Chapter 4

It's a sunny and warm day. Birds are swirling through the air and the woods and fields are buzzing of life. The racing track, at the western side of the large forest, is abandoned and not even the maintenance crew is working today. The only sign of life is coming from an elderly lady who is lying in the grass in the middle of the track.

'Of course he is married. Of course he has children. Of course he forgot me', these three sentences have become a mantra overnight for Eva. The party had ended in a nightmare. She recalls the face of the young boy so clearly that it makes he nauseous and the name... Jo'dan. Eva shoots up, filled with sudden anger. 'How dare he? How dare he betray our long lost friendship by calling his son after my friend?', her words echoes through the empty stands surrounding the track. Of course there is nobody to answer her question and the stadium is going silent again. She just wants to get back onto the grass again when she hears a distant buzzing. First, she thinks it is just the wings of the bees around. But the sound keeps growing louder and when she sees the shadow of a large beetle hovering towards her, her heart stops. Slowly, while desperately trying not to look up, she gets to her feet. She groans when her back is protesting against the movement which isn't meant anymore for the old folk. A feeling of humiliation is surging through her body as she realizes that the Nourasian above her is probably young and strong...

'Mrs. Wei?', Eva can stop herself just in time from cursing and taking a swing at the boy on top of the beetle. Her head snaps up, her eyes flaring with the anger she only felt after Aikka's betrayal on the ice planet. 'What the hell do you want from me boy?', she asks Jo'dan. The boy looks at her puzzled and then he takes something from his bag.

'My father would really like it if you would find the time to read his letter, Eva...' He starts.

'Who gave you permission to call me by my first name? You address elderly people by their last names!', she interrupts the boy.

'Sorry'

'Always speak with at least two words!'

'Sorry, Mrs. Wei'

'I shall not read his pathetic letter',

'But, my father is the king and...'

'He is the King of Nourasia, not of Earth'

'He really wants to see you!'

'I really want my own island, that does not mean I get one'

'He flew all the way out here'

'I have been waiting here for 60 years. He could have come any time'

Somewhere during their argument the nature had of it changed...

'You're not a Princess! You're just an old, spoiled brat!'

'And you are a young prince without proper lessons in politeness'

'You are mean! And you hate me! And you hate my father!'

'You have no manners, I do not care the least about your feelings and your father has lost my love a long time ago'

'You don't deserves the time and effort he is putting in trying to contact you!'

'If writing letters the best is what he can do, even when he is on the same planet as I am, then he does not deserve my response'

The young boy is getting desperate, it is clearly written all over his face. The focus in his eyes is betraying the search in his brains for a snappy answer.

'And you... I hope that you die soon of old age or an lethal disease! Then at least my father is free from the burden his heart has been carrying ever since he left you!'

Eva is speechless. Die of old age or an lethal disease? Her brain is still trying to catch up with the meaning of the sentence when another one is offered by the pissed off Nourasian.

'Or perhaps I just have to help nature along a little bit!'

Eva is still speechless and her brain is still trying to catch up with the recently spoken words. When she sees how the beetle is been driven towards her, she gets to her feet.

'What are you doing Jo'dan?', she ask with an sudden trembling voice.

'Not so tough after all, are we?', the boys shouts at her while he keeps pushing the beetle towards her. The beetle is a young one, but still impressively large and it's no G'dar. This one is not friendly towards her, she can feel it. She can feel how the hate, anger and need for revenge flows from the rider into the beetle.

Human instinct takes over and her body starts moving all by itself. The fear in her head, urges her body to move faster and faster. Eva feels how her legs, knees and hips are protesting by the sudden movement and no matter how she tries to stop her legs from running, she cannot stop. Her breathing is getting shallow, her lungs are burning with the lack of oxygen, but her hearts is racing and pumping blood like a madman. The adrenaline released by this process is keeping her legs moving even when the pain is unbearable. Where Eva at first wanted nothing more than to stop running, now she wants nothing more than to keep running until she reaches the safety of her house. But the beetle with Jo'dan riding it is blocking her from the directions she wants to go. He is rushing her forwards in the opposite direction. What was there again? Eva cannot think of what lies on the other side of the track anymore. Her mind is blank. The only need which is present in her mind and body is the need for survival. The need to get away from this predator and into safety.

'Eventually, my father will forgive me for this. He will see that it was the only way to help him. To remove the burden from his heart and then perhaps he will love me and my little sister with the heart that belongs now to the wrong person. This is my revenge for the love you stole away from us and from my mother. Who died knowing that her husband didn't love her or the children she gave him',

Forgive? Revenge? What is happening? All these questions are circling through Eva's brain, when suddenly the ground beneath her feet disappears. And then she remembers what is at the north end of the track... A large waterfall rushing down from a steep cliff into the ocean with a fall of roughly 100 feet. And while she is falling down she is watching the mighty waterfall to her left side, the ocean beneath her and the blue sky above her and in this moment she finds a rare moment of complete peace and freedom...