An Ember Bright

Prologue

It was happening again. The city didn't know it yet, but the sky seemed to anticipate another life was changing – for the worse.

The dark grey sky emanated a distant roll of thunder. A whisper of rain fell as people hurried from one shop to the next, completing their errands as quickly as possible. They felt a certain unease that had nothing to do with the weather.

The rainfall intensified as a carriage appeared. Its ebony gilded edges and obsidian studded build screamed wealth. A pair of white horses raced across the cobblestone streets, forcing those in their path path to leap out of the way. The coach's entrance sent murmurs rippling through the crowd and parents clutching their children a little tighter.

Anyone who saw the carriage could predict the reason for its arrival. It did not take much guesswork since They came for only one reason.

Another child was to be taken.

A clap of thunder sounded as the knowledge spread through the city like a wildfire. Some shook their heads in pity. Others were angered, once again slapped with the fact that they were powerless. A lucky few sat in blissful ignorance of the truth.

Yet one of those few, living in an orphanage on the most secluded street in the city, wouldn't sleep tonight with that bliss. And would never wake up with it again.

"I'm going to find you, Jax." A girl, no older than ten, wove through the many cots squeezed together. She dropped to the floor and looked beneath a cot, frowning when she saw nothing but the stained wooden floor. Rising, she looked around the cramped room she lived in at the orphanage. Her eyes caught on a moving lump covered by a sheet by the door. Tiptoeing over, she whipped the sheet away. A little boy with light brown hair squealed and scrambled away.

"I found you!" the girl laughed as she grabbed him. "I won!"

"Again," Jax giggled. "Let's play again!"

The girl was about to reply when she heard hooves clattering outside. She raced to the small window and peered through.

A carriage slowed to a stop in front of the building. Two guards in pressed, white uniforms opened the carriage door, revealing a man in his early thirties with pale blond hair cropped close to his head. Although the girl had difficulty discerning his features from such a distance, it was impossible to miss the silk, fur-lined coat the man wore.

The coat was a far cry from the simple, drab clothing the people in the city wore – many of whom couldn't afford a simple one to keep out the bitter bite of the winter cold. The garment would've cost the wealthiest merchant his entire fortune. Yet as the man allowed his coat to drag along the filthy ground, the girl believed it meant nothing to him.

She caught sight of the crest adorning the side of the pristine white carriage and started. Her knowledge of the court was minimal, but she, and the entire city, could identify the symbol. It was the crest of Rioda; two daggers crossed behind a snarling snow-white wolf. The crest could only mean one thing: the man outside was the Lord of Rioda, the province that the city of Dela, and the orphanage, resided in.

The girl's heart beat a little faster at the sight of the Lord and her hands trembled slightly. The world outside thundered alongside her anxiety, and drops of rain stumbled over each other in their sudden haste to reach the ground.

The Lord of Rioda beckoned to someone in the carriage. A moment later, a girl with hair a bit darker than the Lord's that fell in long, curling locks descended. The blonde girl inspected her surroundings and turned up her nose at the garbage spilling out onto the sidewalk, cringing at the muddied street. She was reluctant to enter the tall, ugly green building housing the lives that would soon be ruined by none other than herself.