CHINESE ARYA STARK meets THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA.
*A Wattpad Featured story*
When everyone wears a mask, who do you trust?
In the unforgiving empire of Erden where the Imperials reign supreme, Sarna is a slave. After escaping the brothel where a m...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
"No matter how hard she loved, how hard she tried to be with the man she loved, she couldn't. She was a High Demon, a legendary white snake so vile, she was incapable of love. Or so the monks deemed. Her every action, regardless of her pure intentions, was used against her. In the end, XuXuan was torn from her as she was crushed by a pagoda falling from the sky, separating the lovers forever."
The White Serpent—A Hymn of High Demons
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
I dreamed of my birth village.
It had no name; a small settlement at the border of Erden, close to the vast plains where the nomads of Oghul-qaisah lived. Although the Oghul-qaisahi were enemies with Erden, the rivalry didn't stop their hungry people from buying food from the Erdenese. Papa was a farmer, and he owned a large portion of the rice fields. Whenever harvest came, my elder brother, Zhenjin, headed down the fields and reaped our harvest. I remained indoors and sieved rice with mother. A large portion of the rice went to the Emperor as tribute, a small portion of it went to the people of Oghul-qaisah, and the rest was left for us.
We didn't complain. We had enough rice to last us through the winter, and we planted sweet potatoes behind our modest house of stone and mud. Mama would fry us sweet potato crackers whenever the harvest was bountiful, and I looked forward to the season every year.
I was five, and I was sitting next to Zhenjin as he taught me the Erdenese letters. His stick found firm purchase in the dark soil, dragging thick lines behind it as Zhenjin wrote two letters.
"I know what those are!" I said proudly. "That's your name!"
Zhenjin smiled and scratched another two letters into the soil.
"I don't recognize these," I said. "What are those?"
"That's your name," he said.
I scrunched up my eyes and peered at the letters doubtfully. "It looks complicated."
"Because you're a complicated bundle." Zhenjin winked.
I snorted. "I'm not. I'm just jealous Mama named you gold. Why couldn't she name me something as fine as yours?"
"Do you know what your name means, Sarna?" my brother said.
I shook my head.
"It means doe."
"It's not fair! Mama named me after an animal!"
Zhenjin drew me into a hug. "Do you know why mama named you Sarna?"
"Because she loves you more." I pouted.
"Have you ever seen a doe?" he asked.
"I've seen deer. They always come out at dark. Whenever I try to catch them, they're gone."
