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<span style="font-family: 'Lobster Two'"><span class="fixed-color" style="color:rgb(32, 178, 170)"><span style="font-size: 33px">Kiara Echethier</span><br/>
<span style="font-size: 18px">"A golden cage is still just a cage."</span></span></span><br/>
<span class="fixed-color" style="color:rgb(32, 178, 170)"><span style="font-size: 18px">· · ─────── ·· ─────── · ·</span></span>​</div><br/><div style="margin: auto; overflow: visible; max-width: 70%; font-family: Didact Gothic; text-align: justify">The barbaric warriors of Essos had been a plague upon Avalri for an entire year. When they had first arrived, Kiara’s father Darragh had thought that he could trade with them. That perhaps they could form a mutually beneficial relationship between Avalri and the people of Essos. Such ideas had quickly been shot down when the small party that had been sent to see what these barbarians wanted was slaughtered without question and without even hearing them out. It was clear that the people of Essos wanted war. So, King Darragh had been forced to scramble to pull his troops together to send them out to try and banish these brutes back to the land that they had come from. And for a year, they had done their valiant best to protect the people of Avalri as much as they could. But it was never enough and the wartribe continued thei steady march onward toward the capital city of Avalri. <br/>
<br/>
Although Kiara never actually saw the warriors of Essos until they were at her doorstep, she heard tales of them from the knights that managed to return home. She had spent much of the past year assisting the medics in the castle where she could, trying to offer the injured and dying knights some amount of comfort as they recounted the horrors they faced at the hands of these tribesmen. Kiara heard tales of savage men covered in paint ripping people apart limb from limb as their swords indiscriminately cut down anyone who stood in their way. They didn’t seem to care whether the people they came across were actual members of Avalri’s military or if they were simply innocent townsfolk. The people that managed to flee from their villages and seek shelter in the capital, somehow, told stories even worse than the knights. Men spoke of how their brothers were cut down without a second thought, children described the way their houses burned, women shakily described men with rough hands tearing their clothes off and having their way. It was all entirely horrid and dishonorable and Kiara struggled to see how such callous and heartless people could exist. <br/>
<br/>
When the warriors of Essos had finally made their way into the capital, King Darragh had been forced to submit to their demands unless he wanted his entire kingdom to be burned to the ground. Kiara hadn’t been present when her father had made his deal with the leader of this tribe, forced to be locked away in her room in case the Essos men decided they wanted to seek out any women in the castle to satisfy their disgusting appetites. She only heard about the aftermath of the dealing. Her father had handed over much of his storage of wealth in an effort to pacify these people and yet even that had not been enough to satisfy them at first. Darragh had been growing fearful that nothing would satiate these barbarians until he finally managed to sway them to leave and go back to their own country. <br/>
<br/>
And apparently, the tipping point, the time when the Essos leader had seemed to begin to bend to Darragh’s wishes, was when Kiara’s hand was offered in marriage. <br/>
<br/>
Such an idea was enough to make Kiara’s blood run cold. She was being sold off to these violent and feral people? She had always known that her lot in life was to be married to some prince or nobleman in order to strengthen political connections between Avalri and some other kingdom, but for her life to be used as a bargaining chip to gain the favor of the men of Essos? The first thought that had come into Kiara’s head was that she needed to find a way to escape, to flee, before they managed to get their hands on her. In her panic, she had almost acted on those thoughts. <br/>
<br/>
But eventually, logic took over. If Kiara ran, then what were these warriors going to do to Avalri? They had already shown their might in battle and willingness to destroy everything and everyone in their path. The people of Avalri had already suffered for months on end because of this clan. If the clan leader didn’t get everything he was promised, Kiara had a sinking feeling that he would be <i>very</i> quick to take out his anger on the innocent people of her kingdom. The thought sickened Kiara, that he would be so willing to destroy more innocent lives out of anger and a need for vengeance. She couldn’t let her people suffer more than they already had. So, if she was to be sold to this clan as if she was little more than a jewel from her father’s vault as well, then she would force herself to go willingly. Kiara’s heart ached for her people and if she was able to bring an end to their suffering…who was she to be so selfish as to refuse them that? <br/>
<br/>
Kiara had little time to come to terms with the fact that her life was forever about to change. The servant that had informed her of her situation said that the clan leader – Bjorn Kamen – was expecting her to be prepared to leave by sunset. Kiara’s head was still spinning as she tried to pack up her entire life to go to a new land in only the span of a few hours. In the end, all she ended up with were two chests of belongings, one filled entirely with clothing of various kinds, and the other with a bit more clothing as well as some jewelry and a small selection of books, writing utensils, parchment, and sketching charcoal. <br/>
<br/>
To think that was likely all she was going to have of her life in Avalri was like a dagger to the heart. <br/>
<br/>
Goodbyes with her father were swift. She could see how stressed and terrified he was, so Kiara did her best to hide her own fear, fighting back tears at the thought of never seeing her father again and trying to offer him a smile instead. That was the last she saw of him as she was rushed out to the castle gates, where she was to be handed off to the people she had been given to. </div>