by K.N. Lee
Bloody hell. He was royalty.
I gasped, coiling away from him as if he were on fire. I ran then, only glancing back to see he’d turned to watch me flee. My feet couldn’t carry me away fast enough. All I wanted was to wrap my arms around my mother and sister and erase the events of the day.
But, still, a royal. I could barely believe it.
What a day it had become.
I thought I heard him shout for me to wait, but I didn’t slow my stride.
I’d had enough excitement for one day.
Chapter Four
My heart continued to race as I thought of the royal I’d slammed into.
His eyes still transfixed me as I jogged home. My jog turned into a walk, and it took an hour to trudge my way through the outskirts of the city to make it to the lower East End.
Most roads were packed, shoulder to shoulder with people buying and selling goods, or recruiting for side jobs around the city. I kept to the side alleys that hugged the outer wall that encircled the entire kingdom.
“Ay, miss,” a beggar crowed. “Got a coin to spare for an old fella?”
No. I didn’t have a coin to spare for supper for my family.
But, I didn’t say so. I knew better than to respond to men like that. Quickening my step, I weaved my way out of the back alleys before he got the notion to sift through my pockets for himself.
It wouldn’t be the first time.
The stone became uneven and crumbled the closer I got to my part of town. It wasn’t a surprise. It was the poorest slum of the lower East End, where the tilted roads carried their dirt and rubbish.
My bones were sore, and as the sun began to set, the streets started to clear out as the humans headed home.
The smell of rain was a welcome scent. It covered and carried away the stench of our rancid hovel.
All I wanted to do was take off my pants and shirt, and lay in my underclothes in bed with my sister’s arm around me. The looks other people gave me as I passed by weren’t new. I stood out amongst the humans for my white hair.
I arrived home to quiet and darkness.
Moira was asleep on the bed we shared on the floor. Her soft snores were calming as I closed the door behind me.
Our home consisted of a single room that reminded me of a stone box. We slept in the far corner with the chamber pots kept in the back corner, kept private by a hanging cloth that provided a bit of separation of the space.
The air was always stale, and the floors damp from the accumulation of moisture, and when we opened the front or back door, giant bugs would buzz inside looking for a meal of blood or rubbish.
With only a single window that let in the sunlight, it was always dark. Candles were expensive, and we used them sparingly, reusing the melted wax as much as we could.
“Ava,” Mother called, standing from our little dining table.
I broke into tears and she rushed to me. She threw her arms around my body and held me tight to her chest. She smelled of soap from the washing she did for the elven family she served.
The warmth of her embrace soothed my frazzled nerves.
"What happened, dear?"
I breathed her in and closed my eyes.
"I fell earlier today," I said, and she coiled back, her blue eyes narrowed.
"Fell? From where?"
Shrugging, I headed toward the back door. I needed fresh air, and the night sky called to me.
"The Wall."
She stopped me as I reached for the door, and took my hand.
"What do you mean, you fell from The Wall?"
Her brows furrowed as she delicately traced my wounds with her soft fingertips.
"Yes," I said, unsure of why she looked at me with such terror. "But, I'm fine. I just blacked out for awhile. The foreman caught me with his whip."
Instead of replying, she pursed her lips, the lines in her forehead deepening, and nodded.
I kissed her on the cheek.
"I'm going to get some air on the roof," I said, and she brushed my cheek with the back of her hand.
"Be careful," she said, and I nodded, turning toward the door.
I stepped outside into the back alley, and climbed the side of the wall, by catching the grooves of the wide stones and using them to propel myself upward. The cottages were two stories, and as I passed the top floor of one of our neighbors, I fought to ignore the pain in my back.
I had taken quite a fall, but it wasn't as bad as it sounded. I was alive. That's all that mattered.
The night wrapped around me, like an old friend's embrace. The cool air caressed my face and filled my lungs as I gazed at the moon light.
While the Sun Elves retreated to their homes, and the humans were forced inside of theirs, I was free. The kingdom was mine, and a smile came to my face as I realized that under the cloak of the moon, I was truly invisible. From my spot on the roof, a shift in the wind took my breath away.
For a moment, I was weighed down by a surge of energy that filled me from within. My ears clogged, and my eyes fluttered closed as I fought to ground myself. I reached for something—anything to keep me from shooting into the night sky with the stars.
A gush of cool, and a burst of euphoria overtook me, and my eyes shot open. Immediately, I knew that something had happened.
Something had changed.
I gazed down at my body, and clamped a hand over my mouth.
My wounds began to heal.
A gasp escaped my lips, and I stared down at my knuckles and bruised wrist. The purple tinge of color was washed away and replaced with my pale, peachy color.
Golden light encircled me, and tickled at my flesh as it worked at healing me with its magical powers.
I fell onto my bottom, utterly transfixed and stunned by what I’d just witnessed. Perhaps the fall had done my head in, and I was going mad or seeing things, but as I gazed back down at where my wounds had been, I knew that wasn’t true.
The light had healed me.
But, how?
Chapter Five
Xander
I’d found her, and let her slip through my fingers. Memories of her gray eyes remained fixed in the forefront of my memory. Such pain, and sorrow.
I should have held onto her and kissed away her worries and fear.
Not yet. If I was going to do this right, I needed to be strategic. As Ocura Maga said, patience is all I’d need to reach my goal.
The patience to execute my plan without error.
I closed my eyes and breathed in, still smelling her on my skin. She’d been so frightened and frail, but I sensed the true strength and power within—a force so ancient most wouldn’t have sensed it if they even knew what it was—a power she didn’t know existed.
Light and dark had been at odds since the beginning of time, and while balance should have reigned supreme, it never seemed to remain that way.
With a sigh, I sat up in bed and pulled the cord to summon one of the servants. As a royal, I was welcome to reside in the palace. But, I’d chosen to make my home in the city my primary residence.
It was better this way. At least my father couldn’t control my every move.
I knew there were spies in my household, and so I did my best to keep my secret dealings exactly that.
Secret.
A tap on the door came and I wiped sweat from my forehead and swung my legs over the edge of the bed. Sleep would solve nothing, but most nights, it did give me insight into events that would shape the future of Aranthia.
Not just Veruth.
“You called, your highness?” Eiden asked, stepping inside my private quarters.
He was a sun elf, and from a noble family, but served me as my private valet since I’d left the palace at eighteen. That was three years ago, and Eiden had become more than my servant. He was a dear friend.
“Yes,” I said, standing. I stretched my long arms over my head and yawned. “Have Holly bring breakfast up and see if Quinn can fetch my wyvern.”
Eiden
nodded, bowing. “Of course, Prince Alexander,” he said. “Is that all?”
I drank a gulp of still water from the pitcher I kept at my bedside and walked toward the balcony that overlooked the city. From my house, I could see over the wall, and toward the colorful countryside.
True, I had a wyvern, and I could try to fly overhead. But, that wasn’t the way to freedom.
I knew that better than anyone, having tried it once before.
“No,” I said, opening my balcony door and stepping outside.
The air was cool, but I wasn’t bothered. I preferred the cool weather over that of the summer, even though the days were shorter and sunlight was usually dimmed. There was simply something about winter that woke up my senses, and ignited the prophetic dreams I’d been plagued with since childhood.
There were times I’d begged the gods, Preeti and Vineet to take the curse away, but each time I’d been ignored, and my night terrors became day terrors.
I hadn’t given up on the gods just yet, not when they’d once saved my life.
“Grab your cloak and sword,” I said, glancing over my shoulder at the lad who could have been my brother.
We were of the same age and shared the same rust-colored hair. He lifted a brow, but stood upright, listening.
“We’ve business to tend to.”
Eiden and I left my Great House after breakfast. On the back of my wyvern, Ruxi, we flew across the city to the Sky Keep.
Having ridden with me on many occasions, Eiden was no longer afraid of the black beast, and actually rode with his eyes open most days. I steered, holding onto the reigns, and whispering to Rux whenever she hummed beneath me.
I’d been hers since the day she hatched from a silver egg, and we had an understanding that she was the true master, I was just some bloke she let ride from time to time.
“Easy,” I said, and she huffed in reply.
Easy yourself, she purred.
I held back a chuckle, but grinned ahead as she swooped into the clouds that hovered above the towers of the Sky Keep. She flew through them and into the atmosphere of the floating piece of land.
Once we landed, I gave her a pat on the head and slipped off her back and onto the soft, thick grass.
Eiden jumped down and stood at my side. From the loss of color in his cheeks, I could tell he’d been holding his breath most of the time.
“Shall I wait with Ruxi, your highness?” Eiden asked, turning purple eyes my way.
I shook my head. “Ruxi can stay out here on her own quite well. I need you to summon the head keeper, Magi Yauris while I awaken Ocura Maga from her eternal slumber.”
Eiden’s face paled even further. He visibly gulped, his throat bobbing, and scratched the back of his neck.
“Are you certain that’s a good idea?” He asked, and then his eyes widened, having forgotten his place. “Your highness.”
I didn’t mind. I’d rather not be treated like a prince and live a free life as a peasant, as long as it was outside of those walls.
Freedom was so close, but I couldn’t pursue it yet. Not until the girl with the white hair was mine.
I gazed upward to the tower where Ocura Maga slept in a stone box that kept the sun from penetrating and disturbing her slumber.
She had trained me since I was a child. Not in the subjects my parents wanted, but something a little different—a little darker.
Chapter Six
Ava
Days passed since that fateful fall and mystical night, and I had yet to acknowledge whether it had truly happened. My wounds were healed, and the pain and aches had gone away. Mother had come to nurse me to find they’d vanished.
The look on her face would never fade from memory. Though the color drained from her face when she examined where they’d been, she kept silent, and helped Moira clear her lungs with a pot of boiling water to let her breath in the steam. It was the same as every other night, but Mother barely looked at me again after that.
One evening, I practiced my elvish letters with a bit of broken chalk, and wrote on the stone floor as I sat before the fire hearth.
Mother stirred a pot of rabbit stew with scraps from her wealthiest family, while Moira sat on her knees and braided my hair.
“Make sure you clean your boots,” Mother said. “And, scrape under your nails. The head maid will definitely look at that.”
I nodded.
“Hold still,” Moira said.
Her wheezing from behind me was a common sound, one that we were all used to, and there was nothing that could be done to stop it. Though I wished I could ease all of her suffering, I knew that I'd never be able to save enough coins to afford a healer for her.
She began to sing, one of our favorite songs, but a coughing fit stopped her at the best part.
"Here," Mother said, bringing over bowls of soup.
"Wait, Ma," Moira said, holding a hand out. "Don't bring the food over here, or Ava's stray hairs will get into it."
Mother smiled, and nodded. "Of course," she said. "Hurry up and get it while its still hot. It'll help break up the ‘ick in your throat."
"Yes, yes," Moira said, and I could almost feel her rolling her eyes in reply.
She finished up, leaned in, and gave me a kiss on the cheek. “All done,” she said.
I turned to her, smiling, and stared at her for a moment. "Thank you," I said, and she nodded, her smile lighting up the entire cottage.
As she stood to wash her hands in the basin, I fingered my two new braids and glanced down at the glowing white strands.
There were days that I wished I'd shared the same crystalline blue eyes she and Mother had. Or the shiny, black locks that framed their narrow faces.
She was beautiful, and if she hadn't been born with the sickness, we were all certain an elf would have snatched her up and made her his live-in mistress with no questions asked.
It would have led to an easier life, one pretty girls were blessed with. It was the best situation any of us could have asked for, but I wanted nothing of the sort. Even if I did have an elf suitor, I could never abandon my family.
Never.
So, I would do my best to find a proper station and earn an honest living.
I sighed, gazing at the flames of the fire. I’d wait until they had their fill of the soup before I got my own.
Pulling my legs into my chest, I wrapped my arms around them and let the fire warm my face. For a moment, I thought of bringing up the magic I’d experienced that fateful night my wounds were healed. It still didn’t make sense to me, no matter how many hours I spent going over what happened inside my head.
As they slurped their soup and chatted about the upcoming Blood Lottery, something told me to keep it to myself.
Yes, my first and only secret.
Chapter Seven
Kem
“Filthy elves,” I said to Ludwig, a sneer on my lips that made my left brow twitch. “Their time will come to an end soon enough.”
I stood on the roof, black cape billowing behind me as the wintry wind swept in from the north.
I was a crow without wings, but I’d fly on this day.
The sun was bright, but partially hidden by thick, puffy clouds that rolled across the blue-gray sky. Tilting my head upward, I watched the wyverns fly around Sky Keep. If only I could get my hands on one of those, and make my way into the center of all magic in Veruth.
“Bloody bastards won’t let any young lad up into the square. We can’t reach the palace without access to Upper Gate,” Ludwig said from his position beside me. He was crouched near the edge of the roof, his dark hair pulled back into a ponytail at his nape.
Mine was wild, free. I didn’t want to resemble those sun elves in any way. They walked around like gods, with their long hair, fine clothes, and soft hands from never working a day in their overprivileged lives.
I—on the other hand—was born in the slums. Now, I ruled an entire kingdom of my own.
It just happened to be beneath
the opulent world above us.
“That’s all right,” I said, cracking my knuckles. Pulling two glass vials from my waist pouch, I grinned. “I’ll show them we have a few tricks up our sleeves.”
Ludwig stood, and gave a nod. “We’ll show them.”
Handing him a vial of his own, we exchanged a look of solidarity.
Together, we opened our vials, letting the burst of golden light escape into the air.
“Hurry and drink it down,” I said, and poured the shimmering yellow nectar into my mouth. It was sweet, and flowery, but thick and sticky.
Pixie nectar.
It was a rarity—one I’d had to make a great sacrifice to obtain—but it was well worth it.
The rush of energy and euphoria that filled my body was unnerving. I took a deep breath of the coal-laden air and grounded myself. Harnessing the power within needed to be focused, before it left my blood.
“I’m ready,” Ludwig said, and I stepped to the very edge of the roof.
“Let’s go, then.”
With that, we leaped from the roof, our capes floating outward, arms outstretched.
My eyes focused on the two elf men below—the ones who stole something very dear to me.
The ones we were about to kill.
Chapter Eight
Ava
Moira joined me for the first time in ages, to visit the market for food. It was a delight that she was feeling strong enough to leave the cottage.
We walked hand-in-hand as she covered her mouth and nose from the dust in the air with a cloth.
The world was quiet in the space between twilight and dawn. The mists that hovered before me were like old friends, caressing my face and welcoming me home.
As the sun began to brighten the gray sky, I hummed and reached out for Moira’s hand as we made our way out of the slums of East End.