On a cold December morning at dawn, two seemingly unrelated events happened.
Jasper Whitlock decided to leave his past behind and take up the name of Jay Rider, fright of every possessor of wealth.
Poverty had hit his family hard and Jasper had turned to petty crime as an extra means of income. However after several close encounters with the law he decided he couldn't risk his family's safety any longer.
"When I return, be it in a year or a decade, I come back an honourable man."
With those words, fifteen year-old Jasper left his childhood home, sending his parents money or goods as much as he could.

The very same morning a nanny entered the room of the little royal princess only to find an empty crib. It had been four years since her miraculous birth and so far, life had been a bliss for the royal family. The queen had been on the verge of death when a mysterious doctor arrived talking about a rare mythical flower with healing power.
Knights of the realm had searched far and wide. Once, the flower had been quite common. But witches and wizards had stocked up on them and used them to such an extent barely any was left.
But thankfully, they found one. The doctor made a concoction and the mother miraculously became better. A healthy babe was born shortly after.

When the royal couple showed their offspring to the world, the radiating blonde hair of the baby, a stark contrast with the brown haired couple, didn't slip past a witch's notice. The body of the little child had absorbed these magical powers. The idea of an unlimited supply of power without having to go the distance to find flowers proved too alluring to resist. She stole into the castle and kidnapped the child to raise it as her own treasure.

It hadn't been her initial plan to lock the child up. But the more she grew, the more the girl longed for independence. And there were other witches and wizards who noticed the corn blond hair and magically glowing green eyes as well. Yet, she had to get the girl to agree to remain within the containments of four walls without the girl refusing to co-operate in the future. But the old witch was a clever one. When the girl wandered away from her waggon one day, she enchanted the trees to haunt her. Darkness fell over the woods and the girl was frightened just like the animals who ran around her in panic. When she walked away from Dame Gothel in town, the witch made scary things appear and grasp her. It didn't take long before every sound in the forest startled her and every person except the witch made her tremble with fear until one day, she asked if she could be left alone at home.
Yet Gothel wasn't satisfied. If the girl dared to wander outside of the house while the witch was away, she could slowly relearn to trust in the woods and people. So while claiming to be away, she sent minions made out of dark magic to pound on the door and claw at the windows until the girl, crippled with fear, didn't mind to be locked in a tower in the middle of the woods without any doors. High above the world, nothing could touch her.

Poor Jasper deeply mourned his previous life and decision to turn to crime. Originally, he teamed up with the Stabbington brothers. They raided some stagecoaches and stole jewellery from aristocratic county owners. They were rich enough to rent the best rooms in inns and brothels. It was a satisfying life for a little while but they longed for something bigger. Bigger was always better, not only for them but they had families in need of money.
A woman with hair dark as night and ruby lips entered the tavern they were dining in. She approached them with an offer they couldn't refuse so they signed their names. A year in her little army and they'd return as rich as kings.
They were sent to a training camp. They'd been successful thieves and shooting posed no problem. But real fighting and swordplay proved to be something quite different. It took a lot of bruises and scabs to get them in line. But Jasper was determined to climb. If he managed to stand out, who knew what money he'd receive.
The woman, Maria, took notice of the prodigies of the training group. Those wanting to stand out needed the hardest of tests. They had to become soldiers without a will. So Jasper was put in melees with the other promising soldiers. The battles could last up to an entire day and they were only allowed out until only one could still move. The times he fainted from blood loss and suffered inflammations to wounds that weren't cared for, were numerous.
He didn't get time to heal though, come morning he needed to train with the others. His resilience drew the attention of Maria. One night, when the soldiers stood in line having to hold up two heavy swords for an hour straight without moving, she approached him.
'How heavy these must be. Are they not, soldier?'
'Yes ma'am. But nothing I can't take.'
'Even with those wounds.'
'Part of the job ma'am.'
'And what a good job you do. You're already halfway there. But wouldn't you like to make some more money in the meantime?'
'If it pleases you.'
'Hmm. You know, if you wish to go to bed, the only thing you need to do is use that sword and kill the man standing next to you.'
Jasper glanced aside. He didn't know this particular individual but it didn't matter. Did she really want him to kill another one of her soldiers? Was this a test to check if he could follow every command or a test to check if he was too weak to endure this?
'I can endure it.'
'Fine.'

She invited him over for dinner the next day. Maria was an attractive woman with voluptuous curves and a wicked smile. She could whisper death threats and still make them sound alluring. Any plea of hers sounded irresistible to follow.
In the next melee he defeated all the others except one within the hour. Maria draped herself across the wooden fence in which the two fighters were contained. 'You know boys, this has become quite boring. You're only allowed out once you kill the other.'
And God help him, Jasper became so desperate he actually did it. He felt sick to his bone, but he didn't get the chance to process it. Once he did it, she took him to one of the barns. Forty men stood before him. 'These men have become too old and aren't fighting as they should. Kill them, or I kill you. I know you've been sending money to your family love, I know where they live. Do. Not. Disappoint. Me.'
First, he got a gun. Then she grew bored and gave him a sword. He had to get even closer to them to kill them. Some stayed quiet. Some cried. Some pleaded. But it was about his family or them, he chose his family.
Jasper wanted to cry when he went to bed. But he'd killed over forty men. He was hardly innocent. He'd cold bloodedly looked them in the eye and killed them. He'd had to. He wasn't a killer. Not really. He just did what he had to. He was a soldier. Soldiers had to follow orders. It was only that detached state of mind that allowed him to sleep.

The next week he got to train the new soldiers Maria brought in. He was now one of the few in charge and got his very own bedroom. He was glad the things he had done weren't in vain. He wanted to deliver the best soldiers Maria had ever seen. Maybe he was merciless, he didn't care. Being soft and compassionate wouldn't make them better soldiers, crying wouldn't help them on the battlefield.

A month later, she brought Jay to the stable and handed him a knife. 'End their lives, my sweet soldier boy.'
Stab after stab, he felt his humanity seep out of him. Maria brought him to her cabin to reward him for being such a good soldier. After a while, a man called Peter was brought into the camp. He was strong, resilient and encouraging. Doing what he had to and then turning towards his fellow soldiers to help them up. Jasper realised he used to do that as well but somewhere along the way he'd stopped doing it.
He spent time with Peter, working on his potential when one night, after training, he confessed he couldn't wait to get home and wondered if Maria would ever let them go for a holiday or permanently.
'Home?' the concept sounded foreign to him. The constant cycle of warmongering and training seemed never-ending.
'Yes, Juli 1667 we'll be married, my Charlotte and I.'
'That's a long time still.'
'No it's not Jay. It's January.'
'That would mean I've been here for over four years.'
Peter regarded him in an austere silence.

'Sometimes I wonder how long this will keep going on.'
'I've given up hoping. This war will outlast our sanity.'
'She should give you a break. You've been faithful to her for all these years despite the toll it takes on you.'
'There's only one way people leave her ranks and you know it.'
'But you're special. The others don't have your gifts.'
'Gift', Jasper sneered, 'some gift. To feel everything the people I kill do. I'm losing it Peter, I've been for a while.'
Jasper thought about the others he started with. Those who were young were still here, despite being promised to leave after a year. Those who'd reached thirty he'd killed.
'Everyone always chooses to remain to get more money.'
'Do they really?'

In May, on a battlefield of Erlinea, Peter became dangerously injured.
'Jay, I beg of you. My home isn't far, only a day away at most. Please, help me.'
Never had he been closer to deserting. In the end, he only took Peter to the nearest village, gave the people he entrusted him to some money for the inconvenience and hoped for the best.
But Maria had noticed the absence of her right-hand man. He answered her he was just fighting out of sight, but that didn't satisfy her. When she asked about Peter he shrugged it off and told her he'd died. But something was broken inside their bond. She didn't trust him like she used to and Jasper began thinking about Peter, wondering for the first time in years how it would be to go home or quit this lifestyle.
He had plenty of money now, after all.