Chapter one: Jade

Chapter One: Jade

Dear Diary,
I am an orphan, I have always been an orphan; at least, as long as I can remember I’ve always been an orphan. I am Jade; I have long black hair and purple eyes. Yes, I said purple eyes, I know it’s a rarity, I personally know of only one other person who has purple eyes, and that is my little brother Max. Max is ten years old, and I am seventeen years old, at least that’s what we believe. Matt told me that eight years ago he had been in Fredite—the mage capitol—where he found me wandering around the city singing a strange song to my little brother, whom I was holding in my arms, with no memories of who I was or where I was. Matt took us back to the orphanage in Ith where we have been since. Matt says that it’s very likely that our parents were mages, perhaps even members of the royal family who had died that same day. I find it likely that my parents were mages, but I think it quite ludicrous to believe that I am a lost princess—it just doesn’t seem practical. True, when I was younger, I used to imagine that my real father was a king, and someday he’d come to take Max and me to live in luxury with no worries for tomorrow. But those are just the foolish imaginings of child, and I’ve become more realistic since then. I don’t have a glorious life, but it’s the only one I’ve got, and I’ll just have to make do, for I do not sense that any changes will be coming any time soon.
Jade

* * *

It was nearing sunset. Jade was waiting for Max outside Mistress Justic’s manor. He had worked that day in her orchards. She was worried; he should be out by now. Suddenly her front door slammed open, and Jade stood up.

A servant of Mistress Justic was dragging out Max as the woman herself followed screeching at the top of her lungs. Jade’s heart stopped in fear as she anxiously crossed the street.

“He stole my peaches! I know he did! Whip the scamp! Whip him!” all two hundred-sixty pounds of Mistress Justic raged in the middle of the street where quite a crowd was gathering in response to
her shrieks.

Jade looked at her poor little brother, his purple eyes were cast downward, and his straight black hair was a mess.

“Mistress, what is the problem?” a man from down the street asked.

“This young . . . orphan stole some of my peaches, and I will have him whipped!”

Jade looked at her little brother, his small, thin frame. He had been sick recently, and had lost a lot of weight, not that he had much to lose. He can’t be whipped. The thought struck her that if Max were whipped right now, his little life would be lost.

“Mistress Justic, will you accept me in place of my brother?” Jade asked suddenly as her servant got his whip ready.

“What did you say orphan?” Mistress Justic rounded on Jade.

“I will take the whipping in my brother’s place, if you’ll allow it.” Max’s gaze shot up to Jade’s, his purple eyes full of tears not yet shed.

Mistress Justic looked at Jade. “Very well, if you are so adamant, go ahead.” The servant threw Max at Jade and she hugged her little brother close.

“Jade, don’t,” he whispered.

“Be strong,” Jade whispered back before the servant grabbed her roughly by the arm and dragged her away from her brother.

“Take your shirt off,” he said gruffly.

“What?” Jade cried. “If you are going to whip me, fine, but at least let me keep some part of my dignity!”

“Dignity! Ha, you have no dignity!” Mistress Justic cried.

“Turn around,” the servant commanded. Jade did as she was told, clinging tightly to her faded blue shirt. The servant rolled his eyes and took hold of the back of Jade’s collar, and with a strong motion, ripped her shirt nearly to the bottom. There were perhaps two inches left around her waist, and a large, irregular flap hung down.

“Give her an extra good one,” Mistress Justic commanded.

The servant began his strikes, and Jade could hear the jeering of the crowd, distantly she saw her best friend Pole Juniper run up to the crowd, and try to attack the servant, but he was knocked down. Soon Jade could see nothing but red stripes in her mind, and could hear nothing but the sound of the whip. She fell to her knees, and could feel nothing but the pain. She gritted her teeth, and struggled against crying, but the tears came out anyway. Think of Max, you’re doing this for your brother. But that thought only carried her so far. It went on forever, and she could hear someone distantly crying out, but then she realized that it was her. She collapsed to the ground, wishing it would stop, and knowing that it wouldn’t soon. The servant was just getting into his stride. The world closed in around her until all she knew was the pain, as lash upon lash he tortured her back. In the red vision, she heard screaming, “Get the children out!” there was fire, a huge fire. There was a man and a woman, being encased in the furnace. “Run! You are our last hope.” They seemed to be yelling, but she couldn’t hear clearly, she just ran away from the fire with a small bundle in her arms, she was practically racing the fire out the doors.

“STOP!” a voice shouted from outside the red cloud. Jade felt arms around her attempting to lift her up. “Come here my dearest,” the voice whispered in her ear. “I’ll take you home in my carriage.” Then Jade knew where the voice belonged.

“Kita,” she whispered, and memories of the vision faded into the back of her mind, and reality took over.

“Yes, it’s me, I’m here.” Kita motioned to Pole who now had a bloody lip and ripped shirt. “Carry her to my carriage.” Pole nodded and did as he was bid. His strong arms carried Jade to the cushioned seat of Kita’s carriage.

“Another minute of that, and she would’ve died!” Kita cried.

“Mistress Simone, her brother—”

“I don’t care what her brother did Mistress Justic, you were going to kill her with that whip, and the rest of you were laughing! I don’t know how you find such amusement in someone else’s pain and humiliation. I am ashamed that my father is the Duke of such people!” there was a silence, and then Kita entered the carriage with Pole.

Pole had to drag Max in, and Jade could hear Max yelling, “I’ll get you all back for thith! You’ll be thorry!”

Max and Kita sat across from Jade, and Pole knelt next to her with a concerned expression, looking over her wounds, and trying to be a comfort. “Drive on!” Kita cried.

The carriage rolled on, as Jade laid there on her side trying to keep from bumping around too much. Kita wrung her hands and cried and Max sulked in the seat. His eyes met Jade’s, and his expression turned to one of shame.

“I’m tho thorry Jade,” Max whimpered in his lisp. “I didn’t eat any peacheth, I thwear, they wouldn’t be ripe now anyway.”

“Then why would she say you did?” Kita asked.

“For an excuse to whip him,” Pole answered.

“What? But he didn’t do anything wrong.”

“Well Mistress, people of the higher class don’t whip us because we do things wrong, they whip us because we’re orphans.”

Jade tried to smile through her pain; she knew that Pole would regret his harsh words to Kita as soon as he regained his proper senses.

“Thank you Kita,” Jade whispered.

“Are you going to be okay Jade?” Kita asked.

“Renée will know what to do. She always does,” Pole said.

* * *

“What happened?” Renée, her brown eyes sparking, demanded as Matt lifted Jade’s limp body out of the carriage.

“They were whipping her before Mithreth Thimone thaved her,” Max said.

“Thank you Mistress Simone,” Renée said.

“I only hope that she’ll be okay, tell her
I’ll be around tomorrow, I had better get back home now,” Kita said.

“We understand.” Kita entered her carriage again after a quick nod and then drove off.

“Come my little Jade, let’s fix you up, shall we?” Matt said as he carried Jade inside.

The orphanage was a two story wooden house. There were no stairs leading up to the second floor, just a hole in the floor and a ladder poked through it. Off to the right side of the entrance, there was a room with a bunch of really old couches, Matt took Jade to one of those as Renée went off to fetch the cream she had made up to heal any sores or welts they happened to get.

Jade was lying on her stomach with her eyes shut when she felt Renée putting some of the cool, soft cream on her back. It was like she had been transported from the deepest circle of the Lair to the most heavenly ring of the Plane of the Goddesses. Renée wasn’t a very talented mage, but she did know how to make potions.

“What happened?” Jade heard Sona’s surprisingly loud voice—as she was a very small, petite person—boom as she entered the room.

“Max was going to be whipped for stealing
Mistress Justic’s peaches, but Jade took his whipping for him, and they gave her a hard time of it,” Pole answered.

“Isn’t it just awful?” Mora whispered her golden eyes displaying a fear Jade had never before seen.

“Why did you take it Jade? Max is a big boy, he can handle his own whippings,” Sona said.

“Sona,” Renée scolded then she turned back to Jade. “There love, you can sit up now.” Renée helped Jade sit up, the pain was gone, but her back still felt sore.

“Sona, I took his whipping for him because he’s been sick, and had they given him the whipping I got, it would’ve killed him.”

“I knew he shouldn’t have left the house so soon after his illness,” Renée said.

“I wathn’t going to be here and do nothing when I could go out and help,” Max objected.

“It’s beside the point anyway,” Jade said. “I did what I did for my little brother, and that’s make any pain I feel bearable.”

Max smiled at his sister and wrapped his arms around her waist. “I love you Jade.”

“I love you too Max.” Jade kissed his dark head and hugged him back. My back may be in pain, but I have a family, people who love me and care for me, what more do I need?