Chapter 1

Gwen meets her future ally

Three years later

Gwen crouches up high in a tree. She is dressed in a dark green hunting outfit, blending in to her surroundings. Her face is covered by a mask the same color as her clothes and her long black hair is tied up in a bun. She looks through the trees attempting to find rest of her party, hidden just like her. She quickly spots Andrew, her right hand man, in the tree right next to her.

Suddenly, the sound of a carriage is heard and Gwen turns her attention to the ground, giving a long whistle to signal that a carriage is approaching. The moment that the carriage is in Gwen’s view she tenses up and then gives one quick whistle. She waits until the carriage is almost directly under her tree then she swiftly jumps and lands on the carriage, Andrew lands right next to her. Crouching he carefully heads to the front of the carriage to deal with the driver, he pulls out the short sword hanging from his belt, and with the handle swiftly hits the driver, knocking him unconscious, as Gwen slips into the carriage.

Once in the carriage, Gwen comes face-to-face with an unexpected surprise. Instead of nobles dressed in their silk outfits, jewels hanging off their clothes from the top of their heads to their toes, she is met with two men dressed like bandits, except they are dressed in the darkest black possible.

“Damn,” Gwen spits as she realizes that this is a set up. Gwen attempts to jump out the window, but before she can escape, a hand wraps around her ankle and yanks her back in. She kicks and punches blindly trying whatever she can do to get away, but she isn’t strong enough to fight them off. Suddenly a bag is forced onto her head, blindfolding her, then she is hit on the head, knocking her out.

While Gwen struggles inside the carriage, she doesn't know that outside her group could do nothing but watch their leader be taken. At least until they are farther away, when Andrew sends a scout to follow the carriage and report back as soon as he is able to.

Gwen wakes up a while later to a pounding headache, in a large dark empty tent. She cannot tell if there is an opening to the tent, but she notices that her arms and legs are tied up. She tries to escape from the ropes, twisting her hands to try to slide them out, but the ropes are tight leaving no room for her to slide them out.

At that moment, a ray of light comes from right in front of her, and as she looks up she can see an opening. From the opening two men enter the tent, one with a sword at his side and the other with a lamp, the tent is much higher than Gwen thought as she notices that the men stand straight.

The lamp is not bright, forcing Gwen to strain her eyes at an attempt to see the men.

“You’re awake,” says the one with the sword, as he sits on the ground in front of Gwen. The other man places the lamp down so that it is between Gwen and the sitting man.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, leader of the Foresters,” says the sitting man, leaning in. Gwen takes this chance to really examine him. She realizes he is young, about her age, she guesses, and handsome too. He has long dark hair that falls in front of his grey eyes, and an aura of authority that surrounds him. Gwen notices that he is not particularly big, but she can tell he is much stronger by the muscles that strain against his shirt.

The man notices her scrutinizing stare, and the way her eyes travel all over his body.

“Oh, are you taken aback by my handsome looks,” he says confidently, and Gwen smirks.

“No, not particularly,” she says, the man leans away, insulted.

“May, I ask sir, why am I here? What is it that you are trying to accomplish?” Gwen asks, keeping a superiority in her voice.

“Before that, I think some introductions are in order right my lady?” the man says, “As I said before, it is a pleasure to meet you. My name is Tate Richardson, leader of the Hunters.”

Gwen says nothing, examining him once again, until he becomes almost uncomfortable under her gaze.

“Nice to meet you. I am Gwendolyn, leader of the Foresters, and if you would be so kind as to release me from these ropes, I am willing to continue listening,” Gwen says patiently.

“Xander, cut the ropes,” Tate says waving his hand at Gwen.

“But sir--”

“It’s alright Xander, Miss Gwendolyn knows that if she dares try something against me her life is over, right Miss?” Tate asks, and Gwen nods in response taking a quick glance at the sword that Tate is now playing with.

Xander walks over the Gwen and cuts the ropes. She stands up, rubbing her wrists, and then she sticks out a hand to Tate, who to her surprise takes it. Once he is standing, Gwen notices how tall he is, tall enough that she is forced to look up at him, which annoys her, as she dislikes looking up at anyone.

Nevertheless, Gwen follows Tate out of the tent, and into the middle of his camp. She looks around noticing that all the Hunters live in tents similar to the one she had just been in, unlike her group that learned to use the forest as material for their camp. She follows Tate, down the middle of all the busyness of the camp, avoiding running children and women carrying bags, pots, and pans.

Tate leads her to the largest tent in the camp, with two guards standing outside, he enters and Gwen follows. Inside it is empty of people, but welcoming skins cover the floor. Tate takes a seat, patting the ground so that Gwen will do the same.

“This is a nice place,” Gwen comments, showing her appreciation.

“Thank you,” he replied, “now let's get down to business.”

“And what is this business exactly?”

“Well, as you know after the death of the king, the kingdom has only gotten worse, especially with Queen Madeline in control,” Gwen nods slowly showing that she was listening, “well my group and many other people have suffered from her ruling.” At these words Tate’s face darkens as a scowl appears on his face. Gwen watches him curiously as he struggles to control his emotions.

“What happened to you?” she asks once she can no longer wait for Tate to continue.

“My younger sister was killed during one of the Queen’s raids, when she drastically increased taxes.” Tate forces out. Gwen leans away taken aback, she’s surprised that Tate is fighting for justice for his murdered sister, having believed by the looks of him that he was just young and power hungry.

“What do you need me for then?” Gwen asks, and Tate looks at her directly, his gaze unflinching, “I need your group’s help to fight and overthrow the queen.”

Gwen stared back surprised, then she chuckled, “You think this is funny?” asked Tate.

“No, I think it’s ironic,” Gwen said.

“How?” said Tate confused.

Gwen smiled, and stuck out her hand for a handshake, “Nice to meet you, I am Gwendolyn Opel, the banished princess, and I’m glad to be of any service.”