The Legacy

Hello Everyone,

So in "The Chase" which was released 07/08/12 I mentioned another story. Here it is. I currently have four works I'm working on. I know it's a lot but when you have inspiration it's hard not to write. One of them is not posted on here because it's for a different age group so...

Anyways hopefully I can post soon whether it is for any of the three stories posted on Lit. I appreciate all the comments you guys have given to me so far. Hopefully my previous reader's will be able to see this message. There's is a lot I have learned from the comments you guys have posted.

WF

All comments and feedback are appreciated.

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Keara contemplated on walking farther down the path. The small braids that were made from her bangs kept her hair from her face but as of now Keara needed water. She reached for her gourd, a small fruit canteen that her elder brother had just carved for her. She wondered how he had made it. It was from a watermelon but the color never faded and it never possessed a stench. Keara titled her head in thought and then opened up the container. It was empty. She frowned in disappointment and tucked the gourd away. Now she was forced to find a water source.

Keara scanned the woods around her. Usually only nymphs and faeries lived in these woods, but since she had ventured so far out, Keara wondered if she would encounter any werewolves or vampires. No worries, she tried to reassure herself, you have your own weapon. With that Keara felt the object that was strapped securely onto her back. Yes, the arrows that the priestess had crafted for her would no doubt protect her from any magical enemy. Keara progressed forward, drawing herself closer to the middle of the woods. Suddenly Keara heard a small rustle. She whipped around, already having an arrow ready. Her eyes scanned the trees, glanced over the bushes. Then she spotted it. No, it was a person.

"Who are you?" she asked.

The person emitted a loud groan.

Keara approached cautiously. Her knees were bent and her arrow poised for attack. Keara paused for a moment and drew out her sword. She slashed away at the bush and to her dismay she saw a man bleeding profusely through an open wound.

The first remark... or rather question that came into her mind was how the man had gotten so injured, but she brushed it off. Keara knew that the healers back at home would be able to treat the man. But before she made any move of helping the man Keara demanded once more who the man was.

"Andros is my name," the man sputtered, gasping for breath.

"Where are you from?" Keara pried, "No never mind," she interrupted, cutting the man named Andros off.

Keara reached for her whistle that was tied to the bottom of her ankle. She blew it and the whistle played a soft tune.

"I will take you to my home, there you can be treated," she told him.

Andros nodded weakly in response.

Keara eyed him with her light green eyes. The man was handsome, there was no doubt in that, she noted. His hair was like her brother's, a bit longer than most men but it was which gave that the strong, warrior like appearance. Suddenly Keara froze. She hadn't bothered to observe the man's armor. She looked at his breastplate. There. There is was imprinted for the whole world to see. The Kurisan knight of arms. Even the slightest mention of the kingdom of Kuris made Keara's body shake with anger. After all it was the kingdom of Kuris that took her late younger brother and mother away. Andros. Keara took note of his name. She wanted to check with her father's spies to see if this Andros was of any importance to the Kuris kingdom.

Within the minute whatever Keara had blown the whistle for had arrived. Her stallion, a brown haired horse galloped through the woods dutifully, seeking out his rider. The stallion bowed its head in recognition of Keara but sniffed curiously at the stranger. It recoiled immediately, taking in the strong stench of blood.

"Come, come, Damien," Keara whispered to her horse, gently patting it down. She scratched her horse's head before attempting to lift the man. Keara felt her breath escape from her. The man was unbelievably heavy. She looked over his head to see how tall he was. Her jaw nearly dropped. He was as tall as her elder brother, if not taller. Keara frowned knowing that a man from Kuris was taller in stature that her brother. Perhaps it's that height that gives them the power, she thought, the power to kill. Keara quickly dispelled of the thoughts as she didn't like to have too many bad intentions towards strangers. She didn't even know the man really. Keara placed him back on the woodland floor and carefully started to remove his armor. First was the breastplate, she tossed that away. Then she untied the leg guards and finally the under-armor. Now he was much lighter but still very, very heavy. Keara noted where the injury was and pulled out her dagger. She cut the bottom half of her dress and tore and opening in it. She removed Andros's blood-stained shirt and bound her dress around his open wound. Afterwards, for some decency she put the shirt back onto Andros.

Although the bleeding was not too bad, Andros was still very uncomfortable. He knew that he had already lost more than enough blood and that if he didn't get treated soon all would be lost. He did however plan to keep his true identity from the girl.

"Your name?" he asked her, his breathing a bit more regulated.

Keara gazed at the man, "You do not need to know my name," she rebutted, "You are on Elaman land and you have no right to demand my name."

"But you are my savior."

"We will see about that. I don't have much control over political dealings."

Andros frowned. "Elama only has healers within the palace. Unless you live in the palace or are a healer yourself there is no where you can possibly treat me."

Keara ignored that man and demanded that he stand up.

"Could you not help me?" he asked as if she had committed a crime for not bothering to assist him.

Keara extended a hand but quickly realized she would have to use her whole body to help him up. Keara hauled the man up and asked him if he could stand on at least one leg. Andros nodded. Keara wound his tight arm around her shoulder and together they hobbled toward her horse. Fortunately for Keara, Andros was tall and was able to, partly, pull himself onto her horse. Keara climbed on shortly after, sitting in front of Andros as she was the one who knew the way out of the woods.

They rode in silence for a while before Andros decided that he was able to speak.

"Can I know your name?" he asked the girl.

Keara pursed her lips, "I don't know if Andros is your true name but if you want to call me something you can just call me Areema."

"Areema?" Andros echoed.

"Even if that isn't your true name it is a beautiful name."

Keara bit her lip. It was her mother's name but he didn't need to know that.

Again the two rode in silence through the woods, slowly nearing a clearing. From there Keara urged her stallion to run faster. They rode through the village that sat at the bottom of an enormous mountain.

Andros stared at the palace in front of him. Of all the palaces he had visited the one that stood on the majestic mountain was the grandest of them all. The palace, or castle, it was more of a combination of both, was made of a white, stone marble. Watch towers loomed tall and mighty in the distance while large round domes appeared more towards the front. A long uphill stone bridge connected the village to the top of the mountain. Now Andros understood why it had been so hard for Elama to be invaded. The palace was on a mountain and the only way to get to it was through the bridge. Even catapults were unable to reach the top of the mountain; the palace-castle building was practically unreachable.

Keara noticed how intently Andros was studying her home. She wondered if he was a spy sent to find any breach within her palace. Keara almost scoffed. All the men in the palace were trustworthy; most had been her brother's friends as young boys before they formally joined her father's, the king's, commission. However, it did not mean that the palace care was given to just anyone. Although it was typical for the eldest son to be made general, Keara's older brother was in charge of the palace while their cousin and friend were the only two generals of the army. Keara... well she was just around but was still very involved with the palace. She made sure that the right maids were hired and that no place in the palace was dirty. But still... Keara thought, I want more freedom, freedom that would be outside of the palace. She remembered when she was five, having just discovered a secret passage inside of the palace. At that time she had only been the princess's cousin, now she was the princess. Her uncle, her father's elder brother had to fight a war against the kingdom of Kuris. Keara wondered if her uncle knew he was going to die because he had ordered her father to go into hiding. There were rumors that there was a traitor among the Elaman kingdom. Her family had left to go into hiding that very night her uncle had told them but as they left the palace her mother and younger brother had been shot by arrows. Keara remembered that hollow gut feeling. Her mother's dying eyes as she cried out to Keara to keep riding, all while falling off her horse. Her younger brother too had been shot. Her father forced her to ride on, grabbing hold of her horses' reigns and leading them away from danger. Ultimately Keara's eldest cousin and living cousin, her younger cousin had been killed by the traitor, had been able to fend off the enemy troops but at the cost of his life. His last breath was spent of declaring her father king. Keara's soul hardened at the thought of Andros behind her. Although she could feel his hard, taught body muscles along her back it did nothing to alleviate the amount of hate she had for the man. Keara broke out of her thoughts when she reached the main entrance. She jumped off her horse and called out to one of the guards who stood at the very top of the castle wall. Since the wall was so high, citizens of Elama were required to shoot arrows up to the guards so that they could determine who the person was, or at least what social class they came from. With this in mind Keara drew her bow and shot it up towards the large wooden target where the guards would examine her arrow.

A short moment later the enormous gates of her palace opened up and Keara rode in.

immediately she urged Damien, her stallion, towards the healers whose quarters were not too far from her own quarters.

"Princess Keara!" one of the healers exclaimed when they saw Keara dismounting her horse.

"Nu-rah," Keara replied, "Please help this man, I found him while I was on my daily walk." Keara saw hesitation in the Nu-rah's eyes. "You will be greatly rewarded," Keara informed Nu-rah, "I will ensure that you can leave the palace for a week to see your family."

Nu-rah's soft brown eyes widened. "Yes," she stammered out, "Yes, I will do the best I can." Nu-rah lifted Andros up, not showing her surprise when she realized how heavy he was.

"Take him to my quarters."

"Your quarters? But the king―"

"To the guest room of course."

Nu-rah nodded vigorously feeling like a fool for thinking that the princess meant her bedroom.

Keara watched as Nu-rah helped Andros onto the bed in her guest room. The entire building belonged to Keara. Unlike most palaces, the royal family, all but the king, lived outside of the palace. Keara and her elder brother both had large complexes built for them near the palace garden. Keara had wanted to be by the garden and her brother wanted to be close by in case there was any danger. There was also a hidden underground passage way but only she and her brother knew that.

After Nu-rah had removed most of the blood she excused herself and said that she would try to find a shirt for Andros. She quickly measured his upper body with her hands. She would place one hand one his arm and then place the other right in front of the first laid one. His arm alone was five hands. After Nu-rah was done measuring him, she left.

Andros opened his eyes. "You are the princess," he stated as he stared at Keara.

Keara clenched her teeth. She had forgotten to hush Nu-rah about greeting her as princess when she and Andros were at the healer's living quarters.

"Yes," she replied casually, "I don't suppose there is anything I can do about it now that you know."

"Then your true name is Keara," he said dismissing her title.

"I am Princess Keara Andros," Keara corrected him, staring hard at the man.

"Areema was your mother."

Keara fought down the urge to beat him. The Kurisan man had no right to speak her mother's name.

"If you say her name with that filthy mouth of yours I can assure you that the rest of your healing time will be spent in the dungeons."

Andros looked away.

"Anyways," Keara said crossing the room to pull up a chair, "What were you doing on my land?"

"It seems that I have gotten lost."

"If you keep avoiding me I assure you that you will spend tonight in the dungeons."

"I am telling the truth," Andros persisted; at least it was some of the truth.