Hazel is running down the main corridor of the castle, her long blond hair flying behind her. There is talk among the castle that the war is about to begin, and she’s rushing to get to Rupert before he leaves. Her sprint picks up speed, causing her to rip her light red dress that hugs her thin frame. She pushes open every door along the way but does not find him in any of the rooms. After having checked all but one room, the room she never would have thought he’d go to, Hazel finds Rupert.

“My room? Why are you in my room?” Hazel questioned. “You know what, forget it, I don’t care. That is not the question I want an answer to,” she spat.

Rupert was on the edge of her bed staring at the ground. His hands were curled into the large brown duvet cover, his knuckles white because of his tight fists. His brown, curly hair was disheveled, and he was wearing his uniform. Seeing him in the dark blue fabric, fully decorated with medals used to make her weak the knees with admiration. Now, it made her weak from fear. The uniform means that the whispers are true, and it is time to start the war against Taldon. Hazel did not want to be close to him, knowing she’d curl up next to him rather than be stern with him, so she stomped to the other side of her room to her large mahogany armoire. Rupert’s gaze did not follow her as it usually did, which made her heart hurt, but she hid the tears that were threatening to spill over by making her way to her dresser and pretending to organize the contents on top of it.

“When did my peaceful home country go into a state of turmoil? When did you and my brother, who used to be like brothers, turn against each other? Do the peaceful ideals this kingdom was built on mean nothing anymore?”

He still was not looking up at her which infuriated Hazel. What made her even more angry was the fact that he wasn’t responding to anything she asked him, but she continued on.

“Rupert, this battle is not won with weapons and death,” she cried, “it is won by mending your relationships so that everyone can get along again. I don’t know what kind of plan my father believes he has but I can tell you one thing, it’s not going to end the way he wants it to. There will be bloodshed, which is something I thought this country would never let happen.”

Although she was boiling with anger, she didn’t understand why she wasn’t getting a response from him. He just sat there like a mute. He must know that she was only yelling at him because she loved him. Not only did she not want her brother to be killed, but she also couldn’t bear the thought of anything happening to Rupert. Finally, she broke down.

“Rupert!” she cried. “Answer me please. Tell me what you’re thinking, tell me anything, please. There’s got to be some way to fix this the right way. And if there’s no way to stop this war from happening, please just don’t go at all.”

Still nothing. His head continued to hang with no sign of movement. All she could see from him was his slow breaths, and then he started to move. He didn’t move in any particular direction, but his shoulders started to shake, a then she realized that he was crying.

“Just stay here with me,” she pleaded, “There are plenty of people to fight for this army, one person won’t make a difference. I know it is your job but I don’t want to lose you either. You can just stay here, and we’ll wait until it’s over. Afterwards, we can tell my father everything and we’ll work on restoring the peace again in this country like it was always meant to have.”

Finally, with full eyes and a tear-streaked face, Rupert looked up at Hazel. His gaze lingered at the rip in her dress, so Hazel adjusted her weight to make it less noticeable and noticed a stray white cardigan on her bed. As she leaned to grab the cover up, he stood up in an instant and walked past her, just barely grazing her. She broke down into tears of her own as she thought he was still ignoring her and was going to leave. Hazel had a very strong feeling that once he walked out that door, she would never see him again. That smile that stretched from ear to ear, the laugh that could be heard throughout the entire castle, everything about him, would be gone.

As she sat on her bed, she heard the door close from behind her. The click of the lock was enough to elevate her tears to sobs that shook her entire body. That was it, he was really gone. She knew that she would undoubtedly lose her brother, but losing the one she loved because she couldn’t convince him to stay was too much to handle. All she wanted was for everything to go back to normal.

There was no hope in sight, until she felt a familiar hand on her shoulder.