Maxim. I had never met him, but I had heard much about him.
The secret is that he was my uncle. My dad had told me when I was seven. Only my dad and I know. He was the one who had killed my grandpa. He tried to take the kingdom, but with the help of the people, he became king and Maxim was banished. My father told me once that he felt like he had made a mistake for throwing him out.
"Why did you banish him" I asked
"When you kill a king, the punishment is death, but there were complications. He asked a witch for a spell. She made it so no man could hurt him in anyway."
"What about a girl daddy" I would ask
My father would laugh. He doesn't anymore.
We have set up camp not far from a river. Sayga had built a fire, then she set up a shelter of leaves and sticks, which Elodea was now sleeping in.
We were tired. Apparently That's what happens when Sayga decides to set up as far from the palace as possible. Apparently for Elodea, that was seven miles.
Elodea passed out after 6 miles. Sayga picked her up and carried her for another mile, until Elodea woke up, and started complaining again.
"Fine," she sighed "here is as good a place as any."
And so it was, because Sayga said. And she was in charge.
No one argues with a natural leader.
We were now sitting by the fire.
"What are we going to do, they have my dad!"
"And your mom and Winston's dad, and..." Sayga said
There was a minute of silence.
"And what?" Elodea asked in a small voice.
Sayga looked at us with a sad smile, and whispered "he has my world." Then she stood up and walked into the woods.
The others looked at me, and Anne said Atlas, you should go talk to her.
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I followed her into the woods, and watched her as she stopped next to the river, she took off her shoes and put her feet in the clear water.
I slowly walked up to her and sat night to her. She was looking at the stars, and she was shivering.
"You should come back and sit with us at the fire" I said calmly, but I was very worried that she wasn't going to come back.
She sighed. "I'll be there in a few minutes, I just need a minute, it's just been a little while since someone made me remember..." She trailed off.
You know, the others are looking to you for the answers. They want you to be their leader." I grabbed her hand. There was a flash from somewhere in the woods. She pulled it away.
"And you?" The question caught me off guard.
She was suddenly angry.
"It's not like you're a prince or anything, it's not like you were born to lead a kingdom." She was mocking me. I felt anger pulsing through me. I was furious.i drew my sword. Of what I knew of her she was quiet and simple. I didn't know why she had changed.
She continued to mock me and I shoved her to the ground.
And then I felt it. A hand on my arm. I looked down and nothing was there, I blinked. There was Elodea. And Winn, and Anne. And I was standing over Sayga. My sword raised.
