The King & His Queen✔

Chapter 23

Chapter 23: I'm Actually Going To Die Here

Adeline Mills

My face burned red. My eyes pierced with no intend to stop. My hands were curled and plastered into fists. I stomped my feet with no mercy and continued to scream random things. More anger over took me as I surveyed my scenery.

Green. Brown. Gray. All these colors I saw.

They weren't the colors of my castle.

I was in the middle of a bloody forest I recongized. I used to go arrow shooting there when my father and I would go camping. 3 days. It was exactly 3 days away from the castle, and I knew, I couldn't make it there in time. It was dangerous to stay in these woods alone, especially for a girl. This forest crawled with robbers, pirates, thieves, and just plain horrible people when it got dark.

And there I was, with no magic or a single object of defense.

I knew I was going to die.

~

"I, Adeline Robin Mills, leave all my valuable possessions, i.e gold, silver and my dear rubies to Merida of Dunbroch, who I know will care for them properly. I leave my tiaras and crowns to Emma Swan Jones, who will hopefully learn not to lose them. I leave the throne to Henry, who I know will make a great King for Oz...." I mumbled my death will as I continued trying to find my way out of this forest.

It was sunset time, and I wasn't even close to home. The sun was setting, dark awaited, and I was hungry.

That was my punishment. I could feel it. Pan wanted to see me suffer, I just knew it.

"I'm going to die here, I'm actually going to die here." I cursed to myself.

After what I assumed were hours, the sun disappeared behind the mountains. The dark began to sink in, the stars aligned with the moon, and nothing but terror filled me as I wondered the impossible and what could happen. I sat down on the dirt. And I felt as if I had no other choice than to place my head in my arms.

And I began to cry.

My wails of fear filled the misty, cold air. Salty, fat tears streamed down my face and fell to the dirt. I opened my eyes and looked at the moist spots on the ground. A patch of green grass appeared where my tear had dropped. It was the magic that ran through my veins. As I cried even harder, more tears fell, and more patches of green grass grew, along with a couple of pretty purple flowers.

Pretty, pretty, pretty.... It was at that moment that I found a new hatred for flowers. Always so pretty. Life wasn't pretty. And not everyone had a pretty attitude. Some are assholes and worthless people who obviously don't care about others.

And I, sadly, had ran into one recently who, for some crazy reason, wanted to see me just give up. I knew Pan wanted to see me weak.

Well I'm not weak. I'm the bloody daughter of the Wicked Witch of the West! I'm Adeline Fucking Mills.

"Chin up, Adeline! Wipe away your tears... the light is near..." I told myself. Just some words that my mum always told me when I cried.

I stood back up and began to walk again, sniffing every once in a while to avoid a runny nose.

"I swear I saw a girl..." I instantly stopped walking and my eyes widened in fear. Voices were near, I heard them. It sounded deep, rusty, unknown...

"A girl? You've gone mad." Another voice said. A clearer one, a younger one at that. Sounded like what Henry's voice would be when he turns 21.

"I swear it! It seemed like she had dark hair and was skinny..."

"It's dark and night time, everything will seem dark to you!" The second one protested. A grunt left the older one's mouth and I prayed to the stars above they wouldn't find me.

"Jay, can't we just set up camp?"

"But I-"

"Please! I'm tired. I just want to rest. Your... friends are still drunk and god, they are being annoying." The young one said again. A grunt was heard again and I slightly peeked around the large maple tree that I hid behind. Sure enough, a couple lanterns loomed around, giving off light, and many men, the youngest being maybe 17, drunk off their asses. And this is why I avoided this forest when I was alone.

"Fine Jack. You're lucky we need our strength to get back home tomorrow."

"Jill will be so worried."

I silently gasped when I realized who they were. It was the J siblings. Jay, Jack, and Jill. The kids who once went up a hill to fetch a pail of water when they were only nine or ten. The twins, Jack and Jill, fell down and broke their damn crown. How can anyone be so clumsy, I will never know, but I do know that I do not want to have a run-in with Jay, the eldest J sibling. He's a brut, a real one. I have never met any of them, but stories flew around. The twins, of course, were known for their stupidity to fall down a hill and Jay was known for his brutness, his harshness.

"Lads, why don't we take a breather."Jay announced. Groans of agreement were heard and moments later, smoke began to fill the air. I peeked again and saw a fire in the middle as they created a circle around it. Quilts and blankets were brought out and each man laid on one, if not, found a comfortable log.

"At dawn, we continue." Jay announced. I began to think of a plan to escape. If they catch me, god knows what they will do to me.

I decided staying behind the maple tree was not going to help me in any way, so I quietly began walking again. I just needed to get far enough so that they couldn't hear the crunches of the twigs and leaves.

"Did you hear that?" A voice rang as I stepped on a stiff twig, causing me to panic and speed through the forest grounds in an instant. Yells were heard behind me, an argument of whether I was an actual girl or just an animal. I guess they assumed I was just an animal because no one chased after me. I continued running for a good hour, until I finally drained away all my energy and had to take a breather. I looked around and noticed a very familiar sign.

A bow and arrow, carved into the bark of an oak tree. I smiled widely and mentally did a happy dance. It was my father's mark, indicating that I was exactly 2 days away from home now. I looked up at the tree and began climbing it. I climbed until I was on a sturdy branch and I settled myself on it. No food, no water, no shelter, no weapon, and no magic. My chances weren't looking great and in fact, I had never done something like that. I always depended on magic and for it to just be taken away was something I wasn't prepared for.

I looked up at the shining stars and hope filled my eyes once again. I didn't have much of a chance, but I did have hope.

And sometimes hope was the strongest thing a person can have left.

~

"Shit!" I screamed as I'm suddenly trapped in a rope net. It shot off the ground and hung in the air. And I was tangled between the ropes. With no knife to set me free. How lovely.

"Told you I saw a girl." I suddenly stopped my shuffling and fearfully looked down to the ground. I swore under my breath as my green eyes met blue ones.

Eyes that belonged to no other than Jay Hill.

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