Zorya is a wild and a beautiful, pagan princess who loves spending time in the depths of her forest, side by side with her wolf, becoming one with a nature.
Darius is a cruel, and dark Christian King, feared by many, with a tragic fate, who comes t...
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Zorya spent that night dreaming in the depths of the forest as her loyal, beloved wolf wrapped her in its' warmth keeping her safe from the rest of the world. It was such an incredible bond the two of them had, nobody was able to understand it. They just called it the blessing of the Mother Nature who decided to give Zorya such a strong guardian in the form of a magnificent, grey wolf.
Zorya woke up when the sunlight touched her skin, she didn't even remember when she fallen asleep, but she knew that sleeping out here when the enemy is around could had been very dangerous for someone who is a princess, but the gods decided to protect her, because the forest is indeed her home, and a place where she belongs.
Everything that happened previously came into her mind, the death of her brother, the battle, the evening she spoke with the King of Walnia and the way he treated her wounds, so she will recover faster, and meet him on the battlefield. Wounds on her body, she didn't mind, but the wounds on her heart, nobody could heal, she will simply carry them for the rest of her life.
Zorya came back to her home, everyone around her people who were usually singing and dancing were now awfully quiet, like the ghosts were living there, everyone were mourning, the sorrow was taking over every living soul, the fire was too big last night, too many people died in the battle, but they had to continue to fight.
Zorya then saw her brother sitting outside and sharpening his knife.
"Boris, are you alright?"
"I am alive, is that not enough?" Her brother answered not even looking at her.
"No Boris, it is not, when your spirit is dead. Our brother is in a good place now, and we will meet him again when the time comes. It is enough of mourning, we need to defend our home or we will be mourning a lot of more." Zorya said to her brother.
"Oh you are the one to say it..." Boris finally looked up at her holding his knife in his hand.
"What are you speaking about Boris?"
"I saw you out there in the woods, with an enemy, sitting alone, him touching your face and it didn't look like it was bothering you. Please tell me that my eyes were wrong sister." Boris said.
Zorya felt her heart skip a beat, how could she be so careless, to let an enemy get so close, and now between her and her brother, how could she allow herself to be noticed with him.
"Why are you so quiet Zorya?" Boris said and got up from where he was sitting tightening the grip around his knife.
"Boris, you need to calm down now..." Zorya said as she noticed her brother gripping a knife.
"And you need to explain to me what is going on sister."
Never before in her life, Zorya felt so afraid of her own brother, the one who was meant to protect her, what kind of the evil spirit was commanding his body?
"Boris please..." Zorya begged, not wanting to do anything to harm her own brother. Her wolf, confused by the attack of someone who was so close to Zorya, was already ready to defend her if that was necessary to be done.
But Boris only laughed.
That was the laugh she had never heard before. From that moment, she could swear that the part of his sanity died together with Yaropolk, and that her brother was never going to be the same man that he used to be.
Nothing is ever going to be the same and currently part of her started hating Darius for that.
"I spoke to father, I am now his oldest son, and the throne will be passed to me Zorya, I will be the new king, and I will get my crown tonight in the ceremony, so I can lead my people into the new battle against the Christians and finally defeat them. And you are going to fight as well, to prove your loyalty to Gora Nevskaya, and your family, because I don't think you can be trusted anymore." Boris finally spoke.
His words cut her like a knife.
"What are you saying Boris?! Yaropolk was my brother too! He had died in my arms! I fought the same battle as you did and I bleed as well! For my people and for my family! You can't deny that!" Zorya yelled.
She could not believe what was her brother saying to her, she could not believe that she was considered a traitor by her own family, just because of some stupid mistake.
But Boris response was something she did not expect from him.
Her older brother, the only brother she had left, the one she looked up to as well as she looked up to Yaropolk, decided to raise his hand and hit her in her cheek, making her fall on the ground.
Her wolf immediately jumped in front of her growling in the response of his action.
"No, Kreshnik, it is alright, it is fine....Shhh..." Zorya managed to say her words as she wrapped her arms around her wolf, not wanting him to cause any harm to Boris.
Zorya felt no pain, she simply felt disappointed.
But she couldn't say anything to anyone, both Boris and her made a mistake.
But one thing was clear, her brother was not fit to rule, not like this. His soul was too wounded for that, and she felt sad for him.
Boris simply left his sister on the ground, not saying a single word to her, maybe part of him was ashamed by his actions, but he didn't show it.
