Queen and Kingdom

Chapter 4 ~ The girl

Ivy

I daren't take a breath as Theyus uttered that word. The Sivians were the people who had built this castle: built all the castles in the four kingdoms.

They had been a peaceful people, until the people of our kingdoms had attacked them and driven them from their own sacred land. This had all happened years and years before I was born.

The survivors of the attack went into hiding, and there hadn't been any act of evil so loudly claimed by them until now.

That haunting scream, the scream of the Sivian's. They had their lives taken away, brutally murdered one by one. I would never admit it but I didn't agree with what had happened. I didn't hate these wretched people everyone had a deathly fear of.

"Oh Ivy, I was so scared when I heard what had happened" Corrinne also stood at the end of my bed, holding a jug of water.

"Come on, back to sleep. You were lucky to survive, you know, about a dozen men died!" Theyus tried to persuade me to rest.

This did nothing to calm me, instead I shot into an upright position.

"Ulric?"

I immediately panicked for my head knight

"He was one of the lucky ones, as were you, now GO BACK TO SLEEP"

I groaned and tried to get up, but Theyus pushed me back.

"You are no use to anyone if you wear yourself out before you even get better"

Corrinne propped up the pillows behind me, encouraging me to sleep. I begrudgingly complied, and soon I felt sleep take me. Theyus was right, I was exhausted.

Two weeks later

I bobbed up and down on the back of a horse, trailing at the back of a patrol. We were going back along the Cendrian border, to check for further signs of invasion. Thankfully, there were none. The Sivian attack had scared them away, as it had done us. Though I was happy the dark spirit had fixed our little Cendrian issue, I was concerned it was the start of something much bigger. I really hoped not.

We were about to turn back when I heard a pitiful child's cry.

"My lady, are you alright"

It was Tybalt. He had since recovered from his brother's death, and was now leading this patrol.

"Just go ahead without me" I asked, "I just want to check something out"

"Ok, but be careful" He sounded unnecessarily concerned, as usual.

"I'm sure I'll be fine, I'm perfectly capable of taking are of myself"

I rolled my eyes as the patrol rode into the distance, grabbing hold of the reins and jerking them sharply left, into the forest.

"Hello" I meekly cried out.

My voice echoed to no reply, but I heard another small sob.

I dismounted my horse and searched around into the trees. I'd taken a few paces when I almost tripped over a young child. She wore dirty peasants clothes, ripped and torn almost in shreds. Her face was smeared with mud, and puffy from the tears running down her cheeks. Straight black hair fell just below her shoulder.

"Oh my god, poor child, look at the state of you"

The girl looked up, terrified.

"Don't be scared, I'm going to help you, now what might your name be?"

"R-r-raven Aramena"

"That's a pretty name now, isn't it"

I was trying to make her feel safer, but she continued to cower away from me. Suddenly, as she tried to get up, her sleeve fell away from her left wrist, and I saw a black emblem marked there. A knot with a snake wound up in it. I gasped as the blood mark on my forehead momentarily seared.