章 2: Chapter 2: Azryana's backstory – 6 years before the present day
Azrya paced through the palace walls, her steps lightly tapping on the cold stone floor. She would often leave the castle without permission, sneaking aged 13, disguising herself with black hooded cloak that concealed notorious silver-white curly hair.
It was late in the afternoon on a Sunday after morning prayers were finished. No one would come looking for her, expecting her to be in the chapel until late; it was the perfect opportunity for her to escape.
Azryana of the kingdom Toria was the eldest daughter of Duke Boswell Griffin of Toria. She would often explore the kingdom and visit the orphanage feeding and playing with the children there. She earned the money by singing while the minstrel played the guitar gathering a large crowd who listened mesmerised by the angelic voice of the famous street singer whose identity no one knew.
On this particular day, Akio a young teenage boy, who at this time was 16 years old, was passing through the marketplace where she was singing. He momentarily turned his attention to her then proceeded to continue through the bustling market stalls. Her voice remained stuck in his head as he continued searching for the items on the list he had been given.
Sometime later, Azrya collected her coins for the day and then began purchasing different food items for the children including bread, fruit and ham and any other items that caught her eye that they might need. She also purchased a gift for her youngest sister, a dainty crystal bracelet.
Azrya was the oldest among her three sisters, whom she lived with along with her stepmother, her father who was Duke and their many servants and workers in the castle.
The second daughter, Urla was two years younger than her and was a plain girl with limp mousy brown hair and skin as pale as a ghost. She didn't say much to anyone and seemed to wonder through the palace half-dead as if she were a ghoul who haunted the palace walls.
Her third sister, four years younger than her had beautiful strawberry blonde flowing locks which complimented her pink, rosy cheeks. This one was Elenea, she was the Duke's favourite. Though she had the face of an angel, she may as well have been the devil reincarnated as she made it her life's ambition to torment her other sisters using her sweet façade as an advantage.
It also didn't help that her mother was the Duke's wife while her sisters were only half related to her through her father. None of the daughters had the same mother as their father seemed to be deathly allergic to commitment, frequently stepping out on his marriage and more than once impregnating other women. However, if he found out one of his 'toys', as he referred to them had fallen with child, that would be an immediate death sentence for her and her poor baby as they would end up in some fatal 'accident' within the week. But, those who were able to hide their pregnancies from the Duke would ensure their child's safety as according to the Octa rules of King Robbisius Ford, ruler of the 6 Kingdoms.
Toria was one of these 6 kingdoms, and the Octa rules were eight laws the King himself and specifically drafted especially for the nobility of the 6 kingdoms in which the Duke's and their families were required to follow. If any of the nobility broke these laws, it could result in them and their entire families being stripped of their titles and exiled, therefore even the morally backwards Duke Boswell abided by these laws.
The second law stated that all born children of nobility must live as such and reside in their house castles. Therefore, Duke Boswell would do all he could to kill his illegitimate children before they were born, as a loophole around this rule. However, once a child of his was born, regardless of whether they were a bastard or not, they were protected under the special laws of the king, hence resulting in Azrya's second and fourth sisters.
Only Azrya and Elenea were legitimate children of the Duke as he had married both of their mothers, however Azrya's mother had died when she was child and many say under strange circumstances. Although the Octa rules protected the children of the Duke, unfortunately for the mothers there were no concrete laws to ensure their safety and many ended up being captured, tortured and eventually killed as a warning to the Duke's victims to not dare to carry his child and push them into dangerously terminating their unborn children, often resulting in death anyway, so it was a lose-lose situation for these women the Duke abused. Her youngest sister Iris, aged two, was the product of more of her father's cruelty and despicable act, and though the blue-eyed blonde haired baby girl survived, her mother suffered a painful and terrible death at the hands of the Duke.
In the marketplace, Azrya passed through a back alley passageway as a shortcut to the orphanage, carrying the groceries in a bag. Despite this route being faster, many shady figures lurked in the shadows and various illegal business transactions transpired. It was a dodgy area full of untrustworthy people.
Akio was there purchasing some illegal weapons for the notorious rebel mercenary group, the 'Brothers in Arms', as he was their youngest member.
Azrya was in a rush to get out the back-alley area as quick as possible, quickly darting and weaving through all the suspicious figures who towered over her as she was just a child. As she was rushing through the mass of people, she accidentally bumped into someone, consequently knocking herself to the ground along with all the items she had purchased, and her hood pushed back a little revealing strands of curly silver hair.
She meekly looked up at her collision partner, he appeared young but had a certain mature and serious aura to him, with a stern look upon his face, showing he meant business. His dark, jet-black, shaggy hair appeared almost blue in the light and was in desperate need of a haircut. He towered over her with great height even though he was just a boy and glared menacingly at her with his eyes which were so dark they appeared black. Irritated by the sudden collision, the boy opened his mouth to unleash a flurry of insults when he closed it again, recognising the girl from her cloak and build as the one who's voice had been stuck in his head with her sweet singing in the market.
He continued to glare at her silently, however with a little less menace than before while she apologised frantically saying,
"Sorry, I'm so sorry please forgive me, it was an accident. I promise I'll be more careful next time." She quickly spurted out, picking up the things from the floor handing him back his stuff and collecting her own then quickly ran off out of sight without allowing him to say a word back.
"What a strange girl", he thought to himself.
Akio headed over to a stall, with the hopes of buying a map but as he felt for his pouch of coins to pay the man running the stall, he realised it was missing as he checked his empty pockets confused. Then finally putting the pieces of the puzzle together he the grasped that he had been tricked. The girl had purposely run into him to steal from him. He sighed to himself understanding that her innocent, childish and naïve display was all an act, and a clever ploy to rob him.
Immediately, Akio set off after her, following the direction she fled towards entering the forest, tracking her footsteps. Meanwhile Azrya smirked proudly to herself as she continued to run in the direction of the orphanage,
"That was way too easy!" she laughed to herself as she ran.
She planned on giving the money to the orphanage, as the coins she collected from singing wasn't enough to provide the children at the orphanage with all they needed. Therefore, she had recently began to resort to stealing sometimes from the castle and sometimes from people at the black market to provide for orphanage. She would purposely target people in the black-market area, where the shady dealings happened as the only people who purchased items from there were criminals, therefore she felt less guilty taking from them, despite that making things more dangerous for her.
No matter how dangerous it was out here though, stealing from the castle was an even more perilous task. If her father the Duke ever found out, she didn't know if there would be any law that could protect her from his wrath, especially if he discovered she was stealing for the low-born. The Duke despised the lower class and did not care about the poor or whether they lived or died.
As she was running through the forest to get the orphanage she suddenly came to an abrupt stop. As on the narrow forest path three large burly men stood a couple metres ahead of her. She turned around hoping they hadn't spotted her. Out here, it was better to avoid all contact with strangers especially if you were outnumbered as Azrya was in this situation. However, it was too late they had already seen her.
"Hey, you there!" one of them called out to her in a gruff voice.
Without even pausing to consider her next options, as if it were muscle memory, upon hearing the voice Azrya sprinted away off of the forest path and into the mass of trees, hoping they would help camouflage her. But the men split up, and being larger, stronger and faster than a mere thirteen-year-old girl, easily caught up to her, surrounding her in a triangle formation.
Azrya remained calm but alert, brandishing a small pocketknife and taking on a fighting stance ready to defend herself from any sudden attack.
"Hey there little missy," one of them said patronisingly at her.
Another then questioned her saying,
"What've you got in that little bag of yours. Give it here and you won't get hurt."
The final one then taunted her laughing saying to the others,
"Look what she's got there in her hand, a tiny little knife for a tiny little girl. Maybe I'll pick my teeth with it girl".
Azrya remained resolute, not giving into their taunts and threats, in her mind trying to formulate a way to escape this precarious situation she now found herself in. There was no way she could fight even one of them and win, let alone all three of them at the same time. Meanwhile, giving them the items for the orphanage was out of the question as well. Her best and smartest option was to do what she always did – act and put on a show, and hope it worked.
Putting on the most innocent and child-like voice she could muster and activating the water works she began to cry and plead,
"Please sirs, it's just food for my frail mother and sick younger brother. They need to eat, or they will surely perish. Please let me go just this once," she said batting her eyelids sweetly and while fake tears streamed down her face.
It wounded her pride to have to put on such an act of weakness, but her logic and reason told her this was the option with the highest chance of success, so she forced herself to swallow her pride and feign innocence, while in her head she secretly cussed them all out. People would be surprised if they heard the kind of foul words she knew from overhearing and witnessing various fights outside taverns and on the streets in the marketplace.
The men looked at each other debating on whether or not they should let her go. It's not that they cared about her sad little pity story, they had reputations to maintain and stealing from a poor young girl certainly was not going to give them any street credit.
One of them then spoke up,
"You're lucky little miss, today we're feeling kind so you get to go. But next time, don't think you'll be so lucky".
In her head Azrya cheered and momentarily showed a slight smirk on her face before returning to her innocent act exclaiming,
"Oh thank you, thank you kind sirs, the heavens bless you!"
As she was making her way back onto the forest path walking away from the men, she heard one of them say,
"Hold on lads, doesn't she look familiar from behind".
Another replied,
"Now you mention it, say, doesn't she look like that girl who stole from us a few weeks back?"
Then the other one piped up,
"Yeah, the one in the hood who pretended to drop her stuff then robbed us blind! Grab her!"
"Darn it." She thought to herself, she knew it was too good to be true and it seemed her past was officially catching up to her. She bolted off into the trees yet again, running faster than she had ever run before when she suddenly slammed into someone.
"Not again!" she thought to herself, unsure of how she was going to act her way out of this mess.
But to her surprise, when she looked up it wasn't any of the three men who were chasing her who she had run into, it was the old yet young looking teenage boy she had stolen from in the market. She had never been so relieved to see someone she had stolen from and immediately started spinning a story to him.
"Oh sir, I'm so glad I've run into you,"
"Glad?" Akio said raising an eyebrow,
"Why would you be glad to see someone who you stole from?"
He said coldly shooting darts at her from his eyes,
She shuddered slightly from the cruel look he gave her then cried,
"It wasn't me you see; these three men forced me to steal. They said if I didn't, they would kill me and my family, I had no choice" she sniffled pitifully.
However, after being fooled once by her, Akio was not buying her story.
"Is that so?" he muttered,
"Well if that's the case, where are these men that you speak of, and how come you're still in possession of my pouch?" he said, glancing into the bag and spotting his item.
"Well, you see, I felt so bad for what I had done to you that I told the men that they couldn't have your money, then I ran off hoping to find you and give it back. But now they're after me due to my strong sense of morality. Please help me sir, or we're both doomed!"
Before Akio could reply, one of the men appeared yelling,
"Hey, she's over here!" while pointing at Azrya.
Huffing and puffing he strode over to her fists clenched. Azrya hid behind Akio. She didn't think he'd be able to take them on but at least she could use him as a distraction to get away and make her escape.
Akio calmly sighed only seeming bothered by the situation with not a speck of fear showing on his face. Slowly, from one of his belt loops he pulled out a small dagger. Azrya doubted him in her head, thinking he wouldn't be able to do any damage with such a small weapon, but was quickly proved wrong. With one clean flick of the wrist, the boy sent the knife flying towards the man where it struck and pierced his skull, immediately killing him and he fell to the floor with a loud thud.
Stunned Azrya gasped and at the same time the other two men emerged.
Seeing their friend on the floor, their expressions grew fierce and they brandished their weapons. One pulled out a large sharp sword while the other raised a large war hammer with spikes.
Pulling on Akio's sleeve Azrya beckoned to him,
"Let's run, we still have a chance to get away." She said with a worried expression.
Akio simply smiled at her reassuringly saying,
"Look after my pouch for just a little while longer, I'll be finished here in no time." He said confidently.
And at that, Akio drew his own sword made of black metal that glistened in the light and looked so sharp it could cut the air.
He slowly walked towards the men while the first one approached him, swinging his sword ferociously at him, but Akio easily blocked it with his sword, and the sound of metal clashing against metal filled the air. Akio swiftly withdrew a larger curved dagger with one hand, stabbing the man in the torso. It happened so fast, all Azrya saw was the man scream out in pain and the colour red staining the forest floor. Akio then quickly swung his sword in one smooth motion, cleanly slicing the head off the man like it was nothing. Then without taking a moment to pause, replaced the large dagger with one of the smaller ones flicking it at the third man, the blade penetrating his eye and killing him. It was a gruesome bloodbath and the sight of the slaughter filled Azrya with horror and slight amazement.
Despite the clear age difference between Akio and the men, he greatly surpassed them in fighting skill.
Azrya slowly backed away from Akio as he turned to face her, while coldly glaring at him awaiting her own doomed fate at his hand.
Akio simply stared feeling slightly amused by her icy expression impressed by her unwillingness to back down and show fear, as he had seen before in men twice her size that he had faced. Who was this small girl who showed so much spirit and courage in the face of opponents much stronger than herself.
Due to the shock she had experienced witnessing the fight, Azrya had dropped the bag, and the spilled items on the floor caught Akio's eye as he saw the food as well as toys and the bracelet. Seeing the contents, he was able to put two and two together realising that all these items weren't just for her, and looked like it was for a lot of children.
He reached down and picked up the bracelet scoping it then asked her,
"Where are you taking this stuff to?" while still examining the bracelet.
Azrya stayed silent for a moment debating on whether or not she should respond and what she should say. If he wanted to kill her, wouldn't he have done it by now she thought to herself, and technically, he had just saved her life. Moreover, judging by the distance he maintained between them it didn't seem as though he had the intention of harming her.
She decided to tell him the truth her instinct telling her it was in her best interest not to lie to him.
"The orphanage." she coldly replied.
"The children there need these things. I stole your money because they need it more than you do!"
Surprised at her brazenness and lack of guilt for robbing him, he slightly raised his eyebrow again while she continued to maintain eye contact with him, neither refusing to back down. Then finally having made up his mind about her, he began packing the spilled items back into the bag, also taking any valuables off the men he had just slaughtered and placing them inside also.
She eyed him cautiously, confused on what was now happening. After packing all the items, he approached her handing the bag out to her. She hesitated for a moment then tentatively took the bag from him. He took one final long glance at her. During the whole ordeal her hood had completely fallen down exposing her silver long, bushy curly hair that almost gleamed in the light. He then turned around, walking away from her.
Confused and frustrated she called out to him,
"Where are you going? Are you not going to take your money back?"
He paused and without turning around said,
"Keep it. Now hurry and head off to the orphanage before you get yourself into any more trouble."
He continued walking away and she quickly rummaged through the bag calling out to him,
"Wait, hold on a second!"
She grabbed a bundle of blue yarn from the bag she that she had bought for the orphanage children to use for crafting, then cut a strand with her pocketknife, while holding something small enclosed in her fist and scrambled up to her feet running towards him. He turned around and she held out her small hand to him, which was clenched in a fist, concealing what she had hidden inside. She then turned her hand over opening her hand revealing a little bracelet inside,
He stared at her perplexed then questioned her asking bluntly,
"What?"
"Take it." she replied.
"It's to say thank you".
She looked up at him with her big grey eyes smiling with childish innocence. How was this the same intimidating girl from five seconds ago he wondered to himself, bemused by her sudden change in character. While he stood there motionlessly, she hooked the yarn through the bracelet then tugged on his sleeve motioning for him to crouch down. Akio slowly lowered himself down. Even crouched down on the ground he was still taller than her.
"It's too small for you to wear on your wrist, but you can still wear it as a necklace," she said.
She then went behind him tying the makeshift necklace around his neck. Startled by the sudden act of kindness, Akio unknowing of how to react, stayed still as she loosely tied the string of yarn with the dainty bracelet attached to it around his neck.
She lightly tapped him on the shoulder saying,
"You can stand up now."
And she walked back in front of him. Azrya smiled up at him and outstretched her arm for him to shake her hand and said,
"Now were even."
Akio scoffed, smirking slightly. They weren't even remotely even, he had saved her life, given her his money and the belongings of the men who attacked her, meanwhile all he had gotten was a makeshift bracelet.
But regardless he muttered,
"Fine."
Taking her small hand and shaking it in agreement then let go. She then turned on her heel running back to the bag of belongings picking it up, starting to head off. But before she did, she enthusiastically waved back at him before running off into the forest. Akio gently touched the bracelet hanging around his neck stunned.
It was the first time he had ever received a gift.
He paused for a moment smiling and savouring the moment, looking back up in the direction she had left in hoping to see her again. However, she was long gone. At that, he headed off in the opposite direction disappearing among the forest trees.
As Azrya reached the orphanage, the children were ecstatic to see her, and all ran towards her clamouring around her as she approached. She handed the bag with the items to the matron of the orphanage and while she played with the kids, her mind kept flooding with thoughts of the generous and mysterious stranger she had encountered.
She wondered if she would ever meet him again, however every time she left the castle afterwards to come to the orphanage, she never once ran into him again.
She wouldn't see him again for another 6 years, when they would reunite to be wed.
クリエイターの想い 
Danaerya
Danaerya Thanks for reading, it means a lot and I appreciate it.
Also there may be edits to chapters in the future as the story is still ongoing andddd finally if anyone is good at illustrating and would be interested in creating a cover for my novel that would be great. I tried my best to create my own but its not the best.
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