Prologue (Chapter 1)

The girl's dark brown hair whipped madly around her face as she raced through the forest. She stumbled as her foot got caught on a tree root, but quickly recovered and continued sprinting. She heard voices calling out to her from behind, but she paid them no attention. She had to get away, out of this forest, and to civilization. Her life depended on it.

Sebastian had awoken early and wandered to the stables, as he so often did, and decided to take his black stallion, Midnight, out for a ride. As a child, he wasn't very creative in naming things, so his horse held the ever original name, Midnight. He really couldn't blame his youthful self, the horse was a rich black color, with dark eyes that always gave the impression of intelligence and understanding. The steed's inky coat and mysterious gaze were what had earned the horse its namesake.

He could see how the he had been itching to go out for quite some time by the impatient stomp of his hooves and the meaningful toss of his mane. There was a time when Sebastian would take Midnight out everyday, but now he struggled to find a time to visit him each week. Being the king's deputy was very demanding, whether it was running around hunting people down, stabbing people in dark alleys so Francis didn't have to, or pouring through countless files trying to find something to tie someone to a crime. It was exhausting, and he needed a break.

"Hey! Get back here!"

The girl glanced over her shoulder as she frantically ran, but didn't see anyone behind her, even though she could hear their shouts. The forest was dark, but the sun was rising and soon she would lose the protection the darkness offered her. She would have to find place to hide soon, especially since the men that were chasing her surely would have alerted their trackers by now.

She was captured by this band of men four years ago, and had been trying to escape ever since. She was kidnapped with a group of young women to be sold as slaves, but her captors had taken a fancy to her and kept her as their pet. There had been a mishap in the shifts that were supposed to be watching her and she broke free and ran. This lapse had happened before, but she had never been able to get this far before. It was exhilarating, this freedom she had. Although she was cautious, trying not to become too hopeful, for every time she gained an inch, they pulled her back a mile.

"Damn."

She gasped out the curse when she heard horse hooves galloping closer. She quickly glanced to both sides, but still saw nothing. Reaching into the folds of her dress, if the rags that she was given could be called a dress, she grasped the small dagger she had managed to steal off one of the guards. She knew how to wield a sword, unlike most women, but stealing one would have been more risky than the seemingly insignificant blade and she didn't want to push her luck.

Forcing herself to try and move faster, she stopped thinking so much and just ran, she had to get away.

Sebastian brought his horse to a halt as he heard voices yelling in the distance. The stallions flared its nostrils in impatience and stomped its hooves. He hushed the animal, rubbing its neck gently. As he peered into the darkness weaving its way in and out of the trees, he heard shouts once more, this time, they were closer. Curious, he steered Midnight in the direction of the voices and tapped his sides lightly to urge the horse on. After walking along for a few minutes Sebastian pulled on the reins sharply and stopped suddenly, as a girl had just burst out from the trees and almost ran into him. She froze and stared at him for a moment before turning and running in a new direction as the shouts called again.

"Wait!"

He called after her, but it was no use. After thinking for a moment he decided that relaxing was overrated and spurred his horse after her.

She choked out another curse despite the cries of her lungs to conserve oxygen. She had to have been running for miles, and she wouldn't be able to hold out much longer. The adrenaline rush that came with escaping had been able to push her a bit further, but even that was fading. She knew that the only way that she would be able to carry on was to take her mind of the burning in her chest, so she wrenched her thoughts to the man on the horse that had almost trampled her. 'Who was he?' He seemed familiar, but she couldn't place his face. She knew that he wasn't one of the men in the camp that she was with, so he had to be someone else. Unable to think clearly, she gave up on wondering about him and focused on how exactly she was going to get away.

A.N. Hey guys! Sorry about how short this chapter/prologue is, I promise that the rest will be longer! I've had this idea in my head forever, but now the challenge is getting it onto paper! Thanks for reading, and please review, follow, and favorite! Love you all 3 -ThatGingerBookworm