“Isabel! Your ‘friend’ is here.”
Hearing the intended inflection to the word friend sent Isabel Zuelis Nephet into a scramble to finish pinning her hair and straightening out the lovely dress her maid had left for her that very morning, freshly steamed with fire hot river stones to both undo the wrinkles and giving it a smell that Isabel enjoyed.
“Coming Mother!” She replied, casting one last glance in the mirror to make sure she was in excellent shape to meet this suitor. She didn’t want to scare him off. A second time in one season would be terrible for her reputation. Plus her mother and sister would have an absolute rowdy display of enjoyment at her expense for it and the man himself would likely still be around to do the same.
Gracefully, with the practice of a lifetime, she glided down the hall and stood at the top of the grand staircase. There he was. Benjamin Bellrond Bordigan, second to his name. Son of the heroine who had saved the valley dwellers twenty years ago and the local nobleman who fell in love at first saving. At least, that’s how Ben always told it.
Staring at her long time friend and very recent interested party left Isabel feeling strange and awkward. On one hand he was the number one bachelor of the entire valley and not only because of who he was related to. The man was sweet, handsome, and had a heroic streak in him that matched his mother.
On the other, he’d certainly picked up his father’s propensity for flairs and airs and the occasional outburst when truly upset. The back and forth could be a mite exhausting. At least for most who did not understand the intensity that he felt for what was right and wrong.
Isabel had rarely felt the effects of such outbursts, shielded by his obvious affection and outright love that he’d tried to hide for years. He hadn’t been great at it. Then again, it had still surprised her entirely when he’d asked her permission to court her. If she’d like. The sweetness more than anything bought him the chance.
Realizing they’d just stood and stared at each other like mooning school children, all the while her mother watching and grinning much like a cat with a mouse, she cleared her throat and began her decent. “Hello, Ben.”
“Hello, beautiful. I mean Isabel. Sorry, always get your names confused.” She looked at him in surprise. He was smooth with that, as he was by moving forward with excellent timing as she reached the bottom and he took her hand. The kiss he gave it was sweet and soft but sent a shock through her that made her knees feel weaker. That was all new. She met his eyes and fought through the rising blush.
Benjamin. Making her blush. She was nearly flabbergasted and helpless against the smile that it brought to her face. He must have noticed, but rather than saying anything he simply kept hold of her hand along with that smile of his and gestured to the door. “You carriage quite literally awaits. Thank you for your time and trust with your precious daughter, Mrs. Nephet.”
“No, thank you Mr. Bordigan. You put on an excellent showing just now. My grandchildren will be beautiful, charming, and rich.”
“MOTHER!” Isabel was mortified and red, Ben was red but happy looking, and her mother simply cackled purposefully but truthfully in amusement. “I tease, I tease. You better keep the child making to a minimum though until I see a contract and a ring or I’ll be getting in league with your mother to fix that. She’ll break you, you know. We both know how she gets and she’s always loved Isabel like a daughter.”
Ben shuddered and wisely chose to simply nod and usher the still mortified Isabel through the door. Thus, their courting began in earnest. Though at first strange, their days together turned into weeks, then months. While they had always spent time together, mostly, this was different and steadily her love for him was turning into being genuinely in love with him. It scared her. It also burned through her. She woke up and went to sleep with him on her mind.
When it was clear to both families that this was not just some casual interest from childhood friends but something much more, they held a meeting with both to determine what the intent was. Then they held a massive celebration. The news the they had gone from friends, to courtship, and now to engagement traveled the city and set the citizens into an equally blissful state of celebration.
The son of the heroine and his sweet childhood friend. It was like a fairytale given life in front of their eyes. The months following were hectic. One thing Isabel and her family had, beyond money, was a number of valuable magical artifacts. While a number of them operated on some strange system of happenstance and cat’s wings, some of them were really quite useful and amazing.
A cannon that turned the shot into a ball of molten metal thrice the size and mass as should have been. The slippers that made the wearer immune to both sleep and the fatigue of not sleeping. The two important ones were only known to a handful of people and the Nephet family, however. The Stone Heart of the Dread Queen, the last remnant of the most powerful witch to ever walk the lands, and the Dragon’s Rage, the axe forged by and of dragons to serve in severing her rain of terror.
Both artifacts retained powers unlike anything else the family had ever seen. Power that they themselves could hardly handle. Instead, the ancestors that were entrusted with both put them in a vault and vowed to defend them until such a time that either could be used for good or till their destruction.
Neither artifact had ever even been so much as scratched by anything other than the other. The heart had a small fracture in it from the strike that had felled her, but the axe had a chip in it from striking it with such force. The original user, the hero who had the axe created in the first place with assistance of the dragons, had theorized that either could destroy the other but would probably lose both in the process. If it didn’t though, then the remaining item would be the most powerful weapon ever but with no means to counter it should it fall into dangerous hands.
It was for this that he had the artifacts hidden away. The joining of their families meant they had to decide on how to handle this news. While the Bordigan family had proven themselves heroic on a multiple occasions and knew much of the Nephet family, they didn’t know everything.
“I want to tell them. At least Ben.”
“Sweetie…”
“Do not sweetie me right now Father. He is to be my husband. By the sky’s grace, you yourself have known him for nearly as long as I AND have seen him defend people even with no self benefit. He is a wonderful man. We can trust him.” Her father, sitting in his study chair while they conversed and she paced, sighed.
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“I know. Part of that is the problem. If I am blinded by roses to any fault or issue of his then trusting him with the most powerful and unstable weapons in the nine lands is a mistake.” Isabel bit her lip as her father went on.
“Your bother-in-law knows nothing. It would not be the first time this family had to keep the existence of them secret, at least until it is absolutely required. I’m glad with your choice and match sweetie but there isn’t a true need.” “Knowing I’ll be keeping our family’s biggest secret from my intended possibly forever feels just a tad bit needed. You told mom.”
“When I did, I was also the last blood descendant of the Nephet family line. The situation required it then. Right now, only ten people know about the artifacts. There are enough guardians of them that more knowing now only serve greater risks to all present. I’m sorry but my decision is no.”
Much as she hated it, she did decide to abide by the decision. If his life was put at risk because of the information then she would keep it from Ben forever. Maybe some day she would be able to and he could become one of those guardians.
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As was tradition in the valley, the two months prior to a marriage were spent residing with together as a final test of compatibility. Who’s home had been a matter of debate and Isabel had won the competition between Ben and herself to choose. Of course, competition in this case was a straw pulling contest.
The time had been blissful and they had chosen to be intimate with one another, the date to their wedding so close that neither cared to wait any longer. Waking up in his arms morning after morning had become such a comfort that she’d begun struggling to get out of bed, not that either complained about such a thing. Their families cared little, as clear as it was their intentions to wed and stay true. It was wonderful and brought her much comfort in the time since.
Nightmares were no stranger to Isabel, but they usually ended soon as she returned to the land of wakefulness and only plagued her infrequently. This was more true than ever with the presence beside her each night lending his strength. Her nightmares also rarely made sense to her, usually some strange mix of fantastical whimsy and whatever had happened in the day mixing to form a work all their own.
This time was different to any she had ever had the tragedy to have before. The nightmare had been the most realistic one she could recall ever having. When she first woke up from a nightmare filled with smoke, screams, and death, she’d wondered what it could mean as she laid in the darkness.
It was only two weeks till the wedding date and nothing at all had seemed wrong when she’d been falling asleep to the joy of her fiancée’s rhythmic breathing. Then she smelled smoke again and knew she was not dreaming anymore.
“Ben! BENJAMIN WAKE UP!” She put emphasis into her words, shaking her sleeping beauty till he stirred.
“Issy? What’re you doing? I’m not sure I have much after las-“
“Shut up and listen!” Her sharpness woke him faster than ice water. They’d never in all the years knowing each other spoken in such a way. Then he caught the smell. “Is that smoke!?”
Leaping up, he quickly tossed on a loose shirt and ran for the door. Throwing it open revealed the source of the smell as thick plumes of darkly colored smoke wafted into the now open room. Panic set in and Isabel ran past a shouting Ben into the hallway. “MOTHER! FATHER! ELANOR!”
She began shouting, attempting to locate the members of her family she knew to be present in their home. The din of clattering noises, screams, and crackling reached her ears but no other response.
“Damn it Issy you can’t run off!”
“But-”
“Nothing. We have no clue what’s going on and running into a fire is going to get us killed. We need to get you out and then I’ll come back.”
“This is my family Ben! We go together.” The look her gave her gave the fire a run for it’s heat.
“Damn it all. Of course I’d fall in love with a heroine. Fine. But you stay behind me.” Nodding her acceptance, she fell in line behind him and they began their hurries rush to check the other rooms before the flames could spread. With no clue as to how long that would take, they rushed about fast as could be with ever thickening smoke chasing their hides.
The search quickly revealed two things. The screams, most likely the servants and staff hired on for the wedding and wedding prep, meant the fire really had been started down stairs. The other was that this hadn’t been an accident. It was an assassination.
The doors to her parent’s room, usually locked and with a night time servant stood outside for her father’s general assistance, stood slightly ajar. The servant had his throat slit. His name had been Cedric. Fear and dread flooded her and when they burst into the room became sorrow. Her scream ripped her throat raw and smoke choked her anew. “NOOOOOO.”
Rushing over while avoiding Ben’s outstretched hand found her by her parents side and she felt a numbness fall over her. Dead. Her mother, always so beautiful, proud, and well baring had a face twisted in pain and terror that Isabel had never seen mare it till now. The wound that killed her was gaping and revealed her chest cavity and all the visceral display that could be had. Isabel started vomitting at the sight.
When the first wave of it passed she stood and took in the sight of her father. He had wounds all over his arms and back and had been draped across her mother’s stomach and legs. His skull was split open. He’d died defending them both and using his body to shield her as much as he could.
Ben seemed equally as stunned and sick at the sight but recovered to the sight quicker. He called her name a few times before yelling.
“ISSY.”
His raised voice caused her to turn numbly and she realized he’d been shaking her.
“We have to go.”
“Elanor. We… we have to find my baby sister Ben. I can’t leave her.”
“Iz…” he trailed off but she caught his meaning.
“No. NO. NO NO NO NO. She can’t be too. She can’t Ben she’s just barely not a child!” Ben stared at her before sighing.
“Okay. I’ll go search for her but this is too dangerous now. This isn’t just a freak accident. So I need you to go and get help and hide. I’ll find Eli Iz. I swear it but I can’t while I have to watch for you.”
“No! I c-”
“You will or I’ll toss you from the window my damned self! This is no time, my love. Let me do this.” Seeing her hesitate, he kissed her and pushed her.
“We need help and we can’t get that if we both stay. Go. Actually, wait.”
Rushing a room over, he returned with the thick padded mattress from the guest accommodations and pushed it through the window where it landed with a mighty thump. “You want me to jump out the window!?”
“Well we don’t know what the other exits look like and we can at least see no assassins waiting for you there.”
The logic was sound, sadly for Isabel. She’d always hated heights and the idea of falling. Looking one last time at her parents though set the numbness in again and banished the fear. At least she’d join them early if she snapped her neck. The two lovers hugged and kissed one final time before she leapt.
The fall tore through her, knocking the breath from her and she rolled accidentally. This brought her knee into quite painful contact with the earth. It wasn’t broken from what she could tell but it sure felt like it ought to be.
Looking up, their eye contact ended with him turning and beginning the search. Turning, Isabel took in the sight from outside and felt horrified at what she saw. The fire was both outside and inside much of the bottom floor, spreading at a rate that only seemed to grow more hurried.
She caught sight of a few figures towards the front of her home but didn’t know if they were friend or foe. Deciding not to chance it, she instead made way for the peacekeepers tower.
The local militia slash guards were her best bet to get help. If it wasn’t too late for the others. Limping into the night, she alternated between running and walking fast as much as she could with the damage. She had to make it no matter what. It was the only chance her sister and love might survive.
It was only when she was in sight that she slowed and caught what little breath she could before shouting. “HELP! HELP ME! THERE’S BEEN A FIRE AND AN ATTACK. HELP!”
Coming into sight of the doors, Isabel saw two of the peacekeepers rushing towards her. She didn’t see the rock in the darkness that snagged her foot, though she did notice the sudden perspective shift and the oncoming rush of the ground greeting her. The last thing she heard was someone calling her name out in panic before the two met and the earth claimed her consciousness.