Cinder & the Prince of Midnight

Chapter 1 Cinder ran for her life under the full moon. She sped through the trees, jumped over streams and climbed over rocks, all the while panting so loudly that she was afraid the entire forest would betray her. Barely out of girlhood, she had had plenty of practice running and jumping, but nothing had prepared her for this. Behind her, she could hear the hounds baying and barking. The hooves of horses clattered behind her. The men were in no hurry, other than for the sport of it. She had seen some of their warhorses decked out in bells and gold trimming with heavily embroidered bridles. It was as if the lords were about to go on a parade through the town. Under the moonlight, they had looked as handsome as heroes of old riding in to save the damsel in distress. When she’d first seen them gathering outside the castle walls, she’d thought they were here to stop the hunt. For a moment, she thought she and the others had been saved. But as soon as one of them leered at her, she knew she was mistaken. These noble-looking men were the hunters. She thought she could hear the screaming of a wraith horse so close that her heart skipped a few beats. She imagined a wraith horse rearing up in the air with its flaming mane and tail. But she knew the hunters only rode ordinary horses. Wraith horses were rare and not likely to be wasted on such easy prey as chasing down girls like her. Cinder ran up a hill and took the risk of turning to see how close they were. Below her, the dogs were crossing the stream. Only a few steps behind them, the first hunters rode out of the trees on their warhorses. They were laughing, these men of the dark realm. She spun to run but stopped short, startled. A pair of huge eyes flashed in the moonlight ahead of her. She jumped in fright and almost screamed before she realized that the eyes belonged to a girl. The girl looked as startled and terrified as Cinder. There was a moment of relief when each realized that the other wasn’t a hunter but a hunted like herself. They both silently looked away and ran in different directions. This was Cinder’s first hunt, but she shared the sense of desperation with the other people who’d already been through this before. The ground on the hillside was slippery with dead leaves, and Cinder kept slipping. She tripped on her dress and fell, painfully landing on her knees against a fallen tree. She wanted to rip the cloth and shove it away, but it was the only protection she had against the world. She grabbed it in both hands and ran. The hounds must have caught the other girl’s scent, because their barking veered off in the direction of the other girl. Cinder couldn’t help but glance back. All she saw was a forest of shadows. The full moon streamed down in broken beams through the trees. A horse crashed through the underbrush behind her. Cinder spun to see a horse rearing up near her. She took two steps back and tripped. The scream of the horse was defending, but it wasn’t a wraith horse, just an ordinary horse. She took courage from that. She scrambled onto her knees and was running before she was properly on her feet. “There you are.” The rider sounded drunk. And far too close behind her. A huge weight thunked onto her back as he landed on her. She crashed down hard on her chin and arms. Pinned under the weight of a fully grown man, her skinny muscles were no match for him. But she wouldn’t give up. Couldn’t. He put his thick, slimy lips to her face. She turned her head enough so that he ended up licking her cheek. She turned her face and bit into his jowl. Somewhere in the nearby trees, a girl’s scream echoed through the night. Men laughed in the shadows somewhere in the distance. Her attacker turned angry. He slapped her. Then he made a fist and pounded it down toward her face. She jerked her head out of the way. His fist landed hard against the rock that was beneath her head. He howled in his pain and fury. She twisted, kicked and squirmed with as much force as she could. Just as she was about to slip out from under him, he grabbed the neckline of her dress and ripped it down. Until then, she had been terrified. But now, anger boiled up, mixing with the fear. She groped in the dirt and grabbed the first thing she could hold. A rock, solid and round. She pounded it with all her might against the attacker’s head. He gave a surprised grunt and rolled partway off her. On pure instinct, she hit him again with the rock. He grunted again, and this time, he lay still. It was as if he was asleep except for the trickle of wetness from his head. Had she killed him? She shoved his legs off her and scrambled away on her hands and knees. She looked at the rock still in her hand. She hadn’t noticed before how sharp it was. She had blindly grabbed a rock by the rounded side and hit him with the sharp edge. There was blood on that edge. She dropped the rock and stood on her feet. He could get up any moment and attack her again. The hounds were barking, closer now. Had they found the other girl? She turned and ran, leaving the man bleeding on the forest floor.