Beating (Book 1: Acts of the Hearth)

Chapter 1

Tired, desperate, and heartbroken, these were the only words to describe Travis as he haphazardly traversed the vast Calling Forest. The knights from his kingdom were on the hunt for him and he knew all too well why.

     His Uncle, the standing King, had revealed a dark secret about the truth of his birth. With his father sick and bedridden, there was no one who could stand as his defense against the sudden revealing.

     In the Calling Forest, thick vine covered trees sit among the inner most parts of the forest. With his quick thinking, Travis hides deep underneath the dense appendages, praying that the strolling knights not notice his presence.

     Footsteps pass him with loud rustling and pattering through the grass. Moments soon go by as he goes unnoticed by the fleeting patrol of guards. It seemed as if his fate was finally changing for the better.

     Now with his breath abate after the short rest. Travis begins to make his way out of the cluster of vines that created an opportunity to evade his pursuers. Barefooted and with nothing, save the dried blood stained shirt he wears and the shorts that have fallen to tatters, he frantically claws his fingers through each small opening among the curtain-like surface.

     Without warning, a sharp silver dagger suddenly cuts through the vines and slits between the webbing of his index and middle finger, just as he tries to get out.

     Hot blood pours from his wound and begins to slowly trickle down the purple locks of the tree. Travis holds his breath to control the pain that would otherwise cause him to flinch. In this moment, hope was all that he had left. Hope, that the owner of the dagger would overlook the obvious clue to his placement behind the vines.

     As if to mock this hope, the dagger is pulled out, and he soon hears the familiar noise of approaching footsteps that accompany the assailant with the dagger.

     “Come on out.” a voice commands through the lengthy cluster of plants. “Come out now before we have to cut you out.” it continues. Travis pulls along the vines and peeps through as he makes his way out.

     A masked person, wearing a red cloak stands before him. Their mask a yellow gold with a dark purple lining around the eye holes that were shaped like those of an owl.

     Behind them stand a group of men that number between thirty and fifty. All men that are covered in a mixture of furs, hides and armor.

     “Is this him?” the Masked One speaks out and ask, questioning their subordinate who steps forward. This beige skinned young man with short brown hair, dressed in a black stripped turtle-neck, who seems out of place from the others, nods in agreement.

     “Tie this one up!” the Masked One shouts to the small crowd behind them. “No further harm is to come to him. He’s our ticket into favor with the Kingdom of Hearth.”

     Travis’s eyes widen as the men approach, making his plea. “Please, I beg of you—hear me out!” The Masked One turns to their pleading bounty. “I hate it when the prizes talk.”

     “Please!” Travis begs once more. “I am the named Prince of the Hearth. I can and will give you anything you want from the Kingdom! Just, please help me!” he yells as loud as his body allows.

     The Masked One grabs Travis by his thick kinky hair, slams his face to the ground and runs it through the grass until it has rubbed into the soil below as they are crouched with him. The group watches with smirks on their faces; holding back laughter.

     “Alright… If what we want is the kingdom. Can you give that to us?” the Masked One ask after pulling the young man’s head back up. Travis nods as the soil bits fall from off of his face with the motion.