3 Chapter 1: Rulia Cleridalle

I opened my eyes.

It was fortunate that not a lot of sand fell into them. After all, I was buried quite deep into the cave. With the flow of time, some sand got blown away by the wind and there was at least some air pockets that allowed the sunlight to reach me. The changing warmth of the sun was the only reprieve from a boring existence.

A commotion startled me awake and made me breathe a lungful of dust. Although the lungs were no longer functioning, I could still taste the dust. What a waste of holding my breath for a hundred years.

I strained my ears to hear, but I was still stuck in the hole. What woke me?

Curious, I sent out my senses. It seemed like a large travelling troop. There was the laboured breathing of large animals and the smell of an assortment of scents, people and dirt. I wrinkled my nose and frowned.

I let the spirit flow through the troop, taking note of their uniforms and weapons. At the least, these should be the guards of nobility. There were weird emblems on their chests and hair and their weapons were of a really high quality, even better than the Kingdom of Aureia! I could sense the sharpness from how the wind pushed against their blades. The poor would have disdained this level of detailedness and would never need to wield such sharp swords.

If this was a noble troop, then there should be someone of importance in the middle of the troop. The spirit entered the most elaborate carriage and read through the destiny of the woman.

'She is here.'

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"Lady Rulia, the guards seek your permission to set up camp soon."

The woman dressed in red continued looking into the sand dunes, her long lashes casting a shadow on her cheeks. A mole settled below her right eye, and a purple light shone in her obdisian orbs for a brief moment. She waved her hand, dragging the long embroidered sleeves elegantly with her movement.

"Yes, Lady Rulia."

Rulia Cleridallle. A twenty year old Kaedolian woman of royal descent on her way to the neighbouring kingdom of Siodros as a tribute. But unknown to Siodros, this woman was a Trojan horse who will rain destruction on the kingdom.

The main reason was that she was the destined to be the villain in the Siodrosian history.

'Rulia Cleridalle...what an interesting fine.'