I turned away and walked down the road, left and right till I came to my house.

It was a small house, suited for two people. Me and my mum. That's all there was of our family. My dad had died in a car accident when I had been two and my brother had died three years ago, when I'd been fourteen.

I'd grieved and gotten over it. I looked after my mother now, doing my best to keep her alive and well. After my dad died, she'd drove herself into depression and had shut herself out, as per usual after a death of someone so close to the heart. It had taken her three years to get over it. So three years later, everything was back to normal and the grieving was over and done with, our dad was to live in our hearts forever, just not physically.

But when my brother had died—he'd gotten stabbed and killed after accidentally stumbling onto a druggie near the library—my mother had sunk back into depression, refusing to eat, drinking beer and wine only, never paying attention to anything, leaving me to take care of her, the house, the bills and schools.

I juggled it for a few months, till I collapsed at school from the stress and someone came around to the house, saw the mess of it, saw my mum laughing crazily and drunkenly in her room and had quickly made arrangements for me to move away for a while.

So I'd stayed away for a year at Khalil's house while my mum was 'cured' and had her life 'sorted out' and when I moved back in with her, she was the same, healthy and loving mother she'd been before the deaths of my father and brother. Not exactly the same of course—who would be—but she wasn't the depressed, drunk mum she'd been after the deaths.

'Hey, mum!' I shouted, unlocking the front door and dumped my bag on the sofa in the living room as I made my way to the kitchen for a drink.

'Hey honey! I made some mfaraky, if you want to eat!' she called out from somewhere in the house. Probably the laundry room, she seemed to always be in the laundry room, scrubbing and scrubbing at the clothes, dirty or not. 'It's her form of yoga!' her therapist had said, laughing.

So I ate the mfaraky, which was just boiled potatoes that was fried with eggs and mixed with herbs. It was quite nice, especially with mayo.

After eating, I did my homework and then told my mum I was going out for a walk. I gave her a big hug, as usual (you feel the need to give someone a hug and an 'I love you' before you leave when so many people have died in such a short period of time, just in case), and walked out of the house, my hands in the pockets of my baggy tracksuit pants with the two blue stripes at the side. It was my favourite. I felt relaxed in it.

I crossed the road and looked down at the path, my mind cleared and I felt myself slip into meditation mode—even as I walked. I knew the roads well enough to be blindfolded and make out where I was.

A shout interrupted my meditation.

'Reem!'

I looked back to see Khalil running towards me. I stopped and let him catch up with me.

'Mind if I walk with you?' he asked.

'No,' I replied. 'But I'm gonna be walking for a while.'

'Yeah, all right. Mind if I talk while we walk? Well anyway, Marlaine told me—'

'Marlaine, Marlaine! That's all I've been hearing from you since you guys got together! Either you like her or you don't and obviously, you do! So just go and get back with her or something, coz I'm sick of hearing her name more than twenty times an hour!' I couldn't help myself. It was true. That's all he ever talked about! Marlaine did this, Marlaine said this, and Marlaine is this…

Khalil's eyes narrowed and he glared at me as we walked on. 'That coming from a person who drones on and on and on about Tamora Pierce, Sheroes and Tamora Pierce's books hour after hour? Come on, Reem! Give me a break here!'

'At least what I talk about is interesting, what you talk about is so damn irritating, I have no words to des—'

'Just because you don't like Marlaine doesn't give you the right to—'

'I'll do and say what I want, Khalil! And if you can't live with that, then—'

'Why should I care? I don't even know what to—'

'Khalil!'

I stupidly jumped to the spot where Khalil was; in the middle of roundabout, with a car coming dead-straight at him. He was glued to the spot, his face pale as he watched the car coming fast at us.

I tried to pull him, but he wouldn't budge.

'KHALIL DAMN YOU, GET OUT OF THE WAY!'

Those were the last words before I went flying in the opposite direction of Khalil. I don't know how I landed. But I felt a maddening ringing in my head as I drifted off into unconsciousness; my last few glimpses of real life were of Khalil shuddering and fainting and the sound of a woman's high- pitched scream.



'By the Goddess!'

'What's happening down there?'

'Very strange indeed!'

'Goddess!'

Groaning, I got up and shielded my eyes from the fierce sun. The luminous light dazzled me and my eyes remained unfocused for a while, until I got used to the brightness. I blinked a few times and looked around nervously.

I jumped when I saw a sword pointed at my neck and a tall figure standing casually in front of me.

'In the name of King Jonathon IV, I arrest you for trespassing on his Majesty's lands and property—'

'Say what?' I shrieked, wanting to get up but also not wanting to be sliced open by the sharp sword dangerously looming at my neck.

I looked up to see an unbelievably handsome, dark and serious face staring down at me. 'You heard me.'

I couldn't believe it!

'King Jonathon? Son of King Roald? Ex-lover of Alanna the Lioness? Husband to Queen Thayet?'

An eyebrow was arched. 'And my father, yes.'

'You're Prince Roald?' I asked dumbly.

'Umm…yes.' He shot a 'help-me' look to his companion before turning back to smile dryly at me. 'If you could please get up and come with us, lady.'

'I think this fella will be coming with us too,' the companion said, pointing at someone near a rock.

'Khalil!' I called out, getting up and getting only a few steps before pain shot through my whole body. My head raced and I groaned as memory flooded back and my head swirled and rang once again. I fell to the floor and once again fainted.