Lady of Nyv

She walked down the long stone path that led up to a small, yet extravagant castle. The windows contained glass in various colours, and the flag of the North hung boldly from posts on the highest points of the castle. There were no guards at the main doors of the castle, which had perplexed Ona when she was first brought here, but she was quick to learn why. As she walked through the heavy main door she thought back to her first encounter with the King's adviser, Raf.

He had been walking down the main hallway, on his way to his chambers in the Western tower when she had been dragged through the heavy doors. She was fighting the guard who had dragged her from the safety of the forest. She pushed against the muscular arm that held her slightly above the ground, and she kicked at the air viciously. Raf had walked over to see what all the commotion was, and she had spat at him. He had reeled back, clearly disgusted with her behaviour, and called to another guard who had been meandering about the main hall. The second guard, who she now knew as Gaf, marched swiftly over to her, and grabbed her other arm, and one leg, inhibiting her movement.

Raf walked forward cautiously and knelt down in front of her. "What is your name?" He had asked. "Forgive me, Your Lordship, but she is a vile creature who is not deserving of your presence, much less your time." The guard had interjected before Ona could answer, and the King's adviser had seemed rather irritated by his outburst. "I will decide her fate, not you!" He had snapped at the first guard. Raf glanced back at Ona, and met her eyes expectantly. She cleared her throat, "My name is Ona, Your Grace." She said calmly. "I am not the King, my dear. There is no need to refer to me as 'Your Grace.'" She had nodded, unsure of how to refer to this strange, yet somehow important, man that knelt before her.

Raf looked up as the guard began to tell of how she had been captured. "We found her wandering around in the forest South of here, beyond the river," The guard began, "When we called to her, she ran, so we chased her. We wanted to be sure she was in good hands. When we finally caught her, she bit Jek, and got his dagger. She wounded three men. Miraculously, we were able to trap her and bring her back here to be punished."

"Is this true?" Raf asked her, his deep green eyes pierced into her own. "Yes." She confessed, "But they frightened me with all their yelling and weapons. I thought they intended to harm me." She continued. She was unable to remove her eyes from Raf's. She was strangely paralyzed. Suddenly, Raf dropped his eyes from hers, and she was able to move once again.

"I believe you." He stated. "Do you have any family nearby?" Ona said she had none, that she wasn't sure where she came from, which was untrue, but she did not want the guards to find her family, lest they harm them for her insolence. It was then that she had been unofficially adopted by Raf. He declared her to be his niece, and trained her to be a wise warrior. She had remained at the castle ever since.

She smiled softly at the memory. She was only twelve at the time, but she was amazed at her own ignorance. Raf had known that she could be moulded into something great; someone of great use for his kingdom. She had been forced into many duties throughout her seven years that she had remained here. Kitchen duty, floor polishing, gardening; all of these she had tried as a young'un, but she had not found her true passion until she was fifteen, just four short years ago.

Raf had declared that there was to be a gathering of the most elite and furtive in the world of hand-to-hand combat. Hundreds of men had arrived at the castle in the night, bringing with them their own personal weapons. Ona had sneaked into the room in which they had gathered and hidden herself in a dark corner. From there, she watched these men fight each other to the death; eyes wide. It was a day she would never forget. It was the day she had chosen her passion; the day she began training to be the first and only woman assassin.

Ona should have expected that being an assassin would be her passion. In the years before her capture she had always been fighting something. She had been in charge of killing animals for her family's food, and she had been known to take on prey as large as mountain lions from the Middle Lands. She had been out hunting the day of her capture. She had wondered for years what had happened to her family after she had been taken. Had they died? Or had Dom saved them? She had been reunited with her brother only a few months ago, and now knew that the fate of her family had been gruesome.

Dom had told her that after she had been declared the niece of the King's Adviser, their mother, who was already grief-stricken from the loss of their father a few years earlier, had been inconsolable. Their mother, Des, had abandonned her four remaining children. Dom did not know what became of her, but he was sure she was dead. As the eldest now that Ona had been taken, was left to raise his three remaining siblings. However, Dom could not always be there. He had to sleep, and hunt, and one day he awoke without the three younger siblings. He had been sleeping in a tree, with the little ones on the ground. He did not hear anything while he slept, and he awoke alone.

It was then that Dom became a nomad. He would travel to one place, stay the night, and disappear the next morning. He was careful not to make any friends, or worse, lovers. He knew he could never go through such pain again.

Ona brought herself back to reality as she walked into a small, dark meeting room. She glanced swiftly around the room, and walked slowly to her seat at the long wooden table. She sat carefully in her seat to the right of the head of the table, and nodded at each Member in turn. There were thirteen of them all together. The Members were composed of the most elite fighters, hunters and assassins in all the North. She looked to her left and saw Kel and Qua were using their daggers to create spears, and a few others were polishing their weapons as well.

The door opened and Ser, the leader of the group, walked in stiffly, sat, and cleared his throat to attract everyone's attention. All of the Members dropped what they were doing, and snapped their heads toward Ser, eyes glued to his every movement. As the only female in the group, Ona was treated with great respect, and in some cases, she was feared.

Ser stood quietly, and addressed the group. "I'm not sure if you've all been updated on why you've been called away from your duties about the North, but I can assure you it is for a very important reason." Ser stopped to clear his throat, and continued on. "Recently, some plans have been put in place to conquer the South once and for all." Ser paused in order to let this shocking news sink in. One of the older members, Qua, opened his mouth to speak, but Ser held his hand up to silence him.

"Raf, the King's Adviser, and I have gone through this plan many times. It is flawless. I can guarantee this. We will need all the strong fighters we can possibly muster, and you will all need to be in peak physical condition, as we are not planning on travelling through the West, nor the East. We are going through the Middle Lands." All of the Members' jaws, including Ona's, fell open. Ser chuckled darkly. "Now," He continued. "Let me explain."

"We will depart at sunrise in three days time." Ser began, "We are planning on having no less than two dozen men, and you must all make it to the South. Once we have left Nyv, we will travel in a straight path, through the Middle Lands, and into the South. Once we are in the South, we will declare that we only desire peace; this is why we must only travel with two dozen men. We will be brought to the new King, King Nyannd. This is when Ona will be of an asset," Ser declared, his gaze lingered on Ona.

"Ona, you must make Nyannd fall in love with you." All the Members gasped. This was not what they had planned in their minds. Ona was equally as shocked, she had wanted the bloodshed and carnage that taking over a Kingdom brought upon them.

Ser slammed his hand down on the table to quiet the clamour. "Once he has fallen for her, they will wed. He will mysteriously fall ill, and the South will be Ona's for the taking." The Members shared a look of relief as Ser uttered those few last words. He looked at Ona. She could see the concern in his eyes.

"Are you willing to go through with this for your Kingdom?" Ser asked her. She smiled softly. "Of course." She stated, "But, how do you know the South will fall to Northern rule so easily? Won't they rebel?" "That's a risk we're going to have to take." Ser stated. She could see the his devotion to his Kingdom written all over his face. She sighed, and Ser dismissed the meeting. They were to meet once again at the gates of the castle in three days time at dawn.

Ona left the meeting room in a daze. Her mind swirled with thoughts of marriage, love, and betrayal. She knew that their journey through the Middle Lands would be the most demanding and treacherous part of their quest for the Members as a whole, but for Ona, t'was the marriage and love and conquering that would require all of her physical and mental strength. She had never been in a position where love was included, even if she was feigning her feelings. All her life she had been a creature of hate, of carnage and bloodshed. How could she ever pretend to fall in love- with a Southerner, no less? These thoughts screamed at her until she reached her residence.

She closed the door and sat on the floor. She leaned back so her back rested against the firm wooden door. Her head fell into her hands, and she gripped her hair with such force that once she let go, strands of her dark brown hair remained woven in between her fingers. She stayed in this position for a few seconds, regained her composure, stood, and walked to the other side of the room, where a sturdy wooden desk sat. She lowered herself into the chair that accompanied the desk, and began to think of the things she would need for this perilous journey to the South.