Dearest Ismenia

Chapter 1

Set in Winter of 1614

My breath shows in the icy air before me. As I stand, waiting in the cold morning of winter, I feel the ache of the bruises and wounds on my back from the night before. They pulse with pain, with the reminder of my 7 lashes, pulse with my heartbeat, and I feel them. The constant pain, the constant reminder of what I've lost and what I'll forever be fighting for...

A child...

I concentrate on the falling snow around me and pull water from within, cooling me from the inside out. Though the air is cool, I feel hot as ever, my back pulsing with the pain of loss and longing.

I close my eyes, sharp memories taking the opportunity to form behind my lids. Refusing to dwell on them, I continue to summon my element. Yet still, against my will, the memories continue to seize my senses.

Blue eyes...

Focusing again, I concentrate on water and smooth it over my back, over and under my skin, until the pulsing pain fades to a quiet hum, a tame but ever-present reminder of what I'm here for, what my duty has always been.

Brown hair, the same as her mother's...

As I look up from the snowy ground at my feet, the King's eyes bring me back to reality. The evil behind their depths, his sinister smile, the crease of his eyebrows as he appeases my reaction to his request. But for the first time in 10 years, I cannot simply respond. I cannot simply act. I cannot simply obey. I cannot be the emotionless shell the King and his heartless Bride deemed me for.

I can only feel.

And the pain of my back was nothing compared to the pain in my heart.

My heart beats only for my child...

They told me men cannot feel for a lost child. That I was a wolf, a Man, and that a child lost to the world of Death is not my responsibility. They told me my only responsibility was to fight, to protect, to serve.

But if to protect was my only responsibility, I failed.

I failed the most important entity in my life...

I miserably failed my child.

"Well?" the King prompted, anticipating my agreement to his request.

I looked at his eyes, saw the undeniable excitement there, along with the absence of the golden pupil that marked all Werewolves for others to see. The King was a human, though I cannot imagine him belonging to their species. His thoughts, his actions, his hatred for the entirety of humankind itself, made him as sinister and devious as any rogue werewolf I'd known.

And here, this human King standing before me has asked me to take the life of a human being held in the dungeons. A woman, a girl of 15 Summers, held for a crime she did not commit.

A young, innocent girl, taken to the world of death...

Just like my lost daughter.

In my eyes and in the motion of my head I showed agreement to the King's request, but inside my chest pounded, his request setting my soul aflame with a blazing hatred so deep and burning that the pulsing pain in my back flared up, reminding me of my sworn commitment to my lost daughter 10 years ago.

I swore to protect others, since I was too weak to protect her.

I swore to avenge for those who could not avenge for themselves, after I lost the opportunity to bring my daughter justice.

And most of all, I swore to save innocents, as I was too late to save her...

Though I'd already answered the King's request, I pondered it further as he turned from the hall.

This was a girl, young, only of 15 summers, and deemed innocent by the courts... Yet my King, the man I've sworn my loyalty to, wished for me to punish her with the most permanent punishment.

I swore to fulfill my commitment to my daughter's life. I'm the weapon of the Royals. I swore to obey the King and Queen of my country, of my people's country...

But will taking the life of an innocent child fulfill my wish of avenging my daughter's life?

Word count: 713 Words