Clutching at his head, it felt heavy as a medley of thoughts and schemes danced behind his eyelids. Henley had planned it all so meticulously for months, and so far, his plan was unfolding to the letter. Originally he had thought the hardest part would be convincing his sister Liz to leave, but now she was gone, he wasn't so sure anymore.

The evening was swiftly approaching, which meant the second phase of his scheme would soon come into effect. Liz and Henley were due in the Palace's main reception hall for their evening meal. Under the pretence of appearing like a worried brother whose sister was missing, he would ask to be granted an audience with his Great Aunt and Uncle. While everyone was having their dinner, then he would strike.

The problem in his plan was something he hadn't calculated, his resolve; it floundered as the afternoon sun waned. Heavy doubts loomed upon him like the clouds that hovered on the horizon. 'Can I do it?' he asked himself yet again. The murmur left his lips and drifted off into the ether. Was hurting two people to save the masses worth it? What if he needed to take the life of a guard or two? How much bloodshed could be justified? If caught, would he be treated like an assassin or a saviour? The questions plagued him along with a plethora of doubts.

The tolling of the clock towers bell rung in the distance, signalling dinner time. Henley knew he had to act, choking down his fears. He shakily composed himself one last time. His hand hovered on the doorknob when the trudging of footsteps up the stairwell made him abruptly freeze. An abrasive rap on the other side of the door seemed to echo through him as well as the wooden frame. He most certainly wasn't expecting anyone. Was it Liz? Had something happened? Why had she turned around?

Upon opening the door, his furrowed brow was met by two guards on the threshold. Without a word, one pushed past him, meandering into his dimly lit chambers.

"Want to tell me why you're barging in here?" He kept his voice aloof, trying not to let his barely subdued anxiety slip through the cracks. However, his question fell on deaf ears.

His room was sizable, structurally the mirror image of Liz's room, but it seemed almost stark in comparison as it lacked clutter and her feminine touch. It took the fellow mere moments to discern no one was concealed in the room or the adjoining balcony. "Well?" Henley addressed the guard once he circled back to the door.

"When was the last time you saw your sister?" The intrusive guard barked with an edge of hostility in his voice. Henley's stomach sunk to the granite floor as if he'd been punched, but he kept his features blank before addressing the less hateful of the two.

"Lunchtime, she said she had some errands to run. How come?"

That's when he noticed a dirt-caked necklace dangling loosely in the man's hand. He was about to scoff when the outline of a Phoenix pendant glimmered in the candlelight. His eyes widened at the recognition, and an involuntary gasp escaped his lips. He felt the first chink in his steely armour.

"Liz has a Phoenix pendant just like that," Henley's voice shook as he extended his pointer finger. It was an old family heirloom; the intricate craftsmanship of the pendant made it unique.

"It was found on a riverbank along with a bag." The guard standing on the threshold began to explain.

"Looked like someone was going for a spot of camping," the other guard sneered as Henley's mind whirled. That definitely wasn't part of the plan, what on earth was she doing near the riverbank?

The guardsman suddenly fisted Henley's shirt and pulled him close. The action signalled the end of their friendly interrogation. The man was shorter, older but had muscle mass, while Henley was tall and lean.

"No one saw her leave the castle, so how did she get all the way over to the Ford Bridge? What were these errands?" The man snarled, acting like a crazed boyfriend worried over his lover. Henley didn't have time to try and understand it; instead, his mind began envisioning the river. The Ford Bridge was practically the halfway marker between them and the mountains but she shouldn't have been that close to the roads.

"My sister may be missing, and you're wasting time on me? Get this fucker out of my face." He ordered in his most authoritative voice. He was half surprised when the guard was pulled off him.

"Wex, he's ranked." The word ranked was a slang term that implied that Henley out-ranked him in the class system. The angry guard named Wex shoved the other man's arms away and jutted his chin out like a bulldog. He regarded Henley with narrowed eyes as if he was a stain on the floor.

"He already knew she was gone." Before storming out of the room into the hallway, the other guard scratched his neck looking apologetic.

"Sorry about that... Wex well, he was convinced he'd be matched with your sister at next week's ceremony..." The guard muttered out, but Henley was already preoccupied with something other than the guardsman's words.

During the scuffle, Henley had kept his cool and swiped the necklace from the guard's hand. He began inspecting it, rubbing his fingers across the gritty metal. His face turned ashen as he realised that what he originally thought was dirt was, in fact, dried blood. While he'd been sitting comfortably, just what the hell was Liz going through? She had better be OK.

"He said this was found at the Ford?" the younger guard nodded his head meekly at the question. They were roughly the same age, and Henley had seen him around before but had never cared to learn his name. "Tell me everything."

"That and a bag was all we found. They're combing the river bed as we speak." Henley's stomach clenched as he felt his mouth dry up. All telltale signs he was about to puke. They think she's drowned in the river.

"How was the necklace discovered? When?!"

"A farmer was fishing past the Ford Waypoint; he reportedly heard a scream and began looking around the riverbank but didn't know which side the sound stemmed from. It wasn't until the bag was found that an official search party began. The pendant was discovered and only recognised as similar to your sisters." The guards' eyes darted towards the door, indicating the man who had recognised it.

Henley had heard quite enough and knew standing here talking wouldn't help. If his sister had been injured, he needed to join the search party. His long-awaited assassination plot was forgotten in mere moments.

"I can't sit here idly. Take me to the Ford; I will join the search party."

The ride over took barely an hour as they urged the horses hurriedly through the night. The foul weather had settled overhead, and bursts of lightning in the distance lit up the night sky sporadically illuminating their path.

Time streamed by dizzyingly fast as they combed the area by lantern light. Worry settled in Henley's stomach and niggled in his bones. She can't be hurt because of me. She can't be.

No trace of Liz was found though the extensive search went all night and well into the next day. It was mid-morning when Henley slumped against a tree trunk utterly spent. He barely had kept his anxiety at bay while stalking through the forest. But there were no signs; some of the best trackers couldn't see footsteps away from the spot where they found her bag. So unless she climbed up a tree or jumped in the river, it was unexplainable.

As he took a sip from his canteen, two guards appeared in front of him. He sat up suddenly, alert. "Is there any news? Have you found her?"

"You've been summoned to speak with our Governors. You're to follow us immediately."

Against his will, the guards escorted Henley back to the castle. Every step away from the river felt like a mistake, and the more frantic he became.

~

"Why have you summoned me here? I'm sure you're well aware of the continued search for my sister by the Ford." He glared at his Great Uncle, the Governor. The Governor was an older man of middling height and dull features. His usually impassive expression had morphed into disdain at Henley's sudden insolence.

"We both know her bag was found with supplies inside..."

"And..?" Henley's anger and desperation seeped into his tone unconsciously. Normally, he did his best to conceal his emotions and disrespect, but his missing sister had frayed his last nerve.

A cold voice cut through him, sending a shudder through his soul. The Governor's wife, his Great Aunt, had entered the room; she almost floated past, her footsteps barely making a sound as she joined her husband upon the dais.

"What my husband was trying to say before you so rudely interrupted is we aren't wasting any more resources on a deserter."

"A deserter?" Henley tilted his head like a dog and blinked at the objects of all his resentment with disbelief. Whatever did they mean?

"She's not the first to try and escape. But it matters not; we will not waste any more resources on someone who forsakes their duties." Henley's mouth dropped open, though he knew no one carried a straw for him. Liz was his opposite. She was loyal and kind; she followed every duty she was ever instructed. A bitter hollowness struck him as he realised she even obeyed his request too.

"We know you are much too simple to be part of her escape plot."

Little did he know they were baiting him to react, but he was so shocked by their callousness and the realisation Liz had dutifully followed him into danger that he was stupefied. This was all part of his plot; to use Liz's disappearance as an excuse for their audience. But now that she was actually missing and possibly hurt, he couldn't carry out the plan.

"Just as we thought."

"But, I-I must find her..." His voice cracked, sounding pitiful even to his own ears.

"The search of the Ford woodlands has officially been called off. No one will aid you, and you will not shame this family further by disappearing yourself." Then, as if to make his decree official, his Uncle hit the marble floor with his steely cane. The sound resonated through the room as a guard came trudging in.

The dagger Henley had concealed in the sleeve of his robe weighed down upon him, and he balled his fists. His moment was passing... to get here, though, had it been worth the cost? Liz's face flashed in his mind as he clutched her pendant in one of his fists. It was stained with blood, her blood. Another memory of her face sliced his will asunder.

The one person he set out to save, she'd been hurt, and even now, her situation was unknown. He felt so forlorn as the failure of his plan and his resolve settled in his bones.

"I will find her." He spoke again out of turn, yet the words were more to himself as his tears sprung in his eyes.

"Your only duty is to prepare for your coming of age ceremony and approaching nuptials. That is all."

"Guards take him back to his quarters and make sure he stays there." Four hands seized his upper arms, and he was forcefully walked out of the room. His arms had almost gone numb by the time he was deposited back in his room. The clanging of the heavy door being shut and locked echoed around him as a feeling of hopelessness clutched at his heart.

"Where the hell are you Liz?"