she burns down kingdoms

Chapter One

There was something uninspiring about men who never changed their values. Enid learned that quick when she had gone to the capital of her Kingdom. The White Palace of StormHael was the one place that was known for innovative inventors, art, and a place for people to start anew, but that sentiment must have not been the same for the King.

Enid looked up to the top of the balcony, where the fat King sat. There was a crowd gathering around the guillotine that had been set up in the Square, everyone seemingly hungry for the blood of the man that was waiting their to be executed. Enid wondered what the man before her had done to deserve such enthusiastic hate from the crowd around her, but she had an idea. That idea was confirmed when the King started speaking.

“Six years ago, when the world was overrun with heretics and the perverted practitioners of magic, the Kingdom of StormHael saw dark times, as did the neighboring kingdoms of Carnywynth and Haelscant.” He declared. Enid had to prevent herself from rolling  her eyes. “In order to restore the proper status quo, to make sure that the people of our Kingdoms were protected, we began a purge that spanned all three Kingdoms, magic was declared illegal, and peace was restored to the Kingdom.”

This man didn’t have magic. She could tell just by looking at him, he looked terrified that the people around him believed that he was in fact a wizard. There was nothing she could do for him though, nothing except bow her head when the blade of the guillotine came whistling down. She didn’t cheer when people cheered, she just glanced back up at the King and his cruel smirk.

He enjoyed that. Enid shook her head, heading inside as the crowd dispersed and the King continued his diatribe, beginning to talk about celebrations that were to take place. Something about it was inappropriate to her, especially when a man had just lost his life.

All she knew was that she had to keep her head down. She had a very different mission intended anyway. The cleric in her band of druids had been struck with a blade, making it important that she got the help of the Court Physician. Enid ran up the stairs, making sure that she wasn’t seen by anyone on the way up. She didn’t want to run into anyone and prolong her stay. She remembered her instructions, ‘Find the Court Physician, she is an ally to those of magic, she should be able to come and help.’

Enid started walking a little bit faster, remembering her years in the forest. She had to do this for the Druids, they gave her a home when she wasn’t wanted by anyone else. Enid found the Court Physician’s wing, entering from an entrance that wasn’t used very often. “Hello?” She called. The Physician’s wing was a large place, filled with numerous books and potions and elixirs. “Is anyone here?”

A throat cleared itself and Enid nearly jumped out of her skin. She turned to see the Physician, an older, broad shouldered woman with a kind but stern face looking back at her. “Who are you?” The woman asked.

Enid stumbled to open her mouth for a second, before rolling up her sleeve, remembering the symbol that rested on her arm. The woman looked at her for a second, before Enid started talking. “I’m so sorry to bother you, but I need your help. Badly.” She knew that if she started talking, the other woman would have to listen before she rejected her. “The cleric, Frey, my friend. She’s been wounded by a sword and she needs a trained physician to tend to her wound.”

“Haven’t you tried magic to fix it, girl?”

“We’ve tried magic, we don’t have a strong enough healer to fix whatever’s wrong with her.” This grabbed her attention, but not for the better.

“Then there’s a likely chance that your friend will die.”

“Please,” Enid said. “Please, the elders will offer you any reward if you come and help.” She couldn’t go back empty handed. The old woman furrowed an eyebrow, skeptical of her. The older woman shook her head and Enid could feel her heart begin to sink.

“I will help,” She said. “But I cannot leave today, I’m expected to be in court, and can’t risk not showing up.”

“I need you to go today, she’s in bad shape.”

“I told you what I can offer, unless you want to take the supplies to meet her.” Enid bit her lip, knowing that she wasn’t going to be able to give her the proper treatment she needed, but she nodded anyway.

“Thank you,” she said. The older woman nodded, grabbing an assortment of things that Enid didn’t know the name of to give to her. She tried her best to explain to Enid which ones were for pain and how to apply different salves onto the wound, and Enid listened, but she could say then and there that she wasn’t confident in what she would be able to do for the cleric.

There was nothing else she could do though, so she took the supplies and descended down the steps of the palace, passing the citadel and going back to the woods. It took her a while on foot, but she was confident that she would be able to reach the cleric in time. The important thing was that she didn’t waste anymore time getting to her.

The Druid hideout was masked by a particular scent of magic. It cascaded through the forest, warping the senses of those without magic and causing them to want to go the other direction. To people with magic, it had a pleasant vanilla and cinnamon like smell that had always pleased Enid when she was a child.

Enid followed that scent until she found the small crevice that was invisible to the untrained eye that lead to the Druid’s hideout in the area.

She had to help her.

She had to -

By the time she had gotten there it was too late. Frey was dead. Enid knew that she should cry, but she didn't. She just sat there in silence for the longest time, then turned around and got up to go back to the castle, her hands trembling as her mind just blanked.