I am Princess Amira Ravensford… and I.... am about to die.
Steel flashed behind me—swords raised, boots crushing dead leaves as they chased me through the jungle. Their breaths were heavy. Mine was worse. My lungs burned, my legs trembled, yet I ran with my full strength which was collapsing with each step.
I knew I couldn't outrun them.
So I hide into the bushes, thorns tearing at my skin as I crouched low and pressed myself into the shadows.
Footsteps were approaching.
Closer.
Closer.
I clamped a hand over my mouth and held my breath, praying even my heartbeat would stay silent. Their eyes scanned the darkness like hunting beasts searching for wounded prey.
"Agh," one of them muttered. "What are we going to do if Princess Sophie finds out we didn't finish the task? She will tell him and he wi—"
The other soldier grabbed his arm sharply. "Are you mad? Never speak about them. No one must know who sent us. If you do, I'll kill you myself before they will."
Sophie.....
It was Sophie ..... It was Sophie who wanted me dead. Tears rolled down my eyes.
The world inside me shattered.
We had argued earlier this morning—but I never imagined she would go this far. Never imagined she would send swords after my life. I was about to do what she wanted . She could have let me talk to the Father . we would have find the way but she... she thought killing me would be an easier option, a better option.
The soldiers moved deeper into the jungle, their voices fading as they searched elsewhere.
And I... I was sitting their with tears rolling down my face. I came out of the bushes .
I started walking ahead thinking about our argument in this morning.
Sophie had angrily rushed into my room and before i could even say something, before i could even react, she slapped me .
I couldn't even process whats happening . She tightly grabbed my shoulder and said ,"you ... are you happy nowFather'sfavourite daughter." She was crying, her eyes were filled with anger and hatred . She grabbed my shoulder harder ."Why ... Why it has to be you . why". She shouted.
I ,clueless of what this is all about, asked her calmly."what happened Sophie, what did I do"
She glared at me with her red angry and teary eyes, "You asked dad to marry Prince Auxtin , didn't you. You knew I liked him ....how could.... how could you do this to me."
" What", I gasped. "What are you talking about , Me.... marrying Prince Auxtin ?... I don't know anything about it , who told you such a thing. " I said, pulling my self free from her tight grip.
I tried to calm her ,"Sophie, I am not marrying anyone . Who told you all this . "
She laughed bitterly "Oh please Amira , stop. Stop this so called.... i am innocent act of yours, save it for father ok . I heard it myself . Father told your mother about your marriage to Prince Auxtin "
Her eyes were full of hate , which was nothing new but this time it was intense. that hate , that rage looked so tarryfying .
" I don't know anything about any of it. but if you want to marry Prince Auxtin , I will talk to father about your marriage. I wil---"
"Oh really , what are you gonna tell him , hmm?" She mocked ," Are you gonna tell him that Father, please allow Sophie—the youngest child—to marry Prince Auxtin while your eldest, precious daughter remains unmarried? And he will say, 'Of course! It is perfectly fine . Its completely alright - to marry off my youngest child first instead of my beloved eldest daughter."
She was right Father wouldn't let her marry before me. " Let me think of something, I will find a soluti-"
" I will find it, and you will not like it" she said and stormed out of my room .
What is all this about. What marriage. Father didn't told me anything about any marriage. How can there be my marriage talks without even me knowing.
I forced myself to stop shaking and without wasting any second went to find Father. I had to clear everything. I could not let this happen. There is allready enough hatred in us , I don't want to increase it more.
I reached his chamber and waited outside for him to return from court.
That was when I saw William walking toward me.
William—my stepbrother and the future king.
Cold. Fierce. A man who always bent the world to his will, by any means. It seemed he, too, had come to see Father.
I lowered my eyes, pretending not to notice him, lost in my thoughts of what I would say.How i would convince Father .
William stopped beside me.
I looked up.
"Amira," he said in his icy voice. "What happened between you and Sophie? I saw her leave your room in tears. I have never seen her like that."
"It is a misunderstanding," I replied. "I will explain everything to Father. I am going to speak to him."
Even as I spoke, fear twisted inside me. I did not know how I would convince Father. Although he has always fulfilled my every wish and listened to me but this time , this time I hae to find a good reason for not marrying Prince Auxtin .Father might agree to let me refuse the marriage, but how would I convince him to let Sophie marry Prince Auxtin instead?
Just then, a man came running toward us, gasping for breath. He bowed quickly.
"Prince William… Princess Sophie has taken a horse and left the palace."
William's eyes darkened.
"What?" he snapped. "Why did you let her go?"
"She was too angry, Your Highness. She would not listen to us." the man replied.
William turned sharply to me.
"If anything happens to her, I will—"
I cut in saying ,"We must find her first. She is not thinking clearly. We have to reach her before something terrible happens."
William and I hurried toward the main gate.
He turned to the gate commander and demanded, "Which way did Princess Sophie go?"
"She rode east, Your Highness," the man replied.
William's voice rose in fury. "Why did none of you go with her?"
The soldiers stiffened in fear.
"Our man tried to follow her, Your Highness, but she ordered us to stay back. We could not disobey her."
William clenched his jaw. "BRING MY HORSE. NOW."
I stepped forward. "I will go with you. I will help find...."
He turned on me sharply. "You have already done enough. Stay here. I will find her."
"But I didn't do anyth—"
He did not let me finish. He mounted his horse and ordered his men, "Make sure Father knows nothing about this or I will kill all of you with my own hands."
Then he rode away.
I stood there, helpless, my chest tight with worry.
One of his men bowed to me. "Your Highness, please return to your chamber. If His Majesty , or any one else , sees you here like this, it may cause trouble."
I nodded and turned back, though my heart refused to rest. I could not go to Father now , it will cause more problems which i didn't want.
Lost in my thoughts, I saw Sophie's chief lady-in-waiting hurrying through the hall, her face pale with fear.
I stopped her. "What is wrong?"
She bowed quickly. "Your Highness, have you seen Prince William? I must tell him something about Princess Sophie."
My heart skipped. "William has gone to search for her. Do you know, where Sophie went?"
She hesitated, her hands trembling.
"Your Highness… Princess Sophie—"
Her voice broke.
"Please," I said softly. "Tell me if you know anything. I really wants to help Sophie"
Tears filled her eyes. "She was crying… very upset. She said many things. She said she would…"
She stopped.
"What did she say?" I pressed.
"She said she would jump into the river and .... ends her life. She said ' it would be better than living like this," the woman burst into tears.
"But I do not know if she meant it. She was angry and speaking without sense."the women continued .
My blood ran cold.
William had gone east.
But the river lay to the southwest.
I grabbed the woman's shoulders. "Stay calm. I will go and find her and try to tell this to Prince Henry , he can handle everything way better than us"
I ran to the stables and mounted my horse, riding toward the gate.
The gate soldiers blocked my way.
"Your Highness, if you leave, Prince William will definitely kill us."
they were right , William is merciless, but I have to find her , it would be great if William find her but what if ... what if she really meant to .... no nothing would happen. I tried to shake dark thoughts away .
"Then come with me," I said to them.
"But, Your Highness—"
"You will not refuse my order," I said firmly. "Either you ride with me, or I go alone."
They looked at one another in fear… then bowed.
Ten soldiers rode with me toward the riverbank.The wind cut against my face as my heart pounded wildly. Dark thoughts filled my mind.
Please be alive, Sophie.
Please do not hurt yourself.
If anything happened to her I would not survive it.
I could never live knowing that because me me, something bad happened to Sophietoo ...
We reached the riverbank.
"Spread out and search everywhere," I ordered the royal guards.
They rushed in different directions at once.
I was along the shore, my voice breaking as I called her name.
"Sophie! Sophie!"
The wind carried my voice across the water, but there was no answer. Just the sound of flowing river. I was shaking in fear, dark thoughts were building up in my mind . Please Sophie be safe .
Then I saw it.
A piece of blue cloth lying near the edge of the river.My heart stopped.I jumped down from my horse and moved toward it slowly, fear tightening around my chest.
With every step, I prayed it did not belong to her.
But when I reached it, I knew.
It was torn from Sophie's dress—the very one she had been wearing when she left the palace.
Terror rushed through me. I picked up the cloth peice.
"SOPHIE!" I screamed and ran toward the river.
Suddenly my foot caught in the tall grass and loose stones. I fell hard—and at the same moment, a sharp pain tore through my arm.
An arrow had struck me, grazing my skin.
I hissed with pain ,and rolled into the long grass, hiding myself. I saw my arm ,the blood began to flow down my arm .
My hands trembled as I tore a strip from Sophie's cloth and wrapped it tightly around the wound.
The guards were far away now as I had sent them in all directions.
I was alone. Who would have shot an arrow at me.
I lifted my head slowly and looked around while hiding my body .
Through the trees, I saw them.Several figures moving toward me. Their faces were covered with dark cloth. They carried swords and bows in their hands.My breath caught in my throat. They were looking at my direction. They were definitely after me .
but Who were they?
Why were they after me?
Fear took over my body. They were approaching near. I crawled through the tall grass and after some distance forced myself to stand, then ran—blindly, desperately—away from the river.
And that is how I came to be here.
Lost.
Wounded.
Hunted.
In the jungle.
But now that I knew it was Sophie…I did not know what to do anymore.
Should I keep hiding ? Or should I let them end my life? Perhaps ending my life would be better for everyone.
For Sophie.For my mother.
But Father…
My father had always loved me. Cherished me.
Memories flooded my mind—his hands feeding me when I was small, his laughter when he granted my every wish, the way he looked at me as if I were his greatest treasure.
My chest ached.
Tears filled my eyes as I lifted my face to the sky, trying to hold them back. Trying not to let them fall.
The night was clear.The moon shone brightly above me, surrounded by countless stars. They looked blurry through my tears… yet painfully beautiful.
Then—A growl echoed through the jungle. My heart skipped a beat in fear.
I turned back .From the bushes, two shining eyes stared straight into my soul. My whole body got cold as ice. I couldn't breath anymore.
It growled again, louder now, and slowly it stepped out of the shadows into the silver light of the moon.
A..... leopard....My body froze.I could not run. I could not scream. My senses went numb . I couldn't hear or feel anything—except the terrible presence of the beast before me.
The leopard's eyes gleamed in the moonlight, piercing through the darkness like lanterns in the night. It crouched low to the ground, its muscles tensed and ready to spring. The air was thick with tension as it took a slow, deliberate step closer to me.
I stood frozen, my heart pounding in my chest like a drumbeat in a silent night. The growl grew louder, a menacing rumble that vibrated through my entire body.
It took another step closer, its tail twitching like a whip. I tried to move, but my legs were heavy, as if rooted to the spot. My vision narrowed to a single point - the leopard's open jaws, lined with sharp teeth.
It lowered its body, ready to leap.
And just as it sprang—
My strength left me.I collapsed to the ground. And everything went black.