Polemos

Chapter Two

Ataraxia was a beautiful place. Its skies always seemed like sunsets with the amount of pinks, oranges, and purples surrounding it. They had thousands of mountains surrounding the northern border but it never made the climate cold. Ataraxia was a place of peace a Sendarian-owned country but it never was under any monarchy.

The palace in Ataraxia is used for every season of a princess being married off. Ria was cross that she was to be married at all, but a part of her was glad that she got along with all of her royal sisters. Sheeba Mendoris was the second youngest of them all. She was incredibly smart and was very devoted to her religion. Even though her twin brother Sakim was guaranteed to be King when her father died, King Aman was a very traditional man. I'sha Nestoris was a bit older than Sheeba. I'sha was the daughter of the Tidesinger himself, a legend during The Great War, she had been training to be the next Tidesinger, but her mother Lilith, still required her to marry since she was the only child. Finally, the oldest, Surra Kaltaris was the most boy-crazy of them all. Kaltarians say she was blessed by the Gods themselves, which explains why she's never had a bad day in her life. Even though Ria and the other princesses were the ones getting married, it was required that the sisters of the princesses join for the 'experience'. Val Mendoris, younger sister to Sheeba was at that point in life where she hated everything, but her Royal sisters were an exception. Kali'anyørix 'Kali' Kaltaris was born deaf and resorts to sign language to communicate. Luckily, she has a father who advocates for her, not only did she learn sign language when she was a toddler, but sign language has been a required language to learn in schools and universities ever since her birth. Kalimis always accompanied by her pet hawk, Dinesh.

When Ria arrived, tears still stained her cheeks, she could barely think about Ataraxia's beauty when she was being forced into a life of torment. "Ria?" Ria turned to the unknown voice and smiled. It was Surra. "Sister!" Ria ran and embraced her and immediately began to sob once more. "What's wrong?" Surra asked concern washing over her face. "I can't do it! I can't be married!" Ria cried. Surra rubbed her back to console her. "I want to be like Thalleous, I want to go places I want to be somebody." Surra sat Ria down in the main room. "You are somebody you are," she cooed. "And it isn't exactly terrible. We stay here for three weeks and occasionally get a visit from men seeking hands. Even if you say yes your father still has to approve it." Ria sniffed. "The first man who asks for me my father will say yes to." Surra sighed. "Hopefully all of your suitors aren't old men."

"What suitor would be my age?" nothing Surra could say or do made Ria feel better. She was starting to become helpless. "Give it time sister, I'm sure you'll be satisfied." was all she could say. Suddenly, Dinesh flew onto Ria's shoulder and chirped. "Hello, Dinesh," Ria said, her voice still shaken from her earlier sobs. Kali followed Dinesh soon after. 'Why are you crying?'

"Life just isn't fair, Kali." Ria signed back. Even though Kali didn't understand, Ria was still grateful for all the support she had. Suddenly, Kali jolted upward. 'I have an idea,' Surra eyed her in confusion. "What is it?" Ria asked, wiping her tears. 'Run away. I'sha will help you she knows everything about this place.' Surra stepped up. "Kali I'm not going to allow any sort of insubordination. It's a lose-lose situation. There's nothing we can do." Kali looked down in disappointment. But she was never known as a quitter.

~...~

Meanwhile, in Sendaria, Senn was already missing his dear sister. Just as he was falling asleep, he heard a knock at his door. It was Thalleous. "Thalleous? You haven't left yet?" Thalleous immediately shushed him and whispered. "Do you want to come?" Senn stared in confusion. "Where?" he whispered back. "On the trip. Well, it's more of an errand really, then there's a trip." Senn's smile grew wide. "Yes." he hooked his head vigorously. "Don't tell your father,"

~...~

"Where do you think I'm from, Hawken." Ria and Senn loved Hawken just as much as they loved Thalleous, but he wasn't used to having deep conversations with either of them. "What?" he asked, a bit shocked that Senn was this comfortable with him. "Osivian isn't my real father...he's made that clear. So where do you think I'm from?" Hawken didn't know how to respond, all he could do was shrug. "I-I'm not really sure." Senn looked down, disappointed. "But, I'm sure wherever it is, it's amazing." a small smile crept across Senn's face. Even though Hawken felt awkward for telling him that, Senn believed it was the best advice he had ever given him. "Where are you from?"

"Malaysia," Senn raised an eyebrow. "Where is that?" Thalleous smiled at them getting along before a messenger bird dropped off a letter. "Asia. It's very coastal," when Hawken turned to Thalleous his face displayed a mixture of anger and disgust. "Thalleous?" his face immediately softened when he heard Hawken call his name. "Hm?"

"What is it?" Thalleous sighed, approaching him. "Sulliman." Hawken lowered his eyebrows. "Who?" Senn asked. "Let's just say, he's a dear friend." Hawken rolled his eyes. "He's actually a pain in everyone's asses and is only a good friend when he needs money, cigars, or protection." Thalleous understood how much Sulliman annoyed Hawken, but he tried his best to convince him to keep it to himself in public. But sometimes, Hawken can't help himself. "Then why do you keep helping him?" Senn asked. Hawken glared at Thalleous who looked down in embarrassment. "What is it?"

"Go on, Thalleous, tell him." Thalleous tsked. "It's a long story." Hawken raised his eyebrow. "Shut up." Hawken choked down a laugh. "He got very drunk one night and now suddenly Sulliman has three different things against him that could get him burned, beheaded, or worse." Senn's eyes widened. "What did you tell him?"

"Nothing! Look, the deal is we have to make a stop at Crown Peak," Thalleous peered his eyes at Hawken. "And Hawken's gonna keep his dirty mouth shut while we're there, right?" Hawken sighed. "Fine."