Cyrus's POVAs we stepped out of the war room, our footsteps rolled heavily on the stone floor and they sounded eerily like the funeral bells before a war. We could not afford fear or doubt. Not now. Not when Ghysem's life depended upon it.We walked side by side and every now and then our hands would make soft contact. Eventually, I held her hand in mine. It was comforting. The illumination of torches was flickering along the walls and it was as if we were watched by the ghosts of the war."We'll place our swordsmen who can wield shields at the front," I explained, "They must be very good at defending rather than attacking. I shall let Drussus know immediately," I said glancing at Agnes. Her eyes, like precious stones gleamed in the dim light. "They'll block the arrow attacks from the south. I'm glad we revised our armor. It's now harder for an arrow to penetrate, except if shot from a greater distance, which increases the impact but is less accurate."Agnes nodded, her red hair sway
Moana’s POVThe return to the capital was at the same time liberating and torturing, The carriage was bumpy throughout the irregular road surface but this moment freed a tremendous weight off my back. The capital symbolized stability, a certain form of order amidst the destructions which had taken over Ghysem. But I worried about what was happening to Theophilus and the people at the new underground place far from where I was. That he should fight to the death to keep us safe was the one thing I admired, even though it cost me his company.There was no difference between one area and another – villages destroyed, cottages and hovels, thatch roof homes collapsed, the thatch exposed, the framework left behind. Burning ridges extended as if they were graves, the fertile land turning to charcoal of farm products. Broken hopes were there on the ground, lives that were once cherished by people were now completely erased.The actual roadway had been scarred and pitted; the crusts of the skin
At this point the sun was well high in the sky, scorching whoever it was upon and its red light was upon the battle as Cyrus led his army on. His heart raced like the beats of the horses of the Ghysem warriors following him. Drusus and Theo stood on his left and right respectively, serious expressions etched on their faces and both staring ahead for any sign of the Southern pack.Finally, they met with Xeik. Cyrus shouted, over the hollering of soldiers and it was a battle cry to the other side. “Xeik! Your coward of a king hides within his throne room while you do the fighting. Is this what it is to be Southern? What’s normally meant to be a king is not who doesn’t have courage and thus depends on others!"Xeik, with the iron in his glare, penetrated through the dust and confusion. His answer reverberated in my head and he glared at Cyrus, fury enveloping his voice. “If you were from the Southern pack you would know that the members here understand the importance of our king! We sha
The sounds of war have reached the capital making the atmosphere tense, the sounds of fighting could be faintly heard in Tina’s house. Every rumble, every clash of their weapons, brought a new spasm of involuntary terror to her bosom, which was twisted into a painful knot of concern at her stomach. She spent her time with Hannah, Philemona, Moana, and the twins sitting close in the room full of shadows, illuminated only by the feeble candle burning.Beyond the huge door, the real world lay, the world of a great war: the sound of the great, heavy drums could still be heard. Groaning and calls of soldiers, ringing metal in reply, the dull roll of horse hooves – the music of chaos. “Do you think they’re okay?” Hannah whispered, her eyes widened and hands folded in front of her lower abdomen tightly. She was clearly scared and kept glancing at the window as if she could somehow look through the walls and to the battlefield.“They will be alright,” Tina mumbled, her confidence being weak,
Agnes POVThe day had been extremely stressful. I had gone through the tunnels and rooms in the underground of the palace, cleaning the place out with the other slaves. I used the reports from the last population census, birth and death records to get a bunker for each family. We worked on protecting the really young ones and the elderly. Then the mothers of children first. We decided to put up petitions to ask some men who had brief training to fight at the back line of the battle if they could. That way, we would be able to have more room for people. Adrianna has worked tirelessly as well, getting all the supplies that would be needed down in the underground. We wanted to make sure we were able to get almost everything ready before the evening of the next day so that moving people would not be a problem.We had started with the regions that were closer to the war. Most of the people had been assembled in the throne room and courtroom, waiting for bunkers to be assigned to them. The
Agnes POVThe soft red of the sun penetrated through the windows to sufficiently light up Eunice as she cried. The woman was so tortured that the feeling radiated off her like a living entity – oppressive and stifling. My heart squeezed in my chest painfully as if someone had taken a rope and was twisting it, then twisting some more.We were alone in her room; there was nothing but the crackling from the fireplace and the regular sound of the clock on the wall. The room, in which she and I used to live felt like a cage, a confinement with every passing second.“Eunice,” I said gently, which I struggled to do since every muscle in my body tightened. The smell of dust, ink, and leather pervaded the room, the smell that brought a kind of familiarity, at least to my increasing sense of anxiety.‘’I have one final request to make of you a special request” I said in a soft but audible tone.The frown was etched on Eunice’s face as if she expected me to deliver devastating news. The flames o
My adrenaline is rushing as I take Lady Asher's words in. "Have you forgotten your past? But not as a slave, but as an outcast?" The coldness of her talking begins to fade into the world where I was Agatha.I was first submerged in familiar odors - the smell of old wood and the subtle smell of herbs from my father's house. I was busy bowing down to the floor doing my best to clean it, work as hard as I could just to get all the tasks assigned to me. My brothers and sisters giggled at me and teased me. They instructed me to clean the smears of food and muddy water on the parts that I just washed. Each thing they did to ruin the job I had just done made me to get angry but I refused to show it in my face. I wouldn't let them see that they were getting to me. "Honestly, you should have just been a slave," one of my stepsisters grinned. "I hope you're born as one in your next one. Cleaning suits you.""You missed a spot, Agatha," my other stepsister smirked and then dumped a bucket of so
Lady Asher stared at me directly with a malignant glare in her eyes. Her lips curled into a sly, calculating smile, sharp and unnerving. That smile was designed to hurt, to make me feel small and powerless. It hinted at secrets and small victories she had won against me.Her eyes sparkled with a nasty glee, dark and unfathomable. There was a cruel light in them as if she enjoyed seeing me get riled up by her.The lines around her mouth deepened signs of years spent scheming and deceiving. Her pale, smooth skin seemed to glow with an eerie light, but it was the cruel curve of her lips that stood out.She locked eyes with me, her gaze intense and piercing. For a moment, I felt exposed, as if she could see right through me, into the darkest parts of my soul.She knew her words had hit me hard. That knowledge hung between us, heavy and undeniable. There was no more pretending; the conflict between us was out in the open now. “Do you remember why your own father banished you from your home