Chapter 2

There was a look of pain on her face. They had had this conversation a million times before but Gwen never understood her view enough to back down. 

"And what do you plan to do Gwen? What is your master plan in taking the Queen?"

"I will join the army. Stop her from winning over Estril and then remove her from the throne."

Her mother gave her an incredulous look. "That does not make sense Gwendolynn, you will be killed if you are found as a traitor in the army. Think this through."

Gwen nodded. "I know, and that's why I'm planning to join the Estrillian army."

There was silence. And then her mother chuckled a bit.

"That's ridiculous. You won't be able to cross the border let alone get allowed into the army of the enemy. They would think that you are a spy or kill you on the spot. And even if that didn't happen the word would spread of someone from Paria-Drae joining the Estril army and someone from Estril could try to kill you for it."

And after her mother spoke that was the end of their conversation. Gwen went to her room after washing her hands vigorously. Her mother continued with the fish and she got lost in thought as she walked into her room. Gwen sat next to her window and looked over at the gloomy town. The window and frosted up and she drew some shapes on it. She faced the opposite direction of the castle so she could not continue to glare at it and hope that it crumbled to the ground. She was glad that it was not there and did not ruin the view she had 

She went into her mother's library and looked around for books about the geography of their continent, Eubain. 

Gwen continued to look through the book and take note of other things and as she was scrolling she came across information on Estril. Before the entire deal of war, she was not really interested in the country. All she knew about then was that their army was significantly smaller than theirs and so they didn't stand a chance and that they were backward and needed the rule of Paria-Drae. So basically the nonsense this country was spouting. And that they mined for gold. Which was why the greedy bitch wanted the country in the first place.

Gwen snorted at the thought and continued to flip through the pages. There was a page that had information about the army in Estril, she skimmed over it quickly but there was something that caught her eye. The address of the army base.

Joining the army was the only way she found she could help her country. One extra hand to help in the battle against evil. Because Estril, and Naudis, their northeastern neighbor, speak the same language as Paria-Drae it is easy for the three countries to communicate. Unlike the other two countries of their continent, Schneir and Marteas, who have their own. There had to be something that she could do. A way to get to Estril without being killed in the process.

Going to Naudis to get to Estril was a possibility since they also bordered the country, but the problem was that Paria-Drae had their support in case of anything. The other two countries, Schneir and Marteas were silent in their answers for support but it was obvious that they stood with Estril. The diplomatic relations between them and Paria-Drae had not always been the best.

They had not said anything about siding with either country and looked to just want to stay out of it. With Paria-Drae in the center of Eubain, every country bordered her. And so Schneir and Marteas were in danger of an attack if they said anything the Queen didn't want to hear.

Gwen sat on the floor with her gaze fixed on the address and her fingernail wedged between two teeth as and her brain trying to calculate a plan.

"Gwen,"

Surprised that she did not hear any approaching footsteps, she looked up and saw her stepfather. He gazed down at her with a warm smile.

"Come one, eat some lunch."

She got up and left the book on the floor after memorizing the page number. This was one step forward for her, she was going to join the army and get there safely. It was only a matter of time.

Estril was the lucky country of our continent who got blessed with gold. She was small but held alot of value and that was how the country was able to stay on top of things and support its people. But after some gold was found in the rivers that connected Paria-Drae and Estril, the Queen, and her usual Queenly fashion wanted to take possession of the river.

The thing is, that when the countries were being established and breaking into themselves, the people who lived in Estril got possession of the river. The Queen attempted to try and take Paria-Drae's side of the river and even made the excuse that because Estril mines for gold and is filled with it they should just give up the entire river. But she was denied any access to the river. It is illegal for any person from Paria-Drae to trespass on Estril's property without permission.

Angered the Queen came up with all these lies and excuses as to why they should be in charge of the river and be able to get some gold too. And over time, it escalated to where they are today. The Queen wanted complete control over the country. Honestly, Gwen was surprised she had not been assassinated by now. She was extremely selfish and so blatantly in the wrong here. But it seemed that her face was so thick that she saw nothing wrong with her actions.

After lunch, Gwen left the house. The rain had stopped but the air was still damp. She did not have any friends and so she always wandered around by herself. Her mother kept her mostly indoors when she was a child but as Gwen got smarter she was allowed to leave more. The towns kids would try to make friends with her but ignored them. She had a goal and did not want to have any distractions.

Although she thought about the Queen an unhealthy amount she also looked to take walks and look at the scenery. Their town, Sinope, was fairly large and so it took her a while to walk through the entire thing. There would be cars going through the streets and people selling their things on the side. School children would be playing dangerously close to the road and their mothers would be screaming after them.

At one point, Gwen found it suffocating because of all the people but she found it charming after some time and liked the constant rush of things. Their town was always awake, no matter what time it was.

Her mind wandered to Estril and their army but she fought to put those thoughts aside for a second and just focused on the present. She was so wound up that she became so stressed and anxious easily. After the conversation, she needed became a little bit more somber and needed some time to gather her thoughts.

She needed to get across the border but she did not know how. With everything going on, the border guards will be much more strict on who gets to leave or not. She did have a reason for leaving but it's a treasonous reason that could get her killed. She needed a reason to get across the border but for now, she just needed a way to get across. The rest she will figure out later.

Gwen could not go straight from Paria-Drae to Estril and so it would be best if she went to Naudis first. Although Naudis was supporting Paria-Drae, the citizens of the country definitely did not. There was so much hate for the Queen in all the other countries that it was surprising there was not an uprising of people to take her down yet.

Getting into Naudis should be easier and then from there, she should be able to get into Estril. But there was another problem with that plan. On her identification card, her birth name was Gwendolynn Aelisia. Aelisia was not an uncommon name in Paria-Drae but with the way she looked, it would obviously raise some questions.

Going to the border and requesting to leave with a name like Aelisia and a face like the Queen would definitely get her held and questioned, so she needed a name change. Temporary and quick. She needed a fake identification card. And she had an idea where to find it.

Gwen turned around as the idea settled in her head. A small smile of triumph was on her face and she clutched her clothes tighter as she walked to her new destination.

In a poorly painted two-story house just down the road from her lived Mr. Rickeys. He was a strange man in his fifties, mostly kept to himself, and gave anyone that met gazes with him goosebumps. There were numerous rumors about him. Some stating that he was a runaway criminal from another country, others saying he was an old army vet that took to living in the city by himself. Whatever the truth was, Gwen knew that he should be able to help her.