Ashes of the Phoenix Heart

Chapter one, Was this a dream

Mai?! Mai wake up!
......
Hmm.....what? Mom? What's wrong?
We have to go... NOW!!
Wait mom why?
I'll tell you later! We hav......
GET THEM MEN!!!
Honey.... Run!
Mom? MOM.......

                                                           ~________~

It happened again. Why do I keep getting these nightmares from that night six years ago. I still don't know why they were trying to kill us or why they were there in the first place. All I could remember was that they really wanted us dead, but why? I tried asking my Aunt Zoey about it but she said that they were thieves trying to steal things from our house, but then why were they carrying swords like they were guards sent to kill us? I just kept wondering why. Why did they attack us and what was their motive for the muder of my mother. Everytime I think about it or when I have dreams of the night I write it down in my diary instead of asking my aunt about it.  I better write this dream down in my diary.

June 3, 1552

Dear Diary,

The night my life changed I lost my mom and the home I grew up in. Now I live with my aunt in the kingdom of Prydain in the country area. Her  house is beautiful and it was huge , but I miss the home where my mother, father and I lived. You see, I lost my father when I was little. My father was a knight of the Phoenix Heart  Alliance. My mom was the leader of the alliance even though I feel like there is something more to it... but what? whatever happened that night it didn't seem like those guys were there to steal things. It still haunts me till this day. You see it happened like this.......

My mom and I were having a perfect day. Till night came, it was almost midnight when the intruders came to kill us. My mom was trying to wake me up to escape before the  intruders came into the house. We heard them downstairs and One of  the men said....

" Find Athena and her daughter." I was so scared that I couldn't even move, but my mom said that we have to get out of here quickly. I asked her what was going on but she didn't answer. Then the man in a black hood yelled...
" I hear voices coming from upstairs." At that moment my mom tried to stop them with my father's sword but she couldn't because they were too strong and over took her. Before she passed away she said to me...
"Mai.....get out of here!" As I was trying to run away I heard one of them say,
"GO AFTER HER!! DON'T LET HER ESCAPE!!".
I was running down the hallway to get away but I ran into a dead end. As I was trying to figure out how to get away I heard a voice calling my name. It sounded like a young boy about my age. I looked over and I saw a boy standing in my parents doorway. "Come with me." he said "I know how to get out of here safely." But as the boy was trying to get me to come to him we heard them coming closer. I ran towards him and he showed me a secret door behind my mother"s book case. We managed to get out of the estate that has been in my family for years . I tried to ask the boy what his name was and why he saved me but he didn't answer. The young boy showed me how to get to my Aunt's house. When we got to the front door of her home the boy turned around and started to walk away. I yelled "Wait! I want to say thank you for saving my life back there and to also ask you what your name is." the boy just said back " It was just my job. As for my name I can't tell just yet." Then he walked away and I never saw him again. I  wish I got to see what he looked like but it was too dark and he was wearing a green hood that covered his face.

Well diary that's what happened that changed my life.
Love,
Mai

As I finished writing in my diary my aunt called me for breakfast. She asked if I was ok because she heard me screaming in my sleep. I said I was fine, it was just a nightmare as all. But I could tell that she knew that I had that dream again.  Oh by the way a young man is going to stop by here today my aunt said to me. I asked her why but all she said was "You may not remember him, but he was a knight in training when you were only twelve years old. He came to visit your father to ask him if he could give him some more fighting lessons after the actual guard training.". I tried asking her what his name was but she kept talking and talking about how he asking my father time and time again for the extra fighting lessons. She alway tries to dodge the question I have about my mother and father or about anything relating to that night. As if she was trying to hide something from me so it's harder to trust.  After she finished talking about that boy went outside to the  pond and the big oak tree that we have in our backyard. I sat down underneath the tree and  started to read the book  my Mother loved so much. As I was reading I heard a strange noise coming from up in the tree. When I looked up I saw a boy who looked like only a few years older than me. So I called up to him " Why are you up in the tree?" He shouted back to me " It's a training thing." I got so confused that I shouted back at  him " What do you mean?", but he just ignored me and went back to what he was doing so I did the same thing. As I was about to start reading again the young man came down and asked me "What are you reading there?"  I told him that it was about the Kingdom of Phoenix Heart, but when I said the name his face changed. It was kind of scary like he didn't want to hear the name Phoenix Heart. I tried to ask him if everything was alright but my aunt called my name and his expression changed from being mad to surprised. It was as if he saw a ghost. He tried to ask me what my last name was but I couldn't tell him for I do not know. He looked shocked to hear that I didn't know my last name. As I started to walk back to the house when my aunt noticed the young man standing next to me. She asked him what name was and he replied back with Laurance. For a second I thought I've heard that name before. As I was about to ask him a question Aunt Zoey started to talk "Mai this is the young boy I was telling you about."  I responded back with "What young boy? He looks older than me!" The boy started to laugh and said "I guess you really don't remember me do you Miss Mai." I was even more confused than before. Then Aunt Zoey finally started to explain things as to why Laurance was here and what the heck was going on.  "The reason why Mr Laurance  is here is to protect you from harm. There will be another young man coming tomorrow and both of them will be staying with us." I  tried to ask her what was the other guy's name was hoping she would answer but instead Laurance did "His name is Garroth.". "Garroth!?" I exclaimed , it felt like I've heard that name before just like Laurance's name.

As the day went on I was in my room reading the book from earlier when I heard a knock at my door. When I was about to open I heard Laurance speaking to himself. He said "Should I tell her now or when Garroth gets here?". He kept repeating himself over and over again. I got so confused about what he meant by " Should I tell her now or  when Garroth gets here?".  As I opened the door Laurance looked at me and I asked him if he needed anything. He said " No, I just wanted to say goodnight and have sweet dreams.". As he said that he had a kind and caring look in his eyes. It felt as if my father was looking through Laurance's eyes. As Laurance was about to walk away I asked him what my father was like as a knight. He was shocked to see that I was asking him about my father. He started to speak but then stopped and then he said to me that my father was a good man and he fought bravely, but he wouldn't tell me anything else. I was about to ask him why he stopped before he said those words but he stopped and said "I will tell you more tomorrow it's getting late we should get to bed.". After that we said our goodnights and went into our rooms. But I was still thinking about what he said before I opened the door.

It was the next morning and I realised that I didn't have that dream again. I wondered if Laurance had anything to do with it. As was heading downstair I heard a knock at the front door. Thinking it would be Garroth at the door I went to open it but I was stopped by Laurance. He told me to go to the kitchen where it was safe. As I was walking to the kitchen I heard the knock again. Laurance opened the door and standing there was the King's guards. They asked if there was a young girl living here and her name is Mai. I was thinking to myself " what do they want from me?".  As I was about to walk out Laurance said "There is no one living here by the name of Mai. It's just me and my wife and her aunt.". After he said that the guards looked at each and they said " May we see your wife?".  At that moment I knew that those guards were the ones that killed my mother. I was so scared that I was about to grab a knife to attack one of them but my hand got grabbed and I was about to scream when I heard a voice. When I realized who it was I calmed down, it was my Aunt. " Let me put some makeup on you so they do not recognise who you are." after she said that she did my makeup and   Laurance was trying to keep the guard from barging into the house to try to look at me before the makeup was down. Aunt Zoey finally finished doing my makeup after that she had me walk to the front door and pretend that I was Laurance's wife. As I walked up I heard Laurance say " This is my darling wife Lilith." When he said that my heart skipped a beat. It felt strange. I noticed that one of the guards was looking at me very closely. Then he said "It's not her, let's move to the next house. Have a wonderful day ma'am and you as well sir." After they left my aunt took off the makeup and said " That was a close one." My aunt and Laurance kept talking while I got more and more confused. I started to head back upstairs when we heard another knock at the door this time it was the back door. " That must be Garroth!" My aunt said as she was walking to the door.  I waited to see who it was and my aunt was right. It was him... the other young man my aunt was talking about.
As he came into the house he looked over and said "You must be Miss Mai." When he said that he kissed my hand and introduced himself. I could feel my turning red and it looked like Laurance noticed too and it seemed like he was getting upset about it. " Sorry to interrupt this like thing but we have a job to do." Laurance said in an irritable voice. I snapped out of it and waited to see what was going to happen. Then Aunt Zoey asked " I'll put on some tea for everyone" Garroth and Laurance sat at the kitchen table next to each other and I sat across from them. "Ok let's get down to business. Mai the reason why we are here is to protect you from your Cousin Zane." after Laurance said that I was surprised that I had a Cousin. " Well he is not really your cousin. He's actually your mother's cousin. He would be your second cousin." Garroth explained. " You see your mother was a very important person in the Kingdom of Phoenix Heart. She was the princess and the reason she died was that Zane wanted to be king and the only way to do that is to kill the heir to the throne. And  Zane did just that. He killed your mother. Now he's looking for you. He wants to kill you so he could still be the king and to pass it to his son." After Garroth said that Laurance smacked him across the head. "You idiot!" he said " We were not supposed to tell her that until she was eighteen." As they were fighting I was too shocked that I didn't want to hear anymore of it. I got up from my spot and I ran back to my room and I heard Laurance say " Nice going idiot.". I slammed the door and ran to my bed as tears were rolling down my face. "Why? Why did my parents not tell me? And my aunt... she knew all along."  As I was thinking to myself Laurance, Garroth and my Aunt Zoey were talking about what happened and how they explained why my mother and father kept it a secret from me for twelve years.