Chapter 3

Kiara opens her eyes at the break of dawn and smiles, today was the day. She gets up from the bed and checks the box to see if her attire is still there. It is foolish behavior, but a part of her still thinks her aunt is very capable of removing her dress from the box as the last resort to keep her in this house forever.

She takes her bath in the small iron tub at the corner of her room, adding orange peels to the bath water since she can’t afford essential oils, she scrubs her skin to remove every layer of dirt, every bad memory from this house, cleansing herself for her new home.

She dries herself and applies a little perfume from a small alabaster bottle on her skin, careful that not a single drop goes to waste. She saves the rest for later, tonight. The thought makes her blush and she chides herself for behaving like a love struck virgin. This wouldn’t be the first time she and Corgan had been intimate. She reminds herself that this time, it would be different, they were married now. Would be married…she corrects herself.

Since she doesn’t have any friends to help her, she applies the ink to all the parts of her body she can reach. Using intricate swirls and circles since she cannot draw any complex designs.

Her aunt comes into the room as she puts on her bangles. She stands up from her bed, waiting for the woman to give her an order or something to do.

Instead, the woman walks up to her wordlessly and surveys her look.

“You are a beautiful bride, just like your mother was.”

Kiara is shocked by these words and tears threaten to fall at the mention of her dead mother, whose face she barely remembers now.

“Don’t you dare cry!” Aunt Tina screams in that familiar tone that terrorized Kiara on a daily basis. “It is bad luck for a bride to cry on her wedding day!” Aunt Tina picks the red veil from the bed and drapes it over Kiara’s head, completing the ritual.

All that is left, is for her husband-to-be to come and retrieve her from her aunt’s house to where the ceremony would take place. Kiara doesn’t know how long that would take. She heard the soldiers match out before dawn to pursue the Emperor’s Army. Her wedding ceremony is dependent on when they would return with their gains.

Kiara sees that her aunt is thinking the same thing as she looks out the window.  

“That boy of yours has a good head on his shoulder.” Her aunt remarks. “Waiting until the army returns before having the ceremony performed in the city square, it is going to be talked about for months.” She yawns, stretches and leaves the room, muttering, “…a good head on those shoulders of his.”

Kiara knows her aunt is going to reclaim her position on the chaise lounge and drift off to sleep.

Kiara doesn’t know how much time passes before she begins to feel antsy. She is not used to sitting still and doing nothing. She makes up her mind to go out, find Corgan and somehow convince him to conduct the wedding without the others present. She doesn’t want a big celebration for her wedding, she just wants to be married now.

 She feels the need to do something, anything that doesn’t require her to sit still.

She makes her way to the door, before she remembers that it is somewhat a taboo for others to see the face of the bride after the red veil has been donned on. This does not deter her, she rips the veil away and drops it on her bed.  She changes her mind and picks it up, throwing it over her shoulder like a shawl. If she did somehow manage to convince Corgan to have the wedding immediately, she would need it in the temple before the rights would begin.

As she suspects, her aunt is fast asleep in the living room. The streets of Dion are deserted, only children can be seen running around. Did the whole city go in pursuit of the Emperor’s Army?

She hurries down the path to the eastern gate, if anyone asks, she intends to tell them that the veil hasn’t been put on her yet, hence she is not committing any offence.

She looks left and right before ascending the steps of the watchtower to the watch post. She uses the lookout point to observe the area, remembering Corgan’s instructions on how to use the tower.

She looks down at the East gate, where she sees two men standing guard. One of them is Corgan. Kiara breathes a sigh of relief to see that he listened to her and stayed back when everyone else had gone after the Emperor’s army because of loot.

She changes direction to try and locate the pursuit in progress. Kiara frowns at the scene before her and looks again to confirm that what she is seeing is real. In the distance, a great battle is ongoing, she could see bodies tousling like writhing maggots. The scene is too far away to correctly tell which side had the upper hand. If it was a battle between the Army of Dion and the Emperor’s army, then Corgan might not have his dream wedding in the city square by the time it was over.

She turns back to him at the gate and sees something else that puts her heart in her throat. She sees a small band of soldiers led by a man in golden armour riding up to the East gate. Corgan and the other man don’t see them, Kiara realizes that this is because the East gate is located on a steep hill, so they wouldn’t be able to see anything below.

“Corgan! Corgan!” Kiara screams but it is useless, he cannot hear her from this distance. She does the only thing she knows will get his attention. She rings the watchtower bell.

Corgan turns to look at the watchtower but it is too late, the men crest the hill and head full speed on their mounts for the gate. Corgan turns to head into the city but he is struck down from behind by the man in gold armour.

Kiara’s blood runs cold.

The men begin their attack on the gates in an attempt to breach the city. Kiara bolts out of the watchtower, her feet pounding on the cobblestone as she runs into the heart of the city to alert the townspeople. In the city square, the sound of the Watchtower bell draws out the remaining inhabitants of the city.

“What is going on?” Resounds amongst the people.

“They’re coming! They’re coming!” Kiara shouts, waving her arms erratically as she approaches the crowd.

“Who is coming?” People echo the question.

A horse comes up behind Kiara, the rider shoves her out of the way into a stall filled with fruits. Kiara knocks her head against a barrel and slumps. To her, the scene plays out in slow motion but it is much faster in reality.

Any other soldier within the city is slaughtered, anyone who tries to attack is slaughtered, all the inhabitants are rounded up in the city square, anyone who resists is slaughtered, everything is set on fire.

The man in golden armour dismounts from his horse in the city square, he is surrounded by men in armour, all bearing emblems of a dragon. Just like the pin on the man in the hooded cloak. The King of Dion, his family and the entire members of court are dragged out from their holes and paraded before him.

In that moment it dawns on Kiara that this is the Emperor.

The King of Dion prostrates himself, with his face to the ground at the feet of the Emperor. “Have mercy, Oh Great Emperor.”

“It’s Great Emperor now? What was it you told your people about my Army, what did you tell them about me? That I was scared of you and your forefathers?”

Kiara is surprised by the youthful voice emerging from the man in the armour. She watches as he takes his helmet off and from this distance, Kiara is taken aback by his youthful features. He looks to be a few years older than her, certainly too young to be an Emperor.

A soldier grabs Kiara roughly by her arm, drags her to the group of people gathered at the city square and tosses her to the ground.

“Do I look scared now?” The Emperor asks the King. “Do I?”

Kiara can sense the anger emanating from him but his voice does not change from it’s flat tone.

The King shivers on the ground begging for his life, his fat rolls quaking under his robes, he promises to serve the Emperor if his life is spared.

“Take his head off and kill the others.” The Emperor gives the order with an expressionless face.

Panic erupts in the city square but the people soon discover that the Emperor’s soldiers are only interested with the King’s family and the members of court. One of the ministers tries to make a break for it, but he doesn’t get very far. He is struck down by a soldier on a horse. He collapses by Kiara’s feet, his blood pooling between the cracks of the cobblestone.

Kiara does not see the face of the minister as she looks down at the body on the ground, instead, she sees Corgan face down in the dirt at the East gate, bleeding out.

Kiara’s chest becomes heavy as she struggles to breathe, she looks at the man who took the love of her life away from her, the man who took everything that ever mattered in her life standing just a few feet away from her. It sparks something within her.

She bends down and gathers shattered cobblestones in her palms, before anyone can stop her, Kiara rushes towards him, launching the projectiles at him as she screams.

“Murderer! Murderer!”

Of the three projectiles she launches, one misses its intended target. The other lands on his mouth, splitting his upper lip, the last one narrowly misses his left eye, hitting him squarely on his cheek. She pounces on him, fists flying and manages to land a few slaps to his face before she is pulled away by soldiers. She writhes in their grip and when she gets a clear shot, she hurls a glob of saliva which lands on his eye and dribbles down his cheek.

A soldier unsheathes his sword, ready to disembowel her.

“Kill me! Kill me!” Kiara screams, struggling against the men that hold her. “I have nothing to live for!” She wails, the anger turning to sadness.

An armoured hand stops the blade before it can make contact with Kiara’s flesh. The Emperor wipes the spit from his eye, using the cloth offered to him by one of the soldiers and looks at the tiny woman that dared insult him in front of his generals and newly acquired subjects.

Kiara looks into golden eyes filled with rage, she sees the blossoming bruise on the cheek where the stone had struck him.

“Death will be too easy for you. I intend to prolong your suffering for a long time.”

He grabs his scepter from the velvet pillow held by the servant. With a single blow, he strikes Kiara across the face, rendering her unconscious. She dangles in the arms of her captors and the Emperor sees, a tiny gash gushing blood at the side of her head, caused by the blow from is scepter.

“Take her away and lock her up, I will deal with her later.”

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