The Shadowsinger and the Girl on Fire.

Life Before

The girl was born during the night, during a horrible storm. The red-haired woman who was her mother laid down in her bed, screaming in pain as the midwives ran around, swapping out dirty towels for clean ones.

"Get this thing out of me!" The red-haired woman screamed, ignoring the placating voices of the midwives around her. This baby was becoming more of a problem than she was worth. 

But she would push through, she would get this thing out of her, because she needed a weapon, a weapon to hide and reveal when she was ready. The child would do her bidding, go wherever she wanted the child to go, because she knew best for the child.

The child would be grateful for this.

Suddenly, the red-haired woman heard his footsteps outside the door, and when it opened, she couldn't help the scowl that appeared on her face. "I summoned you hours ago" she said through her teeth, "where have you been?"

The King of Hybern scoffed. "With one of my other whores, one who isn't ruining my life with a child. Now what did you summon me for?" He asked, leaning against her vanity that was placed next to her door.

The red-haired woman opened her mouth to answer his question but stopped when the midwife looked up at her. "It's time, the baby is crowning." Any retort the red-haired woman had to say to Hybern died on her tongue as she gripped the sides of the bed and began to push. 

The Cauldron must have decided to bless her, because after about 10 pushes, the loud, wailing baby was finally out of her. She slumped against the bed, waving away the midwives attempts to get her to hold the baby. That thing terrorized her for 9 months, and they wanted her to hold it? 

Absolutely not.

While the midwives went about cleaning her and the baby, the red-haired woman stared at the King of Hybern. "Are we still in agreement?" she asked.

He nodded. "Yes, this child will be nothing more than a weapon to be used when it's time", he crossed his arms in front of his chest, scowling. "Will I be expected to house this- what's her name?" 

The woman scowled back at him. "Her name is Amara, and she will be my sword, my weapon, my property. She will be the reckoning of every false court of Pyrthian, she will be their doom."

The King of Hybern raised an eyebrow but said nothing. Nothing while the midwives cleaned her up and changed her into a red silk pajama set, nothing while they fixed her hair, nothing while the child was gently placed into a crib, who was unusually silent for a newborn babe, already taking in the world around her.

He just walked over, hands in his black suit pocket, his shoes silent on the red carpet, and looked down at the strange babe in the crib. "Good, and under no circumstances will you reveal who her father is, understood?"

Amarantha nodded. "She is mines, I won't sully my child's name and associate her with you."

The King of Hybern scoffed as he walked out. "Like when you sullied yourself and crawled into my bed?" 

Amarantha scowled at his back as the King of Hybern left the room but said nothing, deciding instead to look at her prize in the crib. The child was still quiet, but had her tiny arms stretched out towards Amarantha like it needed a hug, to which Amarantha promptly scoffed. "No, my love" she said, "there will be none of that. You will be the cause of so much pain and suffering, sadness and fear, loneliness and despair, so you need to feel each and every one of those things. And you will, you will learn to be who I want you to be, what I need you to be."

Amara, still a babe, kept her hands held out for a hug, even as Amarantha called the midwives into her room.

Even as the midwives turned out the lights.

Even as Amarantha closed her eyes and went to sleep.

Even in the dark, as the storm kept raging outside.

An eerie foreshadow to the rest of her life...