The sun was set high in the sky, scorching down on the lands of Alcheria, the Land of magic.
A mysterious kingdom where magic thrives. Its landscapes are surreal—glowing forests, floating rivers, and arcane storms.
The land of Alcheria was popular for it's Magic, alchemy, and mysterious artifacts . The land was protected by mages instead of soldiers and they were the best of the best.
Several huge carriages, ran along the pathways with several soldiers riding horses, escorting them.
Inside these carriages, were the slaves sitting around hopelessly. Many were in bad shape already and some were just nauseous from the rough way the carriage was riding.
it jerked them this way and that way, some hitting each other and the unfortunate ones hitting their body against hard parts of the carriage.
but nobody dared to make a sound in pain or, cry as they knew the whip would descend on them without mercy.
Amongst them was Ravenna, clearly unbothered she just grabbed a hard metal rail of the carriage and held unto it so she wouldn't be flunged about.
" Halt " A loud Masculine voice boomed from outside, and everyone released their breaths in relief.
Finally they would be stopping to eat and rest.
And just as they anticipated, they were given food and allowed to rest, it didn't mean some still weren't whipped.
These men where vile and vicious, they only held back because they had to deliver them in good condition, if not....
" Hey you " A guard suddenly called out to
Ravenna, and she looked up in surprise. The young man was acting like a theif, glancing behind him every now and then.
" Have this " he stylishly handed out another bread to her, it wasn't until he did this that Ravenna understood why he was being so sneaky.
The reason however as to why he was suddenly being nice to her was unknown, making Ravenna cautious. Trusting a random guard was out of the question.
The guard saw that she was reluctant in accepting it, then he just grabbed her hand and shoved the bread into it.
" You are indeed as stubborn as she said, " He shook his head.
" This isn't from me, relax. Your friend sent me here " with that said, he quickly sneaked away without looking back to see her reaction.
As expected of Maurice, looking out for a total stranger she met not quite long ago. Ravenna sighed suddenly worried for the impulsive girl , at this rate she might get into trouble real quick.
She glanced around only to realize everyone was staring at her, More like the bread in her hands.
So much for laying low, Ravenna thought to herself. Everyone had just witnessed her being treated specially by receiving a full peice of extra bread, after the soldiers had mercilessly shared just half peice of bread to everyone.
She let out a sheepish grin to put their jealous eyes at ease, this was so out of her character as Ravenna rarely smiled.
She had nothing to smile about, the past eight years had been tough for her, but here she was today doing it to save her life.
She broke the bread into two and gave to the sick children close to where she sat.
" Here you'll need it more than anyone else " offering the smile of a saint, and just like that everyone was pleased. Their hostile stares had reduced.
Ravenna internally sighed in relief, things could have gone awry, if she hadn't done that.
She could become enemies with everyone and she didn't want that.
Ravenna wasn't a nice person, never was. She only cared about her mother and her younger sister.
The rest could go die she didn't care, that small act of kindness was to give the impression that she was indeed nice, but it was also for selfish reasons.
Who wanted to be enemies with everyone ?
Certainly not her, surviving came first and to do that she has to get along with everyone.
The guard who had been watching her from afar just shook his head in disappointment.
' how naive of her ' he thought to himself. if only he knew how manipulative that one move she made was.
He was just worried for her, the girl already stood out from the rest, just with her beauty alone. He was sure she would be bullied to death by her peers.
If Ravenna could hear his thoughts right now, she would probably cough out blood in shock.
' bullied to death?? ' although our girl is injured, she could still take on many of them without breaking a sweat. She was a member of the legendary theives, the only bandits that could shake the entire empire all at once.
Taking them on was a peice of cake, but laying low was important. She was a logical thinker, applying the best solution to problems and staying calm and collected every single time was her specialty.
Acting on impulse was never in her dictionary.
Ravenna saw the soldiers approaching and immediately everyone got back to their feet to enter the carriage without being told, everyone was seriously avoiding the whip.
Who wanted to die???....
After few hours of another hellish ride, the carriage slowed down.
It seemed they had finally reached the palace, as even the air around them changed.
It took a while for the carriage to come to a full stop , the doors were opened and everyone was ushered out with the whip threatening to descend on them.
Ravenna who was already falling asleep felt somebody kick her. She jolted awake and quickly joined the crowd before the soldiers noticed her slacking.
She wanted to thank whoever it was but nobody looked her way or bothered about her.
It was rare for Ravenna to fall asleep like that, she was a very guarded person, but now she was just a girl dealing with injuries.
They should have been tended to already but who in this place cared about a slave, she would do it herself, when she finds time.
As the unattended wounds had caused her to develop a fever, she was just feeling whoozy at the moment.
Wanting to throw up and at the same time so badly sleep.
Poor girl had suffered too much.
Her drowsy eyes took in the palace environment and it was indeed beautiful, not wanting to dwell on scenery for now she she focused ahead, not realizing she was already swaying.
" His royal Highness is here " A loud voice introduced, for everyone to hear.
" Bow to the crown prince of Alcheria ! " The voice commanded and everyone including the guards themselves began paying their respect.
There was a balcony, high up in front of where everyone stood. That was where the crown prince stood with his right hand man accessing and discerning everything with those sharp eyes of his.
He watched everyone getting down to pay their respect, all except one.
She just stood there displaying blatant disrespect, with so much courage.
The guards Wondering what was going on decided to look back, only to see a woman standing straight, as though the prince meant nothing.
They almost did a double take in shock
" This wretched lowlife, trying to put us all in trouble " The lead soldier gripped his whip already standing back up to go deal with the girl...