#bump!

After the tragedy upon your family you saw no point in moving forward in life. It was the loss of your greatest ally. So when the pain got unbearable you had vowed to put an end to it forever.

But it seemed the cauldron had different plans for you.

You had even jumped off the cliff into the ocean but before you could rest in death's embrace you were pulled out of the water onto a fishing boat by strong hands marred by years of hardwork . The boat that helped you stay afloat in the darkness of life.

That's how you had met Niyam. Your dearest friend. He was a fisherman's son from one of the rural parts of the court where only the lower faes dwelled. His father had caught a deadly disease and was bed ridden. Niyam had therefore had taken up his father's fishing business to keep his poverty stricken family alive in the cruel court of autumn.

Over time having shared the same morals and ideas you both developed a friendship dear to your heart.

"How are you y/n?" His words pulled you out of the trip down memory lane.

"Better now that you are back" you said as you let go of him and reached for Myhir as he came near you after tying the horse to a tree.

"Now that is a lie because you have been having a merry time in my absence if the scent from both of you is something to go by." you chuckled as Niyam's teasing caused Myhir to hide his face in your neck with embarrassment.

" That I cannot argue with."

"Well as much as I would love to tease Myhir let's go inside, the others were just starting to get restless." Niyam threw the words over his shoulder as he started walking towards the dark and decaying house in front of you.

It was shrouded in the darkness of the night hidden behind the many trees surrounding it. It looked abandoned as usual with no sign of life around it.

As Niyam opened the makeshift door to let you all enter, the damp smell from years of negligence rushed into your nose.

Lighting a fire torch your group of three proceeded further into the run down house before coming to stop in the middle of it . Lifting the mouldy carpet from the wooden floor Niyam heaved a wooden door from the ground that had been made to look as inconspicuous as possible.

The existence of the numerous hulking caves in the Red forest of the Autumn Court was common knowledge through all of Pyrthian but most were unaware about the labyrinth of underground passageways that snaked beneath most of the court. Many human bones had been found down here and you reckoned they were probably from the humans trying to escape the war between the faes and humans.

"You know sometimes when I navigate these passages alone I hear sounds of crying." Myhir whispered near your ear with his tone purposely lowered to scare you to your grave.

You smacked the back of his head as a reply as Niyam chuckled at your antics.

You were no stranger to the idea of mythical creatures having lived a long life as a fae but the matter of your engagement looming over your head did not let you spare a single thought about anything else.

As the caves closed in, you grabbed Myhir a bit tighter in response.

Finally you came across the makeshift door at the end of the pathway and Niyam entered by ducking his dead down.

A lamp burned in the centre of the room bathing the room in a warm glow and illuminating the familiar faces of your comrades.

"Took you three long enough. "Aedan commented from his seat by the corner of the room.

Aedan was an apprentice in a blacksmith's shop and thus very talented in all kinds of weaponry. Beside him was Zion, a lower fae who had moved to the court from the outskirts of the court after his wife died during a plague that took many lives due to the ignorance of the high lord. Then there was Verena who was the jack of all trades.Having worked under a sketchy high fae most of her life she had mastery over spying, fighting, assassination etc. You name it .And sitting on the rickety table was Calia a healer, silent as usual. They were the oldest members and leaders of Senka. The rebellion to overthrow the Vanserras.

Years after your brother's unjust execution when sorrow had turned into anger and need for revenge you had vowed to yourself you would see the throne burn even if you had to lay your life for it. So you had become a rebel . Faes from all over the Autumn land who had suffered enough at the hands of a tyrant found themselves joining your cause. To bring an empire built upon the broken backs of the innocent to its deserving end.

You took a seat by the lamp on one of the spare chairs that Myhir had pulled out for you, your jumping at the action. But acknowledging your betrothal was of grave importance, so you steeled yourself to drop the news.

Clearing your throat you spoke with a steady voice "I am to marry Eris Vanserra,the heir of the Autumn Court in a fortnight."

As soon as the words broke free from your lips a stunned silence fell over the room.Niyam's face was coated with sympathy as he looked at you and Myhir who stood behind you holding onto your shoulders.

"Y/n this is no time to jest." Verena was the one who broke the tense silence that had settled upon the room .Looking devastatingly beautiful even under the dim light of the lamp.

Your sad smile cleared any doubts she could have about the truthfulness of the statement.

"Then this is a death sentence y/n not an engagement." commented Zion worries about the dangers of the engagement lining his tan face.

"Yes it could be dangerous but it might turn beneficial for us if we play our cards right." Aedan drawled from his seat without even taking his eyes off you."Because they would never expect the leader of the rebellion to walk right into their home."

Aedan had always unnerved you with his contradictory opinions. You both were always at each others throats whenever you both disagreed with each other's beliefs. But he was knowledgeable about matters of battle for which you held a lot of respect for him as a friend and as a fellow comrade.

"Whatever could you mean Aedan?" questioned Verena.

"What I mean is having one of us acting as our eyes and ears could help us bring the Vanserras down earlier than we planned."

Niyam hummed and you could not for the life of you figure out whether it was in approval or disapproval.

"It is dangerous but if we are to bring a tyrant and his blood soaked dynasty to its knees this is our best shot." Calia spoke for the first time.

At that everyone turned to hear what you had to say. And the unspoken question stirred in the air: Were you willing to walk into the fire in order to have the new kingdom rise from its ashes?

"I....I do not know if I could go forward with the engagement." Your head throbbed with pain from all possibilities.

"You need not decide whether you would marry him right now. Just attend to all the preparations and study your circumstances." Niyam encouraged you, worried about your wellness before all.

But before you could get a word out someone burst in through the door.

" Fire.... Fire ."panted one of the younger Senkas having rushed to the meeting place.

"Fire at the Tarsa estate."

--------

"Mother! Mother." you shouted as soon as you got off the horse.

"Y/N" cried your mother as you rushed to her wading through the crowd gathered around your house.

"Mother are you hurt? Where is father? What about the servants? Is everyone out?" you were frenzied with worry.

"Oh thank the mother you are safe. Where have you been? Everyone has been searching for you? Your father has gone out to get help." came your mother's reply with sobs racking through her body.

" I escaped from the window as soon as I smelt the fire." you lied as easily as you breathed not wanting to tell your mother about your true whereabouts.

"From the window! Y/n have you lost your mind that is not ladylike. What if something happened to your face? The high lord would have ended the engagement."

"Mother now that I see you are alright enough to spit useless sentences, I am going to help the others." came your scathing reply, tired from the long day.

As you walk away from your mother your heart broke into pieces watching your childhood home burn. Memories of hundreds of years turning to ashes right in front of your eyes. You had lived your entire life here. All the good and bad. Despair wracks your heart in its cage of bones.

You were tired. Tired from having to rise again and again from the ashes. Tired from patching your scars and picking up the pieces .

Still you did your best to salvage whatever you could. You didn't even notice when tears started rolling down your eyes as you saw the hurt the fire had caused.

By morning your hands were black with soot from helping with putting down the fire , your body ached all over and you just wanted to close your eyes and never open them again. But even that seemed like a luxury as your father who had returned from mother knows where ushered your family and all his workers into carriages. In all the frenzy you caught a glimpse of Myhir as he climbed into the carriage with your father.

Apparently the High Lord had extended the courtesy of letting your house stay in the Forest house.

You let yourself rest your head on the window of the carriage as the horses dragged it towards the palace.

---

"Lord Tarsa I am so relieved to see you and your household unharmed."Beron said with not even a drop of emotion in his words. Insincere and indifferent as ever. You could not believe this. What kind of high lord summons the victims of a deadly accident to the throne room instead of letting you rest and seek a healer's attention.

"Thank you, your grace. Though I would request an investigation about the cause of the fire." your father replied submissive infront of the high lord as ever.

You watched as Beron turned to his advisor behind him to consult about the matter. As your eyes roamed around the room you found yourself looking at Eris Vanserra sitting beside his father's throne who smirked as soon your eyes met as if this was a joyous occasion. He did not even bother hiding his true thoughts about this accident from his face.

"Lord Tarsa as much as the accident grieves me I believe an investigation to be totally unnecessary it was probably some drunk sentries who caused the fire. So it is best if we let this matter go." Beron's words pulled your attention from Eris.

And you knew right then it was no accident that your house caught fire. It was Beron's work .. You had seen your mother cry through endless nights. You had watched as your father drowned himself in several bottles of wine. The Vanserras would not let your family take a single breath of relief as long as they had power. They would banish you to the end of the world if they thought it would hurt you but they knew the humiliation in the court was a better punishment.

"You couldn't have said it better my lord." drawled Eris with that damned smug expression still on his face.

With everyone's attention on him he said "I think it would do all of us good if we bury the matter and invite the Tarsas to stay with us till the marriage so that they will return after the repairs are done. Well except Lady y/n of course who would be staying here forever."

He was taunting you. Poking at your wounds to see how much more you could take.

A monster. Monster from your scariest and darkest nightmares. As if your misery awarded him delightful pleasure.

Well two could play at this game. If he loves the company of misery so much misery is what he will get and by the time you are done with him he will be begging for you to let it end. At that moment you made your decision, you would marry him. You would marry him and walk into the fire. But you would not do it alone, you will drag him too into the burning embers with yourself.

So with your chin held up high and back straight you let the damned words escape your lips.

"You honour me my prince and I cannot wait to spend more time with you my betrothed."