29 Rhoswen Solone

_Rhoswen Solone_

"For the last time, Rhoswen, NO." Lord solone said sternly, running a hand down his face in annoyance. His hand stayed there, to pinch the bridge of his nose in attempts to keep himself calm. It looked as though he was struggling.

"Please father, I have never known something so great in my life. I trust them! Isn't that something? I do not trust a great many of people." the girl begged.

"You do not even know these men! They are runaways! Deserters from a foreign country who had us sounding the alarms and preparing for invasion!" Her father told her, standing from his throne seat, not able to contain the pacing his legs were begging him to do.

"I know them better than anyone else does. I saw them in a vision! It is fate for them to come here. They said they would agree to be knighted!"

"Knights are of noble blood! These are two foreign peasant soldiers! I should have them executed so that the west does not come after us for harboring their fugitives!"

"You cannot do that! Please father, I could never ask anything else as great as this. They have to live- I- I do not know what would happen if they would die," She begged him more, tears clouding her vision. Why crying was a good persuasion tactic, these tears were real. Emotional tears that she could not keep from surfacing.

Lord Edwin Solone was a good father- he loved his children greatly and to see them cry always stung him in the heart. However, the man knew when to say no, and keep it firm. "I simply cannot do what you ask. In fact, a better thing to do would be to send them to the capital."

"Like you're sending Rosaline to do? Sending her away to never come back?" She said frustratedly. Rosaline was a mean sister, the two did not normally get along but she was still family. Rhoswen had not given the idea much thought but now that it had appeared to her, she realized she really didn't want the sibling to leave.

"How did you know I was considering sending Rosaline and Florian off to the capital?"

"Florien too? You can't do that! I will miss them too much!"

"It would be good for them to go and learn in the capital. They can be wards of the king if they must."

"Send me and Prim then," She offered.

"Prim would make too much of a fuss, and you are ill. Briar is the heir so he needs to stay and keep learning here."

"I am not ill!"

"I will not argue about that today, Rhoswen. Take your whining elsewhere. I have work to do, and as much as I would like to give you everything you could ever want- I simply cannot!" He told her with aggravated honesty.

As much as she wanted to detest the idea of illness, and the fact that two of her siblings would be leaving her, she had two other lives to keep alive. That was more important. "Forget about that then, its Ryus and Kehan- those are their names- they need to be spared. Please! I will do anything, anything it takes. It is likely one of the most important decisions I will ever make." She told him in total seriousness, but she could tell he was not buying it.

"I cannot-"

"You have to! Let them be my sworn servents. Slaves if you must- but I cannot let them die!"

"Why do you care so much about two men you don't even know?"

"Because of the visions!"

"Your visions aren't real!"

"I knew mother was going to get sick and die, and no one beleived me! I knew these men were coming! I knew the bells would ring! I knew Elizabeth tried to poison Briar and I stopped it! I saved his life! And I knew Rosaline was going to the capital!" She told him, her breath quickening as she placed her hands on her hips.

"Elizibeth tried to poison Briar?" He asked suddenly.

Rhoswen paled, wondering if she had just derailed her argument. "...yes."

"That is a big accusation to make-"

"I know, and no I do not have any proof! I threw the wine off the veranda without thinking. I did not want Briar to drink it." She told him sternly.

"So you know I cannot believe this so easily. Elisabeth is my wife."

"Aye, and she is pregnant."

"She is?"

"Visions." She repeated.

He narrowed his eyes at her. As a compassionate father, he wanted to believe her words, he really did. But visions? Seeing the future? What kind of witchery was that? He could not believe it. Especially not after she said Elizabeth tried to poison Briar. "I will have you visited by medicine practitioners tomorrow." He said grimmly, hating the way how her hopeful face fell. "For now I think it best to return to your bedchambers and rest.

She bristled, glaring at him for a moment before she managed to calm herself. "Fine, forget the visions. Keep these men alive, and keep them here. Give them use, a purpose they will want to fight for, and they will not flee. You will find that they will serve faithfully."

"Why would they serve random lords from a foreign country?" He questioned her.

"Not random lords, me. I do not think they would so willingly pledge faith to anyone else."

"And why you? You are a child. A girl."

Rhoswen gave her father a hard look, one too wise for a girl of only twelve. "Because they believe me." A half lie, but a necessary one, she thought.

"What is it that they are believing, exactly?"

"My visions. What I say."

"And they'll follow you? For what reason?"

Rhoswen was quiet for a moment. If she spouted things about the lich he would just believe her less. "They're purpose is to be here- to keep people safe- me safe, and perhaps anyone else I may see in a vision." It was close enough to the whole truth, she figured. It was the most she could say.'

"Safe from what?"

A monster, she thought. But she could not say such a thing. Instead with some quick thinking, she said: "Whatever may arise. Nobles face danger every day."

"Aye, that is true but we already have people serving us and keeping us safe. Individuals who do have not abandoned their duties to their country. Individuals who are not fugitives." He reasoned to her.

Rhoswen frowned. This was a circular argument. Things would be different if he would only believe her words, she was sure of it. "How can I get you to believe me? How can i get you to understand the things I say are true?"

"When you stop speaking of crazy things," He answered her a bit aggravatedly.

"Kehan thinks it is the will of the gods that brings them here. He believes me and he does not even know me. You know me and you know I would not so easily lie!"

"I do not think you are lying!" He said exasperatedly, pacing the room in front of a large window that looked out over the long sea. "I believe that you think what you say is true, but that does not mean it is-"

"You are not listening then-"

"But I am! And what you speak of is sorcery- seeing the future? I do not believe it. I believe you are ill. Now go to your room."

"Not until-"

"I will not ask you again, girl. Go to your room!"

Tears streamed down her cheeks at that word. Would no one listen to her because she was a child? Because she was a girl? Surely she would be taken seriously if she were a grown man. Rhoswen angrily wiped at her eyes, trying to control her breathing and keep her voice calm. "Fine," She told him, raking him with a red-eyed glare. "But keep them alive. If they die- I don't know what will happen." She warned him before rushing to the door.

"Is that a threat?" he called after her.

"It is a warning from my visions," She said simply before letting the heavy wooden door slam behind her. What was she supposed to say to Ryus and Kehan? She had promised them so much... but in the end she could not even allow them outside of a prison cell. She was a liar now. She cringed at the thought. She had not followed through with her words. Now she was marked a liar and she would always be such.

She did not want to cry over it, but it was all so important- the most important thing she'd ever known. She didn't know why they were part of the seven, but they were. They were needed to stop the lich... that skeleton monster that sucked the life from the land. When would it get here? Where would it come from? She didn't know. She didn't want to know.

She did not want to know any of these things. Did not want to have this responsibility on her shoulders. Was she even supposed to do anything about this? Perhaps there was someone else out there who could do something. Perhaps someone else saw this. She was in no place to do anything about it. Rhoswen wanted to give up, to move on, but there was a feeling inside her that stopped this from happening.

What if there was no one else? And if there was, what if they gave up too? What would happen then? She had to find the seven. There was something important in bringing them together. But what? How could she do this? The thoughts were overwhelming; the responsibility of all of this was suffocating. An oppressive feeling pounding upon her shoulders. She wanted so badly to sob. Ryus and Kehan were going to be the first to die and everyone else was going to be left to their horrible fates.

If the gods were behind this as Kehan believed, then they were either fools or playing a cruel joke upon the land. Perhaps both, even. She grew bitter at the thought, rushing to her room so that she was not caught crying in the hallway. Once she was back in her room she went to go to her bed but froze.

There standing, looking out her window was a robed individual. She did not recognize the robes as any of their medicine practitioners or priests. With a weary eye, she took a step back. "Who might you be?" She asked in the steadiest voice she could manage.

The robed person turned, a woman faced her now. She smiled kindly at Rhoswen. "Do not be alarmed my dear," She said kindly.

"I do not know you or your clothes. You are not welcome in my room." She said now, her red and puffy eyes narrowing at the intruder. "Who are you?"

"I do not have a name- none that you would recognize at least." The woman said curtly. "I have a title but you are not to know what it is just yet,"

"Everyone has a name," Rhoswen said suspiciously.

"No, that is not true." The woman said before sighing. "It does not matter. You, Lady Rhoswen of house Solone, have a gift." The girl said nothing to this so the woman continued. "No one appriciates it, do they?" The woman asked with a grossly sympathetic frown.

Rhoswen wrinkled her nose and looked the woman up and down for any weapons, but it was hard to tell with her heavy black and red cloak.

"I carry nothing that may harm you, my lady. I have come to appreciate you and your ability- the ability to see things. And to make you an offer," She said as she slowly stalked closer to Rhoswen. The girl could see her deep red lipstick now, and her dark eye makeup.

"Whatever it is you are offering, I decline." She said quickly.

"I do not believe you have heard it yet, my dear."

"It does not matter- you enter my chambers without permission- you will not tell me who you are- I do not trust you."

The woman frowned again. "You are fully refusing what you have not heard. How ignorant."

Rhoswen's brows furrowed. "Alright then, what is it that I am being offered?"

The woman smiled now, her facial expressions changing far too quickly. "Join us."

"Join who?"

"I cannot tell you- it is suspicious, yes, but we are a people with abilities such as yours. People who would believe you."

"You lie to me, get out before I call the guards," She warned the woman.

"I do not lie to you."

"You have abilities?"

"Aye, I do."

"What have you seen?" Rhoswen asked quickly, and the woman looked at her, confused, for only a moment before she laughed softly.

"No no, my abilities are different. Not nearly as amazing as yours. In fact, we know nobody quite like you."

Rhoswen gave her a skeptical look. "What is your ability then?" She piped up.

"I've been using it this entire time, dear." She said simply, walking towards Rhoswen who took an equal amounts of steps back until she was completely pushing her back against a wall. The woman smiled and lifted a hand to the girls own hand, and it phased right through.

"You are a ghost?" She asked, perplexed and pulling her hand to her chest. It was cold but otherwise unhurt.

The woman chuckled but shook her head. "No no, I am quite alive, but I am not here. My body is farther from here, somewhere northeast."

Rhoswen shook her head. "This is not possible. I am mad," She claimed now.

The woman frowned. "No. You merely do not know magic. That is what your visions are. Magic."

"And you want me to join your magic order?"

The woman seemed to brighten at this. "Yes, we have been looking for you for quite some time now. It was not till recently that we were able to find you." She explained to the girl.

"What is it that you people do, exactly?"

"We practice our skills, and try to help people. Not all people with abilities are good and we make it our job to stop those who might be a danger. Some of these people we think you might have seen..." She said with a raised brow.

Rhoswen said nothing of her visions to this woman. Her way of approaching was too much through the backdoor and not direct enough. "What is it that you hide?" The girl said now.

"Such a smart girl to ask the big questions, to be so suspicious, however the answer to that is nothing. We are as I said." the woman said with the aloof cross of her arms.

"Why not come all the way and arrange a meeting in person?" She said now.

"I have not told you my title, or the name of my organization. That should be a clue as to why,"

Rhoswen thought about it for a moment, trying to connect the dots. Finally, the answer came to her. "They would ask questions, and you would be required to answer."

"Aye, what a smart girl. You would do well at the manor." the woman said now.

"I do not trust you." Rhoswen repeated. "I do not wish to go. Thank you for the offer but it is best that you leave now."

The woman's face fell. "It is not something so easily declined."

"I do not know you or your organization. I do not know why it is that you will not speak the names of yourself and your organization. It is too suspicious."

"You would come to know in due time," The woman told her, pulling her arms back into her thick robes. "You would come to a place where you could learn about yourself, you would be appreciated too. No medicine practitioners, no priests, no doubts. What you see- your sight is truly a gift. I can go anywhere in the moment, but if I do not know where to look, it is no use. You- well you can see things before they happen- you can prevent them, locate them with an accuracy that I could only dream of," The woman told her wistfully.

Rhoswen shook her head. "Leave now. My answer is no."

"No? I did not take it that you liked being marked a liar. That you liked being accounted as unsound. I mean, the fainting sickness? You are so much more than that."

"You manipulate me." Rhoswen pointed out with nearly clenched teeth.

The woman frowned. "You are smart, but it appears you are no genius. I will take my leave then- but I will be back. Let this time I allow us both be something to reflect on. You may think about it and form a true decision. Until then, I wish you well, sweet girl." She said softly before her appearance faded until Rhoswen was left with nothing but her room.

She had an odd feeling about her now, unsure what to do with herself. She could not simply just tell someone what had happened, but she also didn't feel quite safe anymore. The woman... she seemed deceptive. She did not seem right. Rhoswen was weary to trust anything she said and found herself coming to sit on her bed and rest her face in her hands, saying nothing and letting the silence of her room deafen her.

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A/N: I'm finding that the character ages might appear a bit blurry. I try to add them in naturally but some might not catch them. So I'll list them here for you. I will also list their real world races for reference, because they do not go by the same name and some of you may be confused.

Nyka is 13 (half Asian half white)

Ingrid is 32 (white)

Byrne is 24 (native/Latino)

Vienice is 17 though people address him as younger because he looks about 13-14 (white)

Rhoswen is 12 (all white)

Brother Briar is 20

Sister Rosaline is 15

Twin sister Primrose is 12

Brother Florian is 10

Savarine is 16 (all white)

Brother Eric is 21

Brother Fenir is 18

Younger brother and sister both younger than 10

Ryus is 18 and Kehan are 21-22 (black/Arabian mixed)

Everan is 18 almost 19 (undefined)

Valadae is 15 (undefined)

If you find my color casting offensive, then you may imagine them as whatever you like. My story is set in a white dominated medieval time which is inspired by Europe where the majority of people were and are white. As you have likely seen so far in the story, there is racism. This is in no way a representation on how I perceive other races. In fact, if you've kept up with all of Nyka chapters, Ingrid defends him. My views are about the same as her on racial differences.