Gwen looked around frantically, searching for a place to hide. Her breath came out in short, panicked gasps. All she could think about was the two men walking towards her. Visions of them dragging her off to be hung for treason flashed through her mind.

The small clearing Gwen and Xander had slept in that night wasn't near any houses she could sneak into as it was on the fringes of the village, and the trees were too thinly spread to properly hide her.

Gwen's breathing was louder than she thought it was, and behind her Xander began to stir. The men were too close now for them not to have seen her. She choked back a sob.

Gwen did the only thing she could think to do.

She left the injured wyvern to be slaughtered. She didn't stop to help Xander.

She ran.

Gwen ran like her life depended on it, which it probably did. She spared one glance over her shoulder before she entered the thin cover of the trees and her eyes locked with the accusing stare of Xander. One guard was pulling the boy roughly to his feet, while the other was trying to find a way to approach the angry wyvern.

Gwen kept running, tears blurring her eyes. She wove around the trees, familiar from the years of playing hide and seek with her brother. No, not her brother, a traitor, she thought viciously.

She ran and ran until she couldn't anymore. She stopped in a fit of coughing and leaned forwards with her hands on her knees. She rested against a tree, looking back the way she came.

There were no signs of pursuit, no cracking branches, no shouts between trees. Nothing.

Gwen cautiously began to make her way back the way she came, ready to run at a moment's notice. The whole way back Gwen didn't spy a single person, which led her to the conclusion that they weren't too concerned with the little brunette chasing a wyvern around.

She reached the clearing she had run from. A whimper of despair escaped her. Boy and wyvern were gone. Not a single sign of struggle broke the serenity of the clearing in the mid-afternoon.

Gwen trudged morosely back to her house. She felt awful about what she had done. She had run to save herself, not a thought spared about saving the broken boy and his wyvern. All she had cared about was not losing her chance to take the trials.

She almost drove herself mad, running through the situation over and over, trying to think of a way she could have reacted and saved them both.

'Some guard you would be' Gwen chided herself. 'Couldn't even protect your friend.'

She barely knew the boy, how could she be expected to care for him? He was the one who stole the wyvern and come crashing out of the sky.

"This wasn't my fault," Gwen muttered under her breath, hoping that if she repeated it enough times she could start to believe it and ease some of the guilt she felt.

Before she knew it Gwen had arrived at her house. She came to an abrupt halt at the door.

What if she ran into Kai? What would she say to him? She knew Kai had held the law in high regard after his accident, but she hadn't thought he would try to have her arrested!

She took a deep breath and pushed open the door, ready for confrontation. The house was empty. She supposed it should be expected that none of her family would be home in the middle of the afternoon on a weekday, but it seemed odd that, after everything that had happened to her, no one was there.

As she was making her way to the kitchen, a thought occurred to Gwen. She still could take the trials, and if she passed she would live in the castle for her training. The same castle where Xander would be held until they decided what to do with a traitor. If she could get into the castle she could have the chance to save him, or at least find out what happened to him.

In preparation for the trials, Gwen went over everything she knew about them in her mind. They were kept fairly secretive so people couldn't practice what they would have to do, but word did get out sometimes. The rumors included things like you would receive a beast to ride, and have to battle a soldier and be judged on your performance. Another rumor that was told around the villages was that there were trials in things like archery and swordsmanship.

The trials were given once a year, and open to anyone who would be turning eighteen in the year the trials were given. The instructions given were to show up at the castle gates at precisely noon and guards would take the hopeful soldiers to where they would be tested. If you completed the trials, you would stay in the castle until your training was complete. After that you would be given your final assignment. Common assignments were a castle guard, a guard in the capital, or a guard in the city, depending how you perform in training.

The final piece of information about the trials was that, if you ended up in the top quarter of the trainees, you had the opportunity to compete to become one of the King's Guard. The stakes were high in this test however. Gwen knew that the people who failed never returned to their homes, and never became guards. No one knew what happened to them.

Gwen was confident in her archery and sword fighting abilities; she had been practicing with Kai for as long as she could remember. Although he was older she quickly became skilled enough to beat him. Kai was never interested in fighting, but he still helped her train.

Gwen began rushing around their small house. She wanted to be out of the house and on her way to the city before Kai got home. She didn't think she was ready for a confrontation with him yet. She hurried into the room she and Kai shared; two small beds pushed against separate walls with a curtain between them. Gwen used to climb into bed with Kai when she had a nightmare. Now she didn't know if she could even be in the same room with him without feeling overwhelming disgust.

Gwen threw her belongings into a bag, knowing that she would be at the castle for at least a week if she made it through enough rounds of the trials. Once she had everything she needed, Gwen headed out back to the small stable her family had. Her father had been given a small colt when he working at the castle.

The colt had been born prematurely, and the other workers in the stables decided it wouldn't be strong enough to work around the castle. Her father had been told to 'get rid of it', so he brought it home. To the entire family's surprise, the tiny colt had grown into a strong, healthy horse. They had named him Midnight, in honor of his completely black coat.

Gwen handed him an apple, running a hand down his sleek black coat. She brought out the heavy saddle and prepared him to ride to the castle.

After a hard afternoon of riding, Gwen arrived on the outskirts of the city just as night was coming. The city was much different than the village she lived in. The city was well guarded and the closer to the castle she got the fancier the houses became. Those who could afford to live within the protection of the city were usually high up officials and nobles.  

Gwen dismounted outside the gates and walked the short distance to the castle, leading Midnight behind her.

When she arrived at the gate she found herself arguing with a stocky guard.

"I'm here for the trials," Gwen said politely.

The guard looked down at her raggedy clothing in disdain. She hadn't had a chance to change from the clothes she had been running through the forest in before she came to the castle. In her haste to avoid Kai she had forgotten.

"I'm sorry... Ma'am, the trials don't start until morning, and I'm not permitted to let you in until then."

"But you don't understand," she cried in distress. "I came all the way from outside the city for this, and I have nowhere to stay tonight."

Gwen thought she saw a flash of pity in the guard's eyes, but he remained firm.

Gwen stood there considering her options. She could go home, but the trip would take hours and it was already dark, not to mention coming back. She couldn't stay at an inn because she had no money with her. Her only option was to find a safe place to sleep on the streets, unfortunately because of the poverty of many citizens, the streets weren't usually the safest place to be.

She turned away from the guard, ready to make her way back down the street away from the castle when a clattering of hooves on the cobblestone caught her attention.

"Stop," a deep, rich voice commanded.

She looked up startled, from her place on the ground she had to crane her neck to meet the eyes of a stranger on a very tall horse.

He had dark chestnut colored hair, and warm chocolate colored eyes, emphasized by his dark, furrowed brows. The man was young, early twenties probably, and he had a commanding air about him that caused Gwen to stop in her tracks at his command.

"Jennings," the man said softly, his tone low and dangerous. "You were going to send this girl out onto the street with nowhere to go?" he asked, his eyes narrowed at the terrified guard. "Take her into the castle and get her settled in a room, God knows we have plenty of those to spare."

Gwen's jaw dropped in surprise. Who was this guy and why was he helping her?

Jennings, the guard, looked at her one last time then nodded at her to go through the gate.

"Yes Prince Rowan," he muttered timidly.

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Thanks again everyone for reading! Please comment and let me know what you think, it's so helpful to hear what you guys liked and didn't like about it.

xoxo Emma