Emilia Bright

Emila was the daughter of Lord Bright. At fourteen years of age, beautifully golden hair was put in a braid that hung off her shoulder, big green eyes being the prominent feature of her puffy face, wearing a flowy yellow dress that hung below her knees.

She was playing in the woods just outside of Fort Bright's walls. She loved to play there, that was where the guards could not see her. She had a secret little place that she always went to, with a few tree branches that came very close to each other. When she stood on them, she could see the entire Fort. As she stood there, looking out onto the beautiful land surrounding their home from afar, she felt free. She often felt caged as she was being dragged around from hold to hold while her father and brother fled from the Harris men.

She often dreamed of going to the Great College but her father would never allow it.

"Perhaps if father wins the South he will let me go to the college," Emilia said to herself.

Her father hated Cormag and everything touched by him, and he rebuilt the Great College so father would never allow us to even set foot there. It had only been up for about a month but already people flood the shores of the Great Island to join. Yet only a few could make it.

"Maybe I am just not smart enough and father is trying to spare my feelings," the young lady thought.

Her mother often said to her: "You are the smartest of the Bright, my child

Remember that."

Emilia could not understand why, she was nothing special. She was a young child who was told what to do and always followed orders.

"Brother says people who live as I do are sheep, always listening to everything everyone says," she said to herself again. She decided then that she would go further into the woods than she had gone before. "No one would know," she reassured herself. When she started running, she did not stop until her tiny legs were too tired to go on. All of a sudden she heard a voice.

"Who walks in my woods?" a woman's voice echoed, sounding as if it were all around her.

"Leave or else," the voice whispered.

"These woods belong to my father, he is the high Lord in this region," she says sounding brave.

All of a sudden she heard a sudden crash and as she turned around she saw two hands grab at her. The woman's hair was of a red hue, flames bursting out of it. The fire seemed to run through her veins and into her bright red eyes. All of a sudden everything around Emilia went dark.

---

"Is she alright? Where did you find her? When did you find her?" she could hear the panic in her father's voice. She could not move her limbs, her body too weak to make any sort of move. Her eyelids fell closed again.

- Later that night -

"Aiden rides for three days now, tomorrow is the fourth. We need to strike tomorrow! Is everyone ready?"she heard her father's voice again.

She managed to call to her father faintly. As her father walked over to her, he started to frantically ask: "What were you thinking? I have told you millions of times that you are not allowed to play that far away. What happened?" He asked as he stroked her hair.

She looked at him with her tired eyes, knowing what she saw was probably just a dream and her father would never belliv6e her.

"I was running and I tripped father, I must have hit my head," she told him.

Her father grabbed her head and tried to inspect for bruises and scabs, "I do not see any marks, are you sure that is what happened?" he asked her.

"I am sure father," she replied quickly. "I am tired father, may I sleep?"

"I will have your maid look up on you throughout the evening," her father said before walking away.

He had always been such a busy man Emilia thought to herself.

When she was finally alone, she pulled down the top of her dress that covered her shoulder to reveal a bright red mark in the shape of a hand that sat where the fire-lady with flaming locks had touched her. Perhaps she had not dreamt it after all