"W-w-who are you?" stuttered Aria hesitantly. The girl was still crouched in the alcove, shivering slightly at the bitter wind that whipped through the cave. She was emaciated and skeletal. Her ragged clothes hung off her thin frame, and her shoulder blades sliced through her back like knives. Muddy streaks coated her ghostly face, and every inch of skin that Aria could see was covered in grimy dirt, oil and grease. The girl suddenly jumped up, swaying slightly, into an instantly defensive pose, and stared at Aria with flashing tiger eyes. Aria surrendered, backing up against the wall. "It's okay, I won't hurt you, I promise. I'm a runaway, just like you," Aria said hesitantly. The girl lowered her arms and released the tension in her stance. "Are you the new slave for the Mountain Queen?" asked the girl suspiciously.
"Yes!" replied Aria. "I'm this year's slave....." Aria tailed off as she remembered the fate that was undoubtedly in store for her. "Don't worry," said the girl, surprisingly. "If I can stay this long, then so can you." She stuck her hand out for Aria to shake. "I'm Lilian."
Inky stood, flanks heaving, his body coated with a light sheen of sweat. Sienna swung herself off his back, landing on the wet, springy moss. They had travelled 65 miles across the barren moors, and no sign of Sienna. The only human they had come across was a small boy of about twelve, sitting in a weathered, battered cave, looking out on the empty moors. He had struck Sienna as familiar for some reason, but she hadn't dared stop for even a minute to investigate her hunch. Sienna sighed and picked her way across the gorse, wincing as the sharp leaves scratched her bare legs. She sat on a rough hewn rock and scraped her foot through the carpet of leaves aimlessly. Something touched her foot, soft and fluffy. She leaned down and tugged at her foot without much enthusiasm, until a piece of the object came loose. Wrapped around Sienna's supple tanned hand was a red cashmere scarf. Sienna gasped and brought the scarf to her face. It could be a coincidence, but Aria always, without fail, slept with a red cashmere scarf. If she had been taken along this way, it could have dropped from her pyjamas without her noticing. She lifted the label, and there, in smudged marker pen, were the words Aria Waters...
Aria and Lilian were curled up in the old cave, staying close together to ward off the freezing air that cut through them at every gust of wind. Animals howled and growled out on the moors; at every fresh noise Aria stiffened, terrified lest the Mountain Queen found her and Lilian. Lilian had been here for the most part of 6 months, after working to the bone for the Mountain Queen for 3 1/2 years. She had sneaked off here, and because the cave was so well hidden, no one but Aria had ever found her. At one point, Lilian had ventured out on to the moors, but the Mountain Queen sent out hounds after her and she had to return to her old hiding place. The Mountain Queen thought Lilian dead, as most of the slaves died after a few years. Well, not these ones....
