Chapter Four;

He does not tell me where we are going. Just that I should stay close. I stop often, observing the patterns on many of the trees. Isaac is always ahead of me; he knows the forest better than I ever will.

The grass is sharp against my feet and I stifle a laugh as I walk across it. Isaac glances back at me.

"Find something?" He seems annoyed with me. I shake my head, trying not to show any emotion. He turns around. Stopping at a white birch tree, he draws out another axe. I did not even know he had it. I do not question him as he chops every block away from the cubed tree. It takes him only seconds. I look down to the gray hatchet in my own hand. There is a noticeable crack in the top. I watch as Isaac gathers the wood into a pile.

"Is that it?" He shakes his head again in answer. I frown. But again, I do not question him. I walk a few feet away and face an oak. I do not know what to do. But it comes naturally. Chop the bottom first, then work on the rest. The tree takes a bit longer for me to break down. It is odd for me to try this.

"Nice." I cannot tell if Isaac says this with sarcasm or not. "But," he continues, "There is an easier way." He walks over to me and points to another oak tree. "Try." I roll my eyes, but I follow him. He puts a hand on the axe and lifts my arm at an angle. "Hit the tree there and all of it will fall." I do not believe him at first, but he seems sincere. I yank my arm away from him.

He is right about the tree, of course. He watches me with a smug look. I roll my eyes again and move on. He grabs his axe and follows me.

"Where in the world are you going, princess?" He says it jokingly, but something snaps. I instantly start blazing and turn around, swinging my arm. Leaving a trail of fire in the air that lingers for a split second. I can sense surprise in his unfeeling eyes. I am burning.

"Never. EVER. Call me that." I am in his face, snarling. He does not back down, but he can tell that I am serious.

"Sorry." He mutters this and I can tell he does not mean it. I snarl again and he says it louder. Then I am back away. I drop the axe and look down at the dirt on which I stood. It is charred. I stare down at my hands, then up to the startled look in Isaac's eyes. I am backing away. I turn, and I run. He yells my name as I disappear into the tree line.

I stop running when I know I am far enough away. But I hear him calling. He knows I will not come back. He knows I am hiding. But not from him. That part I know he does not know. He does not know what I am. I sit underneath a tree and draw my knees up to my chin and try to calm down. I hear his footsteps draw closer. Closer. Until I hear him behind me.

"Queen?"

"Go away." I do not mean to sound like a child, but I want to be alone again. How ironic.

"You didn't hurt me." I hear him as he sits down on the other side of the tree.

"There are all kinds of hurt. Heartbreak, wounds, traumatizing experiences." I hear him give a slight laugh, but he silences it.

"I'm fine. I'm not afraid of fire." It is not fire that he should be afraid of.

"Fire does not concern me. It is me that you should be afraid of." I close my eyes and hear him answer me.

"I'm not afraid of you." He seems like he is trying to convince not just me, but himself.

"Not know. I can be dangerous. And this world is not full of fire. I could kill you." He does not laugh this time.

"Maybe I will welcome death." I feel my nostrils flare.

"Death is not someone you would want to welcome." He stays silent for a minute. And then another. I do not say anything more.

"Queen, I have no idea who you are. I don't know anything about you. You don't know anything about me." I grunt after he says this.

"Your point?" He lets out a sigh.

"Tell me why you came here." I stay completely quiet, afraid to even begin.

"Are you serious?" I can tell he nods. This time, I am the one who sighs. "I come from another world. Things are different there. We do not have grass or trees or cows or horses or sheep or even pigs. And the pigs we do have aren't quite pigs. We don't have stones, we don't have gems, and we don't have anything but fire and red and purple bricks. I am the princess of that world, and I am alone very often. My father is always somewhere else and my mother just wanted to find me a match. She wanted to plan out my life. I was supposed to be married, to live happily, and to be perfect." I take a deep breath then continue. "I will be queen one day. But I just wanted to find somewhere else to go. Somewhere where I could do what I want. Where I don't have to be controlled. Where my fire won't work. Where I won't hurt people. But no matter where I go, I guess there are some things I can't change." I stop talking and he makes no response. I surprise myself by asking him, "Why did you come here?" He takes a deep breath and lets it out.

"I wasn't born here. I was born in a world with no sky, with no light, no grass, no animals, no flames, nothing but darkness and monsters. There, everyone has white hair and the darkest purple eyes you will ever find. Except me. My father, he was the leader in the civil wars, but he would not have a son who stuck out and was obsessed with light. Every day, he tried to dye my hair with whatever he had. When it wouldn't work, he wouldn't feed me. He told me I needed to be like everyone else. My mother would stand for it, but he beat her. He hit her so hard that she left me alone with him. I wanted to find a place where I wouldn't get hurt. Where people would stop hurting me. Where I could be who I wanted. But you can't always change those things. " I listen with an intensity he will never know.

"I guess we have that in common."