I - The New King
Anai
The new King will be here in person to collect his taxes this year. Even though my father had always handled such matters, I now have to carry the burden of taking care of our people. I have no elder brother to take my fathers place, I am an only child; and a child of the people I grew up to be. I learned every job in my village growing up, even created a new one; caring and training raptors.
One of my greatest abilities is taming the vicious beast. It is a unique skill amongst the women of my bloodline, but it is a first. My mother is able to calm any creature that crosses her path, preventing any type of harm to our people. And her mother, my grandmother, had the unique gift of healing; something my mother also inherited, yet I didn’t. Word of my ability travelled quickly after it was discovered, hatching a raptor egg at the age of ten and teaching the beast orders. Biza is my raptor’s name, and she helps me to keep the others in line. When my father realized the skill, he’d decided that I should also learn to be a warrior in case I ever needed to lead my people into battle. ‘Better to die gloriously, than live hopelessly’ he would always say in my training. Once I turned eighteen, I encouraged him to train all the women of our villa to fight. Perhaps it would benefit us someday.
My father came from a very long line of highly skilled warriors, a different tribe that once ruled the neighboring lands. They were fearless fighters, conquering many other tribes over the last few decades. Unfortunately, thirteen years into my life, the new King’s father, King Asvaldur’s reign destroyed many colonies, including my father's people. The ashes of the fallen people created what’s now known as Colonos. Few survived to advise my father to make a deal. At the time I could see in my father’s eyes, something pained him. I told him I would fight for revenge with my raptor and bring peace to our people. He calmed me and told me not to worry, that one day we’d get our revenge. I was much too young to understand negotiations and sacrificing for those you care about. I just wanted to get even. I suppose that was part of the reason he’d begun teaching me to defend myself. To tame the urge to be reckless. I have certainly learned to play the game. That brings me to today. I’m now in my twenty sixth year and it appears as if I may be taking over as Padaoness sooner than later. And I wish this new King would piss off.
