Determined to take control of their fates, Arjen and Arien escape Derolina Castle at the age of sixteen after their cruel mother dies. They adopt new names and find a home in the city of Aramore, while the Emperor of Yuriana searches for his missing...
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When the old man left, Arien sat on the bed to test it. "Wow... This place doesn't look like much, but it's still good—"
'Don't talk out loud,' said Arjen. 'He might be listening by the door. He wanted to know where we came from. I don't like that. Seemed pretty nosy to me.'
'I think he believed our story, though.'
'I hope so. The emperor will eventually come here looking for us. We can't afford to mess up even a little bit.'
Arien swallowed. How long would it be before the two of them could feel completely safe? A year? Two years? More? She questioned if she could live the rest of her life constantly looking over her shoulder.
Arjen went about emptying his pack and taking stock of what he had left of food and money. As she watched him, reality set in. They had made it to Aramore. They had narrowly escaped many dangers to get here. Things could've been much worse, surely, but they had made it nonetheless. She felt proud, proud of herself and her brother for doing what they feared wasn't possible. For a long time, before they left Derolina Castle, she doubted their chances of success. She had wondered if they would die trying. Now, they were out in a world they had only known from books. She lay on her bed, letting herself enjoy the feeling of triumph.
Soon they would start looking for work. The jump from here to there seemed a bit wide to her, however. They had only been in the city for a few hours. How could they suddenly dive into the world of work? She couldn't even remember if she'd had a job in her past life. Somehow, she felt like she had.
'What kinds of jobs should we look for?' she asked.
'Ones that don't require any skills.'
'We're pretty good at sewing.'
'Is that a joke?'
'No. Why would I be joking?'
'Arien, the only skills we have are reading and writing.'
She stretched out on the bed and put her head on the soft pillow. She thought about the books in the shop downstairs. 'Maybe we can work in a shop or something? All we'd have to do is exchange people's money. Or maybe you could work at one of the shipping docks—'
'We should both work at the same place. That way we won't be separated all day.'
She sighed, feeling a little frustrated with him. 'Well, you probably couldn't lift those heavy crates at the docks anyway.'
'Huh? Yes, I could!'
'No, you can't. Look at how skinny your arms are.'
Arjen lifted an arm and squeezed his bicep. He frowned. 'It's not my fault. We barely ate when we were kids! You're just as skinny as I am.'
