Giselle walked on wearily. She wondered why she had been put in the compound in the first place. The guards had broken into her house and dragged her out of her bed, her parents watching helplessly. She had thought that she would at least get a trial or something, but they had taken her straight to the compound. Straight to the little cell and the cruel guards with their jokes and their rough treatment... She had met Nicolas there. He had been the only guard who was actually kind to her. She remembered how he would stay and talk to her, slipping her extra food and making life easier for her when he could. She had begged him over and over to tell her why she was imprisoned, but he had always avoided the issue.
Then one day he had come to her cell and told the guard on duty that he had been asked to take over. His eyes had been urgent, and he had seemed truly scared. That had been the last time she saw him. His words echoed in her head, and had lost none of their intensity.
"The King and guards are not the only thing you have to worry about. There are higher powers, powers that are beyond the understanding of mortal men. They are the puppeteers that pull the king's strings. They are immensely dangerous. And they are at war over you. You are caught in the middle, and that is not a safe place to be. You must get out..."
"But why me? And what powers are these? And how do you know this?" She remember asking.
He shook his head urgently. "There is no time. You must heed me. You are not as ordinary as you think. You have power... power that could destroy you."
Giselle shivered, chilled by this memory. She had no idea what he could have meant by his words, but they rang true. The other guards certainly hadn't liked the fact that he had told her. His screams of pain still haunted her.
Suddenly Giselle heard voices up ahead, and cursed herself for becoming distracted. Quickly she ducked behind a large bush.
* * *
He circled above her, watching her. She was nearing the Others, the one's chosen to help her on the first stage of her journey. But she had hidden from them. They must find her, or she would be lost. Giving a shrill cry, he circled once more and then flew off to guide them.