untitled as of yet

Prologue1

Spinning 'round in tight circles, a lush, green field about her feet that seemed to spread for miles in every direction. The feel of the cool, wet, dew that clung to her ankles spoke of the recent spring shower. The smell of rain, grass, and earth lingered in the air like a light perfume, lulling the mind to sweet thoughts. Her obsidian hair lashed wildly about her face. Every now and again the flash of her smile made a great contrast against her black hair. Out of breath and dizzy, she fell to the ground on her back. Her bare feet flew up in the air only to drop to the sweet smelling earth with a thud. She opened her eyes and watched the clouds overhead spiral and twist as if it were a brilliant water color being washed down the drain. 2

A deafening sound split the air.3

"OO-EE! OO-EE!" [ come! come!] 4

The sound of the family horn sobered her. Groaning, Xele gathered her thoughts back from the clouds and waited until the sky was still enough to stand again. Scanning the landscape, she located her shoes some yards away. Dashing to the hill, she muttered "coming" as she slid them on her wet feet. Righting herself, her body tensed. Cat-like green eyes changed to a deep evening blue. Before she knew what she was doing, her hand reached above her head. Her fingers twirled in a strange pattern. The wind shifted slightly and she felt as though the air itself was spider's silk between her slender fingers. Intricately webbed above her head.5

A beautiful white mare galloped into view. Her thundering hooves beat the grass into the soft ground underneath. Xele smiled brightly. Relaxing, her arm fell back down to her side. As she blinked, her eyes became normal again. She hoisted her flowing white underskirt and gathered it into her arms revealing green leggings. 6

Jumping upon the back of the magnificant creature and grabbing the soft black mane, she whispered,7

"come girl, mommies calling." with a hint of sarcasm. The horse snorted and galloped to the east. As she rode towards the grey stone walls of the not-so-humble castle, she watched the sunset on the horizon. All colors splashed the sky, a deep yellow giving way to burning orage. Soft pink faded into velvet overhead. A warm breeze blew through the hardwood trees surrounding the castle, and brought with it the smell of the banquet that was no doubt being set at the grand oak table.8

"OO-EE! OO-EE!" Came another call. 9

"Faster Celeste! One more of those and i'm done for" Xele confessed. "That means no more sweet oats for you" She added.10

The mare nickered and reared back slightly as every ounce of energy was spent in bolting to said domicile. Xele laughed joyfully. The sound of the wind blowing through autumn leaves. She fixed her eyes on the dismount point, just out of sight of the guards. She felt Celeste's muscles relax as she slowed to a canter. The closer they got to the gate, the slower they became, until they were meerly creeping along. Xele patted Celeste on the her muscular neck and cooed, "Good girl." before jumping onto the cobblestone path. "Now get going before they spot you." she said, stroking the horses muzzle gently. Celeste snorted as if to say 'they would have to catch me' and trotted away from the castle.11

Xele reached behind the nearest bush and pulled out her heavy, rust-colored overdress. 12

"Ah! Just where I left it." She said disappointedly. She threw it on and buttoned it quickly, hiding the grass stains covering her back. How she hated dressing so flashy, but her mother would have it no other way.13

"A lady, such as yourself, should never look draub." She would say, "Ladies do not wear leggings Xele, else we would be no better than our male counterparts." Which was fantastically ironic because this was her mothers fourth marriage. At least this one seemed to last. It had been three whole winters since she met king lukas at the gala of Shinburgh. 'A nice enough man.' she thought. 'completely insane of course.'14

She snatched a round elastic band from around her wrist and bound her hair on top of her head as she passed the guards. They bowed their heads at her. She would never get used to that; bowing and 'your majesty'-ing at every turn. It was maddening. Still she smiled, acknowledging each in turn. 15

"Hallo Damian, hallo Tarrant"16

"Milady" they both spilled at once and bowed deeper.17

"It's power," Her mother once said. "It comes with the territory. Besides, theres nothing wrong with getting a little attention."18

Xele shook her head and walked through the gate into the courtyard. Her mother had insisted on having every color of the rare Two-tail flower planted there. Indeed it was a sight to behold. The delicate blossoms swayed with the winds in winding patterns around the stone fortress. She plucked a nearby orange bloom and stuck her nose deep into the petals.19

"AAAHHHHCHHOOOO!!!" She boomed. If anyone saw or heard they said naught. Xele placed the flower in her hair that was bound into a loose bun and let the petals fall about her head. Walking over to the water fountain so she could see if it had the effect she wanted to portray, she remembered the story King Lukas told her when she first came to this place about the beautiful mermaid that decorated it.20

"Legend says that this very statue is the siren of glassmada. They say that she lost her lover to the sea, and from that night on, she stood on the shores of glassmada calling to him in song. She would sing so enchantingly beautiful that the sailors that heard her so were so taken by her voice that they would sail their ships right into the rocky coves and... BAM!!" he shouted, clapping his hands together loudly, making her jump. " Never to be seen again." 21

She walked to the door and took a deep breath, holding her head as high as it would go. She made a rather impressive picture of authority. Servents hustled about, in preperation of something important. A small girl jumped from stone to stone that made up the floor, careful not to touch the cracks, but not careful enough to not trip a few of the hurried servents. They all barely noticed Xele as she meandered across the room. The room was dimmed now, by sunset, but the sunlight that would pour through the large colored windows during the day was spectacular to see. It was as a rainbow would be if it were to be splashed against a wall. 22

Pausing to study the large painting that resided over the green marble hearth, she tilted her head from one side to the other. She had looked at this picture of the royal family before and never noticed anything amiss about it, but as she stared, certain descrepencies began to appear. In said painting, her mother, her sister, and the King all wore extravagant clothing and matching golden crowns. Xele wore a more simple dress and a silver crown. Her family's blonde hair and blue eyes was that of such purity it almost blinded her. Xele's straight black hair and flashing green eyes stood out boldly in comparison. Her sister was younger, perhaps seven in this painting, but Xele looked as she did today.23

Shrugging away all the inconsistant thoughts that came to her, she tripped on the corner of a large rug that commanded most of the reception hall. Catching herself before she kissed the floor, on a nearby wooden shelf that housed eighteen 'intricate and priceless' vases dipicting large animals that were strange to the eye. Her mother had accumulated them over the years and even traveled with them. Still she had only lost two. One of which Xele shattered by trying to swordfight with one of her mothers ex husbands sons. She had gotten in a lot of trouble that day. She had actually seen her mother crying as she picked up the broken pieces. Xele thought that the vases looked like mere childhood clay blobs.24

She looked back at the rug with distaste, its swirling colors and patterns fromed a face, mocking her. Rolling her eyes she turned and walked down the hallway that lead from the reception room to the major rooms of the castle. She made sure every footstep was placed firmly on the floor before taking another all the way to the third door on the left. 25

As she entered, she was greeted with a scowl of discontent. Xele smiled sweetly and sat in the empty seat beside her mother. To her left sat Caroline, hands folded in her lap, her head bowed as if sleeping, her besheveled hair the color of sand. Beside Caroline sat the brat of a boy named Geof, the Armsmasters son. His face was tight and looked as though it was carved from stone. Even at eighteen he held his nose in the air as if everyone else at the table was beneath him. To his left was his mother. Xele could never remember this womens name. She looked a bit like a mouse with its cheeks sucked in. She was gazing proudly at her husband to her left. The Armsmaster, a man of his late thirties, he was still perfectly fit. He was also Xele's teacher and put up with all of her unusual questions. His salt and pepper hair cut short so to not impair his vision on the battle field. 26

At the head of the table was the King. His wine glass full to the brim and his cheeks and nose red. He waved to the servents on either side of him who began filling everyones glasses. To the kings left sat a very large man named Gregory. He was the leader of affairs of war. The dark circles around his eyes the only sign of his most recent tragedy, though it was no war that made him look so, it was his wife, who passed along with their second child, giving birth. Beside him was his son, Jacob, a sweet boy of age ten. He was looking around for something more entertaining than the peas his father had loaded onto his plate. To Jacobs left sat Julianne, the spiteful red-headed daughter of Anna. This girl was only 12 but already showed signs of being an evil step-mother. Anna sat between her and Nicolette, trying to ignore her daughters whines about her food. Nicolette was asking Anna of she would do her hair a different way tomorrow.27

"And just where have you been young lady?" Her mother spat. Her golden hair riddled with grey streaks shook with her anger.28

"In the west garden mother," Xele lied. "those mazes still confuse me."29

"I'll bet she was riding that horse again!" said her sisters small angelic voice.30

Xele slanted her eyes at her younger sister across from her. She was a princess, no question about it. Her golden ringlets caught every strand of light and shot it throughout the room. Nicolette's sky blue eyes sparkled at the thought of her older sisters troubles.31

'How different we are dear sister, like day and night.' Xele mused. 32

"Of course not dear, Xele would not dare disobey me like that." Her mother said with a hint of spite, her own blue eyes shadowed with age.33

"Yes, of course not!" Xele smiled, only to hide the fact that she was grinding her teeth. She looked at the table before her and at all the food. She had forgotten how hungry riding always made her. Skipping lunch to feed celeste didn't make it any better. The pungent smell of all the food made her stomach growl angerly. She began scooping the nearest things onto her plate.34

"How was your day Nicolette?" She asked trying to deter the conversation from herself. This was the most promising way to do so. She knew Nicolette wouldn't be able to resist telling about her entire ten year old day, including the tea party, Xele was sure she had, with all the noble children her age in the castle and all the gossip they could share.35

"How sweet of you to ask!" she said as a great smile spread across her tanned face making her rose colored cheeks a deeper shade of red. "First, Anna brushed my hair, but I didn't like the way she did so, I made her do it again. Didn't I Anna? Then mother picked out a lovely pale blue gown that matched my eyes..."36

Xele stopped listening. If there was one thing she knew, it was that her sister could talk for hours without pausing for breath. So she ate. Potatoes, meat, some red things that made her lips pucker, and sweet, warm, bread. She wondered how she would sneak off to ride celeste tomorrow. 37

'Its not only the thrill of riding her,' She thought. 'its knowing that someday I will ride her freely.' Sitting up a little straighter at that thought. 'One day.' She promised herself. Lost in her own thoughts, she bit into a snap pea with vigor causing the small green ball to shoot across the room and bounce off a tapestry with a scene dipicting the epic war against the elves. Xele looked around and was pleased to see that everyone was too caught up in their own conversations to notice her folley. 38

"and thats when I promptly told them that elves are not allowed in our kingdoms, outcast or no! Then I made the guards throw them out." Her sister finished and folded her arms over her chest. Her mother applauded.39

"Very nicely handled my dear.!" She exclaimed.40

Xele's heart began to pound in her ears. She plastered a fake smile on her face. She had always been curious about these creatures that were voiced as vicious and vile. Her mother in particular told her such truely awful things. 'Could they be true? why would they come here? and why now? real, live, elves?' Her mind reeled. It spun ten different scenerio's, eight of which were tremendously terrible. Her pale face contorted in concentration.41