I wasn’t breathing in that moment. I never was. The grass brushed on my bare legs, making me shiver. My lungs didn’t seem to want to work. I didn’t turn purple. I seemed perfectly fine. Just a girl in shorts and a shirt walking along a path. The wet stones made my boots slide and I nearly fell multiple times. I grip my oat bar packet and the crumbs fall onto the earth. The birds will enjoy that. M...

I blink my eyes open, and become aware of the hard rocks underneath me. I turn my head and see that I am leaning against a tree. I am breathing quickly and shallowly. I don’t know how I got here. I remember running and falling. I don’t know what I was running from. I smell the fresh scent of pine and grass and…blood. My heart starts to race. I shouldn’t be here. I stand and sway. I realise I am mi...

The pine needles crunch softly under my feet as I slip through the woods towards the palace. My enemy’s rooms are on the higher levels of the palace. I slowly creep past the trees and inhale the earthy scent of the pine. I try to avoid the thoughts of him. Hawke. He is so cruel I can hardly think about him without choking. I am a Princess of the Rose family. He is a Prince of the Glass family. We...