Chapter 107: Chapter 107

“I, Dahlia Black, pledge my life, myself, and my sword, to serve you and only you, Nara Yoren, from this day, until my last day, I swear to be without fear in the face of your enemies, to be brave and upright, to speak the truth and listen to the voice of rightness, to safeguard the helpless and do no wrong, and to protect you with my life even if it led to my death.” Sara spoke the words while on her knees, but to her, the supposedly sacred oath was nothing but words, words she memorized and recited but didn’t mean in the slightest, for she didn’t feel the need of some oath to tell her what needed to be done.

Nara on the other hand, and after tapping Dahlia’s shoulders with the big old sword that belonged to their ancestors, looked at her friend with immense pride, her friend, she smiled at the thought, she didn’t know the strange and aloof girl well enough to consider her as a friend, but she was grateful that Dahlia came into her life, especially after the accident with Nicholas.

“Rise, Knightess Dahlia, the first knightess of the Taghit kingdom!” The attendants clapped their hands coldly, many not approving the princess’ decision on naming a frail looking girl as a knightess, a personal one at that, but none voiced their opinions, for they believed it to be the last nail in the falling Yorens’ casket, the princess’ nonsensical decision to name a female nobody as a knightess was only going to prove how emotional and unfitting the young princess was to rule over the kingdom, and it was up to the girl she chose to prove that by her failure, little did they know that the black haired girl was going to be the end of them, the snakes that threatened her sister.

While spending her time in the castle, first as a representative of the refugees and then as a knightess, Sara learned many things, she learned what a snake hole the royal palace was, and finally understood why her father chose to keep her in the holy tower instead of bringing her back to live with him, even under a fake name and identity, she lost count of the times she discovered someone plotting against Nara, some wanted to kill her, some wanted to persuade her into marriage, some wanted to seclude her and take over the throne, some had secret deals with opposing kingdoms to betray the throne and deliver it to them as long as they get a piece of the pie, Sara understood why Nara was so scared and skeptical about her when they first and second met, she was surrounded by traitors that didn’t save any means to bring her down, she also understood why Nara and why Nara grew attached to her in no time, maybe it was the invisible sisterhood bound between them but they did get close with time, but the princess trusted Sara, she felt like she was the only true person around her, the one who didn't have any personal interest in helping her, she also admired the girl for her straightforwardness, her intelligence, and her strength, she admired how hard she worked on herself, to be stronger and smarter, she trained with the soldiers and accompanied the doctors, she sat with the architects and lifted stones with builders, she dealt with the merchants and planted the seeds with the farmers, there was nothing the black haired girl stopped at, nothing that she considered underneath her, and Nara really respected that.

As for Sara, watching her sister for a while, she knew she was too innocent and naive to be the one who plotted against her father, of course their father\daughter relationship wasn't as strong as the one Sara shared with king Edard but she didn't hate her father, not enough to kill him at least, Sara learned that Nara knew about her existence , she didn't hate the sister she never met but she hated the fact that she existed, that her father cheated on her mother and there was a living proof to that treachery.

Sara also learned from Nara that the reason her elder brother, Henry, joined forces with the demons was because the Gods planned to annihilate both races and restart life, she also learned that Henry was the one to discover this truth through the holy priests and share it with the demons to save both races, while the other brother, Nicholas, was very affected by the priests that he even turned against his brother for them, the holy council was eventually taken down by Henry, the priests as well as Nicholas were imprisoned but managed to escape after a while, only to return as an altered and changed freak that tried to kidnap his own twin sister.

Going through the scrolls and old books that were taken from the holy tower and secretly stocked in the castle, Sara was able to have a general thought about the dark energy, the one used by the demons, there were not much knowledge available about the creation energy and the Gods, but from what she understood from Eren, this energy was the opposite of the creation energy, like life and death, and from there, she started her training to master her powers.

The first step, give her mind power over her body.

In the isolation of her room and the calmness of the night, dressed in a very light night dress, Sara sat on the carpeted floor, barefoot with her legs crossed and her palms placed on her knees, and focused on herself, trying to reach that veil that separated her from her powers, it wasn’t easy, but at last she managed to clear her mind from anything and picture that veil on her dress, like a dark silky cloth hiding something underneath it, she pictured herself caressing that veil and it reacted to touch, when she opened her eyes, she found herself surrounded by an eerie silence.

It wasn’t a normal silence, Sara thought, for she had sensed something changing around her, clapping her hands a couple of times, she gave herself a mental pat for such an encouraging start, as no sound came out, the entire place around her was silent even when she clapped, no sounds were made, no sounds were heard.

The second step, Release her energy.

She didn't know how exactly to do it but remembering that night with the soldiers, she was , somehow letting her energy float around her, like calm waves that left her body, as if she was simply caressing a sleeping beast, making it hum but not waking it up, her eyes saw the waves, like very faint light rolling off her body and spreading across the room, making it warm, the waves felt like an extension of her, and they were, but they were calm and stable, just like the beast under the veil, she needed more, she thought, those waves were probably as harmless as air, she needed to make it berserk, to wake up the beast, to mess with it peacefulness, Sara tried and tried for hours, but for no use, the beast remained asleep, and she was getting frustrated with it being so dormant and useless.

While asking herself how to do it, how to be able to awake her powers, Sara remembered her days in the castle of shadows, Eren mentioned something about awaking her divine blood through pain, Sara felt a shiver run through her body when remembering those days, those harsh memories, the pain and injustice she suffered back then, and felt herself burning, the monster growling, she tried to stop the flow of the memories as her energy started raging but it wasn't stopping, the beast she wanted to wake was an untamed and dangerous one, and it didn’t go back to sleep until it her unconscious, after shaking every single wall in the castle.

Sara woke up the next day feeling exhausted and hurt, as if she was thrown into fire and left to burn, her skin was covered in blood, all of it, every single pore in her skin bled because of how violent the energy flow was.

Sara learned two lessons from that night, the first was that she needed a long time and longer training to figure out her powers, and the second was to never allow her emotions to take control over her.

She killed her emotions that night in the shack for a reason, a good one.

Days passed with barely any improvements with Sara’ skills, she didn't give up though, especially with the strength her body acquired with her regular training, she knew that her failure was going to reflect on her sister before herself, and therefore saved no effort in making herself better in every way she could.

It was strange, the way she felt for her sister, she didn’t even know when did she start thinking of her as a sister once more, what started as a desire to gain enough power and influence to get her revenge slowly turned into a strong bond, with seeing how frail and lost Nara was, Sara couldn’t leave her, but with every time she helped the lost princess, it felt as if it became a duty, and then a need, to protect the only family member she had left, for she was still not certain that the brothers had nothing to do with their father’s death.

Two years passed without any news from the king, and everyone lost hope except for Nara, Sara wanted him to return as well for she needed some answers and she hoped his journey to the center would pack him up with some, not to mention that the kingdom needed him, laying in her back in her room, Sara closed her eyes and drifted to sleep one night before seeing a very disturbing but realistic dream which was followed but an energy wave that shook her very core, Not knowing what it was, Sara run out of her room but everyone was asleep, including Nara, the soldiers who were guarding the castle told her they felt nothing.

Not long after, the king returned to the kingdom, and with all the events and the planning, she was accepted easily by him and his advisors, but this was not what made her worried, even when she pretended to be calm and cold, it was that encounter she kept on pushing to the back of her mind until the day it happened.

She didn’t see it coming, for the ice bitch, whom Sara hated as she believed that she was luring her brother to fall in the same trap, told that only the king was returning to the castle, standing at the castle’s gate to receive him with the other two women after spreading the word of his victory, Sara didn’t know that she was going to meet him, not her brother, but her demon.

The surprise shook her very core as she sensed his presence with the rest of the parade, a massive, dark, and terrifying aura, it was stronger than anything she ever felt, even stronger than the ice queen standing next to her, not to mention dark, not stained and not greyish but purely and terrifyingly dark, Sara had a very solid guess of whom that aura belonged to even before the parade reached the gates where she stood, giving her little to no time to retreat.

She wasn’t ready yet! She told herself as she excused herself to go to her room even when Nara objected it, she couldn’t just stay and face the demon who ruined her, it wasn’t the right time nor place for that encounter, in front of everyone, let alone the fact that, judging by his aura, she knew she couldn’t defeat him, but she couldn’t just stay put and receive him either, and therefore, chose to retreat.

Sara went to her room first to calm herself up, to calm her heart that threatened to leave her chest if she dared to cough, she didn’t know what she was feeling exactly as she suddenly wanted to scream, but chose otherwise, she chose to delay the confrontation until she was ready, even If it meant leaving everything behind, her sister, her father’s castle and kingdom, and even the people she saved and needed her, the thought filled her with bitterness, the same demon was going to cost her her family again, even if she hardly admitted it to herself, she loved her sister, and to the people, they were her peace, and she wasn't ready yet to lose them, but what other choice was there?

She had to leave! But the moment she stepped out of her room, she heard him whispering her name.

“Sara…”