Nicia pulled her black hood down to cover her face more. Her grip on the horse she was riding kept getting tighter and tighter. The night air around her was calm, seeming to be reassuring, but inside her was nothing but turmoil.
After hearing the news of Aeson deaths months ago, life as a servant in the castle seemed meaningless now. Aeson is dead, Ashelia is missing, and Spiridon has gone off. Now it was only King Ezio and Queen Jade who actually resided here, and both of them had no heart for any servants. Her father was already dead serving having served the army, and her mother just recently died of sickness.
That castle is nothing but a dark sorrowful place of memories to her now.
She broke through the trees, finally getting into sight of the camp they had set up at a small forest to the side of the river. There was fire, as to attract so much light during the night, but every soldier had a small lamp to give light.
She tied her horse against a tree, pulling off her cloak, revealing the medic’s uniform she had stolen from the castle. Cautiously she walked into the campsite of one of the biggest armies ever assembled, all packed tight with one another. Some glances were to her, but none of infiltrator suspicion. She quickly made her way into the officer’s tent area in the middle of everything. She was relieved when she finally saw Tyrus. He walked into his own tent, and Nicia quickly followed him in.
Surprise was evident when he saw her. “Nicia? What are you doing here?!” he exclaimed, though making sure his voice was quiet enough so no one could hear.
“Tyrus,” Nicia said, quickly closing the entrance. She faced him, her eyes hard. “Is it true that Spiridon has a sure fire plan to get Aeson back?”
Tyrus sighed. “Nothing is certain in life, Nicia.”
“Tyrus!” she exclaimed, serious.
He nodded slowly. “They have reason to believe that Aeson is alive, posing as a boy.”
Nicia tensed. “Posing as a boy?” she repeated.
“Apparently he’s wearing a blonde wig,” explained Tyrus. “But as of now they believe he’s pretending to be one of them.”
Nicia scoffed. “Pretending? Are you sure?”
Tyrus glared at her. “Do not speak like that, Nicia. You are still a servant, after all. A very smart one, considering you found a way here, but it does not change your status.”
“You know as well as I did how Aeson wanted nothing to do with lineage,” Nicia said, tying her long blonde hair up.
Tyrus sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose in frustration. “What are you doing here, Nicia.”
“I want to help,” she said simply. “No matter what, I’m getting Aeson back.”
It’s been about two weeks since they had left Amicah’s military base, and Ashelia was breathless about all the things she had seen. She saw things she had never even knew. Animals she had no knowledge of, sights that are beyond beautiful.
People. Actual, normal, breathing people, that isn’t there to just serve you. They go around their days, doing what they can to provide to their family. And Ashelia saw all the things some had to go through. The hardships. Many times she saw little kids, homeless on the streets, and Dominick and Lucas, being as rich as they are, gave them some food and money.
It just makes her angrier at how her father was wasting all this money that could be used to save the people on fighting a never-ending, senseless battle. He claims it’s for the good of the people, but what’s good for the people is providing them with food and shelter.
Ashelia sighed. Looking back on the real beauty of the world, she couldn’t help but feel saddened at how many things she had missed, being trapped in the capital and in that castle.
“I see it,” Dominick breathed, his eyes starting to turn bright with excitement. Ashelia could even see through the glasses he was wearing.
“See what?” Ashelia asked. They had been walking through endless fields of grass, and only then she just saw a building far off. It was white and cozy, nothing fancy, though it was still pretty big, being three stories. A white fence lined the building instead of a wall that was usual here in Amicah.
“This used to be my old home,” Dominick explained, his eyes still sparkling.
“Old home?” Ashelia asked.
“It was where my brother had taken Dominick in when he was little,” Lucas explained.
My eyes widened. “Brother? Your brother is there?”
Lucas smiled faintly, already heading off towards the building with everyone else following. “Not anymore.”
The house was empty, and Ashelia was surprised to see that the house was made up of mostly small rooms that lined the hallways. Everything was empty except for a small bed.
“Ahh, the memories,” Dominick grinned. “It was really fun here.”
“This was an orphanage, correct?” Matthias asked, sitting down on the couch. There wasn’t really much anything else in the house other than the beds, some couches, and the dining room table and chairs. Everything else that was transportable was gone.
“Where is everyone?” Stephen asked, running a finger on the windowsill and looking at the dust that had collected. “This place has been empty for quite awhile.”
“My half brother and his mother owned this orphanage,” Lucas said, sitting down on the couch across from Ashelia’s. They caught eyes contact and she couldn’t help but look away. “They took in homeless children, and they were quite successful in finding homes for all of them.”
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