Bitter wind bit at Jieun's hands as she used the Jun prince's sheets to climb down the side of the high tower of Castle Hwipalam. She gripped the fabric tight, frequently uttering prayers to The Creator and her Four Winds. Glancing down, she could see she'd nearly reached the battlement walls. There would not be enough of her makeshift rope to reach the ground, but there was just enough to brave a desperate jump. The question was: was she desperate enough to make that leap.

The answer was a resounding 'yes'.

She didn't even bother to look up. That way led to a life a Jun Prince did not want and a future he could not bear. His Lord Father would never see reason, for he was raised to know he was right in his very bones. A man like that could never be convinced that his chosen path was wrong. It was right or he'd make it right. In the end, they meant the same. Escape was the only option. Prince Jun Kkachi had always dreamed of seeing the Switang borderlands and painting the fabled vistas. Jieun could do that. There were places within the kingdom where collectors hired artists on retainer to create masterpieces for them. She was no master, but her skills were good enough to make a living.

A great wind tossed Jieun like a ragdoll as if blown by The Creator herself. Only a death grip on the rope of linen and nimble feet allowed her to run along the wall. When the rope was at its limits, she was swung back in the direction she'd come. Swinging like a troubadour's pendulum, she frantically looked for a foothold that might help her arrest her momentum. Something caught her attention from the corner of her eye and she turned towards the sister tower to the prince's own.

To her surprise, someone else was also repelling down from that tower. Prince Kkachi would be concerned. What in the realm was going on? Jieun didn't have time. She needed to reach The Peach Forest and be long on her way before the prince's absence was noticed. She focused on finding her foothold and once she did, she stopped the dizzying swing. Once steady, Jieun continued down the tower as fast as she could.

She balanced precariously on a parapet crenel atop the battlements, thankful of the lessons in dance Prince Kkachi had endured in his youth. Steadying herself, she settled on heel and toe. Taking a lungful of crisp air, she peered backward at the forest floor below. It somehow seemed an even greater distance now than it did from the prince's window. Jieun knew that, if she misjudged the jump or landed wrong, she could break her leg or, worse, break her neck. Then the prince would still be married, but while being supported by his Lord Father's retainers.

He glanced in the direction of the other tower and caught sight of the stranger once more. They landed on the battlement proper and, without looking for signs of the sentries who would surely be there, yanked roughly at their own bed linen rope. The knots unraveled and most of the sheets were snatched by the wind.

"Clever," Jieun whispered. Neither she nor the prince had thought of that trick.

"Hey! Over there!" shouted a castle guard. "Intruder!" The sound of running boots on stone began before the words had fully left their lips.

"Curse of a windless night," she swore.

Before anyone could see her, Jieun skipped back and off the wall. Gripping what was left of the prince's sheets, she scurried down the wall. The sound of ringing alarms and rushing boots made her cringe with each step. Her quiet escape had been fouled by the stranger's timing. Jieun knew she couldn't be concerned with that. Focusing on her descent and The Creator's North Wind, she hoped she could at least reach the forest. Those last twenty feet of linen rope felt like a mile uphill.

Once she's reached the limit of the rope, Jieun looked down and judged she had a seventy foot drop to the grass. It was a risky leap, but she knew she could make it. Splitting her thoughts between the North and East Winds, she pulled on fire and air respectively. Sucking in a deep breath, she released her grip and simultaneously sent a line of flame up the linens. The fire raced up the side of the battlements and higher to the prince's tall tower, consuming all evidence of her climb.

She watched the flames for a moment, drawn to the fire of The North as it erased her lifeline. She knew the wood of the prince's bed frame was fire resistant, but accidents happened. With the ground rushing up to meet her, she couldn't be concerned about that. Before she hit the ground, Jieun imbued her lungs with the strength of the air from The East and exhaled sharply. A great gust arrested her fall, spinning with the updraft she sailed through the air to land on hands and feet in the grass. Above the alarms grew louder as the sentries searched for the stranger.

As of yet, no one had thrown up any cries for the missing prince. Jieun did not wait for that moment to come. Gathering the long hem of her tunic, Jieun dashed across the wide swath of low-cut grass between Castle Hwipalam and The Peach Forest. Panting as she crossed the treeline, she gave one fleeting look at Prince Jun Kkachi's window then set out to find her freedom.

This close to the castle the brush had been cut away so that invaders would have less cover. From a defender's point of view it was essential to the protection of the fortifications. For Jieun it meant she wouldn't be in the clear for another hundred yards. Despite the evening mist, there were members of the wall sentries with falcon blood who could see for more than a mile on a rainy day. That knowledge kept her legs pumping even when fatigue encouraged her to take a moment.

When she finally crashed through the brush, her legs betrayed her and she fell onto the dead leaves of the forest floor. Panting, she spared a glance for her sore fingers. Index and pinky had both turned gray, the cost of calling on the magic of The Winds. They were stiff as stone and throbbed with a full ache. After a good rest, life and color would return. She'd have to bear with it until then. She pushed herself off the ground and brushed dirt from her tunic.

Her goal was the city of Black Fox. There she could hide from her eventual pursuers while she planned her next move. The prince had heard his Lord Father say such things to his generals many times. A man lost in Black Fox is a man that will not be found. Hopefully that applied to a lady as well. At her best pace, the trip would still take at least two days. She had far to go.

Hurrying, but at a more manageable pace, Jieun continued deeper into the forest. The mist made it difficult to keep her bearings, but she knew that she was heading west as long as the castle was at her back. The trees in this part of the forest were slightly wider than a man with canopies that fanned out above twenty feet or more. Spiny spike bushes mingled with thick poisonous sting berry bushes to create winding mazes that would prick the unwary and sicken those who chose to eat the plentiful fruits of the forest. Royal gardeners spent the early spring ensuring that the two plants commingled.

The uninitiated wouldn't know about the secret markers indicating a path through the natural barrier, but Jieun knew the way. She was squeezing through one such narrow pass when a sickly purple light floated across her path. She froze, not daring to move and barely daring to breathe. A raw cough trailed behind the light though there would be no corporeal body tied to the sound.

A Lost One, the spirit of someone who suffered a traumatic death on a still night and was not whisked away by The Four Winds. They haunted the lands, prowling the site of their untimely deaths in hopes of exchanging their trauma for The Creator's mercy. The spirit coughed again, trying to gain the attention of a living victim. After a moment, it wandered deeper into the mist. Jieun released the breath she'd been holding and hurried along before the lost one doubled back.

Relieved to put the restless apparition behind her, Jieun was nearly startled senseless when she heard the shouts of castle guards growing closer. Heavy boots beat along one of the many dirt paths through The Peach Forest. Once more she picked up her pace, but after only a short time the shouting guards were upon her. Jieun ducked behind a patch of sting berries, hand on the small knife she hid in the folds of her tunic. She didn't intend to be returned to the castle without a fight.

The stranger burst out of the mist, sure strides carrying him past her hiding space. Skin dark like mahogany with light colored eyes, he had the distinct features of Ngun-Mwar. His tunic was the red of a castle courier and a thin shortsword hung in a scabbard on his hip. A trio of castle guards arrived, closing the distance between them. Dressed in royal livery, two drew similar shortswords, but the third drew and loaded a hand-crossbow.

Before Jieun could think better of it, she focused on the West Wind and blew out a gust that snatched the archer's uniform and tossed him into one of the swordsmen. The men cried out as they were swept into the swirling mist. The remaining guard charged and the stranger met him sword to sword. Ignoring the pain of her graying middle finger, Jieun resumed her flight from the castle before she made any more hasty decisions.

Running through the winding brush maze and down narrow dirt paths, she fled until her legs would carry her no further. With legs like led, she finally stumbled into the yawning root cave of an ancient peach tree. The forest had once been dominated by peach and water apple trees, a boon from The Creator that allowed the Jun Clans to flourish. The ravages of time had all but wiped out the bountiful harvest, but in its place the family found hunting and dyes. The few peach trees that still resided within the borders of the forest were giant specimens that dwarfed the plant life around it.

"Thank you for your shelter and your warmth, oh great one," Jieun whispered, as she patted the thick root wall of her shelter. "Creator, thank you for aiding a stupid prince..."

Jieun snuggled up close to the warm walls, out of sight of any curious passerby. Closing her eyes, she breathed deeply and fell fast asleep.

...

"Help me," Durumi whispered.

Jieun opened her eyes, desperate to see the prince's sister. All she found was dirt, dead leaves, and hundred year old roots. She wiped the sleep from wary eyes and went out into the morning light. The mist was gone, replaced by the greens, yellows, lilacs, and pinks of The Peach Forest. If the castle didn't know Prince Jun Kkachi was missing, they would shortly. She had to get moving, if she were going to reach Black Fox City before her pursuers. With a last fleeting look into the root cave, Jieun shook away her dreams of the prince's sister.

She stepped out of the shadow of the great tree and gasped. Slumped against the trunk of a red maple, slept the stranger from last night. His thin shortsword sat on his lap, his hand resting lightly on the hilt. Chin resting on his chest, his breaths came in slow steady rhythm. The cuts in the shoulder of his simple tunic were the only signs of the night's fighting. Jieun inched closer to get a better look at him. His rich brown skin seemed to capture the sunlight and convert it into golden highlights that made him radiant in aspect... almost surreal. His hair, tied in a topknot, were tendrils of reddish-brown dreadlocks. Jieun had never seen a native of Ngun-Mwar up close, but their handsome beauty was renowned. Jieun finally understood.

Dead leaves crunched underfoot and the stranger's eyes flew open, his fingers closed around the grip of his sword.

"If you come any closer, I will be forced to defend myself."

"I mean you no harm, I was just curious."

"Believe me, I am not worried about you harming me, sister. I know that the common women of Switang are not permitted to carry weapons."

"If you know I am unarmed, why do you threaten me?"

"I do not know you, and I find it hard to believe anyone is truly as harmless as they seem." His eyes studied Jieun and the man scoffed.

Jieun thought of the knife hidden within her tunic.

"Besides, that boar-poker up your sleeve will do nothing but anger me." He sighed and closed his eyes. "Just move along, sister. I would like a few more minutes of rest."

"I suggest you–"

A chilling chatter cut through her words and a figure lumbered out of the brush. With skin like tree bark, the figure was humanoid in aspect, but missing its head from the bridge of its nose up. From that grotesque stump grew a bristling bouquet of pink and gold flowers. More sprouted from its armpits and elbows. Purple teeth clacked together creating the chattering sound again, and it was answered. Three more of the creatures emerged from the forest, covered in flowers of various colors. They reached out with long purple claws, raking the air with murderous intent.