The ceremony began the same as any other. Those aged fourteen were all in a line down the middle of a sprawling palace. Older children off to the left, younger ones to the right. Banners drape down, lapping at the ground from the vaulted cathedral ceiling, bearing a royal purple shade and a golden crest resembling some form of mythological creature. A dozen pillars extend the reach of the palace. 

The line shuffles forward in small, hushed steps as the king passes on his judgment. The children are individually sent to a chamber on either side of His Majesty. Some are escorted out the grand front door. No younger kids know what's behind the doors, and the older kids are forbidden from saying anything. Any who do are quickly reprimanded. 

17... 16... 15... I come closer and closer to being in front of Him. Glancing around, I see all the older kids standing like an army of statues, the color drained from their faces. 

9... 8...7… My heart is in my throat as I approach the front of the line, ready to live like the rumors I’ve heard around my district. Looking to my right, I see various expressions from the younger children. Some were curious, others shaking anxiously, and a few were excited. Most weren't even interested, ready to go back to playing in the street or being with their families.

5…4... 3... As I get closer, I can see better what is happening. The King's right-hand woman is placing a strange, glowing crown on the heads of each child. It seems like the King is listening to the crown or maybe seeing something...

The King grumbles almost too quietly to hear, "Not them" or "They'll work." The boy in front of me steps up, and the crown goes on. "No," the King's voice was much clearer now. 

The crown was quickly removed, and the boy was ushered to the door on the right. Screams echo through the hall for a moment as the door is opened and the boy is escorted in. A tingle runs up my spine, and I see the little kids nearest the door stiffen up. I'm next. I approach and look up at the king. Still, I can't discern any facial features because of the large stained glass windows behind him shining a beautiful mosaic of color onto the palace floor. I can see he is a large and built man. The light is glinting off his hair. His right-hand man places the crown on my head, and the silence grows even more deafening. The crown glows brighter, and I close my eyes in anticipation, but I don't hear anything. I slowly open one eye to see a shock on the King's servant's face. I have attended this ceremony every year since I was four and have not seen any of the King's staff show the slightest inkling of emotion. I glance over to the King, beginning to panic when he slowly begins to stand. This can't be good. I quickly close my eyes again, as hard as I can. Seconds go by, minutes. I can hear my heart beating out of my chest and my teeth grit hard enough that I fear they will shatter. It’s as if a lifetime has passed by. I open them again to the King standing directly in front of me. I feel his commanding presence encapsulating me, his anger crawling under my skin. He leans down, still towering above me, and utters a single word. 

"Out." 

His soft stern voice sent a chill up my spine. I stare blankly for a second, out? Which door do i go through? I look around and see some older kids are white as sheets. 

"Get OUT!" He shouts. Before I can turn back to the King, two servants grab me by my arms, and I'm lifted into the air. His voice boomed through the hall, causing every child present to stiffen up and hold their breath. I heard a few younger kids cry, but servants quickly came and pulled them into a separate room. They begin carrying me to the end of the hall, past the rest of the children in line, everyone still petrified, having heard the King raise his voice. 

I thought I would just be taken outside the palace and brushed along, but we got out the door, and the servants kept walking, my legs dangling in the air. Down road after road, past poorer and poorer neighborhoods. Every person we passed on the street seemed to line up and watched as I was carried by all the way until we reached the wall. THUD. I hit the ground and slid. They must have thrown me. I try to stand up but am quickly forced back down. I manage to look toward the gate, struggling to turn my head. A giant twenty-foot wooden door is in front of me. Six guards run to the door and begin pulling it open. Only once it's fully open, am I allowed back up. I slowly stand and take in the vast forest in front of me. A small dirt path winds up before disappearing over the hill. I feel a shove in my back and gingerly take a step out past the door. The gate slams behind me, making me jump two feet into the air. They.. they actually kicked me out? I'm just a child. What could I… what could i have done to have them throw me out like this? No, surely this isn't real. I turn around and start smacking on the gate.

"Let me back in! This isn't funny!"

No response

I continue banging for what feels like an hour before finally giving up. "Okay..." I mutter, "This is... really happening." I slowly turn back to face the forest. Starting down the dirt path, I begin to fully take in my surroundings. Trees so big they must be hundreds of years old, light barely making its way through the ocean of leaves above. Small animals skitter through the bushes as I walk through, birds bulleting between the branches. Upon reaching the top of the hill, I find there's a small clearing. I look across the landscape, the forest continuing for a good mile and an open field beyond that. Squinting my eyes through the bright sun, I can very faintly see what looks like a small cluster of buildings in an empty patch of the forest. Well, that's a start.

As I begin following the path down the hill, my mind starts to wander. What did I do wrong? Did I speak out of turn without realizing it? What does that crown even do? Is it able to read our minds? How would a crown even be able to do that? Whatever his reason is, I have a bad feeling about it. And why was I the only one removed? What could he have seen that made him so angry at me? I think about my family and how we lived in one of the poorer districts on the further outskirts of the kingdom. My parents would send me to the market to grab stale bread and what little scraps of meat I could find almost daily after my brother went away, but without any money, I had to learn to sneak around and get creative. If I couldn’t bring home food, there would be consequences. And it’s not like anyone would hire a frail child, let alone pay for the labor. Maybe he knew I was stealing? My train of thought moves to the few other kids I would always be with in my spare time. How we would play with whatever trash we found littering the streets, grabbing metal poles to use as swords and have little bouts, or finding something resembling a ball and throwing it around. How they would stop showing up one day and never be heard from again. My thoughts return to the king, questions searing into my spiraling mind. Why was he so angry? Why was he so… angry... Wait… angry? No... No, that wasn't anger... It was fear. That feeling I was sensing was fear. He was... Scared.. of me? My vision begins to blur. He was scared of me, so he threw me out of his kingdom. Separating me from everyone I care about. Why..? Why would he do that? WHY?! I get a burning feeling in my stomach, rage starts pumping through my body, and everything goes black.

I wake up bleary-eyed in the dark on the cold path. What.. just happened? As my eyes begin to adjust to my surroundings, I notice the distinct smell of embers. My attention suddenly becomes much more focused. I look around and see burnt black grass. Some of it was still glowing a dim orange. I jump up in a panic, frantically scouring the horizon to see if the fire is spreading, but notice that the burn area is precisely where I was lying, in the shape of a circle. Am I… dreaming? Surely I am. Just as I start looking around to see where to go next, I see a small flame further down the path, gently lapping at the sky in the wind. Someone is out here!

I was about to speak when a thought crossed my mind. What if that person is going to hurt me too? I quietly crouch down and inch my way toward the bushes. The flame gets closer, and I see an older man, not much bigger than me. He's inspecting the ring I made and murmuring to himself. Should I come out? He doesn't seem very strong... Before I can decide, he starts walking back the way he came. I'll just follow him and see where he's going. I followed him for what felt like a couple of hours, having a run-in with a strange-looking rodent with a long curly tail that jumped at me along the way. I accidentally kicked it while scooting backward through the shrubs. It scampered off, frightened. W-what kind of… nightmare is this? The old man keeps going, so I continue to follow. I feel a couple of cuts and scrapes starting to sting from moving through the bushes, then we get to the group of buildings I saw from the ridge. I'm about 200 feet away. There seems to be a twinkling campfire in the middle, with a couple of people sitting on stumps around it. There are more people! The old man hobbles back to the fire, says something I can't make out, and tosses his torch on the fire. Maybe I should wait a while and see if they're friendly…

Sitting out here for so long has me dozing in and out, but I fight the urge and stay hidden. Some time goes by, and it's still dark out, but my eyes have fully adjusted. I see a younger man with long black hair and a slimmer build, with two swords resting beside him against his seat. He’s wearing a long tattered black coat that covers the rest of his body as he sits by the fire. There’s a woman as well. She has blazing red hair and what looks like a pistol strapped to her side. She's wearing a leather jacket, much newer looking than the man's coat. The old man already went inside a while ago. As I start to creep out of the bushes, believing I have completely surveyed the area, a thud at my feet causes me to freeze in my tracks.

Looking down, I notice a feathered stick in the ground that wasn't there before. Is... is that an... arrow? As I reach for it, a whistling tune comes from the trees, pulling my attention away. Grunts come from the camp, and looking back, I see both sets of eyes looking in my direction. Crap. Standing and raising my hands, I gingerly step through the bushes, trying to keep a sense of where the arrow came from. The campers around the fire, weapons drawn, begin approaching me. They get close enough to see I'm just a child, and they lower their weapons just a little, but they're still on edge. I heard rustling to my right and assumed whoever shot the arrow was making their way down.

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"Who are you?" the man asks, his voice deep and smooth. I get a better look at him, he's got a large scar on his face, trailing from his forehead down under his full, scruffy beard, and his mouth disdained a snarl. I guess I got lost looking at his scar because his voice broke my trance. "I said, who are you?" He clenches his weapons tighter, waiting for my response.

"Oh, uh... I'm... not sure.." I force myself to spit out. I find myself too scared to remember my name. I look toward the woman shadowing the man demanding answers, causing a chill down my spine. Even without her saying anything, she's more terrifying than he is.

"Come with us." A voice behind me sends me jumping out of my shoes. Looking behind me, I see the faintest glint of moonlight on his face. He doesn't feel much older than me, maybe sixteen or seventeen. I silently follow the group back to the fire, the man and woman sitting where they were previously and the boy sitting down opposite them. I stand by the fire, basking in the waves of warmth. Man, I didn't realize how cold it was out tonight...

"Over here," the boy calls, snapping me out of my mindless wandering.

"Oh... Right," I carefully place myself on the edge of the log and extend my hands toward the fire.

"So. What are you doing in The Overgrowth?" the man speaks up.

"Hey, give them some space. They're probably confused as hell," the boy replies, "they probably need some sleep if anything."

"Yeah, yeah, alright," He dismisses and reaches into his coat pulls out some berries, and proceeds to start popping them into his mouth one by one. I stare longingly at the berries, a grumble croaking out of my stomach. God, I'm starving. My gawking must have been noticed because of the man's grimace.

"Would you like some?" He unties the pouch and extends it toward me.

"U-uh... Sorry, I'd love some," I stumble over my words, my cheeks flushing red. He tosses the pouch to me.

"Today, they're free," he chuckles, "We each do our share of work around here. This place is harsh and unforgiving. It's a miracle you made it out here through those woods. Full of predators."

"W-what?" I ask in horror, "I only saw this weird little rat-thing on the way here, like… it had a poofy curled tail and a smaller face. It did try to jump on me though, and… Its eyes… almost looked like they were glowing."

The man busts out laughing, dismissing my last remark, "I'm messing with you, kid, trying to lighten the mood. That was probably a squirbunny. They’re harmless. There's nothing but game in these woods."

"H-heh," I laugh nervously. I feel my shoulders begin to loosen up, and my breathing pace slows. I don't think they could be all that bad, they could have easily hurt me already... Maybe I can trust them…

"So," a steely voice cuts through my thought with an icy tone. Everything in me stops, and a dam forms in my eyes as my eyes dart between the only two men to show me any kindness, pleading for help, "Did you do it?!" Before I have a chance to take another breath she is towering over me. Instinctively, I fall backward off the log and attempt to scramble away, tears and snot now running down my face, my breath stuck in my throat.

“Hey! Back off him!” the archer boy throws himself between me and the woman, holding his ground as she tries to push past, “Can’t you see the kid is goddamn terrified right now!?”

"The ring of embers in the forest!" She shouts past him, completely ignoring his presence, "Did. You. DO! IT?!"

“HEY!” The boy shoves her backward and she stumbles a step, her face contorting in anger, “I said to LEAVE. HIM. ALONE!”

“Get out of my way,” she tries to push past once more only for a hand to land on her shoulder, and pull her back.

“You need to leave the child alone, right now. He doesn’t need this at this moment.” The man looks into her eyes, and she pushes him off. They both eye her as she scowls before walking away.

"I… I don’t know," I start whimpering as the ringing subsides, and curl into a fetal position, “I don’t…” compulsively muttering through hitched breaths, “ImsorryImsorryImsorryImsorry,” A choked breath musters out, finally finding my voice, “I don’t know…” 

The man trods over, offering his hand to me and I reflexively block my face with my eyes closed, and my breath stuttering. He speaks in a calm voice, trying to soothe me, "How can you not be sure if you burned a ring in the ground?"

I peek through one eye and see he isn’t trying to strike me. I lower my arms apprehensively and speak slowly, "W... Well, after I was banished from the kingdom, I was following the path..." I stumble through the memory before a sensation of pain covers my head and I realize my hand has moved to the left side of my face, gripping myself with my thumb hooked under my jaw, my eyes locked on a small stone embedded in the stone and lost in a trance, still trying to convince myself it's real. Unable to form complete sentences, words spill out between labored breaths,  "I-I remember… feeling weird? Body… getting hotter…? M-my stomach… burning... then black. Woke up in… dark… in the ring... I thought… forest fire… Is this…?”

“Hey, hey…” he lowers to the ground and speaks in a hush, “You’re okay… It’s alright”. He gently extends his hand out, and the muscles throughout my body tighten, “Could I ask you to look up at me?” His voice felt soft, sending a calming warmth through my body. Panting, my distant stare snaps, and I gradually shift my eyes up to meet Joffrey’s. His expression is hard to make out in the night with his back to the fire, but his posture is almost as if he bowing and pleading for forgiveness. “There we go…” He takes a seat on the ground a few feet away, turned so the fire reveals his face. “Can you match your breathing with mine?” His question stops the grinding in my head for a second, just long enough to let out a small noise.

“H-Huh?” My eyebrow raises and my head cocks to the side slightly.

“Could you try to match my breathing, just think of it like a… copycat game of sorts,” He scratches the back of his neck. I peer at Joffrey for a few seconds before nodding and begin to watch the little clouds as he exhales. My breathing stutters for a moment as I finally begin to regain control. Slowing down little by little I match his pace, and the grinding in my head settles as we fall in sync.

After a few minutes of controlled breathing, I eventually regained my senses enough to let out the first clear words I could since the confrontation, “I don’t know… if it was me or not.” I slump my head down, hiding the bottom of my face behind my crossed arms.

"Well, I think the only possible explanation is that you did it. What made you feel so off?" He stands and brushes himself off, approaching and hesitantly extending his hand again. I reluctantly reach one of my arms toward him. He gingerly takes my open hand, helping pull me off the ground onto my feet. 

"I just... I don't know why I was kicked out..." my mouth starts going faster than my brain, "We were going through the ceremony and it was my turn, the king's servant put the crown on my head and they didn't say anything, they just stared at it, shocked, then the King got up very close to me, and told me to get out... and I was carried all the way to the gate and thrown out by the servants." I start trembling and my eyes begin to water, "I... I don't know what I did wrong... I just want to go home..." my eyes well up and tears trickle to the dirt.

"Hey, I know it's scary, but all of us were thrown out too." the boy says in a soft voice. My tears begin to slow.

"Wait... really?" I sniffle and look up at him, his face soft and full of concern, and through blurry eyes, I manage to blurt out, "You remind me of my older brother..."

"O-oh, is that so? Heh..” the boy is caught off guard by the comment but smiles and his cheeks flush, before continuing, “But.. Yeah, of course. Although for different reasons," he explains, "I 'accidentally' shot one of the royal guards during an archery match." 

My tears stop and my mouth drops open, “Y-you... Shot a guard? What for?” 

His smile beams and his voice boasts proudly, "Well he had it coming, he kept harassing a woman in the audience for bumping into him, to the point that she fell down the stairs. I could see the blood on the stairs from where I was standing about a hundred feet off. I don't stand for power tripping."

"S-so... You're a murderer?" I question hesitantly.

"If that's what you want to call it, then sure. I prefer vigilante," he bolsters his voice and grips a fist in the air, before quickly slumping back down, "but of course, the King didn't see it that way. His servants grabbed me before I could even see them approach and they tossed me right out. I was 15 at the time."

"So you went through the ceremony too?" My mind raced with questions, but I held my tongue and awaited his response.

He stares into the crackling fire, into the void waiting for a response that would never seem to come, "Yeah, I did." He finally answers. 

"Well? What door did you go through?" I feel anxiety coursing through my body as I await his answer.

After a moment of hesitation, he replies, "The left one." 

He seems afraid to answer my questions.. maybe I should leave it alone. But I have to know… "So... What's on the other side?" My voice almost surprises me, and my hands quickly cover my mouth. The boy gazes into the fire for a few minutes, the flame bathing him in dancing orange light.

"It wasn't good... Once I entered, I saw lines of the children who had passed on the left side of the room, extending far enough I could barely make out those at the end. Everyone was facing to the right, and I was ushered into place beside the last one. We stood in place forever. More children entering and adding onto the lines." He audibly gulped before continuing, "We were looking through these massive arches... watching these kids that went through the right door..." his words grow quieter and strained, "They were.. the king's servants were... butchering the other kids alive.." My eyes grow wide, Oh god, what? This has to be some messed up scary story, right? "But not.. haphazardly," his voice suddenly became devoid of all emotion, "They were meticulous and precise... started from the feet and hands and worked their way up. Like they were preparing a meal. Keeping them alive as long as possible. You could see them screaming as they were cut slice by slice, but no sound passed through the arches. They forced us to watch, if we so much as turned our heads we were punished. I could hear other kids throwing up or crying around me followed by a swift CRACK! sound. It took everything I had to not look around."

I feel a lurch in my stomach, barely holding back the urge to throw up. This is way too messed up, I don't like this. I look at the man and see his head is sunken, eyes boring into the dirt. Between my gagging I manage to sputter out, “Are you messing with me again? This isn’t nice… I don’t like it.” The boy’s eyes flutter for a moment to blink away the tears forming. 

"I… I wish I was..” he pauses briefly to recollect himself, clearing his throat and furrowing his brow, “... Once all of the children had been ushered in," he pauses for a moment, "... We had to watch until everyone had been processed on the other side,” his voice hitches briefly, before continuing, “Then we were led through a door at the end of the room, informed as we pass through the doorway to ‘find our room’, and down a long corridor lined with doors. Each one with a small wooden nameplate next to it. As we walked down this hall, kids slowly began breaking off the long chain and into their rooms. ” I watched his mouth carefully, covering my own in a lack of word or thought as he went on, not wanting to miss anything as his volume diminished, “I saw my name and headed inside. It was small, maybe ten by ten with a small bunk on the right and a half-enclosed toilet in the back left with no door." He paused to pull out a small canteen and drink for a few seconds, "I waited for hours… or maybe days… there weren’t any windows so I’m… not really sure. Well, eventually someone came and retrieved me. They took me to an arena and gave me a bow and a quiver full of arrows. That’s when my Specialty finally started to surface…  I looked around the arena and saw large stone structures that were meant to be used as cover and vantage points, my Specialty almost guiding me to the best posts, and then I saw the other children. Only seven of them, but it was clear what they wanted us to do. We were supposed to fight to the death, all for the entertainment of the Noble District. I had too many matches to count.. so many other kids… by my…" I feel my heart in my stomach and tears start forming in my eyes.

"This is crazy!" I shout, “You don’t expect me to believe that, do you?!"

He recoils at my raised volume, “I-I’m sorry... I really am. But…” His words fade behind a wall of noise. 

“Why would the King put his people through this? What did we ever do? None of this is fair!” I yell but can’t hear my own voice. I vaguely see through tear-filled eyes both of their mouths moving but it's indiscernible. I remember my brother going away, the ceremony all the kids were raised to look forward to, my parents forcing me to steal to survive, all my childhood flooding my mind at once, and everything falling into place. I can't take it anymore… I just want to wake up…

"Stop! STOP!" my head feels like it's splitting open as my voice grows in volume. My body is searing and then.. everything went black.