Crimson Guard (Completed)

Chapter 1

Tawney's Trinkets wasn't the treasure trove its name made it out to be. Every inch of the small shop was packed with everyday objects that only hoarders would consider treasures. Worn, wooden bowls were stacked in piles; rough, dirty clothing stuffed into barrels; broken mirrors stacked against the walls; and waterlogged books filled the shelves. Nearly exactly the same as when I entered the room all those years ago.

But that was the point, to fill the shelves with junk to turn away those who were curious and to hide the store's true business. For this store was a part of the underground of Ebonhost, one of the cities in the great country of Orbain. If you wanted an energy potion, shielding charm, books on history or magic in Ebonhost, you would come to Tawney. In the midst of a war, those items were hard to acquire, unless you were a soldier on the front lines or one of the incredibly wealthy. And the incredibly wealthy were just our clientele.

I gazed into one of the broken fragments of a mirror, considering the reflection that was staring back at me, at the different face I was wearing today.

"The Wildecrest family are very influential and wealthy. It's well known that they attend the Queen's annual birthday ball every year, so they have connections to royalty. Which also means they must have some trinkets for us to sell."

I turned towards Tawney, taking in his thinning gray hair, round thick glasses, and musing face. It seemed like yesterday since he found me on the streets, picking pockets and trying to survive. Or rather I had found him.

"Fawn...Fawn, stop daydreaming."

I blinked out of my memories to find Tawney's amused gaze staring at me.

Tawney let out a little huff and went back to droning on about the Wildecrest family, and I couldn't help but feel a rush of affection.

He had come a long way from the odd, kind old stranger I met on the streets. When I had turned up the next day after our unplanned meeting, he had taken me in like I was his own child. He fed me until I was no longer skin and bones, he donned me in comfortable and respectful clothing, chucking out the rags that I wore for years. He taught me my numbers, alphabet, sums, and history until I began to read and research subjects on my own.

He took a grubby street kid who was destined to die in the slums and, within eight years, gave her freedom, and family.

Throughout the years together, we bonded, made our own memories together, and learned of each other's pasts. Of how we had both lost our families.

After a couple of years together, Tawney told me of his son. A soldier in the war who had found love, until tragedy struck and they were both killed only a few years after finding each other.

He would never dwell on the details of what actually happened but instead tell me of the joy of raising him, the hardships he had faced when his son enrolled in the army, and the moments he had cherished with him.

In return, I eventually told him of what little I remembered of my parents, the whisper of my mother's ash blonde hair and the flash of my father's broad smile and turquoise eyes. I couldn't recollect much of them, but I could recall his eyes because they were the same as mine.

Over time, I wanted to find out more about my parents and asked Tawney to help me find as much information as I could about them. At first, we had both assumed that I was born from one of the Cerulean families of Ebonhost, and we spent months researching into bloodlines and the gossip that surrounded them, hoping to find out about a lost child. But our research led us nowhere, and we soon came to the conclusion that my family must have been undiscovered.

Tawney tried asking me a few times about what happened to my parents but sadly, the memory was just not there. All I remembered was my mother's voice as she told me to run. Run and hide. Hide to make sure they never found me. I didn't know who they were, but that was the day I found my powers, the day that I could take anyone's face and make it mine. So that's what I did, on Ebonhost's streets and now, in Tawney's shop.