Reaper: Redemption

Chapter 1: Sky Clan

The ride to the city was bumpy, but I managed to fall asleep during the ride. Years sleeping on various places must've done this to me. Raan fell asleep on my shoulder, which was cute. It was rather strange that I well... liked her. We were both girls... but still...

When I woke up, the cart was still moving, but the noises from outside were significantly louder. There was music being played from some places... it sounded... welcoming. Traditional music was always beautiful.

After a while, the cart stopped, and the man came to the back and lifted the tarp.

"Enjoyed the ride, young man?"

"Y-Yes. Thank you good sir," I smiled at him. I woke Raan up and we both got off after she gave the man a few coins.

Raan looked around and sighed as she stretched. "Well, Rosaria. Welcome to the city."

I was amazed at what I could see. The city had buildings that were built onto the edges of mountain faces, some built into them.  But at the centre stood a large, grand piece of land, the royal palace.

Raan was wearing a large straw hat for some reason, and was hiding her face a little.

"So.. Raan, where do you live? Is it that small one over there? How about that large one there?" I asked, pointing at houses here and there.

"Actually, Rosaria..," she said softly, taking off the straw hat while grabbing my hand. She pulled it and pointed at the palace. "That's where I live."

As she took off her hat, people around her noticed and immediately knelt down to greet her.

I didn't know what they were saying, but I was pretty sure it meant 'the princess has returned' or something like that.

"Lotus, let's go meet my pare- Lotus? Lotus?"

I stood there, stunned. Raan Tian, my best friend of these two years... was the royal princess of the Sky Clan...? Holy heck... talk about overwhelming...

"Lotus? You okay?" She shook me.

"Y-Yes! I-I'm fine, your Highness!" I quickly knelt down.

"Y-You don't have to kneel, Lotus!" She giggled happily at my sudden confusion. "You look cute when you're confused." She laughed.
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Being greeted as one of Raan's 'suitors' was honestly a little confusing, there were times where I forgot I was pretending to be a guy, so I end up not knowing that they were greeting me.

At least... I finally knew why Raan wanted me to come here in the first place. Dress up as a guy... I was to join this fight to get Raan's hand in marriage...

Marriage?! You're getting married?! You two haven't even started dating!! Which is like... important?!

I uh... guess so.

Well. That explains a lot. No wonder dad let us here. I think he knew.

Right...

"Lotus, come on, you should meet my family," Raan said and led me to the palace.

The moment we arrived, people greeted us immediately and led the both of us in. There were other people with noticeably different clothes in the courtyard... were they from the other Clans? Some were in red, some were in black, some wore white...