I stood with my hand on the doorknob to my step-mother's cottage.  I steadied myself with a few deep breaths before stepping inside.

Everything was just as before.  Several chairs surrounding a small, round table.  Bare, light blue walls and a small hallway that lead to the tiny kitchen.  I silently ran up the stairs to my bedroom.

"Where have you been, young lady?" my step-mother yelled from her bedroom.

"I got kidnapped, mind you," I replied bitterly. "But I'm fine now, thanks for asking."

Silence was all I got in return.

But what did I expect?

She didn't love me.

Not since father went missing.

I slammed my door and walked over to my bed.  I laid down but I knew I wouldn't be able to sleep.  My stomach was killing me, and the bandages hadn't been removed and cleaned in over a day.  

But I couldn't bring myself to care.

I stared at the wood ceiling, thinking about life before my fathers disappearance.

We had had all kinds of animals.  It had been my job to milk the cow every morning and gather the eggs for breakfast.  Father would teach me for a few hours in the evenings and then work until dinner. He would go back out after we ate, but come back inside to tuck me in bed and read me stories of the legendary heroes.

Then father remarried.

And everything changed.

Father had to work harder to feed the extra mouth and didn't have time to teach me.  I had to help my new step-mother around the house doing "the woman's job".  I would always look forward to bedtime, when father would read me stories, just like he had before.

I missed his laugh as he tried to imitate the amazing heroes.  

I missed his deep, husky voice.

I missed...

Him.

But he was gone now.

And it was my fault.

I was sure my step-mother blamed me.  It was why she didn't love me or care about me.

I finally drifted off to sleep thinking about my father.

When I woke up, it was light outside.  

I slowly stood, wincing at the pain in my stomach.  I walked over to my desk, which had something wrapped in cloth and a note.

From James?  How could he have gotten in?

I picked up the note and read it to myself.

I made you some bread.

Have a good day at school.

Mother

She...had made me bread?

I unwrapped the cloth.  

Inside was a small loaf of bread, still warm.  My lips twitched into a small smile.  Maybe she did care.

In her own way.

I looked back at the note.

School.

I still wasn't sure if I should go back.  With The Jackal still out there...

A knock from the front door cut off my thoughts.

I was still wearing the same clothes I had been wearing since I had gotten kidnapped.  I hadn't bothered to change.  I was in too much pain anyway.

I climbed down the stairs. 

"Are you ready for school?" James asked when I opened the door.  I pushed the door back but James caught it before it closed. "Are you just going to skip school?"

"I don't have time for school," I snapped. " I need to track down The Jackal. He's more dangerous than ever. Plus, he probably wants revenge."

"First let's get your bandage changed," he replied.

I looked at him like he had just told me he saw a pig flying in the sky. 

"That's it?" I asked.

"What do you mean?"

"You're not going to tell me it's too dangerous?"

"Would you listen to me if I told you to leave it to my father's soldiers?"

I shook my head.

"That's what I thought," he said, then walked past me and into the cottage.  "I brought clean bandages and some medicine the palace physician gave me. But we'll probably have to clean it first. Where is the water?"

"We only have water for drinking," I replied. "Some of us aren't as rich as royalty, prince." 

He winced at the title.  "I'm sorry," he said. "I brought a horse. I can quickly take you to the palace and the physician can do it himself."

"No thank you," I replied. "I can do it here. Myself." I took the bandages from his hands and walked upstairs.

I set the glass bottle and the bandages on my desk and started to remove the dirty cloth around my stomach.  

I nearly cried out in pain.  I gridded my teeth and tugged at the cloth.  

When I finally got it unwrapped, I didn't dare look at it.  I doused the clean cloth in the liquid from the bottle and wrapped my stomach again.  

It only felt a little better.

I decided to change my clothes and brush my hair.

Boy, was it a mess.

I grabbed my step-mother's bread and went downstairs.  James was waiting right where I had left him.

"All done," I said.  I grabbed my sword and my bow and arrow and went to the door.

"Lily," James called from behind me.  I slowly turned to face him. "Are you sure you don't want to reconsider? You would be safe at the school. Then we could try to find The Jackal afterwards. I could ask my father for some horses and perhaps some soldiers."

"I don't need the king's help."

"Lily, please. Whatever you have against my father, can you just put it aside? We have a better chance of getting The Jackal if we have help."

"We?"

"You think I'm going to let you do this alone?"

I stared him down for a few minutes before finally consenting. "Fine," I said. "I'll let your father help so he can feel good about himself. But this is the only time I will work with the king. Agreed?"

"What about school?"

"School is useless," I replied, folding my arms.

"Lily."

"I will not go to school."

"Yes, you will."

"Who made you the boss of me?" I snapped. "Oh, right, you're a prince. I thought you would realize by now that I don't take orders from royalty."

"Since you don't listen to royalty, how about you listen to a friend?" His eyes showed the truth of his words.  

He was my friend.

And he didn't care that I was pretty much committing treason.

"Alright, fine. I'll go to school. But I want you to talk to my teachers and allow me to do archery instead of sewing."

"I can have that arranged."

"And for them to not lock me up during history class."

"They lock you up during history?"

"Apparently that's what they do when you speak the truth."

"Why would they do that?"

"Because they don't like the truth."

"Hmm," James mumbled.

"Well, I guess we should get going," I said, slipping my sword into my hidden scabbard in my pants.  I swung my quiver of arrows over my shoulder, grabbed a dagger from the table, and walked to the door.  

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"What do you mean?" I shot back, turning to face him.

"You're going to bring weapons to school?"

"I bring my sword every time. What's the difference?"

"Alright," he said. "Do you have extra?"

I smirked at him. "Come with me."

A/N IMPORTANT.

Okay, so I had the idea of changing Lily's father's story.  Don't get too excited though! I was thinking that, instead of dead, he would be missing, along with a few others. Or, Lily would think he's dead, but really The Jackal just kidnapped him. What do you guys think? Let me know in the commentsSSS!

Ciao,

SiSi