The dew on the forest floor was cold to her bare feet as she crept through the woods in the early hours before sunrise. She did not understand why they wanted her so. Why wouldn’t they just let her go? All she knew was that she must keep pressing forward, for the daylight would bring new terrors she feared she may not escape.
As her pace quickened, the cool air kissed the apple of her cheeks and they turned red, ruby red. The train of her long white gown swept the ground behind her as her walk turned to a run. Her long, jet black hair fell out of the neat braid it was in, flowing down around her fair-skinned face. The sun began to peak its head above the horizon as she heard the faint sound of dogs’ desperate barking in the distance. Hound dogs. Blood thirsty hunting dogs. Her heart stopped, her ears perked with the piercing sound and her skin crawled. “I must not be found,” she thought to herself. “They shall not find me.”
Running now. Jumping over rocks and vines. Her chest burned as she drew in each labored breath of cold air and exhaled, her breath visible before her. She knew she was lost but she was not scared of losing her way in the forest. The only thing she feared was being found and dragged back from the place which held her captive. The sun was just above the mountains by now and the sky turned magical colors of pinks and reds, ruby reds.
She paused here, catching her breath and searched the skies. Where is it? As a little girl she remembered waking early and walking out to the balcony to watch nature’s morning show. She had always felt a connection to all that was and all that were. When the colors danced around in the sky, it was a dance she understood, one that she would communicate with. Most of the people in her kingdom thought she was strange. The gift was both a curse and a blessing.
She thought back to the time when when it had come to her in a dream with its message. She knew it would come now. It would find her as it did before. Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of wings flapping in the distance. She turned and looked over her shoulder to see a fire red animal flying in the sky. She leaned forward and squinted her eyes together to try to see better. As it got closer, the thing opened its brightly colored wings exposing a ruby red body. The feathers on its head stood at attention in bright yellow and orange colors. She felt frozen in place as the giant bird landed on a branch just above her head.
It stared at her with piercing black eyes. Familiar to her. They used to haunt her in her dreams. Its body seemed to blend in with the swirling colors of the sky above. She looked into its eyes and saw what she needed to see. An escape, a way out of this place. The sound of the hunting dogs in the distance was unfamiliar to her now. The memories of that life would stay in the forest and she would never be found again. She looked into the bird’s eyes and lost herself. In a trance-like state she stared deep into the inky darkness of its pupils and held out one finger reaching toward the wing of the beast.
“Your Majesty!” One of the king’s hunters called out as he fought to keep control of the hound dog pulling at the leash. The Ruby King turned the corner and appeared. The hunter shook in his boots, for he knew the king would be furious with this discovery. “Your, your, your Majesty…”
“What?” The king’s voice billowed from above the perch of his massive albino horse. His ruby-red cape flowed down the sides of the horse and over its tail.
“Your Majesty, look” the hunter said pointing a nervous finger toward the ground.
The king was silent as he looked down from his horse. There lay a beautiful white gown on the forest floor. The hunter looked closely and saw something. He bent down and pulled from the pile of dress, a single red feather. Ruby red. He handed it up to the king with a shaking hand. The king snatched it and held it up to the sunlight to see it better. The giant red feather glimmered in the sunlight. The wide-eyed hunter looked up at the feather the king held in a gloved hand. He had heard of such wonders but always thought them to be foolish tales told by children.
“Noooooooo!” The king screamed with a tortured, furious yell toward the heavens.