The wind slashed violently at the trees, which in turn seemed to moan, long, deep and full of woe. The young girl raced through the trees and abruptly stopped at a misty clearing. Her red hair blew briskly around her as her labored breathing softened. Theodora gazed at the twisting and rising smoke against the dark pitch night sky. She looked down to the smoke’s origin, into the last few burning cinders and spied a scrap of cloth. Theodora Lei bent over and retrieved the cloth as tears gently flooded her eyes and flowed down her cheeks. She had recognized the cloth immediately from her mother’s skirt. She fell to her knees holding the cloth lovingly to her chest, and her head tilted morosely. As she kneeled on the dirt ground, she noticed something shine next to her. Theodora reached for it and realized it was her brother’s dagger. The dagger was a sacred family heirloom, passed down from father to son.

“I will avenge you,” the young girl said quietly, “I will make the ones that killed you pay!” Crystalline droplets fell from her face and freckled her hand. She lifted her head and stood, holding the dagger as if it was her younger brother himself. Theodora sorely missed her mother, father and brother. Now, at nine years old, she was left alone in the world. She was the only Lei left in this world with no family anywhere anymore.

“I won’t stop until I kill the man who murdered you!” Theodora Lei vowed slicing a design into her left palm. Now the vow was immutable for eternity…

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Eight Years Anon

The trees had finally shaken off winter’s frost and now bloomed with flowers to signal Spring had come. Exactly how the efflorescence blossomed so did a few young people of the town Relee. The seemingly serene and humble village had what every town had: a tavern, an inn, weaving streets, a market and many little homes. It felt as if there was more to what was there, as if maybe this village was neither serene nor humble.

Theodora looked upon Relee with a smile on top of a hill outside of Relee’s boundaries. It was a large town but not so large and productive that one would call Relee a city. People here were living in a valley surrounded by a forest. The people here had probably been living here for so long that they knew most about each other, which would be helpful when Theodora asked questions. It was an opportune place to find a murderer, she supposed. She looked at her left hand; the design she’d cut into her palm eight years ago was the shape of a moon and a triangle. Long ago she’d been told that that design was actually a spell, which bound her to her vow. Theodora never believed superstition, her mother had always said superstition was only something that fools believed. She had seen enough things to make her believe that anything was possible. Except for true love, that was a proven fool’s dream. It was strange though, the way that the triangle’s points would glow. When she followed the direction of the glowing point, she always got helpful information about the whereabouts of the murderer. She called it the Map of the Vow, and it had led her here. Theodora had a feeling that this was her last stop in her travels. Her tunic was so dusty from the road and the forest. She never did find the time to clean it.

Theodora sighed. She had traveled all over the continent and picked up the knowledge she needed, how to live off the land, the traits of a successful spy and an ancient fighting technique for using her family’s heirloom, the jeweled dagger. When she had killed the murderer, she could finally rest. She was so exhausted from her hard orphaned life. Rest was a dream she wished for daily, but resting wouldn’t help her complete her vow. She pushed her hair back behind her shoulders and the tresses of red hair cascaded down her back and almost grazed the tips of the grass she was seated in.

Theodora drew out her dagger and looked at the unique jewels. Their shine had faded but the color was as brilliant as ever. There were a diamond, an onyx, an azurite, and a ruby. She liked the azurite gem the best because it was bluer than even the ocean on a sunny day. Theodora wiped the blade on the grass to ensure that it was an acute blade.

“I will give my family their long deserved rest and then I will rest myself,” Theodora said as she stood and headed towards Relee carrying a small valise and a silky white bundle.

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“Your name please, miss?” requested the man at the wooden desk.

“Tianna Quincy, good sir,” She replied, smiling sweetly. Theodora had tied her hair back with a white ribbon and she had pulled a white dress over her tunic so that nobody would suspect her as more than a pretty, traveling girl.

“Yes. Lady Tianna, how long will you be staying at the Silver Sparrow Inn?” He asked writing something onto a piece of parchment.

“That all depends on the conditions of the room and the price,” Theodora replied. This man was gullible, she could see it in his eyes and she was going to take advantage of that knowledge.

“Of course, my lady. I will show you our grandest room, and the rest if you’d like.”

Theodora just smiled stupidly. She nodded curtly and followed the pudgy Inn Master past the desk, into a lounge on the right then through a dining hall. Then she trailed him up a stairway in the back corner of the dining hall and onto a red carpeted corridor. The Inn Master led her into a room on their immediate right.

Theodora gasped as she walked in; she saw such finery that would be fit for a member of the royal house. A chandelier hung elegantly above a soft blue rug. A large canopy bed equipped with heavy velvet curtains rested off to the side of a toilet-room. The toilet-room had expensive tile flooring, a toilet, and a sink. Draping tapestries lined the walls with scenes of love and winding trees and roses. A red cushioned divan with silver legs was the finest of it all. Theodora let out a breath that she hadn’t realized she had been holding and stopped gaping like a fool.

“This is a sufficient room. What is it’s cost to stay for two days?” She asked the Inn Master, who had seen her amazement and was smiling smugly.

“Two gold crowns for one night which includes a free bath in the bathhouse,” He responded. The price fit the room but Theodora knew she could sway the cost from a gullible man. She swung her hips; she had learned that for some reason that this would catch the attention of any man. She swung them until she stood besides the Inn Master.

“Oh sir, that cannot be the price!” She said, “The room is lovely but the price is so unseemly. I might as well sleep beneath the stars tonight because it costs nothing and it is just as beautiful as this room. Good day sir,” Theodora watched him through the corner of her eye as she slowly headed for the door.

“Well, a lady of your status and beauty is bound to get harmed outside at night. Relee is famous for it’s many different gangs and they all sell women. How could I live if you fell to that unfortunate stance because my price was too high? I shall offer you one gold crown for a night and a bath.” He replied grabbing her arm gently. She pulled it away and looked down with false shame that the man believed.

“That is so kind of you sir, but see on my way bandits stole my moneybag. All I was left with was my valise, and a single gold crown. What would I eat if I spent just one night here? Besides, sir, I have to stay here for a few days. If I spent all my money on one night of sleeping, I would starve and be left to the harmful gangs for the remainder of my time here. Oh, I’m so sorry but I guess you will just have to move on if I am attacked at night.” Theodora finished by giving the man a sad look. He stared at her with pity and then decided to lower the price.

“My lady would a half-crown interest you? That is really as low as I can go,” the Inn Master asked Theodora. Theodora thought quickly and believed that she could get him to lower it even more. He was already being over-generous or stupid. Either way, she had him in her trap. Theodora forced tears to well up in her eyes.

“I’m terribly sorry for wasting your time, sir,” She wept. Theodora started through the door, but halfway through the Inn Master interrupted her leave.

“Please, one silver pence, my lady?” He winced as he realized what he had just offered. She could see regret in his desperate expression. She probably could get this room for free, but that would arouse suspicion. She quickly hugged the man.

“Thank you, sir, thank you! I will take it,” Theodora smiled as she drew a silver pence coin from the top of her dress. She handed it to him and his eyes enlarged. She never understood why, but that meant the man was going to mess up what he said next.

“Will welcome your rest I let you,” He stuttered and then fixed the sentence as men often did next, “Your welcome, I will let you rest.” The pudgy man wobbled out the door and closed it behind him. When Theodora heard his feet descend the staircase she started to laugh. She placed the valise at the foot of her bed and smiled.

Men were all the same: fat, lazy, greedy or gullible. It was too bad that she was very meticulous about men. She dreamt of having a strong, handsome, kind and smart man to marry. It was unlikely that she’d ever find a person like that! That was enough about men and love, if its not true love, Theodora believed that you shouldn’t wed the man. On top of that, Theodora didn’t believe in true love. Now, her mind ventured into depths of a good disguise because she would be going to the tavern for information.