Chapter Text
Prologue
City Black. Blackrock, Ahigarth, 2091
Peyton Bowman - Age 9
I ran and ran as fast as I could, the stable boy chasing after me. I grinned as I sped away, the apple I had stolen gripped in my hand as I fled. The stable boy had left the bag of apples for the horses outside the stable, letting me grab something to break my fast. Leaving a trail of dust in my wake, I ran through the crowded streets of the town, dodging people and animals. After what felt like an hour, but was probably just a minute or two, I glanced over my shoulder to see no one chasing me any longer. I didn’t stay around to find out, dipping my head under a clothesline and turning a corner, when I suddenly hit something solid. I was knocked backward, the apple rolling out of my loosened grip as the air whooshed out of my lungs. My landing caused dirt and dust to billow around me in a small cloud, making me even dirtier than before.
I looked up, ready to say something smart, but my mouth went dry as I took in one of the King’s Nyte Guard staring down at me, a sour expression on his scarred face as his almost black eyes were expressionless. I scuttled backward on my hands, attempting to put some space between me and the imposing man. The King’s Nyte Guards are supposed to be the most ruthless in the land, not afraid of killing or dying for their King. Their black amour was unique, being made out of the finest metals the land had. The armor also had the House of Nytewick sigil etched and painted onto the chest plate: a white diamond with a black broadsword center pointing down, a pointed shape on each side behind the diamond, the house colors of dark rich red and coal black. They swore in for life when they took the Black Pledge, never to leave the King again unless in death.
“You better watch where you’re going, boy. Next time you’ll meet a blade.” His menacing eyes looking down on me, a cruel smile slowly crossing his face. He would kill me just for fun, that much was clear. I just nodded, keeping my mouth closed, knowing better than to test his patience, especially since I was no boy. He turned away from me, his attention back on whatever it was that he was doing.
I started to get up, staying quiet to avoid attention, when I heard a very pretty voice coming from the direction the guard went. I looked over slowly, keeping my eyes low and that’s when I saw her. She must be one of the King’s daughters, close to my age, maybe eight or nine. She was very pretty, her long blonde hair piled up in the latest fashion, with a light blue flower on the top of her head that sparkled in the sunlight. Her smile was amazing; my stomach filling with some weird sensation as I took in the sight of her. She was talking to someone, not sure who, but was laughing at something. My shoulders slumped a little as I looked down at my dirty clothes, small holes here and there. I was about to leave when something told me to look up again; she had turned and was watching me with an expression I couldn’t read. Her eyes were so green like emeralds, I was in a trance, my own muddy blue eyes meeting hers. She gave me a small smile and dipped her head in a little nod, before continuing on her way with her guards. I didn’t move until she was out of my line of vision, the air finally returning to my chest as she disappeared. I quickly grabbed my apple, which had thankfully been spared, and ran toward my home.
I licked my fingers as I finished the apple, getting ready to walk into my house, but stopped when I heard moaning. I was confused at first, wondering if someone was in pain. It got louder the closer to the front door I got. I put my ear to the door; the moaning got louder, I could tell it was a woman now; now I heard a man groan and I knew it was time to step away. I backed up a little and then ran around to the side of the little shack we called home and peaked into the only window we had. The window was a little dirty, but I could make out enough to see my older brother Dain, half-naked and panting over a woman. He kept grunting and moving his hips, but I couldn’t see exactly what they were doing. I could figure it out though, I wasn’t stupid. I snuck a look at the woman, seeing little peaks of smooth pale skin as she grabbed my brother. I shook my head and walked to the back of the house, sitting down on a fallen tree stump and resting my head in my hands. No way was I going inside now!
Our mother and father were killed last year in a farming accident in town. Someone’s horses had gotten spooked and took off through the center of town. My parents were leaving a shop when it happened; they had walked out at the wrong time, getting run down by the horses and trampled. Their wounds were too much and when they died, it left just Dain and me. My brother was twenty and one I think and Dain told me I was born about nine summers ago. Living with just my brother has been an adjustment. He was a little on the wilder side, sometimes running with a seedy group of young men around town, doing gods know what. On the other side of things, Dain let me dress how I wanted, which meant pants and tunics like the boys. He even chopped my hair short, making me look and pass for a boy, which made my heart sing with joy. Mother always made me dress like a girl, in dresses and bows even with how poor we were. I hated it, though I would wear a dress just to see Mother again right now.
A commotion from the front of the house shook me out of my thoughts; I heard yelling and then a woman scream. I ran from the back of the house to see what was going on and stopped dead in my tracks. A large man had Dain by the hair, dragging him out of the house, my brother attempting to grab the man with one hand and his trousers with the other hand. The man was screaming something, but I couldn’t hear him with the blood rushing in my ears. I turned my eyes back to the front door, where I could see the woman getting up off the ground, trying to grab her dress as she stood to cover her nakedness.
“Let me go!” Dain yelled at the man, trashing to loosen the man's grip.
“I will kill you for sleeping with my whore of a wife!” Oh shit, that wasn’t good. I ran to my brother's side, hitting the man with a stick I had apparently grabbed in my haste to get him to let Dain go.
He let his grip loosen just enough for my brother to get free and scramble to his feet, hands up already to block his face in a fighting stance. My brother's eyes flicked to me for half a second before returning to the man.
“Maybe if you didn’t beat her, she wouldn’t be with me.” My brother spat at the man's feet with a little grin curving his lips, further enraging the man. Dain the fool.
He growled as he charged, “You’re a dead man!” At the last second, my brother slid to the left, narrowly being missed by the bull of a man. But the man was quicker than he had anticipated, the man's large frame already turning toward Dain’s direction as he slammed a large fist into my brother's side. I tried to hit the man again, but this time he saw me coming. He wrenched the stick out of my hands and lifted it to hit me, but Dain was back on his feet. He dove forward, the stick narrowly missing my head as Dain tackled him to the ground.
“How dare you!” Dain was punching the man in the face, blood starting to splash everywhere as the man's face was busted open in several places. I turned to see the woman, finally dressed, running out of her home to try to stop Dain.
Then there were guards running towards us, I scrambled to Dain’s side, grabbing him as hard as I could. “Dain! The guards! We have to run!” I screamed at him, pointing behind us at group guards rushing our way.
Dain cursed under his breath, getting to his feet, the man under him knocked unconscious. He looked around, ran into the house, grabbed a bag of some sort, and then we took off. I ran behind Dain, chanced a glance back at the only home I’ve ever known, not knowing if we would ever return to it again. All the memories came flooding back of momma and poppa, of growing up, the town, and even the princess. All gone now. Dain didn’t say anything as we ran, just the occasional glance back to make sure I’m there.
After a while, we could no longer hear or see the guards behind us. We paused, our chests heaving with gulps of air, listening to the sounds of the forest around us. Dain’s eyes went back up the main path for a moment, just standing still and listening, then he looked at me, putting his finger over his lips in a stay silent gesture, and motioned for me to follow him into the woods. I just nodded, still trying to catch my breath as my heart was racing. We stepped quietly off the main path, moving deeper into the woods, the trees and foliage absorbing us into their space.
I continued to stay quiet, not sure where Dain was leading us. I was scared that my brother was going to get in trouble, but I was also excited to be doing something adventurous. I didn’t know what was going to happen or if we would ever see our childhood home again: I had Dain though, so I knew I was safe enough.
After what seemed like an eternity, Dain finally spoke. “Peyton, do you know what just happened?” I nodded slowly and he continued, “We can’t go back to town anymore. Not after what just happened. I’m sorry.” That answered that question, I thought sadly. He hung his head for a second after that, but then straightened his spine and lifted his head tall, his light blue eyes taking in my muddy blues.
“But we aren’t going to let that stop us from living.” He said with a strong voice, almost like he was also speaking to the world around him, making it known we were going to be okay. I grinned up at him and before I knew it, I had wrapped my small arms around his waist and was hugging him with all the strength I could muster. Dain patted my back and chuckled softly before pulling me away from him, “Let's go find our new home, little one.”
Castle Black. Blackrock, Ahigarth 2091
Leah Nytewick - Age 8
I giggled with Rosie, my very best friend, as we were escorted to the castle through town. Rosie was telling me about something her younger cousin did to embarrass their mother when I heard a sound I didn’t hear often. I looked over to see Rath, my father’s oldest guard, looking down at someone. Seeing as how Rath never speaks, the gruff sound caught my attention. I looked at what he was doing, only to see him speaking to a little girl. Or I think it was a girl, hard to tell through all the dirt.
I couldn’t tell what Rath was saying, but having grown up around the man, it wasn’t anything good. The girl looked up at him, wide-eyed but there was something in those eyes that was strong. She backed away from Rath, not opening her mouth and after a moment, Rath was turning his attention back toward the riding party.
I chuckled with Rosie, a little lost as to what she said exactly, my eyes were still focused on the girl. I watched as she began to get up, dusting herself off as she stood, but then her eyes slowly traveled up, meeting mine. I felt a little flutter of some sort in my chest as our eyes connected.
Her eyes were like the midnight sky, deep blue with secrets, she had messy short hair that was dark as night, some strands falling into her eyes as she stared back at me. I smiled at her and gave her a little nod, before forcing my attention back to Rosie. I couldn’t understand the feeling in my chest after looking at the strange girl.
Later that day, as dusk was settling in, I found myself spacing out as I was supposed to be reading something mother gave me. My thoughts kept going back to the little girl from this afternoon in town. I wonder who she was and what she was doing, not paying attention, running through town like that. She hadn’t been that poorly dressed, wearing decent trousers that had no holes I could see and what was probably a white tunic at one point, but she had been in the dirt, so it was hard to completely tell. It was her eyes that kept dragging my attention back to the memory; the color had been so unique that I didn’t think I had ever seen anyone with that color.
“Leah!” A loud booming voice behind me made me jump in my chair, dropping the book to the floor, landing with a loud thump. I turned around to see my father, the King, standing in my bedroom doorway.
“Yes, father?” I answered meekly; my father has always scared me since before I could even walk. He stepped into the room and looked down at me, his hard brown eyes staring me down.
“Why didn’t you answer me when I first called you?” He demanded, one hand resting on his sword hilt and the other hidden under his cloak.
“I’m sorry father, I didn’t hear you. I swear.” I tried to plead, not wanting to make him madder.
“Better not be lying, girl.” I stayed silent, my head bowed, waiting to see what he wanted. “Make sure you are dressed like a lady bright and early, the Lenord’s will be here to visit with your mother and me. They will be bringing their son, so don’t embarrass me or so help me God, you will regret it. Get your sister before you come down.” He gave me one last glare as he turned and left the room before I would even answer.
Once my bedroom door was closed again, I sank back in my chair and sighed. I was only nine, but my father already expected me to start putting myself out there for future marriage proposals from neighboring allies. I didn’t want to marry some neighbor boy, I didn’t want to move into some strange castle. I just wanted to stay here, but not being a boy means my father has no use for me around here. He hated that his firstborn was a girl. To be honest, I think my father hated all women. He was a nasty man, but apparently, he was a good king, for our town was prosperous and brought in many travelers. I sighed again, picking up the forgotten book and placing it on the table in the corner of my room, and moving to climb into my bed. I blew out the candle next to me, pitching the bedroom into darkness as I settled in, pulling the wool covers up high. I closed my eyes and the last thing I saw before slumber took me was midnight blue eyes and dark hair.