“HOW DARE YOU DISRESPECT ME THAT WAY! I RAISED YOU TO BE GRATEFUL FOR WHAT YOU ARE GIVEN!” My father was shouting at me again, he pushed over the desk he has in his study which I don’t know how, that thing is built like a brick. Papers went everywhere and the room was now a mess. He was furious. I was furious. We were both furious. 

“HOW ABOUT INSTEAD OF FORCING THIS ONTO ME YOU ASK ME WHAT I WANT FOR ONCE! YOU DON’T GET TO DECIDE EVERY LITTLE ASPECT OF MY LIFE DONTAE!” I yell back at him.

“YOU WILL CALL ME FATHER! I AM NOT DONTAE TO YOU!”

“UGH!” I stormed out of my house and I ran to Drew’s place. He is my best friend. He will understand. In fact, he will probably go rogue and try to murder my father but that’s beside the point. The point is, I'm struggling. 

“Drew!” I call out to him as I burst his door open. It broke off its hinges… Oops. Anyway, “Dammit Kendrew I need to talk to you!” I shout again. 

“Dammit Ev what do you want now? I was trying to sleep.” 

At this point, I am in tears, which is not something that happens often. 

“Why is it that every time I start to feel good about myself someone else has to go and ruin that for me?” I ask, balling my eyes out.

“Oh Ev… what happened? Who hurt you?” He responded, sympathetically.

“It’s Dontae! He… He is forcing me to marry Leslie… Even after everything he has done…” I go on a rant about everything that just happened. He was really comforting and supportive and by the end of it he looked pissed. He offers me a place to stay and I gratefully accept. Kendrew and I have been friends since we were toddlers. Of course I was going to accept.

“Ev,” He starts.

“Yes Drew…” I ask, slightly concerned.

“I am going to do something. I want you to stay here and  whatever you do, Don’t. Leave. This. House.” He finishes

“Why…? What are you going to do?” I ask.

“I will tell you later. All I need you to do is just sit here and enjoy the fire. I have some ‘ACOTAR’ books on the shelf. You can read those.” He told me, gesturing to the large, oak bookshelf across the room before he left abruptly. He has me worried now. What could he possibly be doing…?

~

I have to stop this. Is he really this stupid? Could he really do this to his own daughter? She is devastated! Broken… even! He can’t just do this to my best friend and then expect me to just leave it be. I think to myself as I walk incredibly quickly to Evonny’s house. I can’t not do something. It’s against my nature not to. 

I get to Ev’s place and I burst the door open to her father’s study. The desk was upside down across the room and there were  papers everywhere. What in the great heavens happened here? Dontae was sitting in the corner drinking a glass of expensive looking whiskey. It’s ten am for God’s sake! I leap over to him, grab his collar and punch him in the face. He flinches but he is slurring his words. He is drunk.

“Oooh Kenny boiiii. What are you doing hererrr?” He asked drunkenly. 

I punched him in the face again. And again. And again. 

“What the hell Dontae! Why can’t you just be a good father? Just for once in your miserable damned life!” I am yelling at him. I knocked him unconscious before he could answer. 

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~

After Drew got back, we decided to go to the markets to get my mind off of things. Whenever I go to the markets, I like to always buy something that is expensive so that I can feel good about myself. Today was no different. I raced over to the vendors that had the tunics and broaches and blades, dragging Drew along with me. I stopped at this vendor that had the womens tunics. I found a beautiful emerald one that had gold detailing around the edges. 

“It’s beautiful” I said quietly to myself as I held the dark green fabric in my hands. 

“Ah, I see tha’ one’s caugh’ ‘our eye!” The foreign lady at the vendor said, “Lots o’ people avoid tha’ one ‘cause o’ the price.” 

“Oh well how much is it?” Kendrew asked. 

“‘ive ‘undred pounds.” She said, 

“Bloody hell! Five hundred pounds?” Kendrew exclaimed. “Why in the bleeding skies does it cost that much?” He questioned.

“Tha’ par’icular ‘unic was made wit’ dragon silk. It’s really ‘ard to ‘ind an’ it’s incredibly difficul’ ‘o weave.”

“Ah” 

“I’ll take it” I said, getting excited. 

“Bloody Hell Ev! Just how much do you think I have?” He complained.

“Dear God Kendrew, I'm paying for it. I’m not making you pay for something that expensive for me when I have more than enough.” I reassured him, knowing for a fact that if I didn’t he would have a bloody heart attack. I pulled out my money from the small pocket in my pants and handed it to the vendor, putting the tunic on my back. Damn you women's clothing! I swear, one of these days I will buy myself a nice purse for my money. Today is just not that day.

We went to a few more vendors and finally decided to go to the one that sells ice cream. I really like Hazelnut ice cream so I got that and Drew got Vanilla. We then found a spot on a park bench to sit and eat our ice creams in peace. 

“I just can’t believe he would do this to me!” I say in frustration at my father’s decree. 

“I don’t know Ev…” My best friend told me, wrapping an arm around my shoulders. “I don’t know. Some people are just messed up in the head, and there’s nothing that we can do.” 

It got late so we finished our ice creams and decided to head home. However, just as we were getting up to leave, we heard an unpleasantly familiar voice. Leslie. The one person who I can not stand right now. 

“Hey Ev! Kenny!” He shouted from across the street.

“I bet he’s coming over to gloat about the wedding” I whispered in Drew’s ear before Leslie caught up to us. And sure enough, he was.

“So did you guys hear the big news? Evonny and I are getting married! Just think! In a few years time you-” he points to me with his arm around my waist, “My beautiful bride, will be walking down the aisle! Isn’t that exciting?” He says.

“Rot in hell Leslie” I curse at him bluntly. He deserves it. No man can ever treat a woman like that and expect to get away with it. 

“Aww don’t be like that Ev! I am your Fiance after all!” Leslie said as he slipped a beautiful ring on my finger. It was a silver band and it had a massive emerald on it. I really do hate it when he does this. He tries to bring me back to him with shiny new things. Particularly things like emeralds. I don’t know where he gets them all honestly! It’s ridiculous!. Why did I ever date him in the first place? Now he knows emeralds are my favourite. 

“If you are trying to bribe me - Leslie - It’s not going to work. I have already told you a thousand times that I do not want to be with you. Besides, I am in love with someone else.” I snapped at him.

“So rude. What did I even do to deserve this?”

“You know exactly what you did. Stop playing dumb and just leave me alone.”

Drew looked at me and I could tell what he wanted to say.

Let’s go. I can tell you’re not comfortable right now. I will light the fire for you when we get back.

So we did. We went back and talked along the way, leaving Leslie alone with his chaotic thoughts.. Today was fun. We went to the markets, ate ice cream, and bought lots of new things. We talked a lot too which is something I enjoy doing with a certain few people. We got back to the house but when we got there the door was unlocked. I remember watching Kendrew lock the door which meant someone was here. So I unsheathed the blade that I had strapped to my thigh in case I ended up needing to use it. Drew did the same. We walked slowly into the house, wary of anyone that could have entered. We both walked into the living room just to see our friend Audrea sitting on the lounge holding her spare key and an envelope.

The note that she was holding had Gracen’s seal on it. It was red and the design was a sword piercing the top of a royal crown which symbolises the fall of our kingdom. 

“Is that a note from Gracen?” I asked Drea. Obviously I already knew what it was, but I asked anyway. 

“Yeah it is.” She replied. 

She sat it on the coffee table in front of her as I sat down next to her. Drew lit the fire in the mantle and then sat on the other side of her. We all stared at it for a short while and we all knew what it was. It’s a new mission. The only question now is whose is it? There was only one way to find out. Audrea picks the letter back up and hands it to Drew to read out loud.