War of Hearts

chapter one

I was born in a war, I am living in a war and I'll die during a war. That's my destiny, even if everyone refuses to believe it.

My life is what you can call collateral damage. My father was the greatest warrior of his time and promised to be king upon his fathers death. My mother was a simple commoner, doomed to spend her days at home with her little brothers while her own father worked all day long to put food on their table. Then the first war came. My father was sent to fight in the honor of his fathers, and soon his kingdom and my mother was left alone when her brothers were old enough to join their father in the battlefield.

One night, after a bloody encounter, my father and mother meet.

He was looking for a place to rest, planning to kill whoever was inside it, in order to keep his safety at least for the night. However, he ended up finding my mother instead, singing while cleaning the floor. He claims she looked like an outsider in her own house. She was as clean as the summer sky, while he was the image of the devil himself, with blood from head to toe. He didn't kill her that moment, or that day. He fell for her light smile that welcomed him without a hint of fear, and she fell for the kind heart that just needed finding in him. The war ended when my birth reached both kings' ears.

Athena. Goddess of wisdom. A symbol of war in its most realistic way.

All my life, I could never tell if my father regrets having me or not. Either way, I personally think he did not regret having a child, considering my origins and everything that followed them, just one that looked like me.

A girl.

One that, due to society's strange rules, could not be trained to fight. That's probably why he had my brother not even a year after. Axel is only 16 and is already said to be the next savior of our people, just like our father was. In their eyes, he was a gift from god while I'm just a living proof of my parents' love. But what happens to a symbol of something that no longer exists?

I stopped having doubts about my fathers feelings towards me after my mother died. Sure, he had always prefered spending time with Axel, either training or riding, but he still showed some kind of emotion, in his own private way, to me. Now, two years later, I've gotten used to the cold treatment.

I guess I could blame it on the war. Wars tend to make men go crazy. But again, I'm not able to recall the last one to be certain. Though, considering the faces of the many men sitting around the table, whispering guesses to the exact need of such a reunion that hadn't occurred in 17 years, I might be about to find out.

'Is he here yet?' Axel enters the room with light feet, so no one notices his retardness. His light hair is completely drenched from an obvious shower, probably the reason he's late, again.

'No. But I'm starting to think if he doesn't come out any time soon, there will be heads rolling.' I look at his very high placed, blue eyes. It's easy to connect the dots. My father, tall, blonde and blue eyed, loves my brother, tall, blonde and blue eyed.

Not me. Never little, brunette and green eyed me. There's only one woman with those looks that will always have his undeniable love, and she's not here to receive it.

The hushed sounds come to a stop as both doors to the big room open and the most powerful looking man in a ten mile radius walks in.

And he does not look happy.

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'Wait so he simply said it? Just like that?' The redhead girl walks around me, in her white apron already filled with little stains that keep multiplying as she picks and puts things down.

'Just like that.' I reassured, making sure to hide a few strawberries in my pocket, just in case. 'He walked in, everyone holding their breath, and said King Darion II of Fedinia has officially declared war against Redwilean.' She sucked her breath in, also unbelievably shocked at the calm both my father, and me, were showing to the matter in hand.

Wars are just a question of power. They become a problem when people start learning that power is just a question of truths and lies. People are idiots. They think that just because god gave us weapons, they're the solutions to all our problems. 'He also said that their army is due to arrive by tonight, so we need to be ready.'

She sits in front of me, stopping her work, for once letting others even participate in the dinner. 'And Axel?' Concerne filling her eyes, probably imagining my little brother's body lying somewhere in between those lands.

'Father said he was still too young to fight, but if the war extends its duration just like what happened with the first, he will be called to the field.' I exhale, showing obvious discontent towards the matter. What my father doesn't understand is that Axel was not made to kill. He might have amazing combat skills, but he has no hand in killing, and I'm afraid he won't last a day out there if he goes into battle with his head floating on complements.

Isabella opened her mouth to speak, probably the same thing that crossed my mind, but someone bursted into the kitchen asking for her help.

Isa's my best friend, but she's also my chef. At only 15 she won the biggest cooking competition in our kingdom that got my mother's eyes on her. She could see talent and potential in the most unexpected places. Isa is so good at what she does that, even after her death, the king never implied her leaving. It could have been to respect his wife's desire, but like I said, I do not know the man sitting at the big chair anymore.

I take one of the strawberries to my mouth when I'm out of Isa's very strict kitchen. Once she caught me eating some leftover cake from dinner in the middle of the night, and gave me a whole speech involving hierarchy and rules. Then she ate the cake with me.

Just as I'm reaching for the living room's door, I hear muttering from inside. Opening just one strip, I slowly sit on the carpet and listen.

'Is everything ready?' It was my father. He was not sitting on his usual spot, walking from side to side of the room instead. There was someone else in there with him too, his personal assistant, indicated by the voice that followed him.

'Yes sir. Everyone has been alerted and warned about leaving the kingdom. The front line has been placed and they're all waiting for orders, just like you commanded'

'I see.' A long silence came after his statement, however, no one exited the room. It was known that when the king doesn't say anything, it's not, by any chance, an accident. 'And the prince? Any news on his presence?'

My heart skips a bit and my hand has to cover my mouth, stopping my location from being revealed. Is he talking about Axel? It would not be unusual for my father to lie to his counselors, but my brother was there too, could he have lied to his own son? Could Axel know and not tell me? No, that can not be the truth. In 16 years, my little brother has never lied to me. Not once.

Voices rise once again giving me an answer to my preoccupations. 'Yes my king. It has been confirmed that Prince Mazen is indeed part of their battalion.'

'Which one?' A high pitch in his voice, that was not there before, was noticeable.

'That information is yet to be obtained sir. Our spies claim they have seen him a little everywhere, but never in the same place for long.'

The king's footsteps get louder on the tiled floor close to the door, making me retrieve from my position. I hurry as fast as I can down the hall but not fast enough to not have caught his last declaration.

'In that case, let's hope God makes him blind and cuts his legs out. With that kid on their side, this war will be over in less than a week.'