Stolen Youth

Chapter 10

"Nathan....NATHAN!!" I smack his arm off of me. I hadn't even realized we were spooning.

He groggily stirs and then sits bolt upright when the look of realization hits his face.

"Get your shoes on we are leaving now." He says as he jumps out of bed and starts throwing on his shoes.

I get out of bed and run to the closet it for my shoes I came here with. High heels aren't going to cut it. These shoes barely will.

*knock knock* We both freeze and turn to the door.

"Anna everyone is already heading down to breakfast come on" Mary's little voice comes through the door. I run to the door open it, grab her arm and pull her inside.

"Mary we are leaving. Don't ask any questions right now just trust me." She just stares at me and then nods. We've always been 100% honest with each other so she has no trouble following me. I squat down and she climbs on my back then all three of us head out the door. Nathan grabs my hand and leads me down the halls towards the kitchen.

Turning a corner we come face to face with a couple of the queens guards. I freeze and look at Nathan.

"Prince Nathan, the breakfast has already started what are you doing with these ..... girls?" One of the guards questions in a scolding tone.

"Sorry I was just escorting them to breakfast but wanted to make sure they grabbed some food from the kitchen in case there wasn't much left out there." Nathan stands up straighter hoping to exert some sort of dominance over them, but it doesn't work.

A guard grabs my arm while saying "we'll escort them from here."

Before I can react Nathan quickly shoves the guards together into a wall. With Mary on my back still I take off running. Nathan follows behind until we reach the kitchen we run to the back door but it's locked. We can hear the guards footsteps close behind us.

Just then we hear a key fiddling in the back door lock. We can't do anything but wait for whatever or whoever it is. When the door opens I see an older woman with a kind face. Nathan let's out a sigh.

"Come this way." She says in a hushed tone.

We follow her out the back door. She leads us to a row of bushes lining the garden and just across the field from the forest. There's no way we can make it across the field without being seen now. This plan has been s**t from the start. Just then we hear the guards coming up behind us from the kitchen.

Quickly Nathan jumps up and starts running away from us. I go to scream out for him but this older woman stops me by covering my mouth. The guards chase after and don't even notice us hiding in this bush.

"Dear we need to stay here til it's clear. Everyone is already gathered." She points to the breakfast happening in the courtyard.

I adjust myself to see better. The girls from our orphanage are all lined up in two rows almost like they are waiting for something. The queen is standing in front of them talking. I can't hear her from this distance.

I look back at the woman and her eyes start to tear up. She starts to shake her head and looks back at the courtyard. I follow her gaze back to the girls, my friends.

Then without any warning the queens guards raise bows with arrows and shoot. There was almost no time for screams from any of the girls before they were all dead on the ground. I instinctually cover Mary's eyes after the fact. I was too late in shielding her from the horror we just witnessed. It was silent. Eerily silent.

Then yelling started coming from the Queen towards her guards. "Why didn't it work? What happened?" She demands as she walks up to one of them. Then she turns to look at the door leading to the house. Out walks the two guards with Nathan in tow.

He looks as if they've beat the snot out of him. His eye swelled shut and barely walking. I hear some muffled talking and then a slap. She's slapped Nathan right across the face. Then the woman with us taps me on the shoulder and I jump.

She motions for us to move along the bushes closer towards the forest. I'm crouching and walking with Mary tucked in tight to me when I hear the sound of a branch break under my foot. I look up and see the Queen, her guards and Nathan staring at me.

"Anna RUN!!" I hear Nathan scream and without a second thought I hold Mary tighter to me and bolt to the forest tree line. I don't look back, I don't stop. I run as fast as I can. I hear the whizzing of arrows flying past me and imbedding in the ground. Just as I break through the tree line I see an arrow strike the tree beside my head. I run a bit farther in before I feel a pull on my arm and pulled into another bush.

I feel a hand around my mouth. Then I turn and see Brick. I relax a little and he lets go of my mouth. I quickly remember Mary who has been silent this whole time. I stand her in front of me checking her out. She's fine. I pull her into a hug. Brick holds his arms out for her and she goes to him where he starts to put her on his back.

He grabs my hand we start to head farther into the forest in a jog. I've never been one for athletics but the adrenaline must be making it easier. I follow behind Brick as we get farther into the forest where the brush gets thicker and thicker. My mind goes on autopilot and I just follow blindly.

We go for what seems like hours. Sometimes walking, sometimes jogging. Finally Brick's pace starts to slow and he motions for me to sit under the low hanging branches of a willow tree. I move them out of my way and step into the covered space that the tree creates. I sit at the base of the trunk with a thud.

Brick and Mary join me with Mary climbing into my lap. Then in unison we both exhale and a flood of tears start flowing.

Brick starts rubbing my back and the touch seems to calm me down a bit. At least enough for me to take a breath from the constant tears and sobs. I lean my head down on his shoulder and he pulls me into a side hug. I take a deep breath and close my eyes. We sit there for a while until exhaustion sneaks up on me and I succumb to it.