"You look so disheveled, don't you have any shame?"
After the funeral, I decided to do some light thinking at the rose garden. With my grandmother's death I knew that I needed to start acting now before it was too late. Because the next funeral would surely be my own. If you call burning at the stake a funeral that is. I'm currently twenty one years old, which meant that in three years the events leading to my death would start taking place.
"Hey are you listening?!" a snarky tone snapped me back to reality.
I looked over at my cousin Lexy who stood there with her hands on her hips and a narcissistic look on her face. She wore similar black clothes, however of much better quality. My grandmother had three children; my father, my aunt, and my uncle who was also the current duke. Her husband had passed early on in life, leaving her to raise her children while running a duchy on her own. When she brought me into the house she handed over her title to my uncle. My uncle was very indifferent to my existence, however his wife, Juliette, and "mini me" daughter, Lexy, sure made it their purpose to put me down every chance they got. I'm not sure why they had such animosity towards me, but the feeling was definitely mutual. I just couldn't act on my feelings as I didn't want to cause trouble for my grandmother who had already done so much for me. My uncle also had a son, the next heir, Collin. We didn't interact much with each other, but he was one of the few to ever be kind to me.
"I'm sorry Laemise, I'm sorry."
I could still remember his continuous apologies on the day he visited me in my prison cell shortly before my execution.
"Are you just going to stay silent, did you suddenly go mute?" she snickered.
"How is it you want me to respond?" I finally entertained her.
She took a ridiculous pose and stuck the tip of her nose into the air.
"Do us a favor and just leave, you don't have anything left here anyways. All you are is empty space."
Trust me, if it were that easy I would have left long ago.
"Here's an idea, why don't you join brother and go to war, that way you can die without having been completely useless. You are definitely unruly enough to pass as a solider." she chuckled to herself.
I wasn't going to respond, but her words sparked a thought in me.
The empire of Aventine is split into six different domains. Each domain is home to a class of magical beings.
In the north, my residence, Serenitatem kingdom of paladins, Terra kingdom of druids, and Chaos kingdom of rouges. Then in the south Amare kingdom of bards, Ferus kingdom of beasts, and Divitiae kingdom of alchemists. All these kingdoms are in alliance under the temple Castimonia, holy city of clerics.
Or as I know them, the ones who spelled my death. The temple's purpose is to "prosper in peace and extinguish all evil". Dragons, demons, devils, vampires, and witches have all gone extinct due to this claim, enacting centuries long conflicts. That was at least what they thought.
At this time there is a civil war going on between the northern nations. King Alpheus of Terra has breached the treaty of peace and is looking to monopolize the northern regions. Serenitatem was the first on his conquest, and later Chaos would join in on the battle. This will ultimately end in King Alpheus's demise, but not without taking many lives with him. We are currently one year in of a four year war.
The temple does not interfere when it comes to political affairs, which means this would be the perfect opportunity for me to move freely and gather information.
"Do you know where I can find the duke?" I asked.
"What do you want with daddy?" Lexy retorted.
"I am going to go fulfill your request." I replied blankly.
She looked taken aback by my response. She opened her mouth then closed it shut again, trying to figure out how to respond.
"G-Good! Since you are being obedient I guess I can tell you." She flipped back her light brown hair.
She looked very uncomfortable but continued.
"He is in his office as usual."
I nodded and started for that direction.
"Aren't you going to thank me you ungrateful wench!" she shouted from behind.
I stopped and looked back straight into her blue eyes.
"Thank you." I gave her a fake smile.
Her expression was quite amusing. I turned back around and continued walking.
"She must be insane!" I heard her scoff.
Funny enough, I feel the most sane than I have ever been.