It was dark in the forest, and it got more difficult to see where she was heading. She stumbled once every few feet, on the root of oak trees protruding from the ground, on loose pebbles, and from slight unevenness of the forest floor. Everytime she fell, she got herself a new scratch on her palms, or her knees, but she dared not to stop. For every stop meant delay, and every second of delay meant she was closer to the gallows she'd try to avoid if she could help it. You couldn't prove your innocence if you die.

She was not sure how far it was before she reached the border between Tarsir and Burnedie. The only thing she knew was that the border was on the north side of this very forest. So if she kept running towards the north star, she would arrive there, eventually. And as soon as she walked across that border, she was practically untouchable by the imperial palace since there was a treaty between Tarsir and Burnedie.

If the valkyries didn't get to her first. She realized that by now, people would notice that she broke out of prison. She knew she had approximately 2 hours before the guards changed shifts, but those valkyries were fast. Give them horses, they could catch anything. including her. And that's why when she stumbled again, and her penitentiary gown was stuck on a branch, she stood right back up and tore her dress. Gray was never her color anyway.

Her legs were numb, not only from fatigue but also from the cold. It was a crisp summer night, but the closer she was to Burnedie, the colder it got. If she thought it was hard to run in the dark, it was even harder to run with toes she couldn't feel. But she ran anyway, it was not like she had any choice. A gust of wind blew some familiar scent. Was it a horse? No. Something else. Barlouqs, the winged horses of Tarsir. So the ones chasing her were not only valkyries, but also the royal imperial guards. Judging from how strong the smell was, she only had around 3 minutes before they catched up with her. Or 1, if she stood still like a stupid baboon.

Do you hate me so much, Louisa?

Princess Magdalena of Tarsir was weighing her choices now, between surrender or die trying to escape. Both of them would end up with her dead. So not much of a choice, really. But at least she could choose if she was going to die on the gallows or here in the forest, trying to defend her life, with the stars as witnesses.

Oh the stars, her second favorite thing next to Doumin. She always loved gazing at the stars. She loved lying on the grass next to Doumin, her fingers clasped on his. He would point to the sky and ask "Which one is that consternation, your highness?"

She would chuckle at his ignorance, but would never laugh at him. No, she would never do that because he was only a man-in-waiting, lower even than a consort-in-waiting. "It's a constellation, Dou. Not a consternation. And that one is The Big Bear. You can see the North Star there, which is supposed to be the head of the Bear."

Doumin would pout and stare at her full of admiration. "You are so smart, your highness. Sometimes I wonder why would you choose Dou to accompany you when you have many beautiful Lords with better education waiting to serve you."

She would then roll on her side so she could see Doumin more clearly so that she could count his freckles on his fair skin, and notice how contrasted it looked next to his flaming red hair that looked like an ember-colored maple leaves on autumn day. "I don't know. Maybe I don't like snotty little pampered lords to serve me. Maybe I'd rather have a beautiful man beside me than a man who runs their mouth trying to sound smart."

"So your highness thinks Doumin is beautiful?" he would ask her then, with his smile so divine that made the butterfly in her stomach flutter. "Like the star? I know you love stars, your highness."

"I don't know… Maybe… " Magdalena would tease him, and they would kiss. His soft lips brushing against her, taste sweet like figs and honey. Her hand would get between his burning hair and tousle it, which she enjoyed because it felt to her like she was handling fires.

Get a grip of yourself, Lena! Anyway, today was not the best day to recount the happy memory. If you could call that a happy memory. In the end, Doumin was just a man, and like many other men, their goals were similar: to seek protection, gold, and glory. And they do that by humping, what else could men do? Love? Tsh.. don't make me laugh.

The swishing of the wind became strong now, and Magdalena realized it was not a normal wind. It was wind from the swishing of the wings of Barlouqs. Barlouqs had no claws. They had hooves, so that meant they would need to land before they could capture her. And to land a Barlouq, you need a long path because Barlouqs would need to keep running a few hundred meters after they land before they could stop. So her best chance was to go off the path, between the trees. The denser the better, so those Barlouqs couldn't follow her. It would force the imperial guard to step down and chase her on foot which would buy her another 3 minutes.

Magdalena changed directions, which meant that she had to move away from the direction of the north star, but a bit of a detour was definitely preferable over being captured right away. She ducked under low branches. The trees and bushes were now so dense that she was sure not even a stag could pass her route unschated. Her gown became even more torn and ragged, her elbows were swollen from thorns, holly, and nettles. But she didn't stop. She couldn't stop.

Until, she saw that her route had ended. A river blocked the path in front of her. It was filled to the brim with heavy current and looked deep and cold. Meanwhile she heard those Barlouqs hooves against the soft ground of the forest floor. They had landed. Those guards must have descended and went on foot by now.

Princess, jump into the river!

Suddenly she heard a voice inside her head. A voice, maybe the product of hallucination and helplessness mixed together. Who, and how she didn't know. She turned her head left and right as she hoped to see who spoke, but she couldn't see anyone in her surroundings. There would be a better time to ask those questions if she ended up alive, she decided. Desperate situations called for desperate measures. And this was one of them.

Jump, Princess! Jump! Now!

She heard that same male voice again. Without delaying for one more second, she jumped into the river and let the currents take her away into the darkness. She shuddered when the icy water touched her skin and soaked her paper thin gown which resembled less than a rag now. She let herself be dragged by the current, maybe this time she could rest in peace.

The Big Bear is looking so bright right now, I am so lucky to be able to see that before I die.

Just when she closed her eyes, the same male voice popped again in her head.

You are safe now, your highness. We'll get you out of the water soon.

Welcome to Burnedie, Princess Magdalena of Tarsir.