Chapter 2

The Life of a Prisoner

Relena stood with head bowed before her parents. The regal couple looked down on their only daughter with frosty glares. The king and queen of that land were known to be fair, but extremely strict. After several minutes of dead silence Jymon came forward and whispered into the king's ear. He nodded and then waved Jymon away with a flick of his wrist.

"Relena, you have been very disobedient," he said slowly, without any trace of emotion."For that you will have to be punished. You know it is against my laws for you to ever leave this kingdom, except by marriage. Is that what this is all about? Do you want me to find you a husband? Why, you are barely fifteen! Why do you try my patience? Is it amusing to you, to have me waste my time talking to you like this?"

Relena shook her head slowly, carefully keeping her eyes on the floor.

Relena's father sighed heavily,"Guards, please take her to her room and make sure she stays there this time."

Relena was led out of the throne room and up the steep passageway to her room. Once there she walked inside and heard the door slam behind her and the key grate in the lock. She threw herself on her bed and beat the soft blankets with her fists. Hot tears of rage poured down her face and she silently cursed every person she could think of, using the foulest language she had heard from the stable boys.

After an hour of moping around her room, Relena finally decided that she was tired of feeling sorry for herself. She decided to get busy with her next plans of escape. This time, she told herself, she would have to be very clever about it.

After an hour of pacing, lost in deep thought, Relena turned at the sound of her room being opened. In walked her nurse, a very plump and dreary woman. In her hands was a tray a steaming food. Relena fought back the urge to lick her lips. She did feel so terribly hungry. She looked out the small barred window and realized that it was well after supper time and many hours since she had eaten. The nurse muttered to herself, obviously in a foul temper as usual.

Relena watched the old woman's actions and occasionally caught the stray phrase, "Disobedient wretch...going to get us both kicked out.....his majesty...not pleased."

The aged nurse then ambled out the door, still muttering to herself. Relena fell on the food like a ravenous pack of dogs. She was so hungry that she didn't seem to mind the vegetables that would normally provoke a disapproving grimace from her.

After eating, Relena called in her chamber maids to prepare her for bed. Several minutes went by before Relena realized her chamber maids weren't coming. She swore softly to herself and then began undressing herself. This had happened before she realized. It was as if suddenly her servants would decide that they didn't want to help a princess anymore. It was most certainly her father's idea. That was just fine with her, she would prove to them that she could do whatever she wanted by herself.

After undressing she pulled on her silken nightwear and then realized that something was missing. She looked down at herself knowing that she had dressed correctly, but something was wrong. Suddenly her hand flew to her chest. The necklace! Somehow she must have dropped it! Relena sat numbly down on her bed. How could she have lost it? The necklace was without question the most valuable thing to her. She had received it at birth from her grandmother. It was the only thing that Relena had from the kindly woman that was her only friend until she had suddenly taken ill two years ago. Relena began to sob quietly, not the kind that had made her quake with rage before, but a hopeless and truly heartfelt cry.

For several minutes Relena wept and silently kicked herself. For the life of her she couldn't remember what had become of the precious necklace. She couldn't remember dropping it in her mad flight. In fact she distinctly remembered feeling its comforting smoothness against her body as she was hauled out of the stream. Then the thought struck her: Jymon. It made perfect sense. Jymon had always had a special attraction to the necklace. The small black stone that was strung on it had always fascinated him. Relena's grandmother had specifically warned her before she died to keep Jymon from ever getting that stone. Relena wasn't quite sure why he shouldn't have it but she had tried to never let it fall into his hands. Now that's exactly where it was, she was sure of it. Relena cursed herself again and fell to more weeping.

When Relena awoke it was dawn and soft golden rays of light were shining through the vertical slit that was her window. Relena pushed herself up slowly and cleared her sleep blurred eyes. She jumped out of bed and immediately regretted it. The stone floor of the castle was as cold as ice. Relena found her slippers by the bed and did a mad hopping dance around the floor of her room trying to place them on her feet without sitting down. With that feat accomplished, Relena tried the heavy wooden door. It was locked. Relena moaned softly and put her eye to the key hole. All she could see however was darkness.

Then Relena remembered something. The sheer simplicity of it made her fall into hysterical giggles. Relena gently placed her hands over the door and closed her eyes. When she opened them the door gave a slight click and sprung open. Relena sat down slowly and fought back the usual wave of nausea. After it had passed, Relena climbed to her feet and out into freedom.

Every time after using her gift Relena was always filled with a sick feeling that would soon be replaced with a high floaty feeling. Relena giggled again as the feeling rushed through her body. She pranced about the hallway outside her bedroom before the effect had worn off. She stopped then and scowled at the silly display she had just put on. She hoped no one else had seen it.

Relena quickly formulated her plan of action. The first step would be to find the necklace. Then she would have to leave before Jymon found out it was gone. Relena had no doubt in her mind that it was Jymon who had taken it. The girl decided that it would be a good idea to plan out every action she would take, unlike the last time when she had been caught too quickly. She smiled a wicked smile in anticipation of her father's reaction. They would not ever catch her this time. In fact they might not even notice I'm gone until my nurse comes to deliver the poor prisoner her daily scrap of bread, she thought maliciously.

Relena ran into her room then and slammed the door shut. The first thing she decided was to become an actress for a while and pretend to be the most wonderful daughter a couple could ask for. Then when they weren't looking, poof! She'd be gone. Relena smiled again and sat down on the edge of her bed to plan her escape.

Relena's father was the king of land composed primarily of one long valley which was blocked off at both ends by one continuous river. The very same river that Relena had been pulled from. The valley consisted of flat plains and grassland for farming and was bordered along the cliff walls by scrubby forest.

This king had been the leader for a very long time, the current ruler of a very long line of successors. His wife was married to him at the age of sixteen because it was an arranged marriage and their parents felt no use in waiting any longer.

These two majestic people were very happy and kind rulers but their upbringing had taught them to only have total obedience. Relena seemed to have very different views than her father and mother. It was not that Relena's parents didn't love her but simply that Relena was a rebellious teenager trapped in a place where rebellion wasn't tolerated. Her father and mother had tried in vain to calm their adventurous daughter and so would weekly send her out with her royal train to see the sights and to get her out of their hair.

It was on such an excursion that Relena came up with the perfect plan of escape. While there was no possible way she could run when on such a trip because they guarded her too carefully, she was able to see the perfect place to hide. It was an opening in the cliffs that formed the valley around her father's kingdom. The opening was narrow and cramped but Relena was sure that she would be able to fit through it. Beyond the cliffs she knew was the river and past that was freedom. It was the perfect place because the opening was hidden behind two immense boulders that had fallen from the top of the cliffs. If she could climb those boulders, then Relena would be free. She wouldn't make the same mistake of trying to cross the main bridge.

After returning home, Relena told her parents that she was feeling a bit tired of tramping around the kingdom all day and asked politely to be excused. Her father agreed and sent her to her room. Once there, Relena began mapping out her escape route. The plan was fairly simple. All she had to do was make it out of the castle and then run to the crevice in the valley walls. She would then swim the river and that would be it. She would finally be free. She knew she could never try the bridge again because there would be too great a risk of being seen by some passer by. The hard part would be trying to find her necklace again. Relena solemnly vowed that she would not leave the castle without it.

Relena spent several minutes in deep thought trying to figure out where Jymon had put her necklace. It was quite a problem because no one knew where Jymon lived in the castle except the king. When Relena was little she had spent many hours exploring the dark passages of the castle looking for his secret dwelling, but always in vain. Jymon wasn't the court magician for nothing. Relena decided that the only way she would ever find out would be to ask her father. He was much too upset at her however to answer anything, so she would just have to wait it out and continue pretending to be the perfect daughter to gain his confidence again.

For several weeks Relena made no attempt to escape. She was also so spotlessly perfect that if her parents had ever paid much attention to her they would have seen at once that something wasn't right. Relena's parents however were too busy to notice this sudden change except to note that Relena was finally acting like a true princess.

Within a month her parents were smiling at her and the servants treated her with respect. Relena was in misery. She hated this new part of the perfect daughter and so longed even more for freedom. Freedom seemed a long way off though because Relena still had no idea where Jymon's quarters were. It wasn't until after almost two months of perfect behavior that Relena finally saw her chance.