The Quest for Valeria

Aria's hand went instinctively to her knife. She had to force herself to take her hand away, rather than pull it out and throw it at the rope holding the man. As she did so she felt something fall against her face and brushed it back, absentmindedly, with the back of her hand. Her auburn hair must have come loose from the leather strap she had tied it back with that morning. She tucked it further back into her hood.

The hanging was over and the crowd slowly began to disband. She heard the low buzz of conversation around her, but blocked it out. As she walked past an abandoned house someone grabbed her from behind. As they bound her wrists together they kept one hand firmly over her mouth. She struggled to escape, but it was a futile attempt.

She was dragged through a maze of underground tunnels until they reached a sturdy wooden door. Her captor knocked on it in a distinctive pattern; loud then soft, fast then slow. A voice rang out from behind the door, "Who is it?"

"Zephyr Nightseer and a captive royalist."

Aria heard the sound of bolts being drawn back and a key turning in a lock. Her captor, Zephyr, shoved her into the room. Unable to use her hands to steady herself, she fell and lay, sprawled across the floor. Hands grabbed her, roughly yanking her to her feet. She pulled herself away, dimly aware of her hood falling of her head and her long hair spilling out. She kept her back against the wall and looked around herself quickly.

There were four men in the room. Two were standing by the door she had entered through. One was them was in his early twenties with tousled blond hair and chocolate brown eyes. The other looked to be in his mid-thirties with black hair and cobalt eyes.

The other two were standing by the small table in the centre of the room. They both looked as if they were in their late forties or early fifties. The first man's brown hair had flecks of grey in it and his piercing grey eyes seemed to look into her mind. The second had mud brown eyes and black hair, that had somehow managed to retain its colour. Aria guessed that he dyed it.

The one similarity between them was the expression of shock that they all wore on their faces. The older men recovered first. The one with the greying hair looked sympathetic, but at the same time a hard line entered his eyes. The other made no attempt to hide his hatred and disgust. The young man in his twenties was the first to speak. She could tell from his voice that he was the one named Zephyr.

"It's a girl," he said, shocked.

The man who had been glaring at her replied, "Child or not she's a royalist. People like her killed first Rowan and now Bethani. I say we kill her as an example"

"Bethani's dead?" interjected Zephyr

"Yes. Which is why we should execute her. If we kill a child in cold blood it will show the rest of those royalist scum we mean business." He spat out the last few words.

Then, in one fluid motion, he stepped forward and hit her across the face. The other older man stepped forward. "Calm down Michal," he said.

"Steven.." began Michal, but he was cut off.

"Michal." A warning tone had entered his voice.

Michal stepped away, but continued to glare at her. Aria saw the room begin to spin. A mixture of pain, exertion, and fear was making her light-headed. As she began to fall she was conscious of the wall opening behind her. Then she blacked out.