Chapter 1:
The house erupted into one big ball of flame. I jumped back, pulling my sister along with me. She clung to my side, sobbing hysterically. The house crashed in on itself and continued to burn. Looking around, I saw that the other houses in our village had met the same fate.
People stood outside their doors, sobbing for the loved ones lost inside. The Lipatovian soldiers surrounded the village, many of them laughing at the doom that had befallen the villagers. Anger boiled inside me and I struggled not to lash out at the nearest soldier. Images of me beating him to a pulp raced through my brain as I took a deep breath to calm my anger.
“Jedrec…what is going to happen to us?” my sister, Daria, asked me.
I looked down at her and shrugged my shoulders. “I don’t know.” I answered truthfully.
This wasn’t the answer either of us wanted to hear, but we both accepted it, knowing it was true. The soldiers around the village started to come closer and closer to the center of town, where everyone had gathered after their houses caught on fire.
Grabbing Daria’s hand, I put her behind me. As the soldiers got closer, one marched ahead of the others and started to speak.
“You have been shown the power of the king of Lipatov,” he intoned.
Some king, I thought, What sort of king kills his own subjects?
“Since you have nowhere to go, the king will let you reside in the labor fields. You will have food and a shelter, but you will be required to work for it. If you refuse to go, you will be killed instantly,” he finished.
A new wave of angry feelings swept through me. They were forcing us to work there! Knowing that there wasn’t any place for us to go, since they had burned it down, the king no doubt felt that he was doing us a favor. I let go of Daria’s hand and stepped forward.
“What are you doing, boy?” snarled the soldier.
“You can’t force us to work in the fields. We have nowhere to go because you burnt it down. You’re not doing us any favors. That horrible king of yours just needs a good excuse to get us there.”
The soldier bristled and walked towards me. Eyes glinting, he stood directly in front of me. He seemed like a giant when compared to my slim and rather short twelve year old frame. I could smell the alcohol on his breath as he hovered over me, glaring with more hatred than I thought possible.
“You speak well for one so young,” he said. “But there will be no arguing. All of you will work in the labor fields, or it is instant death. Is that clear?”
My only response was a glare. I felt a tug on my arm and looked back to see Daria. She frantically tried to get me to back down from the soldier. I yanked my arm away and got as close to the soldier as I dared.
“I will go, but only because I could not leave my sister alone. Otherwise, I would rather die than work for your king,” I spat.
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