Chapter One - The Burning

Ten Years Later

Pink and gold light glitters on the endless horizon of sea and sky, an encrusted crown on the city. The faint chatter of awakening souls and gulls drift on the breeze and gently brush against the rising dawn, coaxing it out of slumber. 

I stand on the balcony, lost in the nightmare that still swirls in my dreamy mind, focusing on the rhythm of the sea drumming against the shore as I try to still my own breathing. The last wisps of its shadows have long left my eyes, and yet my heart  beats as though I’m still racing down stream and no matter how many times I close my eyes, I still see the deepness of his. 

My hand reaches up to my throat and catches the pendent around my neck. Bright amber smoothed into a delicate drop, it was as though the sun had cried and this was one of his tears that had fallen to earth. On one side it’s carved with the same emblem that decorates my side: Two elongated crescents back to back with a teardrop above them and four dots connecting the drop to the last tip of the crescents, lightly fading from large to small. As I trace my thumb over the carving, the same questions and mysteries of the boy encircle my mind as they have for ten years. 

The quick, bustling footsteps and clicks of doors in the corridor beyond my room promptly sound, shattering like glass the gentle quiet as the door bursts open with a furry of bickering and squabbling. Quickly, I turned my pendent back around, hiding they symbol against my skin. 

"Arabella, would you please get out of ---" 

"You know for damn well she's awake, Poppy, Must you make such an awful noise every morning?" 

"She was expected down in the Dinning Ha---"

"Yes, yes, she knows. We all know, the whole of Natïa knows with you squawking like a chicken every dawn." 

"How dare--" 

"Good-Morning, Madame Poppy, Good-Morning, Mari."

"Good-Morning, Deary. And how did you sle-" 

"Arabella, you were expected in the Dinning Hall an hour ago. Your Aunt is not pleased. Ladies are never late to appointments, never. I don't know how many times I must tell you this..." I smile and roll my eyes at Mari when Poppy turns to pick out a dress for me. It's no use arguing, it’s the same every morning.

 "It's like you deliberately ignore me..." 

Tall and greying, Poppy often reminds me of a large bird; steely eyes constantly probing for some infraction as her lips pull thin with annoyance. I've know Poppy all of my life - as my governess when I was young, and now my counselor - and I've often been at the receiving end of her vexed gaze. 

"I'm very sorry, Ma'am, I didn't realize how late it truly was this morning." I say, bowing my head a little and looking at the floor as though I feel ashamed. 

"Well, there's no use crying over spilled milk. Let's just get you ready and do it quickly, your Aunt is not know for her patience." Mari says with all her kindness. Unlike Poppy, Mari is short and plump and radiates a warmth that fills the room. Her dark eyes twinkle with mischief and her lips are always smiling, though the rest of her is rather worn and tired.

Quickly, I dress in the navy gown chosen and sit quietly as Mari combs and pins my hair up while Poppy lists off the never ending agenda for the day. Her prattle fades in my ears as I sit there, and my eyes drift to the mirror in front of me. Mari is sweeping my hair up into an elegant twist of coppery-brown, letting a small lock fall wispy around my face. My gaze sweeps past my pale skin, soft cheeks, pink lips and up to my shockingly green eyes. I look a lot like my mother, exotically colored eyes and hair, but I lack the softness that graced my mother's face and warmth glowed in her eyes like sunshine. I'm much more piercing and angled in my face, like my father was; though I inherited none of his height or the respect and authority he emanated. 

A dull ache blooms in my chest and presses against my eyes as I think of my parents. I look away from my reflection and press my lips firmly together, pushing the achiness away; Mari finished my hair and presses her hands against my shoulders and smiles gently as I look at her through the reflection. I raise my lips up at the corners, a half-smile, and clear my throat before standing and turning around. Poppy nods her approval at me and opens the door for me to walk out into the creamy colored halls. 

The sun is just peeking in through the windows now as various servants run errands and rush to complete morning chores. I smile when we pass them as they bow and mumble "Milady" at me. Unnecessary formalities in my opinion, but I play along anyway though I always feel a twinge of unease when they can't look me in the eyes for fear of  upsetting my Aunt or Poppy. 

My Aunt’s iron grasp weighs on all of Allyria, though her and Poppy's watchful eyes make the castle especially strained, and who can blame them when the punishments are so severe and cruel; at least I have some room within my cage for defiance. 

"Madame Poppy....Madame Poppy." 

Tilly, a small-mousy haired child of one of the servants, comes running down the hall as we descend the last staircase. 

" Madame Poppy, Queen Ellyna wishes for you to meet the florist right away in the kitchens. He wishes for your choice of flowers for the ball." Her small face flushes red as she hastily rushes out her message. 

"Thank-you, Tilly, Go and tell the florist I shall be with him in a moment." 

"Ball, what ball?" I ask, alarm bubbling in my chest. Balls have always been to my deep annoyance; standing and dancing with mass herds of people,  most of whom I don't know or wish not to, and in recent years Aunt Ellyna has been making a special effort to find young lords and knights to pester me with their flirtations. 

"Yes, tomorrow evening. Weren't you listening to me this morning, Arabella?" Poppy says in her sharp, squawking voice. 

"Mari is to pick up your gown this afternoon from the tailor, your Aunt had it made special for you. Now, stand up straight and remember your manners while you're with your Aunt. And make sure you go see Henry afterward so you can go over the arraignments for this afternoon. You did hear me about that I would hope." She gave me one last sharp look before swiftly turning down the hall after Tilly, snapping at one of the servants for not dusting a painting correctly. 

"What arrangements?" I ask, following Mari down the rest of the stairs. 

"There's to be a public hearing this afternoon, a farmer is being accused." Her mouth turned down at this and her eyebrows pulled together and a strained sadness washed between the two of us. "She is not happy, so you best be careful in there, you hear me? She's a cruel lady that one, and I don't want you to get any of that furry, deary."  We arrive at the door to the dinning hall and stop in front of it. 

"Thank-you, Mari." I say and she smiles at me as I slowly open the door and walk in. 

The Dining Hall is a large room on the east side of Ingemar with towering windows and large, long tables in four rows facing the platform in the front of the room where three long tables sit end to end looking down at the rest of the room. It is there where my Aunt now sits, writing slowly on a piece of parchment in her high backed chair with my grandmother silently sitting on her right. 

I walk swiftly up to the tables and curtsy before taking my place in the chair on her left. 

"Good-Morning." 

"Good-Morning, My Darling." My grandmother's voice is soft and frail, but her blue eyes are sharp and wise as she looks at me with her gentle smile, just like my father’s. 

"Good-Morning, Arabella. Dear, you are late again," My Aunt says slowly, her icy eyes looking up from her letter and settling sharply on me. Though they are the same as my grandmothers in color and keenness, they are much colder and harder and let nothing escape their gaze. 

"I will not allow this insolence to become common in my household, Arabella. Princesses are to be punctual at all times." 

"Yes, Milady, I am very sorry, it shall not happen again."

"See that it doesn't. Now…” She said, starting again on her letter and letting a little of the tartness fade from her voice. “I expect Poppy told you about the event we shall be holding tomorrow evening..."

"Yes, Milady." 

"Good. I have invited most of the nobility of Allyria, so of course I expect you to be on your very best behavior. I am also planning on presenting you to the Court, you are twenty-one in five days time, and I don’t believe I must remind you that most proper young ladies of your age are engaged to the best matches of their status, now do I, Darling? Are you trying to make this family look a fool?"

"No, Milady. I just wan-"

"It has nothing to do with what you want, Dear. Now, Edward, if you would be so kind." 

I opened my mouth to protest, but shut it quickly. Edward quickly left and came back through the door behind us and set down our plates of food. I ate quietly, 

half listening to my Aunt list off a number of boys my age who would be in attendance, and remind me how to act and dance and stand and speak during the ball. I wanted to scream and tell her that I don't care about any of those young men, how all of them are snobbish, cruel or dull beyond belief. But that is not how a princess should act, and upsetting my Aunt wouldn't be worth anything in the end. It’s no use fighting when there is no way out. 

~~~~~~~~~~

I finish breakfast quietly and excuse myself to go find Henry, purposefully taking the longest route I possibly can. From the dining hall, I slip out into the inner garden that stretches from one end of the castle to the other connecting all the wings with its fountains and colorful, fragrant flowers. I stroll from one side to the other, relieved to find myself utterly and completely alone. From the other side of the garden, I walk out onto the west side of the castle, taking the small bridge that encircles that side of Ingemar and overlooks the  Emerald Sea. It’s late morning, and the sea truly lives up to its name; a perfect jewel under the pale blue sky, glittering as the sun gently touches the crest of each wave. Ingemar sits right on the water, rising from the sea foam in brilliant white towers and walls made from the pearl granite we mine from the sea-beds. Ingemar sits on the very tip of the granite island, towering over the city of Natïa which is connected to the rest of Allyrïa by an ivory bridge.

Natïa is the crowning jewel of our kingdom in my Aunt‘s eyes, glittering with the wealth and grace of only the nobility who live on this side of the bridge. We and the small village of Môwryn, who’s villagers bring the market across the bridge every morning, are the only cities within a fortnight’s journey this side of the Vësstarrën mountains to our west. I’ve have not been beyond those mountains since I was born. My mother had insisted on my birth being in Starfall, on the far west of side of our kingdom, in the heart of  the Wildewyn  Forrest where she was born, and her mother, and her grandmother before her and so on for generations. But my hope of returning has long been dwindled to mere ashes. 

Arriving at Henry’s door, I am later than I should be but he just smiles and welcomes me in as he always does. Henry has been the Lord Commander of Knight’s Guard for the past four generations of rulers, beginning with my great grandfather during the Elvish Wars. Leathery and tired looking, he looks especially worn today as he closes the door behind me and gestures for me to sit down. 

“Good-Morning, Princess.” 

“Good-Morning, Henry, are you well? You look rather tired this morning.”

His lips turn up at the corners a little, but he looks at me with sad eyes. 

“Yes, dear, I shall be alright. The Renatus led a group of fishermen in Grey Bank to raid a trader’s ship while in harbor. Many of our soldiers were killed, but none of the Renatus escaped. Sir Ulric is bringing back the survivors as we speak, we expect them within the month, as they’re already in Easton.  The Queen is not at all pleased, she believes we lacked in precautions that could have avoided this unfortunate incident entirely; Especially considering that it is the third incident with the Renatus this summer.”

“She should just call a truce with them, before more of our people are hurt. Do you not think they would be happy with just their own section of the land that they can do as they will in? They were once our people too…” I sigh, I have never understood the need for war. 

“It would make the Renatus happy, Princess, but you know as well as I that your Aunt would never allow it. Compromises are weakness to her. But anyway, that is not of much concern for right now as it is many nights away before we must contend with the prisoners. This afternoon there shall be a hearing in the square. Lord Piefer has brought a farmer and his family from the Vale to stand court. They are accused of harboring a group of the Renatus, and the Queen seems to think they know where their capital is.” Henry and I share a tense look for a moment and I nod my head. 

“Is there any evidence against the man?” 

“No, Milady, None what so ever besides the word of Lord Piefer.” I bite my tongue to keep from saying what I wish to about Thomas Piefer. In his early forties, he  is a cruel man who favors my Aunt’s tyranny. His sister and my mother were close friends once my mother came to Court, and he murdered her when she ran away with a poor farmer’s boy and having a child. Nobody has seen or heard of her child and husband since her death, though their sister married well and now resides over Summerhaven.                                            

“Then this should be nothing more than a fear tactic.” 

Henry looked at me and seemed to be trying to warn me with his eyes, like he knew something I didn’t understand. 

“I hope you are right, Princess.” 

~~~~~~~~~

The rest of the afternoon swept by me in a blur, and long before I wanted to I found myself walking out to the Square of Natïa. Normally a beautiful, white gathering place whose walkway were hand-crafted by our finest artisans in patterns of shells and sea glass. But today the air was still and weary, and the light itself seemed to be foreboding as it fell upon the square. Right in front of Ingemar, the square faced the granite steps that arched from one end of the square to the other, creating a dramatic stage of sorts.

In the center of the steps, at their base, a huge pile of wood was being laid where four poles were erected from. A burning platform.  As I took my place on the right side of the steps, I could see the farmer’s three girls and his wife were tied to the four poles, hands behind their backs and feet bound together. Crying and helpless, the youngest of the Farmer's daughters was no more than six while the eldest a mere thirteen. Children. I closed my eyes for a moment before shifting my gaze towards the wife. Dried tears shimmered on her face and her mouth was pulled tight, holding back the fear that iced her eyes. As the last of the wood was being stacked, the trumpets called out, warning the approach of the Queen. 

The crowds of people who turned up for the hearing all dropped to one knee, heads bowed respectively as the Queen strolled forward, a cold smile gracing her lips. The farmer was brought out behind her, bound in chains and watched closely by two of the Knight’s Guard. He called out to his girls when he saw them, tears running down his face, black with dirt from being in the dungeons.

The Queen only raised her hand, allowing the crowds to stand and calling for silence.

“Jon Rivers of Ravenvale, you areaccused of harboring a group of the Renatus in your home. How is it that you plea?”

“Please, M’Lady, M’Queen, I didn't know who they were! Please.” The farmer pleaded, shaking from his sobs. “They claimed to be travelers in desperate need of a place to water their horses and sleep a night. Please, Please, Mercy.” 

The Queen didn't look at all like she wished to show this farmer any drop of mercy but, as she turned back towards where the crowd could see, her lips seemed to pout just a bit and her eyes were furrowed as though this man’s life actually meant a great deal to her sleep at night.

“Lord Piefer, this man has been paying you and your family for your land for, how long did you say?” The Queen smiled sweetly turning to a man in the front of the crowd of nobles. 

Lord Thomas Piefer was a lord who often came calling to Ingemar. Being no more than forty-years-of-age, with blonde hair and stormy eyes he was often a topic of great fancy among the maids in the castle.

“Nearly fifteen years, your highness.” He said, plucking the velvet and feathered hat off his blonde head as he bowed politely.

“And do you find Sir Rivers to be an honorable man, Lord Piefer?”

“For a farmer, M’lady. He has never caused me more trouble than paying his tax to myself late, though I suppose all farmers are as guilty.” His smile was sickly sweet with a cruel malice in his eyes, making me think of a fox in the hen's house when it knew the chicken keepers were away. 

“However, if it would so please you, M’lady, I have been noticing a rather peculiar habit of Mister Rivers to leave his barn doors slightly open, even after evening fall. And if I may be so bold, I might suggest he leaves supplies for the Rebels as they pass through.”

The Queen’s blue eyes were cruelly bright as she nodded and thanked the  Lord for his information before turning again on the farmer.

“Please, M’lady, the doors no longer close all the way and I haven’t had the coin to repair them. I had been hoping to do so this fall, after the harvest.”

“And do you have any proof as to what you say?”

The farmer’s face fell in other defeat and could only murmur “No, M’lady.”

To my eyes the farmer looked no more a traitor than Lord Piefer, guilty only of allowing a few strange men to take shelter in his home and dine at his table for a few extra coins he desperately needed. However the Queen’s eyes only glistened darkly and a cruel smile shadowed her lips.

“Jon Rivers, Farmer of Ravenvale,” She called aloud enough for all of the Square to hear. “I, Ellyna Stormwood of Ingemar and Queen of Allyrïa, here by name you a traitor against the Crown. Your lands and possessions will be given to the Kingdom and you shall remain at Ingemar serving as a servant in my home. And as punishment for your infidelity to the Crown, and to serve as an example to all who wish to aid these rebels, your family will be burned at the stake, here, for all to see.” 

The farmer broke down into a crumpled heap of sobs and desperate pleadings, and much of the crowd’s mouths fell open in disbelieve, and I felt my entire being grow cold. The Queen had often tied people to stakes while a loved one were put to trial, a way to put fear into the accused but always to be let go.

Turning to the Captain of the Guard, Queen Ellyna smiled sweetly and swept her hand out elegantly in front of her. “Captain, if you would be so kind.”  Cruelly smiling back, he nodded before grabbing a torch from one of his men. Looking up at the girls, who were crying even more and calling for their father, and the wife who was pale as stone and shaking, I bottled up enough courage in my being and rushed forward to the Queen. I could feel all eyes upon me as I touched my Aunt’s arm.

“M’lady, must the justice truly be given to his family? They are only children and girls at that, and I’m sure Sir Rivers would gratefully pay his sentence if you only let them go.” A low murmur swept through the on lookers, for no one ever questioned the Queen’s judgment without a great cost, but I held my head up and watched as her eyes darkened and her mouth turned to a thin, cruel line.

“I do not think it is your place to question my rulings, Arabella. If I show this family mercy, I will be giving the Renatus a way to infest the minds of our Kingdom. And make no mistake about it, Arabella, If they do gain control they will not hesitate to see us all burn.” She hissed, grabbing my hand and throwing it away from her. 

Lowering my eyes, I stepped back and stayed silent, though fury and resentment boiled inside me, cold as ice. Glowering at the crowd, the Queen again nodded to the Captain and he threw the torch into the wood. Quickly, the wood lit and the fire grew, dancing yellow and orange tongues that clawed their way up the pile before starting to lick the feet of the victims. Screams of terror and pain ripped their way from the girl’s lips as the flames scorched higher and higher up their bodies. 

I turned away from the carnage as the farmer screamed their names and begged the queen over and over for it to stop before finally crumpling silently into tears and heartbreak as the girls’ screaming came to an end. The courtyard fell eerily silent as the only sound came from the crackling of the fire and steps of the Queen and her party returning back to the castle, dragging the farmer still bound in chains.

Before finishing her ascent back up the castle, Aunt Ellyna stopped and looked me at, fury boiling in her eyes. 

“Brutality is only as good as it’s witnesses, Arabella, do best to remember that.” 

And in this moment, I understand what it means to die for your cause; I understand the reason to fight. 

Author's Note

As usual, it still needs a lot of work still, but I'm happy with where I'm going with it.
Please review :) Any and all edits or comments are welcome and much needed and appreciated! Thank-you!