First sight
AN: Hello everyone. I hope you like this new series. Comments would be very much appreciated. Thank you for reading.
***
From the crowd's exclamations, one could judge how frightened they were. They were pushing and shoving each other with some being trampled over on the ground.
They were running away from the main road with a look of fear in their eyes. That's because behind them was a procession of the crown prince Roan's dark guards known as Keres. This group of men used to be mercenaries under queen Nova's father but when he passed he handed them over to his only grandson for protection.
Over the years crown prince Roan had turned them from protectors or armed guards to men and women who fought alongside him. When he went off in the bushes and vast mountains to suppress the enemy he would bring them along and lay waste of his enemies.
The malevolence of the Keres was no joke. They were rumoured to kill anyone in their path and now due to poor planning the market had been moved into the main street resulting in a chaotic scene slowly turning into a stampede.
Captain Austin reacted swiftly and grasped Freya's wrist before pulling her out of the way. This would have been a romantic scene filled with floating pink bubbles and falling rose petals but the girl whose wrist he was holding was not interested in playing a saving a damsel in distress scene.
She jerked her hand to free her wrist but the good captain thought she was so afraid that she wanted to run away. He leaned in close and whispered words of comfort to her. "Don't worry. He won't hurt you," he said and Freya was confused. Her brows furrowed she glanced at the procession and met the muzzle of a dark stallion.
The horse snorted aggressively at her like he didn't want to be looked at. There was a hard to miss scar running down from its eyes to its jaw making it appear even more fierce. As it passed through the path created by the citizens of the royal city her gaze moved up to the long slender fingers with distinct joints holding onto the reins.
When she looked up her heart tightened having come face to face with her target. Well, not exactly face to face because he had on a black and gold mask covering his entire face except his amber eye.
One glance at him would put the fear of god in any man. Everyone around lowered their heads unwilling to look him directly in the eye except Freya.
She felt complicated emotions but her expression remained unchanged and there was no fear in her eyes. Roan was about to look away when he glanced at her wrist.
On her slender wrist was a purple bracelet charm shaped like an orb crystal ball that was very familiar to him. It appeared in his dreams each time he had nightmarish fevers. he would see that crystal orb dangling in front of his bedridden body.
Those nights he wouldn't be able to sleep with his entire body frozen stiff like he was suffering from a severe case of sleep paralysis. In such a frightening state the crystal orb would give him a sense of ease.
He didn't know why neither could anyone tell him why thus he didn't think to delve deeper. Now seeing this charm on this girl's wrist he couldn't help but merge the two together. He glanced at her one more time his expression indifferent before moving right along.
Freya followed his disappearing figure with her gaze. It was only after he had gone further enough that she came back to herself.
She realised then how much she was sweating and having chills at the same time. For years it had been her goal to take down this man but now that she had seen him in person she suddenly felt a sense of danger.
"Wow, captain Austin. I didn't think you would be the type to show affection in public," said one of the Keres guards walking past.
"I wouldn't mind displaying my undying affection too if my woman looked like that," said another one of the men which was soon followed by a myriad of laughter and jeers.
That's when Freya realised this man was still holding her wrist. Her lips twitched as she took her hand back.
"Excuse me," she said and turned to walk away.
Feeling the warmth from his fingers slip away Austin wanted to stop her but he had been very rude just now and a verbal apology wouldn't do much. He decided to pay the Wright family a visit and explain himself.
***
In a beautiful lush garden, a woman clad in a gorgeous white dress sat in front of the lovely pond with a look of boredom. Beside her was a short girl with a servant uniform fanning the mistress with a sandalwood fan while coaxing her.
"Miss, you are overthinking it. You are already destined to marry the crown prince. That is a given so why worry yourself till you have wrinkles?" she said and the oval faced girl with cherry plump lips knitted her brows before saying,
"How bold of you," her tone harsh.
The servant girl stepped back feeling the hostility coming from her young miss. She lowered her head and knelt down with a plop.
She apologised sincerely and didn't get up until Isabella Martin, her miss let her stand up.
This beautiful woman was the daughter of the advisor to King Kian, Chancellor Martin. He was infamous for his policies on servant trade. He made sure that anyone born of a servant is also a servant by birth and is owned by the master with no chance to better their lives.
He wasn't popular with the people but who made his family so powerful? He was one of the few men closest to King Kian and his daughter had been rumoured to be the future crown princess.
Who would have thought King Kian would abide by customs and call forth a selection process? This was why she was sulking in the garden while watching fish. For years she had been strutting around with the halo of the crown princess over her head but everything came crumbling down unexpectedly.
Despite Queen Rhea's encouragement she couldn't help but worry. They weren't gathering just any young women of marriageable age but the most beautiful women of marriageable age in all of Odasal. With that knowledge how could she not feel threatened?