Chapter 4: There's No One Stopping Me

As she saw that she had no chance of seeing him again, she sat there until the ship was nowhere to be seen.

After a while, she heard horses coming from behind and saw her father getting off his horse. He was about to capture her, but he ordered his men to stand down as soon as he saw her face.

He approached his daughter.

"What are you doing here?" He asked

"I just wanted some air," she replied

"I know that you are mad at us, but you should consider that you are still my daughter, and I am the general of Kaastiana's one powerful army. If you are seen here, other nobles who hate us will grab the opportunity to dispose of me from my position, and we will hang" Her father's tune was getting higher and higher.

"I am sorry that I am your daughter. I want to live a normal life where I will decide for my future without your help." She said

"I am not mad that you are my daughter, but this time, please act like a noblewoman even with a dress of a maid," He said, putting her hand on his arm.

"Is she a spy from the Serdruan?" His righthand man asked as he went closer to them.

"Apparently not. She is my daughter," he replied to his men, but they were confused why is she wearing a maid's dress.

"I am sorry that I am not dressed into something you expect me to dress, but I ran into something troublesome that I needed to switch clothes with my maid," she told them and bowed.

"What trouble did you run into?" his righthand man asked.

"It is not for you to know," she smiled as she raised her head.

"If you do not believe your general, then as you can see; that's my horse right there, and it has my seal and the Kaastiana's protection seal. No maid in my home has the gut to ride that horse," He said as he went to get his horse.

This time they honor her presence by bowing to me.

"Please stand up; I do not deserve everyone," she announced, and they all stood up.

They were all loyal to her father, and no one dared to speak. On the other hand, her father gave her a horse and guided her to ride on it.

"Then I will be taking my lead," she said as she showed them her horse-riding skills.

She smiled and ran away from them.

When she got home, she had an earful from her mother about the date today.

"I want a better future for you," her mother started.

"I will marry someone I choose to. I do not let my fate be dependent on you or even father," she defended.

"Why are you eager to marry me off? I am still young," She defended herself.

"Your marriage will give us security. Other nobles are jealous of your father's achievements," her mother told her.

"There is something you are not telling me. How long must you push me away?! This is also my family, not yours only. Tell me the truth!" she demanded the truth.

"It's getting difficult for us. Other nobles want your father dead and everyone in his bloodline." Her mother gave in.

"What is there to be scared about? We are fighting for our country, and everyone has the same motive. Why would they want my father's life, our bloodline?" She said as she kept herself strong.

"It is because of greed. A person's greed can destroy so many lives," her mother said as she held her daughter.

"and it is time for you to know the truth," she stated

"Is there more that you are hiding from me, mother?" she asked

"I-- I waited so long to tell you this---" Her father stopped her from talking.

"This is not the time for her to know," Her father said with madness as he barged in.

"What must I know? Tell me!" she said furiously.

"Tha---"

"Anna! Stop it! She will know when it's time but now is not the time. I am begging you," He said as he tried so hard for her not to talk.

"Am I not your family? Why are you keeping secrets from me?!" she shouted, but tears were dropping from her eyes this time.

"Ayla~ you are our one and only daughter. Keep that in mind, but some secrets can hurt. The truth will pierce your heart and ours," He told his daughter as he hugged her tightly in his arms.

"It is the truth! Then I will bear it!" She shouted as she pushed him away.

"I am sorry, Ayla, but I will tell you when it's time," he said, but he never did know that the grudge engraved in her heart today would cost him his daughter's absence.

Ayla ran away and took his father's fastest horse. She went into the woods and the tree she used to practice in the valley.

She tied her horse and kept crying under the tree. She felt alone in the wilderness.

The stars shone brightly in the sky, and the clouds started to go away as they revealed the moon's rays. She was overwhelmed by the bright light in the darkness she faces today.

"When can I see you again? A man I met in the crescent moon," She said as she looked up in the sky, but today it was a half moon.

She slept under the tree for tonight but never knew that there was a plot going on in her home that she had left.

"Lady Ayla!! Wake up!! Wake up before the guards find you!!!" Laelya said as she woke her up.

"Laelya?! Why are you here" She asked with a tired voice.

"Now is not the time for you to ask questions, my lady. We need to go to the boat your father ordered me to take you away to somewhere safe," Laelya said as she covered her lady with a cloth.

"But what about my family?" she asked of her.

"I am sorry to say this, but your father was framed for treason, and The King ordered to will hang him and everyone in his bloodline publicly." her maid explained, but this time, she drowned herself in fear.

"I thought there was still time, but I guess there is nothing left. I shouldn't have left!!!" Ayla said as she hurt herself.