1 Chapter 1
It was a normal night in the streets of Treanate, the capitol of Assyrian. The alleys were always extremely dark and gloomy, the shutters of every housing unit shut and bolted tight, ready for the darkness to come. No one was foolish enough to be out after dark. Well, no one except me.
I silently saunter on the cobblestone streets, avoiding every source of light emitting from the street lanterns, not wanting the old hag of Treanate to look through her wooden planks and see me.
I slip into a familiar alley, my deep purple cloak trailing behind me, licking the stones with every step I take. I reach the end of the alley, scaling quickly up the speared metal fence, not having a hitch in the movement from being able to climb the dark bars since I was thirteen. I pull a single deep purple rose out of my coat, hidden in one of my pockets, and place it on top of my mother and father's headstones. "Happy anniversary Mom and Dad." I mutter, tapping two fingers to my forehead, heart and then my scar. The wound running from my collarbone to just above my bellybutton. My father used to always remind me to first use my head, never my heart, and said my scar is because I let my heart rule my head.
Whenever I visit my parents, no one that lives in this godforsaken 'city' is dumb enough to be out at night. So I knew immediately I was being watched. I sigh, and unsheathe my dagger, the same dagger my father gave me when I was five, my first weapon. "You know, it's not nice to follow women into cemeteries." I say loudly. I hear a male gasp quietly. I turn my head to see a shorter older man with balding hair and a greying beard, step out from the shadow of a nearby tree. I look at his clothes, noting the seal of the royal family stitched proudly by his heart. "No." I tell him, shaking my head, walking away. "Wait! Miss Valakia!" He yells, running in front of me. "What do you want?" I spit, him backing up from my words.
"Please, give me five minutes." He pleads, staring into my signature purple Valakia eyes.
"You have two." I fold my arms under my cloak. One hand resting on the hilt of my sword, having put my dagger away.
"My name is Benjamin Burr, I am the advisor to the King of Assyrian." He breaths deeply, still out of breath from following me throughout the town. "I have a certain job for you." I start walking again.
"I will pay you 3 million pounds and will pay for your house in the mountains if you agree to this job." I didn't know how he knew I wanted to live in the mountains, but I didn't ask, knowing that the advisor of the country has his ways.
I stop walking, shaking my head and turning back towards him. "I'm listening."
"The King needs a person to break his curse. The public never knew of this fact, but over the last four years we have been hiring maidens to try and break the curse. None of the lady's have worked."
"And by that you mean they have been killed?" I fold my arms under my cloak.
"Yes Miss." He says, looking at the grass.
"How were they killed?"
"Every single one of them have passed away from the curse. Their eyes start to bleed, then their mouths, and then they bleed out, screaming that they're burning."
"Fun." I say sarcastically. "And what makes you think I can break the Beast's curse?"
"He does not like to be called that." Benjamin mutters.
"Too bad. Answer the question."
"I do not know the answer my lady, but the King seems to think that you may break it."
I chuckle sarcastically. "Just great. What will happen if I refuse?"
He falters, not wanting to answer the question. He opens his mouth, but no words come out. "Well?"
"You will suffer the same fate as the rest of the maidens who had suffered from the curse."
"Ooh, Double fun. I die either way." I mutter, waking over to my fenced alleyway. "How will I break the curse if I accept?"
"We do not know milady, the sorceress was very vague in her words."
"What were her words?"
He pulls out a small notebook, and opens the cover, the first page holding one phrase. "As long as the King us cruel, his kingdom will crumble. Unless he has a change of soul, he will remain a beast and everyone under him will perish. You have a fort-year"
"What is a fort-year?" I ask. trying to figure it out.
"We think it is 14 years my lady, because a fortnight is 14 nights."
"Very intelligent." I mutter.
"So, the Beast needs a change of soul, but we do not know how he will change." He says.
"And if I break the curse, I will get my house in the mountains?"
"Yes, are you agreeing?" He asks.
"Looks like it." I mutter.
"Thank you my lady! I will send a carriage to carry you to the palace in five days time" I nod, putting my hands on the bars, throwing myself up the fence, clearing the spikes on the top by a foot.
I pull my arms into my cloak, walking to another alley, jumping on top of the garbage bin, and then onto my back window twenty feet above the ground. I slide open the silent window, stepping down quietly, trying not to wake the witch living below me.
I unclip the silver clasp, the cloak slipping off my shoulders, I throw it nicely on the bed, taking my dark clothes off and putting them in the hamper. I'll wash them in the morning. I pull on my soft nightgown and slip under the thick covers of my bed, waiting for sleep to come, knowing I will be at the mercy of my brain creating dreams once again.
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I was in a pitch black room, the reason why I was here was unclear. I look to my right, seeing two forms walking closer to me, As they were walking closer, the room becomes lighter, I recognize the figure on the right first. She had deep green eyes and dark raven hair, she was my mother, the same one that sang to me every night. Tho one on the left had the purple eyes, and blonde hair, he was my father. The one that read to me every night, sometimes he even told me stories of his younger days of protecting the Aurelian crown, the neighboring kingdom of Assyrian. I smile sadly, staring at them closely, they open their mouths, almost as if they were about to talk, but nothing came out of their moving mouths. I furrow my eyebrows, reaching out to them, but an invisible wall stopped me, I start freaking out, banging on the shield,
"MOM! DAD!" I scream, tears running down my face. They snap around, their faces contorting into fear, them hearing something worth investigating. I stop hitting the wall to watch what they were about to do. I had to clear my eyes from the wet sheen blocking my vision. I see my father unsheathe his sword, holding it out defensively. My mother load her crossbow, aiming it into the darkness and shooting it, the arrow hitting an invisible target. My jaw goes slack. I see my mother pull out her dagger and ready it, my father attacking the invisible target. I scream as I see him falling to his knees, red liquid seeping through his white dress shirt. I fall to my knees, sobbing. I watch as my mother takes out a dagger, her anger seeping through the wall I was leaning against. I see her block the invisible attacks, but then her dagger was thrown, and she was taken down to the floor. I watch as the dagger is lifted into the air, and quickly sliced across her throat, blood spurting out of my mothers neck, running down the side of her throat to the ground, creating a pool of blood on the floor. My father rolled onto his side, trying to get closer to my mother, he held her hand as she closed her eyes, one tear rolling down her cheek.
I hit the wall again, never wanting to witness my parents death again, the first time was enough for me when I was twelve.
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I wake up on the floor, a loud banging on my door, the witch that lived downstairs probably about to break down my door. I sit up and slump to the door, rubbing my eyes, opening the thick door. "Yes?" I ask tiredly.
"I heard a bang, and I just came to check on you." She says. I look at her with suspicion.
"Why are you being..nice?" I ask her. She smiles cruelly and shoves todays paper in my hands.
A picture of me buying bread and then a picture of Benjamin watching me, taking notes in another picture. The title was 'Bodyguard for the King?' I scoff.
"It's a tabloid Ingrid, it's not true." I tell her, shutting the door on her face. Knowing she wasn't being nice just to be nice.
I lock my door and fall on my bed, knowing I wouldn't be able to fall asleep again.
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I spent the next few days preparing to meet the Beast King, seeing how many weapons I can hide in my cloak. I had to make some sheathes for some of my throwing knives and daggers, other that that, I was all packed for my adventure starting tomorrow.
The market was uncharacteristically somber as I entered, every venue now staring at me, all of the locals read the tabloids it seems. I make it to my favorite venue, greeting the older woman with silver braided hair that always was pinned up in a crown, she was always here even in the earlier hours. "Child, how did you get into that mess?" She asks in her hearty accent, throwing the tabloid on top of her table. I scoff. "I thought you didn't read those things."
"When they're about my favorite customer, I will buy the whole store." I laugh.
"Turns out the King's Advisor hired me to break the Beast Kings curse. He's taking me to the palace tomorrow." I tell her, placing my regular items on the counter. She tells me the price and I pull out my wallet from my belt. "Good luck with that girly."
"You don't think I can break the curse?"
"No, I know you can, I just worry what will happen when you do, because the commoners do not know the details of his curse. Well, other than he was cursed because he was a daft dimwit." She grabs the paper and opens it to the first page. "Well, on the bright side, in your pictures you look pretty. Maybe the Beast will spare you." She jokes.
"Maybe, and then I will open my mouth and he'll sentence me to the gallows."
"Hush girly, now come give this old hag a hug before you head off to the palace." She demands, throwing her arms out, inviting me to embrace her.
"I thought you hated physical interaction?"
"Only when it's people I tolerate I accept it." She beckons me closer and I lean down, embracing her little body. "I'll see you soon." I tell her, grabbing my paid items and walking out of her white tent, slipping the items in a free pocket in my cloak, walking out of the market and back to my housing unit.
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I pull out a trunk that was stuffed under my bed, the brown leather barely small enough to fit under the crawlspace. I carefully place the trunk on my bed, Unlatching the gold claps, pushing the cover open. Laying closest to me, on top of everything else, was a photograph of my parents and then me as a baby, my parents were smiling down at my laughing face, my father making a funny face to get me to giggle. This photo was always one of my favorites, even as a young child, I loved this photo, it brought me a sense of joy and love.
I spent the next few hours looking through photos, most of them were me, but there was a couple of just my parents, those were always my favorite to look at, seeing their faces alive again was always a treat. I make it to the bottom of the trunk, having cleared it out, and I see a tiny piece of cloth stuck in between the wall and floor of the trunk. So I, of course tug on it, seeing if it could come out, but the whole bottom lifted up. I furrow my brows and pull the fake bottom off, seeing papers of all writing, none of which had my parents handwriting on it. Some were even in another language, most likely Ancient Aurelian. I pull up a cloth-bound package, I unwrap the old stiff fabric, pulling out a black leather book, I unwind the leather string from around it and open to the first page. 'To my daughter Isla.' I read. I turn the next page and to see who wrote this, in cursive big lettering I saw my fathers name, I smile and turn to the next page.
=
A Winters Tale by Aliax Valakia.
The seasons were always harsh in the country of Aurelia, the summers always too hot, the winters too cold. It was as if the gods said, here, suffer, and then left the people on their own.
The people never complained, they knew what they had to do, work, work and work again to stay alive. It was a hard living, but the people enjoyed life, never knowing others had it easier.
On a certain says, the young chiefs daughter would come and help in the fields, she was only eight at the time, but she already wanted to do more than she could. The farmers accepted her help with ease, knowing she would be a fast and hard worker, the little girl would grow up to be one of the strongest and smartest girls in the country, a gorgeous girl with her morals and with her features,----
=
I stop reading my fathers short story when I hear the familiar royal trumpets blaring loudly down the street. I put the fake bottom back, placing all of the photos and memories back on top, shutting the trunk and clasping it back up, placing it on top of my leather case where I put my clothes, my weapons were all in the deep hidden pockets of my cloak.
I hear three loud knocks on my door, I pick up my luggage, opening the door and greeting the two palace guards awaiting my greeting. "Hello." I greet the blue and silver dressed guards.
"Good morning My Lady." One greets, they both bow low, I smile awkwardly, having never been bowed to before.
"Morning gentlemen." I smile at them. The one closest to me on my right eyebrows raise, the hairs coming closer to each other. "Is something wrong?"
"No My Lady, please, let us escort you to the carriage, would you like for us to take your luggage?"
"No, I'll manage, thank you." The look at each other, having a silent conversation, leaving me out of the loop of their understanding. One leads in front of me, I lock my door and follow him, leaving the other guard behind to follow me down the front steps and out the small front door, which was propped open. The first guard opens the brown carriage door, the open windows draped with the brown fabric. I move one of my cases in front of me, and the other behind my back as I step up into the carriage. I place my cases closest to the wall on the floor. I pull my purple cape out from under me, and lay the bottom to my right, closest to my luggage. I look around the vehicle and see the intricate patterns tracing the walls to the sun roof, I see a bench on the other side of the room filled to the brim with travel snacks, different assortments of nuts and fruits, full of hard colorful candy, I furrow my eyebrows and wonder who the last person was to use this vehicle.
The carriage door opens again, just before the vehicle starts moving, and in hops a certain Benjamin Burr.
"Well hello again Advisor." I greet.
"My lady, how are you this morning?" He asks. Making small talk, dreading to get to the real reason why he hopped in the carriage.
"Superb, are you doing well also?" I ask.
"Yes, of course." He stops, and he opens his mouth to say something, but closes it.
"Do you want to say something Advisor?"
"Yes, I do not know how to put this. But there are certain..... rules in the palace that you must follow with pertinence."
"And if I don't?"
"Let's not go there my lady."
"Fair enough."
"The first rule is to never ever, and I mean ever, tell anyone, not even your family, what you see in the palace. This rule is critical for your survival."
"So never tell anyone what's in the Beast's Lair? I understand." I jest, leaning on my knees.
"The second is to NEVER call the King a Beast to his face."
"He's very touchy then I gather."
"Miss Valakia, these rules are for your safety, I suggest you remember and follow these rules."
"I have a question." Benjamin nods and waves for me to continue.
"Will I ever get to meet the King?"
"Oh yes, only when he wishes you to meet you though."
"Well that's idiocy."
"And do not ever insult the King." He lists off.
"The list is just going to keep growing, I will be doing two of those things you told me not to do at one point." I tell him.
"Then I wish you good luck in your short stay with us My Lady." He mutters. I chuckle and look out the window, preparing for the long journey ahead of us.
