She will Rise

The rough wheels of the cart carrying me away from the only home I had ever known, creaked as they moved over the uneven pathway. The cart swayed dangerously as it went over a large rock, throwing me against the side, bruising my left arm more. Stifling a cry, allowing only a soft whimper to leave on a breath. Tears leaked from underneath my swollen eyelids, I felt them running down my face and left them unchecked. Shifting slowly, I gently moved my arm away from the hard side of the cart, laying my wrist across my stomach and cradling my elbow with the other hand. The palace had been raided by the resistance that stood up against the royalty of the kingdom. My parents, the King and Queen, had sent out some of our people to find out why the resistance had formed, but so far none had come back. It was unclear whether they had been captured, killed or had changed their allegiance to that of the resistance. Now, with my whole family killed and myself captured, I had no idea what my fate was. I had no other choice but to wait and see what they were going to do with me. I could hear the men talking in whispers amongst themselves to the right of the cart. The sound of their horses' hooves clip-clapping so I couldn’t hear words clearly. Though the word ‘dungeon’ was only just discernible amongst those that were uttered. The longer I listened, the more I thought that one of the men’s voices sounded familiar. However, I dismissed the thought, knowing that I was hurt and tired, and my ears were most likely deceiving me. My eyes closed from exhaustion, and I felt myself drifting off to sleep. Hours later, a loud thud against the side of the bars that were fitted onto the cart jerked me awake. Blinking rapidly to get my eyes to focus, I could make out two bright green eyes were close to my face, eyes I had known since I was little. “Justin?", I breathed. His hand swiftly moved towards my lips and stilled them with one finger, “Shh,” he whispered. Taking his finger away from my mouth, he breathed, “If you want to live, then keep quiet.” It appeared we had stopped for the night, as the cart was no longer moving, and I could make out firelight shining against the trees in front of me. All the men’s voices were still hushed, but I could make out sounds of metal spoons scraping plates. Justin had moved away, but I could hear footsteps moving back toward me. “Here, some stew,” he said as he pushed the bowl through bars that stood askew. I couldn’t lift my arms to take the bottle, as they hurt too much from the injuries I had sustained during the raid. “I can’t,” I whispered. “Fine, I’ll feed you,” he said coarsely, as he put down the food and stalked away. I noted that he had looked slightly to the side where the others were when he had spoken, as though he wanted to make sure that they heard him being brusque with me. He came back and put down a log that he could sit on, his back to the rest of the men. Picking up the bowl, he scooped some and blew over the spoon of steaming stew. I couldn’t help but let a smile touch the side of my mouth as he cooled the stew for me. “Thank you,” I whispered as he fed me. I remembered that he and I had spent a lot of time together when we were young, and then my duties as a princess had suddenly separated us. I had from the age of thirteen not seen much of Justin, as he was busy with his own duties with our armed forces. He was one of the last people that my father had sent out to find out about the resistance. When I had objected, my father had told me that Justin had been chosen because he was the best in the armed forces. Lost in thought, I felt a small drop of sauce run down my chin. Justin reached out and wiped it with the pad of his thumb, his eyes never leaving mine. A small smile lit up his face, “I’ve missed you,” he admitted softly. I blushed and broke eye contact with him, “I’ve missed you too,” I whispered back. He stood up slowly and, suddenly, I had to know what had happened. “Why did you never come back?” I asked. He looked at me with a frown, shook his head and took the bowl away. Fresh tears streaked down my cheeks as I realised the boy I loved was lost to me.