Freeing Azalea

Chapter 1

Vladimir Talis has been the King of Elyria for forty-three years. That is, he had been king until a rebel bowman had felled him on a hunting trip last fall. Without Vlad in the castle, things were slowly falling apart. His hearty laugh and boisterous voice brightened a room, his planning skills were beyond compare, and his swift-yet-firm justice system had even those found guilty falling in love with him. Ferrah, the queen, with her petite stature and melodic voice was about as threatening as a kitten and just as vengeful. My mistress had been trying so hard lately to move on from Vladimir's death and continue his legacy, but the dynamic of the castle was off; causing even the most intimate functions to end most distastefully.

"Oh Azalea, what would I do without you?" The queen asked as we sat in her chambers. The ball had been disastrous as expected, and I was quietly plaiting her long amber hair hoping to ease her stress. I simply smiled and continued plaiting, knowing she was merely thinking out loud. I was her majesty's favorite hand maiden for many reasons. Mainly, I was her favorite because I didn't talk. She must have found solace in my silence; I hadn't spoken more than a few phrases since arriving at the castle after my father died. As she talked on, I began to lose myself in thought as I often did when her majesty was in a mood.

Maybe I should explain myself. My name is Azalea Harquinn and I'm an orphan. I suppose I could have said that at the beginning, but this is my story and I'll tell it how I like. My parents died when I was six in a blaze that devastated our small village in the highlands. No, it wasn't a forest fire although that's what the authorities chalked it up to. It began like most fires do; by carelessness...namely my carelessness.

I was out in the stables with my best friend at the time, Mari, in the wee hours of the night. It had been a long day tending the fields, but I relished staying up with Mari. During harvest we would always stay up till sunrise; lying restlessly in the freshly baled hay and gossiping. It was the only time we ever had to actually enjoy being children. As collectives of the crown, we grew up more like farmhands than daughters. Instead of going to balls and finding husbands, we toiled in the fields with the rest of our village's poor. Our town had a monthly quota of food to produce for the state and whatever was left over was split among us.With both of our  parents already doing poorly from fever, we had to work three times as hard to do our part.  We tried our best with the limited skills we had. What we received was little, but we managed to get by.

Our lands were fertile, our livestock was multiplying bountifully, and all seemed to be going well for our small vilage. how fitting wasit  that I would be the one to run it.

Mari and I had fallen asleep sometime before dawn in the warm glow of our lantern. To my exhausted mind it felt like I had been asleep for mere seconds until I awoke again. I was greeted with a black cloud of smoke curling around my body and invading my lungs like a vicious parasite. I lowered myself to the ground and began to crawl, looking for any means of escape. Disoriented, I stumbled through the hayloft trying to reach the cool air of the autumn night. I called out to Mari, but I was met with nothing but the crackle of flames. I made it to the edge of the loft and down at my sooty hands. Past the edge was a cloud of blackness so dense I could not see the floor. It was like staring down into the depths of hell. The barn was making deafening crackling noises like demos being released from their cells. With no ladder to be found, I crossed myself, then jumped down in to the abyss. 

 Thankfully, the floor hadn't turned into a portal to hell and I hit the ground solidly on my backside. I scrambled to my feet and inched across the wall to the door. I emerged from the barn and couldn't believe the sight before me. The whole world was ablaze. Maybe it really was the end of the world! The village  was an ugly orange sore the color of the harvest moon, menacing and utterly wrong against the serenity of the sky.Foregoing rational thought, I ran. I was scared not of the fire,  but of the consequences. Could it have been my lantern that caused all this, and if it was, what would be done to me? I wasn't going to stay and find out. My body, though exhausted, was burning on adrenaline. I ran as far as my legs would take me. Smoke clouded my vision, it became hard to breathe and still, I ran. I had to get away. Away from the heat, away from the smoke, and away from the endless screams. I ran until my body fell shattered to the ground. I took refuge under a large oak tree and curled under its exposed roots. Here, the air was cool and damp. I finally felt like I could breathe again. The noise of the village was far away, and as I slowly drifted off in to unconsciousness, I felt a single tear slide down my cheek. 

I woke up to bright light stinging my eyes and the deafening cacophony of birds overhead. After a few moments, memories of the night before hit me harder than an overstuffed merchant carriage. I would have wept if I had the luxury of emotion. My body felt numb and I managed to slowly stand up and take stock of myself. My clothes were barely singed, but covered in soot, as was the rest of my body. I could only imagine how tangled and ratted my hair was. I moved each limb slowly to make sure I hadn't broken anything, and found I was fine( save for a sore behind).

 I didn't want to waste any more daylight, so I started walking.I had no Idea where I was going, but I knew I couldn't go home. I couldn't see the sun very well through the trees, but I thought I was heading north. Sooner than I expected, I found myself at the treeline. I poked my head out quickly, and found myself immediately blinded. Fearful, I shrunk back into the cool darkness of the forest. Realizing that it was only the sun, I gingerly stepped out into the clearing.