𝓓𝓸 𝓶𝓮 𝓷𝓸 𝔀𝓻𝓸𝓷𝓰

𝔹𝕒𝕔𝕜𝕤𝕥𝕠𝕣𝕪 𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕘𝕚𝕖

This book is about an unusual girl named Aurelia Sofia Gardenia. She was born in the dirty streets of Athens in the mid 1400s to two kind and gentle young parents, who just wanted the best for their only daughter- only child. They did what they thought was best.

They sent her away to live with her aunt in Bulgaria. When Xena turned 3, her aunt and uncle died from tuberculosis at the ages of 39 and 45. She was placed in an orphanage that wasn't well run.

On her 5th birthday, a woman adopted her, her family name was Petrova. Xena continued to live with her now adoptive mother, her adoptive father and her adoptive sisters. One of which was the infamous, Katerina Petrova, better known as Katherine Pierce.

After Xena was pushed around and punished for not being true to the Petrova bloodline, by her adoptive father she had enough. She lashed out. She ran away and ended up in bed with a village boy named Alejandro. He was kind and handsome but the most unfortunate thing happened. He got her pregnant. Once she began feeling the symptoms , she knew how her father would react. So, to her despair, she never saw the village boy again, she returned to their family home. And continued living like she had for the past 11 years, in complete and utter solitude. She hoped that her growing belly would go unnoticed as she wore voluminous dress with skirts a man could surely get lost under, but unfortunately it didn't.

One night after dinner a thuggish, vulgar, merciless man captured her and locked her in a castle cell down in the basement where no one ever entered. He threw her down the rotting stairs and made her crawl into the cell, he chained her up and made her sit in the dark abyss for what seemed like an eternity. But she was not alone. She fought against the chains, if not for her then for her innocent baby, but after hours of  metal chains clanking and ripping the skin from her wrists and ankles she gave up and slumped against the wall.  Days later Katerina made her way down the crumbling stairs with only candlelight to separate the darkness. She found her sister barely alive, starving and dehydrated, chained to a stone wall, bloodied, bruised and battered.

Weeks later and Xena was still unwell, no one knew what was the matter with her. She became severely depressed, she wouldn't leave her room. She kept her curtains closed, unable to move from her four-poster bed. She hardly ever ate. She never spoke to anyone. The only person that she would allow to enter her room was Katerina. Katerina and Xena had always been close, but after Xena began shutting everyone out of her life it only made Katherine more determined to help her. Later that month Katerina discovered that her poor sister had miscarried in that dark dungeon chained to a wall, bleeding on the floor, enough blood for three. She was to birth twins. 

After seven months of severe, deep, excruciating depression she regained her life and began doing activities that once made her happy; like painting and baking (in secret) with her other friends, Ani and Margret (who were maids.) No one disturbed her as she began restarting her life.

2 months later Katerina informed Xena that she was now carrying a child. Xena we overcome with happiness for her sister even if she lost her unborn child. Sadly the child was named a disgrace to the Petrova name and so was Katerina. Xena aided Katerina in her birth, and the child was a beautiful baby girl, Katerina was so happy to see her sweet little child as was Xena. But that happiness was short lived when her father ripped the sweet child from Xena's arms before the child was able to touch her mother. Katerina sobbed and pleaded for her child, to at least be able to hold her in her arms but her father was a strict man. He believed in tradition and holding a worthy public appearance. And for his daughter to bear a child out of wedlock would strictly go against every one of his common views. Xena begged her father to let Katerina keep her child but he refused. He sent her off with a maid. He banished Katerina from the family as well as Xena, and exiled them to England.