Chapter 1
Her eyes widened in terror, and her pupils dilated until her moon-silver eyes turned completely black. He was stalking towards her, his breathing heavy, his nostrils flaring, and lust filling his blood-shot eyes. She could smell the ale on his breath, and knew that her time was up.
"Papa?", she whispered into the darkness. "Papa, please...please, don't do this.", her voice trembled as he continued to approach her.
"My youngest daughter.", he breathed into her face as he steadied himself against her headboard. "You've eluded me, my girl, and now I need some comfort.", his voice was filled with desire and lust. His knees where now upon her bed, as he reached to pull her underneath himself.
"No!", she screamed into his ale-reddened face. "You'll never have me, papa!" With her declaration, she used one of the quick defensive moves Conway, the captain of the guards, had recently taught her. She brought her knee swiftly upwards and into her father's groin. She didn't hold back, just like she'd been taught, and when her father doubled over in agony, she grabbed a handful of his oily mud-brown hair, twisting his head, and pulling his ear within reach of her ready teeth. She sunk all her hate and fear into that bite and didn't stop biting until she felt her teeth meet again.
Her father threw her away from him, flinging his arms wildly around himself as he felt his blood pouring from where the top half of his ear had been. "You f*****g b***h!", he screamed in a drunken madness. "You bit off my God-damn ear, you f*****g b***h!" His fist came crashing down, but only met with her mattress and pillow. She'd used his moment of surprise and pain to leap from the bed and start running from the room. He whipped around in blind rage and came stumbling after her, but he tripped on a loose stone and fell - cracking his head against the hard, cold floor.
She didn't look back as she ran. She didn't slow down as her breath began to burn her lungs. She didn't see her father's blood pooling around him as he lay unconscious. She didn't hear her sister scream for help upon finding him lying there. She just kept running. Her only thought upon safety and her upcoming betrothal. She'd never met the man she'd been promised to at birth, she didn't even know his name, but she wished upon every falling star that the day of their arranged marriage would soon be upon her. She wished for her prince to come save her, to take her from this living nightmare.
Unseen by everyone within and without the palace walls, a witch hovered by the kingdom's tree-line, watching the night's events unfold. She whispered words of an ancient language into the night's breeze, then slowly turned to disappear into the darkness of the forest with a small smile upon her lips. The day of fate, was fast approaching.
Luna finally found herself hiding in the horse stables. She was underneath the straw bedding in her favorite stallion's pen. The trembling of her body was a mixture of cold and terror. Her breathing was heavy as she pulled in huge amounts of air to feed her starving lungs. As her body settled, and her breathing slowed, she allowed herself to listen. She could hear the soft nickering of the royal horses and the gentle swishing of their tails. She poked her head out and stifled a scream. Giggling quietly, she reached up to rub the soft muzzle of Moonlight, her personal horse and favorite stallion.
"You nearly gave me a heart attack, Moonlight.", she quietly reproached her horse. He responded my nuzzling her a bit harder. "Okay, okay.", she giggled a bit louder, her small hands wiping his mane from his eyes. "But you're going to get fat.", she said matter-of-factly. Giggling even more, she slowly crept from her hiding place and towards the carrot bin. She quickly grabbed as many as her hands could carry before hurrying back to a now excited Moonlight. He whinnied his excitement, as she hushed him and began feeding him the stolen carrots. "You glutton.", she teased "You know you only get carrots after I've ridden you." Her following sigh was long and filled with emotion.
"Do you think my betrothed will love me?", she asked Moonlight as he happily munched away on his unexpected midnight snack. "I mean, you don't think that my life will be the same or even worse with him, do you?" But her horse just looked at her before softly headbutting her chest, asking for more carrots.
"You won't find out for another ten years, princess." Her breath caught as she whipped around to face the voice behind her, but it was only Conway.
Breathing heavily again, "Conway! You scared the living Hell out of me! I'm already in so much trouble, I can't stand another fright, tonight." She let the words tumble from her mouth, her eyes watering at the thought of why she was now hiding in the stables.
Conway strode confidently towards her. He knew why she was hiding. He'd been sent by her father to find and retrieve her, but he knew her father, the King of Emerald Forest and the Seven Lakes, didn't actually want to see her. The king was much too embarrassed by being beaten by his six-six-year-old daughter, even if he'd been in a drunken stupor, and he trusted Conway to handle the child's punishment. What the king didn't know was that Conway had no intention of punishing Luna. He was the one training her to fight, and he was damn proud of how she'd handled herself tonight. For a small child to render a battle worn man bloody and unconscious, yes, he was indeed damn proud. He'd watched as the king had bedded one daughter after another, whether they wished it or not, and he had told himself he couldn't stand by and watch it again! So, last year, when Luna had turned five, he knew the king's lust was beginning to center on her, and he'd begun her training. She was a fast learner, faster than any soldier he'd ever trained, and he'd marveled at her will to learn the art of self-defense, hand-to-hand combat, and war.
"Come with me, Luna. We will continue our training, tonight, under the light of the full moon." With that he gently brushed his hand against her cheek, wiping away the stray tear that had escaped her sliver eyes, before turning and walking out of the stables.
"Be safe tonight, my beloved Moonlight.", she breathed into the stallion's soft muzzle, "I'll come to visit again, tomorrow, if I'm allowed.", she muttered, before she too turned and ran to catch up with her trainer and mentor.
