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  “Come, my prince,” Afif breathed, gripping the prince’s hand. “Let’s run away.”

  Zayn shot him a glance of joyful daring, dark eyes flashing. “I shall follow you.”

  ~*~*~*~

  So Afif climbed down the vine, for the last time. Zayn lowered the saddlebags and bundles to him on a rope; then he too climbed down the vine, whilst below him Afif coiled the rope and tied it to a saddlebag. Wordlessly, Afif led the way, through the garden and up the chinar tree, all for the last time. Zayn followed Afif’s every move, thinking of nothing except copying all of Afif’s actions as silently as possible. Afif had described the route and every necessary precaution of it in detail to his friend, so that Zayn would know what to expect at every moment; and the prince had often studied, as he walked alone in his walled garden, the way that Afif must take and the handholds he must use, noting the slight flattening in the soft grass where Afif landed after dropping from the chinar tree.

  In later years, Afif and Zayn would look back on that night and marvel that they had not been caught.

  Silently, in darkness and in soft-booted feet, they retrieved their tack, saddled their horses and strapped on the saddlebags, praying with every breath that almighty God would allow them a silent and successful escape. Silently, they led Aruna and Shadows from their stalls. The horses said nothing, as though realising that secrecy was important. In the courtyard, Afif and Zayn mounted, and, as they walked their mounts quietly but swiftly toward the gates that led to the horse fields, Afif glanced back, just once, at the place that had been his home for as long as he could remember.

  He, like the prince, was abandoning everything he had ever known. From now on, his world would consist of Shadows, Aruna, and Zayn.

  It was difficult to imagine. Would he forget this place? Would he forget the other stable servants’ names? Would …

  It didn’t matter. What mattered was freedom. Especially, freedom for the prince. Afif turned his head from the stables behind and looked ahead, toward the darkened fields.

  With a few quiet words to the great guard dogs in their kennels, Afif leaned down to grasp the gate’s iron latch, and he and his well-trained Shadows opened the gate together, as they had done a thousand times. The dogs’ dark eyes looked at Afif and Zayn with some puzzlement, but they were silent, only thumping their tails a few times in greeting. Zayn rode through the gate, and Shadows and Afif closed it expertly behind themselves.

  As the latch clicked closed, Afif felt his heart skip. It was as though he had closed a door: a door that led into the life that had been his hitherto. Now he was in a field, and beyond the fields lay the city, and beyond the city lay … anywhere.

  Beyond the city lay freedom.

  Freedom and secrecy like that of the night of starlight.

  Afif turned his horse away from the gate. Zayn and Aruna were waiting a few paces ahead. The prince and the stable-boy walked their mounts away calmly for a few minutes, to convince the guard dogs that all was well and there was no need for excitement. Then they urged their horses to a trot, then a canter, leaving the stable buildings and the palace behind as quickly as they could. Minutes passed, with only the sound of cantering hooves on grass to disturb the quiet of the night.

  As they reached the edge of the fields, the two riders drew rein, side by side. Buildings loomed darkly before them: the city that surrounded the palace and its fields.

  Panting slightly, Zayn asked quietly, “Where shall we go, Afif? Where shall we go once we are beyond the city?”

  The prince’s voice resonated with excitement and trepidation. Afif breathed deeply. He felt alive and exhilarated, as he had on the night of starlight, though this time he felt frightened as well.

  “Anywhere. We can go anywhere.”

  Afif felt powerful. He would take care of the prince, who, though he knew much of the world, had never had to fend for himself before. Afif would take care of himself, and the prince, and both of their horses. It would, no doubt, take all of his resources; all the strength and cleverness and energy and courage he possessed.

  But he would do it.

  And by the time dawn arrived, he and the prince and Shadows and Aruna would be halfway to anywhere; to a place where they could each become whatever they wanted to be.

  Afif held out his hand to the prince, who reached out and grasped it, bridging the space between their horses. “Trust me, Zayn. We can do this. I’ll take you anywhere.”

  G. Wulfing, 2014.

  Inspired by Evanescence’s song ‘Anywhere’.

  About G. Wulfing

  G. Wulfing, author of kidult fantasy and other bits of magic, is a freak. They have been obsessed with reading since they learned how to do it, and obsessed with writing since they discovered the fantasy genre a few years later. G. Wulfing has no gender, and varies between twelve and one hundred years of age on the inside, and somewhere in between that on the outside. G. Wulfing lives amidst the beautiful scenery of New Zealand, prefers animals to people, and is in a dedicated relationship with theirself and hot chocolate.

  G. Wulfing on Tumblr: www.g-wulfing-author.tumblr.com

  G. Wulfing’s blog: www.gwulfing.blogspot.co.nz