The Beginning

            His body fell to the ground in a cloud of dust, causing a familiar tug to the iron shackles on her wrist binding her to the rest of the prisoners. 

“Fool,” she whispered under her breath as she looked at her bound feet, forced to a stop on the hot desert ground. 

 

The rules are simple, and reckless is the man who thinks himself wise. Don’t make eye contact, don’t fight, and never speak directly to the guards. That is the only way to survive. If this is even considered surviving. He looked up at a guard tower and was killed on sight.

 

She looked at the boy at her feet as she waited for a guard to remove the dead weight. Young, with sandy blonde hair and the strangest eyes. They were such light blue they could be almost white. She shivered as a memory brewed to the surface. Not again. Not now. The guard is coming. She shut her eyes and prayed to the gods above it would be a short one.

 

She stared into those eyes as he crouched above her. She felt his hot sweat drip from his chin onto her neck. If it was not for the hatred in those eyes keeping her from looking away, she would have screamed from the searing pain as he cut. Again.

 

            She held in her gasp, just as she had trained herself to do. The physical pain of the memory was still fading away as her vision returned. Whatever these memories were, if they even were memories, she still had no explanation. It was not her past she was seeing. She was Ira Alasqu. Born in the work prison, Vangal. Orphaned. Alone. Vangal is for the most wanted in the land. The most terrifying criminals. And apparently, for her. Her only memories were of her life here. Whatever she was seeing, it was not her. She was sure of that. 

 

She watched her feet as she flexed and unflexed her toes while a guard roughly pulled the chains to remove the body. She vaguely remembered a time when the chains rubbed her wrists raw. It seemed so long ago. She did not even know how long. But there was only one day left. In 22 hours, she would be 17 years old. And she would be released from the prison as an adult-- on her own. Once that happens, she will find out who she is and where she comes from. No matter the cost.