I stumbled through the woods momentarily pausing to look at the castle behind me; it blazed with light, in stark contrast to the dark forest surrounding it. It was this darkness that hid me from the kings men but they'd come looking for me soon enough. I could already make out men scrambling along the parapets, spreading the news that one of us had gotten away. I could hear what they would call me, a word that once held pride and respect now so full of disgust and hate, it had become derogatory, an insult, in the matter of weeks, but so much had changed in the past few weeks. I had yet to fully accept the reality of my present station; I had gone from respected to hunted. The country that had been my home for as long as I could remember had turned against me and would kill me if it had the chance. It almost had. I had to take a moment to stop myself from crying, and pushed all thoughts Mabyn out of my head, I could not afford to think about her now, I refused to let what she had sacrificed be in vain. There would be time to mourn later but right then I did the only thing I could. I ran.