Crown of Jade

Arabella: What if there's more to it?

The sole notion of this is to calm or persuade my restless heart, or mind, to stop being curious. There's nothing out there. I was tired of doing this for so long. It was freezing, our swords slit the numbing air. I took a deep breath, I couldn't do this anymore. "Bella, posture." Grunted Artemis, I knew he too felt tired. We were doing this since afternoon. The wolves howled, my long black hair sheltered the cuts and wounds on my face. I leant on the table, the wooden floor creaked. "Get up" Groaned Artemis, almost too tired to speak. My grip on my sword started lessening. I soon started to neglect the blood and sweat dripping from my face. I was deeply wounded in my stomach, but little did Artemis know. He took me away from the village, from my family ; I wasn't born like this, Artemis told me to never trust anyone. The world wasn't like this, Asterin wasn't like this. With a surge of anger and strength rushing through my veins, I picked up the heavy sword and charged at Artemis. His grey hair shivered slightly. He fell to the floor, Juno cooed from the passage and lifted his left paw from the ground, staring at Artemis on the floor. I leant over him, my sword tightly pressed on his neck, almost cutting through his grey beard. I looked into his eyes, there was no sight of fear, only the look of dismay. His swollen eyes surveyed my hands. I gave a whisper of a sigh and lifted my sword and handed him a hand to get up. "Arabella, how many times have I told you, twist your sword when turning." Said Artemis, I didn't reply and sunk into the chair. Artemis stood in the middle of the living room, his sword fell to a clatter on the cold floor. I lifted up the robe that was covering my stomach, a large cut revealed itself, a groan escaped my mouth. Artemis had gone into his room, he came out after a few minutes, I grimaced at the sight of it. I didn't know what to do, small trickles of blood oozed out. The bright crimson colour clashed with my pale skin. Artemis sat next to me. He took the tiny bottle filled with medicine on the table and poured it on the gauge piece that he got from the outside market. I'm not allowed to go to the outside, Artemis only goes rarely, he says the outside is full of Lexers. Artemis dabbed the sodden gauge piece on my wound, I knitted my brows and groaned, it felt like excruciating pain. I held the handles of the chair tightly, trickles of sweat rolled down my forehead, I slightly slid up in pain. "Don't move" Grunted Artemis. He pressed the gauge piece with pressure tightly on my wound, I forcefully shut my mouth. The blood started spreading on the gauge. He finally covered it with a thin cloth tightly and relieved me of the pain. It almost felt like he took out his anger on me. I took a shivery breath as I covered my stomach again, it felt numb. I took a deep sigh of relief, staring at the white cloth covering my wound. "Artemis, why did you save me?" I questioned as he walked away, he always had the same answer, "Because you were the ugliest of them all." He smiled and briskly walked away. I always ask him the same question when I know he's a bit disappointed, to numb the pain and bring a smile to his face. "I'll have to stitch it tomorrow." Artemis informed, I gave a gasp of dismay which was more like a sigh because I was so tired. and relaxed my blood-red hands from gripping the chair so tightly. The white moon sparkled as Artemis made dinner, Juno ran towards me and sat on my lap. I scratched his head playfully and put my legs up. Juno and Artemis, they're my only family. Artemis raised me to be like this since I was 5, since the Lexers burned our village. The last thing I saw of my family was their frightened faces, a big flame of fire separated us, me on one side, and my family on the other. I hopelessly looked around, my mom screamt and told me to run away. I didn't know what to do, and before I could think, Artemis scooped me up in his arms and started running, he ran for miles, until we reached the woods. Asterin woods. Memories of the fire keep me up at night till this day. The Lexers didn't know how to get into the woods, only the people from Asterin knew the way, the Lexers went to the outside. It's a dark place based on all the stories Artemis told me. He engraved it in my mind to never go outside. And I'll never forget.

But I want to explore the world, I don't want to live in this small cottage for my whole life, living with Juno and Artemis isn't enough, I know there's something more to it. What if there's someone else who survived the fire and lives in the woods? But I need to control myself, I can't disobey Artemis.