The Princess and the Warlock

Chapitre Un

Growing up, I'd always had the same dream.

I was running through trees, their branches tearing at my skin like hands trying to stop me, my bare feet crunching over the dead and decaying fallen leaves. For the longest time, I was never sure if I was running toward something or away from something, only that my pace was desperate, my breaths a harsh sound that echoed in my ears. And my heart, pumping as fast as racehorse on the road, on the edge of exploding in my chest, blood rushing over my eyes and in my ears.

It wasn't until I grew older that the dream decided to evolve more, my brain allowing the scene to continue before breaking off.

I was running. Sprinting, tearing away from whatever was chasing me, propelling myself toward arms that I knew would be waiting for me. And they would be, they would catch me and I would be safe. The adrenaline could stop pumping and my heart could slow, only if I reached those arms.

But the trees grew thicker, deeper, and my pace started to fail. The limbs whispered my name as I passed them, cheering me on and beating me down. My hair was caught in the breeze behind me, flowing like water as I moved.

You're almost there, a voice hissed from the darkness, soft and unfamiliar. You're almost there. You're almost there.

Almost there. I just had to--

The dream always ended there, with the unknown tugging at my mind. I just had to what? What did I have to do? And what was pursuing me so desperately?

Perhaps one day I'd find out, if only my surroundings changed.

"Princess Amora, please!" a familiar voice was calling after me, chastising me, but I propelled myself higher. Maybe if I climbed high enough, I wouldn't be able to hear her anymore. "It isn't safe to be climbing so high!"

The bottoms of my bare feet were being carved from the sharp bark, slivers embedding themselves deep. Don't look down, I thought to myself, reaching up for the next branch. After testing my weight on it, I pulled myself up. Don't look down.

"This isn't what a lady does, Your Majesty!"

I wanted to spit at her words. A lady. A phrase I'd been hearing my entire life. "A lady behaves herself better, Princess Amora" or "Is that what a lady would say, Princess Amora?" It drove me mad.

I glanced down at the girl below me, craning her neck with a hand shielding her eyes from the sun. Even from here I could see her large eyes wide with frustration. Her pristine gray dress and white apron stood out against the grass. "Calm down, Anna." I gripped the upper branch so I could turn, pressing my back to the tree trunk. "Surely I've gone higher before."

"Perhaps, but I've been ordered to keep you safe." Anna stepped closer to the tree, as if she might come after me. "This isn't safe, Your Majesty."

"Anna, please," I called down. "We're outside of the Palace. Just call me Amora."

"I don't feel comfortable, miss."

Buzzkill, I thought, glancing up to how much tree was still above me. The branches higher still seemed sturdy; surely they would still hold my weight for several more feet.

"My Lady, Prince Grimond will be at the Palace any moment. You mustn't keep him waiting."

I couldn't even pretend to morph my groan into something else. "Oh, how could I forget about Prince Grimond?" Stuffy, old, Prince Grimond of Newheart, the man my father was trying to marry me off to. Or, well, currently succeeding, but I still had time to ruin those chances. "I have the sudden desire to let go of the branch, Anna."

"At that height, miss, you'll most certainly break your neck."

That's the point. From here, I could see the spires on the Palace's towers, like spikes on a spear. It wasn't a big kingdom by any standards-the smallest in the land, actually-but it was quite beautiful. With huge winding trees and lush mountainsides, I found that I could stay outside all day and never desire anything from the Palace walls.

But isn't that the way of the world? I have something that nearly everyone desires, and yet I wish to cast it aside? Mother, when she was alive, called me selfish. Father called me ungrateful. I called myself unhappy.

"Princess Amora, we must go. If you're late to another meeting with Prince Grimond, your father will have your head. And mine."

I closed my eyes and leaned my head back against the tree. It was almost like it was calling to me, the outside air, begging me to come home. And when I was outside those awful Palace walls, where the air felt thick and choking, I finally found the peace my soul was longing for.

From up this high, I could see the Wildwood, the forest where the witches and warlocks lived, before they were all slaughtered. It differed from the normal forest because the trees were a charred black. The Wood was set ablaze years ago, but though each tree was charred dead, they never withered. They never crumbled. Many times the people from the village would take axes to them, but they never fell.

Magic trees, I suppose, could survive anything.

More often than not, I thought about running away into the Wildwood, seeing what was deeper. No one has ever been deep into the Wildwood and returned, or that was what I'd been told. The idea of delving deeper into the land of the unknown fascinated me, to a point where I fell asleep and dreamed about it.

But I couldn't simply run away. They would always find me, no matter where I went, no matter where I hid. They had demonstrated that before. Wherever I fled, I would never be alone for long. Father had made sure of it.

"Princess Amora!" Anna called, her anger now pitching her voice high. "Are you even listening to me?"

I stared longingly at the charred trees, wishing I could merely jump from branch to branch until I was brought to the edge. "I'm coming," I told her, biting my lip as I turned back round. "I'm coming."