Some time in the distant future...
In the city of Segeno, it's eat or be eaten. Someone has to rule the masses. A boy has lost his birthright. His parents killed. Dead and gone. A girl has lost her father. She means nothing to him now.
The city of...
A hawk screeched out as it circled above, dipping into the blue sky, and Parisa gazed out over the desert, shielding her eyes from the blistering, blinding sun. Far in the distance, blue mountains peaked over an endless sea of tan, nothing but dirt and rocks, and soft, white clouds roved their way across the sky, like they had not a care in the whole world. Parisa wondered if the earth had always been that brown, or if the Great War caused the place to be devoid of all vegetation.
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She sat in silence on the Naa'a rooftop, pondering the events of the last few months, and closed her eyes in speculation. The sunlight danced across her cheek and she smiled.
"You're pretty in the light," a boy said. Parisa looked to meet eyes with Perseus, who munched on a plum, and he continued, "Your skin is really lovely, I mean."
"Thank you."
"Now that we're not dirty all the time, we both look pretty good, huh?"
"I think so."
"People don't take me seriously, though. They assume I'm a kid playing dress up. Has that happened to you?"
"It's even worse for me. People see my face and think I ran away from home, or sometimes they don't believe me when they say I'm the Sovereign's daughter. I look nothing like him, so... I get it."
Parisa was surprised at how different she looked now. At first, she had feared the drastic change of lifestyle, but Perseus proved to be a fast friend and good company. With help from him, after she made up and took back what she said, she had become the second fastest and hardest working soldier in the Elite Guard. Perseus had been promoted from soldier to Captain and he and Parisa worked closely together, taking care of investigations of robberies and patrolling the streets.
Elites, Parisa had learned quickly enough, only worked in the Naa'a district, to protect the rich and the royal. Parisa found this strange, seeing as the entire city could make use of increased help and protection. Perseus and Parisa spent most of their time chasing down thieves before they disappeared into the other districts and guarding large amounts of goods and money as they moved from one place to another. The Elite Guard were at the Sovereign's beck and call and did not serve the people.
"Man, this job is so boring," Perseus huffed.
"I think it's quite relaxing."
"Nothing bad happens in this district, other than tax fraud. I wish I was in Dza'ya busting bad guys and helping people."
"We are helping people."
"Not the people that matter. We protect property. We don't serve the citizens of Segeno. Not really."
Parisa pondered on it and looked out over the desert again.
"You know what's the worst?"
"What?"
"I never thought I would end up working for the guard, because we all hate them down there, you know? The guard ruins everything: they destroy businesses, tear apart families, wrongfully accuse. I was sure I'd never be one of them, and here I am."
