Raised in an unassuming village, Kaiyella Silva has never ventured beyond the valley she calls home. That is until her peaceful life is Shattered by the arrival of a stranger, a Stranger with a heart of stone. Thrust into a world of treachery and de...
A hand drawn map of Padexia the world this tale is set in, the northern region is the sandbox for Amaryls Dark Awakenings Trilogy which I highly recommend, she's a great writer 😀. (Note this is an old version and the map is no longer accurate nI will eventually make a new but until then please take it with a grain of salt.)
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Chapter 1: Naiveté of the young
Kai was in shock her entire life had just changed was that a good thing? She'd longed to leave her boring peaceful village for years and now she was... yet she was terrified. This was not how she wanted to leave, perched atop a horse with a foreign knight at her back and a cruel twisted cockroach at her front. This may be her chance for adventure but not the sort she longed for.
They rode for a short while before reaching camp, but long enough for it to start getting dark. The camp wasn't particularly large, but coming from a small village Kai was awestruck. There were twice as many tents as there were houses in her small village. In the centre was what she assumed was the king's tent which, despite being made of leather hide and canvas, looked more opulent then the richest house in her humble hometown. The rest of the tents were a more typical drab grey colour and were organized in a haphazard way with next to no decoration. She spotted scores of soldiers milling about the camp hurrying from one place to the other some were playing cards or jacks while others performed duties from cleaning to cooking to standing lookout. But they were all clad in the colours of Facet – a Triad Rune over a field of stone grey.
"Sir Luca, take care of the brat, please?" the king said, disappearing off into the maze of canvas. She looked the knight in the eye, trying her best to hide the fear eating away at her. His expression softened slightly as the king and his entourage disappeared.
"I'm sorry..." he mumbled as they dismounted next to a welcoming looking fire. She furrowed her brow. "I'm sorry this happened to you..." he said again, motioning for her to sit.
"If you're sorry, then let me go!" she spat back at him while trying to mimic her mother's glare.
He sighed and seated himself opposite, "I can't...I just...I can't... I'm sorry." He averted his gaze as his fingers curled against his knees.
Kai huffed and turned her own eyes to the fire. She liked fire, the way it moved, the colours, it was beautiful in a dangerous kind of way. During the winter solstice the village would gather up old pieces of wood kindling and turn them into a bonfire. It was one of Kai's favourite holidays for that reason, that and the cakes which often accompanied it. She could feel herself trembling as she thought back to those long cold nights around the fire listening to stories and singing songs. She attempted to hide back a sob as she realised she'd likely never see Etti's traditional Winter fire again. Luca glanced up as she attempted to hastily wipe away the tears beginning to well in the corners of her eyes. She heard him sigh and curse under his breath as he heaved himself to his feet.
