Forgotten Memories

Chapter 2

Copyright ⓒ 2017 by NEVERENDINGMIND (of Wattpad)

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The ride to the palace in central Trordon was a bumpy one, the road long and winding, the carriage jumping and jostling around with every twist, turn, and bump. Charlotte sat in the carriage with two guards facing opposite her and one on the platform outside the carriage to guide the horses to their destination.

It was quite a boring, awkward ride, so she decided to make the best of her newfound adventure by staring out the window trying her best to commit the landmarks and terrain to memory.

She couldn't wait to get to the castle to write a letter home describing the scenic route, even though her family would be taking the same route in just a few days themselves. She also didn't want the ride to end, though, because she was finding her new adventure quite fascinating and who knew when she would get to go out on a ride like this again, maybe never. Deciding to brace herself for the latter, she soaked in everything she passed, no matter how small of a detail it seemed. She knew deep down that she would remember this day forever, keeping it in a file in her head to look at whenever she wanted.

"Sean!" Charlotte looked up at the guards sitting across from her, startled by the sound of the voice of the guard that was guiding the horses. "Sean!"

The guard, Sean, leaned his head out of the window as the carriage came to a grinding halt. Charlotte was yanked out of the carriage door after a frantic hushed conversation between Sean and the guard outside of the carriage.

"Where are we going, where are you taking me?" Charlotte asked, eyes widening, desperately frantic thoughts taking over her mind. "What's going on?"

She was pulled across the road into a forest that had been just out of view from her vantage point in the carriage. She tumbled along the rocky path covered in leaves and branches as the guards pulled her through the carriage. She started to speak again but was silenced by the withering glare of the other guard that had sat across from her in the carriage, Matt.

They followed an invisible path for what felt like hours. She couldn't fathom what could have happened to make them need to get out of the safety of the carriage and into the dangers of the forest.

It suddenly struck her that she knew nothing of these guards: Sean, Matt, and Carson. Nothing of who they were or what they wanted. She hadn't been introduced to them, heck she hadn't even met the royal family yet. She had thought that was for safety reasons but now she wasn't so sure.

She pulled her arm out of the hand that Sean was using to drag her through the forest, stopping dead in her tracks. She placed her hands on her hips, shooting him a glare as he turned around with a fierce look in his eyes.

"WHERE are we going?" she said harshly, noting that it was probably too loud, seeing as birds all around her were flying to find a quieter place after being startled by her sudden outburst. She mentally shrugged, why should she feel bad for being a bit loud when being dragged through a forest for hours on end.

"Shut up! Now!" Sean retorted in a hushed yell. You could practically see steam rising out of his ears in anger.

"No," Charlotte replied stubbornly, she was tired of being treated like a hostage. She may be a farmhand, but she didn't understand how they thought it was okay for anyone to be treated like this, without an explanation as well.

"Fine," he growled, grabbing her wrist and pulling to her knees on the ground like a cop would to an arrested felon.

"Wha-" she started.