‹ Prequel: Cevin

Arirea

of a crumbling civilisation.

"Why can't you stop your bloody awful nagging?" Elys shouted.

"Maybe I would if you dropped down dead!" Arirea snapped back, throwing his dirty underclothes at him.

He snorted. "Keep dreaming, love," he said sardonically.

She shoved passed him and stormed into their living area, untying the apron she'd been wearing before they had begun arguing. To make a point, she dumped it on the floor before wrenching open their front door and leaving their home, pulling the door shut loudly. That man would be the death of her, she was sure of that. Often she wanted to just smother him in his sleep but refrained because she would prefer not to have to sleep in a bed that the dead had once occupied.

With the market not being in use, she took a walk to the furthest end of the village, where the houses began to grow sparse and the woodland thicker. No working meant no wage, no market meant no food, no trade of any kind meant an end to normal life. If the Emperor was trying to inspire sympathy and support, he was going about it the wrong way. She knew that there was no way they could go an entire fortnight without food; they were barely on the sixth day and tension was already high.

The crickets grew louder as she walked deeper into the woodland, and once she reached the fence that signal the border, their noise had increased tenfold. She used to come to this spot often when she was still under her father's roof, but now as she surveyed the area, she couldn't remember what had drawn her to that place before.

"You came too," a voice said, making her turn sharply to her left and spot the man sat on one of the tree's branches.

His identity made her scowl. She ignored him and turned to leave, hearing a thud when his feet hit the ground behind her. Still, she didn't stop except for when he grabbed her arm and pulled her back to him. "Why won't you talk to me?" he asked.

"I have nothing to say to you," she replied bitterly.

"Before I left we talked about marrying. Do you not remember that?"

She gave a bark of a laugh and ripped her arm from his grip. "How can I forget? My naive words, your broken promises - how can I forget any of it?"

"I meant every word," he said firmly.

"Lies! I do not believe a single word you said held any truth."

His expression shifted to one of annoyance. "I bettered my life. I did not want to confine myself to a life on the farm, so I enrolled in the home service. We talked about that, about our plans that would happen when I had completed my training."

"You left me here. Years passed and not one word came. To me, you died and I could not be happier," she replied.

Reeve looked hurt. "You don't mean that."

"Why not? You forgot about me, about Fairveint. It were as if you were dead anyway."

He grabbed her wrist again, stopping her from turning away. "I never once forgot. I constantly thought about my mother, my father, about you and all the promises we made to one another. The life I left behind in Fairveint kept me going through my training," he protested.

"I sat by your mother's side when she died. Watched your brother get carted off to another village's workhouse when your father threw himself off the bridge. Not once did you return or send word. My father died of age and my mother joined the Sisterhood, leaving me with no one. Your precious promises meant nothing then," she replied coldly. "While you forgot about Fairveint, our lives continued."

His eyes widened and his face dropped. "That can't be true. My mother isn't dead--"

"Don't you dare!" she shouted, pushing him harshly. "You do not get to feel sorrow over your family, not with how you abandoned them."

For a moment there was silence between the two. Arirea wished she had not left her home. Part of her had been hoping that coming back to this place would rid her of all her animosity towards Reeve so that she would not harbour so much hatred whenever she saw her, but she had not once thought that he would be waiting for her. Being a solider, she thought he would have been on a strict schedule.

He slowly composed himself and straightened up. "When news of deployment across Magriv was announced, I put my name down for here. I wanted to come back, to see all who I left behind. All I could think about was the time we spent together," he said, looking at her softly. "But I see I have more to make up for than I thought. Can we meet again?"

She glared at him and crossed her arms over her chest but said nothing. It seemed as if he wanted everything to be as it was. Part of her wanted it to as well. She would have liked nothing more than to turn back time and have her family still alive.

"Tonight," he continued when she didn't speak. "Come back here tonight."

Arirea gave him no reply. She just turned on her heel and left him standing there. How he thought they could go back to how they were before he left was beyond her. That was years ago, back when both she and he were different people. He left to become a soldier, to enlist in a service no one would forgive him for, all for a better life. He could not be the same Reeve who she had thrown a rock at in anger when he had told her.

She didn't return to her home, not wanting to see Elys or hear his voice. Instead she wandered towards the desolate market area, hatred brewing in her bones as she passed soldiers. Most had probably been men like Reeve, leaving their home for a better life, but looking at them now, she could not see the genuine men they probably once were. Soldiers were corrupt and despicable, living in the luxury they gained through the brutality they inflicted onto normal citizen. Now that there was going to be a unit permanently stationed in Fairveint, she feared for her own safety. Military presence in a village could only spell trouble.

The marketplace had people milling about, subtly arranging any form of trade they could. She passed an older man who looked at her intently before she gave a nod and received a piece of parchment in response. She used the ink that remained on one of the only stalls left erect and carefully composed a brief message. When she finished, she blotted it with the the hem of her smock before folding it into a small square and slipping it into the small slit her smock had to store small items in.

She only returned home to clean up slightly before attending the service, once again without Elys. Reeve was one of the soldiers stationed outside of the chapel and as she filed through the door, she caught his eye and gave a brief nod. There were significant absences from the service and soldiers could be seen whispering to one another near the back of the chapel.

When it was over with, she bumped into the man she had received the parchment from earlier and slipped her message into his hand before leaving the stuffy chapel and entering the cool night. She made to head back to her home before making a detour and heading towards the woodland silently. This time it was she who was waiting for him, but he didn't keep her waiting for long.

"Remember when we were children and would often hide here to avoid my mother?" he said softly, approaching her from behind.

She gave a small smile. "It feels like it could have been a lifetime ago. Then everything went wrong."

He turned her to face him. "I'm sorry for leaving, for making you go through all that alone. I thought my promises would suffice, that you would realise that I meant it when I said I wanted to marry you when I returned."

Stepping away, she shook her head. "Did we ever really belong together?" she asked.

"Of course!" he exclaimed. "I leave when this fortnight is over. Come with me."

His proposal startled her and she took another step back. "What are you saying."

"Come with me. You're allowed to do that. We can take a wife from any village we're deployed to and they can accompany us back to our homes. You don't have to live here anymore, where you have to work hard for a measly wage. I can fulfil each one of my promises," he explained, his tone sincere. If he was still the same Reeve that she had once known, that meant he was being truthful. Lies were never his strong suit.

Arirea let out a sigh and closed her eyes. Was he being truthful? Once she had thought he was dead only for him to seek her out when he returned. All her youthful years came back to her and she opened her eyes, looking intently at the man she had once pledged her life to in this very spot.

She smiled and watched as his face split into a grin only to falter as shouts could be heard from behind her. She turned and saw torches heading towards them before suddenly a group of villagers burst through and surrounded them. "Traitorous little Reeve Yrhin," a man spat.

"Get him!" another cried and the villagers rushed him as he began to struggle.

Arirea took several steps away until her back hit a tree and she just stood and watched the scene unfold. The villagers held his arms tightly as a noose was secured around his neck and a man threw the end of the rope around the branch of the tree closest to them. His wrists were bound and he struggled as the end of the rope was grabbed and pulled, making his back straightened as his feet attempted to rise off the ground. His eyes darted to her and she then pushed off the tree.

"Any last words, traitor," the first man who had spoke said, taunting Reeve.

"I think I should have the last words," she said, making him look at her and give a nod. He was the same man who had received her message. "Soldiers are not welcome here, not since they arrived barely two years before and pillaged our entire village. We're too far way to care about the Emperor and his loyal traitors," she began, watching as Reeve's eyes widened at her words. "We have starved and been penniless for six days, but no more. Fairveint rejects the Emperor, but most of all, Fairveint rejects you, Reeve Yrhin, for being the one who informed the guard about my sister's desire to escape across the border. Your words led to the death of twelve of our people and we have never forgot."

She took a pause as she watched his face contort into fear, horrified at the idea of his betrayal having been discovered. Only after one of the villagers yanked on the rope did she say her final words: "Tonight you hang and tonight your brethren shall burn." With that the three men who were stood by the end of the rope grabbed it and pulled with all their might, lifting Reeve off the ground and making him struggle in his noose.

He was held in that position for a short while, until his legs stopped moving and his head dropped to his chest. The rope was tied around the trunk of the tree to leave him hanging before they left the woodlands and met the rest of the villagers who had congregated just before the woodlands began. Elys was there with a torch and the man who she had given the message to gave them a nod and they headed into their village.

They weaved through the houses, being joined by more villagers as they went, and burst through the clearing where the road that led out of the village separated the homes from the buildings of other use. Soldiers that were milling around by the chapel gave a shout when they noticed them and began to call for more men. But it wouldn't be enough.

As they headed towards the chapel, a rider appeared on the road that the military had first marched up. The villagers went to continue on only for his words to send shockwaves through the entire group.

"The Emperor is dead!"