"Heeelp! Stop, please! I will…."
The woman's voice vanished into the chaos, swallowed by the shouts and the clash of weapons as the warrior's sword pierced through her skin. Her little daughter, only five, reached out with trembling hands, her cry fading as one of the soldiers carried her away. The sounds of struggle died out one by one, until even her small voice was gone.
This was the fate of the entire kingdom of Trontine. The once lively streets were littered with overturned carriages, abandoned belongings, and the echoes of panic. The cries of people fleeing, the stomp of armored boots and intense smell of blood filled the air. The royal guards had fallen, the nobles executed, the mages defeated, and the royal family reduced to two survivors. The siege of two days had crumbled the whole kingdom to dust.
Only the prince and princess remained.
Dragged to the town square, they were forced to witness the unraveling of everything they had ever known.
"Ahhh!" Prince Gavriel cried out, his voice cracking under the weight of everything unfolding before him. Moments earlier, he had fainted after watching his parents killed by Damon's men in the palace. He had woken only after being shaken violently, the world spinning and full of deafening noise.
But what stunned everyone; Damon's warriors, the frightened spectators, even Damon himself, was the princess's silence.
Nyssa didn't scream. She didn't sob. She didn't plead. Her expression was still, distant, as if her mind had hidden itself somewhere far away to survive the moment.
The calmness irritated Damon. He stood, approached her, and struck her cheek lightly, more in frustration than anger.
"You're not gonna cry?" he said with a mocking smile. But Nyssa only stared ahead, unfocused.
His advisor leaned in, whispering, "She might be using magic to shield her emotions…"
Damon narrowed his eyes. "No. She can't wield such power. All she knows how to do is talk with animals."
His advisor chuckled and cast another glance at the tattered girl.
Damon waited for any sign that she was breaking. A tremble, a flinch, a crack in her mask - but he saw nothing. His irritation slowly simmered into something colder.
Then,
"Bring the boy forward," Damon said, his eyes never leaving Nyssa.
Gavriel was pulled toward a chair and tied down. Nyssa's breath hitched for the first time, her head jerking toward him.
"Sister!" He cried out to her frantically.
Nyssa gasped. No, he was just a little boy. He was just a child!
"No… please… don't," she whispered, her voice thin and trembling.
Damon smiled faintly. "Finally… something reaches you."
The soldier holding the blade hesitated, looking to Damon for the final order. Nyssa lurched forward, only to be held back.
"No!" She struggled desperately. "Please, kill me instead! I'll do anything, just spare him!" Her tears fell fast, and her vision blurred as her head spinned faster than she could imagine.
Damon's smirk didn't waver. Nyssa's heart sank and before the moment fully registered, Gavriel slumped forward - dead. Nyssa's eyes widened in shock as she stared at her brother's lifeless body.
"Sister! Look, I caught a dragon fly!"
He was so full of life earlier in the day before tragedy struck.
It couldn't be…her brother couldn't just be gone like that. It was impossible…..
He had just spoken to her right now.. right?
There was no way he wasn't alive.
Wake him.
"Wake him. Wake him," she whispered repeatedly and Damon watched her quietly.
"Should we finish her too?" His advisor murmured to him, casting a lazy glance at the girl.
"No." Damon crouched beside her, lifting her chin gently with his fingers.
His eyes raked over her body as the clothing she wore outlined her voluptuous figure.
"You know, wife dear," he leaned closer to her with a whisper, "we never got to consummate our marriage."
Nyssa's eyes snapped to him but she said no words. She just stared blankly.
He retreated, standing up.
"I have a use for her. Keep her alive."
"Yes, my king."
Two soldiers lifted Nyssa carefully and began carrying her toward the palace.
"Take her into the carriage. We are heading back to Askye," Damon said, brushing a hand through his hair as he surveyed the kingdom Trontine that had once glimmered in white and gold. Now it was bleak, as if the color itself had been drained from the land.
"Magic wielders," he muttered. "Your era is over. This kingdom now belongs to the Askye Empire."
He took a long breath, chest rising with satisfaction.
"And I… shall be its Emperor."
A quiet laugh escaped him, building in strength until his men kneeled.
"All hail Emperor Damon!
"Long live the Emperor!"
The new ruler smiled, slow and confident.
His reign had begun.
…
Nyssa's eyes fluttered open to a sea of darkness. Cold fear seeped through her veins as she tried to shift, only for metal to clatter sharply. Chains. Tight around her wrists and ankles.
She lifted her head, and a thin ray of light leaking through a tiny hole in the wall brushed her cheek. Proof that she wasn't dead… not yet.
A dungeon. His dungeon. It had to be.
Her heartbeat hammered against her ribs like it was trying to break free.
As she forced herself upright, the chains scraped and bit into her skin. She winced. Only then did she notice her clothes had been changed.
Her gaze dropped to her hand. The ring. It was still there. She curled her fingers until her knuckles turned pale, as if she could hold onto the last piece of her old life. As if she could snap his neck once and send him to his ancestors.
The weight of everything slammed into her, and her tears spilled; endless, silent and heavy.
Her chest tightened painfully. The air refused to come. Her throat constricted and she grabbed at it instinctively, gulping for breath as panic overtook her.
"Help…" The word trembled out of her. Her soft sobs grew sharper, louder, until they tore from her throat and filled the cell.
"Noo!!"
Her cries were loud enough to alert the guards. They rushed in to find her on the floor, trembling and overwhelmed.
"Should we step in?" One whispered.
The other shook his head.
"No. His Majesty said not to interfere. She's… processing it. Leave her." He clicked his tongue, watching her fold herself like a wounded creature.
"Poor girl. Losing her family in one day." He gave one last look, then turned away. The second guard followed suit.
Nyssa cried until her body had nothing left to give. Her eyes were swollen, her face flushed, her breath unsteady. She laid there, empty and shaking, when footsteps echoed from the corridor.
They were slow, cold and precised. She didn't need a seer to know who they belonged to.
She couldn't see him, not in the darkness, but she felt his commanding presence.
"Well, well, well… look who's awake." His low chuckle slithered through the cell and fury surged through her.
Dragging herself upright despite the chains scraping her skin,
"I will kill you."
Her voice vibrated with venom. Damon looked amused.
"Yes. On bed of course."
The guards behind him snickered, but one sharp glance silenced them instantly.
"I should have killed you when I got the chance!" She spat at him, her eyes swirling with hate and pain as she crawled forward to see his view better.
"That tone…" Damon clicked his tongue lightly. "Not ideal for addressing your husband."
A smirk carved itself across his face, his icy blue eyes gleaming with mirth.
"In your next life, should fate bother granting you one, try to be worth something."
With no further acknowledgement, he turned and walked away. Her fury lashed out after him.
"Damon! DAMON!" Her voice cracked, but he didn't pause. Not once.
The moment he disappeared, her strength gave out. She collapsed onto the cold stone, her breath stuttering. She felt her body tremble and weaken, and in no time, she passed out from exhaustion.