PROLOUGE


Long ago in a forest, which has been abandoned for many years, lived a young man secluded from the outside world.

He wore tattered clothes and had long shaggy brown hair. This boy's name was Henry. He lived by hunting and fetching water from a nearby river. He lived alone because he was terrified by the outside world. He thought all people were evil and cruel. That is until one day his life took a drastic change.

Ch. 1

One morning Henry woke to find that he was low on meat, so he decided to go hunt for deer.  It had been awhile since Henry had hunted so he decided to go look around the river. When he arrived he saw a figure walking toward the it on the opposite bank. He could not make out what it was threw the mist that was forming on the rivers surface. He assumed it was some large animal and decided to wait until it got closer before moving. To his surprise it faltered then fell to the ground before it reached the bank. At this time of year the water was always shallow so it was no problem getting across. When he reached the creature he found it to be a person covered by a cloak. As he knelt down and pulled off the hood, he found that the person was actually a young maiden of enticing beauty. Henry had never been this close to a beautiful girl before and immediately became flustered and backed off. Henry knew he could not just leave her lying on the ground. As he knelt down to pick her up every nerve in his body twitched. Henry carried the girl back to his house so she could rest.


It had been a few hours before the girl awoke. Henry heard a noise from the room the girl was sleeping in. The next moment she appeared in the doorway. When Henry saw her enter the room he found himself standing and offering her his seat.

She looked at him curiously then asked "who are you and what am I doing here?"

It had been such a long time since Henry had spoken he found it hard to find the right words to say. It didn't help matters now that he could see just how beautiful she was. She was a few inches shorter than him with long golden locks that flowed down her back and bright emerald eyes.

With a hesitant voice Henry replied "M-my name i-is Henry, and t-this is my cottage. I found you…c-collapsed on the r-river bank and b-brought you b-back here." He was flustered because he had thought she was afraid of him.

"I apologize for my rudeness, I don't trust people very much anymore" said the girl in a calm and tentative voice. "My name is Alexis. I'm a farmer's daughter from the southern continent of Alexandria."  

"What brings you to Ruegnica? More importantly why were you wandering around the forest?" asked Henry now feeling a bit more confident.

"Um…"

"I'm sorry I shouldn't have asked it's not any of my business."

"No I should apologize you were the one to save me. My father owed a debt to the king of Ruegnica and I had met the king and his son once before. The kings son has wanted to marry me ever since, but thankfully my father refused. When my father went into the kings' debt his son decided the debt would be removed if I were to marry him. My father agreed under one condition and that was to wait until I was the age of eighteen. I turned eighteen a month ago, so the kings' knights came to escort me to Ruegnicas' capital Airygliff. We were about a two days ride from the capital when I had a chance to escape. When  I took it I wound up in this forest. It had been two days since I had eaten and I thought I would die but then you rescued me."

"I know it's not my place to ask but why did you not want to marry the prince" asked Henry.

"All James thinks about is how things make him look! He makes my beauty into a curse! I want to marry a man who loves me for me and not for how I make him look. Unfortunately all he thinks about is my beauty and could care less about how I feel."

With reluctance Henry asked "what is James' last name"

"Liongod, James Liongod why do you ask" replied Alexis.

"So Grant Liongod finally rose to power, but how?" asked Henry bewildered.

"You haven't heard" said Alexis.

"I've been secluded from the outside world so I haven't heard anything in years."

"It was three years ago, my country was at war with the military power of Kendel. They were to powerful for us so we requested the aid of Ruegnica. The late King Ashnard had come to fight and was killed in the process" said Alexis.

"What about his son Edward shouldn't he have become king, not Grant" replied Henry.

"He was blinded by revenge for his father and decided to fight against Kendle. He died on the same battle field as his father."

"Alexis I feel I have something to tell you. My full name is Henry Liongod, son of Grant Liongod and brother to James Liongod." After Henry finished he was scared of what Alexis would think of him.

"YOU'RE HIS BROTHER!" said Alexis standing up backing toward the door.

"Please don't be scared I'm not like my brother, I actually care about other people" Henry said trying to convince her that he was sincere.

"I'm sorry, I jumped to that conclusion. Just talking to you I should have realized that you and your brother are truly different people and that I can trust you." apologized Alexis. "If you have a family what are you doing living out in this forest?"

"When I was young I lived in Airygliff as a noble. As I got older I developed a phobia of people, because when I was seven I was kidnapped and even after I was saved I never got over it. I would always hide behind my mother if someone I didn't know approached me, when my father learned of this he stopped caring for me and any love my father had for me was switched to my brother. Even though I was his heir he completely forgot about me and left my mother to take full care of me. I was thirteen when my mother died. After that I suffered relentless humility not only from my father but from my younger brother as well, which I why I decided at the age of fourteen to leave Airygliff and live out here. My father never came to look for me instead he just forgot about me and named James his heir. When it was all over I vowed never to return to Airygliff."

"Since you know how James is you'll know that when he wants something then he won't stop until he has it in his possession. He'll come for me when he learns that I have escaped" there was something in her voice that made Henrys' mind go insane with the thought of helping her run from James, because she's in the same situation he was once in.

"So if you're trying to escape my brother you must have some place in mind that you are headed"

"Yes, I'm heading for Cyton it's a city in Alexandria. Though I don't know whether or not I can make it there. All I'm useful for is getting rid of other peoples' debt" as Alexis said those words Henry could see the glimmer of tears trickle down her face.

"You're wrong you know, when you said all you're good for is getting rid of other peoples' debt. You were wrong because it takes a lot to be brave enough to run from royalty, escape from the kings' knights and being able to trust a stranger enough to be sitting here talking with him, so like I said you're wrong you're worth more than you think" when Henry was finished Alexis walked toward him and embraced him as if he were a friend she hadn't seen in years.

"Thank you"