Lightning lit the sky with a sudden wave of violent illuminating the ancient castle to the word while thunder harmonized the singing of the raging waves. Strong winds danced around the trees until even their roots were starting to waver. Even the sky was crying for what was to happen next. But yet, inside the safety of the castle, there was a sudden calm. The only sounds heard were footsteps of the occasional guard patrolling the perimeter. That is, other than the whispering within the royal nursery where the four young princesses resided.

Three candles lit the room only bright enough to see the silhouettes of the people present. The mother slowly handed her four daughters to the four women clothed in robes that matched the storm outside. “Please take care of them for me. If it hadn’t come down to this, I would never have given them up,” she pleaded as she handed her youngest over.

“Don’t worry; we will protect them with our lives. With us here, no harm can be done to even a strand of hair on their heads,” the woman on the left, the leader, vowed as the others solemnly nodded.

“Are you sure that they won’t be able to find them?” the father asked worriedly. “The girls have a special presence to them that can be tracked easily.”

“Oh! I have something that can solve that,” the mother said as she pulled out four necklaces of floral pendants from under their pillows. She walked over and gave each one to each daughter. “I had these made for them the day they were born. Each has enough power to cloud them from even the most powerful magic and can keep them safe. Along with your help, our girls should be safe.”

The sudden burst of lightning caught the leader’s attention as she turned back to the parents. “We must leave soon before the sun rises. The storm we created will only last until the first light of day. If we don’t leave the castle now, the chance to escape will be reduced to almost none.”

“Yes, you should get going. There isn’t much time left.”

When the four turned to leave, the mother yelled out “Wait” as she rushed up to see her daughters for the last time. “May your father and my love protect you forever and always.” The father came up and embraced his wife, letting her tears dampen his shirt. He and the women nodded in acknowledgement at each other before they made their way out.

They walked briskly out to the southern gate, climbed onto their horses and headed south. They didn’t stop until they were thirty miles from the castle in front of the mouth to the Great Forest. “We have about an hour left till dawn. I think it would be better that we part ways. It would not be in our advantage to stay together,” the leader said.

The rest nodded in agreement. The second said, “Then we shall part here. I shall go north, even if they do catch up to me, I can take refuge near the volcanoes.”

“I shall go west,” the third nodded.

“You go south and I, east?” the leader asked the youngest who replied, “Yes.” They all nodded and went off not even leaving a trace behind them…

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This is actually the prologue to a story I had begun writing before the bunny went into hibernation.