November 15, 1345.Stormhold Castle,The walled city of Rothwell, Capital of Myknos.Prince Nicolas Alexander TuttonNicolas frowned down at the grinning woman in front of him wishing the baseless trial would be over with quickly so he could see her punished for her crimes."Come now, Nicolas, surely you won't give your old friend such a harsh sentence?" Khasi sang interrupting the scribe who'd been reading out her charges. He ignored her and signalled to the man to continue reading, his eyes leaving hers to the crowd where he spied a still pale Odeya glaring at Khasi.He remembered holding her as she'd cried her heart out hearing of her mother's death. Another innocent victim of the pointless war."How do you plead?" The scribe asked her.Her smile was catty as she looked around the room."How do you plead?" The scribe asked again letting loose his irritation."Not guilty." She answered earning murmurs from the assembled crowd."Silence!" The man cried. Nicolas stared down at the
December 10, 1336. Outskirts of Bandos, The Kingdom of Myknos. Lady Odeya Katarina BlackThe early winter chill rattled the girl's bones as she stood clad in only a light plate armor that followed the contours of her slim frame and allowed her a free range of movement. This was essential since her fighting style relied on speed, not power. She stood firm and focused as she eyed the opponent before her who had more experience on the battle field. Lord Egerton was one of her father's men from one of the recently destroyed hill clans and he rarely spoke but to a select few that had earned his respect. It had been a year since she had started her training and she had felt that it was unfair for her to face a man who had used a sword for more years than she had been alive. She looked up and sent a firm nod to the man sitting in the balcony overlooking the training ground. He gave her a blank stare and she focused her attention on the man in front of her. She weighed her chances of v
July 25, 1345.Radnor Forest,North Walsham,The Kingdom of Myknos.Lady Odeya Katarina Black Sounds of battle in the air brought the lone rider to a halt below an old iron wood tree. The sounds came from the meadow downhill tickling her curiosity to observe the scene.The forest itself held its breath as if the spectacle below was one that determined the fate of the world. No birds could be heard singing their lively tunes and the crickets, these woods were famous for, remained silent. She loved watching men in combat as there was a feeling that she got from seeing the dance of the feet of the soldiers, the sounds of the clashing swords and the determination on the faces of both men, that could be likened to that experienced by an opium addict.The rider was but eighteen summers old so she had never known real combat besides the training's from her father and brothers in arms so the chance of observing an actual battle was an opportunity that she couldn't afford to miss.She dismoun
July 25, 1345.Radnor Forest,North Walsham,The Kingdom of Myknos.Prince Nicolas Alexander Tutton"Damn it!" Nicolas yelled in frustration.'How could he have let that wench embarrass him like that?" He thought.His men were too busy trying to help him to catch the bitch that had attacked him. He growled in frustration then softened his expression because it was not their fault in anyway. They were already too weary from fighting the men who had ambushed them. He had ordered his men to capture at least one of them to interrogate but the annoying woman had killed them all.'Damn her! Damn her to hell!' He thought."Sir Hunter." He called softly, "Status report."The young knight was ghostly pale after watching his older brother die. He understood the boys' pain as he had been in the very same position not too long ago."Your highness," He said with a bow, "Sir's Henry, Castor and... Chris... Christopher are dead. Then about ten foot soldiers also. Sir Godfrey has a very deep cut on
July 28, 1345.Stormhold Castle,The walled city of Rothwell,The capital city of Myknos.Lady Odeya Katarina BlackMornings in Stormhold were beautiful and in some ways, a routine had developed over the years except on days when royalty from other kingdoms were visiting or the prince was returning from a long trip and such was this morning. Prince Nicolas had just returned from Imras after a long month away and although the nobles were happy he was back safely, the servants were utterly terrified. He frustrated them a great deal and did not hesitate to make them feel worthless.Maids rushed about in the kitchens helping the fat cook, Madame Elma, prepare breakfast for the royal family while the others delivered hot water their chambers. Odeya carried dirty bed linens in a basket to the laundry and she had almost collapsed too many times under the weight of it. She was uncomfortable in the itchy woollen dress and undergarment but she had to endure it for the sake of blending in and wa
July 28, 1345.Stormhold Castle,The walled city of Rothwell,The capital city of Myknos.Prince Nicolas Alexander TuttonHe was seeing red and it was all because of that wench. He was so angry that he could...Dear God she made him mad. He hated always feeling like everyone saw him as the spare son so he suppressed it but hearing someone say it now especially her. He threw all the plates across the room at the wall and shouted. He punched the wall and slammed his hand on it many times. He rested his head on the wall and did not even look up to see who had entered his room. "Nicolas Alexander Tutton! How many times have I told you not to break things when you are throwing a tantrum?"Hearing his sisters' voice calmed him down a little bit. She hated seeing him cranky or even angry and always made it her job to scold him for it. She annoyed him a lot but always managed to make him smile when she asked him to help her play pranks on snooty nobles."You've completely destroyed your room
August 1, 1345.Stormhold Castle,The walled city of Rothwell,Capital of Myknos.Prince Nicolas Alexander TuttonThe first week of August brought a lot of work for the servants in Stormhold but even more so for the Prince. He had the Tri-kingdom games to plan, accounts, and stores to fill and investigations on the ambush in the woods to oversee. Now the noise from the debate among the lords was driving him crazy. Lord George of Tyrene and Lord Vadim of Dronfeld were arguing about who would supply the wines for the games and every other lord present was picking sides.“Your Highness, we are all familiar with Tyrene’s wines. Our imported wines are more exquisite and would make the other kingdoms marvel. I even have a new supply coming in my Prince. The kind that has never seen on our shores or Shiv’ra’s as my spies have told me.” Lord Vadim said.“My Prince now would be a time to stick with our traditional flavours. The vintage is ready and I can assure you that it is even better than
August 1, 1345. Stormhold Castle, The walled city of Rothwell, Capital of Myknos. Lady Odeya Katarina Black"Don't you have anything better to do!" She yelled, at the people staring at her in the kitchen. The noise came at once as they all started to gossip and she didn't need to ask to know what it was about. Damn him! She hated him for embarassing her in front all the servants in the kitchens and she hated herself more for responding as she did when he had blown air on her ear. She had chased him down to give him a piece of her mind but she had gotten distracted by the mischief that lit up his cobalt blue eyes and his ruffled chocolate locks. It looked so soft that it made her want to run her hands through it. She hated how he had turned her legs to jelly and sent heat pooling in her nether regions. He had almost sent her over the edge just by pressing her against the wall and even now she felt herself getting hot. She finally understood what the newly wedded maids felt whe
November 15, 1345.Stormhold Castle,The walled city of Rothwell, Capital of Myknos.Prince Nicolas Alexander TuttonNicolas frowned down at the grinning woman in front of him wishing the baseless trial would be over with quickly so he could see her punished for her crimes."Come now, Nicolas, surely you won't give your old friend such a harsh sentence?" Khasi sang interrupting the scribe who'd been reading out her charges. He ignored her and signalled to the man to continue reading, his eyes leaving hers to the crowd where he spied a still pale Odeya glaring at Khasi.He remembered holding her as she'd cried her heart out hearing of her mother's death. Another innocent victim of the pointless war."How do you plead?" The scribe asked her.Her smile was catty as she looked around the room."How do you plead?" The scribe asked again letting loose his irritation."Not guilty." She answered earning murmurs from the assembled crowd."Silence!" The man cried. Nicolas stared down at the
October 30, 1345.Stormhold Castle,The walled city of Rothwell, Capital of Myknos.Lady Odeya Katarina BlackOdeya groaned as pain flooded her as soon as she regained consciousness. She had been moving in and out of delightful dreams that were more memories pulled from the far reaches of her soul.Her favourite had been the one where she had her head in her mother's lap, her nimble fingers weaving her hair into loose braids as she sang a song of her people. Just another thing her father had stopped when he felt her mother was babying her.Her eyelids felt heavy but she pushed past the ache of disuse and tried opening her eyes, a small slit at first then wider when she noticed the dim lighting in the familiar room.She recognized the navy linen canopy of her bedroom as her vision cleared.A male groan tore her gaze from the ceiling and she sat up suddenly, biting a wince as the wound in her side stung.She placed a hand on her side as she righted herself, her eyes narrowing on the ma
October 23, 1345.Stormhold Castle,The walled city of Rothwell, Capital of Myknos.Princess Alyn Midika TuttonWar was bloody stressful business especially when you spent the time cowering behind the castle walls with a group of snivelling women and babies.Alyn supposed she should be more thankful seeing that she didn't have to be the one bleeding to death on the battlefield but one couldn't help but feel a spark of envy when someone of your sex was at the forefront of the battle.She had always known Odeya was different from the moment she had seen her stand up to her brother and in some selfish way to assert that she was something, she had taken her under her wing as her Hand.Seeing how Odeya had amassed an army to save a kingdom she didn't have any obligation to had stung her in ways when she should have felt grateful.Shouts and harried footsteps outside the doors of the Great Hall they had camped caused the other women to slink back in fear and her to sit up.What was going o
Warning!Mature content up ahead!Violence, strong language and sexual abuse.October 23, 1345.The outskirts of Rothwell,Myknos.Lady Dionea BlackLady Dionea had always thought herself unfortunate for being born to a poor merchant in the Far Islands. If she hadn't been then perhaps the bastard that had taken her from her home would have treated her with more respect than she had been accorded during the duration of their marriage.The only highlight of her life had been the daughter their relationship had sired, a daughter he now wanted to kill for standing up to him.As she sat in her tent hidden in the woods of Rothwell, all she could do was twiddle her thumbs and pray that by some supreme miracle her husband would fail and her daughter would succeed.She remembered the look of disbelief that had crossed her daughter's face when she had told her that she had not been held captive and hated that she had lied to her but what was she to do when she was but a cowardly woman fearing h
October 23, 1345.Stormhold Castle,The walled city of Rothwell, Capital of Myknos.Lady Odeya Katarina BlackAs Odeya crossed the gates of Stormhold, she couldn't fight the wave of emotion that overwhelmed her.Her plan was to simply draw her father out for a one on one battle, one she was are to lose, to give Hayden's army time to catch up to them but as she waited staring at the drawbridge linking the castle to the rest of Myknos, a shudder passed through her.What if she never returned to Nicolas?When she had made her plans, she had been confident in wanting to give her life up for a kingdom she had no part in but now that she had seen his face, the sole person she was fighting for, weakness overcame her.She battled with her thoughts on just turning the whole thing to an all out war but when she saw the black clothed soldiers of her father's army, she knew that the untrained army around her needed her to face her fears.The men rode to a halt at the other end of the bridge obse
October 23, 1345.Stormhold Castle,The walled city of Rothwell, Capital of Myknos.Prince Nicolas Alexander TuttonNumbness, that's all he felt as he was dragged into the courtyard with chains binding his hands and feet. The executioner stood proud with his axe stained a dark red with the dried blood of hundreds of men before him.They had murdered his father and mother and although he would like to tell himself his father's murder hadn't affected him, his stupid heart said otherwise. At least Alyn had escaped somehow, he didn't think he woukd have been able to live with her death. As they dragged him up the steps to the platform where the chopping block had been stationed, he turned to see Khasi sitting on the throne like she was already queen, smiling down at him with a victorious smirk. She spared him a few moments before deciding she had seen enough of him and with a flick of her hand, the guards dragged him forward.Blood danced in his vision and his head spun as they pushed h
October 23, 1345.Cassidy's Fort,The Queen's Mound,Imras.King Hayden of ImrasAs Hayden crossed from the rocky mountainous terrain of the Western Mountain range into the smooth grassy floors of North Walsham, he couldn't help the breath of relief that escaped his chest.Their ride from Imras was anything but smooth and he was only glad he had been able to get Alyn out of harms way.The battle to the death had taken a toll on him and even now as they continued their ride to intercept Khasi's army from Shiv'ra, the anticipation of the battle to come didn't help ease his weariness.He couldn't wait for the whole ordeal to be over so life could go back to how it had previously been albeit with slight barriers to his freedom now that he was king.He looked back at the horde he rode with, a nod from him giving the command that they were to break soon; a small riding party to guide Alyn to Stormhold and a greater part of the now combined barbarian and Imraian army with him.They must have
October 23, 1345.Cassidy's Fort,The Queen's Mound,Imras.Princess Alyn Midika Tutton"And if I don't?" She heard Hayden ask. "Well. You've already seen how accurate my archers are." Sparing her a crooked smile, he added, "And I get to keep your woman."'What?!' Alyn wondered. She was no bargaining chip but then again was she really in any position to argue. The savages had them surrounded and one wrong move from anyone would mean instant death.Her head turned to Hayden just as he looked at her, a grim look coating his usually playful face. A look she knew brought more foreboding than the rumble of thunder and lightning signifying an oncoming storm.He turned away from her to face the leader of the savages that still watched her with those piercing blue eyes that betrayed nothing akin to human emotion."For years our people have lived in harmony. A system that involved neither of us having to cross blades. Why then do you choose to attack those riding under the Kings Banner, Vae
23rd October, 1345.Stormhold Castle,The Walled City of Rothwell,Capital of Myknos.Queen Khasi Malik of Shiv'ra and MyknosAs Khasi was helped into the heavily jeweled gown she had had made for her coronation, she couldn't fight the smile that stretched across her face. It was an ornate work of gold netting that hugged her curves and left little to imagination, golden beads and diamonds dangling from where they had been sewn loosely into the material, reflecting the bright light of the seemingly sunny day and rattling with each step she took. She was sure the Mynosian nobles would have their noses turned up in disgust of her scandalous outfit, but like the cowards they were, they would do nothing more. They hadn't even been bold enough to fight for their dead King and still hadn't spoken a word about the Prince she was about to execute.Her smile widened with supreme self-satisfaction that could only be fully sealed with the beheading of Nicolas that afternoon in the courtyard.S