STOP

THE STIFF BONE OF MY CORSET DUG INTO MY SIDES stifling my breath as the carriage galloped across pebbles on the road.

“Just breathe. Everything will be fine,” Kezira smiled at me reassuringly.

But everything was far from fine. 

I am the shadow princess.

Revered and feared across the three kingdoms for my fighting skills and yet, here I am. On my way to Revillon.

Collins would laugh if he could see me now. Powerful Princess Arielle, reduced to Lady Marissa. Nothing more than an air-headed noble lady of the Revillon court.

“This dress is entirely too tight,” I hissed in irritation as I flapped the frilly fan I had been given  and tried to breathe in some air..

Somebody had burned incense in here to make it smell nice perhaps, but all it made me was sick, vehemently sick.

“The dress is perfect. And you look a vision. 

Look at you! Your long blonde hair dyed black, your thick Revillon dress, even the headscarf! you look nothing like a princess of Gaham,” She paused with a pout.  

“A shame though that there was nothing we could do about your eyes,”

I tried to ignore Kezira as I flapped the fan harder.

It didn’t matter to me that my eyes couldn’t be changed. In fact, I loved my eyes. 

Startling green, lined with grey, it was distinctly different from the deep brown both my parents possessed.

It was a gift. As much a weapon as the blades I had learned to use since I was a child.

Let’s just get this over with,” I grounded out.

Kezira sighed. “A ruler’s true wisdom lies in knowing when to back down,” 

“So you agree as well that I should flee like some scared animal?”

The very notion was ridiculous to me. The details of my trip were classified information but I told Kezira because I trusted her.

She wasn’t just my ladiesmaid but my bestfriend. My soul sister even, not like she was acting like it right now.

“I just…,” She started in a patronizing voice. “I think the Queen showed great wisdom in ensuring your safety,”

“Of course you do,” I muttered under my breath as I fluttered my fan.

“Zura,” she whispered softly but I was done with the conversation.

“This place is hot,” I flapped my fan harder and hissed as the stifling air in the carriage threatened to suffocate me.

“Really?” Kezira blinked in surprise but I could barely focus on her as I pulled at the hairpin holding my scarf and flung the offending fabric far from me.

“Hey! You shouldn’t take that off. Honor to the gods—“

“Oh please!” I snapped in irritation. “Living in Revillon doesn’t mean I’ll become one of them,”

 I shook my long hair down from its tight bun as Kezira whispered. “The headscarf symbolizes honor,”

I knew that. Just like I knew the people of Revillon were superstitious and still believed in IFtar.

The magical gift of the gods.

It’s all really ridiculous. The way they tell the story of the gods differently.

In Gaham, we remember the gods for the wicked, selfish, and powerful ancients they were. 

But the Revillionians worship them. 

Painting pictures of the war as a sacred thing, they still believed in IFtar bestowed by the gods. 

Fools, the lot of them.

Their gods have abandoned them but they don't know it yet.

“Kezira stop the carriage,” I demanded suddenly as I realized the stupid fan couldn’t bring me more air.

“What?” She blinked in surprise. “No. Her majesty ordered—“

A sense of urgency seemed to press against my lungs making me gasp for breath.

“Stop the carriage NOW!”

I could feel it. Phantom hands crawling down my spine, pressing against my brain.  

A small voice like the chiming of temple bells. It sang to me.

“Kezira stop the carriage now!” My breaths came in short spurts. The smell of incense drowning me.

“I can’t just stop the carriage. The Queen commanded…”

Her words trailed off into a buzz as my vision swam and pain exploded behind my eyes. 

I screamed in pain. Clutching my head as the sound of the bells increased.

My throat felt raw. Raw from screaming, as I tasted the incense on my tongue.

“Your Highness! Your Highness!!”

“Azura!!” 

Kezira seemed to be calling out to me in a panicked voice as I vaguely registered falling from my carriage seat. 

My eyes were shut and I tried to grip her hand as a cold feeling and a small voice accompanied the bells.

“Stop…” it crooned with a sense of foreboding.

I tried to open my lips. To yell and cry or beg Kezira to stop the carriage. But my lips felt like lead. Too heavy to part.

The ringing came to a sudden halt and I gasped immediately, my eyes flinging open.

“Arielle! What is it? Are you okay?” Kezira looked frightened. She knelt on the floor of the carriage, my head cradled in her lap as her headscarf fell out of place.

Her cheeks were stained with tears and I felt a cold trickle of blood drip from my nose.

My hands clutched her arms fearfully and I was about to ask again that she stop the carriage when that strange voice filled my head again.

“TOO LATE…”

That was the last thing I heard before our carriage crashed into something with a loud thud and the world went black.

Every nerve in my body was alert and somehow I could tell we had been attacked.

I FELT THE HARD GRAVEL PRICKING MY SKIN before I heard the noises. The gruff voices of strange men laughing and jeering, the injured horses whining helplessly,  Kezira screaming in a voice so loud,  it pierced my muddled brain. 

But I couldn't ask her to stop, I couldn't even move to look at her properly not when every cell in my body hurt.

The voices of the men grew louder as they jeered and mocked amongst themselves, with their distinct accents.

Braavasi. 

As a soldier in my father’s army, I had negotiated with some of them and could recognize their accents anywhere.

The Braavasi belong to none of the three kingdoms but trade with all. They’re desert pirates who rob highway travelers and disturb outskirt villages.

Kezira’s screaming came to an abrupt stop and fear thundered through me. My vision was blurry and I vaguely made out a pair of black boots walk towards me.

"Oi, there's one here that's alive!" 

That was the last thing I heard before I blacked out again.