"Who's that?" Raven asked, her voice low.

"The chief."

Raven studied the strange woman closely as they approached. Her eyes widened as she noticed Jack beside her, his wrists bound firmly together too.

The grass crunched below her boots as she trudged reluctantly after her captor, standing silently as he exchanged some brief words with the 'chief'. She didn't know how long it had been before she was finally bundled into the sleek carriage beside Jack and they set off at a solid trot.

The air was thick between them with silence as they bounced onwards, stopping only twice; to water and rest the horses. It proved impossible to gauge where they were in the windowless cart but one thing was for certain, they had traveled many, many miles and there was no indication of their journey finishing any time soon.

As they drove onwards, Raven fidgeted vainly with her wrist constraints. She twisted her hands this way and that, trying to force them out of the ropes. Her wrists were rubbed raw within the first hour, now little splotches of blood lined her calloused hands. She felt her eyes attempting to close as she continued to struggle with the coarse rope, she guessed it must be around midnight.

Glancing up at Jack's motionless body, she listened to his soft, rhythmic snoring for a moment before returning to her work. Her bones were weary with tiredness as she finally let her arms fall into her lap, her whole body threatening to give into the soft blanket of darkness.

***

A pale pink hue filled the evening sky, starkly illuminating the figure at the top of the building. The sweet smell of lavender floated down on the breeze to where Raven stood, gazing upwards. She stayed still, her feet not wanting to move. No; not able to move. Her mouth moved but no sound came out, her desperate calls muffled by–by 'her'. Whoever 'her' was. The woman above her felt so familiar yet so unfamiliar at the same time.

"Get out of my head!" Raven screamed in vain. The wind was beginning to pick up, blowing into a gale. 'Her' face leering from a distance, burning into her min-

"Raven? Raven!"

Raven almost leaped out of her skin, "Jack!" she gasped, sitting bolt upright. She blinked several times to clear the mist from her tired mind, gazing around the carriage once more.

"You were screaming in your sleep," Jack muttered, "but I think we're here now." 

A loud creak reverberated through the small cabin as the door was flung open, flooding the carriage with sunlight. Raven sighed a breath of relief as the guards finally led them out of the cramped space and onto the cobblestone road.

The buzz of chatter filled the air as she looked around the quaint little town. Each shop was piled high with anything that could be thought of; tottering stacks of old books, dead frogs, salamanders, and other strange amphibians. One even advertised 'pixie hair' though the authenticity would be questionable. Another appeared to sell hats of all kinds; including, according to the low hanging sign, noise canceling hats, hats that can let you fly, hats that can transform, and 'much, much, more.'

Though the shop Raven was most enticed by was a narrow little one, wedged between the hat store and a self-writing pen store. This one had no hats out the front, no toads, no pixie hair, nor anything else like that. The small area in front of the shop was completely bare. The only clue as to what was inside lay in the name on the rusted billboard; 'imaginings'.

Raven's eyes lit up with curiosity as she paced forwards. Her heartbeat sped up and she stiffened, pausing in her stride as a cold hand clamped onto her shoulder, a honey-sweet voice filling her ears. "Tsk, tsk, tsk, Raven," The lady sang, spinning Raven around so that their eyes locked. "Wrong direction, dear." She stepped daintily to the side to reveal a splendid castle looming up from behind the array of shops and houses. "This is where we're going."

Its stark, white walls and golden roofs cast a dazzling light in the early morning sun. It was beautiful but it seemed out of place in the tiny village in which they had arrived. Raven's eyes flitted back to the woman, avoiding her penetrating brown gaze.

"I'm Chief Elisabeth, but you can call me Liz." She winked one dark, almond-shaped eye and strode away, humming a cheerful tune under her breath.

Raven fought the urge to gag and trailed after her, falling into step beside Jack. A few uncomfortable moments passed as they began to near the castle before Raven finally broke the tense silence. "What do you think they want us for?"

Jack shrugged. Glancing away, he quickened his pace. Raven winced, letting him leave her behind. She knew it wasn't his fault, she'd been nothing but rude to him since they'd met.

But... she'd just lost everything she'd loved. Jack seemed, nice, but... who could she even trust in this strange world. She supposed it couldn't hurt to make a friend. She wanted someone to trust, but it didn't seem as though his willing anymore.

Raven blinked several times. Ignore the pain. Win the game.

Her mossy gaze was drawn up from her boots at the sound of the heavy castle gates sliding open. As she stepped into the courtyard a quiet gasp escaped her lips, it was even more magnificent than on the outside.

"Chief Elizabeth told me ta let ye know what's happening."

Raven glanced sideways to see a stocky guard moving into place beside her.

"You, Jack, and a couple of others have bin selected for yer skills. Yer to travel across the mainlands to the city of tides, an' from there yer s'pose ter figure out a way ter convince ol' timey not ter stop tickin'." The man let out a hearty chuckle, "good luck not gettin' killed. We're all dependin' on ya! Oh, an' Chief said ta tell you that you need ta get ready for the feast.

***

Raven couldn't think properly as she strode reluctantly through the many halls. She stayed still, her gaze low as the maids applied makeup and dressed her grandly in a breath constricting dress, ready for the ball.

She knew there was no point in resisting, she was vastly outnumbered, besides, she now knew she was destined to die either way, if that was even possible in the afterlife. She'd heard rumors before about Time's thoughts on resigning from the throne. He was old, and sick anyway, and with no heir, soon the hours would turn into minutes, and the minutes into seconds. Tick, tick, tick, and they're gone, no more left.

If Time could be convinced to rule just a little longer, perhaps. Just perhaps, a way could be found to stop the chaos. But many brave warriors had already attempted to find him and none had ever come back.

"You look so pretty!" Raven snapped out of her thoughts, her eyes darting upwards to land on a small girl. Her presence seemed to lighten the room as she stared at Raven with her big blue eyes, her freckled cheeks full of joy and her messy hair pulled up into pigtails.

"Uh- hello there," Raven began tentatively. "What is your name?"

"Oh, my name's Mirnalalia, and I already know your name of course!" The girl, maybe five or six, let out a cheerful giggle and dashed towards the room's elegant, silver door. "Bye Raven!" She called, and disappeared out of sight.

Raven allowed herself a small smile and went back to her own, wandering, thoughts. She sat in silence for a few moments longer, her ears absently straining for the sound of the maids returning, before jumping to her feet in boredom.

A light drizzle began to fall outside as she walked closer to the long, beautifully-made mirror resting against the floral wallpaper. As she slowly squared herself in front of it she felt her mood lift, just a little.

She was Raven Elmwood of Ebontaine.

She was Raven Elmwood, the warrior.

The best archer in her kingdom.

Fearless.

Brave.

Strong.

She would be that Raven. Whoever that Raven was. Whatever that would take. She would do it.

The room around her seemed somehow sharper now, more focused, more real. The Raven in the mirror stared back at her with a shining green gaze. Her pale blue dress flowed from her shoulders like a waterfall, the hem resting delicately upon the polished floorboards. The elaborate golden armbands felt cool against her skin, and the gleaming, leaf-shaped earrings hung gracefully from her pointed ears.

"The feast is starting!" A small voice stage-whispered though a gap in the door. 

Raven felt her face split into a nervous smile as she faced Mirnalalia. "I'm coming, I'm coming."

Hello again! I know, I know, I take about a dynasty to write like 1560 words.... but hey guess what! I'm doing NaNoWriMo [National Novel Writing Month]  this November! This means that I should be able to update more frequently because I'm going to try to spend an hour each day of solid writing! Only around nine days until the 1st of November, this is my first NaNoWriMo so I'm super excited!

See you soon!

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