Here it is, like I promised! (Note: This is a rough draft.)
Chapter 1
I sat on a window seat, staring out the window at the mountains beyond. Things were just about perfect, I thought. My parents sat at the window neighbouring mine. My father was sprawled out in a chair with his crown lopsided and on the verge of falling off. My mother sat all prim and proper across from him, her dainty crown nesting in her long red hair that was draped over the arm of the chair. It brushed the ground by her feet.
My mother was laughing at something my father must have said. I rolled my eyes and turned back to the window. The warm summer wind was blowing and it sent my short hair flying. It was bright red. Like my mothers, my father always told me, which was obvious considering his was brown.
The door creaked and a chill swept in, announcing Jefferson’s arrival.
My father stood, righted his crown, and warmly greeted his most trusted servant. “Jefferson! Come in! We were just going to call for some tea.”
My mother stood and smiled politely and I followed her example, pulling my jacket tightly around my shoulders. Where ever Jefferson swept his regal self, a chill followed like a cloud of dust. The first time I set eyes on him I had labeled him as the creepiest person I’d ever met. I’d avoided him since.
“Tea will have to wait.” Jefferson signalled to someone behind him and thirty guards surrounded us.
“Let’s make this quick.” Jefferson hissed and they lowered swords to our faces.
I wanted to run into my parents’ arms like a little child, but noting the sharp points, I wisely stayed put. The guards grabbed my parents by the arms. “What do you think you’re doing?” Father roared and tried to tear from their grasp. I had always seen him as a mighty lion, but now he resembled one even more. His powerful arms thrashed and his eyes filled with burning anger. But as they raised a knife to my mother’s throat, he stilled.
“Good.” Jefferson chuckled, and then his expression hardened. “Finish him off.”
The world seemed to be at a standstill as a guard plunged a knife into my father’s chest. He fell and I heard my mother’s scream. Or maybe it was my own? I found myself staring in horror at my father, lying on the ground with blood gathering in a puddle around him. “Run, Allison.” He wheezed, then fell limp. As the next guard raised a knife above my mother’s breast, she screamed, “Out the window!” My whole body was numb and my mind raced so fast I could barely think. The window? She wanted me to jump? Something clicked and I suddenly had the strength to turn around. I rushed to the window and looked down. There was a ledge that ran just under the window. It was about one foot wide. Without another thought I stepped out onto it. One foot had never seemed so small as I began to walk along the outside of the castle wall. And fifteen feet had never looked so high either. I heard a shout. It hadn’t taken them long to realized that I was missing. I didn’t look back. My eyes were focused on the roof of the gardeners shed. My mind whirled as I stewed up a plan. I would drop onto the roof, then use the pile of logs stacked up the side to climb down and to safety. From there? I wasn’t sure so I just pushed the thought away for later.
Another shout. I was so glad that the guards hadn’t been prepared for this. They didn’t have any arrows or spears to throw at me, and no man in armour would dare follow me. I was over the shed roof. Why did everything have to seem scarier than it was when you really had to jump five feet onto a slanted roof. Taking a deep breath, I reminded myself that there was no turning back now. I jumped...
and landed on the hard roof. My legs buckled from underneath me and I began to roll. Make it stop, make it stop, I pleaded. Suddenly I lurched to a halt, saved by the gutter. Just as I opened my eyes the gutter began to give way. I didn’t know if I should move or stay put. Before I could make up my mind it fell from beneath me and I was falling. I landed on my back and the air was forced out of my lungs. Breath, breath, I told myself. Dark blotches clouded my vision. Finally I took a gasp of warm air. Run, Allison! My father seemed to shout to me again. I stumbled to my feet. Where should I go? Ten guards were not far off, probably searching for me. As one shouted and pointed in my direction, he confirmed my theory. There was only one place to go. The forest was the only place of shelter. My legs began to move underneath me. I could hear the guards feet pounding on the damp, mossy ground. They were chasing me. I knew it. Ten metres, eight metres, five, three! I dove into the bush and kept running. They would catch up to me soon. I couldn’t run as fast as them. I jumped over rocks and pushed through prickles. I heard a scream of terror escape the lips of one of the guards. Then another. The pounding of heavy feet diminished and I was left all alone. What had made the guards run? Had something attacked them? Were any of them killed? I shuddered. What could be lurking in these woods? Wolves? Snakes? Or—I didn’t finish bother to finish my sentence. I began to fear the worst and flinched at every sound; the snap of a twig under my boot, my jacket brushing against a fern. Suddenly a scream disrupted the silence of the forest and a band of goblin rushed out of their hiding places. I screamed and jumped back, trying to shield myself from their clubs. One held a knife and I feared he might use it. Pain racked through my body with every blow. Even though they were only two feet tall, their green-grey arms held a lot of power. I screamed again as the goblin tried to plunge his knife into my stomach. For a second I thought he might have missed, but then my brain began to register the pain and blood poured out of my wound. A club hit me in the back of the head and I fell unconscious.
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