controlling her to be more precise, her aura is definitely only one color.

Alex nodded, looking relieved and dismissed the man.

"So does that mean you believe me now?" she asked suspecting she already knew the answer.

He studied her for a minute before he shook his head and left the room. She collapsed back onto the bed deflated.

Her mother visited again later that day but only to bring a servant, who she stood over while Sofia was scrubbed from head to toe. Her mother frowned with disapproval over the state of her nails, and Sofia realized how much she had enjoyed not having to worry about the dirt under her nails or state of her hair in the woods. Her mother didn't even ask if she was okay and realized that she never would, her mother had already put that behind her and moved on. As soon as her mother had left she fell asleep again, it seemed like she could sleep forever she was so tired.

It was late at night when Sofia was woken by voices coming from the next room. She sat up slowly, it still felt like every bone in her body was aching, a side effect from the healing she was told.

She sat for a minute, thinking back to her conversation with Alex about the Ashen, she shouldn't have been surprised he didn't believe her. Although she was hurt and dismayed at the time, it didn't change anything, she realized, she still had a job to do. She was no longer the girl she was before she left. Maybe she hadn't spent as much time as she needed too with the Ashen but she had still learned a lot, and she was going to do everything she could to stop the darkness, even if she had to do it alone.

First things first she had to find Kelsie and find out what had happened to her aunt, she didn't believe Kelsie would lie about what she saw so did that mean Alex was lying or was he being lied to? She also had to find out what Alex knew about the ancient language, but that would be a harder task, she thought.

The voices grew louder, so she decided to investigate. She hovered at the bedroom door studying Alex where he sat hunched in an armchair studying a pile of papers on the table in front of him, he looked tired and weary, and he hadn't shaved. Olivia was beside him while his guards were scattered around the room.

"Sorry, did we wake you?" Hayden asked concerned as he noticed her in the doorway. The others all turned to her except for Alex who barely looked up, to her dismay.

"Yes, but I could use a glass of water anyway."

"I'll get it, you should sit," Hayden said, immediately jumping to his feet.

"What's wrong? what are you all arguing about?" she asked as Blake reached out with an extra long arm and helped her to a chair.

"Nothing you need to worry about," Olivia said with narrowed eyes. "You should get back to bed, you look tired."

Sofia forced herself to ignore Olivia and took a seat opposite Alex, focusing instead on him.

"I'm fine, please just tell me what's going on," she said softly, Alex met her eyes briefly before looking away and the guards exchanged glances. She suddenly became aware that someone was missing.

"Wait, where's Jack?" she asked as Hayden handed her a glass of water, avoiding her eyes.

The Guards shifted uncomfortably, not meeting her eye, Cole had a sour look on his face, and Alex wouldn't look up from the papers he was holding.

"He was dismissed," Olivia said matter of factly, and she noticed Cole glaring at her.

Sofia rubbed her eyes in confusion, "but I don't understand," she had thought after she told Alex what had happened he would have fixed things, even though he didn't believe her about the Ashen he had to believe her over Parker. "I told you Parker was lying, Jack didn't kidnap me."

"It doesn't matter Sofia, it was his job to protect you, and he failed," Olivia said briskly in a condescending way that made Sofia clench her hands into fists.

"His job is to protect Alex, not me." She spoke through gritted teeth.

"It was his job because I asked him to protect you, he allowed you to leave the palace and caused all of this, he failed, and so he was dismissed," Alex replied through gritted teeth.

"You're lucky he's not still in the dungeons," Olivia added calmly.

"The dungeons!" Sofia exclaimed,

"Yes, after Parker accused him of kidnapping you, he was taken there for questioning," Olivia continued, while Sofia continued to gape at her, how could Alex let this happen.

"Seriously," she stood up abruptly, turning furiously to Alex, ignoring the pain in her body, "how could you even believe Parker after everything that happened at the tournament, and how could you just dismiss Jack like that! he's your friend, doesn't he at least deserve a second chance," she finished almost shouting.

Alex squirmed uncomfortably in his seat, "my father and the council believe..." he muttered trailing off.

Olivia spoke up, "the council and the King do not believe he is fit to be a guard, especially after his performance at the tournament, and neither do the gods for that matter.

Alex gave her a pained look but didn't object, neither did any of the others, they were all being unusually quiet, it made her wonder what exactly had happened while she was gone. She couldn't believe Alex would do that, and she was horrified that she had caused it.

"I think you're making a huge mistake." She muttered.

"Well that's not your decision, is it," Olivia replied calmly, "besides after everything that has happened to you, I hardly think Alex should be taking your advice, who knows what the banished have done to you."

"Olivia," Alex admonished sharply.

Sofia stared at him, hurt and angry, although she should have known Alex would tell Olivia. She shook her head in frustration.

"What about Parker? are you at least going to do something about him at least?"

"Of course, only... we haven't been able to find him," Alex replied with a frown.

"He disappeared right after we found you," Hayden added quietly.

"Of course he did," she muttered uneasily, it worried her, knowing Parker was out there somewhere.

"Yes, some on the council believe he may have helped the banished kidnap you," Olivia added.

"I wasn't kidnapped," she snapped, frustrated, her head was pounding, and she was already tired of Olivia.

"Of course not," Olivia replied sweetly, leaning over to pat Sofia's hand patronizingly.

She stood abruptly, pulling away from Olivia's hand and walking back towards the bedroom, she really needed to lie down and get away from the priestess. But before she could go more than a couple of steps, Hayden suddenly jumped to his feet, facing the balcony with a wary expression.

Lex sprang forward immediately and pushed her behind him while Cole motioned for the others to stay back as he crept slowly out onto the balcony with a ball of flame in his hand, they heard a squeal, and a second later he strode back in holding onto the arm of a girl with flaming red hair.

"Bree," Sofia exclaimed shocked. Everyone turned to look at her.

"You know her?" Cole asked angrily.

"Yes, let go of her Cole, she's not going to hurt anyone," she said pushing past Lex to get to Bree.

Cole looked at Alex who nodded his head before he let go of Bree's arm and Sofia rushed forward to hug her tightly.

"I'm sorry, I was so worried! Are you okay? Everyone said you were dead or dying and I didn't know what to think, I had to come and see for myself," Bree whispered squeezing her hard.

"How did you get up here?" Cole demanded, crossing his arms, none of the guards had relaxed their stance, she noticed.

Bree winced suddenly as she realized all eyes were on her, especially Cole; she seemed momentarily speechless before she noticed Alex.

"I'm so sorry, your highness." she stammered nervously, "I didn't mean to interrupt. I just wanted..."

"It's fine Bree," Sofia interrupted, "you don't have to apologize, I'm glad you're here." she grabbed her hand and squeezed it.

"You didn't answer my question." Cole snapped impatiently.

"How do you two know each other?" Blake interrupted curiously, looking Bree up and down.

Sofia glared at him, "we met a couple of years ago, she is my friend!" she said, stressing the word friend, they were all acting like she was an assassin or something, well except for Blake who was still eyeing Bree like she was a piece of meat.

"We should let the royal guards know and have them find out how she got in," Olivia said disapprovingly.

Sofia glared at Olivia, she didn't want Bree to get into trouble, she didn't deserve that, but of course, Olivia didn't care about that.

"Escort her out of the palace; we'll talk about it in the morning," Alex said tiredly, to her surprise.

"Alex," Olivia chastised.

"We have more important matters to deal with, Olivia," he muttered.

Sofia reluctantly said goodbye to Bree before Cole ushered her out, she wished Bree could stay the night but knew it would never be allowed, she also wished she could have Bree by her side as a guard, but that would never happen either.

She went back to bed, exhausted and when she woke next, the sun was shining, and her head wasn't pounding anymore. Alex wasn't in the sitting room, but he had left Blake and Lex to babysit her.

She found herself reaching up to touch the necklace that had been around her neck often only to realize again it wasn't there, when she asked Blake about it, he said she wasn't wearing one when they found her, she pictured it lying in the woods somewhere, probably lost during the fight, she thought. She had just sat down to eat when there was a knock at the door, and Lex got up to answer it.

"Well, you look better than I thought," Mal spoke as he strode through the door," if you believed the servants' tales you were at death's door, crippled, covered in scars, one girl even said you had lost an eye."

She couldn't help but laugh as Mal reached forward to hug her in an uncharacteristic display of affection before he kicked Blake and Lex unceremoniously out of the room.

"I thought you might like to talk?" he said with a raised eyebrow.

She hesitated, she wanted to open up to him, but she was scared he wouldn't believe her, and she realized how much she valued his opinion.

"What have you heard?" she asked suddenly curious to know what the rumors were.

"Well, the overwhelming theory is that you were kidnapped, and the number one suspect is now Parker Farley."

She nodded but couldn't bring herself to say anything else.

"It's probably very overwhelming, being back here after what you have been through," Mal said after a minute, "but you should know you're stronger than you realize and you will get through this. If you do want to talk, you know where to find me."

She nodded, she was relieved he wasn't going to push her, she wasn't sure how she felt about everyone believing she had been kidnapped by Parker, but she supposed it was better than the alternative, that she was crazy. She suspected that would be the reaction if she told the truth. Alex certainly seemed to think that or at least that she was brainwashed.

She hadn't seen Lucy since she had been back and was desperate to see her, but before she could even ask, Evelyn and Lucy showed up at her door. Lucy burst into tears the minute she saw her and ran forward to hug her.

"It's ok, I'm fine," she whispered into Lucy's hair as she hugged her tightly. She realized just how much she had missed her, she wished she could explain to her what had happened but knew it would be a stupid idea.

"Everyone said you were kidnapped," Lucy whispered, "they said that the Bordonians had you."

Sofia winced, she felt torn, she didn't want to lie to her sister, but she didn't want to let her believe that the Ashen were bad people either but before she could say anything Evelyn spoke up.

"Lucy, remember Mother said we are not to talk about what happened." Evelyn admonished her softly, "Why don't you tell Sofia everything she's missed since she's been gone?"

She smiled gratefully at her, on impulse she reached over Lucy and pulled Evelyn into a hug. Evelyn hugged her back gingerly. Lucy sniffled a couple of times before settling into Sofia's side on the couch.

Apparently, after she had disappeared, the whole palace had been in chaos, half the army had been dispatched, the tournament had been canceled and the city gates closed. No one was allowed in or out for a week. Everyone in the palace and surrounding city had been questioned. When there had been no clues found and no evidence of foul play, the security in the palace had loosened, and everyone that had traveled to the city for the tournament had finally been allowed to return home, but the city was still on edge. Then she had miraculously turned up at the edge of the woods, and now everyone was celebrating, Lucy said that people had even been gathering outside the palace gates.

She knew Lucy meant to make her feel better, but it only made her feel guilty for being away for so long and made her realize how much effect she had on the people of Arandale. She was starting to realize with a sinking heart that Reeds offer wasn't really an option for her. It had sounded nice in the woods, far away from the pressures of the palace but she couldn't just leave again, she couldn't do that to her sister. She realized now this is where she was supposed to be, it wasn't just her sister that needed her, the city needed her, the people needed her. But maybe that would also give her some leverage.

A healer arrived to check on Sofia's progress, and Evelyn and Lucy left, promising to visit again later. A few minutes later the door burst open, and Alex stormed through, Olivia close behind.

"Well, what did you expect to happen Alex?" Olivia chastised.

"I expected them to respect my decision," Alex snarled back.

Sofia watched them curiously, she had never seen them argue before. The healer hovered awkwardly, not sure what to do but nobody was paying her any attention.

Olivia stood her ground calmly.

"They have a point, Alex, after his performance at the tournament and his little display in the dungeons you could hardly expect them to agree with you."

"What are they talking about?" Sofia whispered to Lex, he shook his head, eyes glued to the scene in front of them.

"Sofia was right, he deserves a second chance," Alex argued.

Sofia sat up straight; they must be talking about Jack, she thought, Blake had said Alex was with the council, it sounded like he had spoken to them about Jack.

"That's if he is willing to come back," Hayden spoke quietly. She hadn't seen him or Cole enter the room, she had been so focused on Alex and Olivia, but everyone turned to him now. "He was angry that you dismissed him so easily."

"It wasn't easy," Alex said defensively.

"You barely gave him a chance to explain himself, he deserved better."

"I know, Hayden, but I'm trying to make things right, can you please talk to him." Alex pleaded, running his hand through his hair.

"You can't be serious Alex," Olivia hissed.

"Olivia that's enough, I made a mistake. I was angry and worried about Sofia, but I should never have let you all bully me into it."

"But how will this look."

"I don't care how it looks, we're going to tell the truth about Parker and his father," Alex said angrily pacing back and forth. "His father stood by him when he lied, and he used his influence over my father to convince him Parker was telling the truth. He should be dismissed, and I fully intend on pushing my father on the matter. I will make Parker pay when we find him as well."

"Your father has half the army looking for him." Cole said, "but he's had a head start, he would have left the minute he found out Sofia had been found so we'll have a hard time catching up. You should talk to your father about hiring help; there are people in the city who have abilities to help with finding people."

"That's a good idea; I'll talk to my father," Alex said nodding before he reluctantly turned to her.

"But first you will have to talk to the council Sofia, that's why we're here, I've been holding them off for now, but they are insisting they talk to you today," he sighed "we need to decide what you're going to say."

"How about the truth?" She asked frustrated.

"They will probably want to lock you up to determine what the banished have done to you, and I can't blame them," he snapped.

"You can't let them lock me up," she replied panicking, they wouldn't really lock her up, would they? That was crazy, she hadn't done anything wrong. Surely her father wouldn't let that happen, he may only be a guard, but he had a lot of sway with the King.

"I'm not going to let them lock you up," Alex said dismissively, "nobody outside this room is going to know what happened to you, there is enough panic going on without them worrying about the banished. You will tell them Parker attacked you inside the palace and took you to the edge of the woods, you were drugged, and you don't remember what happened to you. You won't mention the banished at all!" he ended firmly watching Sofia intently.

She nodded quickly, relieved, it was better they not know. She should have realized after her disastrous attempt at telling Alex that it was apparent that no one was going to believe her. Maybe she should have lied to Alex as well, she thought belatedly, but it was too late now. She had just been so sure he would believe her.

Alex turned back to Olivia, "Olivia, you can't say anything to the High Priestess either, you know she will just tell my father, and he can't find out about this."

"Of course Alex, I won't say anything, my duty is to you, not the High Priestess," Olivia said earnestly, touching his arm.

Sofia rolled her eyes and left, she couldn't watch any longer, Olivia was so obviously in love with Alex, and she didn't understand how he could be so oblivious.

He couldn't see what was right in front of him, Olivia was too good at manipulating him. She had always had her doubts about the priestesses, but after her conversation with Elder Hazel, she was worried about what their intentions really were. She would have to keep a closer eye of Olivia in future.

The council chambers were on the top floor of the palace, it was a large room with a dome-like ceiling; the council members all sat in a semicircle facing her with the King in the center. Alex sat to his left while Councilman Atherton sat to his right, watching her suspiciously but she ignored them both, focusing on the King, after all, he was the one she had to convince.

She hated lying about the Ashen, but she couldn't see any other way, she needed people to trust her so she could get the information she needed. There was still a lot she didn't know about the banishing, and she intended to find out, someone must know more than they were letting on. Not to mention, Kelsie's Aunt, she just knew she had something to do with the darkness spreading in the woods, and she was determined to find out exactly what it was. Councilman Whitby had mentioned rumors of a sickness spreading so he would be the first person she went to, but first, she had to put on a display for the council and make them believe she was scared and scarred. Tears spilled from her eyes as the lies spilled from her mouth, it actually wasn't that hard, the King had always had a soft spot for her and believed her story immediately. Councilman Atherton started to ask questions after she had finished, but Alex was quick to step in and insist she needed her rest and the King agreed as he stood up to hug her sympathetically before she was dismissed.

Judging from Councilman Atherton's reaction it wouldn't be the last of the questions, but the others seemed to believe her at least, and Alex might be able to hold him off for a while. Her father in the other hand had watched her with narrowed eyes, and she dreaded what his reaction would be.

"You did well," Alex said quietly as they reached his rooms.

She sighed, "if I had known crying would get me what I want I would have done it years ago, why did you bring me here though, shouldn't I be in my own rooms now?"

"Keeping up the pretense, you were kidnapped it's only natural I would want to keep you close."

She glared at him, "you just want to keep an eye on me and make sure I don't do anything stupid."

He ignored her, "I will have the rooms opposite mine set up for you, in the meantime, you can stay in here."

"And you?"

"I doubt I will be doing much sleeping, I have a meeting with my father now so I will be back later. Hayden and Lex will stay with you until I get back."

# CHAPTER 36

She thought long and hard about her choosing her guard that night, she knew it was only a matter of time before someone brought up the subject and she didn't want to wait and have them make the decision for her.

She desperately wanted Bree as a guard, but she would have to convince everyone else it was a good idea. After everything she had gone through in the woods, she was determined to fight for what she wanted and no longer back down.

She knew they wouldn't like it but she trusted Bree more than anyone, and she needed that right now, she just hoped Bree would agree, she had never really prepared for the role, and it would be a lot of work. But with Bree on her side, she hoped she might be able to somehow escape the city and get a message to Ella. Although she was hesitant to try and explain everything to Bree after Alex's reaction, she would if she had to and just hoped Bree would believe her. She knew she had to find out what had happened to the others, she was already sick with worry over it.

She also wanted Alyssa, although she didn't know Alyssa very well, she seemed like the type of person who would be open to deception, and she might need that along the way.

She spent the entire night tossing and turning, trying to work out exactly what she was going to say to Alex and more importantly, the Queen, she wanted to be prepared for every argument.

The next morning she brought up the subject to Alex and her decision to choose Bree and Alyssa, unfortunately, Olivia was also present, but that couldn't be helped, they seemed to be inseparable these days.

Olivia scoffed, "are you joking, you couldn't possibly."

"I wasn't asking," she said calmly, focusing on Alex.

Cole looked amused, while the other guards glanced back and forth between her and Alex as if expecting a fight, to her surprise Alex just shrugged before leaving without a word. She caught Cole's eye before he followed Alex out the door and he looked just as confused as she felt.

Olivia was staring after Alex furiously, she jumped to her feet.

"You still need to choose two others, at least make them respectable." She snapped at Sofia before she stormed out.

"I don't know if that's a good idea, Sofia, after all that you have been through, surely it's better to pick someone we know is trustworthy." The Queen replied when she had brought up the subject, they were seated in the Queen's sitting room drinking tea. Sofia took a sip of tea before she answered. She wasn't surprised by the Queen's response, but she refused to back down.

"That's exactly why I need to do this, I need to choose people I trust and to do that I need to trust my instincts. I am going to be the Queen, and I need to start making decisions for myself. If you need to you can check up on Alyssa and Bree and make sure they are suitable, but I'm certain you won't find anything."

The Queen studied her intently and Sofia no longer squirmed under her gaze, she had been through a lot in the last few months, she wondered if the Queen noticed how much she had changed, nobody else seemed to.

"Very well." She said simply, Sofia tried to hide her relief as she continued, "however I must insist that you choose the other two girls from the list I gave you."

She nodded quickly in agreement, she was too elated to speak.

She had already decided to choose Grace before everything that had happened, and she saw no reason to change that decision. Although the tournament had been canceled Claire had still made it to the final two so she really didn't have a choice there, but she still felt happier now she would have Bree by her side, well hopefully, if she even wanted to be her guard? She sent a messenger to Bree straight away to let her know and waited anxiously for a reply. It was an absolute yes, and she almost collapsed in relief.

The next morning she was woken up by voices coming from the other room. A lot of voices. She got up to investigate, worried about what she would find, she rubbed her eyes tiredly as she opened the door, her body had mostly recovered but she still tired easily.

"Oh Sofia, you're up, finally!" her mother said when she spotted her in the doorway; her mother had clearly forgotten she was supposed to be resting. She looked around at all the people packed into the room, servants mostly, but also a few dressmakers she noticed, along with Lucy and Evelyn, who looked like she would rather be anywhere else. Lucy jumped up to hug her tightly.

"You are going to look beautiful, Mother has the prettiest dresses for you to choose, come see," she said pulling on Sofia's hands.

"Mother, what is going on?" she asked, dreading the answer, as she slowly pulled her hands away from Lucy.

"We are organizing your wedding of course," she replied matter of factly, "honestly Sofia, what did you think was happening, we have so much to do, and we're already behind," she finished with a glare in her direction like it was her fault, Lucy looked back and forth between them as if unsure of what to do.

She continued rambling on, but Sofia tuned her out, her head started pounding, she could not handle this right now.

"Mother stop," she said.

She wasn't ready to marry Alex, not now, especially after everything she had been through and besides, she had more important matters to worry about right now, the wedding could wait, but her mother ignored her.

"Mother!" Sofia shouted at the top of her voice, Lucy stepped back in shock, and the entire room went quiet.

Finally, that got her mother's attention, she stalked towards her furiously," Sofia, what has gotten into you?" she hissed.

"Stop planning the wedding, I'm not marrying Alex, not yet, at least," she snapped. "Everyone can leave now," she said louder so the whole room could hear.

Her mother stared at her aghast as everyone rushed out the door, Lucy was staring at her with tears in her eyes, but Evelyn quickly ushered her out as well, shooting Sofia a glare and muttering under her breath.

"Have you any idea what I've been through," she hissed after they had all left.

"All the more reason for you to get married." Her mother insisted.

"What are you talking about? That doesn't make any sense!"

"Of course it does, Sofia."

Her father stood up from the chair closest to fire, she jumped in surprise, she hadn't even realized he was there.

"After your meeting with the council there are questions as to whether you are capable of being Queen!" he said furiously as he stalked towards her.

She saw Lex and Hayden approaching out the corner of her eye, but she couldn't break away from her father's hard gaze.

"I'm not a child anymore, you can't control me. I was chosen by the gods, they can't replace me, unlike you."

Her father stepped towards her again, but she stood her ground, her heart beating hard.

"They did once, what is to stop them doing it again, when Queen Juliet died she was replaced by Queen Marianna," her mother interrupted their stare down.

"Well, I'm not dead Mother."

"If you're not careful you might be," she muttered.

Sofia stared at her confused by her words.

"Never underestimate a man with power," her father added cryptically stepping towards her again, at the same time Hayden moved closer to her side.

Her mother stepped in between them, reaching out to her, "we don't know what happened to Queen Juliet. Before she died there were a few council members who thought that she was getting too involved in the council and then all of a sudden..." she shook her head in dismay, "nobody could say why. We just want to protect you, sweetheart."

"You just want to protect yourself and your noble position." She replied hesitantly, pushing her away, she wasn't sure of her mother's intention, she had never heard any rumours that Queen Juliet's death was suspicious, perhaps it was true, or maybe she was just trying to scare her into marrying Alex, either way, she wasn't in the mood to deal with it all.

"You can leave now," she said crossing her arms.

Her father stood his ground glaring at her.

"Get out." She shouted at him and was pleased at the look of shock that crossed his face, she had never directly defied him before, and it was a nice feeling.

Her mother stared at them both for a few seconds before she stormed out muttering under her breath, after a long pause her father followed. She breathed a sigh of relief, but she doubted that would be the end of it.

"Do you think they were telling the truth?" she questioned.

Cole looked worried. "I'm not sure, maybe." He said uneasily.

"Your father is a very smart man, I don't know why he would say that if he didn't think it true," Hayden added.

"Perhaps he wanted to scare me into marrying Alex, but Queen Juliet died after marrying the King, how will marrying Alex keep me safe? There must be something else to it, something they are not telling me. If Queen Juliet was murdered surely the King would have launched an investigation?" she asked.

"Maybe he doesn't know?"

"But my father was his guard, he would have told him his suspicions." She insisted.

"Not necessarily," Cole said frowning, "I said your father was smart Sofia, he knew how much the King loved Queen Juliet, and if he thought something had happened to her, he would have stopped at nothing to find out. Maybe he was worried the King would do something rash," Cole started pacing, "but either way, we aren't going to let anything happen to you!

She couldn't help but worry though, it had never crossed her mind that something like that would happen in Arandale.

She was jerked from her thoughts as the door suddenly burst open, and Olivia stormed through, followed by Alex and the rest of the Guards.

"Your mother said you are refusing to plan the wedding, is that true," she screeched.

She almost groaned out loud, she had just gotten rid of her mother; she did not want to deal with Olivia right now.

"Yes, that's right, as far as everyone else knows I was just kidnapped, they will expect me to want time to recover, besides there is plenty of time."

"No, this wedding needs to happen as soon as possible," Olivia insisted.

"Why," Sofia asked tiredly, suspecting she already knew the answer.

"Because the gods wish it so."

Of course they did, she thought bitterly.

"No," she said calmly.

"Excuse me," Olivia hissed.

"I said no, I will marry Alex when I am ready and unless you plan on tying me up and dragging me down the aisle, you and your gods will just have to accept that." She said furiously, she was tired of Olivia trying to control her.

Olivia eyes almost popped out of her head, "you haven't changed at all, have you Sofia, you're still as selfish as ever!"

It felt as if she was suddenly detached from her body and she watched as her hand reached out and slapped Olivia across the face. Everyone looked as stunned as she felt.

"Sofia!" Alex yelled at her, and suddenly she was back in her body, and the fury returned, how dare Olivia talk to her that way, she had no idea what she had been through, she couldn't believe Alex didn't stand up for her.

"Everyone get out," she shouted, she was so angry she wanted to scream. The guards exchanged glances before they turned to Alex warily, he nodded, and they left, Cole grabbed Olivia by the arms and pulled her out the door, she heard her muttering all the way but ignored it, she was focused on Alex now. It was time they had an honest conversation about their relationship, it felt like it was a long time coming and she was finally ready to tell Alex everything she felt.

"What has gotten into you?" he snapped, "I was right the banished have done something to you."

"This has nothing to do with them Alex, this is about us, we barely know each other, and you want to get married."

"What are you talking about, we have known each other our whole lives, beside that, it's the will of the gods, Sofia; this is the way it's always been."

"Screw the gods, I'm tired of doing everything everyone tells me to do, aren't you?"

"Of course I'm tired of it," he shouted back, "but I don't have a choice until I'm King."

"Even if it makes you unhappy?"

"You think marrying you would make me unhappy?"

"I don't know, but it feels like it's just another job for you, another step on the way to being King."

He winced, "It's not like that Sofia."

"But it is Alex, we barely know each other anymore!" she said softly, "aside from that night during the tournament we haven't really talked in years. When it comes to important matters, you always go to Olivia."

"She's my priestess, I'm supposed to talk to her."

"But why can't you talk to me? I want to help you, and I want to help our people; you used to tell me everything, I used to be the person you went to for advice and then I was replaced. Why do you even need a Priestess? And more importantly, how can you trust her? Trust them? Nobody knows anything about them, yet they are supposed to be your closest advisors. It doesn't make sense!"

"Because they commune with the gods Sofia, they guide us to do our jobs, to do what is best for the people, I trust Olivia because I know her."

"That's your problem Alex, you're too trusting! you don't see the bad side of people."

"There's nothing wrong with seeing the good in people."

"Yes, there is! When you're King and people are trying to manipulate you to get what they want, or convince you to do something stupid, like with Jack."

"You are unbelievable Sofia, you weren't here, you don't know what happened, and even when you were here, you were always off getting in trouble while I was busy learning to be King and cleaning up your mess."

He shook his head at her and stormed out the door. She stared at the door as it slammed shut, hurt, she sat down on the couch, trying to take everything in and remind herself that she had more important things to worry about but it was hard. She had wanted for so long to say those words to Alex, but she was always too scared of what his reaction would be. But at least now she knew, and she wouldn't have to worry about her feelings getting in the way of what she needed to do. It had felt good, being honest. Ella was right, she had to stop doing what everyone else wanted her to do, it was time she started taking control of her own life.

If there was anything that being with the banished had taught her it was that she was stronger than she thought and she had a responsibility to help them and everyone else in Latheria. She was determined not only to stop the darkness and the man who could control minds but also to free the Ashen from the confines of the woods, they didn't deserve what had happened to them, and she was going to make it right. She was going to fix the mistakes her ancestors had made and stop the darkness, for the first time she felt that maybe the mountain hadn't chosen the wrong girl. It would be hard, but she was determined, now more than ever, that she would stop the darkness.

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The Ashen Book 2 Coming Soon

Thank you for reading my book. If you enjoyed it, please take a moment to leave me a review.

Thanks

Sidney Gray

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