Neva watched the fire as her dinner roasted over the open flame. She thought back to her childhood in court when her mother had been alive and Rianna had been almost kind to her. At that time the two sisters were the joy of the court, and they put a smile on the face of everyone they passed, not that everyone hadn't been happy already.
King Toulouse, Rianna's father, had been a kind and wise king, and during his reign the people flourished as much as the crops. When the sisters' mother started to sicken, Toulouse began to let the kingdom fall into disarray. The kingdom's fate fell into the hands of the king's advisors after both the Queen from her illness and the King from sorrow had passed on. The advisors did not know how to rule a kingdom, as when the king had been alive he hadn't needed any advising, they had just been there for decoration. The people suffered under their hands and the country had never truly recovered.
When Rianna came of age there had been a grand ball and a solemn crowning ceremony to make her Queen. It was the next day when Neva fell ill from poison. Luckily, she hadn't taken all of the draught so she survived, but not without learning a hard lesson: Rianna would never let her live willingly.
Mead dropped gracefully down from the above branch to wake Neva from her dreary thoughts.
She took the meat off the fire and began to eat. She was ravenous. She had been hiking all day towards the south. Neva felt lonely in the dark woods. Mead was barely a companion. She finished her meal and stoked the fire before curling up in her bed roll for a long night's sleep.