FEATURED BY @Retold
A fight for a kingdom that belongs to neither.
Aneira Guinevere was the fairest in the land - with her flowing dark tresses reminiscent of the midnight sky, and her delicate skin as pure as snow. Though the weight of her past l...
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"Everest! Your master missed a girl."
The man of thirty-five years jumped at the sudden voice of the Halfling. He had curly, deep brown hair, and brown eyes, that contrasted his pale skin.
"Cimera! Ye nearly scared the bollocks out of me!" he said. He looked down at the helpless, terrified, and naked girl that she was holding by the back of her neck.
"What? Only one new recruit?" he asked, as his eyes met the Halfling - Cimera's yellow ones again.
"Not yet. This one escaped the first time," Cimera hissed as she brought the girl to her eye before throwing her onto the ground before the man she called Everest.
The girl yelped in pain as she rolled and stopped before Everest's feet. Her shoulder hurt like someone had kicked a man where the sun does not shine. Aneira pressed hard on it, hoping the pain would subside.
But instead, it brought tears to her eyes. It had felt like a thousand sharp needles traveling through her bloodstream all at once.
She wanted to back away, but her body refused. So, she slowly raised her head to face Everest. He looked down at her and felt a small wave of guilt.
A child as young as her didn't belong in a place like Perigwyn. They slept in where the dungeons were supposed to be and ate the little leftovers or pieces of bread and stew they received once a day. They breathed the same air as thousands of others. Everest didn't believe they deserved such an awful fate. But, his loyalty lay with the emperor of the Perigwyn lands - King Aaryan Perigwyn.
The child curled into a ball and whimpered. His eyes fell on her exposed back.
"The Mark of the Bull! It..."
"Isn't branded? Yes. Your master is getting tardy. Hephaestus missed out on this girl," Cimera said, louring at Aneira.
"Well, you will have to come back another time, Halfling. Master Hephaestus isn't here," Everest said, clearing his throat. "He's gone to Netherdanes to watch the queen's assassin get executed. The man's always been a sadist."
"Why don't you perform the marking?" asked Cimera, looking Everest dead in the eye. "You're his apprentice, are you not?" She knew the risks of putting it off even more, including the fact that news reaching Emperor Aaryan Perigwyn or the captain would mean retribution.
"I am an apprentice, Cimera. I don't have no right to brand it. I can mark the Ivy but, the bull is off-limits. Only master Hephaestus must do that. It's all politics and familial privileges, you know?"
"Then brand on the ivy for it's better than nothing. If word gets out that she's without a mark, we may be looking at a fight against the Black Panther." Cimera shuddered at the mere thought of it. She may have been a Halfling. But, the fight against a Perigwyn Black Panther was rigged to ensure they lose their life and vocal cords.
