A small crowd was gathered in the courtyard of Wargrave Castle, the capitol of the country of Tormin. The king and queen were seeing off their daughter, the princess Arysta.
"I still am not happy about this," the king said, his face a dark frown.
The pretty young woman hugged her father with a smile. "I'm not a little girl anymore father. I can handle myself. If the rebels want to talk, it is important that we talk. It's too dangerous for you or mother to go."
"But how do we know they won't harm you?" the king asked.
"How can we expect them to trust us if we do not show a little trust in them first?" Arysta asked. 
"Besides sire, that is why I am going with her," Chancellor Fredrick.
Arysta's smile vanished, replaced with a frown. "Actually you are going in a separate car along a different route," she pointed out.
"Of course, as part of the plan," the chancellor said, bowing his head to her. "I am going on the main road, in the royal car, whilst you, milady, go along a back route in an unmarked car. That way, if the rebels are planning anything treacherous, you will be out of danger."
"I am well aware of your plan," Arysta said shortly and turned back to her parents. "Everything will be fine," she assured them as her mother hugged her. 
"Return to us swiftly and safely my dear," the queen said.

Arysta got into the unmarked car with just the driver for company and the chancellor got into the royal car with several bodyguards. The place where they wanted to meet was inside the rebel territory, but on the edge.
As they set off it gave Arysta time to think about what she was going to say to the rebels. She needed to be firm, yet kind. She needed to show them that the royal family did care about their subjects and were willing to discuss whatever they wished in order to keep the peace.
It really was a mystery to her how this whole rebellion got started. She didn't understand. They had always been a peaceful country. Her father was a good and honest king who care for his subjects. Then, suddenly, this rebellion sprung up, accusing the royal family of hoarding things and overtaxing the people in order to maintain their extravagant lifestyle, that the king watched as his subjects suffered. There had been a few lean years recently, but nothing to warrant such intense hatred of the crown. Maybe it was something she would be able to discuss with them, find out what the root of this upset truly was.

She leaned back in the seat, closing her eyes and relaxing for the trip to the border...

~~~~~~~~
[i]The little girl sat in her room, humming as she drew in her sketch book. Her father, the king, entered. 
"What are you doing my child?"
"Drawing."
The king's smile faltered. "I thought we talked about your drawings."
"They aren't real," the child said automatically, reciting what had been told to her countless times. "They are only in my mind. But Daddy, I can't help it. He asked to be drawn."
"He?"
The child nodded, holding up the drawing with a smile. "His name is Belias. He's my new friend."
The king looked upon the drawing, trying to hide his disgust. It was of a large red creature that looked to be part bull, part ram and part man. How could such an ugly creature come from the mind of his sweet child?
The king took the sketch book from her and closed it. "I think you are spending too much time with your... 'friends' Arysta. I do not want you to speak of them again. If they appear in your mind, you are to push them away. Do you understand?"
The child nodded sadly. "But Daddy-"
"I am serious. No more creatures. No more drawings. It isn't safe."
The little girl held back tears and nodded. "Yes Daddy..."
After he left, her friends roared inside her head in protest but she pushed them away as she had been told.
"I'm sorry," she whimpered, crying as their roars grew fainter. "I'm sorry..."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~`

Arysta jerked awake. It wasn't just the bad dream that had awoken her. The car had come to a stop.
"Stay here milady," the driver ordered. "The tires have been shot."
Shot? By who? And why?
The driver pulled a gun from his jacket. But the next instant his body jerked as a shot came through the window. Arysta screamed as blood sprayed across the seat from the bullet hole in his forehead. She clamped a hand over her mouth to stifle the scream.

Moments later footsteps could be heard outside.
"I heard her scream. She's in there."
"Well then go and get her. We don't have all day. And try to be gentle. She's not supposed to be hurt. Not yet anyway."
"Gentle. Right." These words were followed by a chuckle that made her blood run cold. Arysta looked around for some kind of weapon. All she had within reach were her shoes. The heels weren't that high, but they were thin enough to harm someone. She pulled off one and held it ready. She jumped when the door handle was shot off, destroying the lock. It was then wrenched open and the head of a large ugly man appeared. "Come out, come out princ-"
He was cut off by a blinding pain to his right eye, He fell backward, clutching his face and howling in pain. The heel of the shoe had cut the side of his face. An inch more over and she would have hit his eye.
"Bitch!" he shouted as she scrambled past him and tried to run. She threw her other shoe at the second man as she went, but didn't notice the third until it was too late. He caught her in his arms and held her firmly as she fought. He laughed. "And here we thought we were going to get a whimpering female. Nice surprise eh boys?"
"Speak for yourself," the injured one said. "I'm going to make you regret that you little bitch."

Arysta clawed at the arm of the man who held her. "Behave," he said, smoothing her hair back from her face. "Or we might have to disobey those orders not to hurt you."
"I am not going to roll over and play dead for you," she stated and threw her head back.
Her captor shouted in pain as the back of her head struck his nose. She heard it break. Her head was pounding and she felt dizzy but she took the opportunity to run anyway. She managed to make it to some rocks large enough to hide behind. But she knew it wouldn't be long before they found her, and they would be very, very angry as well.

Arysta began to pray to whatever god or goddess that happened to be listening. She prayed for help.