Turpin, Bahni: "There is no leaving. Sophia. Not for you. Not for me, not for anyone. We are going to the ball because it is the law. It is our only hope for making some kind of life without each other," I say. The thought makes my chest ache.

Erin straightens up, but casts her gaze to the ground. "It can be no other way."

I shake my head. "You don't mean that. If we run, if we try..." Laughter in the distance cuts my plea short. The guards are circling back. Erin ducks behind the tree, and I dive into the brush.

"You don't get to work in the palace if you don't know how to say yes and shut your mouth," says one of the guards, as he comes to a stop directly in front of my hiding spot. "If you don't have the stomach to do some of the things he's asking for, you're better off here with us."

"You're probably right," says another man.

Through the branches I see the tree Erin is hiding behind. The hem of her dress has caught on a rough patch of bark and is poking out.

The guard looks in her direction. "What's that?", he asks. He takes a step toward her, his hand on the hilt of his weapon. I kick against the bush. The entire thing shakes, causing a cascade of rust colored leaves to rain down on me.

"What was that?", one of the men asks. They turn their attention back to me.

I shut my eyes tight. "I'm dead." I think of Erin. "I hope she'll run, I hope she'll make it back. This is all my fault. I only wanted to see her, to try to convince her one last time that we should leave Leal once and for all. Now I'll never see her face again."

I glanced toward the treeline. "I could make a run for it, draw the attention of the guards away from her. I might be able to lose them in the woods, but even if I can't, Erin can get away." My body tenses, and I pull my skirt between my legs, tucking it in to my waistband and slipping off my shoes.

"There something in there," a guard says, now only an arm's length from me. The guards move closer, so close I can hear them breathing. I glanced past them. There's a flash of baby blue between the trees. Erin's made a run for it.

A clanking sound cuts through the air, metal on metal, a sword drawn from its scabbard. Over the rush of blood in my ears and the pounding of my heart, a horn blasts three blaring notes. "We've got a runner," a gruff voice says. I freeze.

"If I'm caught this far into the woods, the guards will make an example of me." I picture myself being paraded through the streets in shackles, maybe even stuffed into a cage in the center of town, where Leal's people are so often made to endure public humiliation as penance for stepping off the beaten path.

The men's voices and footsteps move away from me. I'm not the runner they are talking about. I haven't even started running yet. My heart crashes in my chest. "I hope they can't gain on Erin quickly enough."

The guards' voices trail off, and when they're far away from me, I tuck my shoes under my arm and run into the shadowy cover of the forest. Ducking behind a tree, I peer around the trunk, as several more guards gather. They've got an older woman with them, already bound at the wrists.

I breathe a sigh of relief, and immediately feel a searing stab of guilt. This woman is now at the mercy of the King's men. I turn and make a break for it. With my legs pumping and lungs burning, I think I hear the snap and snarl of hounds, though I can't be sure. I don't dare look back.

I trip and smash my knee on a rock, tearing the flesh. The pain is blinding, but I pull myself up and keep going until the trees start to thin.

At the path that leads back to the heart of town, I pause to catch my breath. Erin is nowhere to be found. She's safe. But this is Leal, no one is ever really safe.

Chapter two.