Chapter two! Things are going to get interesting...thank you muchly to my amazing reviewers, Meneil, Serirod and Maxus!
Disclaimer: I don't own Golden Sun! If I did, I'd be rich!
Eight years later...
"...And so, land was created using the basic principals of the four elements of the world. Princess? Princess!" The old man slammed his book closed, snapping the princess out of her trance. She blinked rapidly, and looked up at Kraden sheepishly.
"Sorry, Kraden. You were saying?"
"Ah, well, no matter," said Kraden, slightly exasperatedly. He took off his glasses and used his cloak to wipe them clean. "I can see your mind is elsewhere, Princess. We shall end lessons for today."
Jenna perked up immediately. "Thank you, Kraden!" she beamed at him, earning a disapproving mutter from the old scholar.
"I don't know, you young folk are so disinterested these days. Well, don't blame me if you try to travel to Hesperia and end up in Alhafra." Jenna giggled, knowing the scholar didn't mean it. Kraden was so easy to work up, and Jenna had needed the distraction from work. Her mind refused to focus today, and she was glad that Kraden had ended her lesson early. "I can see you won't be studying for the rest of the evening," said Kraden, his wise blue eyes twinkling. "What have you planned, dare I ask, Princess?"
"Hmm," Jenna cocked her head in mock seriousness. "First I thought I'd break out of the palace using the latest technology. Then I thought I'd travel to every city on Weyard, and convert them all to my cause. Finally, I'd take over the world and rule as its unquestioned Queen."
Kraden chuckled. "Just make sure you eat some dinner before you attempt that."
"Did somebody mention dinner?" Alex opened the door to the classroom and grinned at the two. "I was getting a little hungry, if truth be told."
"Ah, Alex," Jenna beamed at him. "You've just proven a theory of mine that I've formulated – see, I have been studying, Kraden – all men think about is their stomachs."
"Stomachs and looks," muttered Kraden, glancing at Alex. He had reason – Alex hadn't appeared to age a day in the last eight years, and had only grown more good looking. He was the object of the servant girls' affections, and many argued over shifts cleaning the library in the hope of getting to stare at him for a solid hour.
"Kraden, you misguided fool. I'm afraid I can't see what you're referring to," Jenna grinned, "though if you're talking about the insane amount of time Alex spends getting ready in the morning, then I fully understand where you're coming from."
"Says the princess who took three whole days to decide what to wear on her birthday last year," Alex's eyes sparkled, and he ducked to avoid a pillow from hitting him.
"Ah, young love," Kraden muttered to himself. Jenna spluttered and Alex's eyes widened into saucers. Smiling mischievously, Kraden walked to the classroom's entrance. "I am going to use my time for a more profitable outcome. Alex, the book you wanted is waiting in the library for you." With that, he left.
"Silly old fossil," muttered Jenna, whose face colour had darkened to a deep pink.
"Lessons aren't exactly going well, then?" Alex asked, closing the door behind him and joining the princess on the large sofa she was sat on.
"He keeps mixing up Vault's location with Vale's," Jenna chuckled. "The only time I learn anything accurate is when he speaks of Alchemy."
"If I didn't know any better, I'd say Kraden was plotting to take over the world," said Alex, earning another thrown pillow in his direction. "Your aim's getting a bit sloppy," he commented. Jenna laughed and lounged against the sofa.
"Ugh, why can't you just teach me again? At least you know that rain isn't developed from small pixies carrying water jars," Jenna sighed.
Alex laughed and stared up at the ceiling. "I would, dear Princess, if only I could. Your father is keeping me exceptionally busy these days."
Jenna's eyes darkened, and her mood shifted in a heartbeat. Alex knew he had said the wrong thing, and attempted to change the subject, but Jenna had already started a fierce tirade.
"I swear he made you his advisor just to cut you out from my life," she said angrily.
"Thank you!" Alex said, feigning hurt feelings.
"No...you're a good advisor. The king doesn't deserve you. Selfish, ignorant-"
"Is that the time?" Alex asked hurriedly, standing up.
"Well, it's what he deserves after what he did to my mother and me!" Jenna glared at Alex, who knew he had started something dangerous. Jenna's moods were certainly volatile. "I don't suppose he said anything after my mother's death?"
Alex was surprised. Up until this point, Jenna had cautiously avoided mention of her mother. She had tried her best to put the memory of seeing her mother for the last time to the back of her mind. Alex truly didn't know what to say to this question. "Well..."
"I knew it." Jenna stood furiously. "I'm exhausted, Alex. I'm tired for suffering because my father can't accept me for who I am." For Jenna had figured it out – the story her mother had told her all those years ago was her own.
"Princess-"
"Ugh, fine, go to my father, do whatever he wishes, and tell him where he can shove his ideas." Jenna flopped back onto the sofa and closed her eyes tightly. Alex couldn't tell whether she was fighting back tears or not, but he took this as his cue to leave. He did so quietly, leaving Jenna to feel guilty for snapping at him like that.
The princess rubbed at her temples, and let the tears fall freely. She was tired, mentally. Jenna had refused to look back at memories after her mother died, but she couldn't forget what her mother had said. I have distant relatives in other parts of the world. Jenna couldn't help wondering, with an aching heart, whether she would ever be able to find these relatives. If she escaped from the palace (which was near impossible with the extra security placed on the palace after the Mars Clan invasion), could she search for them? And perhaps, most importantly, would they accept her?
Jenna had dreamed of escape ever since her mother had almost led them to it eight years ago. In her mind, as she was slipping into blissful sleep, she would subconsciously plot escape routes. She would plan what to pack, and what was suitable to wear for a possible escape. She had even decided that she wouldn't tell a soul, not even Alex. Now that he was the royal advisor she couldn't risk telling him, in case the king found out.
Something snapped in her mind. Jenna sat up and fiercely wipes the tears that lingered on her cheeks. "Why not? Why can't I go? What exactly is stopping me?" she asked out loud. Her mind searched for an answer. It could find nothing. Not even the thought of leaving her friends, whom only consisted of Kraden and Alex anyway, could sway her. "I'm leaving. I'm leaving, right now." Jenna sat, blood pulsing through her temples in excitement, considering her plan once again, and it made perfectly logical sense.
"I'm going," she muttered, hastily gathering some essentials together. Jenna didn't yet know how she was going to cover her tracks, and how she could delay the discovery of her absence, but she knew how she was going to escape. Her mother had mentioned climbing down the tower, and that was exactly what she was going to do. Luckily for her, Jenna was quite agile, and wouldn't find it too difficult. Thankfully, the palace gardens weren't heavily guarded, as the king hadn't felt the need for his private outdoor estate to be watched all the time. She would slip through the gardens, scale the wall leading to Imil itself, and then quietly leave town. Jenna decided to find Vale, the City of Two, to begin with, knowing that her mother originally hailed from there thanks to the story she used to tell.
Her meagre possessions packed, Jenna chewed her lip. She couldn't leave without saying goodbye to her lifelong friend, but she couldn't face him in person, in case he tried to stop her. Jenna decided on a note – inadequate, yet it would give her the chance to say goodbye. She grabbed a quill and tore off a bit of parchment from her lesson notes, smiling slightly at the look on Kraden's face if he saw her tearing her precious knowledge apart. Jenna scribbled a short note, and was preparing to place it on her dresser, when a knock at the door distracted her.
"...Yes?" she called out cautiously.
"Sorry to disturb your Highness," a voice Jenna didn't recognise floated through the room. The speaker was female, and quite softly spoken. Intrigued despite herself, Jenna scrubbed the remainder of tears from her face, and pocketed the note. She opened the door to find a girl of around sixteen with similar blue hair to Alex's. Her eyes met Jenna's for a brief second when the princess opened the door, but the girl hastily looked to the floor.
"Oh, hello," said Jenna lamely.
"I apologise sincerely for disturbing you, your Highness. I am here to change your bed sheets, ma'am."
"Oh! Sorry, come in," Jenna stepped aside to let the girl in. She walked in carrying a large basket, and lit a couple of lanterns so she could see what she was doing. Jenna followed curiously. "I've never seen you before, are you new to the palace?"
"Yes, ma'am," said the girl shyly. "Today is my first day, your Highness."
"I see," Jenna commented. Poor you. She took this time to study the girl more. Though she was only perhaps a year younger than the princess, she had the shyness of somebody half her age. She was quite small for her age, too, and bore similar looks to Alex. "This is going to sound strange, but you're not related to the scholar Alex, are you?"
The girl smiled truly for the first time since she had entered the room. "Yes, your Highness, I am his sister."
"Ah," and Jenna managed a grin. "Then I think it is my duty to tell you that all the servants are madly in love with him. They will never leave you alone."
The girl smiled openly, her eyes laughing. "They do not yet know that we are related. I hear them speak of him every night, and every night it is the same thing. Though truthfully I cannot see what the fuss is about."
Jenna laughed. "I'm sorry, I didn't catch your name...?"
"Oh! Forgive me, your Highness. My name is Mia."
Jenna let Mia finish changing the bed sheets in silence. She was pondering a new plan – if she left the note in the room, Mia might find it before Alex, and that would probably result in the king being told of her escape. That would be dangerous – if the king found her, she would most likely be executed. Discreetly taking out the note, she folded it into quarters and wrote Alex's name on the top.
"Mia? Could you do something for me?"
"Certainly, your Highness," Mia looked rather surprised at the question.
Slight flaw in plan. If Mia runs into Alex, he'll get the note before I can leave. Jenna chewed her lip, suddenly realising that perhaps a note wasn't a good idea. "Oh...um...no, it doesn't matter."
"Are you certain, your Highness?" Mia asked tentatively.
"Yes," said Jenna, smiling slightly. She tucked the note out of sight into her dress pocket discreetly.
Mia curtseyed and left the room, leaving Jenna to finalise her escape plan. She grabbed the small satchel she'd hastily shoved out of sight containing her belongings, and walked over to the northern window. There were a set of French doors that led to a small balcony overlooking the king's gardens, but they were currently locked. Soon take care of that, thought Jenna, dropping her satchel and grasping the handle. One...Two...
Before she could wrench at the doors, though, a knock at the door startled her. Jenna quickly hid the satchel from sight again, thinking Mia must have forgotten something, and walked over to the door. She opened it to greet the young girl, but her eyes instead met the figure of a tall brunette man. Before Jenna could even blink, he had grabbed her and shoved a hand over her mouth to stop her from yelling. A slightly younger blonde followed the two as the brunette dragged her back into her room, and he locked the door using a stolen key behind them.
The blonde pocketed the key and grinned at his companion. "Well, that went much better than we'd hoped, huh?" He turned his attention to the princess, and cocked his head, amused. "You're a pretty one, thank goodness. I was afraid we'd end up kidnapping some ogre."
Jenna frowned and tried to yell something, but what she said was muffled by the brunette's hand. The blonde grinned. "Sorry about this, we're usually a lot more careful with people of great importance," Jenna frowned more deeply – was he mocking her? – "but we're in a bit of a hurry."
She watched as he walked over to the French doors and tugged at them. "Locked," he said softly, "no surprise there then. Man, you should tell them to lay off the security, Princess,"
No shall do, thought Jenna angrily, and she mustered up all the strength she could to elbow the man holding her in the gut. He "oofed" heavily and let go of her in surprise. Jenna took this opportunity to run, but unfortunately her living quarters weren't exactly huge. She ran through to her living room and slammed the door behind her, temporarily stopping the two men from following. She could hear their shouts as they tried to get through the heavy door, so she quickly ran to the considerably smaller window in the hopes of getting through. However, they were too fast, and Jenna had to settle for leaping over the sofa and grabbing a candlelit lamp that sat on the table next to it.
"Stay back!" she yelled, holding the lamp threateningly. The candles had blown out, but the lamp itself was quite sharp. The two men stopped and held up their palms defensively.
"Aah, be careful, Princess, we wouldn't want to have to get violent," the brunette said soberly. The blonde chuckled, angering the young princess.
"What do you want?" Jenna shouted, half hoping she would attract some attention. The pair appeared to realise this, as they looked at each other with significant eyes.
"Can't answer that right now," said the brunette shortly. He suddenly walked over to a small table and grabbed a water jug Jenna used for drinking water. It was still quite full.
"What are you going to do, drown me?" Jenna asked scathingly. The blonde laughed openly.
"You have to admit, she's quick," he said, his oceanic eyes sparkling with amusement.
"What do you want with me?" Jenna repeated, grasping the lamp more firmly and wondering what on Weyard the brunette was going to do with the water jug.
He didn't respond, not vocally anyway. Instead he gripped the jug, and with all his might, threw it at the ceiling candelabra. It was extinguished, and the room was plunged into darkness. Jenna shrieked in surprise, and immediately bolted for the door. The blonde had predicted this, and carefully blocked it from opening. He made a grab for Jenna, but she was too fast, and she instead seized a chair. She could see the reflection of the window now that her eyes had adjusted to the dark, and so she gripped the chair and swung it at the glass with all her might.
The window shattered, but this had the added effect of telling the men where she was. Jenna managed to hoist one leg over the windowsill, but the brunette had caught up, and managed to pull her away from the window. Jenna responded by biting his hand. Hard. He yelled in pain, and cursed loudly, allowing her to break free again. She could have sworn she heard the blonde laugh again, and as he hurried toward the source of the other man's curses, Jenna tiptoed around him and bolted for the door. She wrenched it open and ran through to the lit room.
Having sight gave her the advantage, and she ran for the door to the rest of the palace. Unfortunately she'd forgotten that the blonde had locked it, and she wrenched at it unsuccessfully. The key! She saw the blonde had dropped it; there was a golden glint lying on the floor. However, she had delayed too long, and as she stooped to pick it up, the two came back into the lit room. Before Jenna could stand, the blonde had grabbed hold of her.
"Well," he panted, and Jenna cursed the amusement in his voice, "that was fun while it lasted."
"Fun?" the other man was standing outside her peripheral vision, and he didn't sound at all amused. "Just get on with it."
The man holding Jenna shifted slightly, and then quickly forced a piece of cloth over her mouth. Jenna recognised the sickly smell immediately – chloroform. She tried to struggle but was in an awkward position and couldn't get a good grip on anything. Her vision started darkening, and her body grew tired.
"Sweet dreams, Princess."
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