CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER ONE

The aroma coming from the brewed coffee was always been my wake-up call. Each morning, my Mother, Samantha, would prepare coffee and bread on the table for the three of us. It was an unbreakable morning routine for everyone.

Mother's passion in baking started when I was five. Besides taking care of me, she had nothing to do that would make her busy. Afterwards, she started to run a bakery business. The store was just beside our home. It was a source of income and a hobby for her.

At five o'clock in the morning, she would get up from bed to make breakfast. At six, she would open her store. Her breads were loved by our neighbors, especially those widower and unmarried men of her age. Mother was a beauty. Her elegance was always been overflowing just like a royalty. She moved in a smooth and attractive way, starting from the way she poured the hot coffee to our mugs, from the way she sipped her coffee and pinched and bite her sliced bread. It was like watching a film on how to eat gracefully like a queen. I loved how calm she speaks and how gentle she rejects her suitors. Her beauty could still captivate a man's heart even at the age of 56. She would blush because of a sudden confession and it was lovely and cute.

"Good morning, Mother. Good morning, Aunt Agatha." I was still in my doorway doing a stretch when the both of them greeted me with smiles

“Happy birthday, Amara.” Aunt Agatha was carrying a cake and the candle at its center was saying nineteen. It was a chocolate cake with cherries on the sides.

Aunt Agatha was younger than Mother by a year. She was a parent to me. I learned everything about a woman's task inside the house from her. She was a great teacher and a friend to Mother. She took care of us, always.

“Happy 18^th birthday. You’re finally a lady.” Mother whispered and they both chuckled.

Today’s my birthday. I am supposed to be eighteen but my mother wanted me to be nineteen. This secret was about the event that happened nineteen years ago.

When I was about twelve, real twelve, Mother and Aunt Agatha explained to me why I must be a year older than my real age.

An Empire called Calla Empire was where my parents used to live. Life there was ruled by laws and orders which were implemented by the Royal Family, which was headed by a King and a Queen. It was for the peace and order.

The Royal Family lived in a Palace, which was according to my Mother, was the most beautiful place in Calla Empire. It was situated in the uppermost area of the land, where you could see the whole hectares of the empire up there, and there in the lower area was where the people lived. At the back of the palace was a forest. Royal members would hunt birds there as their pastime.

The palace was guarded with hundreds and even thousands of royal guards just to protect the royal family and the power that they had.

When a prophecy appeared in the dream of the empire’s old Augur, the whole empire went up-side-down. The prophecy said that a baby girl will be born and she was mated to be the bride of the Goblin. The bride will bring back the Goblin and they will become the rulers.

My mother was carrying me in her womb that time. Mothers who were pregnant were forced to abort their babies and those who didn’t follow were killed. Luckily, my mother and Aunt Agatha escaped the empire before it was too late. She started to labor while in the run. Mother said that it was the most painful physical pain that she ever felt in her entire life but she had to bear it for us to live. They were even more frightened when her bag of water burst.

The next day after that night of fear, Mother brought me to the world. I was born in the middle of nowhere. They traveled for months before they finally found a community of people in the woods. No one knew then about my real age except from the three of us.

“Go on, my niece. Blow your candle and make your wish.” It took me a second or two before I blew the candle, and wished for a happy life with my family.

Making a wish around this age was not as complicated as before. In my past birthdays, it would take me many seconds to think of a wish and blow my candle. It was always been about my dream to see an elf, a fairy, a witch or to meet a real princess and prince. My childhood was mostly about magic and fantasies. I loved hearing stories about fairytales, mythical creatures and magic. It was a fascinating moment as a kid. Ka Linda was my favorite story teller. She was more on the past experiences of her grandmother with different creatures, who lived years years ago. She was the one who introduced to me the word Goblin.

"When my grandmother saw one, she was hypnotized by its beauty. She even told us how she fell in love with the Goblin when she first saw it. It was a very good-looking man who hides his face under a mask." said by Ka Linda when I was fifteen. Her stories didn’t leave my mind as I grew old. That time, I wished to see one. I wanted to experience the feeling of being hypnotized by the sight of the Goblin’s face. I didn’t know but it gave me chills down to my spine and my heart would beat faster than its usual rate because of that thought.

 “Open it.” Said by Mother after handing me a small jewelry box. I accepted it with both hands. “A present?” I asked and she nodded as a reply. The box was silver and my name was engraved on it. Amara Fairoza Calla?

“My last name is Calla?” I asked with confusion. It’s been years since the last time I asked about my last name. Mother would always try to act deaf every time I asked about my father’s name. I had been wandering for years and now that I learned about it, I’m very surprised.

“Yes, my dear.”

“Why? I mean, Calla is only for the royal bloods. Why is my last name Calla? Are we a royalty? Am I a princess, Mother?” I said with an exciting tone.

“No, no! Of course not! We are far from them. Uhmm.. Let just say that your father is a very very far relative of the royal family. Just a tiny drop of blood. We are nothing compared to them. We are ordinary people. Y-yeah, that is right.” She said that with a very defensive tone. She kept on looking Aunt Agatha like she wanted to be rescued.

I laughed. “Okay, I get it. I was just joking. There is no way that I’m a royal blood.”

When I opened the box, I saw a precious thing. “A peacock amulet with diamond beads on its feathers.” I uttered as I removed it from its cage.

“It’s stunning. Is this really mine?”

“It’s all yours. It’s a gift from your father.”

When Father died from a chronic disease before I was even born, Mother was left alone with Aunt Agatha. Mother said that my father was a smart and nice man. He loved to help other people, especially the poor and the needy. He didn’t want violence and was always been fair to everyone.

The day started with calm blows of wind. Leaves were swaying by group like the waves in the sea and the birds were singing the same melody. The sun finally went out from hiding. It’s a nice morning to live in.

“You’re so beautiful Amara. You look like your mother.” Said by Miss Adele who bought a loaf of bread from Mother’s small bakery store. I was assigned to watch the store since Mother was still baking inside. After my simple birthday celebration, we continued our day the usual.

“Thank you, Miss Adele. Your beauty shines the most. Enjoy the bread!”

“The bread’s tasty. We will enjoy it, surely!” she said with a wave before taking off.

In the small town of Vevin located up in the mountains, a community of people called “People of the Woods” were living harmoniously. Our homes were made of woods, bamboos, coconut leaves and rattans, and some were made of rocks and cement. Surrounding the place was a wall made of rocks to keep us safe from wild animals. Basic needs were already been provided by nature, the food, the shelter and the water were everywhere. And if we needed anything or wanted to have other necessities, we had to go down the mountain and buy it in the city, where trading takes place. A one and a half hour travel from here.

I worked in the bakery during the morning and during the afternoon I would go out deep in the woods with my friend, Bella, to look for supplies. Most of the time, we would look for herbal medicines and would trade it in the market for the next morning.

Usually, we would leave the mountain at five in the morning and would arrive in the City of Trading at six, almost seven. The trade starts very early, so we need to be early as well. City of Trading was also called the Place for People. It was like a hide-out and a meeting place for everyone.

But in this afternoon, Bella and I planned to go down. I promised Mother to be back before the sun set. Bella was going to meet her boyfriend, who worked in the pier, and I couldn’t just let her go down alone. Even if we lived in the woods for years, it was still scary.

Fahmi, Bella’s boyfriend, was with his group of friends.

“Hi, Amara! It’s nice seeing you in a day like this.” Said by Gael, one of Fahmi’s friends. I didn’t really like it when Fahmi was with them. I didn’t want to be rude to Gael so I just smiled. I had this uncomfortable feeling around him ever since Bella told me that Gael liked me.

In times like this, Fahmi would treat us food and drinks. He would tour us around the city and buy us some sweets for us to take home.

The city was crowded. It was loud and full of adventures. People were having fun. They were here and there. They were bumping each other’s shoulders just by merely walking and it didn’t even bother them. When I had my first step here, I would always say sorry when I bumped into someone. There were those men who were singing at the sides, couples who were doing magic tricks, and merchants who were approaching people to buy their products. Lanterns and decors were hanging by the streets.

But the fun was suddenly replaced by a big commotion. The people were alarmed by the sudden darkness. The sky was getting dark, not because the sun was setting, but because a group of thick smoke was quickly rising and covering the clouds.

A loud scream from the crowd woke up my senses. “The mountain is burning! Everything’s on fire!!”

My family. Our home.