[I will sacrifice my body and soul for you.]

__________

Sheraton, Ubir, and I worked together to pack our road trip. My lackeys are relatively average for a stereotypical novel like this. Ubir looked rather plain with his short brown hair and brown eyes. 

However, compared to everyone I've met so far, the poor guy looked like an unnamed extra. All of the Dukes and Princes were ridiculously attractive. Crazy attractive and crazy rich, a deadly combo for a girl’s resolve. 

I must stay far away from these guys for my self-preservation and sanity!

I wished that I knew how long Sheraton and Ubir have been with Fellanie so that I could act appropriately. I was not quite ready to be outed as a body squatter yet.

 We packed a wooden crate of smoked ham and crackers. I also brought a wheel of cheese to put in my cracker sandwiches. I call them Dinnerables.  

The plain black carriage had the Misdemeanir family crest on the door. 

 Plush navy upholstery lined the lacquered black wooden interior. The thick red drapes hung over the door windows provided adequate privacy. The padded carriage bench was okay; I missed the memory foam from modern time.

 How can I get home? Can I even get home? 

 Who are these people, and how do I know who to trust?

After I awoke in this body, I read her memories like a book. This world's language, geography, and history were outlined and archived in this mind. I could pull those memories even if they were from a decade ago.

However, anything personal that happened over a year ago was gone. I could only comb through the past year's events. I needed more information on relationships.

A year's worth of written memories was not enough to evaluate the level of trust in a relationship. 

Is there a way for me to read more of her past?

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath to calm my mind. The cool air filled my lungs, and the darkness distracted me from the constant anxiety of being found out and executed. 

The wheels and hooves' rumbling, creaks, and squeaks faded into muffled drumming after we drove off the main stone roads. The steady subdued sound filled my mind as I kept my eyes closed.

**********

 Fellanie's small body shivered, and her teeth chattered as the snow continuously fell. There was only about a foot of snow blanketing the frozen ground, but that was enough to reach halfway up her thighs.

A gentle quiet cloaked the land as the skies darkened. She was alone, towered by snow-covered pines. She wandered until she saw a small light flickering in the distance. The screeching winds occasionally surged, and the silence following them haunted the land.

Finally, she made it to a small cave. A boy with black hair and red eyes sat by the campfire. He looked to be about a few years older than Fellanie.

"Who are you?" He demanded as he glared at her.

"U-umm m-my name is Fellanie Anne Misdemeanir, what is yours?" She tried to curtsey, but her frozen limbs only allowed her to bow her head.

"I'm Darq. Go home. This is no place for a kid like you." He furrowed his eyebrows and turned back to the fire.

"I c-c-can't. I'm lost." Fellanie took a small step towards him. Her foot slid, and her arms flew out to steady herself. She stopped, thankful that she didn't slip and embarrass herself in front of a stranger. She looked down and saw slick, dark crimson liquid under her feet. Her heart raced, and her breathing quickened at that sight.

"I can't help you. I'm on a mission. Go away."

"You don't have to help me." Fellanie put on a brave front and sat down beside the boy.

"Did I say you could sit down?" He frowned and pushed her lightly. She tumbled to her side, her coordination not yet recovered from the cold. 

"You're so weak," he spat as he looked down at her, his voice full of annoyance.

"I'm not weak! And I won't stay for free. I'll g-give you these," she responded as she reached into her pocket. She took out a handful of hard candies, picked out the purple ones, and then handed the rest of the colorful candies to him.

He looked at the candies in his hand, then at her purple candies, "the purple ones are the only good ones. I don't want the ones you gave me."

"B-but the purple ones are my dinner. I'll starve without them!!" She cried at him. She dramatically clutched the purple candies in her mittens and mustered up the saddest face that she could make. 

"You can't stay then. I don't want a weak baby near me." He crossed his arms and grimaced.

"I'm six years old, and I'm not a baby!" She glared at him as she turned around to hide her purple candies.

"Don't care. Purple candies, or you leave," the rude boy demanded.

She stood in silence as she weighed dying from starvation against dying in the tundra outside.

"...fine," she said in resignation and placed all of the purple candies in his open palm.

He smirked and motioned her to come closer to the fire. Her upper body trembled as the radiant warmth of the fire defrosted her limbs.

"What's your mission?" She asked inquisitively.

"I have to survive here for a month," he casually said as he unwrapped the purple candy. He examined the polished sweet before he nodded in satisfaction and popped it in his mouth. He looked back at her with a victorious smirk.

"How?" She asked incredulously. She looked around the cave and noticed a bucket of water, a pile of blankets, and several dirty swords lying on the ground. Some snow hares were hanging from a rack made of sticks.

"I don't have to explain it to you. Go sleep."

"It's too cold. I'll die if I sleep," she complained.

"I promise you won't die. Go use the blankets behind me,” said Darq as he turned and pointed to a pile of blankets caked in mud and grime.

Fellanie wandered to the gross blankets and tucked herself in. She was too cold to complain about the dirty linens.

**********

Morning arrived, and she woke up wrapped in more blankets than she remembered falling asleep under. The boy slept on the frozen ground with his back facing her. His curled-up body and labored breathing suggested that the dying campfire did not provide enough warmth. 

She sat up and slowly inched towards him. Upon inspection, his nose, cheeks, and ears were fiery red. His coat came unfastened in his sleep, and the collar laid open. There were some black markings on his neck under the collar.

Slowed by the cold, her fingers clumsily laid a knitted pink scarf around his head. His ears twitched; she stopped.

He shifted suddenly and turned towards her, eyes still shut, his face laced with discomfort. 

 "Don't...leave me," his tiny voice quivered a stark contrast to his unwavering demeanor several hours ago. His breathing quickened, and his mouth tightened as he mumbled quietly to himself.

 She reached over and patted his hair gently. It always made her feel better when her nanny petted her. 

Darq's hand swiftly snatched her hand and pushed her down while swinging his leg up and landing back down next to her. The sudden movement unfastened her dark green hair bow, and her hair splayed around her head as he slammed her onto the ground. She laid in between his knees, stunned.

Pinned down by Darq, she yelled for him to stop. Her small, fragile arms and hands tried to push back. He pushed down harder on both of her hands and growled in response. The pink scarf finally tumbled down from the struggle. His eyes opened, and a look of fear washed away the anger.

"Don't, don't touch me!  You have to leave. Now!" He stammered as he turned away.

She stared at him, unblinking with tears in her eyes. She sat up and slowly crawled to the cave entrance. Fellanie dared not to look back or leave into the wilderness. 

They sat in silence in their respective spots until they heard dogs barking and someone yelling.

Sheraton found her with the help of hunting dogs. Fellanie asked her if they could take the boy back with them, but Sheraton shook her head. 

"We cannot interfere. We must leave now before anyone else comes here," Sheraton said as she picked up Fellanie. She held the small girl tightly and soothed her with lullabies and stories on their way home.

Fellanie left her scarf and the rest of her candies behind for the boy.

__________

 I gasped as my head jerked back.  My eyes shot open when I felt a sharp pain at the back of my head.

 After waving my arms around like a madwoman, I breathed a sigh of relief. I am an adult, and I can control my body once again. 

 What the hell was that?

I couldn't speak or move that whole time. Child Fellanie acted out the script, and I was a bystander inside her body. I had to watch from her eyes and wait for the memory to end. It felt too vivid to be a dream.  I felt the freezing cold to my core, I felt her desperation in my mind, and I felt her fear in my heart.

 Why was Darq out in the wilderness as a child? Why did Sheraton leave him? Why did Sheraton look the same today as she did 14 years ago?

That memory left me with more questions than answers.