OVERALL WINNER of the WattALegend: Quorin Saga collaboration contest hosted by the Fantasy family of Ambassador profiles (2021)
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There is a strange restlessness in the magical land of Quorin.
A teenage girl sneaking home one night finds herself...
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Kingdom of @Magic
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When a voice whispers my name, I think I'm dreaming.
When it speaks again, I think it must be the alcohol talking.
Princess Irsia's eighteenth birthday was cause for celebration, but as her bodyguard, I shouldn't have drunk so much.
It took me months to prove to King Cassen that he could entrust his daughter's safety to me. My appointment as the Crown Princess's official bodyguard made my family so proud. I can't afford to ruin this.
But Irsia asked me to dance tonight, and when she insisted, her dark eyes sparkling like magic in the candlelight, I couldn't refuse. One thing led to another. The next thing I know, I'm drinking on duty and laughing with my charge.
It was a stupid move, especially in these times. The rebels draw closer every day. My next mistake could get the royal family killed.
My stomach clenches at the thought. I can't do this again, no matter how persuasive the Princess is.
When the voice speaks a third time, I know it's real.
"Gharib," she whispers.
I locked the door before I came to bed. Assuming someone eluded the guards and found their way to the Princess's apartment, they couldn't have gotten in, not without tangling themselves in the net of safety spells I have woven around the building. Then again, magic doesn't work against the rebels. It defends them.
I squeeze my eyes closed. I dare not stir or breathe. If the intruder thinks I'm asleep, maybe she'll leave me alone or at least give me time to think up a plan.
"Gharib..."
Her voice floats through the air, high and light, deceitfully so. The sound strikes a familiar chord within me. I have heard it before, but where?
"GHARIB!"
Refusing to be ignored any longer, the voice screams in my head, dragging its sharp nails along the inside of my skull.
With a cry, I sit upright.
Terror courses through my body, the same as the one the land had known since the rebel leader first made her demands known a month ago.
She wanted the royal family to step down or die.
Her name is Yasmin. Nobody knows who she is or where she's from. She kills whoever gets in her way before they can ask questions. All we know is that she's serious about overthrowing the King.
I blink until my sleepy eyes comprehend what they're seeing.
Smoke escapes the garnet set into the ring on my finger. It's a sickening green, like poison, like jealousy.
