London, England546Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNgs9CCOnLC
1866
I am now 15 years old, which had been three years since my father had died. Mother had been serving as a healer in King Ihon Fitzgerald's court; I had been allowed to assist with the nonemergency cases. My siblings Debebe, Lemma, and Barnabas were being educated along with the royal children.546Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpxzKVLQXUB
But I hadn't seen Leopold despite his promise to come find me. But his father, Sir David, had remained in London with his wife Selena, and their nine children Merritt, Isadore, Rufus, Remington, Virginia, Blaine, Marianne, Finn, and Johannah. I also hadn't received any word from Major Isaac Gallagher, who commanded Fort Adams in Newport, Rhode Island. Did he get captured by the Natives? Was he killed in the firebombings? Or to make things worse, did he disappear without a trace during a battle?546Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZG6Gf5zpjG
Sir David came to me saying, "I never wanted this to happen. I never wanted to firebomb the United States. but the king wanted to destroy the country as his father did before him and his grandfather did before him. Sometimes in life, you can't always speak up when you're supposed to; those who speak out against the king risk banishment or execution."
I said, "but what about the story where you were given those slaves?"
"Derrick Carroll was wrong to give me those slaves," said Sir David. "When last I looked, no human is to own another human. But what that vile man did to those young people angered me; I had wanted to kill him on sight. Yet my Leo was much more merciful towards Carroll."
"He beat that man up, didn't he?" I said.546Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3Y07zzlbPi
"That he did," said Sir David. "When our companions pulled Leo away from Carroll, the damage had already been done. He was crippled for life due to the beating and everyone in the states soon learned to fear the Trichenberg family."
"And why do they fear you?" I asked.
"The Trichenberg family isn't well-known for their kindness and generosity," said Sir David. "In fact, my grandfather, Lord Talfryn Trichenberg, had executed one of his knights when he discovered that that knight had purchased an African slave in 1796."546Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcAuJo3OkYA
Mother came to us, saying, "and I heard that your king's grandfather had him and his family stripped of their rank as lord because of that execution, but the deed had been done. Eirebul had suffered greatly when most of its noble class was stripped of their wealth and rank when they tried to stop slavery from happening."
"And yet, we cannot regain our rank and wealth, something that bothers me to this day," said Sir David. "We are also at the beck and call of the king whether we like it or not. Although King Ihon means well, I cannot in goof faith trust him, not since his father, King Ernaut, had nearly destroyed our empire in exile and allowed corruption to run through the world unchecked. You already know what he did to me second wife when she tried to take down one of his top agents."
"She seduced his son and exposed the Hawksley family for their crimes against the nonmagical people of England," I said.
"She did," said Sir David. "And what was her punishment for that deed? To be exiled to Russia to starve and freeze to death. It was a good thing I rescued her and three of her five children before they died in the harsh unforgiving lands of Siberia."
Mother and I nodded, as we never saw Selena or her children in Dewmire Castle. They lived in the family castle outside Tergaron Village. Three of those children were as old as I was; yet the daughter, Isadore, had the infamous Dragon Madness.
I then said, "If you firebombed America because one cruel act made you angry, then why did you save President Abraham Lincoln?"
"Because it was the right thing to do," said Sir David. "Did you think I would stand there and watch as a man or a woman is cruelly mistreated, not when I could do something to stop that mistreatment from happening?"
Mother disagreed, saying, "You say you wanted to do something right by the innocent people whose lives were taken from them by your king, but did you consider that maybe you could be doing the right thing for the wrong reason? You may not have heard this story, but the people of Columbiana have decided that it would be better to have a king instead of a president ruling their country. The king they selected is a 15-year-old former slave named Isaac Cotton, who was once owned by the Marple family in Kentucky. Isaac’s former owner claims that he led a group of slaves to St. Louis after the firebombing took the lives of their plantation.”
“Is that so?” said Sir David. “Whatever happened to the men who fought for the independence of America?”
“They are all dead now,” I said, remembering my lessons on American history from the school I attended. “They gave up their lives so their people could live in a world free from foreign influence. But that had to be a waste since Eirebul has now taken over America, isn’t it?”
“I wouldn’t rule out the possibility of the people giving up and surrendering to the Atlantean army just yet, not when they are already deciding for themselves what direction they should take,” said Sir David. “The people who fought for American independence have rejected the idea of a king, yet the liberated slaves are clamoring for a king to lead them. Also, President Abraham Lincoln can have his say in this controversy, seeing as he’s still alive and he’s still the president. But what of those people who are living in the places once occupied by Mexico? What of the angry natives who were pushed off their lands? It’s far too early to tell what find of future Columbiana will have as it rises from the ashes of a failed America.”
“Or America will rise again, and for the better,” said mother. “But that will be for another time, when I’m not so hard-pressed for service. Come along, Sadie, you have studies.”
As mother and I walked away from Sir David, I said, “Do you think we could return to Fort Adams and see what became of it?”546Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡObhtziXxqA
“That I don’t know,” said mother, “seeing as most of the country is still cleaning up after the firebombing that happened the year before. I don’t know if the place is still standing or it is as demolished as the south is.”
I frowned, knowing that everything I knew so far in my life had changed so much within a year, but I also knew that life is full of changes due to the fact that after my father’s death, I had to leave my home in Ethiopia and live in a country where no one knew me. I had to change my name so no one would recognize me. It wasn’t easy being who I truly was, not when I had to lie about who I was.
But I always knew I was still a princess, no matter what anyone would say about me. Just because I wasn’t wearing a fancy dress or expensive jewelry or a huge crown on my head didn’t mean I wasn’t a princess. I had seen people call other girls princesses, yet treat them as anything but. I would not let that be my fate, nor would that be the fate of any daughters that I should have.
But then I began wondering if Leo would return to me. He had to, as the word of a Trichenberg was as good as gold. There was no way he could have lied, not when I had seen the lies and broken promises of America being scattered all over the ground. Yet there was nothing wrong with picking yourself back up and starting over.
After all, if my family could start over in a new country, then why can’t America?546Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA0EjP0X9fp
Before we go to the third part, I’m going to toss in some background for you so you can understand this story:546Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡab1KqWZsLj
Saba’s father died in 1863 when she was 12 years old. Shortly after, Saba’s mother Addis took her and her three younger siblings and they fled to Italy instead of returning to Addis’s village in disgrace. Shortly after the family arrived in Rome, Addis was recruited by the Eirebulan Army as a nurse and taken to Fort Adams in Newport, Rhode Island. There, Saba saw the effects hat the American Civil War 1861-1865) had on America. She also learned about the horrors of slavery and the measures that some people were willing to take to keep slavery as it was, and the things some people would do to not only end slavery, but also keep the country together. Yet when things became too dangerous for Saba and her family to remain on Rhode Island, they were sent back to Italy. That trip happened three days before the firebombing that killed over 525,000 Americans, both soldiers and civilians. As many as 14,000 slaves were also killed in the firebombing attacks.546Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbFHi897unv
Unknown to Saba, the states of California and Texas were forcibly returned to the country of Mexico (along with what would become New Mexico and Arizona) and the Natives (who were bitter about losing their ancestor lands all over the unites states) seized weapons and took back their lands by force, killing or stealing scores of people in their wrath.546Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOu3QbYt8pu
But that is for a different story.
As for Saba, she is forced to live in a country where people look down upon those who were different from them. She was also forced to give up her birth name (Saida Debaleko Ezana) and to take the name Sadie Atwood. Also, she discovers that the people living in her former village were so strict; they did not allow any form of change to happen. Which was why Saba's mother was forced to leave the village after her father’s death.
That angered many people living in the village, as no one was allowed to leave their home village, not even to travel the world. (What Addis was doing was risking her life and the lives of her four children by living in Rome, Newport, and London; that would be addressed in the next chapter.)
Anyway, Saba grew up learning some difficult lessons about life and war and why it’s important to keep fight, even if you don’t think you’ll won. She also learned about the evils of the magical society where she lives, which would eventually shape her life and the lives of her family.546Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8MZdqwHzAO
Without any further interruptions, let’s move onto chapter 3 of this story.546Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh7ZY1L9hJC
