“Any place more civilize than here is a better place for you!” the woman shook the letter in her hand as she spoke.
“I don’t want to marry someone I have not even seen!” Axelle replied.
“Axi, you know that mom and dad can’t look after you forever… and I won’t allow you to end up just like Ari.” both of them looked silently at the pair of axes hanging on the wall. “And how bad can the life in the Village of Voices be?” Axelle’s mom continued, “they are certainly more well educated than any man you can find in this wil… in Numeria” She stopped right away knowing that the word “wilderness” has always been the trigger of a family-war. Axelle’s parents moved from Druma to Numeria after her father lost everything running a business. For Axelle and her sister this was the great outdoors they always longed when they were under the strict rules back in Druma, for her father this was the only choice, but for her mother… this was the living hell.
Arguments of all levels broke during their stay in Numeria with all kinds of reasons as well: poor choices of merchandise, lack of clean water, dust all over the place, and the list goes on. This time the disputes break around a letter…. A marriage proposal to be precise: a so called ‘Baron’ from the City of Karcau send this letter hoping to have young Axelle’s hand in marriage. For Axelle’s mother, this is a great chance to leave Numeria in a not-so-distant future. But for Axelle, this came out completely out of the blue and she smelled danger everywhere. Axelle’s father was quite against this “offer” as well, but the family “discussion” will always end up with her wife saying something like: “let them decide!? Look at what ‘let them decide’ ended up” while she points angrily at the pair of axes on the wall.
Axelle’s elder sister, Arielle, was an outgoing and cheerful girl, she helped at home with all kinds of chores, hunting, harvesting, carrying stuffs, digging, mining and most of all ‘chopping’. Arielle was and excellent ‘chopper’, she could chop all day long, chopping down trees, chopping down big games, chopping the meat for dinner, you name it! Their father spent the most of his time on the farm or far away trying to mine up some Numerian Steel to make the living; Axelle was too young, so Arielle took on every chores that seemed too rough for the ladies and home, and because of this she was called, by the family and neighbors alike, ‘the little man’ of the family. When Arielle turned 16 (Axelle was 10 by then), she fell in love with the son of a clan leader of the Kellids. Mom nearly freaked the hell out of herself about the idea. But being the man the next leader of a Barbarian clan, he got some resources that turn out to be very priced in a land like Numeria; he provided the family regular supply of furs, seeds and food, this certainly got Arielle’s mom in a better mood, so in the end Arielle married the Kellid. Everyone would have thought this is a ‘lived happily ever after’ love story, but fate tricked them all: a clan war broke out and Arielle ‘the Chopper’ Lawless fought fearlessly among the warriors of her clan. The war ended in terrible losses for both sides, and Arielle never came back from the battlefield.
Since the loss of her older daughter, Axelle’s mom tried to send her out of Numeria in countless occasions, and this time she sought the greatest opportunity of them all.
Three days later from the arrival of the ‘proposal’ an emissary arrived at their doorstep. He was a very charismatic man indeed, he was very polite, but to their surprise the man didn’t say much. He asked about her decision right away. Though Axelle’s mom was really looking forward to send her daughter as far away from where they are, the boldness of this emissary shocked her. Seeing their hesitation, the man put a leather bag on the table and called his assistants to bring in a chest. The bag held about 500 pieces of gold coins and the chest was filled with elaborate fabrics from Ustalav and Andoran.
“Please, accept this as a token of appreciation” the man said “and please may this be a proof that your daughter will have a luxurious life. The only thing I ask for is ‘Yes, I do’ from Miss Lawless.”
When Axelle got back to her senses she was in a carriage on her way to Karcau. She muttered the last words mom told her before she left: “do good to those who do good to you!” Her parents seemed happy then, her mother seemed joyous to be precise, and for Axelle if by doing this can keep their parents happy this is certainly worth a try.
Axelle arrived at the mansion still unsettling she really got into the carriage of the emissary of some unknown Baron. It was late at night when she arrived at Karcau. Everything seemed to be perfectly… but something in her was screaming something is not right.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“Never heard of someone trying to ‘put on’ a manacle… ” The Blacksmith said, “especially the way YOU do!” the man passed two shackles of different size without chains attached.
“Tokens” a woman, no more than twenty, said as she tries to put one of the shackles on her neck.
“Tokens? You must have hit your head… no one wear those things! Only prisoners and sla…” the man stopped abruptly seeing the flames burning in the woman’s eyes.
“To remind me: Never trust a man unless they do good to you.” The woman said as he put on the other shackle on her left wrist.
The woman left the smith and took a very deep breath. A couple of months ago, she would have given all just to have these things off her, today, she is putting them on by her own will. Her mind brought her back to the time she was set free by a complete stranger.
An old man introduced himself to the slave dealers. By the way they greeted this old scholar, he is certainly someone famous or powerful. He looked in her direction and pointed at her. Minutes later her shackles were removed and that old man was there waiting for her.
“You are free now,” he said with a strange smile on his face. “Oh! Where are my manners! My name is Petros Lorrimor.” The man said. “Now it’s your turn.” Lorrimor blinked as if expecting a hen to laid eggs.
“Axelle…” the woman answered, still wary and perplexed. “Axelle Lawless”
“Come with me, Axelle.”
The man was kind to her; he gave her shelter and food and show respect to her and treated her like a human being. ‘Kindness’ was certainly something she hasn’t experienced in years and in more than one occasion Axelle asked how could she repay him. But Lorrimor never answered to that question, he never answered any question; he never asked any questions either, but he did pay very close attention every time Axelle was eager to speak. This strange and unsettling felling of the unknown tortured Axelle, more than all the torments she’s been through as a slave. She could picture terrible things happening to her masters, or cursing them in her heart just to ease the anger and despair. But she can’t do such things to Professor Lorrimor, not to a man that had released her and reminded her that kindness does exist. What kept her from staying and suffering was the last words she heard from mom: “do good to anyone who do good to you”. Another reason she dares not to leave was the old man’s ability to “read her mind”: Even though Lorrimor never really stopped her from leaving, he was able to say her thought out loud every time she planned about jumping out of the window or sneaking out of the house at night.
He would say something like: “you can just walk out from the door, why would you jump out of the window?” or “you can leave during the day, no one is going to chase after you! No need to leave at the middle of the night.”
And things like these went on for a couple of weeks, until one day, after Professor Lorrimor saw her wounds are healed, he told Axelle that he would call on her when the time comes. And before the two separated Lorrimor said to the still wary woman “Promise me you won’t seek revenge, after all you must live until I call on you!”
A month has passed and Axelle have not heard a word from the old Professor. She made this promise that is starting to be harder and harder to keep. She made this shackles to remind her, every time the scene of her family murdered, the faces of her tormentors laughing comes up in her mind Axelle would touch the shackles and recite the last word her mother told her: “do good to anyone who do good to you.” But as hard as she was trying, the fate play another foul trick to her once more…
About a year after the departure of Lorrimor, she met one of the men that made her life a misery in her time of wondering: the slave dealer and emissary of that Baron. Axelle followed the man all the way to her birthplace Druma. The thirst for revenge will call the feral part out of her during the night, but the face of Professor Lorrimor and the words from her mother will rise from the back of her head stopping her every time she felt the urge to lunge at this evil man.
In the end Axelle could not stand the hatred burning inside and decided to terminate the man. She planed very carefully, just like how she did when she is trying to hunt some cunning or overpowering beast; and the time spent in the barbarian tribe after her release served her good at this task. Life has taught Axelle too many lessons in the hard way: she trusted the Baron of Karcau, a man she barely knew, only to end up fulfilling the desires of a wickedly lustful man; she lost her family for escaping and trying to unveil the dark deeds of this spoiled noble, she became a slave after the failed attempt to murder the Baron. She won’t trust any men; she is not going to let this man leave with his life, and this time nothing is going to stand in her way. Axelle wanted to keep her promise, so she has to do this in a way no one, living or dead, will know that it was her who killed this man, in that case no one (including the professor) will prosecute her.
One rainy evening the opportunity came: the man left the town with a pair of bodyguards. At the outskirt of a small town in the depths of Druma, Axelle sought her chance; she let the rage inside burst out and turned herself into a feral shape. The rain has stopped, the carnage was bloody… yet… satisfying… but her just found peace was swiftly interrupted by the cries of another group of men running at full speed in her direction.
Axelle managed to silence the pursuers… but she was severely wounded. As her rage ended she felt her life was slipping away as well… tears ran down her now human eyes and she cursed herself for being unable to avenge her family by seeing the Baron die before her. At the gates of death she saw a feminine silhouette standing next to her.
"You have my appreciation, for that amazing battle," she said, "Consider saving your life as a reward for entertaining me." As the lady spoke she placed a hand on Axelle, and the shadows of death started to dissipate. Axelle opened her eyes and saw the lady walk away. She ran after the lady and asked if she wanted anything in return for saving her. A faint smile was on the lady’s face, she shook her head very gently: “You owe me nothing, my dear! That was your reward for entertaining me.” She didn’t wait for Axelle to reply and started to walk away. Axelle moved in front of her, the lady looked back, but her expression didn’t change. Axelle hesitated for the strange reaction of this woman and for what she is going to ask her: “Can you… keep this a secret… I made a promise and I just went back on my word by killing those men.” She looked down at the ground ashamed of failing over and over. The lady didn’t answer to her request; she kept that barely visible smile and stood there in silence. Axelle touched the shackle on her neck, after a brief pause she said: “Let me go with you. I’ll serve you for saving me and for keeping this secret for me.” The lady kept the faint smile and started to walk away again, but this time she was looking right into her eyes.
Few years have passed since that rainy night, and since then, Axelle have been serving her second savior, Lady Arika as she would call her, hoping that what she did remained unknown.
The calling finally arrived, but it came alone with dreadful news: the word of the professor’s death. Lorrimor’s death brought great sorrow to Axelle, and at this point knowing the professor named her in his will terrified her: did he heard about what she did? Was he angry because she broke her promise? But no matter what awaited her, she must keep her word; even though the calling came from the tomb she still has to answer.
After receiving the word of the professor’s death, and that he had named her specifically in his will, Axelle’s sorrow and dread swirled inside her. Lady Arika was going to Ustalav as well but unlike her Axelle felt like in a living hell concerning that call: What could professor possibly want from her has grown throughout the entire journey to Ravengro. “Was the professor aware of what I did?” “Was he so mad that he didn’t want to see me anymore?” “Was he planning a decent punishment secretly so I wouldn’t run away?” “Was he so mad he might want me to make him company in death?” No one could answer those questions and she struggled to settle down her mind, but the fear just grew inside her…
“I don’t want to marry someone I have not even seen!” Axelle replied.
“Axi, you know that mom and dad can’t look after you forever… and I won’t allow you to end up just like Ari.” both of them looked silently at the pair of axes hanging on the wall. “And how bad can the life in the Village of Voices be?” Axelle’s mom continued, “they are certainly more well educated than any man you can find in this wil… in Numeria” She stopped right away knowing that the word “wilderness” has always been the trigger of a family-war. Axelle’s parents moved from Druma to Numeria after her father lost everything running a business. For Axelle and her sister this was the great outdoors they always longed when they were under the strict rules back in Druma, for her father this was the only choice, but for her mother… this was the living hell.
Arguments of all levels broke during their stay in Numeria with all kinds of reasons as well: poor choices of merchandise, lack of clean water, dust all over the place, and the list goes on. This time the disputes break around a letter…. A marriage proposal to be precise: a so called ‘Baron’ from the City of Karcau send this letter hoping to have young Axelle’s hand in marriage. For Axelle’s mother, this is a great chance to leave Numeria in a not-so-distant future. But for Axelle, this came out completely out of the blue and she smelled danger everywhere. Axelle’s father was quite against this “offer” as well, but the family “discussion” will always end up with her wife saying something like: “let them decide!? Look at what ‘let them decide’ ended up” while she points angrily at the pair of axes on the wall.
Axelle’s elder sister, Arielle, was an outgoing and cheerful girl, she helped at home with all kinds of chores, hunting, harvesting, carrying stuffs, digging, mining and most of all ‘chopping’. Arielle was and excellent ‘chopper’, she could chop all day long, chopping down trees, chopping down big games, chopping the meat for dinner, you name it! Their father spent the most of his time on the farm or far away trying to mine up some Numerian Steel to make the living; Axelle was too young, so Arielle took on every chores that seemed too rough for the ladies and home, and because of this she was called, by the family and neighbors alike, ‘the little man’ of the family. When Arielle turned 16 (Axelle was 10 by then), she fell in love with the son of a clan leader of the Kellids. Mom nearly freaked the hell out of herself about the idea. But being the man the next leader of a Barbarian clan, he got some resources that turn out to be very priced in a land like Numeria; he provided the family regular supply of furs, seeds and food, this certainly got Arielle’s mom in a better mood, so in the end Arielle married the Kellid. Everyone would have thought this is a ‘lived happily ever after’ love story, but fate tricked them all: a clan war broke out and Arielle ‘the Chopper’ Lawless fought fearlessly among the warriors of her clan. The war ended in terrible losses for both sides, and Arielle never came back from the battlefield.
Since the loss of her older daughter, Axelle’s mom tried to send her out of Numeria in countless occasions, and this time she sought the greatest opportunity of them all.
Three days later from the arrival of the ‘proposal’ an emissary arrived at their doorstep. He was a very charismatic man indeed, he was very polite, but to their surprise the man didn’t say much. He asked about her decision right away. Though Axelle’s mom was really looking forward to send her daughter as far away from where they are, the boldness of this emissary shocked her. Seeing their hesitation, the man put a leather bag on the table and called his assistants to bring in a chest. The bag held about 500 pieces of gold coins and the chest was filled with elaborate fabrics from Ustalav and Andoran.
“Please, accept this as a token of appreciation” the man said “and please may this be a proof that your daughter will have a luxurious life. The only thing I ask for is ‘Yes, I do’ from Miss Lawless.”
When Axelle got back to her senses she was in a carriage on her way to Karcau. She muttered the last words mom told her before she left: “do good to those who do good to you!” Her parents seemed happy then, her mother seemed joyous to be precise, and for Axelle if by doing this can keep their parents happy this is certainly worth a try.
Axelle arrived at the mansion still unsettling she really got into the carriage of the emissary of some unknown Baron. It was late at night when she arrived at Karcau. Everything seemed to be perfectly… but something in her was screaming something is not right.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“Never heard of someone trying to ‘put on’ a manacle… ” The Blacksmith said, “especially the way YOU do!” the man passed two shackles of different size without chains attached.
“Tokens” a woman, no more than twenty, said as she tries to put one of the shackles on her neck.
“Tokens? You must have hit your head… no one wear those things! Only prisoners and sla…” the man stopped abruptly seeing the flames burning in the woman’s eyes.
“To remind me: Never trust a man unless they do good to you.” The woman said as he put on the other shackle on her left wrist.
The woman left the smith and took a very deep breath. A couple of months ago, she would have given all just to have these things off her, today, she is putting them on by her own will. Her mind brought her back to the time she was set free by a complete stranger.
An old man introduced himself to the slave dealers. By the way they greeted this old scholar, he is certainly someone famous or powerful. He looked in her direction and pointed at her. Minutes later her shackles were removed and that old man was there waiting for her.
“You are free now,” he said with a strange smile on his face. “Oh! Where are my manners! My name is Petros Lorrimor.” The man said. “Now it’s your turn.” Lorrimor blinked as if expecting a hen to laid eggs.
“Axelle…” the woman answered, still wary and perplexed. “Axelle Lawless”
“Come with me, Axelle.”
The man was kind to her; he gave her shelter and food and show respect to her and treated her like a human being. ‘Kindness’ was certainly something she hasn’t experienced in years and in more than one occasion Axelle asked how could she repay him. But Lorrimor never answered to that question, he never answered any question; he never asked any questions either, but he did pay very close attention every time Axelle was eager to speak. This strange and unsettling felling of the unknown tortured Axelle, more than all the torments she’s been through as a slave. She could picture terrible things happening to her masters, or cursing them in her heart just to ease the anger and despair. But she can’t do such things to Professor Lorrimor, not to a man that had released her and reminded her that kindness does exist. What kept her from staying and suffering was the last words she heard from mom: “do good to anyone who do good to you”. Another reason she dares not to leave was the old man’s ability to “read her mind”: Even though Lorrimor never really stopped her from leaving, he was able to say her thought out loud every time she planned about jumping out of the window or sneaking out of the house at night.
He would say something like: “you can just walk out from the door, why would you jump out of the window?” or “you can leave during the day, no one is going to chase after you! No need to leave at the middle of the night.”
And things like these went on for a couple of weeks, until one day, after Professor Lorrimor saw her wounds are healed, he told Axelle that he would call on her when the time comes. And before the two separated Lorrimor said to the still wary woman “Promise me you won’t seek revenge, after all you must live until I call on you!”
A month has passed and Axelle have not heard a word from the old Professor. She made this promise that is starting to be harder and harder to keep. She made this shackles to remind her, every time the scene of her family murdered, the faces of her tormentors laughing comes up in her mind Axelle would touch the shackles and recite the last word her mother told her: “do good to anyone who do good to you.” But as hard as she was trying, the fate play another foul trick to her once more…
About a year after the departure of Lorrimor, she met one of the men that made her life a misery in her time of wondering: the slave dealer and emissary of that Baron. Axelle followed the man all the way to her birthplace Druma. The thirst for revenge will call the feral part out of her during the night, but the face of Professor Lorrimor and the words from her mother will rise from the back of her head stopping her every time she felt the urge to lunge at this evil man.
In the end Axelle could not stand the hatred burning inside and decided to terminate the man. She planed very carefully, just like how she did when she is trying to hunt some cunning or overpowering beast; and the time spent in the barbarian tribe after her release served her good at this task. Life has taught Axelle too many lessons in the hard way: she trusted the Baron of Karcau, a man she barely knew, only to end up fulfilling the desires of a wickedly lustful man; she lost her family for escaping and trying to unveil the dark deeds of this spoiled noble, she became a slave after the failed attempt to murder the Baron. She won’t trust any men; she is not going to let this man leave with his life, and this time nothing is going to stand in her way. Axelle wanted to keep her promise, so she has to do this in a way no one, living or dead, will know that it was her who killed this man, in that case no one (including the professor) will prosecute her.
One rainy evening the opportunity came: the man left the town with a pair of bodyguards. At the outskirt of a small town in the depths of Druma, Axelle sought her chance; she let the rage inside burst out and turned herself into a feral shape. The rain has stopped, the carnage was bloody… yet… satisfying… but her just found peace was swiftly interrupted by the cries of another group of men running at full speed in her direction.
Axelle managed to silence the pursuers… but she was severely wounded. As her rage ended she felt her life was slipping away as well… tears ran down her now human eyes and she cursed herself for being unable to avenge her family by seeing the Baron die before her. At the gates of death she saw a feminine silhouette standing next to her.
"You have my appreciation, for that amazing battle," she said, "Consider saving your life as a reward for entertaining me." As the lady spoke she placed a hand on Axelle, and the shadows of death started to dissipate. Axelle opened her eyes and saw the lady walk away. She ran after the lady and asked if she wanted anything in return for saving her. A faint smile was on the lady’s face, she shook her head very gently: “You owe me nothing, my dear! That was your reward for entertaining me.” She didn’t wait for Axelle to reply and started to walk away. Axelle moved in front of her, the lady looked back, but her expression didn’t change. Axelle hesitated for the strange reaction of this woman and for what she is going to ask her: “Can you… keep this a secret… I made a promise and I just went back on my word by killing those men.” She looked down at the ground ashamed of failing over and over. The lady didn’t answer to her request; she kept that barely visible smile and stood there in silence. Axelle touched the shackle on her neck, after a brief pause she said: “Let me go with you. I’ll serve you for saving me and for keeping this secret for me.” The lady kept the faint smile and started to walk away again, but this time she was looking right into her eyes.
Few years have passed since that rainy night, and since then, Axelle have been serving her second savior, Lady Arika as she would call her, hoping that what she did remained unknown.
The calling finally arrived, but it came alone with dreadful news: the word of the professor’s death. Lorrimor’s death brought great sorrow to Axelle, and at this point knowing the professor named her in his will terrified her: did he heard about what she did? Was he angry because she broke her promise? But no matter what awaited her, she must keep her word; even though the calling came from the tomb she still has to answer.
After receiving the word of the professor’s death, and that he had named her specifically in his will, Axelle’s sorrow and dread swirled inside her. Lady Arika was going to Ustalav as well but unlike her Axelle felt like in a living hell concerning that call: What could professor possibly want from her has grown throughout the entire journey to Ravengro. “Was the professor aware of what I did?” “Was he so mad that he didn’t want to see me anymore?” “Was he planning a decent punishment secretly so I wouldn’t run away?” “Was he so mad he might want me to make him company in death?” No one could answer those questions and she struggled to settle down her mind, but the fear just grew inside her…