"Your Highness? The King’s and Queen’s bodies have burned beyond recognition...." Those were the last words that fell on Isa’s ears. Her heart felt heavy inside her chest and it suddenly became hard to breath. She slowly removed her uncle’s hand and she was glad that he did not block her vision now. Her now watery eyes searched through the debris as if that would bring her parents back to life.

Everything in the place turned distant to her and the loud voices that now filled the place with moans and cries all made her fear turn out to be more real. The voices turned distant too in her head and all she could see or think was her mother.

"The King and Queen are dead!" Those were the voices that filled the palace right now. She had read in many story books that if one died, there was no way one would come back to life unless if they had special powers, which she somehow believed her father had. She had seen him peruse a book with a thought several times and that gave her some hope. But then again, her mother had no powers. Her shoulders dropped at that and she knew that her father would have already emerged from the debris the way heroes emerged in the stories. But this was no story.

"Isadora? Isa? Isadora?" She blinked several times and noticed her uncle had been calling her several times.

"Is mother and father alright?" She asked despite knowing the answer to the question. Griffin let go of her shoulders as he held the sooty crown with one of his hands. Gods! This was turning to be tough for him. He looked at her languid eyes and cursed silently. Nothing was hard than explaining death to a child. Where would he even start?

"Your parents," he begun nervously. "They are in a safe place, with the ancestors." His lips formed a thin line after that. He knew the girl wouldn’t understand, or she would ask more questions and that was what he dreaded most.

"Can I be able to meet them?" She asked innocently.

"No. They just can’t be reachable." He said trying to dodge the questions.

"Who did this? Who caused the fire?" She asked surprising both herself and Griffin. Griffin stared at her as he contemplated on what to tell her. A hint of guilt could be seen in his eyes but it immediately got replaced by something evil. His eyes glimmered with what seemed like hunger for something before he turned to face the little princess.

"The Valorian royal family ordered for the death of your parents. They are the ones to be held responsible for the cause of the fire." He replied flatly. Something evil shimmered in Isadora’s eyes making Griffin to smile. Yes. That was what he wanted. He wanted to bring the vengeful and vigilant side of Isadora. She might be a powerful weapon if trained well in the future, he thought. 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

"I will help you get the revenge on those who killed your parents but first, you have to be strong." He said and the girl nodded in determination.

And from that moment on, Isadora spent the rest of her life training so that one day, she would get her revenge on whoever killed her parents. Griffin disclosed further details as she grew and she knew that the royal Valorian family was responsible. She swore to cause havoc to them before she gives them the most painful death they ever deserved.

And when she grew into a fine young lady, and the best female warrior Crescia ever had, Griffin reminded her of her sole purpose for all the training. And that was when she set foot in Valoria for the first time. Her uncle had organized how she would infiltrate in the guise of a maid, and Gareth in that of a palace guard. And though she had protested about Gareth’s presence on her mission, her uncle had stressed out that it was for her protection, and Gareth was also willing to help her take her vengeance.

But when her eyes met with Alexander’s, the walls and promises she had so much made to herself and her long dead parents crumbled to nothing. And although she held a grudge against him, there was still a part of her, the selfish part that wanted her to forget about her mission and just move on. She had even questioned her sanity a hundred times but she could only come up with excuses in her mind. She had every reason to kill Alexander yet it felt so bad at the same time? But why? And the more she asked herself that question, the more complicated the answers became.

Alexander was close to my age when my parents died, so why should I kill him. That was the thought that crossed her mind every time she thought of ending the prince’s life. But she knew it was partly true. It would have been easier if she was set out to kill Queen Victoria or her dying husband. That would have at least made some sense. But why Alexander of all the people? Was there even evidence that it was the Valorians who attacked the palace that night? And thinking of it, she decided to investigate on the matter.

For some odd reason, she thought that her uncle was using her on one of his selfish and power hungry schemes. Not that it was the first time he had done so. Gareth and her had worked like mercenaries for Griffin for almost ten years now. They had done so much for him including but not limited to conquering several kingdoms and towns for him. She knew that Griffin could never get enough, and maybe he was planning on something big this time.

A knock on the door interrupted her thoughts and she left the garden to answer it.

"It’s time Your Highness." A knight informed once she opened the door. She nodded and informed the knight that she would be there shortly.