Chapter 1

Caroline pulled herself up onto the top of the wall and couched low. The cold October air blew through her coat. She shut her eyes and thought about summer. She felt her body warm up a little and she opened her eyes again. Caroline hitched up her knapsack and rearranged her pants. It was so strange to be wearing men's clothing but she knew that a dress would complicate things even more. Malcolm, the stable boy who was also her best friend, had given her some of his clothes. She said a silent prayer that she wasn't being stupid in telling him what she was planning.

But honestly, she couldn't have said no to him. He looked so afraid and concerned for her that it hurt. The memory of his face made her falter for just a moment when she went over her plan again: Get off of the grounds, cut her hair, get on a boat to the continent and disappear.

Caroline stayed still on the wall for a moment and listened hard. She could hear a few of the guards chatting a little ways away.

Carefully, she swung her legs over the other side of the wall and lowered herself down slowly. Her bag felt heavy because of the sword, but had to bring it. Her feet searched for the missing brick hole that she knew was there. The toe of her boot caught the hole and she slipped down the wall and landed with a thump on the ground.

BANG! A floodlight came on and she froze. People were everywhere, guards surrounded her. She fell to the ground. Her hat came off and her golden blond hair fell out, cascading down her shoulders in that annoyingly recognizable way. Mackenzie, the Captain of the Guard, came out of the shadows and stood over her. Another guard followed dragging poor Malcolm by the ear. He mouthed "Sorry, Carrie" but that didn't make her feel any better.

"Lock Her Majesty in her room," he said, his North Gower way of speaking made him roll his R's and drop double T's. "Try not to let the Li'le Queen overpower you again, gentlemen." Strong hands came and pulled her to her feet. She stood in front of Mackenzie and glared daggers at him.

"Let go of Malcolm," Caroline said to the guards. They glanced at Mackenzie, who nodded once. They released his ear and he fell to the ground. Caroline tried to run to him, but there were guards holding her.

"Perhaps next time, Lass," Mackenzie smiled evilly. She spat in his eye and the smile disappeared. She smirked as he wiped his face.

"If it were not a crime, I'd strike you."

Caroline drew herself up to her full 5 feet, 6 inches and glared him down. "Touch me and your life is forfeit," her voice echoed with the voices of former rulers of Gower. It was the power bestowed upon her by her ancestors.

The guards holding her jumped away. Their hands stung where they had held her. Mackenzie glared at her as his legs buckled and he kneeled at her feet.

"Yer Majesty," he said through gritted teeth. He hated when she invoked her magic but there was nothing he could do. She stared down her nose at him and stomped off, back to her prison, the Royal Palace.

* ~ * ~ *

She marched into her room and stood in the middle of the floor. As soon as she heard the door click shut she threw her bag and screamed. She screamed in frustration at another foiled escape attempt, at Mackenzie and at the stupid laws that let them keep her captive in her own home.

After what felt like forever, she was out of energy. She lay on the floor of her room and stared at the ceiling. It was blue with white clouds painted on it. Before she was born her parents had commissioned the best artists in the kingdom to design the room. But now they were dead and she was the Queen of Gower at the age of fifteen.

She mustered up some energy and stood up. Malcolm's clothes were covered in dirt and the pants were ripped at the knee. She changed into her nightdress. She shut her closet quickly. It hurt her to see the thousands of dresses gathering dust in there.

For public occasions, she wasn't allowed to wear the same dress more than once. She knew that any other teenager would kill to be in her position, but not Caroline. She just wanted to be normal. She wanted to climb trees and run like a wild thing through the streets and not care who saw. But most of all, she wanted to not be Queen anymore. But she had no choice.

Caroline's parents had died when she was 10. They were assassinated while they were on a hunting trip. Caroline was supposed to die too, but it was her birthday, so they had let her stay home and play with Malcolm. But all that stopped when the news came that her parents were dead. No more frivolous playing and no more open friendliness with the servants. The Prime Minister tracked her down she was sworn in as the new sovereign ruler of Gower the following week. If she had known what she knew now, she would never have signed that piece of paper where she pledged to rule until she died.

What was the point of having magic if it wasn't powerful enough to get her out of this place? All she could do was what she had done to Mackenzie and the guards.

Caroline sat at her vanity and brushed the knots out of her hair. Her hair was golden blond and fell in curls down to her shoulders. It was the distinctive hair of the rulers of Gower. It was annoying at times when she wanted to be incognito, but she usually loved it.

Caroline knew that the Ladies would come first thing in the morning and fuss over her. They were stupid women, all of them. They were the wives or mistresses of cabinet ministers who wanted to pretend to be involved in politics. All they did was gossip and treat Caroline like a doll that they could dress up. She wanted to minimize the amount of time that she had to spend with them, so she cleaned herself up as best she could.

Suddenly, there was a ripping sound from behind her. She whirled around and saw a person wearing a hooded cloak climbing out of a crack in the wall that wasn't there a second ago. The person pushed back the hood and turned and Caroline screamed.

It was a girl, and she looked just like Caroline.