The Last Monarch

Chapter 2

Sunlight in the town of Greenwick was always scorching, burning. Though there were no clouds to hide the harsh sunlight, the smokes coming from the chimneys of the buildings were enough to dim the whole town. The streets were always crowded with the people of the town, today especially when the rations arrived. Even in the early morning, the faces of the people looked sunken and fatigue, it was normal, everyone in town probably had not eaten for couple of days, due to the delay of the rations. I was surrounded by the murmurs of the people, queuing up after them in line for the rations. There was no reason for me to even receive the ration, there was enough food to feed the whole town back at the Ainsworth Estate. Still, I was forcefully dragged here by none other than, the annoying Blaise Clayton. With a height of one ninety, Blaise stood out in a crowd of a thousand people. His height was considered tall among the town people, due to severe starvation, most of them experience stunted growth. Only God knows how on earth he managed to grow this tall, maybe it was due to the fact that he is an excellent hunter.

Blaise nudged me in the elbow, gesturing me to stay in line. Glaring, I let out a frustrated groan. Pulling my hood further down to cover my face, I keep my head low. If it was not for his persistent plea, I would not have been here with sore feet, queuing for two hour straight.

“Remind me again why I’m here?” I muttered under my breath.

“Stop complaining, I’ll pay for your drink later at the hub.” He pushed me forward, urging me to move.

With a grin, I replied, “That’s better.”

I looked ahead, looks like it would not be long before it was our turn. There was a lady dressed in grey standing in front of us, waiting for her turn. Her back was a little hunched, but still her figure was enough to pass as beautiful in this little town. With a basket in her arm, she looked like a person Blaise would hit on, but surprisingly, he seemed well-mannered today. The lady stood forward, stretching her hand to receive the bag of ration. Instead of handing the ration to her, the guards teased her by refusing to hand them over. The lady did not stand up against them, one would be stupid to do so, she only bowed her head lower, begging for the rations. The guards seemed to enjoy teasing her, their grin are spread all over their greasy face. They started to grab the lady by her hand and pulling her towards them. The lady’s scream filled the narrow street, but the guards’ mockery drowned her plea. Standing behind them, I looked around, the people had their head bowed low, refusing to offer help. With my fists clenched, I let out a deep groan. I bent down and picked up a stone beneath my feet, throwing it as hard as I could at the bunch of idiots.

The guards turned, noticing me in my coal black hood. One of them laughed, viewing me as nothing more than a laughingstock. The crowd behind me backed away, except for Blaise. Noting my anger, Blaise walked slowly to my side, his hand found its place on my shoulders.

“Anna, stand down.” He whispered softly, attempting to persuade me.

I pushed his hand away, and sprinted towards the guards. With one hit, my fist landed on one of their face. The guard I attacked had his face covered, but the blood dripping down his chin proved his broken nose. With one great yell, he ordered the others to take me down. I steadied in my stance, dodging as much as I could. I did not back away from the fight, throwing punches and kicks with every chance I had. I targeted the guard who held the lady captive, giving him a kick in his torso, I forced him to the ground. Grabbing the lady by the arm, I dragged her out of their reach.

“Run, now.” She did as told, running away from my view. As soon as she disappeared from sight, I felt a tightened grip around my throat and a dagger nearing my jaw. The guard panted heavily, his breath stinks on my face. I slammed my elbow into his ribs, trying to break free from his grip. But his grip only tightened, depriving me of breath. Dark spots formed before me, his grip was strong enough to leave marks on my throat. He barked orders at the other guards, something about pinning me to the ground, making sure I could not move. Before they could come anywhere near me, the grip around my neck loosened, noting this, I pushed him back, wasting no time. I swayed, stretching out my hand for balance. I found myself leaning against a foreign body, Blaise. His concerned look came into view, his green eyes calming as always. He steadied me on my feet. I was ready to give a few more punch on the guard who took me down, but Blaise dragged me away.

“There’s no time for that, more guards are coming. We have to run now.” He grabbed me by the hand and started running, forcing me to follow him. I rolled my eyes at him, dashing along as fast as I could. Behind us, the group of guards chased us, yelling. I ran still, my legs never ceasing to stop their constant cycle of motion. I let out a laugh, the exhilaration had me pumped up.

“Oh it’s never a dull moment with you, Anna.” He chuckled, running beside me. The both of us followed the secret route we had planned out for emergencies like this. We planned before hand, actually, Blaise did, knowing I would get into trouble every time I went to town. Who could blame me, I could not possibly back away from a “fair” fight. After leaving a fair amount of distance between us and the guards, we turned into the small alleyway by the streets, plunging deeper into the dark, hiding from the guards.

We both leaned against the wall, panting. Even though I had been through worse under Ronan’s training, I still feel tired running through the whole town. We observed in the dark, watching the guards run pass the alleyway like a bunch of idiots. It was only then did we let our guards down. I slid onto the ground, taking in deep breaths. Noting the smile on my face, Blaise gave me enough time to recharge myself.

“Now you’ve made me miss my rations.” He kicked me in the shin, not enough to cause harm.

“You’re welcome anytime at the Ainsworth Estate. Besides, I will pay for the drinks if you promise not to tell Ronan.” I reached out my hand to him, gesturing him to pick me up. He did as I told.

“Oh, I’m sure he’ll find out on his own. Come, little missy, the hub’s this way.” He gestured, guiding me further into the alleyway, using the shortcut to the hub.

X X X

The hub is surely not the ideal place for the weak-hearted. The place is full of bounty hunters, coming in to trade their catch for money. Some of them would normally chill at the hub, drinking beers, gambling, though there’s not much money to gamble, so yeah, most of them are in debt. The place is starting to dry up as well, from the looks of it, not much beer to sell, the people of the town are already too starved to use their money on unnecessary luxuries.

As a hunter, Blaise would normally come here to trade, but today was an exception, he gets to enjoyed the beer bought by using my money. Just like the other town people, Blaise struggled to survive in this kingdom. King Deighton’s reign was a curse upon us all. Shortly after his coronation, he declared that all the people of the kingdom will be paying tax to the royal family, claiming the taxes were for the good of the kingdom, but in reality, the money of the people is used for their ridiculous luxuries. As if that wasn’t enough torture for the people, just a few weeks ago, he released a statement, ordering all those aged 17, girls and boys are to attend “The Selection” for the conscription of a new batch of army. He claimed it to be a pledge of loyalty and an honour to serve the kingdom by eradicating all enemies lurking in the Norvale region outside the kingdom wall. What a load of rubbish. The real enemies are in the kingdom wall, either people were too blind to see it or they were too weak to protest.

“The king sure is taking pleasure in killing every one of us slowly.” Blaise scoffed, rolling his eye. I smiled in reply. Blaise does not know. He only knows and believes what he see, he knows me as Lady Anastasia Ramos, the niece of General Ronan Ainsworth, though there’s not much of a lady in me. After the escape, Ronan had hid me inside his estate for four years before announcing me as his niece. During those four years, I had spent time training with Ronan. I will spare the details of the training, basically do not ask to train under Ronan if you are not up for it. The trainings had erased any signs left of me as a proper lady, I would often sneak out to the forest without Ronan knowing. Sometime I would hunt for fun, but normally, I went there to clear my head. That was where I first met Blaise, in the forest, quite awkward for a first impression, if you have an arrow pointed at you in the middle of the forest. He later explained he was only pointing the arrow at me because he thought I was a prey. We bonded after meeting for a few time and before we knew it, we were the best of friends. It gave him quite a shock after he found out I was Ronan’s niece.

I grinned, thinking about his expression when he found out.

“What’s so funny?” Blaise blurted out, holding the beer in his hand. With one eyebrow raised, his face twisted in the weirdest way possible. Oh, Blaise, never a dull moment with you too.

“Nothing, I was just remembering your reaction when you found out I was Ronan’s niece.”

“Well, I couldn’t help it, could I? You would shock anyone with that title.” He took one big gulp from the jug before placing it on the table. I rest my chin on one hand, my head tilted to one side. If only he knew who I really was, he would not be so carefree around me anymore.

The sky outside the hub’s window was bright orange. The bells from the Royal Tower rang, their sound reverberating through the evening sky. I sat up straight, adjusting my hood back into place.

“Well, there’s the bell. I need to go.” Standing up, I threw the money for the beer on the table. “You can keep the change.”

“How odd. You managed to disobey every rule from General Ronan but not this one.” He smirked, showing his pearl white teeth. The fact that he was teasing me for not being able to fully disobey Ronan made me want to smack him hard.

“Not funny. This rule is the only rule I can’t break. I’ll see you tomorrow.” I said, turning my back to him. I walked out of the hub, with my head low. Ronan had always turned a blind eye on every mistake I had made. Ronan was just as important as to me as family, I caused him enough trouble during daytime, I should at least save him some worry during nighttime.