Shadows of Blood and Deceit (book two)

10

If you find grammar mistakes I'm sorry and feel free to correct them ;)

Raiden

Raiden was thirteen when his mother was murdered. He had been waiting for her, as he always did at night. She liked to come into his room and tell him stories of another life. Of glorious heros and kings. Adventures he could only imagine in his head. The stories were his favorite thing about bedtime. But one night she never came. 

She always came.

He waited up for hours before he got worried and decided to look for her himself. He left the overly giant bedroom he had been staying in and padded down the marble floors. Raiden and his mother were currently staying in the palace of Arrawyn, per his fathers request. Normally they stayed home in his mothers village, but The shadow king would prefer they lived here. He liked all of his belongings under one roof.

Raiden hated the palace and all the prestigious things that came with it. Like corridors that echoed. It left chills down his spine the way the empty halls made noises all on their own.

He froze suddenly when he actually heard footsteps.

Oh no, he thought, the guards were going to be very angry.

He left his room and disrupted their night. There was no point in backing away, the guards had a knack for finding him, so he decided to make it a little easier and go to them. Then find a great excuse for leaving his room so late at night.

He paused when he found no guards at all at the base of the corridor. No he found something , someone, entirely different.

A girl.

About the same age as him he presumed, maybe a couple years older. She cried. Why was she crying?

She leaned over the edge of where the wall and open window lay attached, staring at the gardens below.

He took a step forward to ask what was wrong but her body froze at the sound and suddenly she was gone. Disappearing from his sight like the flash of a light. He didn't hesitate. He ran to the ledge and felt sick at what he saw.

A body lay in the gardens beneath the willowing trees and among the howling wind.

His mother.

***

Kaida

The shadow realm was different from the light realm. But also the same in many ways. The trees were different, they were dark, the leaves turned to ash the second they hit the ground leaving embers in their wake. The castle and cities were different as well. They were also the color of ash shaped like the peak of a church, pointy and sharp.

Kaida wore a hood covering the shape of her face and her dark short hair. She didn't know if she would be recognized or not in this realm but she wouldn't take any chances.

She knew her job:
Take down the royal guards.

Not kill them of course, they weren't at fault, but distract them.

And of course she was the perfect distraction.
She stopped once she reached the side of the palace, gazing up at the building before her.

"It'll be fine," Mara assured from beside her.
Just the sound of her voice... Mara's soft rasp melted Kaida and gave her the confidence she needed.

Mara would have to scale the wall if she wanted to keep up.

Kaida clenched her fists to stop them from shaking. She didn't know if she could do this. She thought of her father. Her kind, loving, father. His words, never let anyone know what you truly are, who your mother was.