The Strange Land

I slowly opened my eyes, the mud under me reminded me that I was still alive. I looked around immediately and saw Maria, thank goodness we were safe, but barely. It seemed the river had carried us far from the castle.

Maria groaned beside me, her face was pale and stained with blood and dirt. "Pan..... are you okay?" she whispered, her voice was trembling. I reached over to her and touched her shoulder. "I'm fine," I said softly. "We're alive, somehow. But you don't look too good," I whispered back to her, worry showing all over my face.

"I'll be fine, it's just a little scratch that's all," she replied, wincing in pain as she tried to sit up.

The sun hadn't fully risen, its dull light was casting over a forest unlike anything I had ever seen. The trees were literally taller, thicker and the leaves were much darker than the ones in the garden back home. I saw strange birds with very bright feathers hopping and flying on the branches. Even small animals just ran around our feet, unafraid of us, we were completely alone, except for the river that was rushing with current behind us. The memory of our escape still fresh in my mind.

I slowly pulled Maria to her feet, trying to be careful with her injuries. "We need to move," I said, scanning the trees for a path or any sign of a road. "We can't stay here, we don't know what lies ahead." She nodded, holding my arm for support. We started walking, every step I took made my body hurt but I kept walking, determined to move far away from my kingdom as much as possible.

We walked and walked for hours, it seemed like it would never end. We were just trying to figure out our way through the thick forest. Every sound I heard made me jump. The crack of a branch, the rustle of the leaves. I kept thinking I would hear the guards voices behind us, the clatter of their armor and weapons but none came. I actually wondered how Maria escaped, so I decided to ask her.

"Maria, how did you escape from the prison?"

Maria stopped and looked at me. "It was through the help of Tillie, the maid who told you about me. She was my friend, she was able to distract the guard somehow and stole the keys to the prison and with that opportunity I fled."

"Oh! That's so kind of her, she seemed like a lovely person, but I'm not sure she'd be spared after what happened," I said sadly.

"She'd probably be killed for helping us, she was such a good person," Maria fought back tears as she silently sobbed.

I reached out to hold her hands. "Everything would be okay Maria. Just have faith, let's leave the past behind and focus on the future, okay?" I tried consoling her as it seemed that I too would cry.

She nodded her head slowly and wiped off the tear that escaped her eyes and smiled at me. I smiled back at her, our hopes seemed to be renewed.

We continued walking and finally, we emerged from the trees and came into a small clearing. In the distance, I could see stone walls above the forest and smoke. I just stood there, staring at the strange buildings, I wasn't sure if we had found a town. Maria held my hand tightly. "Pan...... do you think there are people there?" she asked nervously.

"I.... I don't know," I admitted. "But we can't hide here forever, we have to try." I led her toward the nearest building, making sure to keep our steps quiet. As we walked nearer, I noticed people moving about in long robes, some were carrying tools, others were tending to animals. I wasn't familiar with them. The most shocking thing was that they spoke in a language I didn't understand.

Everything felt different from the way I used to know. Maria was equally confused, we were already hungry and needed food to eat. We tried asking the people one more time if they could spare some food but all we got were harsh responses in a language we didn't understand.

"Pan, I think we should leave this open place and go somewhere quiet, I'm hungry and tired as it is," Maria suggested, holding her stomach as it grumbled out of hunger.

I nodded and we both found our way in a corner a little bit farther from the people.

"I seriously don't know what to do," I said to myself rather than to Maria.

"I'm sure everything will be alright, we just have to find something to eat," Maria said, holding my hands and resting her head on my lap.

An idea suddenly struck my mind. "Why don't we look for fruits? They'll have to have fruits around," I said almost excitedly.

"You are right, but where can we find them, the fruits I saw with the people didn't look familiar," Maria said.

My face suddenly turned gloomy. "That is true but there must be something edible around."

I slowly raised Maria's head from my lap and got up, dusting the dirt and few leaves that clung to my gown.

"Where are you going?" Maria asked.

"Food hunting of course, we need food," I replied.

"Let me come with you," Maria insisted, trying to stand up but her bruises couldn't let her.

I quickly held her and placed her back down to sit. "See, you're not strong enough. I promise I'll be back." With that I turned and started walking towards the forest.

"Please stay safe and be careful," Maria shouted from behind.

I waved at her and disappeared into the bushes. While walking, I kept my eyes open for anything that looked like food and "Viola!" I stumbled upon tiny round red fruits that looked shiny and attractive. I lit up with joy, food at last.

But the problem was that it was too high and with my big gown I wasn't sure I'd be able to climb up and besides I didn't know how to climb, I never learned how to.

I tried using a long stick but it wouldn't budge. I also tried throwing stones at it but I missed. I wasn't good at anything.

I frowned and decided to climb it instead. Maria had always done it back in the castle, it looked easy. How hard could it be?

I decided to pull off my gown first and I was left with only a short linen straight gown I usually wore underneath my royal gown.

I took the first step and held the branches, I lifted up my body after finding a foothold and little by little I was able to climb the branches.

See, easy. I thought.

"So this is how freedom looks like, I'm finally free," I shouted out excitedly and spread my arms wide looking up at the sun through the branches, smiling all the way.

"Those fruits are poisonous, you know," A man's voice came from beneath me, and fear instantly gripped me.

Nobody in this strange place could speak our language and now I heard it, was he from the castle?

I didn't know when I suddenly slipped due to fear and confusion and I had already pictured myself falling to the ground but the man suddenly caught me, and I could feel his grip on me as I fell into his arms.

"My lady, are you alright?" he asked me.

And at that moment, my breath ceased.