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::Continued... Heading home later that evening, I found myself reminiscing about my past, and how I came to be here, doing what I do. After all when you get down to it, I'm just a stubborn girl with a plan. The plan is nobody's business but my own, and my life is nobody's open book. A few things though, are public record. You can have that much 'for free'. My name is Ashalia. No last name, I left that in the trash when I left my family. Dig it up at your own risk, but I wouldn't recommend it. I was cursed with a face and form that are pleasing to look at That could have gone poorly for me were my parents not so well off. As it was, I grew up in a large manor and was safe at least from the sort of attentions I might have gotten growing up on the streets of Buya. That was, at least until the year of my 14th birthday when my father made a poor business decision. The consequences of that decision would have bankrupted the family for generations, and in order to get out of it he was arranging a marriage between myself and a prominent Buyan merchant. This man was old enough to be my grandfather, and had the personality of a three-legged ally cat that hadn't eaten in 3 days. Rumor had it he'd had several previous wives: all very young, and none of whom had lived long after marrying. Terrified, I pleaded with my father not to go forward with the marriage, but he was convinced that this was the only way to save the family fortune. He assured me that the man was old, and once he died, I would be a very wealthy widow. "Sure," I thought "and you'll be a very wealthy child's father." At last, I turned toward my bedroom. "You can take your fortune and put it in a warm dark place..." I muttered under my breath, "I am not going to sacrifice my life for this 'family'." I knew that if I married this merchant and waited 3 years for him to die, I would spend at least two and a half of those years in the ground, just another bump on the surface of the world. Decision made, I packed a few things and some of my dead mother's jewels, then slipped out of my window under cover of night. My mother's family hailed from Nagnang, which seemed about as far from Buya as I could get, so figured I'd head there. I took some provisions from the root cellar and a horse from the stables and left without looking back. It goes without saying that prior to that night I'd led a pampered existence, and had only ridden horses for pleasure on brief rides through my father's orchards. This was a different experience entirely. The terrain was rough, and I rode as hard and as fast as I could make that horse go. I knew that once my father noticed I was missing, he would stop at nothing to get me back, so I didn't stop until I found myself nodding off in the saddle. I didn't want to stop for the night at all, but I also didn't want to fall from my horse and break my neck, and that seemed like the only alternative. So reining up in a small clearing, I ate an apple and a hunk of cheese, then curled up under a tree to sleep. There was no fire, I didn't know how to build one - we had servants for that sort of thing. And I cursed under my breath when I realized I'd forgotten to bring any blankets. In the morning, I woke up, which was a good thing. It meant I hadn't frozen to death, and no wild animals had eaten me in my sleep. Then I got to my feet and wished that they had. It didn't matter though, after relieving myself I still had to get back in that hateful saddle and repeat the previous day twice over before I felt far enough away to be safe. The next three years were not pretty, and I won't share them. Suffice to say I kept my virtue at the expense of a few torn shifts and some bloody daggers, and I started to make plans. What plans? Let's just say father would not approve. Ashalia The Grey | |