After Crystal stormed off, Caroline was left alone with her father, who had some rather bad news for her.

“We need to talk.”, her father started. She gulped.

“What is it?”, she frowned.

“You have a suitor.”, the King replied excitedly.

“What?!”, she exclaimed, terrified at the thought. “Who?”, she didn't even try to stay calm.

“The son of a Duke.”

This can't be happening. Not yet, she kept thinking. “But I don't want to get married. Not yet, at least.”, she protested.

“I don't care about what you want, Caroline. I care about having a good image as royalty so the people respect us. What will they think if a woman rises to the throne all on her own?”, he said "woman" as if it was something degrading or an insult.

“It isn't our image of the family that gains respect, and it's not respect that your people feel for you. It's fear. That's not good, because once you overdo it, they'll be terrified. Do you know what people do when they're scared? They attack. Crystal was right.”, Caroline explained calmly.

“Are you defying me?”, the king growled.

Caroline gulped. “No, I'm trying to help y--”, she was interrupted by a slap going across her face. Tears immediately started finding the way to her eyes and she tried to blink them back.

“Get out of my sight, you disgrace.”, he hissed.


Caroline got up and stormed off, finally wiping a tear once she slammed the door behind her.

She ran to her room and locked the door. How was she going to confront Faith after this? She thought they still had some time.

She buried her face in her pillow and started sobbing.

Emotion is weakness, she heard her fathers voice in her head. She needed to talk to someone.

Where could Tristan be? Knowing him, she thought, he's probably napping.

So she stood up and rushed off to go wake him. She was surprised to find his bedroom empty, though. She bumped into a servant outside.

“I'm so sorry miss, I didn't mean to--”, the poor guy rushed.

“Don't worry about it. I'm the one who should apologise, I bumped into you anyway. Do you happen to know where Tristan is?”, she asked him.

“Well, he was down by the stables a while ago. I didn't see him leave. He was with your sister.”, the servant explained.

“Oh, okay. Thank you for your assistance.”, she thanked him and made her way to the stables.


Her siblings were still there. Crystal was brushing the mane of a horse that Caroline had never seen before.

Tristan was lying on a bench with a piece of cloth over his face, probably napping again.

Her sister looked up as she walked by.

“Oh, hey!”, she greeted her awkwardly.

“Hi...”, Caroline sighed.

“Everything okay?”, Crystal asked her.

Caroline pondered on that for a few moments. “Not really...”, she sighed.

“Do you want to talk about it?”, her sister frowned.

"Not really.", she repeated biting her lip. She composed herself and hid her worry. “I'm actually here because I wanted to talk to Tristan.”, she explained.

“Oh! He's there at the bench, napping.”, Crystal pointed at their brother.

“Again?!”, Caroline exclaimed, even though she wasn't surprised. Tristan napped a lot. She rushed towards her sleeping brother and snatched the piece of cloth from his face.

He groaned. “Five more minutes...”, he muttered.

“Your five more minutes are over. You won't be able to sleep at night.”, Caroline hissed.

“Wanna bet?”, he mumbled again.

“We need to talk. I-”, her voice cracked. “I have a problem...”

Tristan shot up. “Why didn't you say so earlier? Tell me what's wrong!”, he frowned.

“A little more privately.”, she glanced at Crystal suspiciously. It wasn't that she didn't like her. She just didn't know her well. Crystal was new and she didn't trust her yet. She hadn't even trusted her brother with this, and they had grown up together. This was a huge step for her.

Tristan got up and they walked away from the stables.

“What's this all about? You're worrying me.”, he frowned.

“Dad says he's found a suitor for me. Some Duke's son.”, she bit her lip.

“I can see why that might be a problem to you, but I don't get why you're so shaken up about it.”, he furrowed his eyebrows.

“I'm in love with Faith. You were right. We've been together for two years now.”, she rushed.

“I knew it!”, Tristan exclaimed in triumph.

“Keep your voice down!”, Caroline hissed.

“Sorry...”

“I just- I don't know what to do. I love Faith. I can't just tell her this out of the blue... We both knew this was coming, but I wasn't prepared. And I really don't want to leave her...”, she choked back a sob.

“Calm down...”, her brother tried to reassure her. “You'll get through this. Take a deep breath.”

“I'm made of stress. Do you really think a deep breath is gonna calm me down?”, she rolled her eyes.

“Right.”, he pursed his lips.

“Just tell me what you think I should do. This might actually help.”

“I think you should tell Faith. You'll work it out. She'll understand.”

“Are you sure?”, she frowned.

“Of course! And even if things get rocky, you two will figure it out in the end.”, he reassured her. “Or so I hope...”, he said too quietly for his sister to hear.

“Then I'll take your word for it.”, she shrugged. “I'll got talk to her now... Wish me luck.”

“Since when do you believe in luck?”

She shrugged. “I don't know.”

“In any case, good luck. You've got this.”, he gave her two thumbs up as she walked away.


Caroline found Faith in the kitchen. She stood by the door and motioned at her to come out.

“Hey, is everything alright?”, Faith asked her.

“Not really... We need to talk...”, Caroline tried to avoid meeting her eyes.

Her girlfriend's face fell. “Okay, let's get out of here.”


Caroline nodded and that walked off. They went to the place where they would be most private; Caroline's room. Anywhere else would be too dangerous. They could be seen together. They could be overheard.

They sat at the edge of the bed.

“I'll get right to the point; my dad found me a suitor and I can't change his mind.”, Caroline started.

Tears started welling up on Faith's eyes immediately. “Wh-what?”, she stammered.

“I'm so sorry, Faith... I don't know what we're going to do... I just thought you should know. You deserve it.”, Caroline's voice cracked.

“B-but... I thought- I thought we had more time!”, Faith had started shaking.

“Me too. It was too sudden. I didn't see it coming. I should have known and prepared for this.”, Caroline blinked back some tears.

“There must be something we can do! I don't want to leave you!”, Faith wasn't as lucky. Tears were already streaming down her face. Caroline wiped one off her girlfriend's cheek.

“I really wish there was... We could keep this up until I actually meet the suitor, but the longer we keep this up the harder it will be to break up in the end...”, she told her. Faith pulled away.

“What are you saying?”, she asked, her voice trembling.

“You know exactly what I'm saying.”

“No! We'll figure something out! Please don't do this...”, Faith begged. “We could run away! Think about it! You'll be free of all responsibility and you won't have to marry someone you don't know!”

Caroline was tempted, but she couldn't leave Tristan behind. “We can't! We'll never be truly free... My father will never stop looking. You saw what happened with my sister; he lost her when she was born and didn't stop looking. He took her back by force, away from her old life and family. No place will hide us. We will be on the run.”

“I need some time to think.”, Faith gave up and wiped yet another tear.

“Faith...”, Caroline's voice cracked, once again, but it was too late. Her girlfriend rushed out the room and slammed the door behind her.

She burried her face in her pillow and let the tears she had been holding back, flow.

Little did she know that this was exactly what Faith was doing in a corner, down the corridor.

°~*~°

Phoebe and her mother found a village and chose to stay there for the night. She had finally gotten a solid lead on her brother's whereabouts, which meant he hadn't pissed off the wrong person and gotten himself killed. Yet.

This calmed her nerves a bit.

Her mother was sleeping in the bed next to hers, and she was looking out the window at the little people walking down the cobbled street.

This place is fancy compared to the village we used to live in, she thought. That thought made her frown.

She didn't like thinking of home. Not because she missed it, but because it always got her shivering and fearing that her father would barge in the room.

Or worse, that all this freedom was a dream. That she would wake up in her old house to her father yelling again and breaking yet another bottle of beer by throwing it against the wall.

Phoebe shook her head and tried to snap out of it. She wouldn't let him get in her head again.

She had left home for a reason. Her father didn't deserve to be called that and, most of all, he didn't deserve to be remembered. She wouldn't give him that pleasure. If it was up to her, she would have killed him the day she ran away with her mother.

But it wasn't up to her. Her mother stopped her. She didn't really understand why; the guy had turned their lives into hell.

That was her mother, though. A saint.

A saint with rotten luck.

Things will get better, mom. I promise. She thought again.

The next morning they packed their bags to go, but we're stopped by a guy outside the inn.

“Won't you two be staying any longer?”, he asked. Phoebe eyed him suspiciously.

“I'm afraid not. We have a long trip ahead of us.”, her mother smiled kindly.

“Mom. I think we should get going.”, she frowned.

“Why are you in such a hurry?”, he pulled out a knife. This guy was about to rob them.

Phoebe reflexes kicked in and she jumped in front of her mother. She grabbed the thug's wrist and turned it around, trying to make the knife fall. When this had no result, she punched him in the face with her free hand. He looked surprised at first, but then he started trying to fight back.

Phoebe dodged his attacks easily. In the end, she kicked him where it hurts, turned him around and threatened to break his arm. She would have delivered her threats, but her mother stopped her.

“Let him go Phoebe. Don't fall down to his level.”, she told her.

“Mom, are you kidding me? He tried to rob us! Maybe if I break his good arm, he will lay off the stealing for a while. Maybe get a real job.”, she hissed.

“Phoebe, no.”, her mother glared at her. She glanced at her mom and then at the thief.

“Fine.”, she grumbled and pushed him to the ground. “But I'll be taking this and I'll get to ask a couple questions.”, she growled, picking the knife from the ground. The thief nodded rapidly and gulped. “Do you know Scott Harrow? A little shorter than me. Dirty blond hair. Gray eyes. Likes to get in trouble.”, she asked.

He shook his head. “I don't.”

“Are you sure?”, she glared at him.



“Fine! I've heard of him! Stumbled upon the kid at a small restaurant two weeks ago. He started a brawl, the way I saw it. Then he ran away, when everyone was too busy to pay attention to him. Didn't pay for his lunch. I know that because my brother owned the restaurant.”, he rushed.

“Where is that restaurant?”, she inquired.

“Berville, two day walk from here.”

“It wasn't that hard, was it?”, she smiled sweetly. “No more stealing from you. If you do anything illegal, I'll know, and I'll be coming for you.”, she glared at him and took off with her mother.

Where are you, Scott? She thought of her brother as she left for Berville.

“How did you know he was telling the truth?”, her mom asked.

“That's what the other guy told me too.”