Runaway

Chapter 3: Places

CHAPTER 3: PLACES

This part of the palace is a blind spot for the guards and the security of this whole place was low because no rebels were attacking us for quite a long time now.

I cautiously looked down at my tracks from where I stood. My head feels dizzy as I took in the height of the tree I just climbed. I brace myself as I put my weight on the rope and pulling myself up to climb up higher on the walls of the palace. Sweat formed on my forehead as the night gets warmer.

The walls were around a meter thick and just before I could go down to the other part of the wall. I stood at the width of the walls. I should be shot dead by now at any means but I wasn't.

I took in the view of Midst. It was beautiful. In front of me is the view of the Praeter, the world outside the palace walls. I could see the bright lights from the black market, the tiny little lights like fireflies that scatter like stars that came from homes and little shops. Darkness really does help you see the light like a how stars cannot shine without darkness.
It's beautiful.

I felt a shiver in my spine, even though it wasn't cold, as a sudden reality hit me.

These walls weren't just for security purposes. It was more like a boundary. A boundary I should break if I could rule this country- If I will rule this country. If I could.
Midst, my little country, was still broken by social classes and status. The lucky ones and the fortunately rich and important take place in the Praesidium. Praesidium, in Latin means protection. This place is guarded from the pirates and the rebels that threaten to conquer our lands. The unfortunate, the poor and those who are in poverty are vulnerable outside the Praesidium. That's the problem. Whenever attacks from rebels happen, the poor are robbed and their meager supplies will be taken away from them.

The rich will become richer and the poor become miserable. This is no system at all.

I pushed my thoughts away and continued climbing down the wall. As I neared the ground a familiar shadow waits for me.
"Quite slow today, Eira," That's what they call me here, Eira, my second name. I like being called differently here outside the walls.
Dean smiled. A cranky old truck that carries vegetables waits behind him. Finally I could breathe again. I could be home again.

"It's been awhile." Dean walks closer to me until he was in front of me. I could smell his scent, wood and soap. He pulled me into a hug and I was flooded with emotions and feelings that only the two of us could understand.

"I missed you," tears were brimming in my eyes but I don't let them fall. I need to be strong. He pulled me in tighter like he was going to put back all my broken pieces together.

"I missed you too, princess." he whispers in my ear. He pulled back and opens the passenger seat for me. I climbed inside the truck as Dean drives our way to the Hills.

Dean is my family, my rock, my refuge, my best friend. This thing between us, whatever the hell it is, it is a strong connection and I am thankful for it. He is the only one in the Hills to know I'm actually the princess of Midst and he didn't push me away after he knew that. He is all things rough as I am soft, strong as I am weak, hot as I am cold. That's just our balance.

We drove in silence. As the night gets darker, the Praeter seems to get livelier. The drive wasn't that long when we reached the Hills. The Hills were the countryside of the Midst. It's vast lands were wide, crops and animals filled the farm and the people here are so generous and kind.

I remembered the first time I was brought here, the first time I ran away at night. I was alone, miserable, scared and I was still fourteen. I bumped into trouble in the black market when I was caught stealing a loaf of bread. A kid, who was bigger than me, almost beat the life out of me if Dean and his family haven't seen me. They saved me and bought the loaf I stole, feed me and treat me as their own in the Hills.

I didn't discover this place, the place discovered me.
I almost thought of it as destiny but my destiny was in the palace as the King says,
but I could also write my own destiny.

As the truck entered the farm, I could see mother Gabriella and the others waiting in the front porch. I smiled. The first genuine smile of happiness my lips made for quite a while. As soon as the truck stopped moving, I hoped out of it and ran into mother's arms.

Harvey and Haley, Dean's little twin cousins tugged at my dress and hugged my legs in their little arms in a chorus of laughter. A group of ten people greet me their warm welcomes and smiled.

"Eira, darling, you have come back to visit us." She said as I buried my face in her shoulder. "You are always welcome here, my dear. We are glad that we have you here."

"Thank you, mom," I said, "Oh and by the way I have brought you something." I gave her the pouch I was hiding in my cloak and I watched as she opened it. It was a pure gold necklace, a diamond ring and two black opals a size of a grape fruit. These gems were the most valuable gems I had and I don't need them as much as they do.

These gems aren't enough to thank them for adopting me as their own. They were family, my family, my people.

"Oh darling, you don't have to." She gasp, "These amount to many years of harvest money. Thank you."
"It's a small token for you, for all of you, for everything that you've done for me." I smiled as I saw tears in my mother's eyes.

"Okay, everyone, Dad's making a little bonfire and s'mores in the backyard as a celebration for Eira's comeback!" Dean cheered as he leads us to the backyard. The farm house wasn't that big, it was filled with hay, cots and warm blankets but the people who live in it have the biggest heart and the kindest souls.

Their joyful shouts and laughter brings peace and happiness in me.

This is home.

That night it was filled with laughter, songs by the bonfire, pure happiness and content. How I wish I didn't have to end it by the dawn.

In the morning I'd be sneaking up in my palace bedroom again after I kissed mother and Dean 'goodbye'.