War. For as long as Kendra could remember, war had plagued her country. Even before she became queen, Kendra had been ruthlessly trained in the ways of warfare, and she was often by her father’s side as he strategized for his next battle. She had seen what devastation these wars would cause; she had been out in the towns of her country and had looked upon her starving people, many with missing or dead relatives. She had told her father that things would be different in her rule. She wanted to bring peace to her country, Cathaway, and the people would love her for it. But, despite her hopes, her reign was far from peaceful.
Kendra’s father and mother were suddenly killed while on a trip through the countryside, and at the young age of 12, Kendra was crowned queen. Responsibilities of all kinds were thrown onto the young child, and in order to train her to be a ruler, a regent from another country was placed over Kendra. At first, everything seemed to be going well; the regent began training Kendra while handling the diplomatic matters himself. But, over time, the power slowly began to go to the regent’s head. Kendra’s training ceased, and soon, she began to realize that the man who had been placed in power had no intention of giving unit up. So, when Kendra reached ruling age, she took the throne herself and had the regent publicly executed. It was her first act as queen; her first act that started a bloody reign.
The country where this regent had come from, the land of Arintheia, did not take kindly to the regent’s execution. Things began to grow heated between Cathaway and Aritheia until, a year after Kendra’s reign began, war broke out between the countries. This was the first of many wars, and the regent’s death was the first of many executions. The country of Cathaway became even worse than it had been during the last king’s reign; people were often found lying dead in the streets as the birds and dogs ate their carcasses while rebel groups began to rise up, some using violence and others simply calling for change.
Because of her inability as queen, Kendra earned many titles- the ruthless tyrant, the queen of despair, the bloody majesty. But, the truth is, Kendra never wanted Carthaway to get this bad, but it did. And now her people wanted her dead.
While her life was dangerous, she found a way to get around all these death threats. She was a queen and had places to be, so she would disguise herself as a peasant to walk around freely. This is what she did on a night during the late winter seasons, where our story begins. That evening, she disguised herself her normal peasant clothes and made a trip over to a tavern on the east side of the city. As the queen was rarely seen in public, manh people didn’t recognize her, allowing her to blend in with the towns folk.
The tavern was busy that evening, full of drunkards and men looking to cause a ruckus. Kendra avoided these folk and stayed towards the back end of the bar, sipping her drink as she watched the men make fools of themselves.