The Darkness Within Her

Chapter- 3

Eight year old Christy could feel the blood dripping down from the cut on her cheek. Sweat glistened on her face. Her whole body was in pain. She was sure that she would be covered in bruises the next day. She was very tired and just wanted to leave but she couldn't. She tried to block out the loud cheering and taunts that surrounded her.

People were screaming for blood to be spilt. The sight of blood flowing down her face had increased the cheering even though she thought that it could not get any louder.

Christy looked up at the man standing in front of her. Blood fell from the cut on his forehead. They kept circling each other trying to find an opening.

Christy glanced at the crowd and saw the man that she had been forced to call father give her the signal. It was the signal to end the fight.

She ducked down and slid between her opponent's legs. Quickly jumping she wrapped her legs around his neck and squeezed hard. She held her position waiting for the man to die. The man choked, trying to take in a desperate final breath. He fell down.

The crowd cheered all around her but she couldn't find joy in the fact that she had just won a fight. One which most kids her age wouldn't be able to win. She felt sick but kept the emotions out of her face. She knew the repercussions of showing emotions. Her back held enough scars that burner like a reminder of all the lessons that she had learnt over the past year. Reminders that her 'father' had placed on her.

Her father pulled her up from the fighting pit. The dead man's body was being dragged out by the men who run the Arena. Her father turned to leave after having pulled her out and collecting her winnings. He did not wait for her to follow him. He was a man of little patience.

Christy scrambled to follow him through the thick crowd which had started to cheer again at the next fight.

She had hoped that he would acknowledge her win even though it made her sick. She had desperately wanted him to show her some love. She had never really experienced a fatherly love. Her naive little mind had always yearned for love but a tiny part of her had told her to stop looking for it because he only acknowledged her to either train her or to punish her each time she failed to meet his expectations.

Christy

I woke up with a start. I could feel the sweat on my body. My memories had always been a curse. I could never sleep for long, not when my dreams were plagued by my memories. Or rather I should call them nightmares. At this point I was used to sleeping only for a few hours every week.

Looking through my window I realised that the sun was yet to rise. I just lay on my bed looking at the roof blankly as a million thoughts ran through my head.

Once the sun had risen and I could hear the noise from the streets I decided to get up.

After getting dressed up in my signature black outfit, I walked out into the streets. I walked through the various shops that had opened. People were already visiting the different shops in spite of it being quite early. It had always been busy on the Streets given the fact that most of the people who lived here were poor and so everybody was trying to find customers with atleast some money.

The kingdom of Navarre had been divided into three regions- the royals and all those with power called the high-borns lived in the innermost region close to the palace. People with lesser power, the ones who belonged to the middle class lived in the next region. The third region was occupied by those who were underprivileged. It was called the Streets. Many criminals also lived here. The high-born never ventured into the Streets.

I walked past the street vendors and reached 'the Olive Apple'. Many of the people from the Streets usually came here to either eat or hangout. Even though many criminals came here most of the time no one attacked. It was almost like some unspoken rule to leave the place peacefully.

If someone had managed to cause brawls in there then they were thrown out by Nina, the owner of Olive Apple.

I entered the building, nodding a greeting at Nina. She was a nice lady in her late fifties who fed even the orphans that roamed around. She always gave me free food even though I had offered to pay her back. Even though she knew that I was a bad person she never judged me.

I sat at one of the tables at the back keeping the entrance in my view. It had become a habit at this point in life after having done it all my life. I was always on guard. Not being able to drop my guard tired me endlessly but it had kept me alive till now.

I ordered my food. While waiting for it to arrive I kept scanning the room. One could never be too safe around here.

Nina brought my food to me and placed it on the table. She sat in front of me on the seat opposite to me.

" Hey Christy, how have you been? It's been a few days since I last saw you."

" I'm fine Nina. I had a job to take care of. Do you have any new news?"

" Nothing much dear. Just the usual rumours about the Idrisid planning on attacking Travunia. Though some of them are saying that once Travunia has been captured they will come south towards Navarre."

" Don't worry about Navarre Nina. Do you really think that we will fall to Idrisid? Our men are well trained. It is nearly impossible for them to win if they fight us."

Nina fell silent hearing this. She knew what I had told was true. Navarre hadn't been attacked in over a hundred years. The army was well trained and no other kingdom had ever stood a chance. Navarre was famous for its army. The occasional attacks that occurred in the borders were usually quelled quickly by the soldiers.

After finishing my breakfast I bid my goodbye to Nina and left. I had a long night coming up and I knew it. I had to infiltrate the slave trade base that the man from the previous night had told me and I had to free all the children there. I returned home to plan my attack.