rincess Atreia married Count Matthew, and lived happily ever
after, and gave birth to a single daughter, named Lina, in honor
of Atreia's mother.
In another kingdom, Sir Danthel had a son too, who he named
Cull, in honor of his former kingdom.
Princess Lina grew up, became Queen Lina when King Matthew
and Queen Atreia died, and married Lina the Sir Travin of Rosehill
Castle. In fact, this story doesn't take place until their daughter
Alia grew up.
Queen Lina, remembering how her mother had been so easily
kidnapped, had her daughter trained to fight.
Meanwhile, Cull, Son of Danthel became a Black Cap, a land
going pirate. He never married, just had a kid and kept it around
for a messenger boy, then he sent the boy out to do his bidding.
His son was named Sean.
My name is Princess Alia. What is there to tell? I'm a Princess.
Dark brown hair, and green eyes. I look pretty normal, except
there's this silvery star on my forehead that is only noticeable
if light shines straight on it. My favorite place to sit and
talk with my friends is the City Steps. They're huge, and warm
from the sun, and very private, since no one ever has a reason
to go out that far.
Let's see, I guess I better explain who my friends are. First
there's Brooke. How can I describe her? She's a peacemaker, calm,
yet she possesses powerful magic. Healing power, mostly, but
also some dangerous powers.
Her brother, Dane, doesn't have any magic. He says he wouldn't
want it anyways. He perfers force, and you should see him with
a staff; He's great! He has light brown hair, and piercing light
green eyes.
His best friend, Gabe is the opposite. He likes arrows. He
reminds me of an arrow, lightbrown hair, skinny, strong legs.
He's handsome, and he knows it. He loves to joke around.
Last is Ashton Jewl. He looks like Gabe with darker hair,
and slightly tanner skin. He has admitted to being a thief, but
garentees he has resigned. I believe him too. He's quiet, and
shy, though he can think up somthing pretty funny when he decides
too, and then it surprises everyone.
Anyways, like I was saying, we like to sit on the City Steps,
which is right outside of the city. That's why we saw the messenger
first. He was a pirate, that was for sure. Raggy clothes, ugly,
long curved sword, tattooed. Then I saw the black cap he wore.
A Black Cap.
"Who's up for running? This is a murderer you know."
Gabe said with complete calmness in his voice.
"Run!? Why? I've got a staff, you guys have swords, Brooke
has magic! The world has enough evil without this scum without
him!" Dane procalaimed.
"Ugh! I knew I shouldn't have let you try out for the
Kingdom Play. You've been acting like the valiant warrior all
week!" I complained.
"This is the real thing, come on, let's just go."
"Too late" murmered Brooke.
Sure enough, the Black Cap, the land-going pirate, was standing
in front of us.
"Who are you?" he asked.
Now, I know better than to give out my identity to strangers,
especially Black Caps.
"I'm Janaila. This is Par, Nitch, Kolm, and Tania."
I said, the names just popping out of my mouth, pointing at first
Dane, then Gabe, then Ash, and finally Brooke..
"Any of you pages?" he asked.
I shook my head no.
"Well, y'certainly seem to be the ringleader of group,
lady. Why don't any of the others say anythin?" he asked.
"Uh, uh, we're just, a little shy I guess. Isn't that
right, Nitch?" Gabe asked Dane shakily.
The Black Cap looked suspicous. "I thought you were Nitch."
he said.
Black Caps aren't as dumb as some tales tell them to be. They're
actually quite smart. And VERY good fighters. That's why we were
so worried.
I bit my lip. "Well, who are you looking for?" I
asked.
"Some Princess-girl name o' Alia." he said.
"What does she look like?" Brooke asked.
"Uh, dark hair, green eyes, and some silvery thing on
her forehead."
"Oh, yeah, I've heard of her." Dane said.
"Really, could you, uh, you know bring her out here?"
he asked.
The sun came out from behind the clouds, and streamed down.
I was suddenly self concious about the star on my forehead. I
saw Brooke steal a glance at it. She nodded. The shade of a nearby
tree had blocked the sun. I sighed in relief. I gave an even
deeper sigh when Sean, an elite soldier strode up. I had never
liked him too much, but I was glad to see anyone right now, especially
sombody who was carrying a sword.
"This is her you shallow pig! This is the Princess of
Truevale! Alia! Now get her, and let's go. Take her friends too.
Remember what Father told us." he said.
My mouth fell open. "Sean?" I asked.
"Yes, milady?" he replied.
"What are you doing?" "It's a long story. I'm
really a spy. I work for my father, Cull, son of Danthel."
"What?" I asked in shock.
I stared at Sean. He grinned back. I drew my sword, then Ash
followed my lead and Dane picked up his staff. Gabe drew his
sword, then Brooke readied her hands, prepared to shoot lightning
from them. But our problem was that we were only kids, no older
than 14. We weren't ready to kill anyone, not even Black Caps.
But they were.
I'll admit, none of us were the best at fighting, not fully
trained yet. These two Black Caps were ruthless fighters. Even
outnumbered almost three to one, the Black Caps had the definite
advantage.
Pretty soon, Gabe and Brooke were both out of the fight, unconcious.
Then, before I knew what was happening, the older Black Cap had
his curved sword against my throat. Everyone stopped.
Sean grinned. "Nice job Rocky!" he yelled.
I froze, and slowly lifted my sword, hoping he wouldn't run
me through before I did.
He rolled his eyes. "Put down the sword. And the rest
of you, put down your weapons."
I dropped my sword, and Rocky spun me around so that it was
easier to hold the sword to my neck. Gabe began to regain conciousness.
He groaned. Sean took his sword. Then, Dane put his staff down,
then Brooke, though still unconcious was temporarily drained
of her powers. Finally, with an angry look in his eyes, Ash put
his sword down. Rocky relaxed, and put heavy chains on my hands.
I looked around. How could no one have noticed? But I knew, no
one ever came around the City Steps.
Ash, Gabe, Dane and Brooke were tied with ropes. I guess it
was because Rocky was only expecting to capture me, I thought
bitterly. We were half dragged, half marched into the nearby
woods of Shadow Forest. Then, Rocky and Sean were met with a
band of a dozen more inland corsairs.
I was thrown onto a black horse, and Seam climbed on behind
me. I closed my eyes, trying hard not to cry. I had a strange
feeling of rememberance, and for a moment I forgot who I was.
Alia? Or Atreia? Who was behind me? Sean? Or Danthel?
I opened my eyes. The sun was setting. But hadn't it been
the middle of the night a few seconds ago? I took a deep breath.
I was Alia, Sean was behind me, and it was evening. So why had
I thought this was my grandmother's trip through these woods?
Sean was Danthel's grandson. I was Atreia's grandaughter. It
was the same path, same situation, and I supposed Sean and I
were feeling the same ways as our grandparents had once felt.
I was scared, Sean was probally feeling arrogant after his victory.
In my daydreams, I had always pictured myself as a daring
heroine, and I had always thought I would face these moments
with bravery. I had also always thought Princess Atreia was only
a wimp, but now I knew I was wrong. Atreia hadn't put up much
of a fight when they were kidnapping her, but she had escaped.
She was braver than I was.
Sean had relaxed, thinking I was too scared to act. He was
wrong. I wanted to prove myself to Atreia's spirit who I felt
was watching me. I leaned to the left, and pushed off. Sean was
startled, and not quick enough to grab me. I landed on the ground,
and took a few running steps before Rocky and another corsair
caught me. Rocky smirked at Sean.
"You need to pay more attention to your captives, Your
Highness." he teased.
"Be quiet." snapped Sean angrily.
We rode on, for hours. I know this is a little hard to imagine,
but I got bored. Sitting, expecting somthing to happen. To ride
into another band of pirates, or maybe to a ship, or perhaps...
We rode to the Greenshire--- formerly called Cullon. When Truevale
conquered it though, we began to call it the Greenshire. It was
now a small land where most rebels of Truevale lived.
We rode on, to the Greenshire's Castle, Palace of Cullon.
It had long been deserted. The perfect place for the son of Danthel
to be hiding. I stared at it's dark towers, and saw a few lights
burning inside. I felt a pang of fear as I looked up. It loomed,
taller than any other building, with pointed towers. The men
rode all the way into the castle, not stopping to even put their
horses away. They slowed down slightly, but continued. They dismounted
at the first stairway, and tied their horses to the banaster.
Then, Rocky roughly lead me up the stairs. For the first time
since being at the City Stairs, I caught a glimpse of my friends.
Depressed, angry, and scared expressions were all looking around.
We walked side by side, with me and Ash on the ends.
When we reached a dimly lighted room, we were forced to seperate.
Gabe, Ash, Dane, and Brooke were pushed into the dungeon, and
I expected to be pushed in myself, but instead, Sean lead me
on to the next room. He had a strong grip on my arm, probally
remembering how I had caught him off gaurd earlier.
In the room, a man sat, maybe a little younger than my parents.
He had black hair, and almost black eyes, unlike his blond haired
son. I glared at him, but Sean pushed me to my knees.
"You should bow before royalty, you know." he mocked.
From behind the dark haired man came a white haired man. He
was old, but strong looking, slightly like I remembered my own
Grandfather, King Matthew. But this man's eyebrow's had remained
black, and his hair still had dark streaks, giving him an overall
evil look. He scared me, not because of his looks, but because
I knew who he was. Danthel. He looked at me hard.
"You look just like Atreia did." he said after a
long pause. I just glared.
"Why?" I asked. "Why did you bring me here?"
I asked.
Danthel smiled thinly. "Decades ago in Cullon, my father's
plan would have worked. But Atreia had to go and escape. But
it would have worked. How couldn't it have? So, we're going to
try it again." he said.
I scowled. "I'll never do it. The only reason Atreia
ever agreed was because it was her plan of escape." I reminded
him. His thin smile grew.
"That's why we brought your friends along."
My glare grew even more intense.
"What do you mean? My friends don't have anything to
do with---" I froze. Suddenly, I knew.
Sean smirked. "You guessed right, from the look on your
face. If you don't agree, we'll just throw your friends over
Cullon Cliff." he said.
Before I knew what was happening, I was ushered into a candle-lit
room. I spun around, but Sean had shut the door. There was a
window. Hopes for escape ran through my mind, but when I looked
down, I saw a dog kennel, full of growling hounds. I've always
been more of a cat person myself. I backed away from the window,
and sat on my bed.
With nothing better to do, I began trying to piece together
Danthel's history. I guessed after he had been recognized in
Bluefalls (A neighboring city of Truevale and Greenshire), he
had set out, and had a son. Then, he had traveled as a Black
Cap with his son, and then his grandson. That wasn't hard to
figure out, so I quickly became bored again. I didn't get to
sleep until very late that night.
The next morning, I was roughly awakened by Sean's hard shaking.
"Ow! Hey! Watch it!" I complained. I rolled out
of bed, smoothed out my wrinkled dress, and glared at Sean. "What
is it?" I asked him "Is there any reason you woke me
up after a night with no sleep."
Sean grinned. I felt a chill go up my spine-- Not for the
first time. "Actually, there is, if you don't agree to marriage,
we are going to throw one of your friends off a cliff."
I glared as Sean dragged me outside. My friends were already
there, tied together.
"Alia don't do it! Please say no!" Brooke yelled.
I knew she could levitate herself at the last moment. But
what of Dane and Ash and Gabe? On the other hand, what about
my country?
"Don't make me make this descision" I pleaded to
no one.
Gabe peered over the edge of the cliff, and when he looked
up I saw his already pale face go whiter.
"I...I...I..." I stammered. "Don't do it Alia!
You just can't marry him! Think about the entire land of Truevale.
Four people or the entire land? Four people or you? Four people
or everyone?" Ash yelled.
"Sean... I'm... n-n-n-n" I stammered. I took a deep
breath. "Sean I'm not going to. You can't have Truevale."
"Push that dark haired boy over." Sean told a nearby
pirate.
The pirate shoved Ash two steps forward, paused almost dramaticly,
and in that pause Ash looked back. His eyes which I had never
been able to read finally had a message. His eyes said that he
didn't blame me. He understood. And then, the pirate pushed him
over the edge.
"Ahhhhhhh!" Ash screamed.
And then it stopped. That was the horrible part. It just stopped
so suddenly. So many things stopped at that instant. His life,
his scream. It's only two things, but so many things stopped.
I stopped holding back the tears and finally broke down and sobbed.
I couldn't ever escape. It was useless. I should just stop pretending
I was as brave as Atreia was. This wasn't some fantasy, some
daydream, or some little story my imagination thought up. This
was reality.
"So Alia, having second thoughts?" Sean asked.
"Please, I'll do it, just don't, just don't..."
my voice faltered.
Sean laughed. "Fine, we won't do a thing more with them.
As soon as we're married they'll be set free." Sean said.
"When will that be?" I asked.
"Tommorow." Sean replied, tugging me back inside.
That night, I prepared myself for the nightmares I knew would
come. I couldn't have began to ready myself. I hope that you
never know the horror of hearing a scream like that.
Somtime around midnight, I was gentley shaken awake. Pale
shimmering figures seemed to be talking
"Princess, Princess? I heard you went to the orphanage.
I went there too. Who are you... Kirsten? Alexandria? Sala?"
a boy asked.
"Matt!? How could you confuse me with those girls! I
can not believe you!" a beautiful girl whispered angrily.
"Well, I can't be expected to remember anyone. Let's
see, who else was there? Hope, Anna, Margarete, Dayonna, Lynn,
that's all I can remember. Except Trei, but you couldn't be her.
She wasn't like you at all." the boy said.
"Now she is." the girl replied
"Oh no. Trei... Atreia... Oh no! How could I have not
noticed! I can't let you go, Trei. I want to but I can't."
the boy moaned.
What was going on!? Was I seeing ghosts? Or was this a dream?
"Not on your gaurd duty. You'd get in trouble. Just cover
for me." Atreia said.
She turned to me. "Alia. You've got to be brave. You'll
get out of here." she said, and with a laugh, she disapeared.
A moment later, a dark figure crept through the door.
"Alia? Alia?" it asked. It looked at me. "Oh,
your already awake."
Was it... Could it be..? Ash! Another ghost? "Ash? Is
it really you?" I asked disbelievingly.
"In the flesh." he replied.
"How..?" I stammered.
He smiled. "My clothes caught on a branch. And then...
Well, your not going to believe this but after I climbed up,
I saw Matt. Your grandfather. He said that... That I had to save
you."
Ash blushed. "I believe you. After all, Atreia and Matt
said help was coming just a second ago." I replied.
He pulled me up out of bed.
"Come on, if we're not at least three-fourths of the
way to Truevale by sunrise, they'll be able to track us down
on horses, and catch up."
As Ash said this, he pulled me out of the room. Six gaurds
lay knocked out.
"You took on six at once?" I asked.
"They were drunk. One tap and they were out." Ash
said with a shrug.
I followed him to the room the rest of our friends were being
locked up. He picked the lock with ease. I was surprised at how
small and dark their room was. It was cold too. They were very
happy to see Ash and me, and even happier to get out.
Then we began to run. I've never been good at running, so
I was the slowest. Gabe was in front, being in such good condition.
Ash was a second behind him, and Dane was half a second behind
him, Brooke wa levitating herself pretty fast, and I was running
behind him. But as time went on, Brooke began to struggle to
stay up from the exaustion, and the three boys were getting tired.
I may not have been much for sprinting, but I've always been
pretty good at distances.
We were almost when we heard the sounds of a hunting party.
Hunting for deer? Or hunting for us? We pressed on faster than
ever, exaustion leaving us all. But we had started too late.
Danthel, Cull, Sean, and all their men (Who numbered about twenty)
had came into sight on horses. They quickly began to gain, riding
faster than before since they no longer needed a trail to follow.
We ran even faster, but they were easily catching up. Breaking
through the thinner part of the forest, we saw the city gates.
Locked. Why? I didn't care, I just wanted in. I pounded on the
huge doors with my fists.
"Open the doors! Somone!" I yelled. My friends did
the same.
A sentry looked over the gate. It was sunset, and there was
always a sentry after sunset.
"Who goes there?" he asked.
Then he saw the horsemen. He understood we were in danger,
so he cracked the gates open.
Only five Black Caps came through before the sentry shut it,
and blew his horn loudly. Help wouldn't come in time to save
us if we didn't fight. Sean smirked remembering our last battle.
But I knew help would come if I only waited a few minutes.
I unsheathed the sword, trying to identify the five Black
Caps. Sean, Cull, and Danthel were behind the other two. I didn't
know who the other two Black Caps were, both tall and lanky,
but Sean quickly answered my question.
"Get them Blackeye! Fight them, Rubyblood!"
It was an even fight this time, and each of us took on a Black
Cap. Ash versus Sean, and I was against Danthel. The other three
took on the rest of my friends.
Using cautious swordstrokes, I fought on defense. It became
harder, because Danthel used such ruthless moves, like going
for my neck. He was willing to kill me.
Suddenly I felt a burning anger. Not the thoughtful fear I
had felt since I had first seen Rocky, but a furious anger that
didn't seem like my own. It felt like it was sombody else's anger,
not mine, but I acted on it anyways. I thrust my sword towards
his heart. He blocked it, but looked worried. He hadn't expected
me to fight offensive so suddenly and so harshly.
I thrust again, and he blocked it again. This time the fight
went on for more than five minutes. It went on for fifteen minutes
before the Truevale gaurds ran up. Together they easily chained
the group of pirates.
Then they turned to us. "Who are you, and why have you
come to Truevale?" one sentry asked. I
frowned, and looked at my friends. Torn clothes, scratched
faces, and messy hair. Our faces didn't show our emotions like
they usually did. I suspected my frown was just a straight line
of a mouth. I blinked at the gaurd and twisted my mouth into
what I hoped looked like amusement.
"You don't recognize us?" I asked.
"No." he replied.
"Over here is Brooke and Dane Palmshade, here is Gabriel
Longbow, and Ashton Jewl. My name is Princess Alia Royale, from
the line of Truth."
I smiled genuinely as the sunlight dropped on my face, and
as if on cue a breeze blew my bangs from my face. The silver
star was shining bright enough for me two see a faint shine from
my forehead. The gaurds lead me to my castle.
After those two days I'll have to say that I was never the
same again. I never sat daydreaming about brave rescues, and
daring quests. It put me into reality. And when I realized what
reality was like I loved it. Because when I was in reality, I
had my friends. Brooke, Dane, Ash, and Gabe were more than friends.
Later on, we all grew up as everyone must. I became Queen,
and yes, Ash Jewl became King. Brooke, Gabe, and Dane became
my three first rank advisors.
Brooke married a man from southern Truevale named Denalth,
while Gabe and Dane argued about every girl that came their way.
And those Black Caps? Well, they were put in the dungeons,
and no one was sure when they would be let out.
Unfortunetly when the whole kingdom spread with a disease
called Carthineria, they were just five of the hundreds who died.
I wish the story ended here. But it doesn't. You see, stories
never end, there is always more to tell. I do not think that
the time is right for you to hear another chapter of the everlasting
tale, but I know the time will come soon. Until then, Farewell,
and may we have a merry meeting before the next moon cycle. .
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