Emma .

Chapter One- Lesson Number One

Chapter One- Lesson Number One

Emma screamed, her arms flailing helplessly into the air above her. Hands closed tightly around her neck. Squeezing. Squeezing. She gasped for breath, clutching tightly at the hands wrapped around her, anxiously trying to pry them off. Her strength failing her,  her hands fell limp to her side as her vision first flared red, then faded to a dull, empty black.

She woke. Sitting upright on her homemade pallet, she took deep breaths. Emma clutched her chest, feeling the rapid thump-thump of her heartbeat. Her pale, angular face was covered with a sheen of sweat. Raising her hands to rub her eyes, she looked cautiously around for a ghostly figure. Seeing no one, she visibly relaxed and slumped over, burying her head in her hands Emma took long, calming breaths to calm herself down.

She had made camp in an abandoned house in a tiny village, obviously long forgotten, as a thick layer of dust had spiderwebs had draped themselves over the sparse, rotten furniture. After clearing a space for her to sleep, she had settled down to rest. And think. Being alone all the time gave her a lot of free time to do that these days. She sighed, her heartbeat

slowing to its normal rate.

Emma raised her head and got to her feet, stretching to loosen her muscles, tight from sleeping on the hard, uncomfortable wooden floor. She groaned, bouncing on her heels. Turning her head, she gazed out the window. It was pre-dawn, no light filtered through the window to brighten the dim, depressing interior. As good a time as any to get moving. Giving loose another sigh, she bent down to roll up her bedroll and shove it into her pack. She took out her clothes, hurrying to throw on a pair of riding pants and a simple white tunic. She pinned her long, shiny brown hair back to cover her pointed ears. Humans didn't take kindly to Elves these days. This made life difficult, always having to hide what she was. Ducking into dark alleyways to avoid confrontations, hiding in corners of bars to try not to be noticed. It was hard. But Emma had been doing it since she was thirteen. She hardly even thought about it anymore, it was just the way it was. She couldn't change it. She just had to deal with it.

It didn't make things any better that she was the rightful heir to the Elven throne. Emma had to take special precautions not to be noticed. Mostly because of the assassin group that had been searching for her since her thirteenth birthday party. Roughly five years ago on her name-day, the day she entered society's view, hooded assassins had burst in the door, weapons at the ready. Her father's guards had rushed forward to intercept them, but even with all their talent and grace they had quickly been overwhelmed. Stepping over the fragile bodies laying serenly on the floor, they had approached, their steps sure and proud. As if they didn't have a care in the world.

Her father Ash-lyn had pushed his frightened family behind him, drawing his sword and facing them with a guarded expression. Emma's mother had swueezed her tightly, stepping up to join her husband. their lithe, athletic forms perfectly mirrored each other as they stared down the threat.

A low, guttural voice bit out,  "Give us the bitch Princess."

Emma's eyes had widened in shock. Although more at her mother's reaction than the demand. Her usually quiet, subdued mother had given such a feral snarl that her little brother had whimpered, cowering behind Emma. She quickly bent down to comfort him, wrapping her arms around him.

"When I tell you. Run Erek. Take the passageway to your rooms. Take Gerdur, escape the castle." She whispered.

Erek had turned wide, scared eyes to her. She only nodded in return. The already tense situation had taken a turn for the worse. .Her father made the first move, sweeping his blade in a wide arc and yelling a challenge. Emma took the moment of confusion to shove her brother towards the passage. The clang of metal on metal had echoed through the hall. One if the assassins leapt after Erek. Emma's mother intercepted him with a quick twist of her blade. Her father was a whirlwind of motion, even with four figures attacking relentlessly.

Tears coursed down her cheeks,  but she couldn't make herself follow her brother. Her mother yelled at her to run, and her attacjer took the moment of distraction to twist her savagely in his grasp and slit her throat. He let go to leave her mother in a crumpled heap at his feet, eyes open and dull. Her father cried out as he saw his wife, and a blade whisked towards him. It caught him in the side, and with a cry of pain he too fell to his back. Emma let out a blood-curdling scream at the sight of her parents, and she was shoved against the wall, hands coiled around her throat. She gasped for breath, looking into his eyes as he picked her up off the ground. She kicked vainly at him. Not even a flinch. Her hands inched towards her knife holster at her hip, grabbing the handle she buried it in his side. With a grunt, he let go, grasping his side in pain. She landed hard on the floor, coughing roughly, and clutching her throat, before getting to her feet and sprinting down the hall to her escape.

Since then, she'd been running from the same group that had killed her parents. Emma had watched,  unable to stop it, as her once great empire fell to war, and ruin. Humans and Elves had fought forb the last 5 years for vengeance.  The Elves had finally cut all ties with the human race and withdrawn behind their borders. No one in. No one out.

She never did find out what happened to her parents' bodies.

With a sigh, Emma hoisted her pack on her shoulder and, squaring her slim shoulders, stomped out into the alleyway.

Yep. That's just how life went. And Lesson Number One in the book of Life? Don't Love ANYONE. You'll just end up getting hurt. That's what had kept her alive all these years, and that's the law she was going to follow in her life to come.

Love? Family? Friends?

Not worth the pain.

************************************So what'd y'all think? And sorry for almost no dialogue,  this was just kind of an introductory chapter to Emma here.  Anyhow, I shall try and upload at least once a week. Buuut I'm busy sometimes sooo it may not happen. Soo leave me a vote and comment pleeeaseee. I promise things'll get more interesting as the story progresses. Also, I'm writing this on my phone,  so I apologize for any mistakes.

-OH

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