Forbidden Legacies

Prologue - The Life of a Puppet

My whole life, my family has controlled me. From things like dresses to wear and shoes to buy, to the friends I can have and even the man I'll marry, my parents have planned it all. I have no real choice in my life. My parents like to make it seem as though I do, but I know otherwise. As the only daughter out of five children, my path in life was set the moment I came into this world, born under the Dalton name. The Daltons are one of the many noble families in London, most likely one of the noblest. I'm the youngest of my family, with four older brothers. Theodore, who's 26, Maxwell, whos 24, Parker, who's 21, and Cameron, who's 19. And then there's me. Haiden Dalton, 16 years old.

As a kid, I was never allowed to do the things that "normal" children did. I was locked in a study for hours, learning all kinds of bizarre things. Things that I could apprehend at the time. In my younger years of childhood, I spent most of my time with my brother, Cameron. We were almost inseparable. We studied together, we played together, we even shared a room. Until he discovered the joy of the Arena and left me behind with his childhood.

The Arena is a training center located on the outskirts of town, housing some of the best swordsmen ever to be. Lots of young men and women flock towards it in hopes of becoming one of the Arena's new best. And if they don't go there to earn the title of "best", they're there to learn from previous "bests". Even if people don't come out of that Arena with a title, they're still better swordsmen than most others.

Which is why I've never really met my oldest brother, Theodore. By the time I was old enough to remember him at all, he was already off at the Arena, training to someday be one of the future "bests". Of course, I see him at family gatherings and all of that, but he has a wife and a son now and doesn't come to visit as often as he probably should. One by one, I've watched my brothers move on and out of my life, each going a different path. Maxwell went to college to become a scholar. Parker works at the bank. Cameron is somewhere in France, no doubt courting many beautiful girls. And I'm stuck at home, with my infuriating parents watching every step I take, a group of friends I don't like, and a man I'm set to marry who I have no interest in. 

I'm a puppet on strings.