Sulking down the road on a useless beast that would have been more useful as glue, the young man who now called himself 'Jay' could not help remembering the last time he had traveled.

When he had traveled, he would travel in the luxury reserved for a prince. Riding on a tall and proud warhorse, armored guard surrounding him; watching his every move. He would sleep in the feather beds of Dukes and eat delicacies with Counts. Now he was alone, on a dirt road in the hill country region of Tortall, sweating with only a thin black cloak to keep the burning sun, off his back. There were no feather beds or fancy foods waiting for him, only a bedroll and some cold meat.

Jay cursed his own lack of preparedness. If he had figured out what he would of needed he wouldn't be stuck with only a black cloak to keep the sun off. Cloaks, especially not black ones, weren't known for their sun repellence. Not to mention this…this…thing…that the man had called a horse. Jay knew now that he had spent too much money on the mule, but he had been in a hurry to get out. It would have helped more if he had known where he was going.

Jay thought back. Now that he thought about it he wasn't sure why he had left again. There had to have been some reason. But like many times that day he had to remind himself.

Then he remembered; he had been suffocating. Not in a literal sense, but still suffocating non-the less. He just needed a change, and what a better change then this. Two weeks of hard riding must have dulled his memory.

The dirt from the road, he thought, would be forever embedded into his skin. Even miles from the capital now he still checked over his shoulder every now and then for guards.

Jay felt a breeze come up behind him and he gratefully pulled back his hood. His coal black hair almost matched the color of the cloak. He wouldn't—couldn't take off his hood in larger populated areas, but out here in hill country who would recognize him? Or at least who I look like, he thought ruefully, his sapphire eyes glistening.

The road he was traveling on suddenly sloped and Jay had a clear view of the River Drell. He had seen this river before. On some travels he had taken he had come close to the river. At that time, however, it had just seemed like a long strip of water that marked the border. But now, to Jay this river represented something he had never known before in his entire life…freedom.

Crossing this river into Tusaine would allow Jay to travel. He could see the world he had only dreamed of seeing. He could walk free among people—real common people, without being looked up upon, or down upon, for whom his father was. He could be a human being for once—an actual person. Someone who was not what his parents or anyone told him to be. He would just be Jay.

As Jay made his way down the inclined road to the river, he could not have known that all of his hopes were about to be dashed; that he would never in reality leave Tortall to be a free man. IF he had been paying the slightest bit of attention, however, he might have seen the four men come stealthily out of the woods on either side of him. But he didn't, and at this moment precisely all of Jay's dreams of being a common human being were swept away with the breeze.

OKAY—here's the deal. First off for the DISCAIMER: I do not have the privilege of owning anything that has to do with Tortall. I am not talented enough to come up with something so great. I may own some of the characters coming up in later chapter however.

Second—this is my First ever fanfic. I most likely would never have posted this had it not been brewing in my head for so long. PLEASE READ AND REVIEW! If you don't it won't break my heart. I will still write on.

BY THE WAY—any guess as to who "Jay" is? (hehehehe)

(UPDATED: May 25, 2006)