Rise of The Holy-Realm Rebel

Contrary to expectations, she had been the one to approach me. It was a few weeks after my achievements that this happened. I had long since noticed her kind gestures during the days before my fame. But things changed after privileges were added to me.

Now I didn't eat with the other slaves but with the soldiers, causing the others to hate me. I also had access to better food and the chance to converse with those women freely. Which I honestly rarely did.

However now that I ate with the more esteemed men who did not do the dirty work the lower-ranking soldiers did, I essentially had access to the 'Fire-queen' every day.

On a particular day when my usual company of ten men had been called up to the castle for a meeting, she came to serve me. As such, we ended up being alone.

Normally this wouldn't be, but those men trusted me enough to know I would not assault her. And she had enough fire to burn me if needed. With that in place, they just let me sit in the room and left.

That night she suddenly sat next to me, to eat. Yes, the ladies also ate with the soldiers.

The atmosphere in the camp allowed them to feel safe even if they were actually in bondage. I believed that atmosphere was a highly intelligent scheme put together by Sub-general Ivon.

In order to ensure his camp did not unfold into a mess, he created a system that didn't make us severely aware of our limitations. Keeping us docile.

Still, there were a few individuals in the camp who remained aware of their slavery. I was among them, and so was our 'Fire-queen'.

That night she proceeded to engage me in a light conversation, and contrary to her icy aura she spoke pretty much normally.

I suspected she had a better life compared to the rest of the ladies due to her manner of speech and behavior. I wondered how she had even gotten captured.

That question would not be answered that night since she limited herself to not speaking much. Still, I suspected she wanted something.

This trend continued for weeks; she'd voice a light greeting every time we met and I'd respond out of obligation.

After over a month of the same trend, things took a change, and that change culminated in one night.

That night I had awoken from my sleep feeling pressed. I simply told the guards and they let me out without restriction.

This was another of my privileges; I didn't need my partner to move out now. The others did.

After doing what I wanted I proceeded back to the shelter when I spotted a familiar figure standing before the fountain.

Uninterested in talking, I wanted to pretend to not see her, but she waved a bit and I approached her.

"It's been a while," I said, closing the distance between us. She nodded.

My gaze had fallen on the rushing fountain—Its pool glimmered with the moon's silver radiance and the cool evening breeze continued to remind me of how late into the night it was.

She rubbed her bare arms as we stood in silence, her brown arm-less gown not doing much to shield her from the cold.

The 'Fire-queen' was worthy of the attention she got. Standing at no more than 5ft4 in height, she was a considerable drop compared to my tall frame.

Despite those months of slavery, her features had remained as delicate as ever. She had fair skin that I wondered how she had managed to maintain, and her full frame looked like something I could pick up with ease.

Her emerald eyes caught the gaze of any who looked at her, and they did mine too. Strangely they always looked to carry thoughts, and now that we were alone that detail was all the more evident.

Her orange eyebrows were sharp along their edges, her lips light pink and petite, and her nose was small but slightly pointy. All these details combined well with her small oval face.

Last but not least, her orange hair. They were full and looked bouncy. I too wanted to know its real texture.

Within the entire camp, she was the only other person with hair color as distinct as mine, leaving us the most recognizable figures. Funnily, none of those soldiers had ever asked for my name.

Like the 'Fire Queen', I had a more blank demeanor. And since I made sure to look as disinterested as I could, many stayed off my lane. This was further enhanced after my achievement.

"What do you think about the camp?" She suddenly asked, taking me by surprise. Her utterances had usually been subtle and not direct.

I pretended to fall into a bit of thought even if my response was already at the tip of my tongue.

"I think it very well masks the gravity of your situation and new identity… slaves."

My words seemed to meet her standards since her face lit up with interest. Why did she show me that much emotion?

"I think the same too," she revealed sighing. Folding her arms she seemed to think.

The moonlight reflected uniquely around her hair and that scene managed to affect me. She had a seemingly delicate figure accentuated by her soft curves and prominent endowment, but the vibrant Solarin core she possessed told a different story to me.

She had been practicing and very well neared the Plateau-Stage. She was worlds more advanced than when she came here.

'Had she been given access to Solarite?' I wondered, even if I cast that thought away. Still, the evidence that she frequented the castle forced me to reconsider.

Would Ivon go that far for the girl whom he could very much father?

"How did you get here?" I asked, forced to probe for a bit of information. Maybe I'd understand things better if I knew her identity.

She cast her emerald gaze on me and for the first time in a while, I felt nervous. At the very least she seemed as thoughtful as me, hinting at an intelligent mind.

A sad expression arrived on her lush cheeks though, and contrary to my fears she actually started to speak.