Note from author: Nadrina is two years younger than Van and Hitomi (they're 18). Folken is much older than Van. When he was fourteen he left his home to get a heart stone and was thought for dead and at the age of sixteen had a daughter. Please don't get after me about the age thing. This follows the anime and not the movie, except I changed a few things.

Chapter 1

The night was warm and the sky was clear. Hardly a soul was on the street. Throughout the town marched the soldiers of the Black Dragon Empire in the uniforms of black. The bright, nearly full, moon hanging above the sleeping world. In the shadows creep the things that wish to be unknown.
Hurrying down the nearly empty street, in a plain gray dress with a black shawl is a woman in her early forties. Her raven black hair was touched with strands of gray. With each step she took, she quickly looked at her surrounding and kept running. As a group of Black Dragon soldiers turned the corner, the woman dove into a nearby alleyway. Hiding herself in the shadows, she hears a heavy rustling.
"My, my," said a deep voice. "How long it has been."
"Who's there?" asked the woman.
"Don't you recognize my voice?" asked the deep voice.
"Folken," said the woman. "What are you doing here?"
"You know why I'm here," said Folken.
"I'm sorry, sir, but I don't," said the woman.
"Where is she?" asked Folken as he stood in the shadows. "Where is my daughter?"
Lord Folken was a tall thin man with spiked light blue hair. His black eyes looked almost evil in the night. On his cheek below his right eye, was a dark purple teardrop. In each ear was a gold earring.
"Lord Folken," said the woman with raven black hair. "What are you talking about? Your daughter?"
"You know what I'm talking about, Nadres," Folken said, stepping into the light of the almost full moon. "Now where is she?"
"I won't let you take her," Nadres protested. "Nadrina is my daughter, not yours. She will never be yours."
"Would you kill your own child to protect her from her destiny?" Folken asked with a sly smile. "As we speak, my men are marching towards your home to protect her from the cold grip of death that you have sent upon her."
"Call them off now," demanded Nadres.
"Give me my daughter and I will," said Folken. "What will it be? Time is ticking so you should think quickly."
Nadres looked deeply into Folken's dark blue eyes. She sighed heavily, knowing that she had lost the battle for her daughter. Tears welled in the back of her eyes as she said, "You win. Please follow me."
Through the night-covered streets, Nadres led Folken to his daughter. They turned one last corner and before them was a tall three-story building with balconies at each window. At the entrance of the house were six guards dressed in black armor. As Folken and Nadres approached the six guards parted to allow them to pass. Once inside the house, they found several more guards: one at each window.
"Lord Folken," said one guard with a low bow.
"Where is she?" Folken asked the guard.
"Upstairs sleeping, sir," said the guard. "No harm came to her. There was no rebellion from the other men in the house."
"Other men?" questioned Folken, looking at the woman beside him. "Explain."
"My husband and his younger brother," she said. "They are harmless."
"Go wake her up, Nadres," he ordered. "We must leave soon."
"Mother," called a sweet voice from upstairs.
"That won't be necessary," Nadres said. "Nadrina, please come down here."
Moments later, a young girl of sixteen appeared in the doorway to her bedroom. Her hair was waist long and black as a raven with streaks of light blue running through it. But her eyes were black as night. She was dressed in a pale violet nightgown that brushed the floor. As she descended down the stairs, the guards cleared a path to her mother and Folken. Once her feet touched the main floor, she ran to her mother's arms.
"Why are their guards in our house," Nadrina asked quickly.
"For your protection, miss," said the guard, who spoke with Folken earlier.
"My protection? From whom or what?" Nadrina asked. "Someone please tell me."
"From me," said Nadres, looking away from her daughter. "They're protecting you from me."
"What? Why do I need to be protected from my own mother?" demanded Nadrina. "Tell me now."
"Because I would rather see you dead than at your father's side," yelled Nadres. "There I said it."
"But you told me that father was dead. That he had died because of the Black Dragon Empire," Nadrina said in a low voice. "You're telling me that was all a lie? That my father never died and he is still alive. Is that what your saying? Tell me the truth."
"Your father never died because of the Empire," Nadres said, turning her back to her daughter. "Although, sometimes I wish he had. In fact, he's very much alive and is in this very room. Your father is Lord Folken."
Nadrina looked at her mother and then at Folken. "You must be Lord Folken then," she said, her voice cracking. "My father."
"Yes," Folken said. "You've grown into a beautiful young woman since the last time I saw you."
"When was the last time you saw me?" asked Nadrina.
"The night your mother left to hide you from me," Folken said. "Nadres, why don't you tell her about that night."
Nadres said nothing as she continued to look out the window at the night-covered town.
"Tell her," Folken said in a monotone voice.
Nadres sighed. "You were only three years old," she said. "We were living in a country home with Folken. I never loved your father, so you know, and I had my reasons for being there. Anyway, I lost sight of my reasons and got too involved with him. Then you happened.
"After five years of living with a man from the Empire my life seemed to be perfect. But that all changed one night as I was putting you to bed. A man dressed in black was waiting in the shadows. I had just lain you down when he showed himself. He told me to finish my mission or else I would be replaced," she continued. "I had to do something. Even if it meant hurting you. So that night after Folken had checked up on you, I took you and ran. After two years of killing the assassins that came after me, we were allowed to live in peace. But the fear of your father finding us was always in my mind. So there's the story and now you know the truth."
"And now you'd kill your own daughter to prevent her from getting to know her own father," yelled Nadrina with clenched fists. "I hate you! I hate you more than ever before!"
As tears streamed down her cheeks, Nadrina turned on her heals and ran back up the stairs into her bedroom. Once the door slammed shut, Nadres, too, began to cry. Her tears were not from the words that burned at her heart, but for the simple fact that she had just lost her daughter and only child. Quickly, she turned on her heals and left the house still with tears flowing.
As the door closed, Folken turned towards the guard whom he had spoken with earlier. "I want your men to watch her," he instructed. "If she starts acting strange, take care of her."
"Yes, sir," he said going outside.
"I want all of you to stand guard outside," said Folken, as he walked up the stairs.
The several soldiers inside the house quickly left and took their placed outside. As Folken stepped onto the landing, Nadrina's door slowly opened. The young woman gazed into her father's dark blue eyes as he stepped closer. Her rosy cheeks were tear stained and her eyes were red from all her crying. She hid behind her door and allowed Folken to enter her barely lit room.
Folken looked around the room. There were only four pieces of furniture in the medium sized room. A bed was against the same wall as the door, a small dresser stood beside the window along with a single chair, and a trunk was at the foot of the bed. He frowned as he looked out the window over the sleeping town.
"Would you like a better life?" asked Folken, looking over his shoulder at her.
"A better life?" said Nadrina puzzled.
"As my daughter, you deserve a better life," Folken said turning around. "A life where you can become a powerful person in the world."
"A better life where I don't have to worry about mother trying to kill me?" asked Nadrina. "Could I really have that?"
"Only if you come with me," said Folken. "I can give you better gowns then what you have, that can help you get higher in the world."
"Really," said Nadrina. "Will I be with you?"
"Yes, of course," said Folken, "but sometimes we will be apart when I'm called away and after a while I will require you to run messages and be places for me."
"Of course, father," said Nadrina. "It is okay for me to call you father, yes?"
"Yes, only when we are alone and when you believe our relationship could be used to make things run faster and smoother," he said, walking towards the door. "I would like to be on the road within the hour."
"Yes, father," she said as Folken disappeared around the corner.