I awoke in my small makeshift bed the next morning. “Good morning,” said Caleb. “You know, you talk in your sleep. It’d be entertaining if I wasn’t trying to sleep, Moron.”

My brain stopped working. What the heck was that? “My bad, retard, I can’t really control what I do in my sleep,” I replied, adding a small lick of acid in my tone.

“Like I said, you talk in your sleep. I trust you about the no control, too. You’re such an entertaining person. Ah, those comments will definitely come in handy.”

I stared at him. Was he teasing me? Oh, I would teach that man a lesson! Sure, he was over a foot taller than me, but that didn’t matter! Then it hit me. Worry. Stupid! What did you do this time? Ugh! Bad, bad girl, you don’t talk in your sleep! Oh crap, my conscience was treating me like a dog. It was bad when a person started hearing voices, but when the person started letting the voice offend them, that was where the line of insanity was crossed.

“What the heck did I say? It couldn’t have been that bad. Just tell me what I said.”

Caleb snickered at his ability to hold things over my head. What he didn’t know, though, was that I had ways with things that would take him years to figure out. Chills of the morning in Kindreths scratched at my arms and raised the thin, pale hairs. Then again, every part of me was pale, so the fact that I was cold didn’t really stand out. “Please, Caleb?” I begged. He ignored me. Again.

“Wanna start the fire?” he asked instead. “I’ll show you how, and I won’t let you burn anything down. I promise.” I tried to hold down the giggles. It was like he already knew that giving me something flammable would be a massive mistake. Eager, I nodded my head fiercely, completely forgetting about the sleep talking.

He took my hands and put them by the circle of rocks with twigs in the middle.

“Now, concentrate on fire, everything about it. Think about the warmth, the way it makes you feel. Let that fill you up, and instinct should take over after that.”

I did as I was told and felt the swell of energy. Once again, sparks spewed from my finger tips, and as they came, they fell on the dry wood under them, lighting the fire automatically. “Ha! I did it!” I exclaimed, dancing around. Woo, I actually used my powers to light a fire! I jumped up and down, giggling all the while. It seemed like such a simple task, lighting a fire, but to me, it was something magical now. Everything was going to be so different!

“Good job, Fel. That was the beginning of your training. Think the rest will be just as easy? Ha, you’ve got another thing coming. Just wait, you’ll hate me by the time it’s over.”

“And what if I already do?” I smiled a little bit.

He huffed. I won that argument and sniggered at his defeated expression. Of course, it was a complete lie. “Still, good job,” Caleb said. His voice betrayed him; the undeniable hint of disappointment rang in his tone.

After warming up the leftovers from the dinner from the previous night, we ate our equal share and packed up my makeshift bed. “We’re going to be running today,” said Caleb.

“You’re funny. I’m riding on your back. You’re running.” We packed and headed off towards Kindreths soon after our conversation.

Of course, after throwing me on my backside, Caleb sprinted away towards the opening of the field. If he expected me to be able to keep up with his monstrously rapid pace, he was crazy! No human—in my case, Zain –could possibly run that fast! Ignorant, I was, according to Caleb. “Just start running, Fel. You’re stronger than you think. Trust me, I was the same way,” he reassured me.

Unfortunately, my only option was to follow his orders. As much as I hated to listen, I had to be able to give up a little of my new found freedom to someone that could help me become a better Zain. I struggled to my feet and dusted my butt off; then, like he said, I began to jog. Caleb sped off in front of me, kicking up dirt and not caring that it got in my face. Wanting to strangle him, I could tell, was going to be an extremely common feeling.

After awhile, I caught up to Caleb who was at least a mile ahead of me. To my immense surprise, not one drop of sweat graced the pale skin of my forehead by the time I reached him. My lungs didn’t burn, and my heart didn’t ache; unluckily, he was right again. “See?” Caleb asked, smirking once again. “You’re fast. And that was without practice! Imagine how great you’ll be after training.” He patted me on my shoulder and started grinning from ear to ear. It was the smile I saw in the kitchen the day before and it sent shivers down my spine. I hoped he didn’t notice.

Unimaginable waves of happiness crashed into my chest. Was it possible to feel such a thing? Before, I would have told the person to stop living in their dream world; reality was a murderer. Now, only a few short days later, I didn’t know what reality was. A person didn’t always have to know what was real to be content. I joined Caleb in his merriment; growing into my powers was something to be proud of! “Can we keep going, Caleb?” I asked. “It’s fun! Why didn’t you tell me?” The cold whipped around me; my thin sleeves didn’t seem nearly enough now, and I shivered.

“Sure,” Caleb answered. He tugged me back by my shoulders and tossed his black coat over my head; it blinded me momentarily, but unable to resist the act of kindness, Caleb pulled it off and helped me slide my arms into the oversized sleeves. It swallowed my frame and would drag on the ground while we ran. Was it my fault he was freakishly tall? Uh, no. Despite the size 

being wrong, the coat was warm and smelled like Caleb; I liked it. We ran for what seemed like forever and I didn’t care if it didn’t end. Trees darted out of our way as we went. Finally, after a lifetime of sprinting and racing, we stopped inside a circle of great oaks.

The ground was covered in mossy, green grass. Caleb stopped in front of me and said, “I think we’ll make it to the palace in a few hours if we keep that pace up. Fun, isn’t it?” His entire being glowed in excitement; obviously, he loved the outdoors. “Do you want to rest for awhile?” I looked at the ground and back at him.

“It’s wet, Caleb.” I gave him a blank stare.

“Easy fix,” he said. “Watch and learn.” As he ordered, I watch as he bent down to the ground, placed both hands on the grass, and then lifted the water from the soil. My brain didn’t know what to make of his performance, but despite my halted thoughts, I knew what he did was amazing. The lifted water flew in front of him when he threw his arms forward; he plopped down on the now dry ground and patted a place next to him.

“Wow,” I said, “will I be able to do anything like that?” I got down next to him and put my hands behind my head to cushion it.

Caleb looked at me and said, “It all depends on your element. I have the water element, so, naturally, I can control weather, bodies, temperature, and stuff like that. Clearly, you’re a fire. The fire element was rare back when the Clan was alive. Your mom was a fire, too, wasn’t she? Eric was like me. I remember them, not too clearly, but I do.” I listened to what he was saying with curiosity. He was alive a few years before I was; of course he’d have memories of my parents. “Are you hungry, Fel?”

We sat on the ground and ate small pieces of bread together. It wasn’t a fancy meal or even very filling, but for some reason, it was nice to sit and talk like normal people. “How do 

you think things will be in Kindreths? What type of people will be there?” I asked. Caleb and I sat closer; he looked cold, I had his jacket, and I didn’t want him to freeze to death. Droplets of rain started falling from the leaves and splattering on the ground, but Caleb would force them away.

“I’m pretty sure everyone will love you. Hah, they’ll treat you like the princess you are, but are you looking forward to your training?” said Caleb. I thought for a second about my answer.

“Yeah, I’m looking forward to it. I’m just a bit nervous about the reasons for the training.”

Caleb put his giant, warm hand on my shoulder and shook me a little before saying, “Don’t worry about it yet, Fel. You’re stronger than you think.”

I waited for a few minutes and took a few more bites of bread. “Caleb… What’s your favorite color?” I wanted to keep the conversation going.

“I don’t have a favorite color. What about you?”

“My favorite color? Hmm, I’d have to say I really like dark red. Oh, and I love the color of the sunset.”

“Red? Really now, I’d expect pink or purple, more girlie colors.”

“I’m full of surprises. You gotta watch me, you know.” I poked him in the side a little, and he squirmed away. That was another thing I could use against him. He was ticklish!

“Do you like to read? What about music? How did you live on earth? Where did you live?” He was firing questions at me faster than I imagined possible. Where had all of this come from?

“I loved to read anything I could get my hands on. Usually it was newspaper articles, but where’s the fun in those? Oh, I lived in the middle of nowhere in Kansas.” I chose to leave out the details of how I lived in Kansas. He didn’t need to know all of the gruesome facts.

We sat in silence for a little while longer, and I nibbled on my bread a bit more. It was getting easier to be around this man; he didn’t judge like I thought he would. I stuffed what was left in my mouth, got up, and started walking around the little meadow. The trees were tempting, and I took the bait.

With a smile on my face, I jumped and grabbed a branch from the biggest Oak I could see and pulled myself up. Wind tugged at my hair and blew against my high cheek bones. I could practically feel my face pinking in the chilly, light air.

It was beautiful. This place was magical! Why was this planet so different than Earth? God surely had to have created Aarane! Only He could have made something as amazingly stunning. What was it that gave this place its sparkle? I stayed in the tree for a few more minutes before jumping down to the ground. Mud flew up and splashed my legs a little. I forgot about it being so stinking wet.

During my time in the old Oak, Caleb had packed up our food. After a few rude remarks, we started our journey again at a slight jog that eventually turned into an all out race.

After a few hours or so, houses started coming into sight. The trees thinned and the scent of fires and humans attacked me. It wasn’t a bad smell, not at all. Honestly, the aroma was comforting. “We’re almost home,” Caleb said with a genuine smile. His grin caused my heart to tremble and flip flop around in my chest. I almost stopped at what he said when it sank in. Home. We were almost home. It was something that wasn’t familiar to me. I could hear children laughing and playing the closer we got.

Huge wooden towers loomed over the trees. The men sitting at the top of their perch smiled down at us and waved. I doubt they could make out our faces but knew we were their friends. They probably had no idea I existed, but the men let us pass anyway.

Small stones started emerging from the ground, and the trees pulled back completely to reveal the largest town of the Rebels, which was only about ten miles long. I halted at the opening to the place I was to call home in worry and fear. It settled deep down in my stomach. Caleb stopped a few steps in front of me, realizing I wasn’t following. “Come on, Felicity,” he said to me, smiling again. It melted my heart, and I automatically grabbed his hand from his side. Again, he grinned at me and squeezed my hand in support.

Small houses lined the streets and women stood outside hanging laundry or watching her children play. Their husbands were probably away to work or gathering their food. The mothers and children stared in awe at us, for what reason, I didn’t know. I stopped a few times to stare back, but Caleb kept pulling me along and whispering, “Staring is rude, Felicity. They’re just curious, and they are your people so don’t take offense. All they want to do is get a glimpse at their princess.” The royalty thing was really getting old, but I listened like a good little girl, smiled occasionally to a passerby, and teetered along beside Caleb.

The wind played with my hair and threw the blond strands over my face. I brushed them back impatiently. A tiny girl with brilliant blue eyes and dark, straight, black locks stopped playing with her doll and scampered over to us. “Caleb, Caleb, is this Felicity?” she asked, stumbling a little on my name. “Hi, Ma’am, my name is Leah. You were right, sir, she is pretty!”

She scrambled up Caleb’s side like she did it a million times before and then yelled something about being too slow and needing to get to the castle. My mind was still racing from 

the fact that he had called me pretty before he even met me. The thought of it made my cheeks burn. I hid my flaming face with the sleeves of my borrowed jacket.

We walked along the cobble stone trails toward the humongous castle. It’d take me forever to memorize all of the rooms. Leah led us right up to the double oak doors and said, “See you later, Caleb! I’ll bake with Mommy tonight for you Miss Felicity. She works in the kitchen,” Leah told us. I smiled and said thank you to her before Caleb pressed on the doors. One flew open and the smell of baking bread filled the air. The ceiling was high, and the floors were marbled. Women and children bustled around the ballroom that the door opened into.

“The women take turns everyday with cooking for everyone. Some are teachers, too. We’re a family here. We all eat together, cook together, play, and learn. The men fish or take care of the fields. We do everything our selves. Your people are very efficient,” Caleb said, putting emphasis on the word “your.” My stomach jumped. “We’ll meet everyone at dinner, but right now, let’s find your room, Princess.” He smiled at me. Again, my stomach flipped out of control.

I clung to Caleb as we walked up the stairs to our right. The kitchen would have been straight ahead and bedrooms, his office, and more to our left according to Caleb. He led me up what felt like a million stairs, pointing out every little detail, until we finally stopped in front of a door. I looked out the window to my left. The fall would have been well over one hundred feet; we were in a tower. A name was carved into the door in a beautiful, curving manner. It was mine.

I pushed open the door, and what met my eyes blew me away. A massive canopy bed sat in the middle of the room, and heavy, golden-red curtains hung over the back wall of my room. The carpet was plush and soft on my feet, and I dove onto the bed. It swallowed my body; I 

giggled. Caleb ran and jumped on my bed, bouncing me up and down. We pushed each other around and laughed. Our game was fun until I fell off the bed.

I stood up and glared at him. His eyes were wide—innocent—and he took off out the door and down the stairs. I followed him, wanting my revenge. It wasn’t right to push someone off their bed and run! Caleb’s blurred form flew down the hundreds of stairs, and I sprinted after him. I tackled him when he was in sight, and we both rolled down the remaining stairs in a jumbled ball.

Our heads smacked against the marble floors with a loud crack. Nothing was broken, but man! It hurt! I rolled over and grasped my skull, giggling. “Revenge is sweet,” I said to Caleb. He turned over on his stomach like me and held the back of his head.

“Yeah, and you’re an idiot. Thanks for almost killing us.”

“You know it was fun! That wouldn’t have killed us, either. You know that. How often do you get to play around like that?” It was a rhetorical question.

“Not often, but you’re still an idiot.”

I smelled it before I saw it. Caleb moved his hand; blood was on it. I could imagine the quiet echo of my heart beat in his ears, and I shuddered. “I’m sorry,” I muttered. He looked at me, his face stone cold, and said, “Just be more careful. I’ll be back in a little bit; stay down here. You can go to the kitchen if you want, but please don’t start any fires.” He pulled his jacket off of me and shrugged it on. Obviously he was going outside.

Caleb was gone in a flash; only the slight stirring of the air confirmed that there had been movement. I did what I was told and walked out toward where the kids were playing. Their jump ropes and dolls and balls were scattered around the room. The ages of the children varied widely; some looked to be from four to six, some from ten to twelve, and others were in their teens.

I hadn’t noticed the other teenagers until now, so I went over to talk with them. Their stares were hard to ignore, and that made it so much harder to introduce myself. My clothes were messy, my hair the same. My shoes were caked in dry mud; I hadn’t noticed it before. Trying to buy myself a little time, I stepped outside, took off my shoes, and shook my hair out of its pony tail. I felt a tiny bit better about my image when I walked back over to the group. “Hi,” I said, smiling. They stared at me, mouths hanging open.

It was quiet for a few moments before they all bowed their heads and started introducing themselves one by one. There were four other girls and six boys. The first one to come up to me was another blond, but she was as least four inches taller than me. Being five foot five was decently tall, but the girl, Christina, was a little less than six feet in height. The girls said their names on queue. Obviously this Christina was their girl gang leader.

“Sabrina,” said the redhead stand right behind Christina. She was second in command.

“Allison.” That was the brunette. She was low in the group, but not the last.

“I’m Lisa,” the girl in the back said, her voice weak. This was the girl that I’d want to be friends with. I could see into her soul, and it wasn’t like the others.

Christina motioned to the girls to follow her. I wasn’t one of them, I would never be, and I did not want to. Christina, Sabrina, and Allison strutted passed me, but Lisa, she stayed sitting on the table. Their leader cleared her throat, and Lisa jumped up and scampered after them. Yes, she was the only one that had a heart.

After the scene with the other girls, I sat on the table they had been occupying and talked with the six boys that remained. They were sweet, well-mannered. Each one of them had shaggy hair that fell in their eyes if they moved too fast and wore pants similar to Caleb’s. Their names were Wesley or Wes, Nick, Jay, Nathan, Elick, and Cristopher.

Nothing was the same about them other than their hair and clothing. Their eyes and face each had a distinct look to them. I hadn’t realized it until now, but most of the people on Aarane looked the same. These guys, though, they all had their separate characteristics. All six of them jumped up on the tabled and started asking questions about earth. Not what it was like, though, what new bands there were, what was happening with the sports. I answered them without thinking about it at first, but then it hit me. They had been on earth, too; they weren’t born on Aarane.

“Where do you all come from? You weren’t born here, were you?” I asked suddenly. They grinned sheepishly. “We were wondering how long it’d take you to figure out. Yeah, we were born on earth. My mom brought me here when I was fifteen,” said Wes. It was painfully obvious that they weren’t born here… They continued to tell me their stories. Most of them were brought by their parents wanting to give them a healthier life. Cristopher was the only one that had simply been sent here. He lived with his uncle, but it didn’t seem quite right to me that his parents would do that; he assured me that it wasn’t cruelty. His parents wanted to stay, but he wanted to live here, so they let him.

My newest companions showed me the kitchen and took a little bit of food from the plates here and there; multiple mothers swatted at them with smiles and told them to wait. The atmosphere was overwhelmingly wonderful; the love consumed me, and I had to keep myself from staring at the scene. Then again, I had to make sure the women didn’t make a scene out of me coming into the kitchen. A few gawked at me while my newest friends led me through the gigantic room.

After awhile, I told the boys that I was going to go look around by myself. Off to the left of the kitchen door was an open, narrow hall way. There were hundreds of locked doors—

bedrooms—on either side of the hall. It split into either a left or right turn. To my left, there was a closet and a dead end. I twisted around and went to my right after that.

Quite a ways down, something in my chest pulled me to the side. There, blended in perfectly with the color of the wall, a door stood, untouched for what looked like years. There was no handle, simply a small hole. I put my finger in it, gripped the ledge inside of the crevice, and pulled. The door opened—nearly hitting me in the face—into an amazingly beautiful room. In the middle of the room, a huge, comfortable looking bed sat. Against the walls were bookshelves and picture frames covered in dust. Papers were scattered around the tables, pens set down from the writer as if he had just been there.

I ran my finger tips along the walls and shelves. A single picture caught my eye before anything else. My parents’ faces stared at me, smiling. Another picture was of them, my mother with a round belly. I stroked the glass covering the photograph, lingering at one of their team. Micah, Garron, my mom, and my dad stood together. This picture caught them all frozen in laughter. It was how I wanted to remember them all, happy. Tears rolled down my cheeks before I knew I was crying.

A sob shook my entire body, making me convulse. It was impossible to keep myself from breaking down. I made my way to the bed and collapsed on it. Silky pajamas still sat on the bed, laid out for the night. “Mom… Dad…,” I whispered. I missed them so much, and I only wanted their comforting hug. The worst part of finding this room—their room—was that it was like I had walked in on their daily life, as if they would walk in at any moment. Then and there, I made a promise to myself to never change the way it looked, never move a single paper.

When the tears slowed, I stood and leaned over the papers on the desks. My father had written to Garron. His letters were always returned unopened. It made me wonder. Did he know 

that Garron and Micah were murdered, too? Mother’s writing consisted of mainly medical records and poems and short stories. She was extraordinarily intelligent, and that made me proud. The pain was becoming easier to handle. I wiped my face to get rid of the red spots. As soon as I found my way back to one of the other main hallways, I heard women calling my name. How long had I been gone?

“I’m here!” I yelled. I could hear their pants and fast footsteps coming towards me. Three middle aged women with graying hair speed walked around the corner, grabbed my arms, and hauled me off to a bathroom that was a few halls away. I struggled at first; I could walk by myself, but obviously they didn’t care. Within minutes, despite my resisting, the women had me naked, in a tub, and scrubbing my hair. One of them scraped at the dirt under my fingers with a little more force than I thought necessary. It’s true I needed a bath, but wasn’t this a tad bit overboard?

“What—,” I tried to say before I was pushed under the water. “What on earth are you doing to me?” My words came out a lot louder and faster than I intended them, but at least I was able to get it out. As if I hadn’t said a word, the women kept working on me. I huffed and leaned back against the wall of the tub.

“Hello, can someone please tell me why I can’t bathe myself?” I asked. Patience was a virtue, but I didn’t—and would never—possess that quality. One of the women giggled and said, “You are a feisty one, aren’t you, Miss Felicity? Prince Caleb asked us to make sure you were ready for your introduction tonight. You mustn’t give your people a bad impression!” They all laughed loudly, and I sunk further down into the water. Dirt collected at the bottom of the tub; I stuck my toes in the muddy mess and played with it.

Suddenly, I was yanked from the tub; the abrupt movement made me yelp in surprise. A towel was thrown around my body half a second before I was shoved into a little wooden chair. “My clothes are upstairs,” I said, hoping that that was a good enough excuse to escape from their insane antics. Susanne, the oldest of the women, shook her head and clicked her tongue. She pointed to dress hanging on the other side of the room. “I still need to do my hair, though,” I said. I was desperate to break free of their grasps, but I wasn’t going anywhere with all three of them working on me like I was their personal Barbie.

I sat there in my towel and froze my butt off while they towel dried my hair. I closed my eyes once this process began, knowing full and well what would happen to my golden locks. Eternity passed before I opened my eyes to what was staring at me in the mirror. My hair hung over the open back of the dress and tickled the bare skin. My skin looked pale even against the white of the fabric, but my cheeks were pink with life, something I forgot so long ago. The vibrant color in my eyes seemed to shatter the mirror. The shoes on my feet covered the bottom and clung to the high arch; it didn’t even feel like they were on. They were like a second layer of skin.

Enormous bells echoed throughout the castle and startled me. The three women pushed me out of the door and all went their separate ways, telling me to go to the main hall. When I finally found my way back to the hall with the bedrooms, I knew where I needed to go. It was incredible at how fast I could get lost!

Men walked out of the rooms, rubbing their faces with towels. They all seemed young and fit and ready for anything. Each of them laughed, talked, and pushed at each other like brothers. Maybe they were. I looked odd—different—while walking next to them. The burly men stared down—literally—at me; they were huge and strong. To them, I was innocent, tiny, 

insignificant, but did they know what I could do? Did they know that I was a monster? Surely they did. It wasn’t something that one could miss around here. No one had the same features as me.

Although I was different, I never considered my oddities a good thing. It was horrid living with Jon and his ridicule. Ugly, he called me. Stupid. Cursed. Evil. When we all came back into the main hall, tables had been set up in the middle of the room, and I let the horrifying memories fade into curiosity. Hundreds of chairs sat at these tables, and people started to gather around. I searched the room for a familiar face; I felt so out of place. Suddenly, Caleb was at the head of the table, his voice booming over the crowd. Where had he come from?

“Welcome, ladies and gentlemen! Tonight I have an astonishing announcement to make! As most of you have realized, there is an extremely special guest with us here. Our king and queen died for us, and we live here today—in the ruins of our world—to stand beside their ghosts. We will avenge their murders together. I am no longer our only Zain. Here—joining us officially today—is our Princess Felicity, daughter of King Eric and Queen Laela!” Caleb yelled. A roar of applause followed his speech, and their heads turned around and around trying to spot me. Caleb was in front of me before I knew it. We were in front of the tables in less than a heartbeat.

“Here she is, my friends. This is our Felicity. Isn’t she beautiful? She hasn’t even completed the final stage of her transformation, and she is already absolutely stunning!” Caleb said. I looked down and blushed like crazy. Did he believe the things he was telling our people? “Looks won’t win our battles, though. Tomorrow, Felicity and I will begin her training to complete the transformation. That is—as you know—the final part, learning to control yourself. 

This girl—this one incredibly special person—is the only person to have an affinity for fire since Laela.” People—men, women, children, and teenagers—stared at me.

Suddenly, I wasn’t scared. If there was a reason to be, it eluded me. Instead of hiding from their hungry gazes, I slid off my glove and held my right arm out for them all to see. The Mark that was carved into the flesh was already a light red and as beautiful as ever. A few of the closest people sitting at the table reached out and touched the intricate lines. It surprised me at how much love was bottled in the room. Inside, I still felt ugly and like a beast, but they thought I was amazing and strong. Was it wrong to let them believe something that was so obviously false?

Once Caleb had us sit down and eat—I would never have been able to make them all sit for dinner—I stopped thinking negatively and concentrated on my surroundings, my people. The families sat together; mothers fed their small children, and the men laughed at a joke that one of them told. “Is dinner always like this?” I asked Caleb in a hushed tone. I didn’t want others to know how confused I was.

“Breakfast and dinner are like this every day. We start and end the day together.”

“Oh,” I said, “That’s a good way to do things.”

I brought the spoon to my mouth while I scanned the room again. From the head of the table I could see a few familiar faces. My fellow teens, unlike the families with small children, all sat at the end of the table, laughing and tossing pieces of their food at each other. They were normal and fun loving; was I not meant to have a happy life like them? Before I could think on the subject more, I started a conversation with Caleb.

“I met some other girls today,” I said. I took a bite out of my bread. Chew, chew, chew, gulp. “They seemed…different.” In my usage of the word, different meant rude. Extremely rude.

“Ah, you met Christina.”

“Yeah, what’s her problem? Just a bad day or is she always like that?” I couldn’t imagine how a person could be so cold all the time.

“She’s just spoiled. Her parents told her she was a princess, so she always thought that she would be. It was annoying… she went around telling people that she was our princess, that she was to be our queen.”

“Then I came along.” Caleb gave me a mischievous smirk.

“It serves her right for telling people she was going to marry me. She isn’t our princess; she isn’t you.”

I gulped down the rest of my soup and dove into my salad. Like usual, I pushed the carrots to the side. They were such nasty little orange things! The color itself is obnoxious, but they taste even worse! My cheeks were still flaming red, so when I lifted my head, I kept my eyes on the children. Every single one of them ate their vegetables, and I had mine pushed to the side. I was such a baby… When I looked back down at my plate, a tiny hand was reaching for the discarded carrots. It grabbed one, took it, and I heard a small munching sound.

“Amy! Don’t take her food!” a mother scolded. I picked the little girl up and sat her on my lap. Her hair was short, brown, and straight, and her big snowy eyes stared up at me. She was shocked and scared; I kissed her small forehead and gave her another carrot. Her mother watched us while I laid her daughter on my thighs. Amy fell back and dangled her head like a little girl would. She giggled as I tickled her and gave her hugs.

By the time we finished eating Amy had taken all of my carrots, given me a kiss, and ran back to her mother. One by one, the families filed into the kitchen, washed their own dishes, and went home. For a brief second, I wondered about their homes. Were they as pretty as mine or my 

parent’s rooms? They had to at least be comfortable. Caleb and I waved good-bye to the men, women, and children that lived in their own homes, and we let the children that lived with us here play and talk. The men that I had seen earlier stayed out with them and pushed the tables back again the walls.

“The boys will make sure the others get to bed. They love the kids,” Caleb said. I turned from the stair I was on and looked at the men playing with the little girls and boys. “Believe it or not, they’re only around seventeen. Most of them are, I mean. They were all orphaned by previous wars or accidents.” That’s what got me. I spun around again and stared at them. No way that they were only seventeen! Once I recovered from my shock, we continued up the stairs.

“You know that little girl, Amy? Where was her dad?”

“He was one of the ones lost in a hunting accident last year.” His voice was a tad bit softer.

“She must look a lot like him. She has his eyes, doesn’t she?” I remembered Amy’s light eyes and how beautiful they were.

“She’s blind.”

I stopped at the head of the stairs and stared back down at Caleb. Was Amy really blind?

“Why is she blind?”

“She was just born like that.” I waited a little bit, letting the thought settle; I couldn’t think of something else to say that wouldn’t sound stupid.

“Goodnight, Caleb,” I said while opening my bedroom door. I closed it behind me and went to the curtains.

The enormous window was overlooked by the clouded moon; the sight was amazing. I opened the door to the balcony and stepped out into the cool night air. It was dark and damp and very high up. I head a small click to my left and turned. Caleb had had the same idea. His 

balcony was quite a ways down, thirty feet maybe. I ducked down behind the wall and peeked at him through the holes. He laid flat on his back on the thick railing, hands behind his head; he stared at something in the sky.

What was he thinking? I let myself think on the subject a little bit. Perhaps he was planning a new battle plan or thinking about our wide-spread family. His face contorted in strange emotions that I thought he would never be able to feel, pain, guilt, fear. All too soon, his time “alone” on his balcony was becoming too private for me to watch. I squeezed my eyes shut and pushed away from the railing and went back inside of my room.

I slid my dress off my shoulders and tossed it onto a nearby chair. My shoes landed on the floor with a quiet thud. Pictures the last few days flickered through my mind. The reality mixed with my visions. The pillows on either side of my head acted as a barrier to any possible explosion; the things that rushed through my brain threatened to make it burst. I yawned. My vision blurred and again, as always, reality slipped away into a dream.