Snippet #2031964

Two guards in black came from in the palace. Sam rarely saw people wearing such dark clothes; most people in her kingdom wore clothes to match the forest: dark greens or brown, other than royalty; they usually wore white. Sam clenched her jaw, remembering the pack of bow and arrows on her back and the dagger underneath her dress. She couldn't help being wary of the guards with their tight lips and cold eyes. She could hear their heartbeats, steady and clear, as they greeted her. They moved loudly, boots banging against the ground and their clothes rustling. She dismounted Shadow and a man led him away, the horse glancing back at Sam. The ground was damp and cold beneath her bare feet, but she relished in it, being so close to the natural world.

The guards led her forward, both of them almost a foot taller than her, through the metal gates and into the palace. She moved silently across the marble floor so even her sensitive ears couldn't hear her footsteps, especially beside the guards' stomping feet. She wondered what she looked like to them; beautiful, graceful, vulnerable? She wondered if she looked as animal-like as she felt. She pulled of her cloak and found her blazing hair had been successfully kept from the rain. Someone offered her a towel but she declined, enjoying the feel of the damp silk against her pale skin.

The guards led her into a wide room with stone columns supporting the ceiling, miles above her. The guards motioned for her to take a seat on the cushioned recliner along the wall. She complied, but found the bench less comfortable than Shadow's back and definitely colder. She knotted her hands in her lap, trying not to fidget. She wanted to like this place, especially if she was to stay here for a long time, but it was hard to keep her thoughts from thinking about the freedom of her home, about gliding silently through the forest after a deer, bow and arrow at the ready. "What am I doing here?" She asked the guard, meaning in this room, but if he could answer why she was here that would be nice too.