The Uniter of Aram

Kick. Punch. Left. Right. Duck. Fake kick and sucker punch from blind spot. The reactions flowed from my body naturally. After twelve years of training it was pure instinct and it never let me down. I kicked the knee and watched as my opponent fell to the ground face down. I tapped his bare back with the dull end of my Vire, a wooden weapon normally filled with the venom from fawn’s blood. Since this was training, it obviously did not contain the venom and I couldn’t stab him with the sharp end of the stake. The feeling in my gut telling me what to do was never wrong, at least when it came to battling Caden. I’d been fighting him for years and by now I knew every trick he had up his grimy sleeves. He was no longer a challenge for me, which was a problem. If he couldn’t continue to enhance my abilities, we’d no longer train together. This is where the provoking came in. It kept him from being a girl and chickening out, but he knew better than that by now. “Come on, now. Don’t be such a baby. You’re getting weak, Caden.”

“I think we’re done for the day, Reyna,” He said looking at me with his crystal blue eyes. There was always something about his eyes; it was as if the second he looked at you he could see straight through your soul. Actually, it wasn’t just his eyes, it was his entire presence in general. I could feel it and it gave me chills every time. I felt a sense of violation, but it a peaceful way. It was difficult to explain.

Everyone in the land of Aram had similar facial features: blue eyes, strong jawlines, thin lips and stringy ash blonde hair. Everyone except me of course. I was the “special” one. I had a tall frame at five-foot-eight-inches which was abnormal for a girl of Aram, I even passed up at least twenty-five percent of the men. My eyes were the identical shade of green that covered many miles of the forest that bordered the Aram land. My hair was as black as a raven’s feather with orange and yellow pieces braided into it as a sign of royalty.

My father, Alaric, had been the leader of our land for a thousand years. His brother, Henry was the ruler of the land of Liam which was the dwelling grounds for the Sons of Liam. Liam was Henry’s oldest son and they gave themselves a new name after our lands separated. To this day, the only people who know the actual reason our land split into two was Henry and my father. There were speculations and each side had their own story to tell. It was evident the truth was fabricated in any event due to pride. When it came to these two rulers, wisdom definitely did not come with age.

Age was a strange thing in this time. Two hundred and fifty years after the fall of the United States, the continent quickly became barren along with the majority of the world and our kingdom was formed. People began to play with dark magic and came up with a way to freeze the aging process. This was not a permanent effect, but it lasted for a very long time. A child would grow up and age the normal cycle until they reached seventeen which was considered to be the peak of life. It was then that the ritual was preformed. It was different for every person, it could take up to fifty years to reach the age of twenty or the ritual might not always take effect right away. There was once a case where a woman did not stop ageing until thirty. I was told she lived over five hundred years. The amount of magic used is different depending on the person’s social status. A commoner could receive a two hundred to five hundred year dose, whereas the rulers and higher-class people that were important to ruling our land received a higher dose. This is why my father has been our ruler for as long as he has. His physical age was around sixty; the same goes for his brother. Although, I’ve never actually seen my uncle in person, I’ve only heard stories.

I sighed as Caden moved closer to me, he was one of the men I didn’t pass up in height and one of the few that was significantly taller than me at six-foot-four-inches. “We need to get ready for tonight. The council will be here in a few hours. I’ll meet you outside your room in an hour and a half to escort you.” I nodded then excused myself from the training field.

Every member of a ruler’s family and future rulers, like Caden and I, lived in the Grand House. It wasn’t really a house though; its structure was more like a gothic style castle just not as big. Caden and I had discovered that exploring in the library one day. Both of us loved learning about what the world was like before the decline of North America. In a way we went backwards, America had so much technology and scientific advances and now we rely on magic and prophecies. I was taught that we escaped the Dark Ages hundreds of years ago, but it doesn’t feel that way. It seems the more we “progress” the deeper we suppress ourselves in the Dark Ages.

I entered my bedroom and went straight for my dark wood wardrobe. My room was a very large room, bigger than most due to the fact that I was the leader’s daughter and supposed “Uniter”. The walls were a deep red and had black lace trim around the crown molding. My bed had a cream colored lace comforter and was a terrible trouble to keep clean.

I put on a silk purple dress and tied my hair up into an elegant braid. By looking at me you could never tell I was outside training and sweating all day. While taking one last look in the mirror I heard a knock on the door, it was Caden. “Are you ready? The council has summoned you. The time has come.”