Loyalties Lie

Prologue

By the age of sixteen, Mina had exhausted all the shares of love allotted to her. In her youth, no one loved more purely nor more fully than her. She loved her village, a small town located along the pathways between the capital of Corypha to the southernmost city of Acampe. She loved both the clear skies on a sunny day and the pitter-patter of raindrops on the wooden roof of her house on a stormy one. She loved climbing the tallest trees and finding the prettiest flowers. She loved all her neighbors from Eli, the gruff but kind hearted butcher, to Ada, the sweet and gentle old weaver. She loved her best friend Kirian, the mischievous and lively son of the town's late blacksmith with whom she always found herself on the most memorable adventures. They once hitched a ride on a passing trader's cart and traveled all the way to the Acampe, spending three days there before returning home safe and sound, much to his mother's and her father's relief. She loved her father and he loved her, and together they lived in a little house made up of two sparsely furnished rooms and not much else.

Mina's life was far from perfect, but it didn't need to be. She never knew her mother and her father never spoke of her. She had vague memories of a brother, but she was so young that she could hardly discern which memories were real and which were just childish longings. There were many nights where she went to bed longing for something more to eat, and many days where her whole body ached from being hunched over a carpentry bench as she helped her father create items for his shop. 

And of course, there were the self proclaimed rebels to keep a watchful eye for every day. They were much less of an organized movement and rather more of several ragtag groups of crooks who had stripped themselves of all morals so that they could do as they pleased. Whenever they passed through, Mina's father would lock all the doors, instruct her to stay as quiet as possible, and hand her a wood carving knife to defend herself if ever necessary. Her father was good at shielding her from the things they did, almost too good, and as a result, they existed more as an enigma in her mind instead of a tangible threat to truly fear.

Though she lacked much in her life, Mina poured even more love into the things she did have. And perhaps, she loved just a little too much and thus created a lens through which she saw only the beauty in everything. She forged in her mind a reality that was too good to be true, and eventually, the day came where that world was shattered and her eyes were finally opened to the evil and darkness that permeated all that she held dear.

It began when her father allowed her to take a day off of work as a special treat, raising her spirits and her expectations for that day. With a massive smile on her face, she rushed over to Kirian's house, pounding on the door in a quick and uneven manner as she waited for a response. After a few moments, the door swung open to reveal her best friend, his green eyes peering through the brown hair falling in messy waves down his face as if he had just rolled out of bed.

"Already causing a ruckus this early in the morning, hm?"

She grinned. "I have a day off. You wanna go do something?"

He leaned against the doorframe, crossing his big arms over his chest. "Like what?"

"Doesn't matter. Anything."

"Well, if I'm gonna skip work today too, you'd better have something exciting planned."

"Oh, please. Even if I had plans, we'd stray from them anyway."

He snickered. "True."

"Come on. The best adventures are always the ones we least expect."

He didn't reply at first, stroking his chin as if he was contemplating whether or not to concede to her. She kicked his shin in a playful manner, causing him to recoil and pretend to shut the door in her face. Reacting quickly, she reached out and caught the door before it shut, nearly smashing her fingers in the process.