Madolika is a young and naive princess of a kingdom ruled by sorcerers. She wakes up one day, hundreds of years later to discover that everything has changed and sorcerers, who were loved in her time, are now an abomination
The carriage had been out for about a week and Sky finally came up with a plan. As the carriage rider was ahead, they poured out all the water they had on the ground and called out to the riders. “Help! The prince is dying!” Isabelle shouted and one rider came back to check what was going on. He opened the door and came in. “He hasn’t drank water for a while now. He gave the remaining to me” Isabelle said and handed the gangster the empty pouch. As the gangster leaned in to check up on Sky, Sky pulled out the gangster's sword from behind and stabbed the gangster with it, then quickly, Isabelle cut Sky's rope. Hearing the screams from the gangster, his colleague came to the carriage and saw Sky about to untie Isabelle. Before he could lock the door once more, Sky kicked him away and jumped out, pulling Isabelle along. As he was much weaker than usual, the fight with the gangster became much harder. Suddenly, Isabelle stabbed the gangster from behind and dropped the sword. Her hands shook in fear as the gangster began to bleed. Sky seized the opportunity and stabbed the gangster once more. Sky pulled Isabelle along and jumped onto the horse. She took one last look back and saw the gangster fall onto his knees, then to the ground. They kept riding ahead where smoke had come into sight and by nightfall, they had got to another town.
They were taken in by the Arani people, who provided them with a place to stay. “You two can stay here” An old woman told them. The house was small and there was only one room in it. “How’re we going to share the space” Isabelle asked, looking around the dusty place. “Share?” Sky asked. “Yes, share. We are both going to stay here” Isabelle said. “And that’s okay with you?” Sky asked. “I guess you have never lived with someone who isn’t of your gender. Don’t worry, it’s not as serious as you think. We'll only sleep in the same room” Isabelle said and laughed at Sky. The next day, they each went to different rivers to bath. Isabelle stood at the edge, unable to go into the river to bath, the memories of the storm coming back to her. She went to the well to fetch water and headed back to the house to take her bath. She came out, fully dressed in the local attire they had. She remembered how similar the ones they wore back in her village was to that of the Arani people. Sky also returned from the men's riverside, already dressed up, in their attire. Isabelle was speechless when she saw him. “My brother never looked this good” Isabelle accidentally spoke her thoughts aloud. “I bet he didn’t” Sky said to tease her.
The Arani village
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Sky and Isabelle stayed in the Arani village for a while. They worked to earn money for their journey back home, as soon as they figured out which direction their home would be in. After a few weeks, Sky and Isabelle woke up to the screams of the villagers. A man suddenly barged into their room, dressed like a low ranking soldier, and began to look through their things. Isabelle got up to stop him but he pushed her away, causing her to fall into the arms of Sky. Sky took the soldier by the arm and kicked him. Then he threw punches at the soldier who struggled to defend himself, then threw him out. Sky and Isabelle then rushed out to find out what was happening. “What is going on?” Isabelle asked. “It’s the tax collectors. They’re here to take money for the governor, but the problem is, no one helps us in this village. We are left alone to fend for ourselves and then the government just comes and takes away most of the money. It’s got much worse after many of our young men left to join the gangsters to fight and none have returned. Oh what are we going to do?” The old woman wailed. Sky watched helplessly as the people had their belongings taken away from them. He knew the result if anyone revolted. He knew how the corrupt officials would cause further harm to the villagers. The soldier who was beaten ran to tell the tax collector. The tax collector, upset at the soldier's inadequacy, slapped him, dismissing his complaint. Sky sighed in relief as the tax collector left with his soldiers.
