Chapter One

It was damp and dark inside the small cottage and Liyana had to pause briefly while her eyes adjusted to the dim light cast by the only dwindling candle sat upon the small kitchen table. There was a bed in the far corner next to the hearth where a meagre fire desperately clung to life as did the beds occupant. Liyana cast a wary glance behind her at the older woman and the other three small children clinging to their mother’s rag of an apron.

"How long has she been like this Martha?" She asked, feeling the child's clammy forehead.

"A few days M'lady" Martha replied miserably. She dislodged the small children clinging to her and sat on the end of her daughter's bed clasping at the frail hands of her child. Liyana bit her bottom lip. She knew things were dire amongst the villagers. Half of the children looked starved, and the rest were in their sick beds or already in the ground, buried some time ago. There were no elderly people to be seen either. Things had gotten so much worse since she had last been here and it wasn’t even winter yet. She turned back to look at Martha sadly.

"You should have sent word to the castle for Godwin Martha, Elise is very sick.”

The woman clutched desperately at her arm.

"I tried! just a few days ago, but I was sent away! The guards told me without any coin, the healer would not see my girl.”

Liyana squeezed the woman's hand sadly. She knew all too well how the people of the central realm were treated by their ruling King. Only the rich and entitled were given access to the court’s physician these days. Godwin was an elderly man now himself and one of the last great healers left in their lands. There were very few people left who knew the old healing ways and which herbs to be used to treat a serious illness or disease in Avardi and with the arrival of a devastating pestilence last spring the King, fearing his own life and that of his court had locked Godwin down within the castle grounds leaving those less fortunate to fend for themselves. It was a horrid infection which had torn through Avardi’s small population within a few short months. A raging fever followed by loss of appetite and awful stomach cramps which lasted for weeks. Without the proper herbs and care, the disease had spread among the poor and hungry without pause, taking the young and old without remorse and now with autumn well under way and winter soon to take its place within a few weeks Liyana dreaded to think about how many more lives would be lost.

"This is all I could take without being seen..." She told Martha, lifting the small sack of herbs she had managed to steal when the physicians back had been turned.

What Godwin didn’t know couldn’t get him into trouble if the theft was ever discovered she reasoned. He was a good man and had taught her much about healing and the herbs he used. He did not deserve the King’s ire because of what she had done. Martha took the sack in one hand and gave Liyana's hand a grateful squeeze.

“You can make a tea from them to help bring down her fever. There should be enough for a few days at least. Only give her a few sips every hour or so” she told Martha.

"Boys, go and fetch some water from the stream." Her three boys hurried away as bid, and she tipped the contents of dried herbs onto the table. "Bless you milady!” Martha’s voice broke on a sob as the boys disappeared outside.

“Please Martha, I’ve told you before, call me Liyana. You have known me all my life.” Liyana told the woman with a reproachful smile.

Despite all her efforts over the years, Martha still insisted on calling her by her title. Had done so in fact ever since she was a small child which was ridiculous as Martha had been the only person in the world aside from her father who had welcomed her into their lives. She had been like the mother she had never known.

She sat on the tiny cot beside the young girl, taking one of her tiny hands in her own.

"I only wish I could do more.” she said, glancing back to watch Martha turn out the sack to find the meagre supplies she had managed to sneak out along with the two carrots, a hunk of fresh bread, six potatoes and a turnip she had scrounged from the cook’s pantry.

Martha caught her lip between her teeth as she picked up the stolen vegetables.

“You shouldn’t have taken so much, what if it is missed? You risk the King’s wrath if he discovers this” Martha cautioned anxiously, thrusting the few vegetables back into the sack to concentrate on the smaller bag of herbs that the sack had also held.

Liyana knew this but she could not leave Martha and her children to starve. She may be the King’s nephew’s only child and future heir to Avardi one day but that did not afford Liyana any real protection when her father was absent from court. Her King had always despised her for some unknown reason to her and now, as she turned twenty-six years of age, she still had no idea what he found so offensive about her. Over the years he had shown no kindness and barely concealed contempt even in her father’s presence. She was certain, had it not been for her father, he would have gladly disowned her and turned her out on her ear. She had no doubt in her own mind what her fate could become should anything befall her beloved father. It was as if the King found her mere presence an irritation.

“Not while my father is alive and at court thankfully.” she muttered guiltily. Her father would be so angry if he found out that she had disobeyed him again to visit the outer village where Martha and her children lived. She didn’t want to make him angry. She loved her father dearly and hated the look of disappointment that she saw in his eyes every time she went against his word. But some things were just more important she reasoned turning back to the sick little girl.

Martha reached across and touched her cheek with one hand. "’Tis not right how you are treated so up there. If it wasn’t for your father’s love…” Martha stopped mid-sentence before shaking her head and wiping at her eyes. Then she gave Liyana a tired smile and a curt nod. “We know you do all you can child, you have been a godsend to us these past few months. We would surely have starved without the extra food you bring."

Sneaking anything out of the castle these days was extremely difficult since she had been discovered helping the villagers last autumn by smuggling them extra rations. She had bribed a field hand from her own pocket to divert some of the crops from going straight to the grain stores and to him turning a blind eye when several of the villager’s men helped themselves to the wayward wagon. When the King had found out what she had been up to he had almost burst a blood vessel. Only her father’s protection had saved her from a beating or worse. For his part, her father was angry that she had riled the King and put herself in his line of fire and had assigned two guards to watch her every move for an entire month until he relented and gave her freedom back. Worse still, on discovering the field hands involvement the King had taken a hand in payment for the theft. Liyana had been horrified at the punishment and vowed never to involve another in her schemes again. The risks were too high. These days the only way she could sneak out of Avardi's walls without an official escort was to fabricate a need for collecting herbs for the court’s elderly physician Godwin. He was so old now that his bones ached and long rides were torture for him and so he willingly gave her the task, and her father had relented and gave her leave to go. Even so, she was not to venture this far from Avardi or this close to the southern border of their realm. Especially without a guard as escort.

Thoughts of her promise to him made her flinch involuntarily. He would be so disappointed if he knew she had disobeyed him again. Unlike her feelings towards her King, she loved her father dearly and felt immense guilt for the betrayal. But in the spring several months prior, Martha had been dismissed suddenly and unfairly from the castle following her husband’s untimely death and forced to find a place in one of the furthest villages to the south. Liyana had been heartbroken. After Martha left, the castle had felt colder and far too quiet without her small children tearing through the kitchen and corridors. Liyana had missed them all so much.

She sighed heavily, waving off Martha’s concern for her. Of course, she understood her father's concerns. They were not invalid. The outermost villages of the central realm were not a safe place these days. She knew that the Craigñe war bands raided the most remote, less defended villages; her King turned a blind eye to their pillaging. Another point of conflict between herself and her father.

In the beginning, some villagers stumbled onto the castle grounds begging for sanctuary and recompense from their King and her father, the head of the Avardi army. But her father had obeyed his uncle and turned them away empty handed and without any hope of aid for future attacks. They were not permitted inside the Castle walls again after that. When Liyana had begged her father for his intervention, he had dragged her from the great hall and locked her in her room until she had calmed down. By the time he let her out there was nothing she could do to help her people.

He had explained his reasons a thousand times over the years “It was all for the good of Avardi and its people in the long run.” He told her they could not risk the flimsy alliance that existed between the fierce Craigñe people and the central realm. They were a small country and at great risk of a war breaking out. One which he reminded her often he was afraid they would lose. They did not have a large military presence here in the central realm. The wealth came from the rich fertile lands they farmed and the vast forest which surrounded their small town. Trade with the other realms kept the coffers lined. She knew her father was always pushing his uncle for funds to raise a greater fighting force and better defences for the town and castle but the King always found other things to spend his gold on and it wasn’t his people's comfort and longevity that was for certain.

Her King, Josef Adalbert of Avardi, had formed an alliance with the Southern realm and the Craigñe who ruled there some twenty years ago shortly after he took the throne following the death of his brother during the Great War. In doing so, he betrayed and sacrificed the poorest of his people for the sake of maintaining the rest of the Kingdom and his own wealth. So long as no raids came close to the wealthier parts of his kingdom or Avardi’s main town where the wealthy and high born lived or his precious Castle he did nothing. The Craigñe were left to their own devices, and any small looting parties were overlooked. It had always been that way as far as she could recall, but now Martha and her family were at risk from that alliance, and it had become painfully real and cruel to Liyana. On her first visit to the small village, she had observed how the poorest of her own people tried to survive with the constant raids on their meagre supplies. Homes and buildings were often destroyed in the raids and livestock killed or taken without compensation. This led to starvation in some cases and the terrified villagers clung to a desperate existence during the winter months. Seeing Martha and her small children on the brink of starvation had broken her heart all over again and she had vowed she would do everything in her power to aid them.

A hand touched her shoulder lightly bringing her out of her reverie and she turned to see it was Talen, the young stable lad. She noted his anxious face. She had only known him a year but loved the little boy fiercely as she would a younger brother. The filthy skinny little urchin had turned up in the dead of night, soaked to the skin and wearing not much more than rags. He was covered in bruises and limped. Barely six years old by Liyana’s guess. She had found him huddled in the straw bedding within her mare’s stall one morning and begged the stable master to keep quiet and allow him to sleep there in exchange for helping to muck out the stalls as an extra pair of hands until he was old enough to fend for himself. The little boy had been terrified and wary at first, but soon he had become her shadow and appeared whenever she left the castle like a lovesick pup following its master everywhere. The first time she had sent him back to the castle, telling him that he had chores to do and he had slumped his tiny shoulders and watched her ride away obediently only to appear sometime later hiding behind a tree or a rock while she dismounted and went about her task of gathering herbs and flowers. His quiet presence had become a constant for several weeks until she gave in and allowed him to ride with her. Soon she had taught the little boy to ride on his own. He adored the horses and they seemed to take to him instantly. He took to riding like a duck to water and soon he was her devoted companion on her foraging trips. Of which there were as many as Liyana could manage these days without getting caught. She hated to be cooped up inside the castle and spent most of her days outside riding and avoiding the King’s ire. It wasn’t long before the little boy began trailing her into the castle and settled himself outside her rooms at night and slept there till she reappeared in the morning. Startled at first, she almost trod on him the first morning she found him. She tried to scold him and send him back to the stables worried if he was seen he would be punished but his little face had looked so forlorn that she had given in and made him a small bed on the plush chaise lounge in her chambers. At first his attendance at her skirts drew looks from the household staff and her father but eventually even they had turned a blind eye to the little stray she had adopted and soon even her father had relented and accepted Talen as part of the household. That had been six months ago now.

"Why don't you go and check on the horses for me Talen. I shan’t stay long.” she told him, giving him a reassuring smile. Talen gave a silent nod and hurried out of the cottage. He was such a quiet and stoic little boy. She often wondered what horrors he had already witnessed in his short years, but he never told her of his life prior to coming to Avardi and she had stopped asking as it seemed to cause him obvious pain.

“At least that little one has put some meat on his bones since last I saw him. Has he said anymore about where he came from?” Martha asked over one shoulder as she bustled about in the kitchen area of the tiny cottage. Liyana smiled at the woman but shook her head solemnly. Talen had only told her one bit of useful information and that was that his mother was recently dead and when she had pushed about a father he had closed faster than a limpet on a rock at high tide. She had guessed that maybe his father had been the one to put the bruises all over his tiny body and who he had run away from. She guessed he would tell her some day when he was older and able to express himself more. For now, it was enough that he finally felt safe and wanted. Martha had loved him at first sight too, being a natural mother figure and he had often played with her children before she had been cast out.

Talen had not been gone long, and the other children had not yet returned from the nearby stream with the water when a loud scream just outside suddenly made Martha drop the bowl in her hands. Liyana rose and moved to the only window in the small cottage and looked out to see what had caused the commotion. Her eyes bulged at what she saw. One of the outer cottages in the village was a flame. People were running with buckets and yelling at each other. Liyana scanned the crowd for Talen or the children but couldn’t find them. Two more huts burst into flame simultaneously at the far end of the village and she heard Martha gasp as she appeared behind her.

"The village is on fire!" she cried.

Liyana yanked open the door ready to find her own bucket and help put out the flames before they spread but she stopped dead in her tracks when she saw the black clad figures pouring into the village from all sides. At first the villagers did not notice the strangers in their panic to put out the fires, but then those figures pulled weapons from their long cloaks and Liyana watched in horror as one of them cut down the nearest villager without warning. The elderly man folded in a spray of blood. A woman screamed and then another and in the blink of an eye panic spread throughout the crowd as realisation dawned and the strangers began cutting anyone down in their path. People started running in terror as more cottages burst into flame, and its occupants fell out into the village square to escape the fires consuming their homes and straight into the newcomer’s blades.

"It's the Craigñe!” Martha shouted behind her “By the gods, they are killing everyone”. Martha sank back inside the small hut pulling Liyana with her. “Close the door, Liyana!”