In the small kingdom of Talmun it was quiet and peaceful. The people in the kingdom were content, and so was the King. The people had different statuses, like all people did. There were nobles and peasants and those who lived by doing wrong. There were servants and mid-class people. There were prisoners and merchants. There were villagers and those that had joined the navy or the army.

So, naturally, different people had different kinds of houses. The wealthy had grand houses, and sometimes build fortresses if they were around the edge of the kingdom. The peasants, though had little huts, and everyone else was in between.

They did different things too. The rich kept notes on the household, and the poor worked in the fields. Well, one does get the picture. Everyone had different jobs, did different things, wore different things… but there was someone that everyone no matter what age or rank wanted to be. To meet. To see.

The Royal Family. The one rank that was very picky about who joined it. Only Princes may marry Princesses, and the other way around. Everyone dreamed that to be a King or Queen or Prince or Princess you had to do nothing, nothing at all! You could just get someone else to do it for you. Not only that, but each night you had food on your plate no matter what. Plus, you got the finest and softest clothes for miles around. Freedom! Pure ecstasy.

That was the dream. The idea. Not, the truth. Yes, you could order around everyone, you could appoint people with a household, and you could wreak war, too. But it was not freedom. There were dangers. For all you knew, someone could poison your food. Stab you as you slept. There was that much danger, you could trust no one, occasionally not even your own children.

Royals are rather like actors. They pretend they are happy for the people, but they really are not. They always have this great weight on their shoulders, but yet they could never slouch, it would dishearten the people. Everything was for the people. Their majesty, their clothes, the way they talked and acted, and what they did. What they let go on and didn’t let go on. The list goes on.

Occasionally, though, a royal takes the stand and does what is best for him or her, or even their children. Not the country. Not the people around them. For themselves. One may think that that is a pretty selfish act, they are supposed to take care of the kingdom, and yes it is selfish, but one does need to be selfish once in a while.

Queen Amayaa was someone like that. She did what was best for her daughter, and herself. She ran, she took one of the king’s horses and ran as fast as she could. The King reported to the people that the queen and her daughter had been assassinated. All was fine.

“Mummy!” yelled Amayaa’s 7 year old daughter, Rain.

“What dear?” she said calmly as she stirred the pot of soup.

“I saw a man, and he was riding on a horse that looked just like Starlight!” she said delighted. Starlight was their faithful horse who had not after five years of hard work given up, fallen down or even made the slightest mess.

Amayaa’s face froze. “O dear god.” she muttered.

“Rain, stay here.” she commanded. Rain sat down in the middle of the floor and folded her arms.

“I never get any fun.” she muttered. Why had she told her mother that there was a man outside? If she hadn’t she could’ve met him and everything! She wondered for a moment why the horse looked so much like Starlight, but dismissed the thought and thought once again about the unfairness of it all.

Meanwhile, Amayaa hid behind a tree carefully, tucking away her hair behind her ear. She heard voices in front of her, talking about the oddest things like the weather. She remembered the days that she too was so bored that that was all she could think of to talk about. She stifled a laugh and slowly brought her head out to watch.

It was Bronan, the head of the blacksmith’s guild. He was a very close friend of hers from when she had been a child. The other people around him didn’t matter, just Bronan, her first love. She wanted to call out, ‘Bronan!’ at the top of her lungs. Yet she held back. She knew why. She didn’t want him to find her out, for him to see that she was not dead. What if he told someone else, and they told someone else? She did not like gossip at all. She had never even taken part in it when she was younger, something most girls her age liked to do, and probably still do.

Amayaa scampered back to the small wooden cabin that she and her daughter lived in. As she reached the door she regained her posture and opened the door, but Rain knew her mother too well.

“Mummy, what’s wrong?” she said as soon as Amayaa entered the door. Amayaa smiled shakily at her daughter.

“Nothing, Rain.” she said dismissively. Rain narrowed her eyes. Sometimes her mother was extremely annoying. She would ignore her thoughts and opinions for no reason at all, and sometimes she pretended she thought was interesting! Rain hated when she did that. She thought that she should either be interested or not, not pretend to be interested when she wasn’t. Sometimes she would burst into tears unexpectedly, which upset her mother quite a bit. Rain was very good at seeing through lies and separating it from the truth. Thinking that everyone else could do that too, she was very honest, and soon it became such a habit that she hardly knew how to lie.

“Tell me what is wrong.” she said. This time she a had a hard look that seemed to say that her mother must obey her. This angered Amayaa. No one had any right to look at her like that! Especially not her daughter. It was a bad day to speak to her mother like that. Amayaa started to shake, her thoughts of seeing Bronan flying around inside her head, and slapped her daughter. Rain just stood there for a moment, her eyes fogging up. She didn’t want her mother to see her cry, so she ran.

Rain fled to the toilet, a safe, happy place for her. Whenever she felt upset or lonely or anything, she went into the washroom. She sat on the counter with her head in her hands and stared out the window. There was a big field in front of her. It was beautiful, but she wasn’t allowed to go outside. Mummy had told her not to. In fact she was ordered not to. She sighed. She loved running around on those fields.

Then she thought about her mother. Why did she do that? Was she mad at her? Her young mind fretted. She gulped. She had to make her happy again! But what would do it? She decided on being good all week. That will make Mummy happy again! She thought eagerly.

Rain rushed out of the washroom to clean the dishes, mop the floor, dust the house and finish cooking supper for the two of them.

When Amayaa got back from the market she was shocked. The whole house was so tidy! She sniffed the air. And supper was finished too! She smiled thinking of the free day ahead of her. Then she frowned. Rain must be scared of her. She never usually did her chores.

The week went on that way. Rain thought her mother was mad and Amayaa thought her daughter was now scared of her, it was a mess. It sure didn’t help when Bronan came that Friday night.

Amayaa sat cross-legged in front of their fire place. She was thinking of her daughter, how badly she had scared her. Why had she slapped her? What had she been thinking? She knew the answer to that one. Bronan. Bronan, Bronan, Bronan! She had been thinking of him and how she would never be able to have a relationship with him.

Rain, on the other hand, was locked in their bedroom delving in a book called The Girl Who Charmed Ra. It was magical and mystical and it involved all the things she liked in a story. This was the only book she had read, and had she read it! She had practically memorized every word and phrase in the whole book! Her mother knew many stories and had been teaching them to her, but since that day they had barely talked, much less told stories around the fireplace. Thinking this made Rain upset again, so she decided not to think it, and just go on with the story.

There was a rapping at the door. Both heads perked up and ran to get the door yelling, “I’ll get it!” It was Amayaa who eventually did open the door, beating Rain. At that very moment Rain decided to learn to run faster, how else was she to beat long-legged Amayaa?

As Amayaa opened the door, her mouth seemed to hang open in the shape of an O. Rain felt like tugging at her mother asking, “Who is it Mummy? Why are you staring like that?” but she restrained herself.

“Amayaa?” said the man in front of them. Rain recognized him as the man she had seen on the field with the horse that looked like Starlight. His expression was one of pure shock and joy. Amayaa was too shocked and scared to be happy. She had known he was around but she hadn’t known that he knew she was around. Maybe he didn’t even know! Until now, anyways.

“Bronan?” she croaked nervously.

“I-I thought you were dead!” he said happily.

“I’m not…” she whispered. Bronan grinned,

“I can see that now.” he tilted an eyebrow gesturing that he wanted to know what had happened. Amayaa gave a shy grin and ordered Rain into the bedroom. Rain unhappily obliged, not wanting to upset her mother again.

Amayaa sat down at their quaint couch, gesturing Bronan to sit down as well, which he did. “Tell me your story first.” she muttered. Bronan grinned.

“You’ve always been able to make me do whatever you want me to. Well, the King has been found to be asthmatic or something. I think it’s… sterile? Yeah. He can’t make babies anymore for some reason. Oh yes! His new queen and him both have a disease! I just can’t remember what it is!” he said rubbing his forehead. Then his face brightened up. “Ah! Tessex, they both have Tessex! If they have a kid it’ll pretty much be dead when it’s born. By the time it reaches five it’ll be in pain constantly and it’ll die. So they aren’t going to be able to have a baby.” he looked at her curiously. “Is that girl your only daughter?”

“Yes, she is.” said Amayaa.

“Well, then she is still the heir to the throne. Why don’t you tell them? Otherwise McKinnon will become the king when the old one dies!” he looked at her seriously. “He is a bad man.”

“Bronan, you’ve always had prejudices against him.” said Amayaa dismissively. She looked at him seriously. “Besides, I am not making my daughter live through the hell that I did.” Bronan sighed, he was one of the few normal folk who knew what royals had to go through each and every day.

“If you say so.” he said still not believing. “Anyways, we got some new horses, and that’s about it. Now tell me your story.” said Bronan leaning in keenly. As he smiled, all the little hairs on his beard wiggled, making Amayaa laugh, which made Bronan laugh etc. The two of them couldn’t stop laughing, and when Bronan started to hiccup it didn’t make it any better. Eventually Bronan held his hand to stop the laughing. He needed to regain his composure. He held in his breath counting thirty seconds in his head. Amayaa bit her lip hard to stop the laughter from bubbling from a spring that hadn’t bubbled over for five years… since she had left Bronan in fact.

“Now tell me.” said Bronan seriously. Amayaa sighed, there was no way out of it.

“I escaped the castle on a horse, road carrying Rain,” Bronan gasped, so her daughter was the original, and pure heir. Amayaa nodded. “Then I looked around for a place to live and chose this place.” she said gesturing around her. Bronan nodded in approval. “We’ve been living here since.”

“That’s not a very detailed account.” said Bronan. Amayaa looked at him.

“That is all I am willing to give.” she said stubbornly.

Just then Rain decided to open the door to ask a question she had been wanting to ask ever since she had been banned from going outside. “May I now go outside?” she asked with the slightest hint of an edge. She felt a bit jealous that this man had made her mother laugh all of a sudden. She had never been able to do that.

“Yes, Rain.” said Amayaa waving her hand in a shooing motion. As Amayaa and Bronan talked, Rain leapt outside for her dose of the outdoors.

Rain loved it outside. There were birds and trees and flowers. Her favorite was the trees. She loved the way their branches waved in the wind. It was as though they were holding a fan, like they were hiding their eyes from the bad. So Rain would sometimes just look at the trees for hours on end, trying to see their eyes, wanting eagerly to be one of those who could see.

One time she did see it. It was as though the trees lifted a veil, and there they were. Their eyes were cat-like, and had that same all seeing look in them. She could see other worlds in those eyes, depth and understanding that no human could ever gain. She could see colors that she had never heard of before, never seen.

That only lasted for a second, then it was gone. Rain felt deeply honored, like she had seen something especially sacred and secret. She swore not to tell anyone, she had a funny feeling that her mother wouldn’t appreciate it. Yet, she felt a deep wanting to see those eyes again.

As Rain thought about these things, she found her feet walking. Soon she found herself in a wide field. It was not the green hills that were in the front of her house. Not the Fields of Green! A deep panic rose in her chest. Where was she? Why had she gone this far? Was she so stupid not to stop at the bright red tree? That was what her mother had always told her to do! She felt like crouching down on her knees and bursting into tears. But her mother had told her to never do that, even when she was in the worst predicament. Her mother was like that. Never cry, never show any emotion but happiness. Happiness you could show of course, people want to think that you are happy. These rules were extremely hard for Rain, being the honest girl she was.

She looked around for a moment. Maybe she would see the red tree. A horrific thought passed her mind. What if she had gone by a way that hadn’t passed the red tree? Her eyes opened wide and her mouth went open while her shoulders rose and her fingers spread. She wasn’t seeing anything in the real world, just imagining the events that would happen as she got home.

“Are you new around here?” the voice broke her out of her mental slumber. She released her shocked expression.

“No.” she said honestly.

“Oh.” said the person in front of her, she now saw it was a boy around the same age as her. His eyebrows went together, rather looking like the point of a triangle.

“Then why are you here?” he said, trying to find out an answer to another one of life’s mysteries.

“I’m lost.” she said bluntly, not adding any details.

“What does your house look like?” he asked curiously.

“I’m not allowed to tell.” said Rain feeling utterly frustrated. The boy snapped his fingers in a long sweeping motion muttering a rude word that sounded rather like he had just learned it that morning and was using it as many times as he could if it made sense.

“I know!” he said loudly. Rain jumped. “There’s a red forest over there maybe you could-” she broke him off with a big smile and a hug, then ran off, never to be seen again.

Rain however, was skipping with joy. Her face was in a smile as wide as the sun and she was positively glowing. As she was skipping through the village, a painter watched her and did a quick sketch so he would never forget the way she smiled as if all her troubles were gone. He hung the sketch on the wall in front of him and started to paint her. The Earth-Born Angel, he called her.

Rain almost flew to the red forest. Her legs ran like the wind as she passed through it, and soon found herself recognizing the tree her mother always pointed out to her. Her grin grew wider than it was already. She leaned her back against the tree and slid down it’s trunk, smelling the fresh air around her.

Rain held her hands out as though she were welcoming someone, eyes closed. She breathed through her nose for seven counts, then out for five like she had taught herself to do when she wanted to relax. Waves of stories and folklore passed through her mind like butterflies on the wind, like dragons flying through the air! Like a wolf running in the dense forest, or a lion pounding through the open savannah! She leapt up in one step and twirled around, holding her arms to the sky.

“Air! Help me to fly like the phoenix!” she yelled at the top of her lungs.

“Air!” she heard something echo her.

“Water! Help me swim like a mermaid!” she yelled once more.

“Water!” she heard run through the rippling lakes and streams.

“Earth! Support me wherever I walk!” she screamed.

“Earth!” she heard as the ground shook beneath her.

“Fire! Protect me from evil!” she yelled as she danced.

“Fire!” she heard flames crackling in her ears.

Then she fell down laughing looking around at the forest where she had spent her home, then looked up into the sky. It was growing dark. Her grin fell. Her mother would be expecting her home by now, she thought, racing.

Rain yanked on the doorknob for it to open. It didn’t! She was panicked. What if her mother had locked her out because she was so late? Her mind raced like a shooting star. She ran towards the window and ratted on it, jumping up and down. Was her mother in danger?

“Open up!” she yelled. Someone looked down at her by the window, it was her mother. As Amayaa turned away, Rain could see her eyes rolling in their sockets. Rain looked down at her shoes realizing how silly she had been. She walked slowly to the door. Amayaa opened the door, one hand on her hip.

“Why were you yelling at the window?” she asked, her lips pursed.

“It was locked.” whispered Rain.

“You could have, I don’t know, knocked?” said Amayaa somewhat sarcastically. Rain was on the verge of tears. She looked once more at her mother’s face, then ran to the washroom, hands over her eyes.

Amayaa and Bronan’s relation grew and spread like a dandelion, fast, furious, deadly, but beautiful. Their love for each other was like a tree, strong and extremely hard to break, and impossible to do so with your bare hands. They started to spend more and more time together, and less and less with Rain, making her feel like she wasn’t part of the small family she had had with her mother not so long ago.

Years passed, leaves fell and seasons changed. Rain and her mother soon became much like unfriendly roommates. Amayaa seemed to want to get rid of Rain, which was something that Rain could not understand. Sometimes she would cry herself to sleep thinking of her mother, the time they had spent telling stories and learning. Learning to read and write, learning about the ways of the world and the seasons, and proper etiquette. Even though she said she did not want her daughter to live like herself, it bothered her when she did not use the proper etiquette.

Amayaa had promised Rain when she was little that they would be together forever, but that promise had shattered at the arrival of Bronan. Bronan seemed distressed at the distress his arrival was causing, but would not do anything to threaten his relationship with Amayaa.

Yet, all was fine. They were still living together, although Rain found herself pushed into the living room to sleep in. Her mother had been in a grumpy mood that morning, even to Bronan. Bronan had silently backed off, acting a bit afraid of her.

Rain, though, couldn’t seem to understand why it was happening. To get away she ran into the forest, but while she was playing, she tripped and fell scraping her knee so badly it bled. She then ran towards her mother to show her the scrape so she would make it all better, but all she got was the strange response (to her), “You have no reason to be complaining, because I’m bleeding for than you are.” This left Rain extremely confused, what did she mean? So all she could think to do was give her mother a blank stare.

Later on Bronan told her that she was having her ‘period’ which made her very grumpy. Rain immediately asked why, but all Bronan could do was shrug.

“I hope I never get my period.” muttered Rain, and Bronan laughed. He then reached for her shoulder and patted it gently.

“All girls eventually have a period. It makes them a woman.” said Bronan smiling, obviously thinking of Amayaa. “And boy do some become women.” he whispered under his breath, making Rain confused. Then again, today it was like everyone was trying to confuse her. She just shrugged it off, thinking that he too had gotten his period, maybe that was why he was so weird today.

The months after that were different. On the days when she was supposed to be having her period, she wasn’t. It made her even grumpier somehow, and she started to vomit every morning. Rain immediately became concerned, and Bronan delighted. However, nobody explained to Rain what was going on. It seemed like nobody wanted to either. This annoyed Rain greatly.

One day as Rain was returning from the fields, she heard Bronan talking. They were talking about strange things like diapers and prams which made Rain a little excited. Was her mother having a baby? She thrust open the door, a smile gleaming on her lips unlike the small frown that had rested on her face for the past few months.

The looks on Bronan and Amayaa’s faces were the exact opposite from her. The smile slowly fell from Rain’s face like the raindrop she was named for on a window. She did not say a word, not wanting to bring bad luck upon herself.

“Rain.” said Amayaa in a silky sweet voice. “We want you to leave.” she said this last bit so quietly that Rain had to strain herself to hear it.

“Pardon, Ma?” she never called her mother Mummy anymore. She was too offish for a name like that.

“I said, we want you out.” she said a little bit louder this time. Rain was shocked.

“Why?” she said softly.

“We want our baby to be safe.” said Amayaa coldly. Rain looked at Bronan, but he just nodded in agreement with his lover.

“From… me?” she asked, shaking. “Why?”

“People are after you, and I don’t want my daughter’s fate to be running forever!” said Amayaa pointing at the door.

“But I am your daughter.” said Rain, tears flowing from her eyes.

“My other daughter.” said Amayaa, undoubtedly sure that her new child would be female. Rain had no choice but to do as her mother said.

A storm had brewed up since the last time she had been outside, which was only a few minutes before. Rain looked at the pouring rain, then at her mother, hoping for one last night in the home she had known all her life. After seeing she wouldn’t go easily, Amayaa pushed her out.

Rain fell face first into the mud at the bottom of the stairs of her cottage. She got up slowly and took one last look at the place she called home. No more, she thought. She trudged along for a few moments when she came upon a crossroads. On one hand there was the forest with shelter, and on the other hand there was the green hills. Her mother’s words came back to her, “People are after you, and I don’t want my daughter’s fate to be running forever!” She would do as he mother said, she would not go by the green roads where she was in plain view. A chill ran up her back. Why were people looking for her? She was just the average, run of the mill girl! Could it be that she was running on the green fields? Or the forest? Well if they were talking about the forest she had not done anything wrong! She was kind to the forest! She even planted a tree every year!

Rain walked a little faster, a bit angry now. She was good to both the green fields and the red forest, what else could there be? Soon she was in a run, her legs flying across the soil, and her mind racing through the air. She felt like screaming “I’m a good person!” for all the world to hear. As far as she knew, only criminals were sought out. What could she have done? She was only a kid!

Rain slowed down and did her breathing thing to calm herself down. She shouldn’t get herself worked up about this! If they caught her, then she would just tell them the truth, she was innocent! Yet she had been kicked out of her very home.

There it was. The red tree that marked the beginning of the red forest where the leaved remained red, the trunks were red, and the leaves never fell. She went up to the red tree, and gave it a hug.

“Goodbye.” she whispered. She wasn’t sure if she was just imagining it, but she could have sworn she heard the trees give their sorrows out to her. Rain broke down, collapsing onto the roots of the red tree. She cried and cried, her tears blending with the rain. She sobbed and moaned, hugging the tree. There were tear marks running down her face, clearing the mud and looking like a pattern, as though it was meant to be there. Rain hugged her knees to her face rocking herself back and forth trying to comfort herself.

Eventually Rain had no tears left to cry. She just lay there for a moment, staring at the cloudy sky. Then she got up, knowing she wasn’t helping herself at all by lying there.

From the big red tree it wasn’t much of a walk to reach a clearing, the clearing, Rain was sure. The clearing where everyone had been so helpful to her. She could only stay there for one night, though. It was too close to her own home, but she had to stay there for a night. She needed shelter and clean clothes. What a mess I must look, thought Rain. She sighed and walked into the clearing.

The artist looked out his window and saw a figure emerge from the red trees. His face lit up. “Margaret!” he yelled. A redheaded woman ran up the stairs quickly. She had a motherly look about her, with her rosy red cheeks and a friendly grin, but one could tell she was not to be toyed around with.

“Yeah?” she said holding some cups. “Have you made some kind of revelation about the angel girl or something?” she said with a mocking grin on her face. The artist didn’t notice the grin.

“Yes!” he said virtually jumping in his seat.

“What is it then?” said Margaret.

“She’s right there!” he said squealing. Margaret looked out the window, the girl outside didn’t look much like the painting her husband had drawn. Margaret thought that maybe it was because she was older now, but didn’t tell that to her husband, it would ruin his image of her. He thought that she wouldn’t grow up, that she was a real angel, not just a girl who acted like one.

As Margaret looked closer and look on her face became a concerned one. She immediately took a motherly attitude on.

“Look at her! She needs proper clothes! She’s so dirty! Lionel, we’re taking her in.” Lionel seemed delighted at this.

“Yes!” but then again he had no control over the matter, Margaret was a very independent woman. Margaret rushed down the stairs holding her skirts up to keep from tripping. She thrust open the door and ran towards the poor girl. Margaret took her hand and pulled her along without even asking her name.

Rain was shocked when she had been pulled along the gravel road by a woman she had never met before. She had expected she would have to ask, beg, and grovel for a place to stay. As she was pulled down the hallways of the cozy house she saw pictures of herself all over the place. She shivered. Why was she everywhere? There were pictures of her dancing in the rain, of her lying in the grass, and lying against a red tree. It spooked her out. She wasn’t so sure she wanted to be her anymore and felt like running away, but held still. This might very well be her only chance of a place to stay.

The woman then opened a door with a brass doorknob. It was a washroom, nothing like the rusty green one she had had at home, but made with white marble and a white toilet as well as a marble sink. To her, this was an emblem of wealth. She shivered again, were they the people that were looking for her?

Margaret turned on one of the brass taps and steaming hot water came out.

“Undress.” said Margaret.

“I-” said Rain, nervous.

“Dear lord, do you want a bath or not?” said Margaret.

“Yes.” whispered Rain, she knew when not to argue with an adult. Truth be told, Rain was a bit of a prude, she completely disliked anyone seeing her bath or even go to the washroom.

When she was done undressing Margaret directed her to go into the bath and scrubbed her down, talking the whole time. Rain listened closely to what she talked about and answered in all the right places. Who knew whether or not the information would be useful in the future or not.

“And seven years ago the queen was assassinated, fancy that! Although, some people think that maybe she just ran away or something. I hope so. The King is dying! If only we could find her child, or maybe one of the king’s children. Too bad he’s sterile, though. If he weren’t, he’d probably have tons of little boys running about waiting to become King! Oh I wish I were Queen! If I were Queen I would never run away or anything. Just think of all the fine jewelry a girl could have! And oh! I’d dress in the finest silk! And my crown would be pure gold, and the stuff would be piling up in my bank account! Oh! How lovely!” said Margaret talking and talking about unimportant things like that, but Rain listened anyways.

“You’re done.” said Margaret. She drained the water away, still talking about nothing at all, and took out a towel. It was red and fluffy, the color was rich and pure and absolutely gorgeous. Rain reached out to touch it hesitantly. It was so soft! Margaret laughed drying her off.

“Like the towel, Hun?” she said jokingly.

“Yes, um,” said Rain not knowing what to call her.

“Margaret, Hun.” said Margaret.

“Yes Margaret Hun.” quipped Rain. Margaret laughed again.

“No dear, it’s just Margaret.”

“Oh.” said Rain blushing.

“Now, Hun, you’re lucky to be coming by so early, cause we’re just about to have supper. I’ll get you dressed up in a pretty little dress, and you’ll come have a nice big supper with us, ok?” said Margaret.

“Yes Margaret.” said Rain. Margaret picked up her clothes and washed them in the sink. By the time she was finished with them, they looked brand new. She tucked them under her arm and wrapped Rain up in the soft towel that she like so much and steered her towards her bedroom.

Margaret’s bedroom was gorgeous. The bed was finely crafted and there was a thick and beautiful quilt placed on top of it. There was a standing mirror with a frame made of gold, and a wooden chest that was shiny and smooth. The walls were wooden up until the middle, then there was a handle-like thing around the middle and on top was a green flowered wallpaper.

Margaret left Rain standing while she fished through her walk-in closet for something that would fit her. Finally a small “Aha!” was made and she emerged.

“Try this on.” she said holding up a pretty blue dress. “Perfect for a princess!” she said laughing. “Besides,” she muttered, “My husband has high expectations of you.” So that was who had made all the pictures! Thought Rain. She rushed behind the portable wall and changed into the blue dress.

When she was done Rain came out and Margaret clapped her hands delightedly. “Ooh! You look lovely! Now the gloves.” she said slipping long, slender, white gloves onto her hands. “There we go, now wait a second while I get changed.” said Margaret. She too slid behind the portable wall and changed, throwing her clothing into the air. While she was dressing up, Rain tried to figure out why she was getting dressed again. Was it some kind of ritual or something? She didn’t ask.

Margaret came out in an outfit much like Rain’s except it was scarlet instead of blue. She seemed thinner than before, but this was something Rain would not comment on, not in a million years! Margaret then went to the dressing room table and dabbed a whole lot of powder on her face. Seeing Rain’s questioning look, she answered her query.

“It’s the latest fashion.” she said.

“Oh.” said Rain. Margaret smacked her well powdered head with the palm of her hand.

“What is your name, dear?” she said.

“Rain.” said Rain honestly.

“Well then, Rain, come on downstairs and I’ll introduce you to the family.” said Margaret taking Rain’s hand down the stairs and into the dining room.

“Lionel, Richard, this is our guest, Rain.” Rain looked around the room shyly feeling silly in the blue dress and long gloves.

She looked over the man called Lionel, a middle aged man with black hair and a long hooked nose giving you the impression of an evil character in a story. In her mother’s stories the villains were always hook nosed and black haired. Yet, you could tell he was really a sweet man, and the pain stains on his hands confirmed that this was Lionel and a painter. The one who had painted her all over the place.

When she looked at the one called Richard, though, she could hardly keep herself from gaping. This was the boy who had helped her so long ago! He was a blonde boy with green eyes and a slender face that seemed to have taken after his father, but his nose was completely unlike him. At the moment he looked like his feet were getting to be too big for him to walk around with and his shoulders were slightly wider now, but she could definitely recognize him.

Richard just stood there, gaping.

“Shut your mouth, boy.” said Margaret smartly, “It’s rude to stare.” Richard blushed and closed his mouth warily. He looked over at his father. His father had a look of pure ecstasy on his face. He would finally meet her!

“Now everybody acquaint yourselves and I’ll go into the kitchen, bring in the food.” said Margaret already heading to the kitchen. Everybody did as they were told, Margaret was clearly the dominant figure in the family.

As soon as Margaret left the room Lionel held out his hand, “I’m Lionel. Fantastic to meet you!” Rain reached for his hand to shake (It’s always polite to return the shakes you are given) and soon found it was a mistake for Lionel pumped it extremely hard. After a while of pumping Rain felt she had to remove her hand, it was getting rather sore.

By this time Margaret had returned from the kitchen and was rolling her eyes. Dinner was much like the bath she had had, Margaret was talking and talking and wasn’t letting anyone get a word in. Occasionally Lionel would try and say something to rain but Margaret would always interrupt saying that she didn’t want to tell him, and why should she? Her past was her own business, this was a lot coming from the village gossip.

When supper was over everyone retreated to their own rooms and Margaret showed Rain a guest room on the first level. As she was showing Rain to her rooms she started talking again.

“Will you tell me what happened?” she asked.

“I can’t.” said Rain not willing to give Margaret any juicy tidbits, gossip was dangerous. She could tell by now she was a gossip. Rain cleared her throat.

“I thank you for your hospitality Margaret, but I’m afraid I must leave as soon as possible. Tonight.” she said clarifying herself. Rain watched Margaret’s expression turn from a little irritated to extremely angry.

“How dare you!” she screeched. “I offer you a place to live and wed and you just turn me down!” Rain was shocked.

“Wed?”

“Yes wed! You were to marry with my son Richard when you both turned fourteen!” said Margaret screeching once more. “And my husband adores you, you know! No, you are not going to leave, you are staying right here!” Margaret headed out the door, Rain running after the door, but before she could get there the door was closed and Margaret had locked. Rain screamed trying to get out, she did not want to stay here for the rest of her life, but the door wouldn’t open. Rain panicked, she kicked and screamed pounding on the door and trying to yank it open, nothing was working. Rain ran over to the window, it was open. She looked down, the ground was close enough to jump. She took a deep breath in and changed into her normal clothes. She took a deep breath and jumped onto the soft grass.

So once again, the Earth Born Angel left the village, although this time she was headed in the other direction, and going there fast.

Days of walking in the pouring rain had not improved her health, nor had it her hunger. There were no people to turn to, either, just a huge amount of trees. Trees, trees, and more trees. Rain completely understood why there weren’t any houses here, but why didn’t they just cut the trees down? She had never felt that a tree should be cut down in a life, but there’s a first time for everything.

Maybe those were the people who were looking for her. She wasn’t sure, but she knew that no matter what happened to her, she didn’t want to be caught by them.

Rain wondered for quite a while longer that day, mud sloshing at her heels. Soon it started to seem brighter, Rain wasn’t too sure if it was just hope or sheer desperation that had made her see this, but she hoped with all her heart that she was right.

She was. Not much later she found herself at the edge of the forest. She felt like rushing out with her arms spread but her mother’s words stayed in her mind, someone was looking for her. Instead of doing what she wished, the nine year old girl found she had to learn control. She stepped out slowly as though she were in a bustling marketplace. It looked safe to her, but then again she didn’t even know what the danger was.

Lately she had found reasons to distrust those around her, not that there were many right now. In fact, it almost looked as though there was no one around. Rain gave a sigh of relief and started to skip, finding it a bit difficult with the amount of weight pulling at the bottoms of her pant legs. Thinking of her resolve to learn to run faster she tried to now, racing herself. She then got the notion into her head that racing herself was no fun, why not the wind?

So Rain was running as speedily as she could while watching the invisible shapes of the wind surrounding her. It was fun, so she decided to do it more often.

While she was busy running without looking around her, she almost missed a farmhouse, but luckily decided to stop for a bit and saw the house. Her face brightened. Then it slid to a frown. She had thought that Margaret was a safe person to border with, but ended up trying to lock her up. She did not want to fall prey to a situation like that again. She had to chance it though, she needed a place to stay and there wasn’t another one for miles.

Rain wasn’t sure why she was so motivated to run, but ever since she had heard that someone was after her, that was all she seemed to want to do. It was like someone was whispering in her ear, run Rain, disappear like the rain itself, do not show your face, but Rain knew she could not run forever. No one can. Especially not her, she liked the company of people, even if it was only one person.

Rain took a deep breath and knocked on the door. Slowly the door opened, revealing an old woman with wrinkly skin and a hard, determined face. She was smaller than Rain, and wore a farmer’s outfit.

“Who is it?” she said in her craggy voice.

“Rain, ma’am.” said Rain politely doing her best curtsey.

“For what?” she asked.

“I was wondering if I may stay here for a while, I have no place to stay.” she said using her best grammar.

“Why?” said the old woman rudely.

“I’ve been wandering the woods for a long time, I would like to stay here for a night if you would allow me to do so.” said Rain holding back tears, she wanted to stay here badly, she didn’t know why. The old woman looked satisfied.

“Come in.” she said. Somehow, she looked down her nose at Rain, even though it’s physically impossible. She walked away, obviously expecting Rain to follow her, she did. The old woman had the gait of a confident young woman. She bent down and removed some of the rug to reveal a trap door. She unlocked it and went down the steps. She gestured for Rain to follow her and took a lit torch off the side walls. Rain furrowed her brow, wondering if this was a trap or something. The old woman glared and gestured harder. Rain sighed and went down the steps. The old woman closed the rug on top of them then locked the trap door.

When they reached the bottom of the stairs the old lady walked down a long hallway and rang a bell next to a door. Then she unlocked the door and entered the next room, which was another long hallway, but this time there were rooms on either side, each with a lock on the door. Then she led Rain down another set of stairs and opened another door. She gestured Rain to come inside.

There were men and women all sitting at tables with food on their plates and some with mugs in their hands. They looked thin and scraggly, worn out like an old owl, old but still growing strong. There were children of all ages, teens, toddlers, and some who were her own age. Most were dirty and the men were not shaven. Rain was horrified, what was wrong with these people? They looked ill! Why were they all under ground like that? The walls were grimy with a few flies flying around the people, as though they were waiting for a piece of flesh. Rain was scared. She was not used to being in such a dirty place. She touched the walls quickly, they were not dirt either! They were very smooth stone! There should not be such filth in stone! Rain looked around disapprovingly. She could tell the people around her were starting to get nervous. When Rain looked back at the old woman, she realized she had closed the door.

“Everybody, this is Rain. Rain, by name is Mildred. You may call me Millie. We are the alliance of the queen. Do you have a problem with the queen?” she said condescendingly. Rain thought it might be a trick question, but she didn’t know what she was supposed to do.

“I do not even know who she is, Millie.” said Rain honestly. Millie’s eyebrows shot up.

“You do not know of the queen?” she said as though she did not believe it.

“No.” said Rain, a flush rising to her cheeks. How embarrassing this was, not to know of their queen! “Who is she?” she asked, hoping that she wouldn’t be left out.

“The daughter of Queen Amayaa.” she said stubbornly as though people had tried to change her mind before, but it had never worked. This got Rain excited.

“My ma’s name is Amayaa!” she said excitedly. Her mother had the same name as the queen’s mother! Millie and another woman looked at each other. Talking burst out from the people in the crowd. Rain was confused, why was it so special that her Ma’s name was Amayaa? Tons of people must be named Amayaa! Especially if it was a queen’s name.

Millie’s eyes swept around the room. “I see that everyone is done their meals, you may leave. Alanna, Sahara, you may stay.” she said speaking to some of the people heading out the door.

There was a loud call of “Do I have to?” and a “Yes, you do, now come on.” and a yelp. When everybody left Millie closed the door and sat down with Rain, a girl, and a young woman.

“Rain, this is Alanna.” she said gesturing to the blonde girl. Alanna smiled showing her dimples and waved. Alanna looked at the woman next to her expectantly. Millie sighed, “Rain, this is Sahara. Yes Alanna, you may stop looking now.” the girl turned her head and moved it around as if it were sore. Millie just rolled her eyes. “Stop acting Alanna.” Alanna propped her elbows on the table in front of her and mimicked,

“Stop acting, Alanna, do this Alanna, do that, Alanna!” in a falsetto voice. Millie ignored her. She turned to Sahara.

“Could you explain to the girl who we are and what we do?” Sahara nodded obediently.

“We are the Queen’s Alliance. The daughter of the ‘deceased’ Queen. We do not support a King because all the men up for the throne are not rightful. The queen was the one who inherited the blood, not the King, so it is her line that should receive the throne, it is our job to do so. When we find the Queen we shall return her to the throne. We will then make it clear that she is the Queen and no one has the right to take her away from her kingdom.” she said as though she were reciting a script. Millie nodded in approval.

“What’s your story?” asked Alanna eagerly. Rain immediately launched into her story, she felt she could trust these people instantly. As she got further into the tale, everyone’s eyebrows were raised so high you could barely see them anymore.

“and that’s how I landed up here.” said Rain finishing off.

“Oh my god, that Margaret woman sounds horrible.” said Alanna wrinkling up her nose. Sahara just glared at Alanna while keeping her back in it’s perfect posture. Millie looked towards Rain kindly.

“Promise us you will tell no one what you told us today.” she said softening her craggy voice.

“Why?” said Rain. Her mother had always told her to ask whenever someone asked her to sign a contract, and this was a lot like signing a contract.

“It’s for your safety. Unless you really trust them, do not tell them what you told us. Alanna, do not tell anyone. Not even your friends.” she said reading her mind once more.

“Do expect me to be a loner for the rest of my life or something?” she said cockily. Millie looked at her in a way that told her to be serious. “Fine.” said Alanna popping her cheek irritated.

“Rain, I shall lead you to your room for tonight.” she opened the door and turned sideways going into yet another passageway. She stopped at a door just like all the rest and unlocked it’s door. Somehow it seemed a little bit more complicated than the others, and opened the door. It was a simple room with all the necessities for a human including running water. Rain clapped her hands. She had been hoping for a bath.

“Thank you!” she said giving Millie a hug. Millie seemed to glow as she closed the door behind her. Rain rushed straight to the bath though, relaxing in the warm water. She washed herself in utmost privacy, just how she liked it. She rinsed her clothes afterwards and let them dry and went to sleep in a nightgown left on a dresser. It was a bit big, but she wore it anyways. Rain fell asleep right away.

In the morning she got up and went straight to what she assumed was the Great Hall. As she came in everyone quieted down. She didn’t like it. Rain searched the room for Alanna and went up to her.

“May I sit next to you?” she asked.

“Sure.” said Alanna grinning as she patted the empty space next to her. “Guys, this is Rai. Rai, this is Annie, Carla, Shandi and Sissi.” the girls chorused a cheerful “Hi.” and each shook her hand.

“Have you seen Lord Kane?” said Carla with a seductive look on her face. She winked at a boy behind her.

“How could we not! When he stops by to see Millie, the roof shakes!” said Alanna.

“But have you seen him, Miss Mildred Alanna Stamond?” she said in her husky voice. Alanna blushed, her red hair seeming to flame all the more.

“I have.” perked up Shandi, obviously the peacemaker of the group. “He’s ugly!” Alanna grinned, regaining her confidence.

“See Carla? I wasn’t wrong. I’m sure the reason Millie keeps us kids down here is to keep us from his atrocious bad looks!” she leaned forward. “Millie has a painting of him in her bedroom that he forced her to keep. So yes, Carla, I have seen him.” there seemed to be a subtle, but intense, battle between them for leadership.

All the girls at the table hooted clapping their hands. Despite their volume they were hardly noticed by everyone around them, for everyone else was extremely loud, too. After everyone calmed down Sissi looked around.

“I saw Shawn and Andrea making out in the hallway.” said Sissi. Annie looked at her with wide eyes.

“Why?” Sissi grinned.

“I ‘needed the washroom’.” Annie giggled. Sissi looked around again.

“Actually I’ve been spying on Shawn for a while.” the whole table burst into laughter. “What?” she said in mock innocence, “He’s cute!” everyone snorted.

“Yeah, if you like dorks with up-turned noses, then he’s cute.” said Alanna. Rain sat watching quietly. She did not feel comfortable with them talking about other people like this.

“I don’t think we should be gossiping like that.” said Rain quietly. Carla glared at her.

“Why should we listen to you, squirt?” she said waiting for Alanna’s usual insulting comment. It didn’t happen. Carla looked at Alanna as if to cue her, but all she got was a glare in return.

“We should listen to the kid.” said Alanna. Carla rolled her eyes, but stopped gossiping.

Sissi looked under the table and stayed there for a while saying “ooh!” and “ah!” she came back up holding a little worm. Carla and Shandi screamed, almost falling off their chairs. Sissi started to laugh so hard she was clutching her sides. Annie picked up her cue and started giggling. Alanna had immediately started snorting. Anything bad that happened to Carla was to her advantage. They were enemies disguised as friends, wolves dressed in sheep’s clothing.

When Carla calmed down she instantly remarked, “That was disgusting Alanna.”

“Maybe so,” said Alanna with a sly grin on her face, “but you should have seen your face, Carla.

“We must have looked pretty ridiculous!” said Shandi starting to laugh. Meanwhile Rain was feeling a little bored. She wanted to do something else. Something interesting. They were talking about nothing at all! They were just insulting each other. Women should not do that, her Ma had said.

It was soon pretty obvious that Rain was starting to doze off. Alanna found herself glancing at Rain every so often. All of a sudden Rain felt a tap on her shoulder and nearly jumped in her seat. She turned her heard to have a look at who it was, it was Millie.

“I think you should be going now.” said Millie with a straight face.

“Okay.” said Rain getting up. “Bye!” she said cheerfully.

Carla leaned in as soon as Rain went, “She seemed pretty happy about leaving us, didn’t she?” she said with an evil glint in her eye.

“No Carla, she was crying with invisible tears.” said Alanna sarcastically, secretly relieved that Rain was gone. Having someone like her at the table really put a pressure on her.

Rain went back to her bedroom and gathered all her things. Millie came up to her and put a brown bag with straps on the back and put it on Rain. “When is your birthday, Rain?” she said curiously.

“The fourth of June, Millie. Why?” she asked in return. A look of satisfaction came upon Millie’s face.

“No reason, just wondering.” she led the girl upstairs. “I have a few things to tell you, girl. Tell no one of what was down there, tell no one your story, or your mother’s name. The only people you should even think of staying with are the gypsies.”

“Why?” asked Rain.

“The gypsies believe in the queen, but do not disdain those who do not. They are people who will help only if they feel it will benefit themselves, and do not believe in killing each other. Just trust them, Rain. It’s for your own good.” she said patting her back and setting her off unhappily. Millie shut the door quietly looking outside.

Rain walked for a little while, her spirits much improved. She walked and walked, her eyes closed and her hair flowing in the wind, turning her hair into little wisps. The cool, sharp air went into her face like a welcoming touch, and the sun shone like a fire, crackling and giving a warm feeling, yet totally safe. Rain held her eyes closed, not realizing the time passing. While her eyes were closed she passed many houses, and it became to get darker, but one cannot see these things with their eyes closed.

There was a sudden splash under Rain’s feet and her eyes snapped open. She felt herself slipping and sliding, and she was yelling and screaming like a lunatic trying to keep her balance. She didn’t even know where she was, all she knew was there was water on her toes and wind ramming into her face like a bunch of icy needles. Then she slipped, plunging into icy cold water, her screams muffled. She flailed her arms franticly, but Rain didn’t know how to swim. She had never lived near a pond or river, so she had never learned, and at the point in her life when she could have been saved by that small trait, she didn’t know how. Rain felt her body go limp, being turned over by the waves, pulling her down the river. Her lungs were screaming for oxygen, but Rain didn’t know how to get any, she was just falling, falling. The river then became faster and faster and slipped to two turnoffs, one was calm, peaceful water. The other was a raging waterfall.

Rain had no control over the situation, and soon found herself slipping over the edge of the river, being beaten like a dead dog. By this time Rain’s body had gone into auto mode, she had fainted. Then she fell into the water at the bottom of the falls. As she fell into the water her hair sprayed up and the pure impact hurt like a bomb going off. But Rain was only half alive.

She did not feel pain, nor happiness at the ride being over, she could only see the black of that around her in the surreal world of her mind.

Rain lay on the soft grass and opened her eyes. She got up slowly as though time was going at merely a quarter of the speed. She was in a beautiful forest, with lush grass covering every inch of ground and bamboo and trees sprouting up everywhere. There were exotic flowers of all shapes and sizes blooming everywhere. Off trees, bushes and from the ground. It was like she had just walked into a jungle paradise.

Rain reached for a flower petal, but she couldn’t feel it’s silky smoothness. Rain was instantly alarmed, she should be able to feel it! A scary thought entered her mind, was she dead? She pushed the thought away like a nasty bug. It was not possible, she could not be dead. She shook her head thinking of her mother and how horribly upset she would be if she found out. Then she remembered, her mother had thrown her out. How could she have forgotten? It had been so many years since then, almost a millennia in her mind. All she wanted to do was sleep, sleep and forget her worries and wonders. She wouldn’t. As much as her body ached for it she found she could not. If she wasn’t dead now, that would certainly kill her! Her mind was in a state where it could not even see the slightest bit of logic in anything. She ran to the nearest tree and hugged it as hard as she could. “Please keep me awake, please keep me awake!” she muttered as though this would keep her alive.

“Do you think she’s okay?” heard Rain.

“I don’t know! Why are you asking me, Hannah! You’re the nurse!” said another voice joking. There was a playful slap and the man yelled “Ow!”

“George, you and your silly antics.” said Hannah. She sighed quietly. “You know, I’m really worried about the kid. She looks as though she’s been beaten pretty badly. I don’t think she’d be able to walk for months!” Rain’s mind was screaming, months? She would surely get caught if it took so long to get better! She wanted to open her eyes and prove to them that she could get up, that she was alright, and that she could leave.

“After the amount of time that’s passed since we found her, I wouldn’t even think she’s alive.” said George.

“Five days isn’t that long a time in the medical world, but she has survived for that long.” she said gently. There was a rustle of something, hair presumably.

“Still a long time to be unconscious.” Rain’s mind was racing. She had been unconscious for five days!?!? What if someone came to the door right now? Unthinkingly, Rain tried to get up. A sudden pain shot up through her back and she couldn’t move.

“She’s awake!” cried Hannah joyfully. “George, get a hot cloth and cook up some broth.” ordered Hannah. Rain could hear George walk away to do as his wife asked. “Try and open your eyes.” whispered Hannah soothingly. Rain struggled to do as she said.

Bright light forced it’s way into her eyes and she winced and struggled to keep them open. When her eyes finally adjusted to the light, she saw Hannah. Hannah was a small woman, but looked extremely strong. She had dark brown hair and dark friendly blue eyes. She had short eyelashes and a confidant posture. Hannah looked very young, and yet she was more mature than Rain thought she could ever be. She was one of those people who were older than their years, and yet so much younger at the same time.

“George! Hurry up!” she yelled, hurting Rain’s ears. Rain winced unhappily, she sure had a loud voice when she wanted it to be. An extremely tall man hurried into the room. He, unlike his wife was tall and muscular, wherein Hannah was small and wiry, he had a red beard and a playful smile that danced across his lips and eyes. Rain liked him the instant she saw him.

“Hullo. Pleased to meet you. My name’s George, and yours is…” he said with the same playful voice she had heard earlier.

“Rain.” she croaked in a voice very unlike her own. Hannah clucked to herself as she placed the hot cloth on Rain’s forehead.

“Poor girl almost has laryngitis. You’d better not talk, missy.” she said as she checked Rain’s temperature.

“Yes ma’am.” said Rain, croaking. Hannah clucked again.

“Shush now, I don’t want you hurting your throat any more.” she said as she got out a stick-like thing. “Say ah!” she said putting the stick in her mouth.

“Ah!” said Rain slightly alarmed. What was she doing? It felt as though she were going to stick it down her throat.

Hannah must have seen her alarmed look, because she said something about her not sticking anything down anyone’s throat, but Rain wasn’t really listening. Her mind was wandering, thinking about where she had been before she had woken up. It had seemed so real, and yet, it wasn’t. True, but not. It was a mystery to her, so far away from reality, but it seemed like it was real. Almost as though it was her reality.

As soon as Hannah finished checking her up she was given the chicken soup which tasted like a delicacy, especially after all of her mother’s horrible meals. Sure, Bronan had made food that tasted slightly better but not by much. Hannah, on the other hand was an excellent cook. Rain wasn’t sure why but the couple had a deeply comforting feel. They were so calm and it was obvious they loved each other very much.