• "My name is Torra. I am the daughter of a king."
    Oh god oh god oh god. Why was I here? I surveyed the room in front of me, trying to appear calm and composed.
    "My mother was Ilithera of River District of my home city, Fodia, which is right next to Palace District. My father was the Prince when they met, although he did not tell her that.
    "My mother was known as Ilithera the Rose, because her beauty continued to bloom as she grew into a young woman. Although she was only common born, she walked and acted like a lady. She was as dainty as a Queen, yet in a fight she was more dangerous that any man who was fool enough to try and beat her."
    "I've heard o' Ilithera." One of the men interrupted. "She was a beauty, to be sure. Shame she died a few years back o' that fever."
    "Is that what the story is?" I closed my eyes for a moment. The story had been twisted and distorted so many times by others that it took focus to remember the real version. But I always would. I would never, ever forget what had happened as long as I lived.

    "My ma worked as a barmaid in one of the inns by the river. She never felt quite right about it, all those men eyeing her up, but she did what she had to to get by. One day, however, my father walked in.
    "He wasn't wearing any of his court finery, and had taken a different horse than he usually did, so no one had any clue who he really was. Ma served him, and he asked her to show him around the River District.
    "So she took him on a tour, showing him things that royalty would never have seen otherwise. My father was appalled by the conditions of the streets. He couldn't believe that his royal father hadn't done anything for these people, that he had chosen to spend the money that could have helped them on fancy parties and a wardrobe for the Queen.
    "He took my mother's hands in his and told her of his identity, sure by now that this woman could keep his secret safe. Ma was surprised, of course, but she knew that he hadn't come from common folk by the way he walked and spoke. But now he was in grave danger; anyone passing by could have heard and told someone else who wished him harm. She took him through the backroads and alleys to get him away from the main area. She took him clean out of River District and into Noble. Noble District is full of beautiful gardens and houses so clean you feel dirty by comparison, even if you were clean to start with. And... well... you all know by now what happened after."

    I cleared my throat. This part I didn't need to explain. Cheeks burning, I continued.

    "My ma was not a loose woman, just so you know. She was half in love with the crazy prince who she had served earlier. And, a few months later," I gestured towards myself, "I was born. My grandpapa, the old King, had died in that time, which made my father King. Unfortunately for my ma, he didn't want to know about me. So... she brought me up in Copper District, well away from the slums of Mud and Flea district and the looseness of River District. It was fine, until my fathers uncle found out. He would have been King if not for my father, and now he was one more step away from the throne because of me. He sent people after ma and me." I clenched my fists, looking down now. "One day I came home, and ma was... she was in our house, on the floor. She had been killed." Tears welled up in my eyes, hot and stinging. I wanted to be away from the stares of these people, away from their judgement. "So here I am, in Quinnar while I should be in a palace with my father."

    ~


    I strode away from the front of the room abruptly, sitting down on a bench in the corner of the room. Most of the men and women went back to their meals, their interest ending with the story. One detatched himself from a table and approached me. I tilted my head forward so that my face was hidden by my hair.
    "Torra, is it?" He asked with a smile, sitting next to me and handing me a bowl of rice. "You know that means Beautiful in the Old Language."
    I looked up despite myself. "You know the Old Language?"
    He nodded. "I was a scholar before I started travelling."
    "So what would Linau mean?" I asked. Mayhap my last name had meaning too.
    "Linau..." He mused for a second. "Moon. Perhaps you have some of the Old Race in you?"
    "Beautiful Moon?" I smiled wryly. "How nice. I'm a little beam of moonlight in the slums."