Chapter 10! Finally. also just reached 400 views, so yay! and 10 reviews! so thank you to everyone that has reviewed (and viewed), it may not seem like a lot, but it feels like a lot to me, so keep it up! I have a really awesome plan for chapter 11 so I'm going to start writing right now and it will come soon. Thanks again to every one who reads this fanfic! Please review!

"So, will you come with us?" I asked. There was a flicker of amusement in Christophor's eyes. I think he was wondering why he was th eonly one I asked. He was a friend, and it wasn't like I could ask Ebony to come. He leaned up against a rough wooden fence and stared past me. I didn't even know if he was listening.

"Where are you going, again?"

"Achillea." I said.

"Why are you going to Achillea?"

"Why are you asking so many questions? I already told you everything." I said, rolling my eyes. I was hoping that I would get an easy yes, but that didn't seem to be the case. His body shook with laughter.

"What's so funny?" I asked.

"You're very amusing when you're annoyed."

"Well, I'm glad that you take joy in my annoyance." I couldn't help but give a shy smile myself. He was grinning from ear to ear.

"I just don't think I understand why you're going. From what I've picked up, you don't seem like the type of person to leave everything behind so quickly. You usually play it pretty safe, am I right?" He raised his eyebrows toward me.

"Not exactly. I usually follow my gut, and my gut is telling me that I should follow him. I'm tired of being a servant." I said. "Not that there's anything wrong with that, I'm just starting to get bored." I added quickly, afraid that I had offended him.

"I have a feeling you're going to regret leaving. In my gut," He chuckled but I just rolled my eyes. "If it's not all it's cut out to be. It's not easy being royalty." His eyes were far away, but he suddenly snapped out of his daze. "From what I've collected."

"Either way, if I don't go now my grandmother will take the throne. From what Charles was saying, that is not going to be a good thing. She sent out a kill order for me, Christophor. I was just a baby and I was completely innocent, but she wanted to kill me. I don't think anyone like that should lead a kingdom. Ever."

"You make a valid point. If you want to go, you should. I'm not here to stop you, but you have to realize that if you leave without telling Ebony. We have no telling what she will do. She's the queen now, and her parents just died, so you leaving like this could have consequences. Very big ones."

"How do you know that?"

"Know what?"

"That the king and queen are dead."

"Word moves around very quickly in this castle." He said. How did everyone already know that her parents were dead?

"Interesting. Now back to you, will you be coming with us?" I asked. I was eager to know his answer. Now that he had questioned my motives, it was my turn to question his. His face twisted into a pained grimace.

"You know that I would love to-" He started, but I quickly cut him off.

"But you can't." My shoulders slumped in defeat at his curt nod. "Why can't you?" I asked, putting no effort into hiding my dismay. He looked over to one of the horses, gliding inside its fence.

"I have a job here that I need to finish." He said. I also heard him mumble something about not wanting to finish the job underneath his breath. I didn't want to press him any further, this would have to be my adventure.

"I guess that's it then." I whispered.

"I guess so." He looked me over. "You should come back soon. Be sure to bring a guard, though." He said with a grin.

"Why?"

"Because I have no doubt in my mind that Ebony is going to rip your throat out if she ever sees you again."

I gave a nervous laugh.

"Hopefully she won't hate me that much." I said. "Do you think that you could get us two horses without anyone noticing?" I asked, biting my lip.

"That shouldn't be too hard. When do you leave?"

"At dusk."

"I'll leave two horses tied to the fence around the corner, they don't belong to anyone in particular, so no one will notice that they're gone." He said. "Be careful."

"I will." We didn't know who would fill the long stretch of silence after that, so I gave him a hug and left. I couldn't help but turn my head around, and I caught him staring after me. There was a glint of sadness in his dark eyes, and I knew that I would miss him dearly. There was also something inside of me, telling me to turn around. Much to it's dismay I kept walking forward towards the castle. It was easier to act like I was doing the right thing, even though I had no idea.

What I said to Christophor about following my gut wasn't a lie. Even if it was just a question of what dress I would wear that day, I always followed my gut. It hadn't wronged me just yet, but I had a feeling it would. It was telling me that I shouldn't tell Ebony that I was leaving because she would hate me anyway. My head wanted me to tell her because she would be less mad. And my heart, well it was still caught up on Christophor. Stupid heart. He kept popping up in my head no matter how hard I tried to stop thinking of him. And if I was going to make it through a two day journey without turning back around every 5 seconds, I needed to be absolutely sure that I was making the right decision. If there was one.

I stood staring at my closet and my eyes went immediately to my ball gown. Something warm was trickling down my cheek and it took me a second to realize that it was a tear. I wiped it away, not yet ready to let the fact that I was leaving for good seep in. There was no way a huge ball gown like that would fit in my satchel, so I focused on the necessities. I folded a few dresses and nightgowns into the bag, and everything else that I would need. I could always make more clothing if it came to it, so I had everything for the journey.

I laid out across the bed and stared at the beautifully painted ceiling. It was adorned with red roses that, unlike the ones I'd seen lately, had always been there. It always stumped me that my favorite rose was the one that looked the most dangerous. It was all tangled up in the others and it's thorns were noticeably sharper, but I always found it appealing. There was something alluring about a fragile flower that could draw blood with a single misplaced finger.

Ebony's parents had them painted on the ceiling for me when I was given the room. They were always nice like that. They were nice like Ebony. Christophor's earlier words had a certain sting about them now, about Ebony being furious. All I could do was hope. Hope that Charles was telling the truth, and that Ebony would understand why I had to leave. Hope that my grandmother wouldn't try to have me killed on sight when I arrived at the palace, and I had to hope that Christophor didn't like me too much, because I wasn't planning on ever coming back. I was tired of second guessing myself, so I made a decision. This was it, my chance to have a new life, a new social class, and more family than I had before. I was going to take it before it fell from my grasp. It wasn't hard to sleep after that because my mind was made up. We left at dusk.