Okay, so I started this story...and, um, this is all I wrote of it...I kind of have a nasty habit of starting stories and not getting past three pages...so, well, here it is.
Chapter 1
The wind blew my hair in my face as I climbed the rocky trail up to my cliff. I imagined what I must look like, as my dress tore on a small, scraggly tree sticking up between two large boulders. Finally, I reached the top, and stood, flinging my head back while the wind hurled against me, almost powerful enough to unset my balance. The view took my breath away every time. The rock below my feet dropped away a fair few inches beyond where I stood. A deep but small valley was next, followed by a short amount of a green field. A forest stood next to that, filled with old, wizened trees glittering in the light. And last, but certainly not least, stood the mountains, tall, looming and dark. I thrust my arms out into the wind, and, staring out at everything, laughed aloud. To think that someday, all of this would belong to Edmund was a glorious thought. I knew that when he was finally king, I wouldn’t have to do things such as–
“Charlotte Dawn! I know you’re hiding out there somewhere! Now, you come here this instant or I’ll tell your father to come out here and get you himself!” I sighed. When Edmund was king I wouldn’t have to do such tedious things as answering to my Nurse. I quickly scrambled down, and taking my path that came out a fair few metres away, I appeared behind her. “Here I am, Nana.” I said. She turned, a scolding already on her lips. “Where have you been, child? Fitzwilliam and I have been looking all over for you! Your studies were supposed to begin fifteen minutes ago. Why do I always have to tell you, a princess is–”
“As a princess does.” I replied with a sigh. “Yes I know, Nana, but–”
“No buts.” Nana said firmly. “I want you in your room studying in ten minutes. Have I made myself clear?”
“Yes, Nana.” I replied, then dutifully headed towards the castle.
“And change your dress!” Nana called after me. “You don’t want Fitzwilliam to see you in that one, all ragged and torn.” I nodded, but continued walking without a reply. Ten minutes later on the dot, Nana came to check on me. “She is studying well?” She asked Fitzwilliam when she thought I couldn’t hear. “I caught her not ten minutes past, rambling about the countryside.”
“I can assure you that she is doing fine in her work.” Fitzwilliam replied. “I have never seen a student more eager to learn, in fact.” I hid a smile.
“Oh.” Nana replied. “I just wanted to make sure, as I thought she might be a bit distracted today, as….”
“Yes.” Fitzwilliam replied gravely. “’Tis a shame, really, that such a good–hearted brother would leave like that…” I scowled. Did they think that I was an infant, yet unready to face the world? I knew very well what they where talking about. On this day, exactly seven years ago, my brother John, after finding out that Edmund, only two minutes older than he, would inherit the throne, ran off in a fury. No one had seen or heard from him since. I didn’t remember John much, as I was only six when he ran off, and never thought of him either. I determinedly returned to my studies, ignoring Nana and Fitzwilliam.
The next morning I got up early to go to my cliff. My studies didn’t start for another three hours, so I wouldn’t be missed. The early mist made me shiver as I climbed, and I reprimanded myself for not wearing my coat. “Nana would have a fit if she was here.” I said grimly.
“Yes, she probably would.” Someone behind me agreed. Feeling a cold pit in my stomach, I turned slowly. A man was standing on the rocks behind me, grinning maliciously. I started edging away into the forest, saying “I really should get back, my lessons start right away….” But before I could continue a hand was clapped over my mouth and a blindfold over my eyes. I tried to scream, kicking my captor with all my might, but it was useless. I felt myself being thrown into some sort of bag, and found that the more I struggled, the more tangled up in the bag I became. Finally, after an hour I gave in and sat quietly. I was vaguely aware that we traveled nonstop, and after three days without food and only a few mouthfuls of water, I was desperate. Finally, the next day we stopped, and I was let out of the bag that had been my confinement for the past few days. It was hard to see, as it was twilight, and I had only half managed to get my blindfold off, but I could tell that we were in the mountains. A pile of food was thrust at me, and I ate it all quickly, trying not to think of what I was swallowing. I lay feeling dazed for a few moments before I heard voices, and managed to make out a conversation.
“…seems ‘e wants to use ‘er fer the you-know-what. Says that we’re to guard ‘er with our life ‘til then. Mind, I don’ see the use if ‘e’s goin’ to kill ‘er anyway, but I s’pose that the more life in ‘er, the more power ‘e gets.” I strained my ears to hear more, but the men had walked away, and I their words were no longer intelligible. I wondered about what the man had said. I assumed that I was the ‘her’ he was talking about, but I had no inclination as to who ‘he’ was. And when he had mentioned ‘power’ I got the shivering feeling that he meant ‘magic’. No matter how much everyone knew magic was illegal, I had no confidence that these people would refrain from using it. If they had respected the law, they wouldn’t have kidnapped me, that was for certain. The only thing that puzzled me was that if they were planning on using magic, why did they do it so far away from civilization? Surely if they were meaning to do any destructive evil, they would park closer to a town or village as to do their magic easily, for it was well known that to do magic you must be somewhere near the object you are trying to effect. Out here, I could think of no reason that they would need to perform those means. Unless, of course, I had misinterpreted them. For all I knew they could be holding me for ransom. Surely, then, my father would pay more for me alive than if I was dead, and that could be the man’s use for the word ‘power’. But then again, he’d also mentioned that they were going to kill me, which ruled off that speculation. My thoughts slowly diminished as I feel softly to sleep. In the morning, I woke in a small cave. My hands and feet were not bound, but there was a large boulder blocking the entrance out. I didn’t even try to pull it away, knowing by its giant size that it would be impossible for me to move it an inch. I just about despaired of finding a way out when I saw a speck of light coming from the other end of the cave. Slowly stepping over so I wouldn’t trip on anything, I discovered a small hole, about the size that my little finger could fit through. All around it the wall was made up of tiny pebbles. If I could move enough of them, I would be able to escape. I began work immediately. After three hours, however, the pile of rocks at my feet was only halfway up to my knee, and the hole was little more than the size of my fist. I stopped for a minute and sat against the cave wall, renewing my strength, feeble as it was. The next moment I heard footsteps just outside the cavern, and the stone started to roll away. I quickly moved so that the hole wouldn’t be visible to anyone who entered. A bit of meat and corn on a plate was thrown in, and the boulder was rolled back into place. I grimaced, but picked up the meat and tenderly took a bite. It was nothing like what I was used to. The meat was rotting, and the putrid taste burnt my tongue. I spat it out and threw the rest across the room. I knew that sooner or later I’d have to eat something, but for now I wouldn’t settle for anything as vile as that meat. Looking at the corn I saw a bug crawling on one. Disgusted, I flicked it off. Almost instantly another one appeared. I took a stick and moved the corn around. A large pile of around thirty bugs was piled in the center. I pushed my plate to the other side of the cave, gagging. If they expected me to eat that…well, they’d have to think again. I sat in the cave until evening, watching through my small hole and, occasionally working on it. Eventually as it got colder and colder I was forced to walk continually in circles as to stay warm. Finally, I gave up and lied down in a bed of moss, and fell asleep instantaneously. In the morning I woke up shivering, tired, hungry, and already hating the darkness I was enclosed in. So I started clearing away the pebbles around my little hole again. By the time I had gotten the hole big enough for my head to fit through, it was the middle of the afternoon. Exhausted, I sat down again. It took me an hour to recover enough to get up and start again. By the time night came, the hole was big enough for me to almost fit through. I crawled into the moss and fell asleep. In the morning I woke to the sound of loud, unseemly yelling. Groaning, I rolled onto my side. Lifting my head wearily, I saw the sky just beginning to lighten. I moaned and stuffed my head into the moss. It helped dull the sound a bit, but not much. After another hour of restless sleeping, I finally got up and started working on my hole again. Finally, it was big enough to crawl through. Just then I heard voices just outside the cave. Panicking, I stood in front of my hole, trying to block it from sight. A moment later the voices disappeared, and I sighed in relief. Just as I was leaning back, I felt a sharp poke in my ribs. I clapped a hand over my mouth, stifling a scream, and turned. A small boy stood behind me, with dark shaggy hair and a pale, white face.
“Who-who are you?” I managed to whisper.
“Joseph”. He replied.
“What are you doing here?” I asked, unnerved. “shouldn’t you be….at home?”
“I don’t have a home.” Joseph replied. “Do you want to see a surprise?”
“What sort of surprise?” I asked nervously. Joseph vanished and reappeared two minutes later with a large book in his hands. “You—read.” He said, placing the book in my hands.
“Thank you, but I don’t think-” I started to reply, then looked up. Joseph was gone.
