Awakening (Born From Shadows #1)

“I can’t wait, I heard that the Princess Sophia Trelliard would be attending with her handsome brother Prince Nikolas,” a rich lady gossiped to her friend. Trelliard was a denomination Tatianna was familiar with. After all, it was the Princess’s parents who ruled over the kingdom she currently resided in. She had never seen the royals or the Lords and Ladies of the court in person, although she had heard plenty of things about them as others roamed the streets. Personally she didn’t care much for them. They could live their fancy lives and she would live hers as long as they didn’t disturb her she had no reason to fret about them.

Thinking about the opulent just made her remember her visit to that large white house. It had been months since she was let into that fancy mansion, or at least she thought it had been, Tatianna didn’t know the date or what day of the week it was. She had missed her birthday on numerous occasions, not that anyone was there to celebrate with her. She could only recollect one of the many birthdays that was actually special to her…back when he was around. She suddenly felt a pain within her chest gnawing at her insides, knowing that she had just re-surfaced a painful memory. Just like any time she felt that pain she pushed it far to the back of her mind and focused once again on the two women’s conversation.

“Handsome? I heard he was breath-taking with his dark hair and green eyes. Could make a girl’s panties wet from just one glance,” the woman replied to her friend, oblivious to Tatianna’s prying ears. She rolled her eyes at the comment but kept heedfully listening in to their conversation. The days were repetitive and boring for her at times, going through the same cycle over and over again just to stay alive. Listening to the rich was the only source of entertainment she had, and it did well to divert her mind from the growling hunger.

The woman’s friend giggled, “Nonsense, it takes my husband so long to get me even remotely aroused. A single look? infeasible.” Married, of course she was, Tatianna thought. Most of these wealthy women were not allegiant to their husbands, as were their husbands to them. They swore vows to each other not out of care but their own selfish desires. She had yet to see one truly happy wedded couple instead of the ones with a forced smile or fake laugh. She almost felt bad for them to have to pretend every day, but then she remembered how she would kill for that to be her only complication in her life.

“Please, you think your husband is bad. Have you had the unfortunate experience of seeing Richard? As rich as they get but to be honest, I think he is just going to shrivel up on me one day,” the woman moved her impeccably straight ebony hair from in front of her eyes.

“Don’t act like you don’t want that to happen, all his money will go to you,” her friend laughed. Tatianna started to feel sick, unable to take their conversation any longer she decided it was time to find some scraps. She held onto her blanket tightly and carried her cardboard box under her other arm.

After wandering aimlessly for a few more hours, she decided it was nugatory, the rich had no scrapes to offer her today and she couldn’t be bothered to find a rat, kill it, skin it and eat it. It was a dangerous practise as she had no idea of what illnesses the rats carried . She tried to eschew doing that until her fourth or fifth day without food. Rats did not taste good, especially raw..

Collapsing onto the ground, her legs could no longer support the weight of her body any longer. This day had seemed so tiring she just wanted to fall asleep for the next century undisturbed. Perhaps one day humans would learn to hibernate, that was a day she looked forward to.

“Tatianna?” A querying voice asked. She looked up and saw Freya standing there in shock to see her. She immediately turned around and commenced to walk away. “Tatianna wait!” the blonde girl called out to her.

She would not make the same mistake twice and stay over at the girl’s mansion, no matter how much her stomach crawled. She headed back towards the Eastern side of the city, she did not realise in her search for food she had drifted North. She put both the North and the girl far behind her and went to find somewhere to rest for the night.

Tatianna was almost about to make herself comfortable when she ceased in her tracks and turned around, her instincts were kicking at her mind telling her something was wrong. Her eyes scanned the vacuous, snow-frosted street. It looked as if nothing was there, but still, her left hand reached towards the hidden dagger beneath her cloak.

A movement caught her eye. “Who’s there?” she called out. A guilty-faced Freya emerged from a small, narrow alleyway. “Why are you following me?” she authoritatively mandated, her anger starting to show. This girl was full of suspicious behaviour and she wanted to know for what purport. She was too tired to keep up this game of ‘follow the crazy homeless girl’.

“I’m sorry, I just wanted to see where you live now so I could find you again,” Freya poorly expounded.

“Are you an assassin? Is that it?” Tatianna asked, still wondering why an assassin would be after a poor, frivolous girl like herself.

“No, I just wanted to make sure you were safe.”

“Why me? Why not the countless other, ‘pieces of trash’ on the street?”

“Because…” Freya thought for a moment, “you’re different. You have kindness, commiseration and you look to be no older than myself. Every time I see you I think about how you could easily be me, or any other girl had you the opportunities. I wanted to help you.”

Tatianna stood there looking directly into Freya’s frost blue eyes, trying to probe for any allusion of a lie. Although assassins were always excellent prevaricators.

“Leave me alone,” she told the girl.

“I can’t just sit here and watch you scavenge the street when I can do something about it,” Freya protested.

Freya seemed sincere, she had yet to harm or threaten her, could Freya actually be telling the truth? Of course, Tatianna could always threaten it out of Freya using her knife…but she did not wish to do such a thing. It was a very messy practise.

“My family is hosting a dance tonight,” Freya announced, “I would love if you could attend.”

Tatianna immediately burst into a fit of laughter. This girl wanted her to go to a dance. She started to wheeze unable to control her laugh. That was the most ridiculous thing she had ever heard.

“What is it?” Freya asked in discombobulation.

“Me? At a dance?” she couldn’t control herself; her laughter was never-ending. If she had half a mind she would thank the girl for making her laugh so hard for the first time in years.

“Is that so hard to believe?”

“Yes,” she immediately replied once she finally calmed down from her fit. Freya frowned at her amusement.

“With a shower and a nice dress, you would look very beautiful,” Freya complimented her. A compliment, this was all so surreal for her she didn’t know what to say or think.

“Please, there will be a feast as well, just come with me,” Freya offered her. Tatianna looked towards the snow-covered stone floor of the street she stood on. Everything in her screamed no you idiot, run away, but yet again her replication was the complete opposite.

“Ok.”

Its strange how when she knew it was the wrong thing to do, her desires forced her to do it. It was a compulsion that she couldn’t break out of even if she craved to do so.