Zia woke early and already she knew it was going to be a bad day. One of her hand maidens was busy opening the shutters, she tutted as she looked out the window ' they've started already', she turned to Zia 'I'll ready your bath' with that she walked away to the bathroom. Zia was wrinkled her nose at the retreating figure, something was off with this girl, what was her name again? Lea, Lina...
Zia shrugged and rose out of bed, she stretched as she walked to the window, hearing the bath water running she looked out the window, and could just about see beyond the palace walls and saw a cloud of smoke floating skywards. 'They're getting closer' she thought to herself, she wondered if her father would keep his threat to send her away. She worried her lips between her teeth, she didn't want to go. She wanted to stay and put an end to the war that was destroying her beautiful world. She wanted to reach out to the rebels, meet with the leader and come to some type of a peace treaty that would put a stop to the war and end all the senseless killings of innocent beings.
There were whispers amongst her hand maidens the lead rebel was Nathaniel, one of her father's former generals. That he'd been banished to the wondering lands for being a traitor.
She remembered Nathaniel, a tall striking man with a strange white hair and intense green eyes. She recalled the many times he'd been to the palace for dinner or for a meeting with her father, the times when he had caught her eye. He's stare was so intense, like he could see all the way through to her soul. She felt so uncomfortable that she had no choice but to look away, fearing he could read her mind and see that she wanted to escape from her sheltered life. She also remembered the times when he didn't think she could see the looks of disgust that he sent her way.
Sighing Zia closed her eyes 'he probably thought I was a pampered princess who didn't care about small things like the kingdom and how to care for its people'.
In the background Zia heard the click of the door, but thought nothing of it. Her nose twitched, picking up an unfamiliar smell. She tried to turn, wanting to investigate the strange smell, but came to a solid wall that refused to let her turn. She tried to struggle and was about to scream when something was placed over her nose and mouth. The strange smell. She tried not to breath, still struggling to be released the fumes finally took hold of her and then her world went dark.
