Chapter 1: New Day

Asa’s head whips up at the smell of smoke drifting into the dark room, her chains clattering noisily at the sudden movement in contrast with the light tinkling of the ornaments on her clothes. She looks toward where the faint light drifting past the tapestry covering the outside of the door leaks through the cracks. The chaos outside the palace grows louder and louder, and yet Asa hears nothing in the next room for a long while.

Then, she hears footsteps and voices.

“I’m telling you, this is seriously strange! I never expected them to be this hostile–especially when they’ve avoided fighting up until now,” one man's voice and footsteps boom above the others’.

“If you ask me, they’ve just been looking for a good enough reason. They were always hostile, they just didn’t want to make the first move,” another voice adds coyly as the footsteps enter the next room.

The steps slow to a more leisurely pace as the men seem to take their time looking around.

“What’s this, a throne room?” the booming voice asks.

A smaller, softer voice answers. “This is too small to be a proper throne room. It seems more like a private sitting room or reception room. Though, this chair is certainly more like a throne than a comfortable couch for having tea or such.”

The booming voice scoffs. “Figures. The king is known for being a difficult, haughty kind of guy, ain’t he?”

Asa hears a snicker at the man’s words. The two men’s clear irreverence for the owner of the palace makes Asa bristle, her muscles tight with tension as she fights back her anger. She remains quiet, listening to their conversation without giving her position away.

“Hey now–let’s finish looking around, yea? Shou and I will go back to the other hall,” the softer voice suggests quickly, likely just looking for a way out of a tense conversation but easing Asa’s tension in the hidden room nonetheless as the topic changes.

“See ya!” the snickering voice pipes up before Asa hears footsteps leaving the room and going down the hall. After listening carefully, Asa gathers that two men left and there are two men still in the sitting room. Their footsteps wander around the room slowly.

“Well, Hoen definitely isn’t in here. What else are we even looking for?” the booming voice grumbles.

“Just look for anything important looking–we aren’t thieves, you know. We’re doing reconnaissance. I know this isn’t your strong point but try to keep up,” the other voice teases.

“Shut it! You go look for Hoen and I’ll look around in here myself,” The booming voice snaps back at the other man, his foot stomping as they seem to stand off against each other for a tense moment.

“Fine, fine. I’ll go, you grump,” the other voice acquiesces before Asa hears his footsteps leave the room as well, leaving the man with the booming voice alone.

He steps heavily around the room, grumbling to himself lowly enough that Asa can’t make out the words. Then, after a while, the footsteps approach the tapestry covering the door and Asa tenses. She hears the rustling of the tapestry against the hidden door, before the booming voice speaks again.

“What the–” the man exclaims lowly before Asa sees more light filter through the cracks around the door, the tapestry no longer blocking the eerie red glow from outside.The door creaks open and the small, narrow room is partially illuminated, though not all the way to the back where Asa stays chained to the wall. She examines the man’s silhouette in the doorway as he peers inside the room at her unknowingly. “Tsk, it’s too dark. Jaemi had the lantern.”

The man turns around in the doorway, but before he can leave Asa shakes the chains bound to her wrists and the clattering catches the man’s attention once again. He turns back around and calls out into the room, “Who’s there?”

When he receives no answer, the man ducks down through the small door and steps slowly into the room, crouching slightly as not to graze the low ceiling accidentally. When he steps as far as the light can reach, Asa speaks.

“Is the king dead?” she asks quietly. The pitch and timbre of her voice gives the man pause before he takes a step into the darkness.

“How old are you, kid?” The man asks with some concern evident in his tone, leaving the question unanswered.

Asa ignores his question in kind and asks another. “How many people are with you?”

The man stops in his tracks once again and is silent for a moment before he lets out a sigh and says, “Including me, five.” He takes a step closer. “How’d a boy like you end up in here? Are you alright?”

Asa is silent for a moment before asking, “Who have you killed?”

The man’s hands immediately fly up defensively as he freezes. “Hey–I’m only following orders here! I haven’t killed anyone!”

To that, Asa remains silent as she weighs her options. When he gets no response, the man speaks again.

“Who are you? Why are you in here? Can you move?” The man starts slowly approaching again, his concern dominating his instinct to be cautious as he keeps his hands in the air, though lowered to his chest-level now.

“Can you help me?” Asa asks softly.

The man lets out a huff as he stops again, his hands lowering to his sides. “I can if you can tell me why you’re in here in the first place.”

Asa hesitates before she says “I’m being punished. There are keys hidden under the floorboards near the king’s chair. Use the key with the curved handle to unlock my cuffs.” She rattles her chains once more, the accessories on her clothes jingling melodiously underneath the harsh clatter of metal.

The man is still, seemingly sizing her up even in the darkness of the room. Just when Asa believes she may not have convinced him, the man speaks again, this time his voice tinged with skepticism underneath the concern still present.

“We’ll wait until I get the lantern from my partner so that I can see you,” the man suggests.

“I don’t want to be seen,” Asa pleads hastily, “Please. I’ll help you find where the cuffs are, just unlock them.”

The man seems to struggle internally for a moment before he huffs a greater sigh than before, rubbing the back of his neck. “You’re making me seem like a real bad guy, you know…”

After a bit of hesitating, the man shakes his head and turns around and ducks back through the low doorway, speaking aloud so that Asa can hear him in the next room. “Naiténoza isn’t supposed to have any slaves…the king supposedly didn’t take spoils but I guess you must be his, right? He must’ve done a lot to keep you a secret, huh.”

As he muses to no response from Asa, she can hear him shuffle around where the throne is in the sitting room and she eventually hears the metal clamor of the keys underneath the man’s loud, gruff voice. When she sees his silhouette in the doorway again, Asa shakes the chains once more so that he can find her in the darkness at the back of the room.

“My hands are bound behind me,” Asa says, “I’m close to the ground.”

The man goes around her carefully, his boot catching on the chain connected to the wall before he stabilizes himself and kneels to find where her hands are bound behind her back. He fumbles with the keys for a bit, feeling the shape of each one before finding the correct one to unlock her cuffs, the metal clamouring onto the ground as Asa is freed.

Asa doesn’t yet move. Instead, she instructs him, “There’s another binding at my throat. The first key won’t work with this one.

And so the man sidles around her carefully once again with a grumble, this time to her front. Before he can speak, Asa seizes him as he fumbles with the keys, knocking the man off balance. He lets out a grunt of surprise as his head is locked underneath Asa’s arm and she falls back. The keys fall to the ground in a chaotic clatter as the man braces his hands against the floor to gather his bearings against her hold, but to no avail as Asa quickly unsheaths the sword at his hip and releases her hold to push him back, both feet colliding squarely with his chest and sending the man tumbling backward. The man heaves and reaches for his sword before realizing what had just unfolded. When he gathers his bearings again, Asa is already pointing his own sword at him, the end of the blade glinting menacingly in the faint red light coming in from the door.

“Walk backward slowly,” Asa orders.

The man, despite not being able to see his opponent fully, knows well enough when he’s beaten and slowly walks backward with his hands raised, his head ducked as he crouches to clear the doorway. Asa matches his pace step for step and as she walks her clothes jingle with light, bell-like sounds. The man eventually sees her when they both come into the light and is met with several surprises at once.

What he thought was a young man held captive here was actually a young woman, her dark tan skin, black, shiny hair, and sharp features resembling someone from the southern peninsula more than a Midlander. However, what was more surprising was her attire. She did not seem to be a warrior but something more of a dancer or entertainer based on her bright, embellished clothes alone, but the menacing glint in her eyes was sharper than that of the sword held expertly in her hand and was more than enough indication that she knew well how to use a weapon. The man’s bafflement was clear–he could not fathom how this person ended up here. She clearly was proficient in combat. How could such a person end up as a slave to a king in a place like this?

After taking note of her appearance, the man’s brow furrows heavily as he questions her once again, his concern not completely gone but with a layer of accusation over it, “Who are you? Why were you in there?”

Asa doesn’t answer, instead looking out the window once she’s able to hopefully find the source of the smoke. She then sees the fire and smoke outside, the red glow now more apparent than ever, and hears the fighting and screaming more clearly. Then, looking around the room, she notes that it wasn’t destroyed as terribly as she’d expect from an invasion. Asa looks back at the man with a glare and moves so that she is in between him and the door so he can’t run away, still pointing the sword at him in a guarded stance. Asa then swiftly closes the distance with the sword pointed at him, causing the man to back into the wall. She holds the sword to his throat close to him and pats him down to see if he has any other weapons, not looking away from his face.

When she determines he has no other weapons she asks him, “Do you have any other weapons?”

When the man chokes out a no, Asa narrows her eyes at him but backs away, still pointing the sword at him.

Asa questions him again, “Is the king dead?”

The man hesitates, his hands still raised as he appraises her warily, before he nods and grunts out, “Probably.”

Asa feels her jaw clench despite herself and grits out, “And where were the other four you were supposedly with?”

The man mirrors her frustration with a huff, though seemingly at himself rather than at Asa. “They’re off in other rooms— tsk, look, we really didn’t mean to come and start any trouble. Your guys probably started something.”

“So will you kill me if I give your sword back?” Asa asks sharply, studying his expression and body language carefully.

The man replies exasperatedly “No! Who are you? Were you the king’s slave?”

Asa doesn’t answer. She then circles around him so that they switch positions before she approaches him swiftly and says, “Turn around and go out the door slowly.”

The man turns slowly, ever-cautious of the sword pointed at his back as he walks with even steps out the door.

“Look down the hall. Is there anyone there?” Asa asks lowly.

The man shakes his head no. Asa pokes him in the back with the sword and asks "Are you lying?” and he shakes his head more vigorously.

“No, there’s really no one there,” he implores.

Asa is silent for a moment and then says, “Lead me to where the king’s body is.”

The man does not protest and takes careful steps through the hall. Eventually turning the corner at the end of the long hall, Asa notes the two grand doors leading to the throne room swung open wide. Once the man is in front of the doorway, however, he comes to a stop, peering inside. Asa pokes the tip of the sword into his back, urging him forward. When the man doesn’t move Asa grabs the man and pulls him back, holding the sword at his neck.

Asa asks in a whisper “Who is there?”

The man answers in his gruff, loud voice, no longer being cautious, “Our leader.”

Asa frowns, realizing what he’s doing, but before she can respond a calm voice answers from inside the room, “Toge?” Toge and Asa both remain silent. Receiving no reply, the calm voice speaks again, “What are you doing?”

When Asa hears the calm voice approaching with quiet footsteps, she shoves Toge towards the open door and points the sword at him, backing away quietly with a scowl. Toge puts his hands down and backs away as well, saying nothing as they stand off.

Then, a tall man with a curious expression peeks around the door. The man had the stature of a warrior from the north yet boyishly handsome and noble features that made him look the part of a distinguished young master. He takes in Asa’s stance and appearance quickly before looking to Toge again and asking once more, “Toge?”

Toge doesn’t look away from Asa when he answers the man by his side, still hyper-aware of the threat facing off from them, “I don’t know. I found her in a dark room connected to the reception room. The entrance was hidden and she was chained up.”

The man then glances at Asa again before replying incredulously, “And you unchained her?”

Toge frowns guiltily and the tall man chuckles before he asks, “Where are the others?”

Toge replies with a huff, “Hell if I know.”

The tall man hums thoughtfully before he smiles at Asa, making Asa glare with suspicion clear in her gaze. The man asks, “Do you need help?”

Asa questions him with a sharp tone, “Did you kill Inei?”

The man does not hesitate before replying with a nod, “I did.” The man steps more fully into the hallway, revealing his stained sword.

Asa pauses for a moment, staring the two men down while holding them at the point of her sword. Taking in the tall man’s calm demeanor and open expression, the source of the blood on his sword was clear. The king of this palace was dead.