It was morning before they caught him.

Lord Heartland was right- Nash was smart for an eight-year old. When he was sure that he had the full attention of his pursuers, he took in a deep breath and went down deep.

Having lived by the ocean his entire life, Nash had learned how to swim when he was very young- only five. He was well acquainted with currents, deep diving, and how long he could hold his breath- which was hopefully long enough for the enemy to lose him among the dark waves.

When he could withhold oxygen from his lungs no longer, he surfaced as quietly as he could. He could see the torches in the distance, milling about, as if uncertain what to do. Good. Their confusion would give him time to make his way to the rocks on the opposite side of the beach. Nash took another deep breath and went back under.

Of course, the current flowed south, towards Drachelm, and Nash was heading in the opposite direction- the north part of the island. This meant he had to swim against the current. Nash tried to stay as deep as he could. Staying near the surface would make him just a cork in the waves, unable to really determine where he was going. Luckily, however, Nash's father had taught him well, and soon he was able to crawl up on the north end of the beech and hide among the large boulders there.

Having swum against the current, the young prince was exhausted and breathing heavily. He decided to rest by the rocks until he was ready to keep going. To Nash's horror, he soon heard footsteps nearby. Had they anticipated his actions? How? Nash thought back to how quickly the enemy had gotten down to the royal dock- a dock they shouldn't have even known about. Something was wrong here.

"Well? Don't just stand there fools, find him!"

Nash froze. He knew that voice. That was the voice of Lord Heartland, a diplomat sent by the Heartlanders to make peace with the Barians.

Heartland and Baria were the two great empires of the south Pacific. They had been at war with each other for years. Baria was made up of six regions- the United Lands of the Pacific Ocean, Drachelm, Astrania, Widehan-yosae, Sparta, and the Tachyon Mountains.

Nash's kingdom, the United Lands of the Pacific Ocean, was made up of five islands, all connected by bridges. These islands were on the very eastern side of the Barian Empire. North of them was Astrania, a large island, and south of them was Drachelm, which was slightly smaller. On the main continent were Widehan-yosae, to the north, Sparta to the south, and west of both of these were the Tachyon Mountains.

One elected official from each kingdom would be chosen to represent their people in the Imperial Council, who met at the end of each lunar cycle. Of the seven, one was elected as the leader. The current leader of the Seven Barian Emperors was Nash's father, Emperor Ralphenom. There were seven because the United Lands were allowed to elect two representatives. Although they were united, the islands did differ on some issues. Nash's mother, Empress Toria, came from a different island than his father, and had been elected as the United Lands second member of the Imperial Council. Dumon's father, Stalminus, was the representative of Drachelm.

This was totally unlike the barbaric Heartlanders, who had no such council, and therefore sometimes declared war on each other. Heartland was made up of three major kingdoms- Tenjo, Arclight, and Tsukamo. Nash didn't know much about them except that there were constant tensions between Arclight and Tenjo, and that Tsukamo was often the peacemaker. Also in the Heartland Empire was Animalia, an island to the north of the continent that the three main kingdoms shared. Animalia had once belonged to Tenjo, which had raided it for resources and slaves. But after a bloody conflict, it had finally won its independence. Finally, there were the southern isles, which were despised by the rest of Heartland and pretty much left to do whatever pleased them.

During the reign of Nash's great-grandfather, the Barians had often raided Heartland for slaves and gold- which the barbarians collected and kept in their palaces, for some reason. Barians knew better what to do with precious metals- turn them into great works of art, make use of their beauty, not just keep them horded in some locked room. Nash's father, however, had proposed the radical idea of making peace with Heartland. Slave raids had slowed down, and Nash and Marin had been given basic training in the Heartlandish language.

So, when Lord Heartland, who was named so because he was an orphan, and all orphans of Heartland were given that name, to make them feel as though they belonged, had arrived at the palace, saying that the Heartland kingdoms wanted to make a treaty, Emperor Ralphenom had been very pleased.

Only now Nash knew why Lord Heartland had wanted to come and visit his kingdom. He had been spying the place out! Heartland, whom Nash had never really liked and had the feeling that had never liked him, knew all about the private dock, and what Nash might think like in order to escape his trackers. Heartland was a traitor!

He had to think fast. He had to get away from these rocks, quickly and quietly, before the searchers got too close. Dropping to all fours, Nash began to crawl like a spider among the boulders. Step, slide, hide, step, slide, hide… Something was bothering him. What was it? Oh, bother, he didn't have time to think about it right now.

Nash reached the end of the beach and slipped back into the capitol. Now he had a problem. To make it to the north woods, he would have to stay along the back wall of the capitol city until he reached the northern gate. And the capital city was filled with enemy soldiers. He would just have to stick to the shadows, he decided.

Luckily, Nash reached the northern gate without too much hassle, other than a mangy cat the screeched when he startled it, forcing him to hide in a barrel until the soldiers who came to investigate it left.

"Now I understand why Marin hates cats," the crown prince muttered to himself. After getting out of the city, he ran along the path that led to the forest as fast as he could. As soon as the invaders had the capitol, they would spread out to gain control of the rest of the island. Nash would have to keep one step ahead of them.

He would travel west through the woods, since they covered the entire north end of the island, turn and go south through the fields that were in back of the capitol city, and then turn east and make his way along the coast of the Pegasus Channel until he found a way across.

Upon reaching the woods, Nash decided the best thing to do would be to find a sturdy tree and wait until he was rested enough to get on with the next step- which would be to outfit himself for the journey. The woods had edible berries in it, and he could always catch small animals and roast them. He would also be careful to leave a false trial for his pursuers to find, to confuse them for a few more days. These were other skills that Nash had grown up being taught.

However, the prince's young body had already been through a great deal, and he had been woken from a deep sleep only one turn of the moon ago, and so it was no surprise that, sitting on a sturdy tree branch, Prince Nash fell asleep.

He awoke to the sun in his face and the voices of soldiers very close- too close. Nash panicked. He had slept too long! They were almost on top of him!

Nash was about to swing down from the tree and run for it, when he realized that the voices he was hearing were not foreign. They were Astranian. Relief flowed through him. Their allies to the north had arrived, overwhelmed the enemy, and were now looking for him! Nash's joy was short-lived, however, as he once again heard the familiar voice of Lord Heartland.

"Well? Anything yet?"

"No, my Lord."

No! How could this be? The Astranians are with Heartland? Or is Heartland with the Astranians?

It didn't matter. He had to get out of there. Quickly, he scrambled down from the tree, ignoring the protests from his aching and stiff body, and took off.

He stumbled and almost fell once or twice, but soon his blood was pumping and his body was warming up.

"Look! There!"

Blast it! Nash thought. They had spotted him. Adrenaline kicked in as he tried to lose them, zig-zagging back and forth. After all, the shortest distance between any two things is a straight line.

Nash had made it into a clearing between the trees before he looked down at his clothes. Oh, no! He was wearing a dark blue tunic. In the dark, it served to keep him well hidden, but in the woods, illuminated by streams of sunlight, it stuck out vividly.

Glancing up, Nash saw a large boulder blocking his path- a rock at least three times his size. He thought quickly. His pursuers would think he would swerve away from this rock. If he could make it over the obstacle before they caught up, he might still have a chance.

Grasping a ridge in the rocks surface and sticking his foot into another to get a foothold, Nash began to climb. He was about half way there when he heard the soldiers come flooding into the clearing. I was too slow! He thought. Gritting his teeth, Nash reached out for the next hold. He couldn't give up now.

Unfortunately, in his haste, Nash didn't get a strong grip, and to his horror, he found himself falling backwards. The last thing he thought before hitting the ground was: I'm sorry, Marin and Iris.

Nash pursuers stood over him as he lay crumpled on the ground, his breath knocked out of him. The crown prince could now see that they were Astranian soldiers. Lord Heartland came and knelt next to him.

"Well, your highness," Heartland sneered. "It looks like this is the end of the line for you. I doubt Emperor Domitian will let you live long after all the trouble you've caused him."

Nash closed his eyes. It was as he had feared. Emperor Domitian was the ruler of Astrania. He had betrayed them all!

Next time on A Tale of Two Slaves: What happened to Marin and Iris the morning their brother was caught.