Chapter One

[seventeen years later]

CLANK! The sound of my sword against a woman's in a fight filled the air.

"Nyah..!" I yelled as I hit Gazelle with my sword but she quickly dodged it. "Now this is for Lady Diana. Take this moron." I said and swung my sword again but missed this time and Gazelle knocked me over and placed her sword on my chest.

"Kahlan killed you twice already Karen." Gazelle said.

"Well, not if lord Torren says no." I said and quickly tackled her before I swiftly maneuvered and before she could respond, I had my sword pointed to her chest. "Told you." I said.

"Well, you would have been long dead before that maneuver." Gazelle said as she extended her right hand and I helped her up. "You're getting pretty good at this though." She said.

Gazelle has been my trainer for eighteen months now. We lived in a little poor village but my mother, Mara for some reasons I do not know insists I get trained to defend myself and so she hired Gazelle to do that.

"Our village never gets attacked, I don't know why my mother insists I learn to fight." I said.

"You love it, Karen, so don't complain. Appearing feeble but then being very strong makes a perfect combination." A thirty-year-old Gazelle responded as she tightened her red hair with her slim fingers. "Have you finished the book yet?" She asked me.

"No, I've been cleaning stables with mother and have barely had time to concentrate on reading books," I responded.

"Right. You play lady Diana perfectly."

"I'm stronger than she is though. I wasn't born a princess."

"Neither was Aurora, but she was a very strong fighter." She responded smiling.

We burst out laughing when my mother Mara called out to me.

"Enough practice for today Karen. Rose wants you at the tavern as soon as possible. Your tip can get us a new lantern, you know." My mother said approaching us.

"Of course mother." I responded happily.

"Don't forget to take Adrian's pills along with you." She added.

"Of course." I nodded.

After the attack seventeen years ago, Mara took me in as her child and I somehow had no memory of what happened that day. She changed everything about me which included my name. We lived in a poor village called Damitro and did many works to get our daily bread. From cleaning stables to working on farms, to serving customers at the tavern just to make a decent living. Everybody in Damitro including children and adults loved me very much and the whole of Damitro looked out for each other. Damitro was a poor village which had just one source of water, the Dami river. Nevertheless, it had beautiful trees that grew different fruits and we had a lot of farmlands there. It was an interesting village to live in.

"Thank you very much for today Gazelle." Mara said.

"She's a fast learner Mara. I'm glad I was her teacher." Gazelle responded. "In no time, I'm sure she'll be capable of leading a troop of soldiers to war and they definitely will return victoriously."

"I saw you kill her twice." Mara said.

"Well, that's because I'm Gazelle. But she still pulled off an awesome maneuver. She has a strong wit." Gazelle responded.

They continued their conversation as I left for the tavern. Working in the tavern was one of the jobs I enjoyed doing the most as there was constant entertainment there. My mother worked in stables and farmlands with me but I worked in the tavern alone.

I got to the tavern and It was quite busy that day. People drank and danced as I worked.

"There our sweetheart comes." A drunken man shouted from the crowd as I walked in.

"Aye...!" Some other men responded.

I smiled and made my way to Perril a young boy who also took turns serving at the tavern.

"What's the occasion today?" I asked him.

"You didn't hear? Talus killed a lion with his bare hands today." Perril responded.

"That's a ridiculous lie, Talus is always drunk," I responded.

Perril laughed "you never fall for any of my jokes."

"I know you too well."

"Haha. Well, Hazel finally said yes to Talus and here we are celebrating it." Perril said.

"She did? Wow, that's strange but I'm happy for Talus."

"Maybe she can control his drinking habit after all." Perril said laughing.

"I hope so too." I said searching for Talus and finally seeing Hazel sitting next to him with a wide grin on her face.

"Karen don't just stand there, get us drinks." Talus shouted happily.

"Aye captain." I said and hurried off to get the drink.

"Attention everyone.!" Perril said hitting a metal cup on a table.

"What story do you have today Perril?" Hazel asked.

"I hear a strange woman has been roaming Damitro, in armors and swords, bows and arrows... Has anyone here seen her yet?" Perril said.

"No, but she approached my daughter and almost killed her." A man responded.

"Your daughter? Your daughter is out of town man." Perril said.

"He's drunk." I smiled as I told Perril.

"I see that." He responded.

"Well, I've seen women conquer in battles. Let me tell you a legendary story of a female warrior." Talus said but Rose quickly cut him short.

"That won't stop you from paying Talus. Take that story elsewhere." She said.

"Oh please. We are here to celebrate us so let's do just that." Hazel said waving.

The crowd cheered and continued with their different activities.

"I think they're the perfect match made by the gods of the lights." I said to Perril.

"I still think Hazel would have settled for better. I mean look at that." He said pointing towards Talus who was getting his entire cloth soaked in wine.

"He's never going to change Perril." I said laughing.

The celebration, dancing, and drinking suddenly stopped when a woman walked into the tavern without a smile on her face. She looked just like the lady Perril had explained earlier.

"Is she the one?" I whispered to Perril.

"I think so. I never got to set my eyes on her." Perril responded in a whisper as well.

"But you said..."

"I heard. Now keep quiet, I think she wants to speak." Perril whispered.

"Does what she wants to do matter?" I whispered back.

"Stop talking." Perril said putting his palm over my mouth.

The woman stopped right in the middle of the tavern. She had her armor on, her sword in her scabbard which dangled on her waist, and her glaring gaze all over the tavern. Her blonde hair was neatly arranged and tucked in behind her ear. She scowled at each of us in the tavern, one after the other without speaking yet.

Who was she and what did she want here?