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Chapter 1- Banished

No goodbyes, no well-wishes. Not bothering to disguise the hurt and tears in my eyes, I left the castle unseen. I had no idea where I was going, but I knew I had to leave Angeles. It had seemed pretty apparent Eadlyn didn't want me there, so I had no intention to stay. Though it had been a day since she banished me, it still hurt to think about. We had grown up together, and since she was my best friend and my first (and only) love, I was willing to give up all of my hopes and dreams to stay with her. However, she didn't seem to understand; that had always been a fault of hers. She thought she'd be doing me a well deserved favour by sending me away, but truthfully, it had been her that had kept me at the castle for years. Just before the Selection had been announced, I had travelled to Fennley and had planned to enroll in school. Then, I'd been Selected, and all of my plans had come to an abrupt stop. Now I was walking away from everything and everyone I loved, heading into the dark. I never expected this to happen, so I had no idea what to do or where to go; I had always assumed that if she eliminated me, I'd just go back to life how it was- life at the castle. That's Eadlyn for you, though; she does more than the opposite of the expected. Not the unexpected, but the unimagined. Even as I walked, further and further away from my love, life, and happiness, I still couldn't imagine what would happen in the days to come.

-

I was somewhere in the massive stretch of uninhabited land between Angeles and the nearest province, Fennley (where I was headed), and planned to stay there for a while. There wasn't anyone around to bother me about my predicament, no one to sign autographs for, and best- or worst- of all, nothing to remind me of Eadlyn. Dead leaves crunched under my feet as I traipsed through the unfamiliar forest, my head whipping around with every snap of a twig. I'd never been in this wild territory before, and I was scared, hoping I'd never have to find out what sort of creatures lived here.

Nobody had ever been as brave- or stupid- as I, so the route through the no-man's land was unexplored. Despite this, there were countless tales of the animals, creatures, and paranormal that lived there, including ones about man-eating cats larger than I was, and stories of people who'd travelled this path and never returned (apparently they came back as ghosts, and warned those who could have the same end as them). Just thinking about spirits, angry or not, made me shudder. 

"You'll be fine." I assured myself, trying desperately to get my mind off the potential dangers of my surroundings.

I wanted to think about life, flowers, anything beautiful, but any attempts to would be half-hearted; I couldn't let my thoughts stray to home or her. Both would make my heart ache again, and I couldn't let that happen; I had to be strong and get to Fennley. The sun was slowly setting, and the light coming through the trees was fading rapidly; I needed to set up shelter soon. I knew for a fact there were no caves, but I thought I could scrounge together something. If worst came to worst, I could always sleep in a tree...

Having wanted to go to school for architecture, I knew what sort of shelter I needed, and just before I lost all natural light, I finished constructing a crude hut, built into the side of a tree. Though it was mediocre at best, due to limited time and lack of materials, it would serve its purpose. It was about 1 yard deep, six and a half feet tall, and six and a half feet wide; large enough for me to stand up without hitting my head, and to lay down in with enough room to stretch out. I made sure the roof was slanted, even though the sky was clear, then sat inside my tiny wooden hut to make food. I didn't have much to eat, because I didn't feel like making a fire, but the bread, cheese, and dried meat was enough. I drank about a pint of water, then settled down on the mat I'd brought along. I didn't mind this sort of living, the sense of adventure that accompanied it was wonderful, but I was awfully lonely. I missed my parents, the other elite, I even missed my annoying little sister, but I missed her most of all. I could still remember the whisper of her lips across my own, the way her hand fit perfectly in mine, how she'd hug me from behind when I was least expecting it. I treasured every golden moment we'd shared like a precious jewel; I missed Eadlyn beyond all belief. I knew that my being gone was to ensure her own happiness, but she didn't know that I'd sacrificed my own to make that happen. That was part of friendship, though, making sacrifices. The memories I had would make me smile from time to time, but they wouldn't keep the sadness from welling up inside me. But I was strong, I'd figure out how to be happy without her by my side. At least, I hoped I could. There was no way to stop the dread filling me, and it showed. A single tear slid down my cheek in the darkness, and I drifted off into a heartbroken sleep.

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A/N- Metric to Customary conversions- 1m ≈ 1 yard, 2m ≈ 6.5 feet, .5L ≈ 1 pint

A/N- Hello, fellow Keadlyn shippers! First, we'd like to say thank you to anyone reading this, and we hope you enjoy the chapters to come. Second, we converted from metric (what we're used to) to customary, since most of our readers are American, but if any conversions are wrong, don't hesitate to let us know! Lastly, we'd like to thank anyone and everyone who helped, loved, and supported us (a huge thank you to @sparkleunicorn123 for the beautiful cover). This story's been in the planning process for quite a while, and we're so glad to finally have it published! Much love to you all!

{ xx // britain_is_better }