#Free Write Fridays

Hi All! For July (Yes technically this isn’t the first Friday in July) Going to give free write Fridays a try. So I’ll share free writes and feel free to give feed back!

It was deep in the night as I crept towards the kitchen to steal food. I avoided the lit palace hallways keeping to the shadowed dark ones. I wouldn’t see any crumbs for another week or two if I was caught. My short, not yet fully developed muscles and bones make creeping hard, almost damn near impossible.

A door slammed, and she whipped around. Edith and Adam’s daughter stood there, crossing her arms.

“Klytië, you’re late for breakfast again; Ashlyen and Tara are going to be worse if you keep this up,” her voice was older, deeper than her small two-year-old body. Unable to respond, she followed her into the room; as she took in the Elders and their children, she took another step, tumbling through a hole that opened up.

She landed in a clearing full of people. They were tall, pale, and lanky; a man was standing on a stool lecturing them.

“Dea has forsaken us because we have protected Angelus. She has punished our Queen by making her barren and unable to leave her bed. We must reclaim and adjust to the curse. We must seek new ways to…” his watery voice droned on.
Klytië’s rising anger burned slowly in the depths of her gut. Before she could interrupt, the scene changed to a young boy’s face, barely ten years old. The corpse was older but not enough to be a father. Her heart went out to the young boy. Before she could comfort him, the scene changed again. A young man ran a blade across his hand, watched by a group of people with worry and hope etched into their faces. Still, when his blood hit the fountain floor, nothing happened. Slowly, the people moved away. Finally, a young woman came up to comfort the man, laying a hand on her stomach, smiling.

Again she was falling, this time back to her own memories. She cowered in front of her mother. Her mother whispered words forever etched into her mind. Never to forget. The blur and haze of memories broke when she heard three separate whimpers. Looking around, she saw the three princesses standing beside her. The confusion began to fill her mind; the past and future visions usually blurred but never with her mother. Her mother was always separated just before the end.

Three cries of pain ripped through the dream. They must be trapped in her memories. What they had seen, she wasn’t sure, but she could feel her magic feeding into them and tearing apart their minds. Control, she gritted her teeth, forcing the channel of her magic to stop the visions and breaking the connection.

She felt their presence fade from her mind, and the pine needles’ fresh smell filled her nostrils. Looking at the three of them, even Nephrite’s typically blank and empty face was full of horror. Before they could say anything, she pushed herself off the ground and ran into the forest surrounding Tarken’s house. She didn’t care about all the promises she made. She couldn’t return after that.

By dawn, she arrived at the bottom of the mountains. Mucklow’s pass is barely visible in front of her. It is the only plausible way to reach the other side of the mountains into uncharted land. Myth held that on the other side was Dedus’s land. The odds were high. She’d die before she reached the other side. She should have rotated where she slept.

“Klytië,” her name was screeched both in her mind and across the forest turning, she saw the three of them galloping on their little ponies up to her. She took a step back and managed to trip, falling onto her butt. A soft, gentle wind prevented her head from cracking on the boulder behind her.

Andrea was the first to reach her and pulled her into a tight hug, holding her close. The hug brought all the tears to the surface; struggling to escape, she managed to slide out of the embrace. Andrea, however, didn’t look hurt; instead, her eyes had tears of pity and sorrow.

“So what, you’re going to keep running, that’s your plan, just run until you die?” Taunted Mylonite glaring at her with her meaty little kid hands on her hips.

“I wouldn’t expect the darling daughters of the land to understand,” Klytië sneered, crossing her arms and continuing the glare.

“Perhaps not right away, but if you could help us to understand, we would like to understand,” soothed Nephrite, releasing the wind surrounding Klytië. Andrea nodded tearfully and seemed to be considering giving her a hug again.

Klytië started to respond, then stopped herself. She couldn’t admit to it. She couldn’t admit the pain, the guilt. The princess, however, seemed to be waiting for a response. When she failed to give one, Nephrite let out a sigh.

“Well, when you want to tell us, we are ready to listen, but we best get back before we are missed,” she said, walking back to her pony.

Mylonite rolled her eyes but followed back to her pony. Andrea smiled at her, grabbed her hand, and pulled her towards the pony. She found herself not resisting as Andrea started her usual patter on how she could ride with her on her pony. Surely there was enough space, and she had seen many riders do it at home. Besides then, they could get back faster. Once she was on the pony with Andrea, every other thought was blocked out as the pony’s fast pace, and unsteady movement freaked her out. She felt ill on the back of the pony. When they got to Tarken’s house, she slid off the horse and threw up.

“You didn’t touch any mushrooms, did you?” Questioned Mylonite irritatedly as she slid down against a tree, closing her eyes.

“Actually, from the books, Tarken has been reading without us, must apply to her dreams, and indicate that puking is a common side effect,” Nephrite informed dryly word for word.

“Oh, so miss too good for everything has been breaking the rules, and miss practicality thinks I would willingly digest those disgusting plants,” Klytië rolled her eyes as she pushed herself up from the tree.

“The three of you should know that you can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar,” Andrea sighed, disappointed at the harsh words.

“Princess Andrea is correct. Generally, politeness and being nice can better aid you in achieving your goals,” Taken stepped outside to join them, “come now inside. We have to continue our lessons on the language of the ancients if we want to stay on track for this year. However, I hope to have the three of you working with the elements by tomorrow.