Author: Tevrah
Email: writergirl852@yahoo.com
A/N: Okay, it's Friday, I feel pretty good, and so I decided not to wait until tomorrow to upload this chapter! Isn't that great? Thanks to everyone who reviewed and who is reading this!!!! I've been getting a really good response from the Prologue!! Oh, and Chapter Two is already written, so no worries there!
And I haven't forgotten any of my other fics; it's just that writing takes time, patience, and the want-to. Don't worry though, I'm not as old as to forget my babies!
Now enjoy!
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Chapter One: Twelve Years Later
Hitomi jerked up in bed, panting and sweating. She put her hand against her forehead and blinked furiously. When her vision cleared she threw the covers back and parted the white silk net that hung from the ceiling and draped over her bed in a soft cocoon. She stood up and reached for her housecoat. Putting it on, she walked to her balcony and opened the doors. The sun was an hour from rising, and she could already hear the slaves working in the mines in the village. She walked back into her room to her fireplace and added another log. She watched the fire burn the log, remembering every detail of her dream.
"Why am I having this dream again?" she asked herself in a whisper. "Why do my memories keep haunting me?"
For the past two weeks she had been having the same memory visit her as a dream. Every detail was sketched in her mind. The thing that stood out most clearly was her mother's screams. They still echoed in her ears.
Hitomi sighed and walked to her mirror. It was oval with a silver frame around it. She had requested it to be made when she was thirteen. She stared at her reflection. Her hair reached her waist, and her curves were fully developed. She reached up and ran her fingertips down the mirror's smooth and glassy surface.
The mirror changed from showing her own reflection to that of a woman with brown hair and bright emerald green eyes. She had a smile on her lips.
"Mother," Hitomi whispered painfully. A knock sounded on her door. She quickly touched the mirror with her knuckles, making the image disappear. "Come," she ordered.
The door opened and a human woman walked in. All of the servants in the castle were humans. No 'otherlings' were allowed near it. The woman was older than Hitomi's sixteen cycles by at least three or four cycles. She carried freshly washed towels draped over each arm.
"I thought you might be up, milady," the woman said softly, keeping her eyes on the floor in front of her, "and I thought perhaps you would like your bath now."
"Yes," Hitomi answered. "That will be fine."
The maid bowed and proceeded to follow her mistress into the huge washroom. It was completely white with hints of baby blue as a frame. The washroom was one of Hitomi's favorite places. Not just because of the calming color, but because of the huge tub. She slipped out of her nightclothes and stepped into the tub of warm water. She sighed and relaxed as the maid began to wash the night's dirt from Hitomi's body.
When she was completely washed top to bottom, Hitomi was taken back to her bedroom, where two more maids were waiting to dress her. The servants were used to her habit of rising early.
She stood in front of them, and they slipped a pale lavender dress over her head. The dress had no strings or buttons. It just slipped over her head and hung slack to her feet, hiding all of her curves.
She hadn't always worn dresses like this. When she was fourteen Allen had gone to take care of a slave revolt in another village. He was gone an entire six months. When he returned, he requested that Hitomi dine with him. She would never be able to forget the look on his face when she had entered the room. It had been a look of pure lush. He had looked at her from head to feet. Then during dinner, he had stared at her the entire time. Once she had returned from eating dinner with him, she had thrown up in terror. She didn't get much sleep that night.
The next morning he ordered hat her dresses be made as they were now so that no one would 'wish for her attention'. She knew the part he had left out. He didn't want anyone but himself to look at her.
Hitomi cleared her mind as the maids finished combing her hair. Allen had ordered that she only wear her hair down. She was rarely allowed to wear her hair any other way. By the time she had finished getting dressed, the sun had risen and another maid had entered, informing her that breakfast was ready, and Emperor Allen was waiting for her presence.
Hitomi walked into the dining hall looking straight ahead. None of the guards dared to look at her. She was considered a walking death sentence. The last man who had stared at her had been beheaded. Allen was a very possessive man, and very jealous. He made it clear that only he was allowed to look at her.
Allen was standing at the window staring at the slaves like he always did. He said it gave him great pleasure to watch the scum of Gaea being treated just as they deserved to be: whipped and worked. He turned around to look at her and nodded in approval with her appearance, then smiled at her.
"Good morning, Hitomi," he said pleasantly. "How did you sleep? Well, I hope."
Hitomi nodded. "Quite well, milord," she lied.
He nodded and pulled out a chair for her. When she said down, his hands ran across her hair, and she had to fight to withhold a shudder of disgust. He sat down across from her at the other end of the table.
Maids entered and laid the trays of food in front of the two occupants of the table. They picked up their tungs, metal sticks with two prongs at the end, and began to eat quietly. It was always quiet at the table when they ate, no matter what. Allen didn't like a lot of talk and noise. He said that he received enough of that when he was overseeing the slave mines.
Hitomi took a sip of her drink. It was honeysuckle water, made from pure honeysuckle. Swallowing, Hitomi thought about after dinner. Allen would always bow to her and tell her to not do anything strenuous. Then he would leave and go to the mines or his study, and she wouldn't see him again until the evening meal. She would go back to her room and practice strengthening her powers.
She had never told anyone about her powers because of what Allen had said in that cottage all those years ago. So she kept her powers to herself and developed them in secret so that one day she could avenge her mother, and all of the others who had died or suffered because of Allen.
Hitomi raised her eyes and found Allen staring at her as he often did. She lowered her gaze until she couldn't feel him looking at her anymore. Then she looked around the room. It was a big room, but cold and dark. The only light was from the candles on the tables and the pecks of light coming from the curtained window. There were two guards, one at each side of the door. There was a portrait hanging on the wall. It was of the first emperor of Gaea.
Emperor Dornkirk was the man who was responsible for the first cleansing of Gaea. He was Allen's great-great uncle. Even though the man was dead, Hitomi hated him as much as she hated Allen.
Dornkirk had been murdered in his sleep by his lover. He had killed her family, so she had done everything she could to get close to him, and when she was close enough, she had stabbed him eight times. Each blow was for a member of her dead family and was aimed in his chest where his heart was supposed to be.
Hitomi didn't think she could take it that far. She wanted Allen dead of course, but she could barely stand to look at him or be in the same room as him, much less become his lover.
"Hitomi," Allen said.
Her head snapped up. This was odd. "Yes, milord?" she asked.
He stood up and walked over to her. He reached out his hand for her to take, and when she reluctantly did, led her over to the other side of the room, out of hearing range of the guards.
"I have been thinking for quite a while on what to do now that I am emperor," he said after a moment of silence, "and I have decided that it is time I take a wife." He turned to look at her. "That wife will be you, Hitomi."
Hitomi swallowed a scream and kept a serene look on her face. "Me, milord? Surely there is another more worthy."
Allen smiled at her. "There is none that compare to you. You are the only woman who is fit enough to be my queen. We shall be married in a full two weeks. That will give you enough time to prepare yourself." He bent down and brushed his lips over her and gave a soft groan. "I have been waiting so long to touch your lips."
Hitomi began to tremble.
"Yes," he said, misinterpreting her trembling for anticipation, "it won't be too much longer, my love." He brought her hand to his lips and kissed it. Then he bowed and walked away.
Hitomi stayed where she was for a few minutes, then she walked out of the dining room. She made it to her room and managed to close the door behind her before she rushed to the washroom and lost her breakfast.
She cleaned herself up and splashed cold water on her face. She went back to her room and walked onto her balcony. It faced away from the mines to the mountains. Allen didn't like her having anything to do with the slaves. But she could still hear the screams of pain and the whips.
The realization of what was happening to her hit her like a ton of bricks. She began to panic and slid to the floor. She braced her head against the banister and struggled to breathe. She wanted to scream, but couldn't find enough breath. She closed her eyes and sucked in as much air as she could. She repeated the process several times until she was breathing properly. She opened her eyes and stood up. She walked back into her room and looked around.
"I can't stay here any longer," she whispered to herself.
Suddenly, she knew what her dreams had been telling her. Her mother's voice echoed in her mind with the promise that Hitomi had made to her. It was time.
Time to run.
Now I know it's shorter than the last chapter, but please bear with me! It'll get better!
Reviewer Thanks goes to:
Esca-lover, snow blossoms, starry-eyed-wonder, honeypot, Kim, dreamingofflyingaway, The Reader is Now Blind, and Enzeru No Yami, Lady Luna, hitomi21, dark faerie2, and Rhapshody's Song (about your comment, I didn't mean for Hitomi to come off cold or anything, it's just that have you been so scared that you couldn't move or scream or cry? That's what was happening to her. I mean her whole world was falling apart! ^_^), and Wink57CS!
Thanks you guys! This chapter is for you!
Now on another note, anyone who would like to be emailed a notice when I update on this story, please put your penname and email address in your review or email me!
If you want to be emailed for other stories, tell me which ones (if you can remember them!) and let me know! I'll add you to my list!
Well, now I better go! I have home school, and it's time for Geometry! I hate mate! UGH!
Bye for now, Tevrah
P.S. Go to my bio! I have some things up there that you might want to know about or you could help me with! Thanks!