Chapter 1

The inhabitants of Dion make their way to the edge of the city where they can see Casia burning to the ground. In the distance, they see the Emperor’s army marching towards their city.

The war gongs sound, throwing the city into chaos, people begin reinforcing their houses, their stalls, soldiers parade the city, moving from one location to another, the turrets are prepared, with all kinds of arrows, which are stacked by the walls, archers restore their longbows and short bows, spears are recrafted, the blacksmith and his apprentices are hard at work, his furnace burns hot and the clang of his hammer on steel resounds in the square despite the commotion.

Soldiers take their defense positions around the city walls and the gates, which remain closed indefinitely, Casia is only a day’s ride away from Dion, they had to be prepared before the Emperor struck.

Kiara watches the proceedings in the market place, all the city is abuzz with the news. She navigates through the busy street with her basket of goods, she has to prepare the household, her uncle and cousins were selected as footmen in the king’s army for the upcoming battle.

The people know they are about to be attacked by the Emperor, but Kiara doesn’t think they fully understand that their lives are about to change, ripped from them by strangers.

Kiara makes her way home despite the commotion in the streets with her basket balanced on her hip, she sees her aunt waiting for her by the door of the house and Kiara takes in a deep breath, mentally preparing herself for the shouting match about to begin.

“I send you to the market two hours ago to bring back food for us to eat, look at the time you come back!” Her aunt follows her to the kitchen, her thick accent making the words almost incomprehensible.

“The markets are crowded Aunt Tina, there is a lot of pushing, shoving and long lines because everyone wants to buy things before we are attacked.”

“If there is a lot of shoving and pushing, then you shove back and you push back until you are attended to, so you can come back on time with my products!”

“Yes, Aunt Tina.” Kiara replies meekly, her hands folded across her lap.

“Now, shuck the corn and shell the peas from the pod, we don’t know how long your uncles and cousins will be on the field for. I want to make sure they have enough supplies to last them for a long time.”

Kiara settles herself on the small stool at the corner of the kitchen and gets to work, bringing out all her purchases from the basket.

“On second thoughts, you should polish their armor. They are footmen in the king’s army and I want their armor to gleam.” Her aunt claps her hands together in excitement. “I want them to outshine everyone else.”

“Which will probably get them killed.” Kiara says under her breath.

“What did you say, Kiara?”

“Nothing, Aunt.” She walks past her aunt into the room where the five armors are hung for display, she gets out the things needed for the job and begins polishing the metal on one armor with long, hard strokes.

“Just one more week and I’ll be free of this dreadful place.”

Her aunt’s slipper makes contact with the back of her head. “If it is any consolation, we can’t wait to get rid of you too.”

Kiara polishes, scrubs and cleans, she washes and cooks, shucks and shells till her hands threatened to bleed.

When she is done with all her work, Kiara peers into the hall and finds her aunt sprawled out on the chaise lounge, her deep snores an assurance that Kiara can sneak out of the house without hindrance.

She makes her way to the location on the note that was slipped inconspicuously into her palm at the market place. The place is deserted, still she covers her hair and half her face with her shawl. Even though few people come to this side of the city, she cannot risk someone identifying her and running their mouths to her aunt.

Someone places a hand over her eyes and she smiles. “I know it’s you, you’re the only one in this city with hands big enough to cover my entire face.”

The hand is gone and she turns around to see the pouting lips of her betrothed. “That hurts, my love.”

She reaches out to embrace him but he stops her halfway, looking around to see if anyone is close by. Like her, Corgan is terribly scared of her aunt.

He leads her up the watch post in the watchtower, where he is assigned city watchman for the East gate. The city had a Watchtower for each gate, which stood tall and proud at the four corners of the Kingdom, each tower was fortified to the fullest, with safeguards put in place to ensure that the watchmen were protected, they could see out, but no one could see in.

This was the sole reason why Corgan brought Kiara here, it was the only place in the entire kingdom where they could escape the prying eyes of the public and her aunt. There were no lights in the watchtower, so Kiara had to reach out into the darkness to feel for Corgan’s face before she brought it down to hers. They were locked in a lover’s embrace for a long time until they had to pull away to catch their breaths.

“I can’t wait for a week.” She whispers, still holding his face.

“Neither can I, my love. But if we insist on getting married earlier than the assigned time set by the kingdom, the people will begin to talk and rumors will begin to spread. Your aunt will tell the whole world, you are with a child. Then the wedding will be called off.”

She laughs, imagining the scenario in her head but it dies down when the imagination becomes not so funny, she doesn’t know what she would do if Corgan is taken away from her.

“Are you with a child?” He questions, reaching down to lay a big hand on her stomach.

Kiara laughs, they had broken all the rules of courtship set by the kingdom from day one.

“No, idiot.” She swats his hand away, still laughing.

“I’ll have to try harder then.” Corgan teases.

The sounds of war drums draw Kiara’s attention to the lookout point in the tower. She can make out the figures of men on horses riding their way to the gates of Dion. Reality drops on her like a bucket of cold water, they are much closer now than ever before.

Corgan comes to stand beside her and watches the scene. “Won’t they make an exception for us, since our lives are about to change.” She says, referring to the upcoming battle.

“I’m afraid no one cares about a wedding now, my love. No one will give us an ear.”

They watched the scene until Corgan feels, Kiara has seen enough. He doesn’t want her to worry about the upcoming battle. Dion is a force to be reckoned with, something the King’s army will teach this Emperor from the North.

He pulls Kiara to himself. “I didn’t write you a note so you could come here and watch those bastards make their way to our gates. We have a few hours before your aunt discovers you are missing, I intend to use them judiciously.”

Kiara cannot see his face but the tone of his voice tells her he has a wicked smile on his lips.

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Kiara traces the features of Corgan as he catnaps on the little bed they share. He catches her hand and attempts to bite the fingers off but she withdraws her hand quickly, only to do it again.

Somewhere in the city, a bell chimes, informing the inhabitants that it is two hours past sundown. The sound has the effect of a whip crack on Kiara and Corgan. Kiara bolts to her feet, gathering her clothes in her arms.

“My aunt is going to kill me!” She dresses hurriedly and sprints out of the watchtower.

“Kiara, wait! You forgot something!” Corgan calls out, running to catch up with her and almost tripping on his pants as he tries to put them on.

She turns around and Corgan slips her shawl over her head looping it around her neck. Before she can bolt again, He pulls her to himself and places a long hard kiss on her lips. “Remember that no matter what happens tomorrow, I will always love you.”

If it wasn’t for the feeling of dread going back home to her aunt caused, she would have asked what the meaning of his words were. Instead, she runs down the street, colliding with someone around the corner. The man straightens up but she can’t see the features of his face because of the large cloak he wears, with a hood over his head that covers his face. A large pin holds the cloak together and as she squints in the dark to get a better look, she sees it is dragon shaped.

“I’m very sorry.” Kiara apologizes but the man doesn’t say anything. She continues her sprint down the road and thinks to herself, who wears a hooded cloak at night? She stops and turns around to look at him when she sees that there is not one, but two men in hooded cloaks and they were staring at the watch tower.

Kiara reaches her street, calms her beating heart and straining lungs using a method she has perfected over the years. She checks her clothing to see if everything is in order and in place. She opens the door and finds she has more to fear than she originally thought.

Her uncle and cousins are home.