Tales of Emery Rose and Cherin Archer

Chapter 1 - Emery Rose

"Running away?"

I cast him an icy glare and proceeded stuffing articles into my satchel. I stormed across my bedroom grabbing whatever I deemed useful and chucking it into a pile.

"Where are you going to go?"

He leaned against the wall and crossed his arms, the moon's glow illuminating his face. I sauntered past him, gathered the rope, rough against my smooth palms, and slung it across the window down to the terrace.

"The guards are going to hear you. You'll wake up all of Silverfall."

I stood in front of the window and turned, taking in my bedroom chamber for the last time, ignoring the indignant figure leaning against the wall. This is where I learnt to walk, talk, and read. My eyes scanned the rows of books, that always had a crisp musty scent, the wardrobe where I stored all the clothes I sewed and the bed that I collapsed on after a long day of practice. I smiled as I reached for the little wooden horse Jasper carved for me for my fourteenth birthday. I gingerly placed it in my bag. I took a deep breath and began scaling down the stone walls. The smooth hardness made it difficult to get a grip on the bricks.

He poked his head out and looked down at me. His smirking face morphed into surprise as he realised I was serious. Grunting, I hauled myself down, trying to find the best crevice to place my feet.

"Emery," he sighed, "come back. We'll talk this out. Please?"

I stopped. There was something in his voice that made me. Gripping my rope, I peered up at his onyx eyes and with blood rushing to my cheeks, realised that I had barely made it two metres down. He was right - I had no idea what I was doing.

Begrudgingly, I took his hand as he heaved me up.

"They were going to send me away," I whispered, "I couldn't live if I married someone I didn't even know."

"I know, I know," he replied soothingly as he wrapped me in a hug. The faint scent of sweat and dirt from Jasper's training enveloped me.

"What do I do, Jasper?"

"Well for starters, you could run away properly. On a horse, Emery. That's why we have fifty of them," he said matter-of-factly, "and then you could bring me along, so you don't starve. I bet you don't even have food in that ridiculously small satchel."

For the first time in weeks, I grinned.

We slipped out of my bedroom and creeped through the dark hallway, dull paintings brightening its stone walls. They were always placed a hundred metres apart on the perimeter of the castle. For intruders, this was bad news. But for me and Jasper, this was a piece of cake. Guards keep the unwanted out; they do not keep the wanted in. We tiptoed to the stables at the far north corner. The crisp scent of hay wafted through. The gentle rustle was the only sound in the quiet winter night. We crept in and I went straight to Nova.

"Hey girl, shh," I said as she neighed and nuzzled me. I reached into my pocket of the pants I made and fed her sugar cubes. There is a lingering sweetness as I plop some cubes into my mouth.

I hoisted myself up, grabbed Nova's reigns, and set off into the woods. The gentle trotting of the hooves was the only sound we could hear. We were heading into the northern border; Jasper's family had a cottage in the Birch Woods there before he trained in the Royal Service as my bodyguard. I was twelve and he was fifteen. Father decided that I needed someone to watch me. Ever since the meeting of the councils, he determined never to leave me unprotected.

"You're my guardian?" I had said, looking him up and down, when we were left on our own.

"Don't be so surprised!" he replied starkly. "You don't know what I can do."

"Then teach me."

For the first time, I saw him smile. And every day since, we had run off to the stable after my tutor had freed us to practice hand to hand combat. I could hardly believe that was seven years ago.

"Princess Emery Rose the Second, heir to the Silverfall Throne!"

I snapped my head up and glanced vacantly at Jasper.

"Hey, Em what's wrong? I called you five times," he said.

"Oh, sorry," I murmured, fixing my gaze on the path ahead. We were almost at the cottage. Whenever we had a day to ourselves, we would sneak away and come to his old house. His parents were moved a bigger house in the village, so we had the entire place to ourselves. Very few knew about the area, not even the Royal Guards. I looked up at the sky. It was morphing from black to purple as the sun rose.

Jasper was suddenly in front of me cutting me off with his horse.

"Hey! What are you doing?"

"We are not doing this Em," he said, "I cannot handle you like this. It's so... sad."

He looked at me with such hurt in his eyes; I instantly felt a pang of guilt. I wanted to be my usual, happy self, but I just couldn't. I missed my mum. She always knew exactly what to say. She would be heartbroken when she wakes up to the news of my disappearance...

"We're here," he said as he hopped off his horse, "you can check out the place while I take the horses to the stables."

I nodded as I got off and strode into the cottage. It was so small. I found it hard to believe that it fit Jasper, his parents, and his little sister. But it was so cute. It was made with dark oak, surprising since they lived in the Birch Woods. It had a little window at the front, looking into the living area. It had a little fireplace, with a cozy sofa in front. The entire house was smaller than my bedroom but there was something about it that drew me in. Mum would've loved this place. She always went on about how half the rooms in our castle are gathering dust.

"Emery!" I flinched at the sharpness in his voice. I hadn't noticed him enter the room.
"You're doing it again, Em; the zone-out thing."

"I was just distracted," I said softly. I lit a match in the fireplace and the wood crackled to life.

"Emery!"

"I'm trying! Okay?" I whipped my head to face him. "I just left my home, family, and my people! I need time, Jas-"

"No, it's not that," he whispered hoarsely. He suddenly stilled.

I held my breath and peered out the window to see what it was. I dashed outside. In the distance, I could hear the faint trotting of hooves. I gasped. I couldn't breathe.

They came to find me. They're after me. They are going to take me away. They will marry me off.

As the distant noise grew louder and louder, I could feel every bone in my body tremble.

There they were, racing toward me. Coming to take me back to Silverfall. Jasper is yelling at me, but I do not know what he's saying. I can't think. I can't speak. I can't move.

The next thing I know, I'm collapsed onto the cold, hard soil. It's damp against my cheek. My head is throbbing, my vision, blurry. What do I do? What do I do? What do I do?

"Get your hands off me!" That was Jasper, I think.

They were at each other's throats. Nova whinnied in terror. Jasper kept yelling at them. There were two. He jumped and punched the redhead. The tall guard retaliated shoved him and pushed him on to his knees. The other came at me. I ducked under and kicked his knee, hard. I have Jasper to thank for all those fighting lessons. The guard wobbled but stood his ground. That's when I saw it - the red and gold dragon emblem embroidered on his vest. These weren't Silverfall guards. They aren't here to arrest us for treason. They're here for much worse.

I looked up at him and a pair of vivid green eyes met mine.