The Red String

The Red String Synopsis The story revolves around princess Arianna that is sent to marry the emperor of another country. The strings of fate get tangled with another man, the notorious conqueror also known as the “Devil”, Keiran. She will get pulled by his strings, not able to escape his grasp. Since he interfered with her predetermined fate, and things aren’t certain anymore, Arianna will finally have a saying in her own life. She will get through hardships and learn that getting stronger is the only way to survive. Now being tied with his fate, what role is she gonna play in Keiran’s desires? CHAPTER 1  “There is a beautiful kingdom, a kingdom that all of your wishes can come true. The name of this place is Zhen. There, you can find riches, wine and beautiful women. Everyone's dream is to live there, or even just to have a taste of it, but if you are naive, the city will swallow you. It's full of tricks and traps, people that want your life. They will make you their slave and you won't even notice. Every other place wants to become Zhen. But I... I will conquer it” Miles away from the city of Zhen, behind the mountains called "the Black Titan", lies an army hidden, waiting orders from their powerful leader. “Today is the day that we will take what is ours back!”, says a tall man with beard and muscles named Yaro while drinking from a big cap of wine. “Aye aye, you are right”, another man raises his glass across the table. A woman scoffs, making fun of what they are saying while peeling an apple with her small knife. “Did you have something to say Eve?”, says Yaro raising his eyebrow and flexing his muscles. Eve stands up, swinging her ponytail saying, “Well ‘big muscles’, don’t need to overdo it with your empty words. We all know it’s all a show”. Yaro’s eyes goggled in shock and the people around start laughing. “Well said”, they started commenting. He pushes his hands against the table to stand and with an angry face he charges at her. She puts one leg back and stoops with open hands waiting for him. Yaro screams while running towards her ready to take her down. A second before he arrives Eve swiftly moves aside and Yaro falls. People start laughing and she raises her eyebrow to show who is in charge, crossing her hands. The night came at last, and the men started moving to their tents, while Yaro has an angry face on him. Eve ignores him and starts leaving too. She notices a man standing on a big rock, while the last ray of light shines on him. He is gazing at Zhen. Her face becomes soft and she moves right next to him. “Everything that we dreamed is right there”, she says while looking at the sunset. “I remember you made fun of Yaro for saying something like this”, he comments without moving his gaze from Zhen. Her eyes widened in shock, not expecting him to have heard that. “Yaro is all about big words he doesn’t understand. I, on the other hand, know what you are after Keiran”. She is bending towards him, touching his hand. The moment they just shared disappeared, as huge fireworks are blusting in the sky. “This is coming from Zhen. Today is the marriage of the Emperor Lon with his fourth-to-be wife, princess Arianna", he says. “Isn’t she from the Kingdom of the Lotus?”, she asks. Keiran nods and she realises that the time has come. “Well that's a wedding that we need to attend”. An hour has pass and it’s time for the soldiers leave their tents and go to the armory. They start preparing wearing their uniforms, which are strong but light, colored in black, and the helmet is designed with two big horns looking like the devil. Eve sharpens her knifes, Yaro picks up his armor and a strange figure sitting in the back, meditates. This is Roen, Keiran’s trusted advisor. He has long blond hair and he is said to be very handsome, prettier than any women or anyone on the kingdom, but very cunning. The 100 people army, given the name DEVIL, is lining in a formation and getting ready for Keiran’s instructions. He is ready, he is ready to get what he wants. He looks at his men while standing on his black horse, screaming “ATTACK!”. With a steady pace, they camouflage into the darkness, passing through the difficult path that the mountain Black Titan provides. Many people have lost their lives on these mountains, but Keiran has something they didn’t; control of creatures of the abyss. These monsters lurk in dark places, killing unsuspected passengers. But these demons wouldn’t attack their master. And so, they pass through, having chills run down their spines, but unharmed till they are out of the woods. On the other side stands the big wall of Zhen. The men, using signs, communicate with each other aiming for the weakest point on the wall. Keiran had told them that there is a small c***k on the south end of the wall. Indeed, if you look closely you could see it but it's so small that most people couldn't even notice.  Yaro, seeing the hole, is scratching his head thinking how a small c***k like this can help. Roen moves close to him and says, “You see, most of the people that went to take down Zhen, tried to do it by using canons and by taking down the wall. But this wall is protected by magic provided by the Gods and they leave only scratches. No one could get that close to climb either, since he would be seen, but this is the most unguarded part. Mostly because, they think the mountain as protection. No one can survive it, except though, for our Master. The c***k was the indication that we are on the right side”. Yaro raises his eyebrows as a sign of understanding. The men get into position, readying their ropes to climb. Trying not to make a sound, one man after the other reaches the top. “I count 20 men”, a soldier whispers. “Make it silent”. Standing on their tiptoes, they slowly move behind the back of the guards. With a swift move, they slit their throats. They started moving on the inner part seeing that the streets are empty, celebrating the wedding, a perfect opportunity for an attack. Hiding behind a house, Keiran observes the princess on her white dress, with beautiful flowers decorating her red hair. Her skin looks cold, her gaze looks empty. She glances at him for a moment and his eyes dilate. “Don’t worry, she didn’t really see you”, Roen says to reassure him. His face becomes serious again. “We need her alive” he comments. Keiran puts on his mask and takes his sword off the case. “We are conquering this place”. CHAPTER 2 *12 hours earlier* “They say that people are connected. What is keeping them like this is an unseen red string, tied to each one of us. If you follow it, it will lead you to the person you are tied to. You might not know the person, have nothing to do with him, but your fates are entangled together. Your actions will determine not only your fate, but his. I always knew my string of fate, I know where it lands. What I don’t know is you, the person that is tied to. I’m connected to you, but I don’t know you. I wonder, how are you gonna change my fate, when it’s already sealed?”. Today is the final day that Arianna will be a princess. From now one she will be an Empress. But it's just a title with no power at all. It is only a jewelry that a wife can wear and brag about it. But, does it have any meaning? Arianna knows that it doesn't. She knows that being a princess gave her nothing but hardship and this new promotion it isn't a blessing, but a curse. Unfortunately, she has no control over her life. She is something that people can own and can sell whenever they like. Today she is her father's property, but in a few hours, she will belong to the Emperor. Emperor Lon has already other three spouses. The first is Katzin, having two daughters with her, the second is Milen, having three daughters, and the third is Ti, having none children as she is barren. It seems that the Emperor is cursed. No matter how many times he tried, he was not blessed with a son. The oracle interpret this as a message from the Gods; that he hasn’t found the right wife. So, after a long search and at his 50th birthday, he found his fourth wife, Arianna. She has been living in the city of Zhen for three months since the deal was sealed. There, she learned how to behave and act as the wife of the Emperor and now she is considered ready. The whole city is on alert and getting ready for the wedding, presents from all over the kingdoms arrive, the servants decorate the city and palace, and the people are sewing new clothes for the upcoming event. On Arianna’s champers, the maids prepare her bath using colorful soaps that smell like strawberries and vanilla. After that, they start fixing her hair and dressing her into layers of silk. Most of her hair are pinned up to her head with white and purple flowers. Her dress is long and white with wide sleeves that start from the middle of the shoulders and end up down to her knees and a broad red velvet waistband is decorating the dress. Thousands of people gather on the palace, royals and citizens, ready to watch the wedding. King Eris (Arianna’s father) with his son Kron, are sitting on the front along with the kings and queens of other kingdoms. The ceremony begins. The priest mumbles some word written on a book, the servants brew a kind of smoke that smells like orange and vanilla, giving blessing, and the three spouses gossip with jealousy about Arianna. The rite ends and the soldiers start throwing fireworks. People congratulate the couple and all move to the feast. Arianna is pale, thinking that she will spend all of her life with a man than only likes drinking, war and women. They sit on the table and hundreds of meals are being served. Emperor Lon and King Eris drink wine and talk about the past. Dancers fill the stage doing acrobatics and spitting fire from the mouths. For Arianna, all happened so fast she can’t comprehend what has occurred till now. She doesn’t even remember her husband’s face. ‘So weak’ she thinks of herself. In all this, a thin and tall woman with a long nose approaches her and says, "My young Empress, I'm queen Ellie, wife of King Wun from the kingdom of the Fox. I came here to congratulate you to your marriage with our Emperor". Arianna nods putting on a fake smile to show her gratitude. The woman continues, “Well, you see I've noticed how pale you look and how forced that smile was. Forgive me but, I don't think you enjoy this, even though every woman here is jealous of you, wanting to have your beauty and your place next to the Emperor. So, if I may ask, having all this riches within your grasp, why are unhappy?”. Arianna stops smiling and raises her cup of wine, drinking it all in one go. She looks back at Ellie and answers, “Yes my lady, I'm rich, I'm pretty, I'm married to the most powerful man in the world. But, I don’t remember having a saying in all these. Everything is decided for me, to marry a man that I will never love or love me, to be in a city of strangers that wear masks to hide who their are. But please, don't think for a second that I'm not happy!”. Arianna immediately regrets her decision of saying all these. She could hanged for treason.