When I woke this morning my only worry had been an arranged marriage. Mere hours ago this had seemed like the greatest tragedy. Marrying a prince, ruling over our united kingdoms, being waited on at my every turn. For weeks I had been scared of becoming a bored wife in an unhappy marriage yet tonight I sit, drenched in innocent blood, in a nightmare so dark I couldn't have imagined it in my most wicked dreams.
I hardly think as I lift Danika's limp body off the floor. The only sounds I'm able to make are scared whimpers mixed with desperate apologies as I cradle the little girl closer to my chest. My feet slip on the blood coated tiles, slowing my escape, but I am desperate to make it out. If not for my own sake for Dani's, for I refuse to leave her frail body in this dreadful mausoleum. She has already lost her life, I will not let her death be void of her youthful innocence I had so adored.
Guards try their hardest to keep my path clear, half of them are slain in their distressed attempts to save their princess. One of the fallen knights had dandled me on his knees when I was but a babe, another had only pledged his allegiance mere days ago, both lives lost forever and what for? So their cowardice princess can run away and hide? I feel disgusted by myself. A few hours ago Iliyana had been so convinced of my courage. Yet here I am fleeing, leaving all these people - my people - behind. The weight of my guilt feels heavier than the corpse in my arms but I don't slow my pace. After what feels like an eternity I make it outside. Piercing screams haunt my every step as I cross the courtyard. I know I am being followed, I can feel arrows whizzing past me but I don't dare turn around, afraid it might slow me down enough for them to catch me. I venture into the woods, praying to any deity that will listen I'll be able to shake them, or whatever creature is chasing me will get bored and leave. Whichever one of the two it is I soon find myself alone in the dark forest. In my flight I have gotten disoriented, though I know I have to be close to Rosemary's cottage as I can smell her ointments in the cool night's air.
As if on cue Giselle's laughter breaks the eerie silence as the two of them exit the home. I stumble my way to the sounds. Sharp branches nip at my skin as I make my way through. Their faces look almost angelic in the soft candlelight seeping through the open door, a striking contrast to my own appearance. Their laughter abruptly stops, replaced by horrified gasps as their eyes focus on me. 

"Is that?" Giselle starts, but her throat closes up before she can finish her sentence.

"Oh sweet merciful gods." Rosemary exclaims. For the first time tonight my panic subsides to anger. I feel like a dam that broke, releasing all my rage like a furious river longing to flow.

"Merciful? What mercy? The gods are the evil in this world, and tonight they have defiled us with their wicked spawn."

"What? What on earth happened?" She pleads. Maybe it is honest suspicion, or maybe I am just looking for someone to blame, but as I look at Rosemary's petrified expression I reach my breaking point.

"Yes it's oddly convenient is it not?"

"Niya, Dani needs help! We need to get out-" Rosemary tries to reach for the little girl in my arms but I step back, my eyes burning into hers.

"Tell me, how is it that you two just so happened to sneak out only minutes before everyone in that ballroom was slaughtered?"

"Slaughtered? There's no one left?" Giselle cries, her hand flies up in a feeble attempt to quieten her sobs.

"Niya you can't possibly think we had anything to do with it!"

"They can't have gotten in on their own. Perhaps we were wrong to let you live, perhaps you are just as wicked as the rest of your vile blood." My words are laced with venom. As I glare at Rosie, the girl I have called my friend for all these years, I can't imagine her doing anything like this. I want to trust her, apologise, but I find myself at a point of no return.

"Riniya-" She starts to plead, but I can't bear to let her finish.

"Don't follow me." Is all I say as I turn my back on them, fleeing back into the dark forest.

I run until I can't hear their voices anymore. My legs ache, I know I can't carry Dani for much longer. With great difficulty I will myself to keep moving. I stumble my way into a clearing, a meadow I had always loved so much. Rosie, Giselle, Iliyana, Dani. The five of us would stay here for hours. In autumn we would jump in golden heaps of fallen leaves. In winter we would play in the snow, our laughter warm enough to heat our frozen cheeks. In spring we would make gorgeous bouquets and braid wild flowers in each other's hair. In summer we would have picnics every day, listening to the birds' happy songs.

Tonight, as I walk into the middle of the meadow, the birds don't sing. Everything is silent except for my own haggard breaths. The flowers droop down, as if they too feel the sadness of the night. My heart longs for those sweet days when we would gossip and sing songs about great love affairs. All those glorious memories, now tainted with the ever-lurking shadow of death. I take a few more staggering steps before I stumble to my knees. The adrenaline has stopped coursing through my body and without it I am unable to carry sweet little Dani any further. As gently as I can I place her in the soft grass. My entire body shakes as I crawl around on the damp ground, collecting flowers as I go. Some of them I arrange around her head like a halo, braiding the smaller ones into her raven black hair. The other ones I use to cover her wounds. Lastly, I reach for my own head and with shaking hands I remove my tiara.

"You have always been my lovely little princess, Dani." I say as I place the thin, woven crown onto her head. My lips ghost over the cold skin of her forehead. "I will see you again one day."

The panic and adrenaline of the night's events subside, and for the first time tonight I cry. I weep until the sobs become so violent I can't breathe anymore and my body seems to have run out of tears. I weep for my father, my friends, everyone who had so eagerly awaited an engagement only to be met with gruesome violence. I weep for my kingdom, once glorious, now tainted with the deaths of hundreds. But most of all I weep for Rosemary and Giselle, my two oldest friends whom I know could never have done something like this. I trust them with my life, yet tonight I betrayed them both. I left them behind, with hardly any clue as to what is going on. New tears well up as I imagine all the things that could happen to them. I desperately want to go back but I know I can't. As far as I know I am the only one that got out, my kingdom has most likely been taken over by those wicked creatures. I can't fight this war alone and if I go back they will most likely kill me. If I can just make it to one of the neighboring kingdoms I can get help, I can raise an army and free my people from this horrible faith.

Giselle is smart and Rosemary is cunning, if anyone can make it out it's them. The thought lulls me to sleep as my eyes start to close, heavy from crying. I try to fight it but my body is too weak, desperate for rest. Soon I find myself drifting off into a fitful sleep, still holding on to Dani's stiff hand. My dreams are filled with nightmares, but none of them as gruesome as what I have seen tonight.

A/N soooo guess who kinda forgot about this whole thing for a couple of months. I like to say I upload regularly but in the end I am still the human embodiment of adhd and will probably either upload once every five months or 600 times a week. Anyway, don't forget to vote if you enjoyed it (maybe enjoyed is not the correct word but you get the idea)!