Dark Beauty

One

Nine years later

My eyes flickered from face to face as I scanned the crowd of villagers. They stood silently, watching the man on the stand as he read out something from a large, yellow scroll. Royals these days. I spotted a familiar face amongst the people. His brown hair hung low and obscured his eyebrows and part of his gleaming eyes. A beard had grown on his chin and he had a mustache as well.

Davis.

Anger boiled in me as I remembered the night when he killed my mom. He had said that he loved her, but set the house on fire and let her die, just to pursue me and my necklace. Speaking of the necklace, I lifted a hand to touch the pendant around my neck. The swirls glistened in the light and sparkled like a thousand stars. A small smile crept onto my face.

My face.

It had been ruined. When I was running away from Davis, my left cheek had been scratched and a permanent scar was left there. It ran from the bottom of my eyebrow, through my eye and to the center of my cheek. I hid most of it behind a black scarf that I wore around my neck.

"...and here we have Lord Davis," the man on the stand announced, gesturing to Davis as he stepped up.

I whipped up my head in that direction and my eyes narrowed. Davis outstretched his arms and beamed widely at everyone.

"I am here to announce the upcoming festival held at the grand palace in two weeks. Everyone, of course, is invited to the party. Thank you very much for your time," Davis stepped down and a few claps echoed through the village as everyone dispersed.

I slipped through the crowd and my eyes landed on Davis. He stood alone by a stall and held a book in his hands. From the sleeve of my black trench coat, I slid out a small knife. The smooth blade glided across my fingers and I gently rubbed my thumb over the cold metal. It relaxed my muscles and I inhaled a sharp breath. I slowly made my way closer to Davis with silent steps.

A voice suddenly rang out and I turned my head to meet a pair of piercing, dark blue orbs. They grew a shade darker as the young man took in my appearance. I returned my gaze back Davis and determination bubbled at the pit of my stomach.

When I was a few feet away from him, he looked up. I raised my arm and ran up to him, crying out. I stabbed the knife into his stomach and twisted it. He groaned out in pain and his gaze met mine.

"This is for my mother," I said through clenched teeth, pulling out the knife.

I whipped my head around and saw a group of soldiers rushing over. They were holding large guns and long swords hung from the belts around their waists. My hand found their way to the hilt of the gun hidden under my coat. I pulled it out and aimed it at a soldier. HIs eyes widened as a bullet went flying and hit him in the center of his head. A few gasps could be heard and I fled.

Sliding through stalls and running through the immense crowd gathered around Davis, I didn't stop. The wind brushed through the strands of my hair and my scarf fell. I didn't have time to fix it and kept running, blindly shooting bullets at the soldiers behind me.

Suddenly, I came to a halt at the edge of a cliff and my pursuers came to a stop as well. Their chests were rising up and down. I used my gun and quickly shot every one of them in the head. I turned back around the face the cliff.

"Wait! Don't!" an alarmed voice called out and I spun around.

The young man with dark blue eyes looked at me with wide eyes and I raised my gun and pointed it at his head. He raised both of his hands in surrender and I narrowed my eyes. I replaced the gun behind my coat and turned around, ignoring the man's loud begs and protests.

Taking a deep breath, I jumped.