Chapter 1: 

A Good Daughter

Aurora

She awakened to the sun shining brightly through her balcony, blinding her as she attempted to ignore it. The town's morning bell echoed in the distance, waking all to start their day.

She groaned and stretched as she thought about the beautiful dream she'd been awoken from. Even in her groggy state, she recalled it almost perfectly. It felt so real, happiness so vibrant, that she could still feel the lightness in her heart. It was a dream of love. A male face unknown, yet in it, she was free.

One would think that she'd have the common sense to fear men. Especially when a man she thought she knew and loved could quickly become her worst nightmare. But, she never claimed to be particularly smart.

Frankly, only a fool as foolish as me would dream of finding a good man after living through my hell of a life, she would think to herself.

A fool? Yes. But a hopeful fool is better than a fool who has given up.

She truly believed the only thing keeping her sane was the small hope in her heart that there was someone out there waiting for her.

She sighed and shook her thoughts as she rose from bed. Her tasks for the day would not complete themselves. The sooner she finished them, the sooner she could attempt to sneak into today's festivities.

She headed toward her bathroom and mentally prepared for the busy day ahead, as today was a special day for her town of Westhaven—the Welcoming of Spring Festival—full of games, hunting, food, dancing, and more. And as positive as that may sound, a special day for the people in her town did not mean a special day for her.

She would not be participating in the festival. She would be working the festival, as she had every year for as long as she could remember.

This year's festival was especially important as it would host more people than ever before. One of the most drawing aspects of the festival was The Blooming Market. Hundreds of merchants from far and wide came and set up stands to sell their beautiful goods: dishes of many flavors, fruits of many colors, vegetables of many shapes, meat, clothes, jewelry, perfumes, and dresses more beautiful than her eyes could ever comprehend.

People from many walks of life. Humans, orcs, elves, dwarves, dragon shifters, fae, and many more. All were welcome at the Welcoming of Spring Festival.

All except her, of course. She chuckled at that thought as she could not even begin to imagine what she could've done that was bad enough to make everyone hate her with such vigor. 

But that would not ruin my day, she thought as she finished washing her face and brushing her hair. Getting ready never took her much time, as she was not allowed to keep any money she made from work. And since she had no money, there were no clothes to pick through or shoes to decide on.

Her parents took all her wages to cover her rent and food expenses. However, she could not imagine how much it could cost, as they did not feed her. She was not allowed to eat any food at home without explicit permission, and they owned the land and home she lived in. But, she knew better than to ask questions and was smart enough to stay in line.

At the very least, she had a roof over her head and could hunt and forage the nearby forests to feed herself during the day. That was more than some had, and she was never one to be ungrateful.

Her mother and father sat at the dinner table drinking tea; she decided against common sense and attempted to pass by quietly and undetected.

"You would think you have been raised to have the decency and respect to greet your parents before heading out for the day, ungrateful child," her mother said angrily as Aurora stopped and faced her parents.

Her father, as always, was never silent. "Now is not the time for you to forget the manners we have spent so much time and money instilling in you, daughter. We expect you to always be on your best behavior. You are a direct reflection of this house and have much you owe us. The least you could do is behave like a sophisticated woman." His words were ever so calm, but his eyes betrayed his true feelings: anger and malicious intent.

He stood and walked toward her, putting his arm on her shoulder and squeezing uncomfortably. His action caused an ache in her chest, a reminder of what lay beneath her dress and what he would do if she stepped out of line.

"When you finish your work at the town hall, we want you to come straight home. We will have lunch with the Rufford family to discuss the marriage proposal Mr. Rufford and I have been putting together for you and Harry. And I expect you to act as your best self. Do you understand?"

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

She stared at her father numbly, never shocked at his words. He could have told her he planned on killing her with his bare hands at that very moment, and that, too, would not have shocked her. Her parents had no honor, nor did they love anyone besides themselves.

"Yes, Father, I will come back straight away." Her eyes did not stray from the ground during the interaction.

He smiled his signature sinister smile and let go of her shoulder to hug her for an uncomfortably long time. "You're a good daughter," he whispered as she scurried along, her heart beating into her ears and up her throat. Her eyes blurred from tears she refused to let drop.

She had promised herself many years ago that they would not receive another tear from her as long as she lived. They did not deserve it, she thought bitterly as she fanned her eyes and took deep breaths.

She stepped out onto the streets of her small town and headed toward the town hall. It was her place of escape, the one place she could spend many hours without her parents running over to drag her home. She could not leave her house outside of working in the town hall. They forbade it. God forbid she developed qualities they did not approve of or found the courage to stand up to them for all they'd done to her. That would not bode well for them or her, given that they were absolute psychopaths.

Her parents were the mayors of Westhaven, so they could do just about anything they wanted in town. The town was very diverse and people of all walks of life lived there. Aurora's father however, made sure to keep the street they lived on human only. How he was able to convince so many races that he supported them was beyond her. He was vile indeed, but he seemed to hide it well enough to convince the thousands of people that lived there. 

Very few questions were ever brought up about her. And since they forbade anyone to socialize with her, there were many years when she was quite lonely, lost in a place where no one wanted her. Eventually, as she grew older and stronger, she learned to sneak around using abandoned tunnels underground that came up to some of the buildings in town. She used these tunnels to make the very few friends that she now secretly had.

She was the town's records keeper; therefore, for this year's festivity, she was in charge of organizing and charting all the merchants who wanted to come into town to set up shop for the market.

With one last deep breath, she released the negative emotions of that morning to allow herself peace and enjoyment. She would never let her parents make her bitter and angry. She deserved better than that, and that was something she believed wholeheartedly. She would deal with the marriage situation after her duties at the town hall were fulfilled.

It was just after sunrise when she left the house, and she sighed in relief that she had not slept in that day. Logging all those merchants and setting them up before the beginning of the market would take her all morning. Luckily, she had established a good system over the years to make this go faster.

Instead of getting all the merchants' general information on the day of, she sent out flyers to all the corners of the kingdom to be posted at every town hall.

The flyers stated that if they wanted to attend the market as a merchant, they would have to send a letter to the town stating their name, the name of their business, the names of all the workers coming with them, what products would be sold, how big of a space should be reserved, and half of the fee to set up shop.

Upon their arrival, she would already have an alphabetized list of all the merchants planning to attend. All she would need to do at that point was check off the names of the ones who made it and collect the other half of the fee.

Over the years, she had only gotten faster and faster at this, which was good because the number of merchants had grown exponentially every year. To the point that she had to hire assistants for the merchant check-in so she could get them all settled in before the start of the market.

She had a pep in her step as she entered the check-in point. To say she was excited would be putting it lightly. The festival was the best day of the year for her. It was her day to live a reality unlike her everyday one.

It was her chance to meet new people. It was her chance to smile and make small talk with hundreds of people who did not know her or knew very little of her. And what they did know, she had told them herself. These people she saw once a year thought more positively of her than most people in her town. More positively than even her own family.

She lived for the chance to hear about their adventures and dreams. She was grateful to have people to share her own dreams with. She longed to be seen as a person worthy of kindness, a smile, and some conversation—all these things she didn't find herself receiving the rest of the year in her lonely town.

She had little time to do last-minute set-up before the merchants' doors opened. She could hear them on the other side of the large wooden double doors. They chattered loudly and excitedly about the lovely day ahead of them.

She quickly set up her supplies and tidied up her papers, her assistants arriving just in time to have a seat before the doors were finally opened, allowing the first wave of merchants to come in.

She was responsible for the right-most line of merchants. She had instructed the guards to let the merchants know that any first-timers were to come through her line.

Her assistants were younger than she, and all were women; she didn't want them to potentially deal with an aggressive merchant that no one knew anything about. She knew any returning merchant would be respectful since anyone who had been rude or tried to break any rules would have been trespassed from the town's grounds the previous year.

She made sure to keep records of any suspicious activity among the merchants so that they could be investigated. The market would not become a dangerous place if she had anything to say about it. The market was her pride and joy and a happy place for thousands of participants.

She did not mind having the newcomers to deal with; they were intriguing. And if she had troubles, a guard was posted to her left.

She turned to look at who was assigned that year and saw that it was William Hannegan.

Great. Precisely who she wanted to see.

He spared her a side glance and then a snarl. She decided that she had never felt safer than at that very moment. She could also pat herself on the back for the professional level of sarcasm radiating from her soul.

She smiled at him and blew him an enthusiastically sarcastic kiss before turning to the first person in line who was just walking up.