The guards never left Scarlet alone. The only time they did leave the room was when she threatened them when she had to change back into her clothes. Scarlet threw the ball gown on the vanity and let her hair down, the red surrounding her face. She looked at herself in the mirror. Only an hour ago she looked beautiful, like a real princess. But it crashed and she was treated like a murderer.

  She took a deep breath. Her mother was going to die if she didn’t get that mirror to prove her innocence. But Aurora, she didn’t know if she would survive or how long. Scarlet knew she couldn’t help her any more than the doctors attending her, but she wanted to help her.

  Alistair burst through the doors.

  Scarlet threw her arms around herself, “I could have been changing!”

  “I’m sure there’s not much to see anyway,” Alistair smirked.

  Scarlet felt her face heat up. She certainly did have a lot to show, but she wasn’t going to prove that to him.

  “Time is of the essence, we leave now.”

  Scarlet took a deep breath and exited the room. As she was escorted down the corridors with guards on all sides, she felt all eyes on her. Even though she wasn’t chained, she felt like a prisoner. Was this how her mother felt when she was forced out of the castle?

  Two horses awaited their arrival at the castle gate. Alistair boarded a chestnut-colored horse with ease. Scarlet eyed the large black stallion. She had never ridden a horse before. She would never admit it, but they were intimidating.

  “Let’s go,” Alistair said, already turning his horse toward the gate.

  Scarlet took a breath and hoisted herself onto the horse. She took the reins but was tense. She had no idea what she was doing.

  Alistair led the ways out of the gates and onto the dirt path that led out of Wonderland, toward Winterland.

***

After what seemed like hours, Scarlet’s behind was getting sore. She shifted ever so slightly, trying not to alert the horse.

  Alistair had been leading her the whole time. He would look back occasionally to make sure she was still following him, which she replied to with a sneer each time. They hadn’t said one word to each other since leaving the castle. Now they were into the thickness of the forest. It would be weeks before they got to the Winterland castle at the pace they were going at. Scarlet was not looking forward to keeping company with the uptight knight.

  “Isn’t there a faster way to get there?” Scarlet huffed.

  Alistair rolled his eyes, growling back at her, “Unless you know someone who can magically teleport us, no.”

  Scarlet rolled her own eyes back and shifted in her seat. She moved too far to the left and suddenly felt herself falling. Pain coursed through her back when she hit the ground. She groaned in pain. Before she could even sit up, the end of a blade was pointed at her throat.

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  Alistair’s cold blue eyes stared down at her threateningly, sunlight glaring off his sword.

  “I dare you to make a move.”

  Scarlet could feel the blade closer on her throat as she swallowed. She could see herself reflected in his eyes. She looked defenseless. She didn’t like it.

  Scarlet kicked her leg up, hitting in him in the knee. The shock from her fighting back was enough for her to roll out of his range. As she was standing up he swung at her. She jumped to the right, feeling a slice on her arm. She had no time to pay attention to the wound on her arm as he came back at her. She narrowly dodged again. He was faster than any opponent she had ever faced before. Of course she had never faced off with a knight guard before. It was usually just with drunks.

  He slammed into her side with his shoulder, pushing her back. She stumbled, but dug her left heel into the ground and kicked her right leg around. Alistair’s left arm was used as a shield, taking the impact. He stood his ground and pushed back. She punched but he grabbed her arm and twisted it around. She grimaced in pain as he forced her down, his blade back at her throat.

  “Go ahead,” She smirked, “Kill me. I know you want to.”

  She could see he was actually considering it as their eyes connected.

  She watched his Adam’s apple as he swallowed.

  To her surprise, he let her go.

  “Don’t try to escape again,” Alistair said. He gestured at her horse with his sword, “Get on.”

  Scarlet brushed the dirt off her pants and did as he said. Once she was back on the horse, they were back on their way. She stared at the back of Alistair’s blonde head.

  “Just so you know, I wasn’t trying to escape. And I could have killed you if I wanted to.”

 ***

The sun was starting to set, beautiful pink and purple streaking the sky. Alistair came to a sudden stop, Scarlet almost running into him. She pulled back on the reins, thankful she was able to stop the horse.

  “Why are we stopping?” She asked as Alistair slid off his horse and started taking supplies off the back.

  “It’s getting dark. We need to set up camp.”

  Scarlet frowned. She didn’t like the idea of stopping and being forced to sleep on the ground, but she had no choice. She looked down at the ground, trying to figure out the best way to get off the horse without Alistair thinking she was somehow escaping again. Thankfully, she was able to get off the horse without Alistair noticing her almost tripping.

  Alistair gathered wood nearby to make a fire. He piled everything up in the center of their makeshift campsite while Scarlet tried to figure out how to make bedding from large leaves, hay, and the few blankets they had left the castle with.

  She watched as Alistair struggled to get a fire started. She snickered, inciting an annoyed huff from him.

  “If you think you can do it any better you do it!”

  Scarlet waved her hand at the pile of wood. It immediately burst into flames. Alistair barely had time to jump back unscathed.

  Shock turned into annoyance as Alistair shuffled off the ground. She could see that he was just realizing he had no idea what she could really do.

  Alistair gestured at the fire with his chin, “How did you do that?”

  Scarlet shrugged, “Magic. It’s natural.”

  Alistair slowly nodded, “So… what else can you do?”

  She wondered if he was actually interested or was trying to figure out how big of a threat she was. Seeing how his hand gripped the sword attached to his side, she figured it was the latter.

  “I specialize in fire magic,” Scarlet said, “That’s what Mom is naturally gifted with as well.”

  After a few tension-filled minutes, Alistair decided to sit down on the other side of the fire. Scarlet sat down as well and stared into the flames.

  When it was completely dark outside, they ate a little food and settled in for the night. Scarlet stared at the fire as she lay on her uncomfortable forest floor bed. She just wanted to get the whole trip over with.

  As she fell asleep looking at the fire, she thought she saw her mother watching her from the flames.