Elemental Thief Part I : Child of Calamity

In Chains

Treasa knew that she had lost everything.

And despite the fact that she had never really had much in which to lose to begin with, she had lost a great deal. On the first day of her fifteenth year, she sat in chains in the crowded cell, listening to those that had the most take away everything from those that had nothing at all. If it had been the Queen who sat the Queen's justice, she could have a hope of pleading her case.

Making an argument about the fact that she was fifteen and had only resorted to stealing to survive, to save her friend's life, was the truth that may have been heard by someone who was willing to listen. The Queen might understand that every wrong turn in her life had resulted from some calamity of fortune and her desperate attempt to stave off the inevitable fate of starving alone in a gutter, being one of the nameless bodies found floating in the harbour.

But the Queen didn't sit the Queen's justice often, and Treasa could hear the judgements being made by whatever royal official was out in the may audience hall, belying the fact that today was not one of those rare days.

Treasa still may not have bothered. The Queen couldn't be much better than her officials, if she allowed children to starve in the streets and people like the thugs that had terrorised Treasa to profit and succeed.

She sat in the squalid confines of the cell, barely acknowledging when another cellmate was led off to be accused of unspeakable crimes against the blessed innocence of the magnificent land of Clairval. She stared at her dirty hands, frowning against the tears that pooled in her eyes, trying to stop the constant memory from that morning, when a messenger had made its way into the cell and informed her of the very last piece of her destruction. A message from the worst thug of all, Kethan.

She had failed, her friend had paid the price.

Now all that waited for her was a jail sentence, hard labour, and possibly further indenture to the people who took everything she cared about, everything she had. Even if the Queen was there, freedom would only mean that she would be quickly in the sights of the man who made her steal, or the man who she had stolen from.

"You!" The door to her cell clanged open loudly and Treasa looked up slowly, realising she was alone in the cell, being stared at by the Royal Guard. The man looked almost human behind his helmet, watching her with those careful, sad eyes as he took her in. "C'mon kid, you're the last one of the day."

Treasa nodded, standing and following him out, hearing his partner fall into step behind her as they walked down the short hallway to the audience chamber.

"Listen, don't worry. You're a kid. Sounds like Lord Corvin is only going to demand a three-year indenture to his service. Might not be ideal, but it's not a Rulin work ship. You'll have food, a bed to sleep, and probably learn something to keep you off the bad tracks. Just let him and the justice representative hash it out." The guard said softly as they walked. He didn't sound like he wanted her to accept it, though logic would say that the three years would be the best case.

Treasa tensed, frowning at the man's back. Logic, if you didn't know the kind of people who ran the country.

But she didn't have the time to respond, squinting into the light as the door opened and she stumbled into the chamber, her eyes slowly adjusting to see where Lord Corvin stood, head ducked forward as he listened to the man beside him speak.

Both sets of eyes were on her. Of course they were working together, of course she hadn't a chance at all from the very start. It had been a lie, all of it, though Treasa couldn't figure out why there had been such a double-cross on her behalf.

She only knew why they were bothering with her now. Because she could hide things magically, and Kethan hadn't thought that through when he had betrayed her and let the Royal Guard arrest and search her.