The
bitter winds would bite at Questy’s toes throughout their journey.
While Questy never cried nor complained, Toria knew he was much too
young to understand. He was too young to know that he had nothing
left to live for in Monarchia. Life isn’t fair, she thought.
The Prince is dead, the Overlords are in power. With only the undying
vision of the Prince, and the love of her son to guide her, she knew
her future was now solely in her hands.
While
she had thought about her escape for months, she knew when the time
was right the window of opportunity would be brief. The time had come.
As the Overlords celebrated the winter feast, the calamity throughout
the kingdom was the perfect diversion for her to flee. Toria knew
the hills to the north were not guarded by the Overlords. While the
Overlords claimed there was no threat to the north, Toria had heard
the rumors of the land that existed on the other side of the mountains.
Democratia was supposed to be a land where people worked together
to rule themselves. While this concept was foreign to Toria, she found
it intriguing. Maybe this place she had heard about was just a desire
for those who needed hope. Maybe it was just an accumulation of the
dreams of others like her, who just needed some where to run. For
right now, a risk, based on hopes of what could be possible, fueled
by the desires to make it possible, did not seem to be all that bad.
The risk of it all being merely a foolish dream was worth taking compared
to living as a slave in a land where she was told she would be royalty.
As
Toria and Questy fled through the mountains she would have much time
to reflect. She remembered happy times as a young girl. As cold as
the mountain winds would get, she could close her eyes while she rested
and feel the warm sunshine beat upon her as she would relive the memories
of walking barefoot on the beaches of Monarchia. It seemed like seemed
like only yesterday when she would meet the Prince. There were many
happy memories of her and the Prince at the beach. There were many
fond memories of a young couple planning for a future, and a family.
The greatest warmth was felt as she remembered the joy of the Prince
when his son was born.
Unfortunately
the visions would always tell entire saga, as she would also relive
the taking of Monarchia by the Overlords. The initial warmth of all
those dreams would eventually turn into a nightmare as she was forced
to relive the death of the Prince. The nightmare would bring her back
to the cold reality of her journey now in progress. The chill became
shocking as she realized she was not running from uncertainty, but
running for survival. But even in the chill of her current situation
she felt the warmth of Questy. She knew in her heart that Prince Pera
would want Questy to have the opportunities he had planned for them.
While the boy may never claim the throne he was promised, she knew
he would have the strength to be a great leader. While Questy may
never feel the warmth of the beaches where his parents had met, Toria
knew she must find a place where the warmth of this boy could develop
into the fiery passion of his father, a great leader.
With
her will to believe and the power of her mind intact, Toria would
march onward. With Questy firmly holding on to her, the visions of
the past , and hopes for the future, would be more than enough to
motivate her. How odd she thought, she had grown up in a land where
those who would rule were always thought to be different from those
who would not. Now that the chance for her own son to be king had
been taken away from her, she would flee to a land where all men fought
to be equal.
