He took her, 
He took her, 
He gave her away, 
I gave her my heart, 
and she couldn’t stay. 

We caught up to the other two at the edge of town and headed straight for the river. They didn’t say a word. The young prince yawned, and the king faced forward thinking hard. We travelled a long way down the riverbank, going further than I ever ventured from the town in a matter of minutes.

Were servants all they wanted from the many townsfolk that they kidnaped over the years? Why didn’t they just send out a notice to hire them? Why did none of them come back? Why are they doing this? Why can’t I just go home?

For a castle that size, it was no wonder that they needed more servants. It loomed over us in the distance from beyond the river. Though, something was different. The castle was not glowing white as it usually did. It was dark. It was pulsing. A deep inky blackness seeped out from underneath it, filling the skies around it, breaching into Eventide. I looked behind us. The darkness was receding, being swallowed back up by the castle. The night was closing in on our heels. I could see evening just a fraction of a second away from me. So close. I could fall off the horse and run to it. But I did not.

I stared as my town withdrew into the distance. The only place I have ever known since my birth. I swallowed what felt like a howl wanting to come out of my throat and turned back around.

The castle did not seem to grow bigger or smaller as we rode on. It was unusual to see it so dark, gloomy and foreboding. I was used to seeing it brightly shining.

A few minutes later we rode to where the river began to widen. It snaked out larger and larger until it was the size of a large lake. I gasped. I could not help myself. It was beautiful.

It sparkled silver and blue. It smelled faintly of a cool summer’s breeze and like water and grass.

There were a bunch of criss-crossing white wooden planks that spread across the river. It formed a bridge, albeit a complicated maze of a bridge, with dead ends and odd angles.

Underneath it all you could make out the silver trees, deep underwater. Their branches tossing gently, swaying on the water’s current. I thought I saw a glimmer of its citizens below, swimming through the trees. I wondered what would happened if I jumped into the water. Would they take me there instead? Would I be free from the king? Or was it a fate worse then what was about to befall me?

“A previous prince did this once,” the king said looking at my confused expression. He turned back to stare at the river. “Long ago. A great uncle of mine. He was in love. Then my own sister added to his malarkey. She too was in love. And love, sometimes makes you do strange and complicated things.” He looked at the river.

“Yes, it does indeed.” He stared down at the river and seemed bitter. “Come,” the king said, marching us forward. “Now is not the time for contemplating, or the time for dalliance. The night fades.”

The horses crossed the bridge without any problem. They knew the route; it was no strange thing to them. I tried to remember the way they came. Left, right, straight, forward. But it was all too much to take in. The way was too complex. Before I realised, we had crossed to the other side, and I had left the only home I ever knew.