Chapter 1
**Disclaimer: I do not own Tamora's characters, but I own Leila, her father, etc. I am not trying to infringe on anyone's rights, I am simply enjoying myself by writing stories.**
Leila continued riding on the dusty road that led to Tortall, the country that would have to be her new home. Her waist-length black hair was pulled back, and she kept her cat-like green eyes on the road. She tried to stop the memories, but they ignored her mind's protests.
One week before...
"What do you mean, no?" Leila's father roared, veins popping out of his forehead.
"I mean no, father. I will not give up archery. It's the one thing I love the most,
besides you," Leila said calmly, though she was quivering inside. Her father's face
seemed to soften a little after hearing that. But it quickly hardened again.
"You're sure about that choice, Leila?" he asked coldly.
Knowing that something awful was about to happen, Leila nodded, bracing herself.
"Then out," her father said, turning his head away and pointing to the door. "You are dead to me. I've disowned you. Pack your things and leave."
Leila's eyes widened and filled with tears, but she nodded and ran to her room, trying to keep her face expressionless.
As she was packing, it occurred to her that, when she left, her father would be alone.
Her mother had died in a plague six years ago, when Leila was nine, and they were not nobles, so there were no servants at all. Her father was not young either, having been in his forties when Leila was born.
"Why should I even care? He disowned me. It would serve him right to die all alone," she said to herself in a momentary burst of evil. Then she realized what she had just said and gasped. "I guess Robin was right! Everyone has a little evil in them," she continued talking to herself, referring to her best friend. "I must go say goodbye to him after I leave."
After she had finished packing, she left the house without saying goodbye to her father, and mounted her white horse, Stormwind. She patted his ear and whispered into his ear, "Let's go, boy."