01

As a child, I had been a coward and Adrina had been my only escape from my life of nobility and all the aristocratic bullshit. I remember she had been with me since my earliest days. Her mother was a lowerclass woman who had an affair with an upperclass man which was strictly forbidden at that time. I remember her as only a thin and a ghostly pale woman who looked as if death was slowly and more painfully taking her away like a corpse.

Adrina looked not a bit like her mother who died when she was seven. She probably took on her cruel father who abandoned her mother when she was pregnant with her. She had been a close friend of my own mother who sympathised with her deeply. So, she gave them an abode near our own house.

Her mother was often sick. So, Adrina would always stay close to me if I needed anything. She was smarter than me at the young age of seven or maybe her circumstances made her to be. I often wondered how life felt like to her who was constantly reminded of her place in the social hierarchy.

On cold winter mornings where I would curl myself in bed, in fear that my father would scold me for being so incompetent, again, at the breakfast table. Adrina would wake me up. She would bring me black tea with toast. I often felt bad eating in front of her who was probably hungry most mornings because the slaves were only allowed to eat after the family was done. I never offered her anything I ate. Because when I did, she would always refuse like she had the control and disposition of an adult and that made me feel very small.

I didn't have many friends as a kid because most of them would rather prefer staying in the presence of my older brother, Zayden who got his name because of his fierce red hair that always intimidated the other kids.

I had very few memories of playing with my brother but I always cherished them for I knew he had started to hate me as I grew older. He was stronger. Taller. He would always beg father to let him accompany him when he went hunting whereas I tried to run away from it. Father loved Zayden and I knew he hated me. He didn't speak to me often but when he did, he only complained.

'Caelus, take your swordsmanship classes seriously. Being weak won't get you anywhere'.

'Why don't you take fighting classes with your brother'.

'Your nose is always buried in those pointless books. Come with me to hunt today. A real man should be able to protect his loved ones'.

And When he was not belittling me. He would be complaining to my mother about how she had spoiled me.

So, I always played with Adrina when no one was around because the other kids would tease me for playing with a girl, especially her who was a slave. She would ask me to read to her the stories from my books since she couldn't read herself and what what was a slave to do with education? She was loyal to me. She would often prevent me from Zayden's mockery since he wouldn't hit girls. She would wake me up, iron my clothes, take the blame for vases that I broke and she would always protect me.

Spring. TWELVE YEARS AGO.

"Caelus, your father was looking for you yesterday. He looked pretty angry." Adrina said holding the tray in her small, twelve year old hands. She was only allowed to call me by my name when no one was around.

"I know. I failed to get even in the top five in the race with the neighborhood kids." I replied getting out of my bed, yawning.

I had slept late yesterday because my father, in his anger, took me to a close friend of his who taught the art of fighting to the nobles. I would be attending his classes everyday for the entire summer.

I never felt ashamed of admitting my defeat in front of her or hiding behind her when Zayden was trying to bully me to prove his dominance in front of other kids. She was weaker than me. I could run faster than her even in my sleep.

After I had finished my breakfast, she told me to hurry up and get washed up since my teacher would be arriving soon. I was weak but my schedule was very packed even as a kid. I had language, piano, politics and swordsmanship lessons everyday and other classes were on alternate days.

After I was done with the day, Adrina would play with me until I was too annoyed of her that I told her to go back to her house. It was an old worn out house and the paint was scrapping off of the walls. I never liked seeing such a grotesque place so, I would tell her to leave her sick mother alone and play with me in my garden. It was not a problem later on since her mother died when she was only seven and she did not shed even a single tear.

A weak after I had lost in that silly race, my father was still very angry with me and worried about my future. After he had took away all the playtime that I liked spending with Adrina he had plans of taking her away too.

My father never liked her. He didn't like how i spent all my time with a slave instead of playing with the other boys. To my mother, Adrina was very dear. Around that time, I heard my father and mother quarrelling for the first time. It was about her. Apparently, her upperclass father felt bad for abandoning her mother so he wanted to atone for his sins by taking her back. He requested to my father about it and my mother who was worried about her, didn't want to send her away. I sat outside the room, hugging my knees to my chest unable to imagine a life without her.

"Let's resolve this matter some other day. You're going to wear yourself out with all that worry." I heard my father's voice at last and they were silent.

I didn't tell Adrina about that matter or I didn't know how to. So, I just pretended like nothing happened and tried to work harder in my other classes so my father would change his mind.

And I decided to win the sword fight competition on the spring festival to impress my father.