Born to be Empress

Chapter 1 - The attack

Phaedra's pov:

It was 7 in the morning and like every day we went to the field to collect the wheat. I was a field worker like all the members of my family. In summer we harvested wheat and cotton while in winter we picked olives and grew vegetables. We also helped with milking, shearing, slaughtering the sheep and cows. In winter we were responsible for cheese production as well as milk and meat storage. Our salary is not big but it is enough to cover our expenses. Half of our salary is withheld as tax to our King.

Our days were always busy, but I wasn't complaining. I lived with my parents and two brothers in a small village on the northern border of the Crescent kingdom. Life was not easy, but it was quiet and peaceful. Thanks to our King, a peace treaty was signed with the neighboring kingdom,  Drakonians. For more than a decade there was peace: war and hostilities had long ceased and people had returned to their normal rhythms. Recently in our neighboring kingdom, the eldest son of the royal family, Arius Severus, succeeded his father Drako and everyone is worried about it. Rumor has it that Arius Severus is ruthless and warlike and it is very likely that he will violate the treaty of peace that his father concluded with so much effort. I really hope that all this will remain only rumors.

My name is Phaedra and I am the third child of my family. I am fifteen years old while my older brother Jason is twenty and the second one, Iolaos, is eighteen. According to our society laws, girls must be married at fourteen and boys at twenty. Jason is already engaged to Priscila, a sixteen-year-old girl whose father is the village chief. For our house, marrying my brother to the chief's only daughter is a great honor because he will be the next chief of the village.

Unfortunately, I do not have many suitors: I am very poor and without any dowry. Even though my father is a good man, I'm afraid that if no suitors appear soon, he will probably give me away to some old widower, and I don't want that. But I will submit to my fate even if it hurt me deeply. I am in love with an eighteen boy from my village. His name is Josef and he is a field worker like me. I know he has feelings for me: I have caught him many times staring or smiling at me. He is always gentle and kind to me. God! How I wish one day he would come to my father and ask for my hand in marriage! But I know that this is not going to happen! He is poor like me and poor people don't choose who they're going to marry.

We were working at the fields all day unstoppably. Today we had a lot of work and I wasn't feeling very strong. I decided to take a small break and sat under an olive tree. The end of summer was approaching. When we finish the wheat harvest we will continue with cotton and grapes in September while in October we will start with picking olives.

-"Phaedra what happened?" Josef said with a smile as he came towards me.

-"Nothing, I got a bit tired that's all" I reassured him avoiding any eye contact. Every time I looked at him I was blushing like a beetroot causing Josef's laughter. I loved the way he smiled but I was too ashamed to admit it.

-"Hey you two, stop fooling around and get back to your work" the foreman ordered.

-"Yes sir" we both said in unison and returned to our positions. Harvesting wheat is a very tedious job especially when you don't have many tools to achieve it. The tools are given to the workers from the foreman and are taken away when the job is done.

Finally, evening came and we returned home. I was exhausted and very hungry. In the fields we managed to eat only a few fruits and little bread. My mother put the kettle on the stove and started preparing a vegetable soup with the ingredients the foreman gave us before we left while I started the housework. My father and brothers went to cut wood for the fire.

Our house is made of wood and reeds and isn't very big. Actually it's a small hut. It consists of three rooms: two bedrooms and a kitchen. One bedroom is for our parents while I share the other with my siblings. We don't have many things. Our mattresses are made of straw and the kitchen consists of a small table and some wooden cooking utensils: a few plates, some cups and a big tin kettle. I was mopping the floor when mother informed us that dinner was ready. The men of the house already sat around the table after putting the logs in place and lighting the fire.

We ate the soup and men went straight to bed while I helped mother to wash the dishes and cutleries. We went to bed as soon as we finished. Wwe were very tired.

It was in the middle of the night when I abruptly woke up by a strange noise. Suddenly a fire broke out in the house. I quickly woke up my brothers and ran to my parents' bedroom. My brothers tried to put out the fire to no avail. Screams were heard everywhere. We left our house and ran outside. The view was devastating: bodies were strewn everywhere, women holding their kids by their hand were running up and down in panic, while soldiers on their horses attacked the men and our houses. Father defended himself with a rank and my brothers with big branches.

-"Go hide yourself now!" my father shouted at me and my mother who both remained numb in front of our house. Our house was built in the beginning of the forest so I took my mother's hand and headed towards it. We hid ourselves beside some bushes and waited there. Several hours passed in agony as the screams of innocent people continued and fire kept burning everything.

The morning came and found us hidden behind the bushes worried to death for my father and brother. What happened to them? Are they still alive? Who knows! I stood up and was ready to return to the village when mother grabbed my hand from behind.

-"Where are you going Phaedra?" she wondered.

-"To find father and my brothers" I said determined.

-"Have you completely lost your mind child? If those savages find you they.......they'll do unspeakable things to you" she said worried.

-"But nothing is heard for more than two hours! I can't wait any longer mother. I have to go" I objected and free my arm from my mother's grip. Mother followed behind. We hesitantly approached the village or better say what remained of it. Most of the houses were burnt; blood and corpses were everywhere while whoever survived was wandering around the wreckage looking for their people. The spectacle was heartbreaking. We searched for father and the boys without result. It was like they were vanished into thin air. Where were they?

We found a little boy covered in blood and smoke with tattered clothes in the remains of a house. He was curled up and was crying for his mom. I called out to him and he immediately stood up and headed to our way. It was then that some soldiers on horses were crossing the street. Without a second thought, I ran to the boy and saved him from being trampled. I patted his head and hugged him tightly. We stayed like that for a few minutes until I realized that we were surrounded by several soldiers who started mocking us and saying obscenities. I stayed put avoiding any eye contact or doing anything to provoke them.

They got off their horses and headed towards us when another soldier arrived with his black horse and everyone stopped in their positions. He wore a golden suit of armor with the coat of arms of the neighboring kingdom and had a tall black plume on his helmet that stood out. His whole presence was imposing and exuded an air of authority. He was probably a high-ranking soldier, maybe a mayor or even a general. He signaled the men to fall back, an order which they all immediately followed.

He dismounted from his horse and approached us. He took off his helmet and addressing me said in a hoarse and very imposing voice:

-"Rise up woman"

I stood up hesitantly avoiding any eye contact with him while the little boy hugged my leg tightly.

-"How old are you?" he asked.

-"Fifteen, sir" I said timidly.

-"Is this your kid?" he asked pointing at the little boy.

-"No, sir I am not related to the boy" I answered honestly.

-"Then why did you risk your life for a stranger?"

-"I don't know....I........I didn't think of it that way" I answered honestly.

-"Take her" he ordered his soldiers. His words made my blood cold. Take me where? I didn't want to leave. I wanted to learn about my father and brothers. Oh my God why didn't I listen to my mother?

Anxiety overwhelmed me and I began to sweat uncontrollably. What would happen to me? They would probably throw me in some cold and sunless cell.

-"Noooooo" came my mother's voice from afar. I turned my attention to her when two guards had already grabbed my arms. The sight left me speechless. One of the guards stabbed my mother in front of my eyes while she was trying to approach me. When I saw my mother's body lying on the ground, surrounded in a pool of blood, I was overcome by darkness.