Womit

Wom
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Chapter 1



A speck. The glinting speck of dust shone like a fireball as it passed through the shard of sunlight dancing across the palace floor. The floor, like the walls and alabaster pillars of the palace lay smooth and cold in the morning sunlight, and soon the speck of dust, which had entranced Nadia was forgotten, as she rushed off to get ready for training that morning. Her white robe fluttered as the breeze rushed through the open window and greeted her by sweeping across her soft, bright cheeks and ruffling her chestnut hair. As she ran, her bare feet felt the cool of the floor underneath her and she ran ever more lightly than ever, her feet as quick as lightning and yet lighter than a bird taking wing. She made it all the way to the other end of the entranceway before turning and heading off in the other direction. Her hair flew around her shoulders before settling back to swinging from left to right in the middle of her slender back. The soft, loose, chestnut curls were famous in the kingdom but, as many found out in the ring, not as captivating as her bright indigo eyes. Those eyes shone with the ferocity of a warrior and yet could still make any man fall in wonder in just one look.
Half an hour after her frantic start, Nadia walked into the main training room of the school. The school, like the palace was vast and made with as many rooms as secrets in the palaces courts. Basically… there were a lot. All of these rooms were made of the white alabaster stone found in the tunnels near the palace and training school. Nobody knew quite how many rooms there were in either of the great buildings of the city as both had been built many centuries before and a new area was discovered nearly every week.
One unavoidable room however, was the training room in the very centre of the training school. Sand covered the floor and all you could see was the glint of scimitars and swish of moving bodies as they continued in their dance of the deadly art.
The school in the kingdom of Ephiasem was created for training gladiators and as the world grew and trade to other cities became increasingly popular, it also began to teach airmanship as well as any other lessons that the youth of the court needed to know. The school was going to be called "The school for gladiators and the like," however, the court saw sense and it ended up being named "Turris Lucis" or Tower of Light, as the original design did have a tower, but it slowly changed into the domes of Ephiasem the land is legendary for. These domes are not ordinary, but have blocks of green marble at different sections all over the smooth surface. Nobody knows the main reason for these, apart from the fact that whoever designed it was genius. Whenever the hour changes, a new block of marble is hit by a ray of light and it dances off the walls of the city but some say that isn't the real reason for them at all. The curious thing is that they weren't originally built in to the structure. But still, other cities have a large clock, Ephiasem has the domes.
So as well as being famous for the domes, lady Nadia's hair, and the fierce might of the gladiator fighting, Ephiasem is known for the fact it is 114 feet under sea level. The whole city was built in a kite shaped chasm and many tunnels run from the side of the chasm to, well, anywhere really. So many tunnels were created over the years, the traders were glad at the design of the first airship. Since then, it is the second most important thing in the whole city. Gladiators must fight someone, these people, in this case, came from lands far away and were sold into slavery to be flown to Ephiasem. The king, Nadia's father, found out about the slaves when he was just 10 and the first thing he exclaimed was, "How lucky! They get to die in the most beautiful city in the world, in front of the most wonderful people in the land!" Roaring cheers were heard at his words, and he has been a popular ruler ever since… at least with the court. One of the king's least favourable men was his cousin, Cedric. Cedric had the best job in the world, apart from the king of course. He trained the young lords and ladies of the court in combat and he was the best swordsman you will ever meet. He was the first and possibly last ever real person the young courtiers got to meet. He was adopted as a young boy, but not young enough to be shielded from the real world. He was tough, but brilliant and his dark brown eyes had the most wonderful emerald ring around the pupil. Beautiful, but deadly.
Nadia found him fascinating, as the other teachers in the city were stuffy and old and only wanted to talk to her about economics and cheese farmers. She liked the way his mind worked and from a young age she got on well with him, the only friend she ever really had apart from the boy running just around the corner.
Oz was tall and quick with auburn hair that curled slightly enough to give some form around his heart shaped face. He was a tailor's son and as such got to see the princess quite often, even if the conversation swayed around fabrics and colours and whoever would be at the event that she was going to. The only time he ever got to really talk to her was here, in the ring where he would get beaten and bruised. This time it would be worse, he was late.
His hair ruffled, his cheeks red and his boot half coming off, Oz made it through the doorway. Cedric gave him that look that he only gives on special occasions, the "You have no excuse, just shut up and I'll deal with you later" look. Oh yes, his eyes could say all that, it's the green that does it.
Oz was strong for a tailor's son and very precise. His scimitar had been made by his uncle and was perfectly balanced. Surely this would make him brilliant in combat, but he never quite got the same affect that he did in practice. Up against an opponent, he would flail his arms and hope for the best until he toppled over onto the floor. Being under pressure was not a good thing for him, and Nadia's quick thinking and deadly blade was no help to him at all.
So, like all other mornings in the ring, Oz came out, sweaty and covered in sand breathing a sigh of relief. Nadia patted him on the back. "At least it wasn't as bad as Tuesday Oz." She said as he mumbled to himself. Tuesday had ended in one of Cedric's precious dreadlocks being swiped off and the scimitar flying out of Oz's hand and just skimming another student's leg. That particular student then proceeded to faint and be sick all over the floor. Not a good morning. Oz mumbled some thanks to Nadia and rushed off to lunch.
Nadia stretched and collapsed onto a chaise longue in her apartment. She dropped her scimitar on the floor and looked up as her faithful companion Snick flew through the open window. Snick, the hyacinth macaw, had the most striking blue plumage of any bird in the kingdom. However, birds Ephiasem, like anywhere had a slightly different type of bird to that of our own world. This macaw was 5 foot tall and you must understand that the window would then be rather large. In fact, this macaw was a gift to Nadia when she was five, and it came as the airships became more common for trade and Snick had actually come from a land far in the east. Azulia, the land was called, as everything, including the bird that Nadia now had residing in her apartment, was blue. She hoped one day to go there but her stomach had other ideas as it grumbled for something to sooth its hunger. She got up, patted Snick on the beak and exited the room.

After a lunch of dates, figs and something she believed to be goat, Nadia went to one of the taller parts Turris Lucis. Some would call it a tower, but she just thought of it as a spring onion. Tall and thin, with a dome on the top. This tower had a large balcony on it to test many experiments of flight. Yes, Nadia had principles of flight this afternoon. Her least favourite lesson, and unbearable if it was not for Oz. There were about six people in the entire classroom, excluding her teacher. All of them, complete and utter nitwits who don't understand the fact that if the weight is more than the lift, you fall. Of course, she didn't fair much better. Oz was the only one who listened and she would copy his notes after class, taking the hour or two stuck in the classroom to go over things she learnt in the ring or to doodle pictures of Snick and her travelling all over the world.
She was just drawing a particularly lovely picture of monkeys mauling kangaroos when Oz nudged her making the pencil slip and the king monkey now had a rather large arm. Nadia grumbled and kicked Oz in the leg before realising why he had nudged her. The whole class was staring at her, "The answer your majesty?" asked the wizened old professor. "Ummm… the square root of minus… What does that say Oz? Oh right… 3. The square root of 3" she managed to say before glaring at Oz.
"Thank you would have been nice" Oz grumbled at her.
"Well, I suppose but you could have given me a bit more warning, a flustered face and my drawing is ruined, so thank you very much Oz! Remind me to find you if I want someone to ruin my day." She huffed and stomped away down the stairs. Oz was used to it though and went down the very same stairs before turning left at the bottom and going home.
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