Chapter 1: Daughters of fire
I am Triza.The seventh daughter of King Himza of Peru.
We were born behind golden walls and iron doors, raised not with affection, but under the blistering weight of our father's shadow. The palace, grand and cold, was our gilded cage. My sisters Adira, Sayina, Miran, Elvya, Kiyara, and Zafrina were all I had. We were daughters of a kingdom that saw us as curses.
In Peru, to be a girl was to be a disappointment.
Our father longed for a son an heir he could mold in his ruthless image. But fate gave him only daughters, and with each birth, his heart grew harder.
He ruled not just the kingdom, but our lives, with iron and flame. He reminded us daily: we were dust beneath his boots, mistakes wrapped in silk.
One morning, during a breakfast thick with silence, he stormed into the royal hall dressed in his black ceremonial robes. His eyes, always cold, now burned with fury.
"Who will inherit my throne?" he growled.
"Who among you will carry my name?"
None of us answered.
We had heard this before.
We had felt its sting in every silence, every slap, every glance of disdain.
Then, he turned to my mother.
"Saresh," he spat, "you’ve given me a cursed line. This kingdom cannot be ruled by women!"
She tried to speak.
But before a word left her lips, his hand cracked across her face.
That was the moment my hatred was born.
That night, I sat alone on my balcony, staring at the stars that mocked me with their quiet beauty. Inside me, something smoldered no longer fear, but fury. I didn’t understand why he hated us. But I knew this: one day, he would answer for every tear he forced from our eyes.
Adira, the eldest, and the boldest, came to me. Her voice was low, but it carried the weight of years of silence.
"Triza, we can’t live like this anymore," she said.
"We’re prisoners in our own bloodline."
I nodded. I had no answer only fire in my chest.
Then Miran, always the quiet one, spoke with steel in her voice:
"We can end this. We can take back what’s ours."
It was dangerous. It was treason.
But for the first time in my life, it felt like truth.
And so, we planned.
Sayina, gifted with poisons, began crafting a slow toxin to weaken him.
Zafrina, cunning and silver-tongued, whispered rebellion into the ears of the discontented soldiers.
Kiyara, our silent ally with pirates from the coast, brought us weapons wrapped in shadows.
We were not trained to rule. But we had learned how to survive and that would have to be enough.
The night of the revolt, the palace burned.
Father fought like a wounded lion wild, brutal, desperate. But we were many. And we were ready.
It was me who faced him in the throne room, the very hall where he’d once asked who would inherit him.
His voice, though weak, still dripped with contempt.
"I knew one of you would betray me."
I raised my sword. My heart was heavy but my hands were steady.
"This isn’t betrayal, Father.
This is justice."
And with one strike, I ended his reign.
But I knew then, as his blood stained the marble
That this was not the end.
It was only the beginning.
