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The Runic Heart |
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By Richard LeBlanc |
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| Act one: The Princess and the Prince |
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| The sun was sitting perfectly in the crystal clear midday sky on what had to be the most perfect day. The wind was mildly blowing - the autumn leaves were slightly changing into a beautiful array of colors. Indeed - it was the perfect day. |
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| But none of that mattered unfortunately, for the princess that was admiring all these perfect details through a partially opened window - was stuck in the abbey - having to suffer through more boring lessons. |
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| "Did you hear what I just asked?" the elder sister asked. |
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| "Yes," the princess replied in a distant voice. |
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| "Really? Then Tell me, Lady Angela - what did I just say?" she asked curiously. The young princess looked away from the window and bashfully smiled. |
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| "Sorry Sister Jezzela - my mind must have been elsewhere," she replied honestly. |
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| "I gathered as much. I can tell that we won't get anything more done today. Do try to have your lessons done on time for tomorrow though - please?" she asked seriously. Angela smiled and got up from the table. |
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| "I'll do my best," she replied. She curtsied to the sister and the calmly made her way out of the library. Once outside - she looked around at the other sisters that were walking about the abbey garden. |
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| She calmly made her way by the sisters of the order - the people that had raised her since all of her family were killed. Although she wasn't at home when her kingdom was under siege - in her dreams she could hear the screams - feel the heat from the burning buildings - and smell the sickening stench of smoke that rose up from the burning bodies. |
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| Of course she didn't tell the sisters of her dreams - especially Sister Jezzela. Although, out of all the sisters in the order that had a hand in raising her - she did let her get away with the most. |
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| Angela made her way to where her room was - taking care to smile and curtsy to the sisters that walked by - after all she was a princess and had to act accordingly. Or so they kept telling her. Once inside - and the bolt secured - she breathed a sigh of relief. |
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| "Meep?" she quietly called out. Nothing. She sighed and shook her head. "Come here Meep," she requested as she began to look around her room for any sign of her moderately delinquent pet. "If you don't come out - no snack," she warned. Just then she heard the sounds of a familiar pet hiding on her top shelf. The head of a ferret peeked out and looked at her. "There you are," she muttered as she reached up and carefully lifted him from the shelf and perched him on her shoulder. |
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| "What a day I had," she sarcastically began as she took a small handful of seeds out from one of her pockets and held them out before Meep. "It took all of my concentration just to stay awake," she said with a smirk. Meep hungrily began to devour the seeds. "Want to go play in the forest?" she asked. Meep seemed to look at her and nod. "What a coincidence - me too," she whispered. She put the rest of the seeds back into her pocket and carefully made her way over to the window. |
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| She watched as two guards did their usual patrol - as they always did at that exact time. Once they had disappeared around the corner - she carefully climbed up and hopped down. It wasn't a long drop - and getting in was usually a tricky climb - but in the two to four years that she had practiced sneaking in and out - she had pretty much mastered the art. She quickly sneaked away from the abbey and made her way into the surrounding forest. |
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| Much like she had believed - the day - was perfect. The light wind blew the subtle scents of the season across the forest. The occasional leaf would flutter - almost dance from its tree until it landed gracefully on the ground. Even all of the forest creatures that happened about - added to the serene tranquility that she was feeling. |
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| "Want to meet me at the pond?" she asked curiously. Meep hopped from her shoulder and began to scurry along the forest floor. Seeing him run made her smile. For when she had first found him - he was trapped in a hunter's snare. She rescued him and slowly nursed him back to health. The two were the best of friends ever since. |
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| Angela smiled as she made her way through the slowly thickening forest. The way to where she sought to go was not on any trail and was quite hard to find. Such was why it was so appealing to her. When things got too crazy for her - it provided the perfect escape. As she continued to walk - she could hear the sounds of a small stream. They were close. |
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| She stopped walking and carefully looked around at the forest around her - to make absolutely sure that no one was around and watching her. once she was sure - she made her way towards a spot where a hedge like bush touched a large rock formation. She carefully moved between the bush and the rock until she was on the other side. |
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| If ever there was a place in the wilderness that she could call paradise - this place had to be it. All around the secluded section of the stream was an almost impenetrable wall of bushes, rocks and trees. Above - water fell from the higher part of the stream into an almost still pond - and from the pond - down another small waterfall. Above - the trees formed a canopy - but not enough to block out the sky. |
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| Angela looked around to see if she could see where Meep was hiding and smiled when she saw the ferret perched on his favorite rock. She made her way over to where he was and sat down on the rock she usually sat on. She looked down into the still waters and smiled at her reflection. The smile widened when she saw the ferret's reflection looking at her. |
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| "Want to go for a swim with me?" she asked curiously. The ferret quickly scurried away. She quietly laughed as she began to remove her clothes. Every time she asked - the ferret would do that. Near as she could tell - he hated the water as much as a cat would. "Your loss," she said as she put her clothes where she usually did and slowly waded out into the fair sized pond. Despite the fact that the pond wasn't very big - it was surprisingly deep. She dived under the surface of the water and quickly surfaced. |
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| She looked over and saw that the ferret had sneaked out from his hiding place and was rummaging through her pockets for seeds. Every time she would swim - he would do the same thing - and every time it brought a smile to her face. |
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* * * |
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| At that moment - a fair distance away - a young man was resting in the shade of an old willow tree. Near him - his unicorn fed off the grass. |
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| "I tell you - I wish I could stay here forever," he said calmly. He opened his eyes and slowly sat up. The unicorn looked over at him for a moment and then returned his attention to the grass. "But we both know I can't - the fate of the kingdom is at stake," he stated as he hopped to his feet. |
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| He was Harmen. A prince that had traveled from afar on an important quest. A quest that was so important that the fate of his kingdom depended on his success. He walked over and patted the mane of the unicorn. |
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| "Need some water?" he asked curiously. The unicorn snorted and nodded. "Me too," he began as he took out his flask. Unfortunately - it was empty. "Out - just great. wait here - I'll get us some water and come straight back," he stated seriously as he began to make his way into the forest. |
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| As he walked - he listened for any sign of water - but all he could hear were the animals of the forest that were seemingly everywhere. He was about to give up when he could hear the distant sound of splashing water. |
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| "About time," he muttered as he made his way deeper into the forest. As he went further - the trees and bushes became more dense - almost to the point where moving wasn't possible. |
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| "Uh. Just perfect," he muttered. He slowly got down onto the ground and saw that there was enough space to crawl under the thick bushes. "That mule of a beast had better appreciate this," he muttered as he made his way towards the sound of running water. The only water in the entire forest," he muttered. he looked up and saw that the bushes were starting to starting to thin as he neared a wall of rock. He quietly groaned and shook his head. He made his way over to the rocks and slowly got up. As soon as he was standing up - Angela surfaced from the pond - inches away from where he was standing. For what felt like an eternity - their eyes locked. |
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| To be continued... |
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