Lady Of Lake And Arrow |A Swan Lake Retelling|: Book One

Chapter 9

Tripe Society - Pain Told Love ft. Kiesza

Once upon a time, there lived a girl before the Continents were to be.

Her story is one told by all the people in the Continents alike, and though it is told in different ways, however you see it, the story itself is still the same.

The girl who once everyone had adored, and loved them back.

Who spreaded so much love and happiness, even the most suffering discovered light in their paths when they caught a mere glimpse of her.

And when she turned to just a whisper between the stars, even then her joy never really disappeared.

- A Tale of Misery - 

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Nightmares came to and fro as Jessa slept that night. She woke up with the thin blanket bunched in her fist, her breathing heavy. The image of living shadow monsters waiting to pounce on her still lingered in her mind.

But above all, there was a different feeling in her chest. A weight she didn't know she had–lifted.

She wasn't sure if she actually liked the Princess herself yet, but she did know she liked talking with Raya. A little.

Jessa expected to feel disgusted that Raya Manoe–Manoe–was even saying a kind word to her at all, but considering her one year stay in the Keep and that she'd refused a whole group of peoples' company, talking with one other person besides Terhen would be fine.

If talking with Raya was considered fine, since it wasn't like Jessa was a former street thug and prisoner and all.

The tonic Raya had given her the day before stood on top of the desk, and when she touched the fabric of the pouch, it was velvety smooth and soft; the most luxurious object she had in her room. Selling it could last her a month.

She drank the leftover tonic from the previous bottle first, storing the new one in the drawers, then changed into a new pair of clothes. White, the same color she'd been wearing for almost a week now.

She envied the novices allowed to carry and train with weapons.

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Terhen and Jessa carried on practicing with their fighting and improving her powers, Jessa occasionally spitting curses and sneering at Terhen, him glaring and muttering snide comments right back–most of them consisting of how she'd never improve on her skills if she kept yapping like a lost dog.

That day, after Jessa failed to once again freeze Terhen's fire in the middle of the clearing, she was dismissed. She thought about meeting Raya again, but decided against it, thinking it best to let the Princess be the one to ask for her.

The same routine repeated the next day.

Same nightmares.

Same old stew and plain clothes–the jerkin she was given when she'd first gotten out of prison was also burnt the one time she had made the mistake of wearing it.

And training with Terhen, sometimes for a few hours, sometimes for the whole day.

Though, taking the tonic had helped her had helped her greatly, and she found herself throwing up less during the day. Not that Terhen ever saw, but he must've known somehow, too. One time, after heaving out in the edge of the fortress and going back to the clearing, Terhen had scowled, then went . . . softer?

"I don't want your pity," she'd sneered, but not so harshly.

"I'm not giving you any pity," he'd responded, hurling a dagger-shaped ball of fire towards her. She barely sidestepped it.