IMPERIUM

Chapter 3

Within the borders of the kingdom, there was an old lady on her way to the night market. However, along the way, a thief sneakily managed to steal a necklace from the old lady and tried to run away. Little did he know that someone was already onto him. Out of the trees, a man wearing a cape and hood began chasing the thief. The man grabbed the jewelry from the thief before he escaped from the man's hold. The man then returned the jewelry to the old lady.

"Oh my, thank you, dear."  The old lady acknowledged, "I've been keeping this necklace for a long time," she added while letting out a relieved breath. She took the necklace from the man trying not to drop the ancient book in her hand. The necklace had a golden chain and a black onyx stone in the middle.

The old lady wasn't able to take a good look at him, but she noticed him nodding in agreement before disappearing into the big crowd of people. Before carrying on her way the old lady looked down at her shoes as she felt something touch them. On the ground in front of her, there lay a flower, "A black rose?" the old lady questioned while at the same time being very amused by the whole situation. She smiled at the thought of the black rose and continued on her way to the night market.

Inattentively, no one had noticed the shadow lurking in the corner of the street, witnessing every bit.
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"Ow, Ow Ow,"

"Excuse my language, but where the hell have you been!?" Lina exclaimed.

"Shhh! someone might hear us," Alayna hushed.

"I was worried sick about you, I knew I should have never let you out of my sight!" Lina whisper-yelled.

"Yes, yes I am sorry, but can you please give me a hand," Alayna asked from the balcony floor where she had slipped after climbing it. Lina hurried to her side, dragging her up. Alayna hissed as Lina was helping her get up thus she had accidentally brushed her own hand with Alayna's injured one.

"Did I hurt you? Let me see!" Lina worriedly asked.

"It's nothing, just my hand. I injured it when I snuck out" Alayna was trying to calm Lina but it did not help since it just made her panic more and start nagging at her again.

"Damn it, I knew something like this would happen" Lina snapped while proceeding to gently assist Alayna to the shower room. She helped Alayna clean herself and dress into a freshly washed nightgown. Even though Alayna possessed the power of healing she could not execute it on herself. Therefore someone else that possessed these powers had to help her. Because Lina was powerless she couldn't fully heal it. The issue was that if it was not attended by the healing power it could scar. To Alayna it wasn't a big deal, however to the rest of the royalties, scarring was an ugly trait especially if you were a woman.

"You know, you are very lucky nothing else happened. Worst case scenario somebody could have recognized you" Lina remarked while cleaning Alayna's wound.

"You know I can defend myself, Lina" Alayna hissed from the solution.

Lina knew this fact because Alayna was raised with a lot of male cousins and relatives that were constantly training with weapons. After bothering them for so long they finally agreed to let her join them and teach her self-defense lessons from a young age. Her family might be cruel towards her but some have a little good in them.

"In addition, I was disguised pretty well, no one could have recognized me," Alayna proudly stated.

"I understand, but next time you have to tell me so I can be prepared," Lina sighed. Alayna nodded but silently disagreed knowing she would never put Lina in that kind of danger.

"By the way, did someone notice my absence?" Alayna questioned while Lina was finishing off the wound with a salve.

"Yes, but I told them you were unwell and went to your chamber."