"And, what if. . . What are you if the people who are supposed to love you can leave you like you're nothing?"

THREE YEARS AGO
31ST AUGUST, 2000

Thirsty. Starving. Worn-out.

These were the only things on her overanxious mind as the young girl abruptly jolted up, a small patch of cold mire pasted to her forehead from slumbering on the ground of the wild.

She forecasted for her eyes to greet the accustomed dull colours of her bedroom, yet, was met with a surprise when she awoke to nothing but trees and dead grass, instead.

Blinking rapidly as though waiting for her head to snap out of what she believed was one of her common dreams of freedom, Ivy gasped slightly. Why was she still out here? Why hadn't her mother angrily called for her to come downstairs yet? Why hadn't her irritating brother begun his usual morning torture?

Upon glancing down, she could see that rather than her small — but, still comfortable — mattress and soft blankets, her body was laying on a pile of crunchy leaves while her head rested on a small dirty pillow against the tree behind her. The young girl could feel her breath hitching for the second time as she took another glimpse of her strange surroundings.

Where in the world am I?

Ivy snapped her attention from left to right before it eventually docked on her arm once she felt something lively crawling on it. Choking out a shocked wheeze, the girl instantly reached forward, slapping the massive insect out of her skin. How long had she been sleeping here?

Oh. . . right.

A minor bitter chuckle left her mouth as she sat up straight with a paining back, evoking unpleasant memories of running away from the kingdom. All she'd done was end up in a much more horrid situation — she was beginning to realize that now. Such a tremendous mistake she'd made. Nobody ever attempted to flee the kingdom and now, she understood why.

The nearest habitable space was so far away. It took several hours just to get through the forest itself before arriving at the Ocean of Miren. There, a ship was to be taken to sail across the vast water. But, before even getting to that point, paying good money to order a ship to await your arrival was a must. Ivy slapped her forehead. What had she been thinking?

How could she have abandoned the kingdom with no sort of plan for travel nor survival?

Aside from the Royals themselves, the only reason anyone ever stepped out here nowadays was to chop down trees and collect wood. Ivy recalled how the Royals' visits to other neighbourly kingdoms frequently took days before they reached their destinations. The Royals would come back to their kingdom and fill everyone's ears with stories of their long, arduous journey. Ivy's kingdom was right in the middle. Often, other kingdoms would have to pass through it in order to get to the kingdom they were travelling to.

Wait a minute—!

The young girl's concentration drove to her left leg, taking immediate notice of how it was cleaned and neatly bandaged, unlike how it'd been before. Ivy gradually lifted the wounded leg off the ground and waved it about to see if it still hurt just as it used to when she'd injured it.

This time, rather than a bitter chuckle, a light, satisfied laugh left her dry mouth. Before she'd passed out from the exasperating pain, her leg had been throbbing with anguish ever since she accidentally wounded it during her walk through the trees and their poking, sharp branches. Currently, only one question lingered in Ivy's head. Who had bandaged her leg?

As if Mother Nature had read her mind, a new sudden, delicious scent filled her nose. Perhaps, it was the hunger speaking, but, the air around her seemed to turn fragrant, as if packed with the aroma of goodies and flowers. The next thing she knew, her dirty, worn-out legs broke into a run, steering her body towards the smell.

Seconds later, the young girl was breathing heavily in both exhaustion and relief upon setting eyes on a tiny cabin established not too far from where she was standing. Grinning at the miraculous discovery, she headed towards it. This was good. Too good.

The question of who'd assisted her when in trouble left her mind, in a flash. Mayhap, it wasn't such a mistake running away, after all.

She still had a chance to turn her miserable life around. Live in the wild all by herself with absolutely nobody around to judge her for her status? It sounded too good to be true.

Ivy came to yet another pause when the door of the cabin — which looked like it was ready to fall apart at any second — unexpectedly opened and an elderly woman trudged out with two large bowls of what smelt like soup in her hands. Of course! How idiotic she was to believe she was alone. At the end of the day, someone had bandaged her leg.

This must be who saved my life. Standing rooted to her spot as the realization echoed in her head, Ivy's eyes rushed down to the bowls. She's carrying two. Is someone else here?

Most importantly, could she trust this woman? Yes, she was a saviour, yet, on the other hand, Ivy had often overheard people in the kingdom speak so unfavourably about outsiders. She was uncertain about the definition of the term, but surely, they had to be hazardous, correct? This woman could have easily been one of them.

Then again, I, at least, owe her my gratitude.

Only when the woman glanced up and sighted her standing there did Ivy begin to move again. She contemplated dashing off as soon as they both made eye contact, but, when the woman's lips curved slightly into a small smile, Ivy walked forward, instead. The elderly woman gently placed the two bowls down. "I see you're awake. I'm glad you're feeling well."

"T-thank you." Ivy cautiously turned her head around, taking a scan of the environment. "Is someone else here, by any chance?"

"Just sweet Snow," said the woman, nodding over to the cabin. As though on cue, a tiny neigh sounded, followed by an animal coming out of hiding from behind the structure.

"You have a horse?!" As if this day couldn't get any more promising. Ivy's heart thumped with excitement as the prepossessing snow-white animal gracefully ambled towards her. Laughing out loud with glee, the young girl lightly caressed the back of the horse, feeling its soft, white fur. "I didn't think I'd ever see one of these beautiful creatures again."

The elderly woman gradually lowered her body to the ground and took a seat before pushing one of the bowls Ivy's way. "You're fortunate I ran into you while searching for logs to start a fire," she informed, bringing her own bowl to her lips. "Tell me, little one. Why are you out here all by yourself? Has nobody ever warned you how dangerous it is out here?"

"Oh, please." Ivy chuckled, not peeling her eyes away from the animal in front of her. "The dangers of the wild is one of the only things the kingdom ever speaks about." She was instantly weighed down by dread recalling the days she and her friends had planned to abandon the kingdom together. None of them ever actually got the chance to go through with it.

Ivy turned her head and wordlessly watched as the woman swallowed every last bit of the soup hungrily. She was almost afraid when she childishly believed for a second that the woman was going to devour the bowl itself.

Speculating the young girl's diffidence getting in the way of her speaking, the woman carried on. "I was going to bring you in, but, figured I should clean up first before doing so. It is a cluster in there." She chortled to herself as she glanced over at the small cabin. Her eyes then diverted down to the second bowl still yet to be touched. "Drink, child. You must be starving."

Ivy wavered once again, yet, there was nothing hazardous she could find about the woman's sweet smile and attitude. Plus, if she couldn't trust this elderly, where else was she going to go? How else was she meant to survive? Going back to the kingdom now was undoubtedly out of the question. She was certain to be executed for abandoning the place.

Heaving a frustrated sigh, Ivy reached for the bowl. First, she tasted the content with the tip of her tongue, as if waiting for the dish to explode in her face, out of nowhere. However, picking up the sound of her stomach grumbling angrily again caused her to take a sip. Ivy couldn't help but release a satisfied sigh after a drop of the toothsome soup drowned down her throat, and before she knew it, she was gulping down the entire broth.

"Again, what are you doing out here?"

Ivy faced the woman, who stared back at her with patient eyes. Her shoulders slumped down in defeat as she prepared her answer.

"I ran away from hom— Wait, no." She paused, scoffing to herself at the fact the word 'home' had almost slipped through her lips. "I ran away from the kingdom," Ivy corrected. "I couldn't handle the fate I'd been dealt with, so, I just—"

"You just gave up?"

Ivy's face scrunched into a frown, pondering over what the woman meant by her question. "Well. . . I just couldn't take it any longer. What else could I have done? Continue to take the beatings?" Nothing but awkwardness lingered about after her response. Was the woman secretly deriding her? "I had to leave."

"You haven't got an Amulet, have you?"

Laughter shot out of the woman's mouth when the younger didn't reply. It almost sounded contemptuous. Ivy wondered what was so hilarious about being a shunned child. It was a tremendous burden, a constant reminder that she was nothing. The Powerless beings were never cared for, and neither were they given enough to properly care for themselves.

Take Miss. Raven for example. She was a sweet lady who lived just across from Benecia. Her husband had recently passed away from wicked labour, and now, the woman was left alone to take care of her sick, dying son.

Holders could have easily assisted in bettering the woman's torturous life. There were hundreds of trained Healers who could have effortlessly treated her son. Yet, why would they? They were Holders, for crying out loud. Powerless beings were only seen as servants. It didn't matter how many of them left the world, just as long as there were still more than hundreds to work for Holders every day.

"Inflicting pain on someone incapable of doing the same to you might seem intolerably cruel, but it happens more than you might think," Ivy told the woman before her, her eyebrows forming a glare. "You mustn't laugh at that!"

"Well, of course, I know that," the elderly woman proceeded, grunting afterwards as she slowly made her way up from the ground. "I used to dwell in Albagard, as well. Not possessing an Amulet is the reason you abandoned the kingdom, is it not? You must have been cast out. . . treated differently. Oh, believe me, I understand how that feels."

Ivy wanted to correct the woman, inform her that she hadn't just left because she wasn't born a Holder, but she'd fled the cruel kingdom because she'd witnessed the suffering of her people and couldn't stand it any longer. Regardless, those weren't the words that left her mouth. "You haven't got an Amulet, either?"

With her soup-stained lips pressed together, the woman held back, as though going over her response in her head before saying it out loud. "It's not that I don't possess an Amulet," she started, swiping a thumb over her lips. "I didn't think it would happen, but, I received my Amulet just two days before I turned seven. How lucky is that? Two days more and I would have been labelled a definite Powerless."

"So, why is it that you're out here?"

The woman sighed, her hands resting on her waist. "My sister wasn't as fortunate. I can still recollect memories of my parents praying every day, but, the prayers did them no good. Our parents were very biased when it came to the two of us, constantly on my sister's side while treating me like I was some rag. When they found out I was the one out of the both of us who got the gift of an Amulet, they grew furiously dissatisfied."

Parents who are biased before the appearance of Amulets? Ivy couldn't believe what she was hearing. Most of the time, parents only ever selected favourites based on which one of their children received their Amulets. If all of them did, then favourites were chosen depending on who'd obtained theirs first.

Benecia and Delyth would often sit her down and fill her ears with stories of these biased families, some of whom they'd encountered during work. One child would be handed so many gifts, while the other was given half of whatever the favourite child was given.

The excuse behind that revolting behaviour was, "But your sibling received their Amulet first. You should have been faster." For some reason, Holders believed the appearance of Amulets could be controlled, when in fact, it'd been proven more than once that it was utterly impossible to know when your Amulet was coming, and, for Mixed beings, if it was coming.

Ivy had never once heard of parents who chose favourites before Amulets made their arrivals.

"My parents urged me to hand the Amulet to my sister, claiming she deserved it more than I did. Year after year, I refused. This was the first time I'd ever done the opposite of what my own family requested of me, but as weeks passed, the guilt grew less. It felt nice watching them feel so defeated. Even if they stole my Amulet, they couldn't use any of its powers without my consent."

Did they steal it anyway? There was no pendant around the woman's neck, so, the assumption was the very first to emerge in Ivy's mind.

"They threatened to get rid of me, and that was the last straw, which is why I finally handed the Amulet over. . . Or, at least, they believed I did."

Intrigued with her story, Ivy shifted closer, the young girl's mouth slightly opened with puzzlement. Various questions clouded her mind as to how the woman got away from her dreadful family and where the Amulet was now.

"Before they could find out I'd created a perfect replica of my Amulet, I'd already taken off. I was finally out of that despicable kingdom with not a single soul around to treat me like a slave."

None of what the woman had just said answered any of Ivy's questions. In fact, the words only made her even more confused. However, she suppressed the urge to interrupt and allowed the woman to continue.

"There were some complications while I was trying to escape, unfortunately. It ended with me committing a crime so odious that my Amulet served my punishments and—"

"Wait! No, stop." Presently, Ivy couldn't stand it any longer. She bolted up from the ground, folding her arms afterward with the biggest judgemental expression melted to her dirty face. "Your Amulet did what?" After that ridiculous story, how could she be so certain the woman could be trusted now? "Amulets don't serve punishments. They're solely there to give you powers. Why are you making fabrications?"

"I understand why you would say that—"

"And, how can you make replicas of Amulets?" the girl added, ignoring the woman's attempt to speak. "Yes, some look the same, but, there is always something different about each Amulet in existence. What is the point in telling me this lie?" Ivy scoffed. "You just met me." Now, it made sense why the woman's Amulet wasn't around. She didn't have one.

Yet, in spite of the accusations Ivy threw her way, the woman remained calm, a small smile appearing on her face. The sight of the smile made Ivy's skin crawl.

"One of my punishments is Old Age," said the woman, picking up from where she left off and entirely disregarding the questions Ivy had spluttered out. "You see me as an elderly woman, but I'm actually in my thirties. It took quite a long while to eventually adjust to the Amulet and the penalties it bestowed to me."

Only after those words were uttered did it eventually dawn to Ivy that she was speaking about the Golden Amulet. All pendants came in different shapes, sizes, colours, and designs. Amongst them was one known as the Golden Amulet, a well-known necklace that was frequently talked about year after year. The Golden Amulet was the only pendant that could have done any of what the woman had just said, yet, Ivy's confusion was still not cleared.

The Golden Amulet was already taken by Queen Matilda. How could this woman in front of her claim she had it in her possession, then?

"This must be fate. . ." The woman's voice trailed off after that short, puzzling sentence. Her hand gradually made its way to Ivy before resting on one of the girl's shoulders. "I don't believe it was a coincidence that I stumbled upon you. My Amulet most definitely led me to you. That is how I found you. I just know it."

Ivy hoped the woman could sense the turmoil and fear emitting from her. Had it truly been a mistake abandoning the kingdom and allowing this woman near her?

"Don't worry, little one." She caressed Ivy's left cheek slowly. "I hope I'm not frightening you. Soon, it's all going to make sense to you too. Have a little faith."

Faith?

How could Ivy have a little faith when that was the one thing she was presently lacking?