“Lady Avery, may I help?” Quincy asked me as I dropped the armfull of clothes I was holding on the ground.

“I would be pleased.” I said, “And enough with this ‘Lady Avery’ business. You know you can just call me Avery.”

“I would absolutely love to. But the Queen would not be so thrilled if I disrespected you.” Quincy came over and gave me a kiss on the cheek. My heart fluttered.

“Quince, you know you’re not supposed to do that in public. I could get in trouble.”

“Why should your mom be so set on setting you up with a prince when a lady-fare is standing right in front of you?” I opened my mouth to say something, but my mother called me down to her throne room.

“I must go. Goodbye, Quincy.”

“Goodbye, my Lady Avery.” She said just to get on my nerves. I opened the door to my room and hurriedly sped to my mothers’ room. She was not a very patient woman.

“Avery, I have good news.” My mother said as I greeted her, “Your Father and I have found a wonderful suitor for you. His name is Sir. Marcus Farthingwood, and you are to marry him by next week’s end.”

“But, Mother, you know I have no intention of marrying a man… just yet!” I said, almost letting my safe secret out.

“Oh, but you have to be married before your birthday, you have to! It’s frowned upon to not get married before your 18th birthday, and I can not have that kind of stake on my reputation.”

           “But-“

           “Silence,” She interrupted rudely, “You will marry him soon. Be glad you didn’t marry him today, because it was the plan.”

“What?” I gasped, “Mother, how could you?”

“It’s for the best.” She started, but I turned around and rushed to the door. As I opened it, I saw the figure of a council member through my tears.

“My Lady, this is urgent.” He said to both me and my mother.

“Tell me.” Queen Amanda said as she rushed over.

“Your husband… I’m afraid he fell. He hit his head on the brick of the palace, he’s in the hospital right now.” My mother gasped, then ran out of the room. I tried to follow her, but in the ridiculous dress she gave me, I couldn’t get very far. When I finally approached the curtain that held my father, my breath staggered. I quietly listened to my mothers’ sobs that I just noticed. Slowly, I pulled the curtain back. My mother was resting her head in her arms, on top of my father’s chest. He lay motionless, with a nurse standing over him.

“How could you not have saved him?!” The Queen yelled at the nurse.

“My Lady, we did all we could. We tried to save him, but… but it was too late. And we were not prepared with the remedies for what caused this horrifying accident.” I let a silent tear fall onto my cheek. Then, I heard a siren. Marking the death of a person in power, it blared. Then, a sudden remembering hit me.

In our history, if our King or Queen died, the entire council would be executed, as well as volunteers from the Commoner side of town. Surely this tradition wouldn’t change this time. But the only problem with that is Quincy is on the council. My love.

Later, I informed Quincy on what was about to happen. She looked directly into my eyes.

“But I love you.” She whispered. I couldn’t hold it in anymore. I let the tears that had been built up fall.

“And I love you too. That is why we must find a way to put a stop to this. The townspeople are going to know about it soon enough, they always hold a banquet for everyone when a Royal dies.” Then we heard an announcement, playing over the speakers that had been implanted all over the city. It said to meet in the banquet hall for a feast.

“Well… you better get ready.” I said sadly to Quincy. She nodded solemnly. 

“I’ll see you in a little while.” She said, then walked out of the room. I prepared myself. Mother would not enjoy it if I showed up to the feast looking like I just rolled out of bed.

I sadly walked along with the winding patterns on the corridor walls. We had to come up with a plan to stop my beloved from getting murdered.

What if… what if we ran away? Surely we wouldn’t be missed, my Mother never loved me really. She’d rather do more important things like ordering maids around and yelling at the chefs than play with me, her only child. And Quincy’s parents are both dead, so it’s not like they care.

I pushed the plans out of my head so I didn’t expose myself at dinner. I wasn’t ready to explain the thoughts in my mind just yet. When I entered the banquet hall, there were people among people. How on Earth was I gonna find Quincy? But I didn’t need to worry, because she found me.

“I need to talk to you. Alone.” She said, and I was rushed into the bathroom. She locked the door, then turned to me.

“What’s up?” I asked.

“The execution is in three days. We don’t have any time to prepare.” I gaped at her.

“What?” I gasped, “I thought we had at least a few weeks to be ready!”

“I thought so, too. What are we gonna do?”

“Well, we could… run away. Think about it. Nobody will miss us. My Mother’s not that old, she can just have another child with someone to be the heir. Nobody will come looking for us. At least, I don’t think so.”

“But running away won’t work. We’re on an island. How are we supposed to get off? All of the boats at the dock are guarded by soldiers.” She said, her shoulders slumping. I put my hand under her chin to lift her head up.

“Don’t worry for now, okay? I’ll think of something. I won’t let them do this to you.” I said softly. Tears started swelling in her eyes.

“Oh, Avery.” She said, then folded herself into me. I rubbed her back as she sobbed. Then I got mad. There were 15 year olds on the council. They shouldn’t have to die, none of them. I closed my eyes.

“What if I begged my mother to cancel it, or do a more pleasant tradition.” I pondered.

“No, you can’t. You’d get in trouble. That mother of yours always knows when you’re up to something. She may suspect you like someone from the court, and that is forbidden.

“It’s worth a shot. I can’t let you out of my life.” I sighed, and so did Quincy. After a little bit of hugging, we pulled back up.

“You best be getting out there again. Your mother will be looking for you.” 

“You’re right.” I said, then marched out of the room. I went to go find the Queen to tell her what I told Quincy. I finally found her standing next to a bunch of people (I’m assuming they were relatives of my father) and talking. I made my way over to her, dodging the Commoners. Don’t get me wrong, I love my people, but I didn’t enjoy public gatherings all that much.

“Mother, I must talk with you.” I said, once I reached her. She glared at me.

“I’ll be right back.” She told the strangers, then took me by my arm to lead me outside of the room.

“I need to-”

“Will you stop embarrassing me?!” She hissed, “This is one of my only chances to find a suitor for myself so I can birth an heir to the throne, and you are messing it up!” She shrieked. I think that running away would be our best option.

“Mother, just let me speak. I don’t think it’s such a good idea to kill the whole council just because Father has passed. I mean, there are some kids my age, and even younger!” The evil Queen just sighed.

“Is that what you wanted to talk about? While I appreciate your concern, it’s not going to happen. The rules are already set, and the future Kings will look down upon me for doing so.”

“Could you, maybe, not let your ego get the best of you for once?” I shouted. She gasped. I saw the pain in her eyes, but very quickly it faded to anger.

“How could you say that!? Avery, go to your room, you will not be getting supper this evening!”

“So that’s your plan? To starve me? It’s a lot better way to go than being ignored!”

“GET.” She bellowed. I’ve pushed her over her limit. I walked past her, and I was at the stairs when I let my tears fall. My Quincy… we’re never safe.

***

“So what did your mom say?” Quincy asked me when she came into my room. I looked at her helplessly. 

“She won’t help me. She’s too worried about what other people will think of her.”

“What do we have left to try?” Quincy asked desperately.

“We could try to escape. I have a friend who works around the pier, I’m sure he’ll let us take a boat. And it’s not like Mother would miss me all too much.” I said, remembering our heated conversation earlier.

“I mean, if that’s all that we have left to resort to, it might be our only shot. I’ll start packing a food basket for us, you can handle all of the other things we need.”

After we gathered enough supplies, we ran out of the castle and through the town. We came to a little shack along the dock at the seashore. Suddenly, a figure stepped in between us and the gate that kept the boats away.

“Who are you? What do you want?” My friend asked.

“Bonn, it’s me! Lady Avery!” I said before he tackled me and Quincy to the ground.

“Lady Avery? What are you doing outside the castle at this hour? And why did you bring her?” Bonn pointed at Quincy.

“There’s no time to explain. We need a boat immediately.” I told him.

“I can’t just give them away!” He said, then held out his hand. I knew it would come to this, so I plopped a bag I grabbed that was filled with my Mothers’ treasure, “That’ll be all. You may take one.” Bonn said as he opened the gate. Me and Quincy quickly threw all of our things in the back of the boat, then hopped in ourselves.

“Have you ever steered a boat before?” She asked me.

“No. Have you?”

“Me neither. This isn’t going to work out the best.”

“It’s okay. Just keep paddling until we come across land.” I instructed. We both started paddling. By the time we were exhausted, we were not able to see our island anymore.

“This is kind of exciting. You, me, out here on our own, drifting a boat on the water, looking for a home.” 

“Relax. We can do fun stuff once we get someplace my Mother will never find us.

After a little while, fog slowly started coming across the water. We had to stop soon, otherwise we could get lost. 

“Uhh… Avery? Look behind us.” Quincy said.

“Which way is behind us?” I asked sarcastically. Quincy put her hands on my head and pointed it in the direction she was looking. Slowly, through the dense fog, a light appeared, but it wasn’t so bright.

“Do you think…?” I asked, too stunned to speak a full sentence. Quincy nodded.

“We have to paddle harder.” She said as the light grew. I dipped my oar into the water and quickly let it rise, then pushed it down again. Quincy followed my thinking and did the same. Then we heard horns blaring. I glanced out into the distance and saw it. It was a ship from our island, coming to find us. Soon, it was right next to us. Ladders were dropped, and guards dropped down onto our boat. I knew the last chance we had to escape was gone.

***

“Running away?! How dare you even THINK to betray me like this?!” My Mother shouted as me and Quincy kneeled in front of her. She knew better than to speak.

“Mother, I-” I started

“No! I don’t want to hear it! Imagine what the other people think of us now.” She interrupted. 

“What shall we do with her, Your Majesty?” One of the guards asked, nodding his head in Quincy’s direction.

“Throw her in the dungeon while I decide her punishment. And when you’re done with that, come back and throw Avery in there, too. But put her in a different cell.”

“Quincy!” I shouted, struggling to get to her. Then, her sight was gone, as she was carried down the stairs into the dungeon. Soon, the guards that took her away came back to get me. I struggled as much as I could, but it was no use. I wasn’t strong enough to overcome them. They threw me in a cell, locked it, and walked away, leaving the key hung on a loose nail. I glanced at the cell across from me and noticed Quincy’s brown hair.

“Quincy.” I whispered. She lifted her head up, and smiled when she recognized me, “Quincy, I’m going to get you out of here as soon as I can, trust me.”

“I don’t think that it’ll work this time. We’re not gonna be able to run away again, they’re going to be watching over us like a hawk.” She said.

“It’s okay. I just wish for you to be in my cell.” I said. She was about to speak, but the door to the dungeon opened. The Queen marched down the steps and stopped in front of my cage.

“Open it.” She said to the trail of guards behind her. They unlocked the door and grabbed me. Then they pushed me up the stairs. Queen Amanda walked in front of me, then she sat down on the throne. The guards brought me before her.

“You tell me what that whole running away business means right now.” My Mother said, walking over to me.

I looked her dead in the eyes, “No.”

“Fine. Have it your way. Guards! Fetch me Quincy.”

“NO! Don’t hurt her!” I shrieked, trying to get to the Queen. I slid my arms out of the rope that bound them together and dropped to my knees.

“Oh? Would you look at that?” She said

“Don’t hurt her, please. I’ll cooperate.” I said. The old woman cackled.

“She was chosen to be on the council. If the supporters don’t get her, I will. She has to die soon.”

“Don’t touch her.” I said. I looked over my shoulder and saw the guards dragging Quincy into the room. The Queen walked over to her and pushed her onto the ground. She then grabbed her, and carried her to a glass container. She pushed her in, then closed the door.

“You talk, Avery, and you may be able to see her again. If your mouth stays shut, however, she drowns.” My Mother said as she twisted a wheel, that let the container fill with water.

The water rose quickly as I looked at Quincy. Then, I caught her gaze.

“I’ll speak,” I said weakly, “Just let her go.”

“After you give me what I want.” Queen Amanda said,

“Fine. I… I love her.” I quickly said, “We were running away so we could live together.”

“Well, seeing as you told the truth so fast, you must really care for this one.” My Mother said as she twisted the wheel the other way. The water stopped coming out, which left the water level sitting at Quincy’s waist line. When the Queen opened the door, all of it splashed out, “But unfortunately, we cannot have that kind of marriage in the kingdom.” Then, she cuffed Quincy’s hands together and attached it to a chain that was hanging on the wall.

“What are you doing? I told you what you wanted.” I said, standing up.

“Like I said, we cannot allow that to manifest.” She said with a grin. She let Quincy hang there with her feet a mere few inches away from the ground.

“Let’s go.” The guard that was standing next to me said. When I didn’t move, both him and the Queen got frustrated.

“Move it, Avery. Or we’ll keep your beloved little Quincy there longer.” She said, as the guard pushed me. I walked unwillingly to the stairs that led to the dungeon. I was once again locked inside, but only this time, my Quince wasn’t there with me. Everything was quiet in the cell that I was placed in, so I could hear Quincy’s cries and pleads to be let go. No one listened to her, so I still had to hear her wails.

My heart ached for her. How was I supposed to get her out and save her while I’m still in this cage?

‘I must escape’ I thought to myself, ‘I could get out at sundown and we could hide in Bonn’s house’ 

Just then, the door to the dungeon opened. Two guards came walking over to check on me. One stood over me as I pretended to be knocked out. Then they both walked away. I listened to their footsteps on the hard, concrete floor. Then, I heard a different noise. Something had fallen, and it sounded metal. But none of them had realized something had dropped.

When they walked away, I picked my head up. I found out that what had fallen were the keys. I reached my hand out through the bars and grabbed them. Then, I unlocked the door to my cell.

I crept towards where she was kept. Her eyes were bloodshot and her wrists were red. I unlocked the cuffs from the chain and carefully set her down. Then, I took off her cuffs. She rubbed her hands.

“Thank you.” Quincy whispered.

“Don’t mention it. We can escape now.” I said. The throne room had windows in it, but it was a long jump to the ground. I walked over to a window and stepped on the windowsill. I peered outside to see a big stack of hay sitting in a cart.

“Do you trust me?” I asked.

“Of course. I love you, even.” She said. I grabbed her hand and jumped into the wagon. We barely missed the side, but my aim was true and we landed in the hay. I jumped out first, then as Quincy jumped, I caught her.

“Let’s go. We can hug when we get to safety.” I said. She nodded, then started running to Bonn’s house. I did the same.

***

We ran across the courtyard and under a foot bridge. I paused for a second to catch my breath. Quincy stopped running and came to sit next to me.

“How much farther can you run?” She asked.

“Not a lot, but I’ll keep trying.” I said, standing up.

“We just have to make it to Bonn’s house. Then you can take a break. We’re almost there.” She grabbed my hand to stand up. A few minutes later, we arrived at Bonn’s house. I knocked on the door as I panted.

“Hello?” Bonn's voice came from inside the cottage.