Page 18 of Scars and Burns

That is what we have been working towards these past years. We have created a safe haven. A billet for my people. Or dwellers.As we’ve come to call them. We have grown in number each year. Preparing ourselves for my rule to rise and my Father to finally fall.

Aemond and I have worked with countless males and females. Enhancing their fighting abilities. Expanding their magic.

There are more common folk with magic than I thought. Not recognized for not being born into a noble family. Most never even get to explore their magic.

My Father’s plans are underway. And soon ours will be too.

* * *

After hours of relaxing at the billet with Aeron. I make my way to the stream where I find the little flower.

Shocker.

But this time she’s not alone.

Strange.

She has a little fluffy white speckled thing in her lap. Unable to make it out. I venture closer. My eyes widened. It’s an animal, a lynx. What is a lynx doing in the forest of the Middle Kingdom? They are solitary creatures from high up in the Celestial Mountain range. Hard to come across. Always camouflaged by their fur in the snow. All of the dark creatures rising up have primarily stayed in the forest spreading among the three realms. So there’s no way they are what drove the creature down from the mountains. Granted this one only seems to be a cub. Mother lynxes are very protective. More than capable of defending themselves and their cubs, even if a dark creature had ventured that far north.

Seems fitting these two isolated creatures were to find each other.Right before a cold and brutal end is upon them.

I catch a glimpse of the little flower’s eyes. There’s something there I haven’t seen before. Even the very first night I saw her. Her eyes held a fierce cold embodiment to them. Each time since then, they’ve possessed the same cold longing look. Whether it was when she was playing, exploring, or flailing her blades around in anger. Poorly I might add.

But this look.This look holds endearment to it.

How she manages to find grace and empathy for these monstrous creatures is beyond me. She’s cradling it in her arms. Giving it scratches like it’s a pet. I swear if she brings that creature home with her willingly. She’s more naive than before with the serpent.

No matter. She will meet her fate at the end of my blade regardless of the little monster’s presence or not.

14

Dinalia

After besting my fighting master… again… I make my way to the kitchens to visit Cook. Or Cookie as I’ve come to call her.

I visit her everyday now. Even began helping her in the kitchens. She runs a tight ship but she’s always willing to teach me. My favorite is baking. I come down to her now when I am not able to be in the forest when I am upset. Unable to take refuge and solace with anyone else in the castle. She’s the only one, other than my Mother, who doesn’t treat me like discarded trash because of my mixed blood. My Mother often joins us too. The three of us, laughing and joking sometimes making a mess of things. It’s almost like Cookie is my long lost aunt. A part of my family I didn’t even know was missing.

She’s making pumpkin loaf cakes today. Using the last of the pumpkins of this year’s harvest as fall is about to end. I’ve been tasked with the icing. The perfect combination of powdered sugar and vanilla that’s ever existed. I ensure it’s nice and warm. Drizzling a healthy coating to every single loaf. I constantly have to keep making more. Since I keep eating it all in between batches. Still embracing this sweet tooth Cookie exposed me to when I first arrived here.

We baked over three dozen by the time it was over. The delicious smell seeping into my Mother’s garden as I make my way into the forest. Other than my time with Cookie in the kitchen and my continued magic lessons with my Mother. The forest is still the only place I’ve felt comfortable. Safe even. I’ve learned every trail here that leads to the Celestial Realm. Even the ones that lead to the border of the Shadowlands.

But my absolute favorite spot is this lookout just above the stream I use to play in. It sits halfway up a waterfall. The waterfall comes from the melting glaziers. Quite a ways off, its force has dwindled a little but the magnificent color still remains. The water is the most gorgeous hue of blue. The sound is so tranquil. Listening to nature and the animals around me. I almost feel at peace inside of me. The best part is its elevation. High enough I see the borders where all three realms meet. Looking out into the world filled with possibilities. But most of all I look out to the distance where I used to live.

Everyone there must have been slaughtered because I’ve never once seen smoke rising over there signaling any form of life. In fact, each year there are fewer and fewer smoke streams rising in the distance. How one realm can continue to slaughter and massacre entire towns year after year is beyond me.

I sit here each day. Thinking about that night a lot.

If I had been able to do more. To fight the way I can now. We would have been spared. My village would have lived. I never would have had to flee my home and come to the Middle Kingdom. My Mother never would have had to marry King Elio. Enduring his constant disapproval. I never questioned and regarded myself worth so little until I received every wandering eye in this Goddess forsaken castle.

Someday I’ll leave. I have no idea where I’ll go. But I’ll find a place thatfeels likehomeagain.

Sitting on the ledge. I’m looking off into the distance when I hearsomething rustling in the bushes. I get up to go investigate. The dark creatures that have been rising have become more and more aggressive. They feel the magic of the earth changing.

I unsheathe my blades. Ready to defend myself if needed. I hear a weak little sound. It almost sounds like a roar. I push some leaves away to find a tiny little cat. It’s a lynx. It looks lost.

Lynxes live high up in the mountains, in the ice and snow. And this one can’t be more than a few months old based on its size. It should be snuggled up in a cave protected by its Mother. I wonder what happened and how it got all the way down here.

Knowing this poor little guy isn’t a threat. I sheath my blades behind my back again. Kneeling down, I scooch toward them, and hold out my hand. I give them a small smile and say, “Hello, do you need some help? I’m not gonna hurt you.”

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