A/N: AAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!! I feel sooooo bad! I'm so sorry! First I had finals, then I couldn't get my stories off of my laptop, so I was totally stuff * ducks flying objects * I feel very bad!
Lady Rhian-Wow, thank you! It's good to know that I have some loyal fans! Actually… well… Kendi's kinda a druggie, but not as much as * shuts up quickly * hehe… I can't give it away, now can I? Anyway, things will come clear (I hope, since I am still working on it) It's also good to know I have some rabid and semi-violent fans… lol… anywho, there will be plenty about Kendi later, but I need to establish a few other characters. And to apologize, here are a bundle of chapters for your reading pleasure... Keep reviewing everyone!
Lily looked around, wondering where her sisters were. She turned her head and smiled unconsciously to her best friend, Nzara, a young noblewoman from the south of the Carthaki Empire. Her eyes ran over the familiar face, with its kind brown eyes, high cheekbones and earth-colored skin. Lily took a quick note of what Zara was wearing. The long, red dress was loose, but it clung to her curves. She wore flat slippers, as always, to minimize her height, the exact opposite of most court ladies. Zara had gotten her the job she just returned from. Zara had been training as a non-Gifted nurse with the Healers, and she had been assigned to help with the recovering King. She was too busy, but she referred Lily for the job. Lily had helped out with the recumbent King and had won the friendship and guidance of his Lady Queen, Thayet.
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He stared into the mirror, wondering what it was that made her reject him. His face was perfect in every way, or so he thought. Women fawned over him. She had taken him to her bed, then rejected him. He cut a finger, and three red drops fell on white paper, just like her lips and skin. Traitorous lips and perfect, unmarred skin that he longed to bruise. He drank from a clear wineglass, reminding him of the ice of her heart. And his gloves, black the color of her virtue and the dress he had stripped off of her skin. The only one who had ever trapped him. He sat down and began to write a letter to her.
What made you hate me?
Tell, I plead.
Was it my face, my eyes?
Or something much deeper?
Someday, I'll have you,
Kneel, I'll demand.
You will bow to me, perfection.
Never something deeper.
If not me, then no one,
Die, I'll command.
And by my hands, you will,
Into something deeper.
Lily took the envelope and inhaled a lavender scent. Her favorite. She tore it open carefully, and read quickly, then let the paper drop. Lying on the floor was the poem, written in plain black ink on stark white paper, marred by three large drops of blood.
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A/N: Oooooohhhh… cliffy! Kinda… hehe… anyway, next chapter: More about Kendi (I think… ) More about Lily… And Alen comes onto the scene… I think… Anyway, there ya go!