When I'm too tired I stop. There's a burning sensation in my lungs that feels like they're on fire. I can't rid the thought that there's someone in there lighting a match from my head.

I think he's long gone now. Even if he did manage to get up and find his horse, I had quite a big head start anyway so it'll be a while before he catches me up.

I convince myself all of this as I slow to a walk but the worry is still there at the back of my mind. I ignore it and look around me for distraction instead. The forest around me is still the same. That's when it strikes me just how beautiful it is. The canopy of trees above me are bright green letting the pale light filter through. The trees are strong and sturdy with traces of moss curving up them, helping them blend into the background. The floor underneath me is soft and has a sponge-like feel so it gives me a sense that I'm walking on marshmallows.

I continue walking, craning my neck up to gaze at the wondrous beauty. It's a surprise how everything is the same even after everything that's happened. It's amazing how nature goes on, multiplying and feasting until you just have to stop and admire it.

I don't know what to do. Freedom is nothing I've felt before. It's choking me, ensnaring me in its vastness. Now I wish I'd listened to Mother. What did she tell me not to do?

She told me not to turn. She told me I shouldn't turn from the wonderful life I have... had. I've blown it now. He helped me do it. The Prince captured me with his charm and I fell in the trap he set out. The walls are too high to climb now.

I remember the times when I slept in the tower, cold stones beneath me. Mother came in every night to check up on me. I remember not being able to sleep and I lay awake until I heard her enter. She was muttering to herself like she normally did when she thought I couldn't hear her.

"Stupid Faith from the village," she spat as she climbed through the panel less window and groped her way around in the dark, "doesn't have respect!"

I remember still being awake even hours after she left. My brain was trying to process what she had said. One word was in my mind, circling around and around. Village.

There was a village? So I wasn't the only lonely one around here?

I hurry on now, scrambling over enormous tree roots and brushing away branches with my forearm. Once or twice I'm deceived when I think I see the roof of a house or hear the blare of a train. I tell my mind it's not true.

But then I stumble into a clearing and the trees have disappeared, leaving me on a trail going down a valley into a river. But it's not what's down there that surprises me, it's what's straight ahead of me.

The village.