“Hands up!” yelled a guard - the Queen’s guard - at me as I stepped back to get away, laughing. The edge of the cliff was right behind me. I was trapped, or so it seemed. When I didn’t comply quickly enough, he yelled again. “I SAID HANDS UP!” 

“Fine,” I said quickly, my face serious now, as another and another guard walked up. No need to make them even angrier. I slowly put my hands up, then grinned again. One tiny step back. “Goodbye,” I said, grinning even larger, then stepped off of the cliff. I fell through the air, cackling. I knew I wasn’t going to hit the bottom; I had it all planned out.

I fell quicker and quicker, until I was too close to the ground and slowed, for no apparent reason, and fell into Sammy’s arms. They immediately squeezed their arms around me, their head resting on my shoulder. 

“James,” they whispered quietly into my skin. 

“It worked,” I said, grinning. “I love you.”

“You scared the shit out of me,” Sammy said, finally stepping away. “I almost couldn’t catch you.”

“But you did,” I said, and grabbed their hand. “C’mon, we have to run, though, before they find out that we’re still alive.” 

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We both grinned and, holding on to each other’s hands, we ran as fast as we could toward a swirling doorway of light and jumped in, feeling a wind catch us and take us to our destination; and then the winds stopped and we fell with a bounce onto our bed. 

The room was dark, all the curtains were shut over the windows tight. No lamps had been left on at all, and there wasn’t a single sign of a break-in. They hadn’t found us yet, good. 

Sammy turned and grinned at me. “That was fun. Scary, you terrified me, but fun.” I grinned back at them, laying my head in their lap and stretching out. 

“We made it,” I said. “We made it.”

<><><>

You may be wondering what is going on, why I was being chased by the Queen’s personal guards off the edge of a cliff, who I am, and who Sammy is. I suppose I should start at the beginning. 

<><><>

I’m the Queen’s child - she would always call me her daughter, although I never would be. If anything, I was her son, though I loathe to even go as far as to say that much. The Queen - my mother, technically, was a horrible person, to me and her subjects. All she cared about was power and wealth - but then again, who didn’t?

I was tired of living under her control, tired of hiding everything about who I am. So I decided to run away. 

The Queen was away on a “business trip” - more of a vacation to mess around with men and ignore the problems arising in the kingdom. The perfect time to leave- or so I thought. 

I opened my door, looked around. The guards should be gone too, so I took a small, thin knife out of the folds of my hideous dress and ran to the guards’ quarters quickly, and used the knife to pick the lock. I snuck inside after checking that the room was empty, and stole some gear like clothes and weapons that fit me, and, after locking the door, I ran back out, shutting the door behind me. 

Then I went to the servants’ quarters, where Sammy, who I am in love with, and had been for a long time, would be waiting for me. I retrieved them, and since they were secretly a warlock, they were able to make us basically invisible so we could quickly sneak out the rest of the way. 

I’m sure the Queen was pissed that she lost her child and her servant, but there was one other thing. 

I stole a very important heirloom straight from the Queen’s bedchambers.