PRINCESS LAVINIA is young, innocent and cursed with a past she cannot escape. Despite her broken past she has never stopped seeing beauty in the world, until a shadow from her past forces her into isolation. Leaving the world she once knew behind.
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I look down at my pager. My face immediately falls as I read the message. My face drains of its colour as the message stares back at me.
Well my princess, you've grown up. Shame your brother won't get the same treatment. Meet me in the woods near the outskirts of the palace or we-
STRIKE
''Ivy what is it?'' I hear River say. His voice seems so far away almost as if it was in another dimension, calling through the riff.
I shake my head trying to bring myself out of the black abyss I was currently floating through and back into reality.
''Nothing I have to go.'' I turn to walk away as I hear River call my name.
I can't look back, this is too important.
I ran down the corridor, my heart thumping in my chest, as the cold air bit into my lungs. I finally find my way outside, but I don't stop.
I can't stop.
Running away from or towards a problem seemed to be a permanent solution to a temporary problem. Life on the run is brutal. What are you actually running towards? There's not even time to make a plan.
But that plan won't help much, not in the grand scheme of things. Compared to the rest of the world, these problems are miniscule. There are those that have real problems of abuse and need some place to bolt to, anywhere that will glue and tape them back to health. And then there are these bastards that rip apart families and for what. Their own sickening enjoyment.
I keep running, the ground blurring underneath my feet, gasping for air as my throat burns for relief. I continued running until my legs were numb and I was far away from civilization.
''Well hello princess'' I hear a voice call from beyond, beckoning me deeper into the woods and away from the path.
The old fairy tales play in my mind. Little red riding hood straying from the path only for her grandma to be eaten by a wolf...
Nothing good lies beyond the path.
The path at my feet fades as my feet drag me closer to the voice. Leading me further into the dark and thorny brambles. Yet I follow it for Octavius' sake. Somewhere in there are the answers I need.
My feet follow the narrow strip of naked earth among the giants of root and leaf. I let my hands touch their crackled skin as I pass, feeling their gentle spirits soothe my own.
I open up my other senses... to sound, to smell and listen so very carefully to every instinct.
I keep going, through the woods, the trees becoming darker as I venture further in. Choked by its overgrown branches, the forest started to resemble a fortress, barricading the earth from the sunlight. The branches of the trees reached towards the sky, they rooted strongly in the carpet of fine evergreen needles that provided a glimmer of comfort. I keep dragging my feet until somewhere in the distance I hear a branch snap...
