Somewhere in the mountains, Pharmacum Province, Arietes Orbis
Year: 4995

   Warm beams from the early morning sun landed softly on Adrastea's face and the scent of fresh herbs filled the air around her. 

   "Are you awake?" a quiet voice asked.

   Adrastea breathed in deep and opened her eyes, blinking several times before everything came into focus. Above her, tied to the rafters, were little bundles of various herbs and, when turning her head, she discovered that the entire ceiling was covered with them. Bending over a large fireplace was a young girl with long, jet black hair and she was stirring a pot of what smelled like mushroom stew. She was quite skinny and Adrastea noticed a slight limp as the girl moved.

   "Where...Where am I?" Adrastea asked.

   When she tried propping herself up on one elbow a spear of pain shot through her arm and she cried out, falling back down on the soft mattress, clutching her left arm.

   "You broke your arm. A small elbow fracture," the girl said, limping over to the bedside. "Here, eat this. It will help with the pain."

   Adrastea sat up against the wall of the hut, making sure not to use her left arm, and stared at the bowl of liquid suspiciously. It was a dark green color and had a thick, chunky texture, but not only did it probably taste like the forest floor itself, Adrastea was not quite sure of the intention of this strange Cieven. 

   The girl looked at her with just a ghost of smile playing on her lips and set the bowl down on the bedside table.

   "If you think it has been poisoned I will not force you to take it. Although I do find it strange that you deem pain a more desirable friend than I," she said in her quiet manner, chuckling softly.

   Adrastea watched the girl go back to her duties and then glanced at the bowl, subconsciously touching her injured arm which was throbbing quite painfully. The girl was quietly stirring the stew and Adrastea knew she was purposely not paying attention.

   Why would she wish to kill me? After all, she could not know who I am.

   After a few moments of throbbing and sudden shot of pain going through her arm and shoulder, Adrastea decided to take a chance and grabbed the bowl, draining it to the last drop. Surprisingly, it did not taste as bad as she thought it would. It tasted like dirt and certain forest floors yes, but certainly not the worst ones. 

   Without a word the girl limped back over to Adrastea and grabbed the bowl, moving over to a large tub of water at the other end of the hut and dropping it in. She then sat down at the large table in the middle of the room and began chopping a bundle of fresh sage leaves, not paying any attention to Adrastea who was once again laying forlorn on the bed. The young Princess eyed her curiously, wondering who she was and where they were. Judging from the few words that the girl spoke and the fact that Adrastea could see no trees out the window, she made a small guess that they were not in Ellestar. 

   "Where am I?" she asked, furrowing her brow. "And who are you?"

   The girl finished chopping the sage and deposited it into a wooden bowl and walked over to the fireplace, tossing it into the stew.

   "My name is Aule, and you are in Old Lady Willow's herb hut," she said, smiling at Adrastea.

   Her blue eyes sparkled in a friendly way and she had a pretty smile, but Adrastea kept her guard. She was still groggy from having just woken up and her mind still was not clear on what had happened. The last thing she remembered happening was tripping on a tree root and falling.

   Old Lady Willow, Adrastea thought. It can not be the same Old Lady Willow, can it?

   Suddenly the door was flung open and an old, gray haired, Cieven woman came hobbling in with a cane, holding a large bundle of what appeared to be weeds. Adrastea was rather shocked by the sudden entrance and stared at the old woman who had twigs and leaves caught in her antlers and a head of thick, curly white hair. Her dark wrinkled face turned to look at the Princess and she chuckled, her brown eyes sparkling in a strange youthful way, as though they belonged to a young child.

   "Ah, I see she has awoken!" Old Lady Willow said.

   Her voice was scratchy and rough, but unusually soothing, sort of making Adrastea want to fall back asleep. 

   Old Lady Willow looked at her with laughing eyes and dumped the bundle of weeds on the table, hobbling over to the pot of stew over the fire, tasting a bit.

   "Mmmmm, glorious! Aule you have yet to fail me," she laughed, lifting the pot off of it's hook and carrying over to the table. "Come Adrastea, and eat! Thee must be starving!"

   Adrastea sat up abruptly, her green eyes wide in shock. Old Lady Willow looked over at her and chuckled once more, sitting down in one of the rickety chairs and leaning her cane against the table.

   "Do not seem so surprised," she said. "Come! Eat!"

   Aule quietly set a bowl and cup on the table, grabbing a spoon from one of the cabinets and setting it down on the table. Adrastea stared dumbly at Old Lady Willow and subconsciously felt her empty stomach which was now growling at her. She still did not quite trust these people. Why were they helping her? They obviously knew who she was so either they were waiting for a reward to be posted, or they had some other idea of what to do with her. 

   Adrastea looked down at her bandaged arm and realized that it was no longer hurting. The medicine had worked.

   "She believes we will poison her," Aule said quietly, ladling Old Lady Willow some stew. 

   Adrastea cleared her throat and stood up, nearly falling over again as her head began to swim. Aule quickly came over with another concoction and forced it down her throat. Unlike the other medicine, this was significantly worse, tasting something similar to what Adrastea would imagine a rotting fish to taste like.

   "It will take a few minutes to work," Aule said as she forced the last drop into the Princess. "For now have a seat at the table and get some food into your stomach."

   Adrastea nodded and hurried over to the table, grabbing her glass of water and gulping it down. It felt better than anything she could remember as it slid down her parched throat. Water never tasted so good in her entire life.

   "Heh heh, have a seat!" Old Lady Willow chuckled, gesturing toward the chair.

   Adrastea frowned at the woman's strange sense of humor and sat down, looking at the steaming mushroom stew before her. Aule came back to the table and filled both her own and Adrastea's bowls, sitting down quietly to eat. The stew was quite tasty, the Princess discovered, and it did not take long for her to scoop up the last of it, sighing comfortably. Aule really was a good cook. 

   "Would you like more?" Aule asked, both eyebrows raised in question.

   As she was about to nod yes, something struck her. It had struck her many times that morning, but never this hard, and suddenly Adrastea realized what had happened. Blinking several times and shaking her head, the young girl stood abruptly, knocking her chair over.

   "NO! No....NO! Where am I? What has happened? What...What am I doing?" she asked, staggering backwards.

   "Calm down," Aule said, grabbing another bottle from the cabinet.

   She poured some of the contents into a small tin cup and limped over to Adrastea, holding it out to her.

   "Drink this," she said.

   Adrastea took one look at dark brown liquid and knocked it out of the girl's hand, skirting backwards around the fallen chair.

   "Stop telling me to drink things! Where are Wren and Evert? I have to find them!" she breathed heavily.

   And without another thought she ran across the room and threw open the door, scrambling out of the hut. 

Ellestar, Arietes

   Evert quickly leaped out of bed and pulled on his uniform, dashing out of the barracks and down the steps onto the open streets. Wren was talking to one of the Royal Couriers, his expression dark and disturbed. Around them scouts and soldiers alike were running back and forth and all the torches were lit, the emergency horn resounding throughout all of Ellestar.

   "What has happened?" Evert asked after Wren finished with the Courier.

   Wren looked at the young scout with a worried expression, his body tense and rigid.

   "We never should have left her alone, Evert," he said quietly, walking over to his horse. "Get your horse, we have been called to the Palace."

   Evert looked up at his Mentor, afraid of what he new had happened.

   "Sir, what is going on?" he asked.

   Wren gathered the reins of his horse and turned it around towards the Palace.

   "Adrastea has been accused of murdering the King and Queen."

  Evert stared at his Mentor in shock, not believing what his ears heard. Adrastea was impulsive and had a reputation for being unpredictable, but she had always held her parents in high regard. 

   "Surely they know she would never do that!" Evert exclaimed, his mind racing.

   "I would not count on it...Haldit is the one who summoned us, not Prince Teo," Wren replied, his voice going cold at the mention of Haldit. "Get your horse!"

   Evert bowed his head instinctively and stepped back, staring into space.

   "Get a hold of yourself!" Wren told him. "As the Princess's personal bodyguard you must never, never, lose your head."

   Evert swallowed hard and nodded, squaring his shoulders and setting his jaw.

   "Yes Sir!"

   Bowing once more he ran over to the stables and mounted his horse who was already saddled and waiting. Everyone was fully aware of the chaos and the head of the scout stables had been alerted to have all the mounts saddled and waiting.

   Evert urged his horse into a gallop and he followed Wren to the town square and up the bridge, into the courtyard of the palace. There were at least a dozen soldiers posted at every entrance, all fully armored and prepared for anything. Although, after assassinating the King and Queen one would think there was not much else to do to destroy a Kingdom. 

   Wren and Evert reined in there horses and dismounted in unison, handing their reins to the stable boys who were waiting. They were quickly ushered into the throne room where Crown Prince Teo and brother to the King, Haldit, were waiting, both worrying over the situation in two very different ways.

   "Wren!" Prince Teo said, his voice thick with relief. "Everything has been chaos, we do not know what to do."

   Wren raised one dark eyebrow and looked over at Haldit who was leaning over a map of Arietes, his handsome features carved from stone.

   "I would think his highness Prince Haldit had the lot evaluated by now," Wren said, his deep voice dripping with sarcasm.

   Haldit looked up at the Head Scout and gave him a crooked smile, his blue eyes burning with hatred for him. As for Wren himself, he had known for some time that they would eventually clash antlers, but he had never dreamed that it would be under such circumstances. 

   "If you wish not to be run threw right here, I would hold your tongue if I were you," Haldit hissed.

   "Here to fight with you I am not, although nothing would give me more pleasure. The safety of this Kingdom is my priority," Wren replied.

   Evert, seeing that the situation would get no better, stepped up to Teo, looking the Prince straight in the eye.

   "Where is the Princess?" he asked quietly.

   Wren and Haldit quit their bickering and looked over at the Prince, both wondering what he was going to say.

   "Adrastea," Teo choked, his voice strained. "My sister, the Princess Adrastea...She is missing. We cannot find her anywhere. The counselors say she may have killed the King and Queen and fled."

   "COUNSELORS BE HANGED!" Wren shouted, slamming his fist onto the table. "We all know her Highness would never do such a thing."

   Haldit cleared his throat and turned back to the table, folding up the map.

   "Do we?" he asked. "They say her mind was uncontrollable. It may have been an accident, but it was possible."

   Both Wren and Evert glared at the Cieven Royal, their blood heating to boiling point inside them. It seemed that not one person in the Kingdom could really say what Adrastea was capable of. She was too unpredictable and behaved in such a strange manner, but both bodyguards had known the Princess her whole life and had never once left her side. Wren had watched over Adrastea with keen eyes since the day she was born and Evert had even played with the young Princess at one point. They both knew she would never kill her own parents.

   "What proof do you have?" Wren asked, his voice low and challenging. 

   "The dagger," Haldit replied cooly, gesturing to the ivory handled knife laying on the table. "It was found buried in the Queen. It belonged to the Princess, did it not?"

   "A dagger means nothing. Anyone could have taken it to frame her."

   "So they managed to sneak into her chambers, steal the knife that they of course knew she had received that day, and then murder the King and Queen without even taking any of the jewels or valuables from the room? Really Wren, I thought you smarter than that."

   "They could have," Wren said, staring daggers at Haldit.

   "Then why did she run away?...Now do not get me wrong. I find it hard to believe myself. After all, such a young girl she is. I do not think she could have done such a thing as this without something to urge her forwards," Haldit continued.

   The four of them were silent as his words sunk in. Something to urge her? Had someone secretly poisoned her mind? Evert and Wren both knew she would never listen to anyone who spoke ill of her family, but what would the Royal Court believe? Adrastea never did get along with any of them. 

   "But who?" Prince Teo asked, staring at the dagger.

   "Yes, who?" Haldit mused. "Wren...You did give this knife to the Princess, did you not?"

   Evert snapped his head up and stared wide eyed at Haldit. He could see it now. Wren had given that knife to Adrastea and everyone knew how much the young Princess trusted the Scout. It would be easier than anything to convince the Royal Court that Adrastea had been moved to murder her parents by someone she knew who had ulterior motives. After all, Teo was still too young to become King and a Steward would be appointed until his coming of age. Someone who was held in high regard would easily get the throne if the King and Queen were to be removed.

   Wren was in very deep water and he was not sure if he would be able to swim with such a strong current.