The third rebel dropped to the ground. Arja flinched at the sound of him hitting the floor. She had been trained to remain perfect composure. She had also been trained to kill. Four years ago, Arja had never so much as dreamed of ever following through with her court's lethal protocol. She had grown up surrounded by the smell of the sea and the never-ending flower gardens of the Zarian court. Her home was an Ivory colored castle with turrets the stretched into the sky and walls filled with magic. Her parents ruled over the Zarian isles.

It had been a sunny day the day her father was murdered. She walked into the throne room to find her father standing over her mother, his sword aloft.

'Please, Declan, don't do this!' 

Arja's mother sat crumpled on the ground. Her skirts were ripped and tears streamed down her face.

'Devina.' He said. 'I never loved you! get it in that pretty little head of yours. I simply don't need you anymore!'

Her mother's face contorted into a rage. 

'Kill me, Declan. Kill me now and know that I'll haunt you for the rest of your life! Your own daughter will despise you!'

Her father gave her mother a malicious smirk.

'That filthy excuse for a girl is no daughter of mine.'

Arja watched as her father raised his sword. Then, something clicked inside of her. She yanked a dagger out from underneath her skirts. She moved faster than she ever had before. She threw the dagger with deadly precision. 9 years of training flashed through her mind. The dagger flew through the air and struck her father right in the back of the head. Arja wiped her own teary eyes as her father fell in a crumpled heap on the ground. And such a shame too, on her fourteenth birthday...

No. This isn't where I need to be.

Arja shook her head, shooing the vision out of her head. The fae woman was healing her bullet wound, it was closing up quickly, the membranes under the feathers fusing together. The woman's brows furrowed.

'That'll have to do for now.'

The woman looked at Arja. Her black eyes still glistened with caution. Her power was clearly drained. Flowers were still scrawled across her skin. They spread down her neck and across her arms. It was obvious from a glance that she was fae. Her hair was thick and long, a glistening waterfall of chocolate-colored locks. Her caramel skin was flawless and looking at her eyes was like staring into tar, but they weren't blank and expressionless. Something swam inside them. Her ears and canines ended in points.

'Thank you' she said, Wrenching Arja away from her train of thought. Arja was straight, but there was still something that drew her to the fae woman. 'You're welcome' Muttered Arja, her gaze suddenly snagged on the thrid Rebel's lifeless body.  The Fae continued. 'You have a lot of courage to be walking around here with an allegiance to the throne...' she said. Arja gave The woman a puzzled look. The woman raised her eyebrows.

'This town is directly next to a rebel settlement.'