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He slipped his shirt on and tied his tie.

“Thank you for your help tonight. I really appreciate it.” I ushered him to the door. I leaned near his ear. “And if you say one fucking word about this to anyone, I will murder you and your wife, but not before I tell her you’re an adulterous whore.”

He shook his head quickly, nearly stumbling out of the door.

I saw the frumpy lady from earlier walking back down the hall with a pitcher of water, staring after the man, confused. I waved at her quickly, then shut the door.

Chapter three

Snow - House in the Woods

Idon’tknowhowfar I had run or for how long, but my feet and my legs screamed out in pain. I could feel open cuts and scrapes on the bottoms of each of my feet, but I didn’t let that stop me for too long. I had to keep moving.

I paused by the base of a large tree and looked at the sun, set high in the sky and guessed it was sometime in the early afternoon. The air was warm, but starting to get that muggy afternoon weight and the insects were starting to come out to prepare for their evening serenade.

I had only stopped a few times to get a sip of water from the creeks before moving through them and hoped doing so would lose the trackers that evil bitch would surely send after me.

I continued to walk, slowing my pace considerably as nearly every part of me ached. I looked around for any sign of life, but there was nothing in this forest- just trees and bushes, bushes and trees, there weren’t even clear paths marked.

I stopped by a berry bush and plucked off a handful of vibrant red fruit and sat on the ground, looking around as I popped them into my mouth one at a time, savoring their sweetness. My stomach growled in delight. Too bad it was the main course for today’s meal, I thought sorrowfully.

I looked around trying to piece together any clues as to where I was, but I was lost and alone. Being stuck in the castle for my entire life and not being allowed to visit neighboring villages was really hurting me right now.

I took the bag off my shoulder and rifled through it, finding my mom’s necklace at the bottom. I pulled it out, examining the chain, and saw the loop at the top had only been pulled apart just a bit. I searched on the ground and found two small, thin rocks and placed them on either side of the loop and pushed the pieces back together, closing it. I clasped the necklace and slipped it back on, watching as it dangled on my chest.

“Mother. I don’t know if you can hear me, but if you can… can you please help me find a way out of these woods? I have grown up alone and unloved, even hated for no reason and now I have been forced from the only home I’ve ever known- away from papa and away from your memory. Although I don’t remember you, I miss you. The way the King misses you tells me you were a kind and loving woman.”

I heard twigs breaking behind me and stopped talking, slowly reaching my hand into my quiver to extract an arrow. I threaded it slowly into the bow, careful not to move too fast. I continued to listen, confused how the Queen had someone this close to me already. I had been careful, crossing in several creeks and took as many precautions as I could. My heart was nearly pounding out of my chest.

After what felt like an eternity, I heard some more twigs breaking. I sank further onto the ground and slowly rolled over so I was lying on my stomach and peeked around the base of the tree. My heart nearly leapt out of my chest with what I saw. Standing just a few feet away was my caramel brown horse staring at me- waiting for me. I dropped my bow and let my body flop on the ground as relief surged through me, relaxing my taut muscles.

I jumped up and ran over to him. “What are you doing here, boy?”

He neighed and put his head down. I patted him gently on the shoulder and went back to the tree to grab my stuff and climbed onto his back.

I looked at my necklace and couldn’t help but wonder if my mother had sent him. I shook my head in disbelief. Surely not, but also how likely was it that my horse followed me for who knows how long?

We rode slowly through the woods as I had to duck under low-hanging branches and dodge overgrown bushes that littered the path, but it didn’t matter. My feet were getting a much needed rest.

“I don’t know where we need to go, boy.” I leaned over to pat him and was hit with a wave of exhaustion. “We need to find something soon though, because it’s getting dark.” I looked up at the falling sun.

Minutes turned to hours when a cottage appeared, built into the base of a large tree. It was the first sign of civilization I had seen since I ran away from the castle and thought for a minute I was hallucinating. After blinking hard a few times I realized it was real and it was getting closer. “A house. You did it, boy!” I patted him on the shoulder.

The horse trotted quickly to the house and I jumped off and ran up to the door, knocking on it, but no one answered. I moved behind the small row of bushes and peeked through the window to find an empty house, but saw a pot of stew steaming over a slow burning fire. My mouth began to immediately salivate. It had been almost a full day since I’d eaten anything aside from the random berries I found on the trail.

I went back to the door and jiggled the handle, and it opened. I felt guilty for letting myself in, but also had to hope these people were nice and wouldn’t mind helping someone in need.

Inside was a quaint little space, but also roomy at the same time. To the right was a long dining room table, perfectly sat for seven- seven plates, seven cups, seven sets of silverware. To the left were several couches and recliners and on the far side of the room was a kitchen with a large island table top. Tucked in between the living room and kitchen were a set of hand carved wooden stairs leading up.

I looked through their cabinets and saw there were no extra bowls, just the seven on the table. Perhaps I could use one and pour myself a bowl of stew and clean it before they got back, and they wouldn’t be the wiser. I rushed quickly to the table and grabbed a bowl and a spoon and made my way back to the pot on the fire and carefully ladled out a spoonful. I wanted more, but also didn’t want to be too greedy.

I hovered over the kitchen counter and slowly brought the spoon to my lips, blowing on it to cool it off. The mixture of smells was causing my stomach to grumble in anticipation. I tipped the stew into my mouth, ignoring the slight burn on my tongue and swallowed it. It was the best food I had ever tasted and nearly melted into the ground in happy satisfaction. The meat was cooked perfectly, falling apart in my mouth and the carrots and potatoes were fresh. After eating, I quickly washed and dried the bowl, sitting it on the table exactly where it was before, careful to line up the spoon perfectly alongside it like the others.

I walked around and realized there were no pictures of anyone, no names, nothing.

I walked up a set of stairs and found two rooms on the first platform. I had to imagine that is what was on the rest of the platforms the higher I went, but I couldn’t go any further. My legs and my bones ached and with a full belly, I was doing everything I could to stay awake, so I decided to take a quick nap. I walked into the first bedroom on the left and climbed into the bed and realized immediately, it was huge, fit for a king, and soft too.

I sank right in and fell asleep.