(Book 1 in the Jahaerys series)
The land of Lysandre is at war with their former colonies in the islands of Demetria. A widowed father, a childless mother, a cursed prisoner, and a kingdom concubine must band together from the cells of Nophis prison...
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Jahaerys was a quiet child, so much so that his father thought he was dead when he found him on his doorstep, as no cries left his newborn lips. His father, Fenrir Abraxas, was the quiet type too, but his silence came from a place of anger, a simmering rage like a boiled over kettle screeching on the stove, hissing steam. Fenrir was a silent man, he said he only talked when he needed to, whether that be his way of showing respect or putting someone under his status in their place. Jahaerys learnt quickly, being silent was a good thing, as it was when his father was loud in his fury that true hell had arrived on the lands of Lysandre. His father was a military man, head of his station and command of a battalion of fresh-faced men, ready for the honours of war but, in his father's eyes, only deserving of death. It had been ingrained in Jahaerys at a young age that a martyr's death for his country was the only way to go and to reach that goal one must be born with warriors' blood, for true courage cannot be taught. Yes, A true born warrior knew to have no compassion for the dead or dying as they were the lucky ones, we were put on this land to fight and then to die, only then would a man be judged.
Yet as Jahaerys lay on the slab of raised metal pushed against the wall of his cell, he felt pretty judged. For it was a royal Judicator from the capitol city of Soren that had sentenced him to this cell, and yet he was unfortunately still alive. The Nophis Prison, named after the sector it resided in, was the most notorious guardhouse. It housed many a criminal, from all areas of Lysandre, and now it would be his living quarters until he passed of old age or hung himself from the rafters with his thin bed sheets. His crime, according to the judge, was mercifully not worthy of a death sentence. Jahaerys assumed his fathers name was what influenced this decision, any other man selling concoctions of poisons and foreign herbs would easily have been put to the sword to save space and resources for the criminals that were needed alive, for one purpose or another. One of these 'needed alive' criminals had become a kind of acquaintance of his, Calliope Andor, she was in here for rebelling against the king and being in cahoots with Demitrian soldiers, although she often hinted to Jahaerys that the guards didn't know the full extent of her crimes. Calliope claimed she was first drawn to conversation with him due to him having the potential to be a good recruit for her cause, however Jahaerys doubted that as his first impression in the prison was rather uncoordinated due to his blindness and the new surroundings. Unsurprisingly, he wasn't given the privilege of keeping his cane, in case he used the old, twisted stick as a weapon. He didn't need a weapon to cause someone damage if he wanted too, but he kept this to himself, better to appear hopeless and quiet, always good to be quiet.
Unbeknownst to him the true reason Calliope had graciously introduced herself and brought him into her fold, was because her sharp eye had spotted the scars that rippled down his ears. Elven ears to be exact, smaller than a full high elf (like herself) but still as shapely as one with elven genetics would have. They had been rather poorly snipped at the points, in some strange surgical removal. It made sense, Elves weren't exactly welcome citizens of Lysandre, yet Jahaerys had no eleven posture or poise, he had no accent, nor did he understand any of the foreign tongue when Calliope tested it out in front of him. However, clear as day to her, he had elven ears, albeit mutilated, they were still clearly previously pointed like hers were. She didn't bring it up, prisoners didn't tend to want to discuss heritage and family matters in a place like this. But it was due to this deformity, that only she took notice off, that made the man intriguing to her.
