The rain was cold and relentless, icy droplets like frozen needles pelted Effie's skin until she was frozen and raw. She shivered, and drew her thin cloak tighter around herself, shielding her body from the cold wind that chilled her to the bone. Her legs were growing tired, exhausted from pushing through the road that had turned to sludge in the rain, but Effie ignored the discomfort, and kept moving.
The road that connected Evanore to Avantha was long, and cut straight through the heart of Moonshadow forest. Effie had never traversed the entire distance on foot before. Even on that night fifteen years ago when she and Anise escaped Avanthia during the Witch Hunt, they had stopped to rest, and heal at the cabin for many days before attempting a trek to Evanore.
Now the road before Effie seemed to stretch on forever on this seemingly endless night. She stumbled along, her muscles burning as she pushed forward, tripping occasionally over a loose rock here and there, or losing her footing on the slick, slippery mud. It felt like every step forward was a battle.
Overhead, the trees howled, their voices practically screaming through the wind as the storm grew stronger; voices that warned of a powerful, dark magic brewing nearby. Effie thought the warning was probably connected to the dark witch she had encountered earlier. Maybe this entire, unnatural, ominous storm was the dark witch's doing in the first place The idea wasn't that far fetched. Both the witch, and the storm seemed to have arrived in Evanore around the same time. She wondered if a dark witch could conjure a storm like this. Though she didn't know much about dark witches. Effie had only ever heard a few stories, but not many. Anise never spoke much about them, so Effie honestly had no idea what they were capable of.
As Effie pushed through the endless darkness of that long night, she began to wonder if morning would ever come; if Avanthia would ever appear over the horizon. Would Reign even still be alive once she reached the palace? No, she wouldn't think like that now. She just had to focus on getting there.
Effie couldn't say how long she had been walking by the time she'd finally reached the edge of the unrelenting storm. But as golden rays of early morning sun began to peek through the clouds, Effie was given a renewed fire of determination, sending her into a head-long sprint. She thought that if she was reaching the end of the storm then she shouldn't be that far from Avanthia. And to her indescribable relief, her calculations had been correct, for not long after she'd left the black clouds behind her, a cluster of brown, tiled roofs appeared in the distance ahead; her first glimpse of Avanthia.
'I'm coming, Prince Reign,' her heart called out. 'Just wait for me. Now it's my turn to really save your life!'
The townspeople of Avanthia watched in surprise and horror at the disheveled, mud-caked girl tearing through their streets as if she had wings on her heels. Her face was red and wind-chapped, her chest heaving and panting wildly for air. She looked like some scared, dirty, feral beast, and the people treated her like one at the mere sight of her. They all gasped, backing away in horror as she passed, which Effie thought made it all the easier for her to get to the palace in time. Not a single person stood in her way.
The palace's golden gates lay just up ahead, glittering in the sun like a beacon. And at the sight of the finish line, Effie's tired body began to give out. She stumbled; her knee buckled beneath her and her ankle rolled painfully. But she regained her composure without tumbling to the ground; without missing a step. She couldn't stop now. Not when she was so close.
"Let me in!" She called out to a pair guards standing at the gate, her throat dry and rasping. "Please! I must speak to the prince immediately!"
The guards barely had time to react as Effie practically slammed into the gate, grabbing onto its large, ornate bars for support. There, she held herself upright, gasping and panting, struggling to stand on her own, quivering legs.
"Halt!" One of the guards demanded. "Who goes there? State your business!"
"Please let me in," she begged. "I must see Prince Reign immediately."
"Why?" The guard demanded. "Why would I let a filthy vagabond anywhere near the royal family?"
"It's urgent. You have to believe me! Prince Reign's life is in danger!"
"Oh really? I think the only thing putting the prince's life in danger would be your fleas," the guard mocked.
Effie knew she looked like a mess, but this was just ridiculous. She'd just told the guard that the prince's life was in danger, and he was treating her like a joke. This wouldn't do. This wouldn't do at all. If the guards weren't going to help her, then she had to do it herself. But there was no other way into the palace grounds that she knew of. she knew if she could just make herself flexible enough she might be able to squeeze between the bars of the gate. But she'd have to do it fast enough before the guards could seize her.
Effie looked up, staring the guard down with fire in her eyes as she mentally prepared herself for what she was about to do. Then, when the guard least expected it, she made her move. Her skin burned as she shoved her head between the bars first, metal scraping along the surface of her cheek. Once her head was through, she began trying to work the rest of her slender body between the bars. Though slender and small as she was for her age, Effie still struggled. Maybe she'd made a mistake. She'd miscalculated. Her hips became lodged in the bars as the guards began screaming at her.
"Stop in the name of the law! You do not have permission to trespass on these premises!"
"I have to warn the prince!" Effie grunted, as the guards began pulling her roughly back through the bars. "His life is in danger and you two refuse to listen to me! Hey! Let go of me!"
"The punishment for attempting to break into the palace grounds is imprisonment," The guard said, holding her hands tightly behind her back once she had finally been freed from the gate. "You'll be spending a long time down there, urchin. Maybe your morning would have been better spent begging in the streets where you belong."
Effie bit her lip, working to quell the white-hot rage rising in her body. She couldn't go back down into the prison again, not when she had to warn Reign. Why was everything working against her? She hadn't come this far just to be thrown in prison to rot. So she began kicking. She kicked and kicked until her heel made contact with someone's knee. The guard holding her cried out and nearly dropped her.
"Why, you wench! You'll regret that!"
He raised his hand, and Effie flinched ever so slightly, but she refused to break eye contact while she waited for the blow to her face. A blow that never came, because just then, a voice echoed suddenly through the palace courtyard, causing the guard's hand to freeze in the air mid-swing.
"What is going on here!?" The voice demanded.
Effie started at the familiar voice of Reign, the white-haired, golden-eyed prince who had suddenly appeared on the other side of the gate.
"Your highness," the guards said, bowing their heads. "This vagabond was trying to break into the palace grounds, so we detained her."
Reign's gaze prodded Effie's bedraggled, wind-tousled appearance, and his eyes widened with recognition. Then they burned with anger.
"Vagabond?" The prince's voice suddenly grew icier than the storm that loomed over Evanore. "This woman is no vagabond. She's Euphemia Barlow, my personal healer and a welcomed guest here at the palace!"
"We- We didn't know your highness...." the guard sputtered. "We thought she was-"
"I'm not interested in excuses," Reign said coldly, his golden eyes piercing and terrifying as he unlocked the gate himself and stepped through it. "Unhand her this instant or I'll have both your hands cut off at the wrists."
"Y-yes, your highness," the guards bowed, and obediently let go of Effie's arms. And the instant he had done so, Effie realized she was too weak to stand on her own. Her knees completely gave out, and she buckled to the ground.
"Euphemia!" Reign cried, rushing over and kneeling before her. His gentle hands grasped each of her shoulders, and his eyes pried into hers with concern. "Are you alright? What happened to you?"
"I'll be fine," Effie replied quickly. "It's not me you should be worried about, but yourself."
"Nonsense," Reign said, helping Effie to her feet, and holding onto her waist to support her. "I'll worry about whomever I want. Come with me, I'll take you inside, and get you something thing to drink. You look positively parched."
"There's no time for all of that." Effie protested,trying to push him away form her. But Reign didn't let go. And when she realized how unstable her legs still were, she didn't try to reject his touch a second time.
"I'll hear whatever you have to say once you've come inside and allowed me to take care of you."
"You're a prince. You really shouldn't be doting over someone like me, you know."
"You really are the world's most stubborn woman," Reign sighed with a gentle smile. "Would you just listen to me for once?"
"Ah!" Effie inhaled sharply as Reign reached down suddenly and scooped her up into his arms.
"Hey! What do you think you're doing?! Put me down right now!" Effie demanded, pounding her fist against his back.
"I'm taking you inside," Reign said plainly, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"I- I can walk myself!" Effie objected, her cheeks flushing now at the realization that she was being held in a prince's arms.
"It's plain to see that you cannot. And even if you could, it seems to me that it would have taken some effort on my part to convince you to come with me anyway. So this is a much easier alternative, don't you agree?" An impishness was hiding behind his seemingly innocent smile.
Effie's face soured. Why did he have to make this so difficult?
"Fine," she acquiesced with much reluctance. "If I come with you, then you'll hear me out?"
"That's exactly it."
Reign's triumphant expression ruffled Effie's feathers.
"So you can put me down now!" She huffed.
"Not a chance."
Effie grumbled, dropping her shoulders in defeat. She was simply too tired to fight with him any longer. And Reign's arms were surprisingly comfortable as they cradled her aching body, his chest was warm, the fluttering beat of his heart so soothing... Wait, what was she thinking?! Effie shook her head, trying to quell such ridiculous thoughts.
As Reign began to carry her through the gate and into the palace grounds, he paused suddenly, and glanced over his shoulder, shooting an expression of warning at the guards who were standing awkwardly at their posts on either side of the entrance.
"Her name is Euphemia Barlow," Reign said sharply. "You and the rest of the palace guards would do yourselves well to memorize her name by heart. See to it that she is never turned away from the palace again."
"Yes, your highness."
And with that, Reign was gone, carrying Effie up the long, marbled walkway toward the palace.