Erica

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Erica's heart was pounding to the rhythm of the horse's hooves as they hit the ground in the controlled canter.

With each step taken her heart began to sink.

Would this really be her life?

Would she always have to ran away and hide?

She tightened her fisted hands on the reins, her knuckles turning white as she reached the outskirts of the city.

She briefly halted the horse taking one last glance at the magnificent buildings and Palace. The city was truly beautiful. It held so many memories, both good and bad.

Taking a deep breath, she turned to leave. She was about to urge the horse into a fast-paced canter again but stopped upon hearing its heavy breathing.

The animal had cantered none-stop for a high number of kilometres on hard terrain. No matter how physically fit it was trained, the journey had been rough on its stamina and needed some time to recover.

Erica gave the powerful beast a gentle calming pat on its neck thanking it for carrying her so far. The horse grunted and began carrying her across the large farmlands and eventually deep into the woods, it's strong legs taking wide fast paced steps.

Erica was surprised that no one was chasing her. She had purposefully gone the opposite direction of the Port Town of Canterbre but planned to loop back at a later stage once she had lost any tail that might have been chasing her.

She subconsciously gave a smile. Walter must have had something to do with this.

Her brother had surprised her by helping her. Her heart warmed at his actions. She just hoped that he would be okay. She hated the fact that he might be caught and punished on her behalf.

She was startled from her thought at the sound of heavy hooves nearing. Someone was galloping towards her, and they were gaining ground quickly.

Not wasting a moment, she pushed her horse into a powerful gallop. She needed to put distance between them as much as she possibly could but whoever it was, was catching up fast.

"Wait!" She heard them shout out.

She recognised that voice. She briefly looked over her shoulder almost afraid to confirm it. It was the King.

She was relieved that he was okay, but this was overpowered by fear. From the way he was chasing her only meant one thing.

He believed that she had tried to kill him. He was out for revenge. He wanted to hurt her again.

Her chest ached at these thoughts as she pushed forward allowing the heart to overcome her.

Why could she not be left alone?

Why does everyone want to hurt her?

What she ever done to deserve this?

"Erica, please!" He called again.

Erica's heart was pounding as she pushed on, refusing to stop as they zigzagged through the trees. Everything began to get blurry.

She didn't know if it was the speed that they were going or the tears clouding her eyes. She squeezed them shut trying to urge away the pain.

When she opened them again, she was almost given the fright of her life when a low hanging branch almost took her out. She was fortunate enough to duck in time.

Aleric was having a hard time seeing. With his swollen eyes and the darkness of the night, he was not as fortunate as Erica and hit the low branch.

It was as if everything was moving in slow motion. The impact knocked him clean off his horse and onto the hard ground. Upon impact, he hit his head.