I woke up feeling sore. Sleeping on the floor wasn’t the most pleasant thing when you were used to sleeping on luxurious beds.

Klara sat leaning against a tree with eyes closed. Was she asleep? It looked really uncomfortable to be sleeping that way. Yawning, I tried to get up but almost yelped as a sharp pain stabbed my leg. Sitting back down quickly I looked at my foot, it had swollen more.

“What happened?” Klara was suddenly next to me.

Grimacing in pain “My leg has gotten worse.” I said.

She looked at it closely. “I think we need to take you to a doctor.”

“Is that possible?” In the current situation, it would be difficult to find a doctor.

She ran her fingers through her hair. I could see the confusion on her face.

“We have to. You could lose your leg since we don’t know what caused the swelling.”

She stood up and gave me her hand to help me up. Then she helped me walk to the horse.

“We need to get to the city.” She said as she helped me climb the horse. “We might find a doctor there.”

Getting on the horse herself we rode into the city. On the way, Klara bought us some food and asked some locals where we could find a physician.

“You will find a little white cottage around the second corner to the left. There lives an old man called Robert. He might help you.” An old woman told us.

“Thank you.” Klara said and we moved on to find doctor Robert.

Abruptly Klara stopped and turned her horse.

“What are you doing?” I asked.

“My brother’s men.” She whispered and the began to ride as fast as lighting.

“Oh god…” I held onto her and shut my eyes tightly.

I could hear the sound of galloping horses behind us. They were getting closer by each time.

Klara sped up even more and I gasped as the air whipped my face with such force. I didn’t have enough strength to hold onto her especially when the dizziness was coming back and my stomach threatened to hurl.

“What are you doing? Hold on!” I heard Klara shout but before I knew I was falling until I hit something hard and groaned in pain.

“Really?!” Klara said irritation in her voice as I felt her grab my arms and help me stand up.

“Stop being so weak.”

Weak? I hadn’t had enough sleep or food for days and my whole body was aching with pain.

I grabbed onto her until the spinning stopped and I was looking into her crystal blue eyes.

She frowned. “Are you alright?”

I nodded.

“Well, you won’t be alright for long.” She said looking around.

We were surrounded by soldiers in blue.

“Your Highness.” One of them spoke coming forward. A higher rank soldier from the batch on his arm.

“Sergeant Jonathan. I don’t want to fight you so take your men and go back.” Klara ordered.

“I don’t want to fight you either Your highness so please come with us. His majesty is worried.”

“I am not coming with you.”

“Then I have no choice but to force you.” Jonathan said.

Klara placed herself in front of me and took her sword out. Jonathan took his sword out as well and stood in the middle of the ring created by the soldiers. Lord, why could we never get a rest?

Klara walked to the middle of the circle and began to fight Jonathan. I knew she was a skilled fighter but she seemed to have a hard time defeating him. Maybe she was tired, hungry or was she maybe hurt? She had to be because she had killed several men alone back then.

Jonathan knocked the sword our of Klara’s hand.

“You have lost. Remember I was the one who trained you.” He said.

Klara was panting as she shook her head. “I am not coming with you.”

Jonathan ignored her words and nodded toward the soldiers. “Bring them both.”

The soldiers began to move toward me and Klara. Callum was right. There was no way out and sooner or later we would all die. If these men took me back to Rasmus he would kill me without hesitation for escaping.

Two soldiers grabbed Klara’s arms and were about to drag her when they fell to the ground. Soon after the other soldiers fell to the ground as well.

Klara and I looked at the bodies on the ground with confusion then at each other.

“What happened?” I asked appalled by the situation.

Crouching, Klara shook Jonathan’s body lightly. “Sergeant Jonathan?” But he still lay unmoving on the ground.

“Is he dead?”

“I hope not.” She said as she pressed her fingers on his wrist.

“Don’t worry. He is just taking a nap.” A familiar voice spoke.

Turning my head to where the voice came from I found Irene walking toward us wearing a red cloak with a white dress underneath. She looked beautiful as usual.

“Irene? How…what…what are you doing here?”

“Do you know her?” Klara looked at Irene suspiciously as she stood up.

“How did you find me?” I asked Irene.

“Magic my dear.” She smiled as she walked closer.

“What did you do to my men?” Klara interrupted.

“I just put them to sleep.” Irene stated simply then turned her gaze back to me. “What happened to you?”

I knew what she meant. I was wearing torn clothes and had mud all over my face and body.

“Nothing much just hurt my leg.” I said lifting my dress up slightly, showing my swollen leg.

“Oh dear.” She said taking a closer look. “This is awful. You must be in a lot of pain.”

If she only knew.

“We need to take care of this.” She said.

“First we need to get away from here.” Klara spoke looking around for more threat.

“Yes, right. Let me fix that.”

Irene raised her hands in the air and closed her eyes. She began to hum words in some unknown language as the wind slowly began to blow wildly causing me to almost lose my balance.

Klara stood with her arms crossed, looking unfazed by the whole situation until a black iron gate appeared out of nowhere.The gate opened with a creaking sound and Kara and I looked wide-eyed at each other.

Irene turned to us. “Let’s go.” she said.

Klara looked at Irene skeptically then turned to me.

“We can trust her.” I assured.

Klara raised one brow. “She is a witch.”

“She is a friend.”

Klara still looked skeptical but she didn’t argue.

“Shall we?” Irene gestured toward the gate.

“Where will this take us?” Klara asked.

“Somewhere safe. My home. You don’t have to come if you don’t want to and if you do just follow me.” She said then turning around she entered the gate.

“We can trust her.” I told Klara. She looked hesitant for a while but then followed me inside.

As soon as I entered I felt a pulling force throwing me off balance and I fell flat on my stomach. I groaned in pain, tired of falling all the time and hurting myself.

“Are you alright?” Irene grabbed my arms and helped me up.

“Where are we?” Klara asked as she dusted herself off. She must have fallen to.

“Welcome to my home.” Irene smiled as she gestured toward a big white mansion.

Wow, it was beautiful. The mansion hovered proudly behind a big blue Iron gate which opened with a wave of her hand.

“Come on in.”

Irene entered first and we followed her inside. As we entered we were confronted by a beautiful garden. Short trimmed grass, rectangular beds of flowers, aromatic leaves, and the air, it was scented by the sweet fragrance of several flowers.

We walked on a looping stone path which led to a threshold. There stood a white marble fountain and birdcages hang from the roof. Further ahead stood the white mansion, flanked by several trees and bushes gently swaying to the warm spring breeze.

It was a very simple looking mansion with its garden yet there was something magical about it. Was it the melodic sound of gurgling water combined with the singing of birds or was it the sweet scent of flowers carried by the soft breeze?

Suddenly a crow came flying out of nowhere, startling both me and Klara then landed on Irene’s arm.

“This is V. One of my many pets.” Irene explained as she stroke it’s black feathers.

“My Lady?” someone spoke.

Turning my head, a tall blonde man was standing at the threshold holding a black cat in his arms.

“I was just about to come looking for you.” He said descending the marble stairs and walking up to us.

As he neared I realized how strikingly handsome he was. His blonde hair cascaded down to his broad shoulders and his eyes were a beautiful forest green.

“Oh Enoch, this is princess Hazel and princess Klara and this is Enoch.” Irene introduced. “He is…my…my cousin. ”

Averting his gaze he looked at me then at Klara.

“Nice to meet you.” He said while stroking the cat in his arms.

“Enoch, why don’t you take Klara to a nice room and I will tend to Hazel.” Irene suggested.

Klaras eyes widened as she looked at me. I nodded to reassure her.

Enoch looked at Klara. “This way My Lady.” He said and she followed him hesitantly.

“Lets go inside and take a look at you injured leg.” Irene smiled once we were left alone.

“How did you bring us here through that gate.” I asked.

“Oh… I will tell you all about it.”

Klara followed Enoch through the halls. She still didn’t trust this Irene so she had her hand on her sword ready for anything that might happen.

“No need to be scared. We don’t hurt our guests.” Enoch spoke as he walked in front of her. How did he know?

Enoch stopped in front of a wooden door and opened it.

He looked her up and down but he didn’t seem to like what he saw. “There is a bathroom inside and clean clothes in the closet.” He said then gestured for her to walk inside.

Klara entered the room, her face red with embarrassment. She could only imagine how awful she looked and how bad she smelled after being on the run for days. She turned around to thank him but he was already gone. Strange man, she thought but he was good looking.

Klara wondered around the room for a while, opening the closets, testing the bed, looking out the window then she decided to take a bath. After the bath, she slid into a blue chiffon gown that she found in the closet then began to dry her hair. Now she only needed some food and some sleep, she thought.

After drying her hair she exited the room and went to find Hazel. Klara had to make sure Hazel was safe and that this Irene could be trusted. But as she wandered around the halls she realized that she always came back to the same place. Was this some kind of magic? Was Irene keeping her away from Hazel?

“Mwew mwew…”

Klara turned to find the black cat that Enoch held earlier. Walking closer Klara crouched down and stretched her arms toward the cat.

“Come here..” She smiled but the cat just stared at her before it ran away.

“No wait…” She began to run after the cat but it was already gone.

Klara sighed. She was too tired to walk around that she even contemplated to go back to the room and sleep for a while. But she had to find Hazel.

Walking around, looking and getting frustrated by each time Klara came to a halt as she noticed something strange. It was a room, entirely made of glass, the walls, the roof everything. Entering the room she found green plants everywhere, kinds she had never seen before and animals. Different animals in cages. Some she recognized, hamsters, rabbits and frogs and some she had never seen before.

Klara found another glass room or more like a glass box. It was filled with water and fished swum inside. She had never seen anything like it before. Caught in studying the beings inside the box she suddenly felt something touch her feet.

Looking down she screamed in horror as she found a snake slingering around her. Kicking wildly she ran while screaming at the top of her lungs until she hit something hard and fell backward.

Groaning in pain her eyes landed on a pair of black boots then her gaze traveled up long powerful legs encased in a pair of black pants. Skimming over powerful arms and broad shoulders covered by a black silk shirt her gaze landed on a pair of beautiful Hazel eyes. The amber in the middle contrasted beautifully with the bright green on the edge. Those eyes were breathtaking.

“My my what do we have here?”