144Prologue
She didn't want this. She was no stranger to want, or greed. She wanted more than she was born into, she wanted autonomy. and money. She wanted lands in her name, estates lined in rosebushes, paid for with her own coin. She got none of these things, that she could forgive. She was born from dirt, and to dirt she will return. But what those bastards had given her was hope, beautiful poisonous hope, pumping through her veins.
She was not nothing, and she could have all that she wanted, for a price.
Her childish scoff at those words had offended every single noblemen at that table. Their disapproval giving her a glorious glow of victory, a feeling she had long missed. Of course there would be a price, she was born to the valley. Born to death in cradle beds in the night, born to pulling insects off rotting potatoes to keep from starving. She'd paid a thousand prices already, and she had no desire to pay any more blood for them. These noble bastards who watch their villagers starve.
Their scorn bleed from their group slowly, soaking the very air she drank in. Their hatred filled her will a strength that had long laid dormant. Her life had not been easy, but she had pulled herself out of her fate alone, finding work, earning coin of her own. She was a lifetime away from lands and estates, but when her light finally expired she would be closer than she had any right to be, and knowing that was enough for her.
The world wanted more.
She didn't think anything of their claims to her selfishness, these were the men that controlled the world, but they still wanted more. At the cost of her life, and hundreds of others. She was too far gone for them to reach her heart, too many deaths in the dirt to pretend anyone at that table cared for her. They wanted a skill, that she happened to possess. She was the next check in a long list before her.
Maybe not too long a list. But if they found her, they were running out of those with Forest Dweller blood.
The black haired woman, one of three at the table, with enough jewels to tell her that she would be the most powerful person at that table, made a displeased noise in the back of her throat. A younger noble, with spiked hair and dead eyes took note, and spat near her feet. A girl a few years younger than she would've winced at such a rude display, but she was smarter than she had any right to be, and a powerplay was clear sign she was in control here. Their money and armies couldn't buy what the blood in her veins could do. She was one of the shrinking few that could navigate The Forest.
Not all forests of course. That skill is hardly rare, any hunter worth his bow could navigate a forest. Across the kingdom, the northwest corner, a sprawling woods, thick with trees, bush and demons. Magic in this world had shrunk, Man choosing instead to kill rather than learn. The creatures that were smart had regressed into the Forest. The land absorbed their magic, bonding with its inhabitants. When Man sent in a party, none had returned. No men, no horses, no dogs. Any mortal that entered was not returned.
The Forest Dwellers, however, had no such restrictions. They walked freely into villages and towns. The Fae, a breed of concentrated magic users, were human in appearance. They had a terrible hobby of taking human lovers and leaving them after. Her father had fallen victim to a Fae lover, he admitted to her one night after too many mugs of ale and not enough food in the house. "You're one of them." He slurred, rubbing his hand over his face, hiding from her. "Your mother came to me twice, which is once more than they normally do. She told me goodbye before the sun broke the sky. I didn't think much of it, but months later, I wake, before the sun broke the sky. A loud wailing drew me to my door, and there you were. Wrapped in a blanket made of a fine fabric, and a mark branded on your breast. Your mother had one too. I knew who you were. I brought you in, I give you what little I have, but this may not be your home."
When she had asked him what that meant, he hadn't answered, just stared out their window at the Forest. She knew what he meant, she was a Dweller, she would be free to come and go through that Forest, a skill as dangerous as it was valuable. She kept her head down after that, wearing a heavy black coat most of the year, no matter the weather, to make sure the mark below her collarbone was never seen. Fae script was distinct, and she was in no position to back whatever her mother had seared into her skin.
Her father had sent her from their village when she was old enough to marry. He gave her every coin he had kept saved, and told her to find a husband, then she wouldn't have to come back to this dangerous place, to him. The Forest would come for her someday, it always did, but if she could get far enough away it would be much, much harder. And she took his advice, she had traveled far since that day, getting employment for as long as she cared to and keep travelling often. Her mistake, she realized a bit too late, was traveling so close the castle.
All nobles had spies, but in the towns surrounding the castle the numbers were amplified, and she had sensed she was screwed the second she had walked into the woods between two villages. She couldn't hear or see anyone, but she could feel eyes on unease did it's job well, her stress blinding her to the trap that caught her leg, jerking her upwards and leaving her dangling, like a sow for slaughter.
It took a few moments, but her attacker revealed himself, a white head of hair making its way toward her in the bush. When he got close enough that she could see him, she jumped, sending her swinging wildly through the air to his obvious amusement. His eyes followed her, a deep red, almost shining at her.
Hell Child. He was a Hell Child.
She couldn't recall having ever seen one. Hell children were usually kept secret, them being proof of an unholy union with the demons that walked the lands, wearing bodies of mortals like clothing. They were known by their eyes. Only Hell Children walked with red eyes in their skulls, windows to the suffering of Hell itself.
The Hell Child regards her for a moment, her swaying tracked with his eyes. He's a well dressed monster, his black cloak was clean, and still, even as he moved. His silver clasp was modeled into a skull with three holes. She groaned, relaxing her head so he hung limply from the rope. "You work for the King."
"Aye."
"And you've caught me."
"Very much so."
"For the king?"
"Aye."
"Why?"
"Dunno."
"Wha-? That's bullshit." She lifted her head to glare at his upside down form.
"I don't." He shrugged. "Why don't you tell me?"
"Fat chance."
"Then for now, I guess I'll remain clueless."
She was silent then, offering him nothing as he bound her hands. Once he was sure her limbs were bound, he cut her down. Her back hit the forest floor, and she glared as he chuckled, throwing her over his shoulder as he walked towards the castle, away from safely.
"You're going to kill me."
"My task was to find you."
"That's the same thing. How did you find me?"
"I'm a good Hunter."
"From so far? I don't think so."
"It was easy. You have a light to you."
"I don't have a light, actually. I'm not an idiot."
"You do. A little one. It's at the top of your lung. A little light. That's how I tracked you."
Her skin bristled at his words. Fucking Hell Children. This Hunter must have been sired from a powerful demon if his eyes could see the magic from her mother inside her. How unfortunate.
"Little Light? You haven't passed out on me have you?"
"That's not my name."
"Do you plan on telling me your name?"
"No."
"Then Little Light you stay."
She didn't speak to him until they got back to the castle, and true to his word, he handed her over to the guards and he was gone. The guards dragged her to the table of nobles, the jeweled woman sitting at the head. Maka couldn't place any single person at the table, but she probably knew their names, lived in a few of their territories. There wasn't a single one of them she cared for at that table, but there were too many there. Too many around this table to just be the nobles. Well then, she was in more trouble than she bargained for.
The woman at the head of the table spoke, parting shiny lips. "Hello pet, I'm sure this is a little confusing for you."
"A little expected actually. You went and commissioned a Hell Child to find me." A spattering of scoffs and chuckles spread throughout the table, and the woman in charge gave her a wicked little grin.
"I've got an abundance of Hell Children, all of them willing to help out their beloved queen, who keeps their whore mother's necks from snapping under a rope."
Queen. Arachne. Well this put her in even more trouble than she was before. Maka had worked long and hard to keep her blood a secret, and now she was learning that it had all been in vain, this whole time. She took a deep breath to herself and swallowed the panic bubbling up in her throat. The Queen was playing a game, and well, she knew better than to think she was the only player on Arachne's board.
She would never be a pawn. Not for this spider of a woman.
"I refuse."
"Why, I haven't even told you why you're here."
"I refuse anyway."
"I won't be asking much from you pet, and I will reward you handsomely."
"I don't want your blood coin, or to be part in whatever you're doing."
"I want you to lead a small party into the Forest, to retrieve a rune carved into the Old Tree. I need it collected, and to be immortalized into our massive library. For the mages of course."
"No."
"I really would like your participation with this, it would be a shame to force you, only to have you abandon this party in the Forest. You see, we're all sending the best we have, and it isn't our intention to lose them to a cannibalistic Forest."
"The Forest isn't cannibalistic. It eats intruders, not family."
"Well, pet, that's why I wanted you. My spies have seen you put more and more distance between yourself and this Forest. And more and more coin into your pockets. I know what you want, Child. You want your own name, one that can stand on it's own. No husband to give you permission, no man telling you how to live your life to stand his way. I can give you that. I can give you lands and estates and put everything in your name. Not your husband, not your father. It will all belong to you, and all you have to do is take them in the Forest, and get them back out."
She kept her face blank, but inside her heart was pounding against her ribcage. That was everything. That was everything she ever wanted laid out in front of her, tied up with a neat little string bow. She hated everyone at that table, and she knew, she knew everything that came with walking into the Forest, including the risk that she herself would never leave the Forest, if it decided to claim her. But her dream, this wouldn't come to her again, she would never get this chance again.
"Well?"
"Put it in writing, sign it with your seal, and give it to me. I carry our deal the whole way, and it will be honored."
The Queen smiled, snapping her fingers. A servant girl appeared, giving her a roll of parchment and a quill. She took both from the girl, smoothing out the paper and dipping her quill in the ink. "Now tell me pet, what name will you give me?"
"Maka Albarn. My name is Maka Albarn."
Whoa I know, I'm writing something else?! Well, I'm trying! It's just the prologue, but I do have the next chapter mostly done, just need to finish editing, so let me know what you think! If you think I should continue or anything!
Thanks! :)
