Chapter 1
Before we had had many wars between the two kingdoms (of the elves and the fairies), which only tore each other apart. To create peace, the great elders of each kingdom came together in the famous peace meeting in which they created the treaty. The treaty established our land borders and allowed for peaceful trade, which brought both kingdoms prosperity. Yet, slowly, the fairy kingdom of the Crown became more and more powerful, which began unfair trade, causing tension between the two great kingdoms.
I was awakened to a loud thump on my bedroom floor as Ruel hopped down from a nearby window. He slowly approached my bed, and when I least expected it, he jumped on my bed only to tackle me. “AAAAaAAaAA!” I yelled loudly as he grinned maliciously. Within seconds, Priya knocked on my door. “Princess?”Ruel rolled underneath my bed immediately as the doorknob turned and Priya entered the room. “Are you okay, princess?” I thought I heard you screaming." I assured her I was fine and that it had just been a nightmare before she closed the door behind her and walked down the hall towards her room. “Don’t do that again!” I whispered angrily down towards the bed and jammed a right punch playfully at Ruel.
“Priya didn’t come in last time though.” Ruel grumbled silently and then plopped down on my bed. “What’s up?” I asked Ruel. Ruel turned towards me on the bed, his blonde wispy hair covering his right eye. “I have heard others talking about the crown. Some rumors say they are starting to take over the east of our territory, but they are only rumors. ” I wondered if he was trying to reassure me, not just me, but himself. The fairies may be strong, but my father had told me they would never lay a finger on me. “Even if they are invading, we will always be safe with my father as head of the dynasty." Ruel seemed comforted by this. I studied his face closer in silence. That’s when I noticed a large purple mark surrounding his right eye. “Ruel? What is that? ” I asked him with concern, “Is that a black eye?” I was unaware as my hand reached for his face. “Don’t touch it.” Ruel took my hand and tossed it aside and turned over on his side. “Who did this to you?” I exclaimed. “I just fell. That’s all. ” Now I am sure that that mark was very purposeful, and there is no way he could’ve gotten that mark from just falling.
I decided not to push him for further details, “Okay, when you are ready to tell me, I am here for you.” Ruel reluctantly sighed, “Luna, it’s my Dad. When he came back home today, he was just so angry. He came for my mom. I tried to protect her, but I couldn’t.” He breathed in and started to silently cry. I clung to his side, soothing him. “It’s okay, Ruel, it wasn’t your fault.” I clung to him until we both dozed off.
When I woke up Ruel wasn’t there but the indent of him on my sheets was still there. I look towards the windows and on the window sill of the window Ruel came in through last night there lies a small piece of crumpled-up paper. I slip out of my dark maroon covers and make my way to the window still groggy. I picked up the note and looked out the window, no sign of him. All I see out the window is the sunrise piercing through the horizon and the forbidden forest dancing around the mountains in the distance. The sun was glistening so brightly that the morning dew on my window glistened to greet it. I uncrumpled the note in my hands and it read meet me at the spot before the ball tonight and marked Ruel. The castle was always so quiet early in the morning, I loved it. I slipped on my warm rabbit furs, with a pair of pants I could move around in, and my favorite pair of boots. I dug through my closet until I found my hiding place for my bow and my quiver of arrows. I crept silently through the halls, trying my best not to wake Priya from her slumber. I slipped downstairs, to see the banners being levered up by our help for our ball this evening that was being planned. I ran past them as they smiled and waved at me “Good Morning Princess!” I simply nodded and raced down the hall to the side door.
I opened the door into the garden to see the flowers in full bloom, each flower as radiant as the last, also glistening with the morning dew. Some called the garden enchanted because everything about it seemed as if it were bewitched with perfection. I knew, though, that it was because my mother loved it as if it was her child. My mother was a master when it came to the knowledge of medicine and herbs, and she was always talking to me about these things. Her most esteemed herb in this garden was called moonshine. It could heal any wound, great or small, with just one taste. That’s why my mother made sure no one came near it with a huge fence that surrounded the exterior of the herb. I kept running past the garden and into the forbidden forest. The reason why it was called the forbidden forest was that it was forbidden for me to go into because my father thought that I was too young and, being a young woman, vulnerable. I strived to prove him wrong by pursuing perfect scores in my enchantry classes and excelling in my weaponry classes. However, it never seemed to be enough for him, even though I was almost twelve years old.
I rustled through the trees and bushes, making my way to our spot. The birds chirped constantly, and as I neared closer to the house, there seemed to be more birds flitting from branch to branch. And there it was panting. I stopped and walked towards it. To anyone else, it seemed like just another tree, but there was more to it than it seemed. I learned a powerful enchantment in my enchantment lessons on camouflaging myself. Later, upon going to the library, I was able to bend the spell to not just camouflage myself but other items. I used this enchantment to hide our spot. Inside the tree, it was bigger than it seemed to be and was much like the size of a cottage with three rooms; one big room and two smaller ones. There was also a ladder that led to the top of the tree, where you could see for miles around. I looked around to make sure I had not been followed and opened the door to the house.
Inside Ruel was sitting at the table and looking through a book titled “The Crown.” I plopped down next to him. He barely looked up, seeming to be smothered in the book. Ruel must have been worried about the rumors if he was reading a book on the hierarchy of the other kingdom. I grinned politely and pulled the book away from his face. “Hey, you are overthinking again. The rumors are just rumors; nothing bad is going to happen. ” Ruel set down the book and went for our snack stash, “I know. I just have a bad feeling about it. I know we are safe and everything, but I just think that the rumors may be true. ” Ruel sat down at the table and picked up the book once again. I went over to our food stash as well, grabbing some blueberries to substitute for the breakfast I didn’t have. I glanced at his face to see if his black eye was fading, and it was just slow progress. I assumed that he had stayed the night in one of the bedrooms. I wouldn’t have wanted to go back home either. He noticed me staring at him, and I looked away, staring at the ivy on the back wall so he wouldn’t suspect anything.“I called you Luna because I am ready to take on the challenge.” When we were younger, I challenged him to hunt, teasing him that he couldn’t beat me. Back then, Ruel had said no, but now he wanted to take me on. Something was either very wrong or maybe, just maybe, he was growing up. I always held it over him, continuously reminding him that he couldn’t take me. But now it was different, it was all different. That day, since I looked at Ruel as if for the first time, I had always seen him as that little boy who went to classes with me, whom I called a friend. Despite the black eye, I noticed the faint peach fuzz, and his sharp jawline, and his blonde hair, which glowed in the sunlight, making it look platinum. I always knew elves were supposed to be attractive because it was who we were as elves. But Ruel was always beyond that, even if I hadn’t noticed this until now. He was always so bubbly and cheerful despite his traumatic experience, which I deeply admired. I swallowed down the blueberries and firmly responded, “Challenge accepted!“. His gorgeous ocean eyes twinkled at this remark, and he smirked, “Game on!” By the time we were finished, it was almost dusk and both our clothes were muddy and our hair muddled with leaves and twigs, as if we had become one with the forest. I had come out victorious, but whether I admitted it or not, I was indeed challenged, and I found it hard to beat Ruel. Ruel smiled at me contently and shook my hand, “Good Game!” I nodded at him, “Good Game!” My hand lingered in his a couple of seconds too long. I sure hope he didn’t notice.
Realizing that the sun was setting, I said my goodbyes to Ruel and excused myself because I had a ball to attend to. I couldn’t run anymore because I was still sore from sprinting during our competition. So I walked as fast as I could back to the palace and into the garden. When I arrived back in the garden, Priya was there, looking very cross, her arms folded in front of her chest. "Luna, Luna, Luna. What am I going to do with you?” On the way up to my room, she lectured me about how late it was, and how she was worried sick that I was gone all day. She pulled my hair into a gorgeous fluffy bun complete with braiding finishes and put an enchantment on my hair so that it looked as if sky blue butterflies were sitting on my head. She questioned me about where I had been as she helped me adjust a silky ball gown that looked as if it was the night sky wrapped around me. By the end of helping me slip on the most painful shoes in the world, she seemed to have warmed up after telling me firmly to never do it again. Even though I am sure she knew I would try it once again, as I had done several times before. Priya told me to eat well at the ball because I had probably starved myself and to always smile. I nodded and gave her my perfect princess smile as she placed my crown on my head, which glistened with crystals, the shades of moonlight purple buried in the purest silver.
I walked slowly down the stairs, afraid I would trip in these most uncomfortable shoes, and as people turned to look, I put on my brightest smile. Whispers followed as I finished my descent down the stairs and made my way towards the most scrumptious-looking food.
“That’s the princess...”
“You know what I heard...”
“Unfit to be...”
I tried my hardest not to let the comments get to me, but it was hard and I was afraid that my smile would fade a little if I dwelled on them. I reached for a cookie on the table that looked like a pink cloud when I bit into it and tasted like a marshmallow. As I was reaching for another pink puff, my brother Robin approached me. He was wearing a dark green jacket with golden embroidery, which brought out his green eyes more than usual. His short-cut brunette hair was swished back more than usual, with his crown secured tightly on his head. I curtsied and he bowed and gestured for me to take his arm. Once I did, he led me to the throne room. I searched his face for a smile but found none, which was out of character. “Father wants to see you, Luna. He has been looking for you.” Robin’s voice gave no hint as to why Father wanted to see me and left me slightly frustrated. Was he ever this emotionless?
As we approached the throne room, I noticed the banners that were being put up this morning when I left were up and flowing with the draft. All the windows were open to reveal trees that shone in the moonlight and fireflies flickering on the castle grounds. This party was strictly for the nobles of the kingdom to attend, so my father could present his wealth and power. Many people were dancing in the most glamorous outfits to the music, and the instruments seemed to play themselves because each note was light and airy. My brother Robin bowed deeply and I followed his example and curtsied deeply to my father and mother, the head of the dynasty. I made eye contact with my father. This evening he was dressed in a deep maroon with silver accents, which resembled his silver-like hair. As they aged, their faces never wrinkled, and their hair turned a bright silver, not to be mistaken for gray. My father had many crowns, but this evening. He was wearing his favorite of them all. The crown looked as if it were a tree darkened after being caught on fire, with red rubies sprinkled across it and the deepest of the rubies in the center of the crown. My mother was beside him wearing the most gorgeous dress, which looked like the most beautiful of her sunflowers in her garden. Her hair was silver too, but it was hard to tell with it pulled into a flower crown to complete the look.
My brother and I made our way to our parents, to sit beside them. I was seated closest to my mother, and my brother was closest to our father. My father reached for my mother’s hand, and she took it. He led her to the center of the room with no problem because, as if on cue, the whole dance floor was clear. As they danced to the music, I could see how in love they still were with each other, even after all these years. As I wished to someday have what they have, as I sat staring at them wide-eyed, my brother turned towards my left hand stretched out. I smiled as much like a princess as I could muster, and we soon danced next to my father and mother on the ballroom floor. As we danced across the floor, my brother whispered in my ear, “How was your adventure today?” with his eyebrows raised and all. “Is that why Father wants to see me?” I asked him in return. He flashed me a quizzical smile, “Luna. I don’t know why father wants to talk to you. ” I looked him in his eyes to stare him down and saw that he wasn’t lying. “Speaking of him, here he comes,” whispered Robin as her father and mother made their way across the floor to us. The father sternly smiled at me and Robin, “Mind if I cut in?” My father handed mom off to Robin and took my hand.
For a while, as we were dancing, there was silence, and this silence was dark and empty, and this emptiness meant a lot. Then he spoke, “I told you not to go into the woods; it’s forbidden.” I grimaced, but in a way, my father couldn’t see. I only ever wanted his recognition that I was old enough and that I could take care of myself because I was perfectly capable of doing so. While he took my brother Robin on hunting trips, my father would tell me to stay at home and focus on my studies. I loved my brother, but just because he was older and male, and I wasn’t, didn’t mean that my father could purposely exclude me from these hunting expeditions. To prove to him that I was fully well and able to go on hunting trips, I decided I would like to train in weaponry. In which I practically had to beg to have any training in weaponry for him to permit me to train. The only reason why I got my way was that my mother had convinced him to let me train in weaponry. That’s when I told him, or at least was about to tell him, when chaos broke down.
The doors dropped down to what I had thought was wind, but then I saw long swords streaked with red and shields painted with dirt. There was an army at the front door of the palace of at least a hundred, and they hadn’t knocked respectfully at our doors, they had just thrown down the door at its hinges. While the guests ran and fled for their lives, my family stood strong and in place. Then the army’s head stepped forward, “By means of the Dynasty breaking the peace treaty between the Crown and the Dynasty by crossing the territory mark, the Crown hereby announces the termination of the Dynasty heads and anyone who comes in their way.” My father looked both petrified and infuriated. “What? This is ridiculous! We never broke the peace treaty! ” I looked around; there were no guards to be seen. Had they been terminated? Where are they? My brother also realized this and stepped in front of my father, sword drawn and ready to fight. Within an instant, it seemed like my brother’s head was cleanly chopped off by a nearby soldier.
I shrunk to the floor, feeling defenseless as shouts and screams filled the air. My eyes filled with tears. My brother had just fallen on the floor in front of my eyes. When I looked up, I saw my father fighting bravely over my brother’s body, but he was outnumbered. He turned around to my mother and me and mouthed one word. My mother took my hand as I watched my father being knocked down by the soldiers. I was dragged into the kitchen feeling like I was in a daze. A couple of servants stood blocking off the entrance. I looked up at my Mom and she looked at me, trying to be strong and hold back her tears. “I love you, Luna.” I will always be with you. ” She hugged me and kissed me on the forehead. “Now run into the woods and always keep fighting.” I nodded and left, and kept running. Even as the kitchen door was knocked down, in between the screams of my mother and many others, I kept running. I didn’t turn around and glance back until I was at our spot to make sure no one was following. As I opened the door, I heard some nearby soldiers say, “Keep looking, she has to be here somewhere.” I closed the door gently and listened as I heard the soldiers pass the tree and sighed, breathing shakily and sobbing uncontrollably. I didn’t even notice Ruel was already there staring at me.
“Hey, what are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be at the ball?” I am sure he mumbled something along those lines, but I wasn’t sure because the pain was deeper than I had ever felt before. I truly loved my father. Even if he was overprotective, it was only because he was trying to keep me safe. My mother was the most gentle soul I had ever met and taught me not just about herbs but also how to stand strong as a young woman. And my brother Robin, whom I had always admired for his unending love and thoughtfulness.It hadn’t registered that they were truly gone yet. My cries were the kind that were quiet and deep, full of regret. Why hadn’t I stood in front of my brother before?
When I woke up the next morning, I was in the third room of the house. Even though I didn’t remember being taken there, I was still in my ball gown. Ruel must have carried me to my bed while I was in shock the following evening, and I probably drifted off to sleep. I may not have known then what to do, but I know now that everything I do must be for them.
