The silver moon was shining into her window, the sound of a battle being fought down stair sipped through her door. Tears of fear were streaming down her face, her hands, no her whole body trembled. Her father, Biran Giora, who was head of one of the nine mayor houses in the empire, had ignored all the signs. Her stepmother, Aviv Giora, had chuckled it up to be a sick joke. But she knew what was waiting for them, as soon as they were not allowed in the Temple of the Volaris, the Goddess of Honor and Strength. She knew it when one of the servants found a boutique of bloody black roses at the front door of the Giora mansion. The subtle jet clear warnings, and still no one, not even the servants listened to her. Which was not surprising, she was the daughter of a servant, who had crawled into their masters bed. Even when they knew that her mother didn’t had much choice in the matter. But that didn’t matter, she was nothing more then the bastard daughter of the duke, and what did she know about politics. What did she knew about the PURGE? It was something that didn’t happen often, and could only be done when the Emperor, Chezi Oran, himself gave permission. She slowly shook her head, and her long black hair waved before her head. She knew enough, she knew that Chezi Oran was the nephew of the current head of the House of Eldar, and that he, the Emperor, didn’t have any backbone when it came to his uncle. And she had hoped that her father knew that too, Unfortunately for her, this was not the case. She sighed and tried to calm herself down. The guards would stop them, who was she kidding. Apparently herself. Most of the guards, if they were smart, had either deserted their duty, shifted their allegiance, or were fighting to the death. And she couldn't blame them, either. She only wished that she had the same luxury. The nine mayor houses of the Empire were, Eldar, Oran, Moriel, Barkai, Tzviel, Shilo, Cherut, Aharon and Giora. But now this house was about to fall, wiped out not only by name, but their name will be removed from the History of the Empire. Screams from people, maybe her spoiled half siblings, echoed through her mind. The scream only lasted for as long as it did, followed by silence. Dead silence.
“Sire, there is only the tower.” a male voice said out loud. The tower, her room. Far away from everybody else, out of sight, out of mind.
“I doubt that somebody lives up there,” said another. It was again a man's voice, but this one was higher pitched. Would they skip this room? She hoped this with all her heart, that meant that she could escape this place. She would have to get rid of her family name, but that wouldn't be that much of a sacrifice.
“My father said to check every room,” a low and dangerous voice said. “And who knows, that old crow could hide his most viable possession up there.” He would be heavily disappointed, when he opened that door and found her in here. Still, one set of heavy boots climbed the stone spiral staircase. Her heart was beating heavily in her throat, she had a simple dagger, which she had snatched from the armory after the first warning, in her hand. The door swung open and one man entered. His black hair and silver eyes betrayed his name Ginat Eldar, son of the head, better known as the Black Wolf. Which was the crest of the house Eldar. “Who are you?” His question was simple and clear.
“Meyda Giora, Sire Eldar.” she replied there was no point in lying about who she is. Knowing that even servants were not save during a PURGE. “I am the dukes bastard.” Ginat nodded towards the dagger in her hand which trembled like a leave in an autumn storm.
“What were you going to do with that?” he asked. Her gaze went over the dagger, that was a very good question. She had taken the dagger to protect herself against any attackers, but she knew deep down that she was no match for the Black Wolf. She could use the dagger to kill herself, but she didn’t know how and she doubted that she would do a poor job with those shaking hands. She would die with a lot of pain, and pain was the one thing she was the most afraid off, more then she feared death. So she let go of the knife, and sunk through her legs. Tears flowing over her cheeks, she was a dead woman after all that time locked up in this tower she was going to die like the rest of her family. The heavy boots came closer, her heart was beating at the same rhythm.
“Is it going to hurt?” she asked softly.
“What?” his low voice sounded surprised. So she repeated her question, but was met with silence. So she figured that she needed to clarify herself a bit more.
“Dying by your sword those that hurt?” she asked, her voice was trembling so much that it was surprising that she was able to form the sentence.
“Yes, it is going to hurt.” he replied. So he was not going to lie to her, that was a good. At least now she knew what to expect. “But not for long that much I can promise you.” She nodded slowly, her head bowed. She was going to die there was nothing she could do about it, nothing she could do or say that would change his mind. The rest of her family hated her as much as they hated a rat, but her father had still given her the family name. And that was going to be her down fall.
“May I request one thing before you do it?” she asked, surprised by her own question but there was one thing she always wanted.
“That depends on the request,” he replied, which puzzled her even more. But that means that the Black Wolf could be reasonable. She closed her eyes.
“A huge,” she said softly. She hadn’t received a hug since her mother passed away, she herself was only two summers old. Her father had snapped at her that she was not a baby and shouldn’t cry as much over a dead woman. After that the only human thatch she received came with pain, her stepmother and half siblings had used her as their punching bag. And her father the man that gave her the Giora name, barely enough food to get to one day and some clothes to cover herself, didn’t stop them. On the contrary he even encouraged it, she hated the man that called him her father. But she hated the fact even more that she asked this man, the man that was about to kill her, to give her at least one positive interaction. All was it her last.
“A huge? That is it?” he asked. She opened her mouth to explain why she had asked him for one. “How can I trust you, what would stop you from killing me with another dagger?” He couldn’t trust her, not even when she would give him her word. Because her word didn’t hold much value, she was a bastard, a woman and above all else a Giora.
“You can’t,” she whispered. “You can’t trust me. I understand if you decline my request, it was a stupid one at that.” She didn’t look him in the eyes when she said that, her head was still bowed. But she saw his shadow, and it became bigger. He was kneeling down in front of her. He picked her chin and forced her head slowly upwards, so that she needed to look him in the eye. Those cold silver eyes, a shiver went through her spin. She was not permitted to look those above her in the eye, not her father, stepmother of half-siblings. But this man was forcing her to do it, maybe to see what kind of woman she was.
“Your request was not stupid, a bit unexpected. But not stupid,” he said. He leaned closer and wrapped his arms around her. He was hugging her, he was really hugging her. All the tears that she hold back over the years were now pouring out, the years of pain, neglect and the endless emptiness. Which would end very soon, with one swift stroke of his blade. It would only hurt a little, that was what he said and after that she would sleep forever. Free form it all, she closed her eyes ready to blow out her last breath.
*******
Ginat was really taken a back by that request, she wanted him to do what? It was not much a simple hug, he could even stab her in the ribs while he was ad it. Killing her mercifully, as she seemed really scared about the fact that it might hurt. But something inside him was telling him that this was not the way to go. The woman who was on the ground in front of him had black hair, but not raven wing black. Her hair made him think of the night sky, which always had a hint of dark blue. Her pink eyes told him that she had a hint of demon blood in her veins, which made her beautiful to say the least. Demons was another name for an extinct race which once inhabited these lands, he himself didn’t know the actual name, his father might know. But that was something he could worry about another time, the woman was not looking at him, her clothing which barely covered her body was dirty and full of wholes. Which made it possible for him to see the brushes on her body, her legs and arms were covered by them. He knelt down and took her chin gently, forcing her to look him in the eyes. She was shaking, so much. She was beyond scared, something he was able to understand his black clothing was covered with her families blood, maybe there were even some drop of said blood on his face. She was a sight to behold, but he must not forget his orders. She was a Giora, she was part of the enemy. But a huge was such a strange, but simple request. So he wrapped his arms around her body, and was shocked about how thin this girl was. All what he was able to feel were her bones, that Old Crow might have given her the Giora name, but he currently didn’t her treat her as such. The girl started to cry her heart out, and he understood why. It might have being a long time that she was met with such kindness. He might be sent here to kill her, but he had shown her more respect then her own family had done. He closed his eyes and cursed his father’s orders, he really didn’t want to kill this woman. The he noticed her becoming lump in his arms, she had lost conciseness, her skin was also cold to the thatch. Her chest went up and down, so she was still alive, but barely. He cursed out loud, which was enough for his man to rush up the stairs.
“Sire, is everything alright?” that was Baruch, a man with a very high pitched voice. “Who is that girl? That Old Crow’s latest whore?” Ginat gave him a death glare, Baruch knew as much as he did that those women didn’t had much choice. The Old Crow, better known as Biran Giora had a lot of power and enslaved the women that worked for him. He had no doubt in his mind that Meyda’s mother was one of those enslaved women.
“She is the Old Crow’s bastard,” Shir said, his voice was low and soft. Some might even say that his voice was calming. “I have seen her a few times inside the temple, she was there when they were not allowed entry.” Shir placed his hand on his chin. “It was clear to me, from my point of view, that she was the only one who knew what that meant.” Shir walked towards her and looked her over. “She is still alive. Sire…”
“She asked me for a huge, and I gave it to her.” Ginat said, he didn’t look at his men. Knowing how this might sound. “If you look closely, you all can see that she has not received much love. So a simple huge was not much, she however fainted after crying her eyes out. Which is not surprising, she has barely any meat on her bones.” He now looked at his men, who all nodded. ”I know our orders, we have to kill everybody with the name Giora.” He then looked at the woman, even if what Shir had said was true, and she understood what was going to happen what change did she have. The only two ways of escaping the PURGE was to escape the empire, but that required a lot of money, something she clearly didn’t have. Or marry out of this family, but which man would marry a woman like her. A woman with a hint of demon’s blood, and with a family name that would haunt her to the end of her days. She wouldn’t bring in a dowry, only shame. No man in his right mind would do that, but then again he couldn’t bring himself to kill her.
“But sire, can we call this a PURGE if we let her live?” Baruch said with his high pitched voice. “I understand that she is a victim of the Old Crow, but his blood is flowing in her veins. And above all else she is carrying his name.”
“I know that!” Ginat shouted, the whole room trembled from the sound. “I know that,” he repeated this time a bit calmer. He placed his hands under the girl. “But killing her feels somehow wrong,” he picked her up and walked towards his men. The pack, as they were called, a group of Eldar Knights who were handpicked by him.
“The only way to save her is by marring her, Sire.” Shir said. “And your father will not be happy when you tell him this.”
“I can handle my father, you all stick with the story that you tried to talk me out of it. But that I didn’t want to listen to reason.” Ginat said, which was the truth, but he knew that all members of the pack would lie for him if he asked them too. They were loyal, all of them. But Shir was right once again, his father will not like this at all. And his promise to deal with him, well that might be harder then he thought.
