Part 1
I glared at the land around me. It was barren. Grass, trees, flowers and animals were just a rumour round here. I had never seen grass, but apparently it’s green, like my eyes. I picked my way through the ashes that was basically, Kirr. Watching out for Pixies, a Pixie bite was not fun. The venom would spread through your body ten times the speed of a poison and adrenaline would begin to pump when it reached your mind and tapped into the adrenaline rush. The adrenaline would pump it round faster and faster and make it stronger as they fused. You’d feel the pain of a Pixie Bite, just a paper cut really. And then you would feel such an agony that you would not be able to move. Your body would sway but you would not fall and then, once the poison spread through your entire body you went stiff. You’d die standing. And your body would be preserved perfectly forever. They were the size of lizards and the colour of ash. Barely visible round here.
My stomach rumbled and she continued to look for food. There was next to nothing by means of food in Kirr. Animals were, as I said, a rumour. So no meat. No plants really, mainly because everyone’s too badass to grow vegetables or flowers. If I could describe Kirr in five words it would be: Ashen, Dank, Dark, Cold and Empty. Not a place people would choose to live. There was a small crumbled building in front of me. All the buildings in Kirr had crumbled and ‘died’ as nobody cared about anything. There were no laws, no boundaries and most had no concept of cleanliness, mainly because there was no water, clean or otherwise.
“Sassia!” My mother had seen me. I groaned and sped up in my walking to our building. I ran inside and skidded to a halt when I saw my mother. “Sassia! Look what I found!” She was all excited. “A mirror!”
She showed me a giant frame that a girl stood behind. “What is it?” I asked, frowning.
“Oh, Sassia. This is your reflection. This is you! A mirror is reflective glass, it shows you what it’s facing. Right now, that’s you.” I widened my eyes and looked at my ‘reflection’ as my mother called it. My face was streaked with dirt and my hair black and ragged. My almond-shaped eyes stood out in my face, a vibrant green. I was thin and my face was gaunt. My clothes were rags and I couldn’t tell what colour my skin truly was. I was short and if it weren’t for the angry expression that was glued to my face and the dirt I would’ve looked like a cute child who had just been playing in the mud. “Happy birthday Sassia.” My mother smiled. I was fourteen now. A dangerous age by Kirr’s standards but then again, whatever age you are, you can expect trouble if you’re in Kirr. She handed me a statue. It was beautiful. I had always admired two things in life: the beauty of true fighting and Savion’s work. Savion made statues and my mother had snuck into Thissian just to steal one for her birthday. If I knew how or what it means, I would be touched, probably.
“I have some things I want to tell you Sassia.” My mother looked serious. I sat down on the ashen floor and she sat next to me. “First, you are a princess. I named you Sassia for a reason.” Sassia meant Princess in the ‘old tongue’. “Your father was Prince Dession of Thissian. It was a challenge, I had to become his friend and then his girlfriend, to the point where he may have proposed then I killed him. But when they took me here I found out I was going to have you and I couldn’t get rid of you as we don’t have the facilities in Kirr. I’m glad I didn’t now though.” Talk about random and where was the build up? She could’ve made this a bit of a more fun conversation. She continued. “There is one other thing. There is word in the pub. You should go and listen as some may concern you and now that you are fourteen, we are to part, as are the ways of Kirr.”
I nodded. “But what would I listen for mother?” I asked, formality was always expected when I was near mother. I guess she just tried to bring me up like a real princess.
“A purpose. You listen, you learn and you find purpose.” She replied quietly. “I found my purpose. I listened, I learned that people thought nobody could kill the Prince. I found my purpose and I proved a point, you need to do the same.”
I smiled and left the crumbling grey building. There was what used to be pub. Some men were inside sifting through the rubble for any remains of food. I walked inside and curtly nodded to one. He nodded back, to show that I was welcome. As I sifted through the ashes and rubble the men continued with their conversation. “I heard they were going to kill Manyé” The men laughed.
“Manyé had it coming.” Another man said, his expression turning from amused to grim. I personally had no idea who Manyé was.
“So why are you here kid?” One man asked, turning to me.
“My mother killed the Prince of Thissian. She was sent here then I was born.”
The men’s eyes widened and they viewed with a new respect. “How’d she kill him?” One asked, his eyes all wide with interest.
I smiled with malice. “Looking for some ideas mate?”
The man nodded and smiled. “It must be a great story. The Prince of Thissian, he can’t have been an easy catch.”
“She heard that nobody could kill the Prince so she took a job as his maid and became his friend after four months. They became good friends and she planned to kill him then and there. But then he kissed her one day. So she wanted to develop her plan. They became extremely close and they were at the point where he could have proposed. They were in his marbled tower and he went to get some food for a romantic evening. My mother put on her lipstick and after they ate she kissed the prince who then licked his lips and died. Her lipstick was made of the most powerful poison: Dark Poison. Then she got caught, sent here and found out she was going to have the prince’s child.”
“Well, that was a genius plan. What happened to the kid?” He asked then gasped when he got a look at my eyes. They were a vibrant green, rare in Kirr and Thissian. The only known people with green eyes were royalty. “You’re the kid? You should be in Thissian! You’re the Prince’s only child!”
I grimaced. “The sound of that makes me feel sick. Kirr is my home. I like the way we live in nothing. Living in ‘luxury’ doesn’t sound like fun. People to do everything for you? I’ll never have any fun!” The men laughed.
“I heard they were going to kill Savion.”
“Who?” One asked.
I butted in. “Savion’s an artist; he creates sculptures out of special rock that’s supposed to have special properties. It’s in all different colours and the colours symbolise something. Like red is healing. If I lived in Thissian I’d want to do what he does.”
The men nodded to show they’d heard me. “So they’re gonna kill a sculptor? Why bother?” One asked.
“He angered a lot of people and snuck out of Kirr which angered the rest of us.”
“Who’s gonna kill ‘im?” I asked.
“Arhmei[1], she’s the most quiet, stealthy and unknown assassin there is.”
I smiled. The man who’d first seen my eyes looked at me warily. “What are ya thinkin’ miss?”
“I’m a thinkin’ it might be fun ta try to kill Arhmei.”
One man raised an eyebrow, “Kill Arhmei? You couldn’t beat me in a fight darlin’ an’ I can’t beat her.”
“Oh yeah, I’m short and cute. Who says I can’t beat you?”
“You wanna find out?”
“Oh, you’re on.” I jumped onto his back and he slammed his body down onto the ground. I leapt off his body and clung onto the beam on the ceiling before he landed on me. He landed on the Earth with a thud and the air left his body. I let go of the beam and landed next to him on my feet. I put my foot on his chest. “That was easy.” I laughed. He grabbed my ankle and flipped me over. He stood up and moved to where he had flipped me but I had already moved. I climbed to the top of what used to be the bar and stood. I leapt onto his back and floored him. I landed on him, stood, rolled him over and sat on his chest. “If I can take ya on and win within a matta of minutes then I can take on an assassin and have a good chance o’ winnin’.”
Another man picked me up by my collar and stood me on my feet. “You did good kid. I haven’t seen Baod take a shot ever. Let alone lose!”
I held out a hand to Baod and he took it so I pulled him up with ease despite his bulk. Baod looked surprised. “I am stronger than I look. Anyways I’m a leavin’. I wanna go find this Arhmei. She’s a challenge, you hear she’s dead you know it were me. Added bonus if I save the sculptor!”
The men laughed and I ran out the building.
