Ruena Alodan was the spoiled daughter of a duke. Her father was the famous hero known as the Weaponsmaster, and she adored him. Her mother was the first princess of Ariz, a smaller kingdom. Everything was perfect, at least until that day. 

The day started with a happy surprise. Before he left for work, her father had woken her up and shown her a special room. The room wasn’t very large, and there wasn’t much in it, but Ruena recognized it immediately.

“Is this my very own weapon room?” she asked with excitement. Her father had one, but she wasn’t allowed to enter. 

“That’s right,” he confirmed, “Your mother wouldn’t let me give you anything sharp, so I decided your first weapon would be this.”

He guided her over to the one weapon displayed on the wall. It was a staff of some kind. The center was polished wood, and the ends were formed from what looked like gold, with a large red jewel set in it. The very tips were a bit blunter than she would have hoped, but her father had that covered too. 

“If you ever need to use this to defend yourself, tap the jewel on either end,” he instructed as he demonstrated. The previously blunt tip suddenly had a sharp point. He tapped it again, and the point retreated, leaving the blunt end from before. 

“It’s amazing!” Ruena told him, throwing her arms around him in a hug, “Thank you so much!”

“I will teach you how to use it starting tonight,” he promised. 

Ruena grinned, “I will be waiting! No skipping out, okay?”

“I would never,” he told her, stealing one last hug before he left. 

She took the staff from where he had set it and tapped the gem on one side a few times in wonder. Was this what kind of weapons a weaponsmaster used? It was beautiful. She held the staff close happily, unwilling to let it go until her promised lesson. 

Her father ran late that night. This wasn’t unusual as he was a very important person and many people needed him. However, he never ran late when he made a promise. Never. Ruena tried to convince herself that he was just held up by something unavoidable. He would show up late, and give her some advice instead of her first lesson and everything would be fine. Convinced by her own idea, Ruena refused to go to sleep that night. 

Ruena had fallen into a light slumber leaning against the door of her father’s study. He always came to his study first before going to bed. She was startled awake by the sound of people talking in hushed voices. Her father had always told her there was nothing more suspicious than people trying to be quiet. 

She crept closer, staff still clutched tightly in her hand, until she was close enough to hear the words being said. 

“He’s dead?” she heard her mother whisper in shock.

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Ruena’s heart froze for a moment and she felt something pounding in her head as the panic rose. She forgot all pretenses of concealment and jumped out. 

“Who is dead?!” Ruena demanded.

Her mother turned to face her, tears still fresh in her eyes. “Honey, go back to bed. I will tell you everything in the morning.”

“Who’s dead?” Ruena repeated stubbornly. It was just some officer, right? That was why her father was held up. He always said there was endless paperwork when someone died. 

“Ma’am, as the heiress, she has the right to know,” one of the guests told her. 

“If you would like, I could tell her,” the other said. 

The first man seemed to be some kind of officer, but the second looked far too much like a noble. Ruena concentrated as she tried to recall her classes. That’s right! He was Densooth, the Queen’s advisor! 

“I will tell her myself,” her mother snapped at Densooth, “Please, just leave.”

“Very well,” Densooth promised, taking one last look at Ruena, “Call me if you need anything. His death was a great loss to Altea.”

The sinking feeling only got worse as the conversation went on. No one was willing to tell her who had died, but she was the heir, and he was important to Altea. Ruena felt tears of her own swell in her eyes against her will as the two guests left.

“Mother, is father really-”

Her question was cut off as her mother slammed the door behind them and put on every lock she could find. Ruena saw as her back slowly began to quiver. Was she crying? Right… Ruena wasn’t the only one who was sad. She stepped forward to hug her mother, only to draw back in fear when she heard it.

She was laughing. Her mother was laughing. The laughter grew louder and more insane before her mother punched the door. 

“He’s dead! Exactly as planned!”

As planned? Ruena took another jerky step backwards. Impossible. Her mother would never. That was when her mother turned to face her. Her eyes were still wet with tears, but they did not match the maniacal grin on her face. 

“That’s right. Byron Alodan is dead,” she told her, “Now go to bed, darling. You don’t have to worry about him hurting you with those dangerous lessons of his anymore.”

Ruena took another step back before bolting to her room. This was just a nightmare! It had to be! She would wake up to her father asking her why she hadn’t waited for their promise. But she didn’t.

The next morning was filled with a tense, eerie silence. Her mother was at the dining table as always, but rather than the warm mother she had always loved, a cold noblewoman sat before her. Sitting in what should have been her father’s chair was an older woman. 

“This is Lady Trelys. She will be teaching you proper noble etiquette from now on,” her mother told her, coldly eyeing the staff Ruena had brought with her to the table. “It is high time you gave up your dangerous toys and became a proper noble lady. You mustn't forget that you are the only heir and future Duchess Alodan.”

Was this how she had felt about things all along? Thinking back, she had always stopped her father from teaching her how to wield a weapon. Even that morning, her father had mentioned she wasn’t allowed anything sharp. It hadn’t been a nightmare after all.

As soon as breakfast, in which her table manners had been criticized many times, was over, Ruena darted out of the house. She had to tell someone!

She found a knight of the Queen patrolling the streets and stopped him. “You have to arrest my mother,” she begged him, “She killed him. She stole father from me forever!”

The guard looked a bit frazzled, but pulled her off of him. “Young lady, you should be more careful with your pranks. If your mother was arrested for murder you would never see her again, and you would lose your house while we investigated. I will keep this between us, alright?”

He didn’t believe her. The nearby knights also looked at her with a gaze that showed they agreed she was just a naughty noble’s daughter making a fuss over nothing. What was she meant to do? She clutched the staff tighter, drawing the knight’s eyes to it.

“Miss, you can’t carry around weapons like that in public,” he scolded and reached to take it from her.

“No!” Ruena screamed and jumped back, quickly turning the way her father had taught her and taking off in a spring in the other direction. No matter what, she couldn’t let this be taken from her! It was all she had left.

As she ran, she stumbled into a man who had just been leaving his carriage. After a moment, she recognized him again. It was Densooth. 

“Please help me!” she begged, grabbing onto his sleeve.

He took a moment to observe the situation, then helped her into the carriage. “Stay here. I will take care of things,” he promised.

This was how her life under the care of the Black Wolf had begun, as well as her revenge against the woman who had murdered her father.