I wasn’t in the right place.

The room around me was a stone room, but it was filled with toys and a small bed. There was noise outside, but I couldn’t see anything when I tried to look out the windows, just a void of darkness.

The strangest thing about the room was that there was a dark-haired child that was about five years old playing with the toys in the middle of the room.

The door opened and a brown haired woman hurried in carrying a blonde girl that looked like she was four. The girl was wearing a flannel nightdress, while the woman was wearing a suit of leather armor. She had a sword on her hip and her hair was pulled back.

The boy dashed into the bed as the woman walked in.

“I wasn’t playing!” The boy tried to hide under the covers.

I chuckled. It was obvious that he had been playing if he was going to assert he hadn’t been before being questioned. I was about to talk to the woman when I realized that she was frozen. But the woman behind her wasn’t.

The princess walked into the room. She looked as bewildered as I felt.

“Are you okay?” I motioned around at the frozen people. “I remember feeling sleepy and then this…”

“This is my memory.” The princess moved in front of the woman, then started looking around. “But I’ve never remembered it like this before…” She looked at me. “What are you doing here?”

Before I could answer, the woman unfroze. “Sectum! We need to go! Take mommy’s hand.”

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

My heart started beating faster as the boy slid out of the bed. “Where are we going?”

“We’re going for a boat ride.” The woman held out her hand and winced as an explosion shook the room. She rushed over and grabbed the boy's hand and put it on her scabbard, then drew her sword. “Don’t let go, Sectum.”

“I’m scared.” The little girl whimpered. “Where’s mommy?”

“It’s okay Sa-sa.” The woman bounced the girl up so she could hold her better. “Uncle Dario is going to get your mommy and daddy and we’re going to meet them at the boat.”

I swallowed as the memory started coming back to me.

The princess and I followed my mother through the castle. I tried to block the first Elf that barred her path, but he went right through me. This was something that the two of us got to watch, not participate in.

My heart started beating faster as I remembered the end result.

My mother cut down three more Elves on her way out. As soon as we were out of the castle, we started running to the north, pausing only long enough for my mother to look at the wreckage of what had once been the main castle tower. Now it was called the old castle and was blocked off from use until excavation was complete. Though after fourteen years, I didn’t think they’d move more than a handful of rocks. Regent Arkun seemed more concerned with erecting a new castle than fixing the old one.

The cover of darkness cast strange shadows on the walls because of the fires that were scattered all over the yard. My mother did her best to keep us hidden as she guided us to the royal harbor.

“Stop! Eden! Stop!”

My mother bit her lip as she looked out at the empty harbor, save for a single longboat. She put the younger princess down and knelt down so she could put her forehead to the forehead of five-year-old me.

“I’m scared.” My younger self had started crying.

My mother ran her fingers through younger me’s hair. “Sectum, you need to be a big boy right now.” I could see her trembling as she spoke. “I need you to protect Sa-sa. You keep your cousin safe.” She took a dagger off her belt and handed it to the younger me. She wiped her eyes as she stood up. “You’re a Malus, we don’t cry. We protect each other.”