From Lost Prince to Commander

IN THE FOREST

It was common knowledge to all that Como sat inside a forest.

The large town and all of its borders were closed in by large, thick, evergreen trees that shed leaves until it took a great deal of combing to find sand. There were also occasional wild animals and snakes, which was why I treaded with caution as my feet stepped gingerly upon the leaves.

With no light to guide me but the silvery moonlight, I dreaded stepping on a snake or running into an animal that would see me better than I did. A part of me wanted to go back and risk running into the soldiers, but turning back meant death.

On the other hand, so did carrying on and moving forward.

I stood in one place to weigh the options before me. If I went back, the soldiers could find me. They would still be looking for me even till tomorrow, and I stood the risk of having a whistleblower who would choose money over another person's life to give information about me. And when they had me, only fate could know what they would do to me. It could be swift, like a silent bullet to kill me, or slow, like being locked in a dark cell until I went blind and mad and became too useless to the throne. They could also choose not to kill me, but to disfigure me in a way that would make me useless to the throne, like putting my eyes out or cutting my hands off or even my tongue, or all, until I was a living burden.

If I continued, the chances were still slim.

Como had all sorts of wild animals in these forests, and, centuries back, had loved to hunt the lions and tigers that had long been decimated in numbers, leaving a few that I would be unlucky to come across. There was the one I was now most terrified of — snakes, who were alive and thriving. They could be lying among the leaves, or climbing up the trees, ready to sink their fangs into me with half a chance. If I could somehow get past these things, then I would be safe and free. Somehow.

It took a bright flash of light from afar to force me into a choice.

My feet carried me as swiftly as they could through the darkness, the beat created by the sound of the leaves as they crunched beneath my feet forming a sort of rhythm for me. Even when my chest felt so out of breath that breathing became hard, I continued to jog, trying to put as much distance as I could between myself and that flash of artificial light. My only stop came when a tree root that grew out of the ground made me trip and fall into a mud puddle.

Tired and panting, I rolled over and lay on my back as my eyes caught the figure of the moon through the space where the trees and their leaves did not hold to each other, and the celestial body looked down back at me.

For the first time, I wished I'd die.

Why was I struggling to live so much?

What aspect of my life was worth living for?

I had nothing to want to stay alive for, as I thought of it. My whole family was dead. Long dead. Nobody was chasing after them to kill them.

Nobody even cared about them.

Her name came to my ears like the sound of a soft whisper over the wind.

Miranda.

Her family, as well.

They had put so much on the line to keep me alive. They would hope that I had found a way to escape, and that I was still alive. Their grandmother was probably dead because of her attempt to put herself between me and the soldiers, borne out of her desire to protect me. I had a duty to them.

To not let all they had done for me go in vain.

Struggling back to my feet, I stood again and marched, hoping to be far from Como by sunrise. With the aid of a tree branch, I peeled the leaves off of it, I continued, silently praying not to step on a snake.

My legs soon began to ache, but I paid no attention. I had lost both my shoes in a bid to run faster, and with how the leaves I stepped on stuck to my feet, I was quite sure that I was bleeding. The pain slowly became even more unbearable, and my knees even knocked against each other because of how badly I was shaking.

Yet, I carried on. I shouldn't have, but I did, and it would prove to be my undoing.

One of my feet stepped into nothingness, and before I could blink, I felt the rest of me falling into darkness as the wind rushed through my ears.

A painful thud was the last thing I felt.