Chapter 1 - Chapter 1

Ainran Burrese grew up in Gilead. It was just he and his parents. He had never intended on having a younger sibling. Ainran thought nothing could ever go wrong. And nothing did until he was sixteen. His parents had a little girl they named Juline. At first Ainran was happy, until he started to disappear from his parents world. After a few months, he couldnt take it. So, saying his good byes, Ainran left to join the Imperial army, something he had dreamed of doing since he was a little kid. Two months later, word was sent to him that his parents had been traveling and there had been an accident. They said no one survived, except a little baby girl. They had sent her to an orphanage on the outskirts of Gilead. Ainran went to the orphanage and held his sister, Juline. He felt sorry for her. She had never got to meet the parents that had cared so deeply for her. He wanted to take Juline with him, but being in the army and taking care of a few months old baby was not possible for him. So he left with a promise that he would come back to get her when she was old enough to help him raise her. Five years later and little Juline had not been told of her brother or how she got to the orphanage. And thats where well begin our story.























Five-year-old Juline looked out the dirty window in the orphanage. She wondered, not for the first time, what her parents were like, did she have any siblings, and why she was even here. But that wouldnt matter. She was going to run away tonight.

















The dinner bell rang. Juline sighed and walked down stairs. She arrived at a crowded table. Finding her seat, Juline ate the slop on her plate. Sometimes she wondered if this is what they fed the pigs.

















After dinner, every child got ready for bed. Juline pulled on a nightshirt and tucked herself in the covers. Sticking her foot out, she kicked the pack of stuff farther under the bed. With a scowl from the nurse, the lights went out. Children started whispering about things that had happened earlier that day, but eventually the noise died down to the soft chirping of the crickets. Juline got up and grabbed her pack. She sneaked down the hall, careful not to step on any loose boards. She had reached the door when she stepped and there was a loud SQEEEEEAK! Juline froze. There were footsteps and a man walked down the stairs. He looked at the frozen girl to the open door and frowned. He picked her up and said, Off to bed with yah now. There will be no running away here.











And that is how it all started. For the next six years, Juline tried several times to run away from the horrid orphanage. She was watched day and night. On Julines eleventh birthday (of course they do nothing on their birthdays), she decided not to run. At least for that year. If she didnt run for a whole year they wouldnt expect it coming. And so she waited. She hated everyday of that year, but she restrained herself. Then, finally, she turned twelve. And she planned on running that very night.























Juline made sure to be extra slow that night getting ready. She was in her dress when she hid under the covers. She waited for an hour after the nurse checked on everyone with her lantern. This was the moment she had been waiting for. Juline got up, put a pack on her shoulders and snuck out. When she got to the door, she looked around. She stepped over the squeaky board she had stepped on seven years ago, and out into the darkness.











Juline ran to the stables. She quickly saddled a cream-colored gelding and rode out of the gates. She knew they would be after her shortly, but she couldnt help herself. Juline let out a quiet yell of joy. I did it! I really did it! She thought. And that was that last Juline saw of the orphanage for a long, long time.

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