Golden Child [Rewriting]

Chapter 1

CHAPTER ONE

Two years later

Mare's Territory

The peaceful hum of the snowbirds in the surrounding trees woke Meri Aro, like they did every morning. She stood, examined her appearance in the mirror, and exited her and Aku's small bedroom. Her older brother was out on a hunt, so it was just her and her mother Kaija. Meri wanted to stay in her room longer and listen to the birds sing, but she knew Kaija was going to the market, and that she had to accompany her mother. The market was the one place she found interesting, the remote village of Verglas was boring, the only remotely interesting thing about it was its obscure name. She trudged out of her room, not bothering to brew a cup of tea, and joined her mother outside, who was collecting their frozen clothes from the washing line.

"We'll be leaving for the marketplace soon, Meri, be ready." Kaija said sternly, narrowing her eyes at her little daughter. Years of worry had turned her sour.

"Yes, mother." Meri answered timidly, as she helped Kaija collect some of the clothes hanging on the washing line. Meanwhile, a curious pair travelled through the small village of Verglas. The girl, skin bronzed by the sun, with jade eyes, and long black hair that was put up in two identical buns on her head, and the boy, a tall one, skin slightly lighter than the girls with vibrant amber eyes and a portion of his dark hair hanging from his head in a ponytail. The girl was annoyed, anyone could see that.

"Nuri, you cannot quit now, we are here and you need to convince this little village maiden that she needs to come with us." Her voice was stern, like that of a mother's, but she looked barely older than the boy.

The boy, Nuri, bit his pale lip, "this village maiden is Milo's daughter, Avani. Besides, your skill set is tailored to this kind of stuff."

"Yes, because I've been seducing women in the Sovereign Capital for the last two years." She sighed, looking at him with fire burning in her eyes.

"I don't mean that, I just mean... you're... charismatic." He fiddled with his thumbs like a scared child.

"Sure, I'm charismatic. You're the fire variant, Nuri, what am I going to do? Hurl a boulder at her?" she asked, exasperation in her tone. "Come on, firefly, we don't have all day. All you have to do, is simply find a spot, do your thing with the fire, and win her over. Easy."

"For you." He psyched himself up, taking short little breaths to get the adrenaline pumping, and then he darted into the marketplace. Avani shook her head, and wandered to a nearby stall selling an array of herbs only found in Mare's Territory. Although it was killing him, Nuri had to do magic in front of the humans. He struggled to keep his composure. He wasn't bad at magic, he was actually one of the most talented fire combatants his family had to offer, but he hated his fire. He's hated it since he scorched his entire village two years ago. Avani could see he was struggling to keep his composure, struggling to get through the tricks. The villagers seemed entranced nonetheless, and applause erupted from the small crowd as Nuri finished a trick with a blatantly nervous smile plastered on his face. maybe he wasn't as obvious to the villagers, she wondered, or maybe she could read him like a book. At the back of the crowd, mesmerized, stood small Meri Aro. Avani was sure it was her, she had Milo's sparkling eyes, and his stark white hair. Avani signalled Nuri from across the marketplace and he became more daring during his last couple of tricks. Meri's eyes stretched, until they were the as large as two suns, and as Nuri finished, she stood motionless in awe. Nuri half expected her curiousity to compel her to ask him how he did all that but she gazed nervously into the marketplace and dashed to her mother's side like a frightened cub. Later that night, Avani collapsed on the soft fur-covered bed the old woman living downstairs had provided for her and Nuri under the pretence they were travelling lovers. Nuri entered the room, pulling on a warm parka, as he watched her frustrated, groaning into a pillow.