Chapter 3

Kiara opens her eyes at the break of dawn and smiles, today was the day. She gets up from the bed and checks the box to see if her attire is still there. It is foolish behavior, but a part of her still thinks her aunt is very capable of removing her dress from the box as the last resort to keep her in this house forever.

She takes her bath in the small iron tub at the corner of her room, adding orange peels to the bath water since she can't afford essential oils, she scrubs her skin to remove every layer of dirt, every bad memory from this house, cleansing herself for her new home.

She dries herself and applies a little perfume from an alabaster bottle on her skin, careful that a single drop does not go to waste. She saves the rest for later, tonight. The thought makes her blush and she chides herself for behaving like a love struck virgin. This wouldn't be the first time she and Corgan had been intimate. She reminds herself that this time, it would be different, they were married now. Would be married…she corrects herself.

Since she doesn't have any friends to help her, she applies the ink to all the parts of her body she can reach. Using intricate swirls and circles since she cannot draw any complex designs.

Her aunt comes into the room as she puts on her bangles. She stands up from her bed, waiting for the woman to give her an order or something to do.

Instead, the woman surprises her by walking up to her, wordlessly and surveying her look.

"You are a beautiful bride, just like your mother was."

Kiara is shocked by these words and tears threaten fall at the mention of her dead mother, whose face she can barely remember.

"Don't you dare cry!" Aunt Tina barks in that familiar tone that terrorizes Kiara on a daily basis. "It is bad luck for a bride to cry on her wedding day!" Aunt Tina picks the red veil from the bed and drapes it over Kiara's head, completing the ritual.

All that is left, is for her husband-to-be to come and retrieve her from her aunt's house to where the ceremony would take place. Kiara doesn't know how long that would take. She heard the soldiers match out before dawn to pursue the Emperor's Army. Her wedding ceremony is dependent on when they would return with their gains.

Kiara sees that her aunt is thinking the same thing as she looks out the window.

"That boy of yours has a good head on his shoulder." He aunt remarks. "Waiting until the army returns before having the ceremony performed in the city square, it is going to be talked about for months." She yawns, stretches and leaves the room, muttering, "…a good head on those shoulders of his."

Kiara knows her aunt is going to reclaim her position on the chaise lounge and drift off to sleep.

Kiara doesn't know how much time passes before she begins to feel antsy. She is not used to sitting still and doing nothing. She makes up her mind to go out, find Corgan and somehow convince him to conduct the wedding without the others present. She doesn't want a big celebration for her wedding, she just wants to be married, now.

She feels the need to do something, anything that doesn't require her to sit still.

She makes her way to the door, before she remembers that it is somewhat a taboo for others to see the face of the bride after the red veil has been donned on. This does not deter her, she rips the veil away and drops it on her bed, if anyone one asks, she would tell them it hadn't been put on her yet. She changes her mind and picks it up, throwing it over her shoulder like a shawl. If she did somehow manage to convince Corgan to have the wedding immediately, she would need it in the temple before the rights would begin.

As she suspects, her aunt is fast asleep in the living room. The streets of Dion are deserted, only children can be seen running around. Did the whole city go in pursuit of the Emperor's Army?

She hurries down the path to the Eastern gate, she looks left and right, making sure no one is around, before ascending the steps of the watchtower to the watch post. She uses the lookout point to observe the area, remembering Corgan's instructions on how to use the tower.

She looks down at the East gate, where she sees two men standing guard. One of them is Corgan. Kiara breathes a sigh of relief to see that he listened to her and stayed back when everyone else had gone after the Emperor's army because of loot.

She changes direction to try and locate the pursuit in progress. Kiara frowns at the scene before her and looks again to confirm that what she is seeing is real. In the distance, a great battle is ongoing, she could see bodies tousling like writhing maggots. The scene is too far away to correctly tell which side had the upper hand. If it was a battle between the Army of Dion and the Emperor's army, then Corgan might not have his dream wedding in the city square by the time it was over.

She turns back to him at the gate and sees something else that puts her heart in her throat. She sees a small band of soldiers led by a man in golden amour riding up to the East gate. Corgan and the other man don't see them, Kiara realizes that this is because the East gate is located on a steep hill, so they wouldn't be able to see anything below.

"Corgan! Corgan!" Kiara screams but it is it useless, he cannot hear her from this distance. She does the only thing she knows will get his attention. She rings the watchtower bell.

Corgan turns to look at the watchtower but it is too late, the men crest the hill and head full speed on their mounts for the gate. Corgan turns to head into the city but he is stuck down from behind with a gleaming sword by the man in gold amour.

Kiara's blood runs cold.

The men begin their attack on the gates in an attempt to breach the city. Kiara bolts out of the watchtower, her feet pounding on the cobblestone as she runs into the heart of the city to alert the townspeople In the city square, the sound of the Watchtower bell draws out the remaining inhabitants of the city.

"What is going on?" Resounds amongst the people.

"They're coming! They're coming!" Kiara shouts, waving her arms erratically, as she approaches the crowd.

"Who is coming?" People echo the question.

A horse comes up behind Kiara, the rider shoves her out of the way into a stall filled with fruits. Kiara knocks her head against a barrel and slumps. To her, the scene plays out in slow motion but it is much faster in reality.

Any other soldier within the city is slaughtered, anyone who tries to attack is slaughtered, all the inhabitants are rounded up in the city square, anyone who resists is slaughtered, everything is set on fire.

The man in golden armour dismounts from his horse in the city square, he is surrounded by men in amour, all bearing emblems of a dragon. Just like the pin on the man in the hooded cloak. The King of Dion, his family and the entire members of court are dragged out from their holes and paraded before him.

In that moment, it dawns on Kiara that this is the Emperor.