The continent of Luxeminy was a small one. It held two kingdoms, Caras and Glasgow, separated by the Gahole woods. Though it was small, the land was beautiful with green forests and an ocean so clear one could see the seafloor. For the first hundred years of their existence the kingdoms of Caras and Glasgow fought viciously. After a while the land between them began to show signs of their strife. Flowers that once were white bloomed red as the ground around them lay soaked with the blood of the fallen.
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"Father, I'll not go through with it." Princess Annalyse says as she stormed across the flagstone floor of her father's room.
He has just announced at this, her 21st birthday, that she would be wed to the crown Prince Jackson of the neighboring kingdom, and recent ally, of Glasgow. He, and his fellow King, had been discussing the plans in secret for the last five years, since the final truce was signed five years ago on her sixteenth birthday. He made the announcement today because the final preparations had been set in place, and he had hoped that this would be his greatest gift to her.
"Why not my dear daughter? What has happened to discourage you?" Her father asked with a patient smile.
"IâŠ" Annalyse faltered for only a moment before she took a deep breath and straightened her shoulders. "I've given myself to another Father. I love him, and I'm pregnant."
"I see." He said softly, a smile spread quickly across his face. "So I'm to be a grandfather?"
"YesâŠ" She says nervously, "You're not angryâŠ?"
"Quite, but I will admit that your mother, rest her soul, and myself eloped long before I took the crown from my father and though I am disappointed that did not feel you could trust me with this I am happy for you all the same." He stands and comes around his desk, hugging his daughter to his chest.
"Thank you father." She whispered, crying softly.
"You must go to him my child, go and tell this man you love that he has my full blessing." He smiles as he holds her at arm's length, "I'll send a letter ahead of you to the king of Glasgow."
"I've a letter to send with yours, I'm so grateful to you for understandingâŠ" She pulls out a letter, performed with Marisol flowers. "He lives near the palace in the Glasgow kingdom. It's a two week trip so by the time I return I will be at least three months alongâŠ" She smiles as tears of joy flow down her cheeks.
"Then you must set out immediately." He says, going to the door and calling for a servant. "Saddle the princess' horse and prepare supplies for a three month journey."
"Aye sir, how many will attend her?" The servant asks with a bow.
"None," Annalyse says quickly, "I'm going by myself and I'm not going to argue about it." With that, Princess Annalyse turned on her heel and left the room, heading for her own chambers. She had planned to leave the castle with or without her father's blessing so her bags were already packed.
Within fifteen minutes Annalyse's horse had been saddled and she was on her way, thundering down the path towards the Gahole forest and beyond that the Kingdom of Glasgow.
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"Father where is Annalyse?" Cary asked, forcefully entering the king's bedchambers, reminding him strongly of the differences between his twin daughters. Each had fiery red hair and jade green eyes. Where Annalyse was pale, sweet, and gentle, Cary was dark skinned with an even darker sense of humor and a brilliantly conniving mind.
"Annalyse left for a diplomatic mission to the Glasgow kingdom early this morning Cary."
"Glasgow, our enemy." Cary said softly, so that her father would not hear. He never agreed with her thoughts that the Glasgowians were plotting to conquer them.
"What was that dear?" He asks, his sweet, almost innocent smile sickening her to her core.
"Nothing father, I've studies to get to. I'll check in on you later." And with that she turned on her heel and left.
Cary knew that if Annalyse had left for Glasgow so unexpectedly and unannounced then she had gone alone. If she was travelling alone it meant that she would undoubtedly awaken a terrible daemon that had slept for centuries. The daemon slept in the Gahole forest that lay between Caras and Glasgow. Rumor was that the daemon of Gahole would steal women who dared sleep beneath the Gahole trees alone.
Cary smiled, she could blame her sister's disappearance on the kingdom of Glasgow. No one told tales of the Gahole daemon anymore, the beast had been all but forgotten. Long ago women stopped travelling alone because of bandits. Now all the people remembered of the daemon was that it was believed to be a myth, little more than a ghost story to keep village children from venturing into the woods after dark. Cary didn't know if the daemon was a myth or not, but she knew that her sister would disappear just like her childhood friend Marta had on the girls' thirteenth birthday. Cary grinned, quickening her pace until she reached her bedchamber, within five years Cary would be queen, and she would wage war on the Glasgow's. They would bow at her feet.
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The slow rhythmic beat of hooves against dirt had always been very soothing for Annalyse. It was the reason that, on the day her mother died, she had gotten on her palomino mare and rode off. Annalyse had been gone for three days, and when she returned she felt well rested, if not a little hungry.
Annalyse had been riding for well over six hours now, the sun was beginning to set and she knew she should make camp soon. After another fifteen minutes of steady riding Annalyse spotted a small clearing, sheltered by the large eaves of an oak. Along the opposite side of the clearing ran a small crystal blue creek. She pulled on the reins and dismounted before walking into the clearing. Minnie, her palomino, had been bottle fed by Annalyse since she was five years old so Annalyse knew that she could let Minnie wander and not worry about her running off.
After unsaddling Minnie and setting up her tent, Annalyse struck and prodded a fire to life and pulled out a bag of mixed nuts, berries, and dried meat. The chef had given her enough to last a month even though she would only be riding for two weeks before she would be at Glasgow. It was a five day journey through the Gahole forest which left her four days to find Jack, her lover.
Jack had been in the Glasgow marketplace when Annalyse had slipped away from her guards. She wasn't paying attention to her surroundings and had wandered into a bad part of town. It wasn't long before she was followed by three burly, scary looking, men. At first she didn't think anything of it because the men had been dressed as soldiers. But when they began smiling and pointing at her Annalyse felt she was in danger and she picked up her pace. The soldiers were getting closer and she had turned the wrong way, meeting a dead end. That was when someone took her hand and pulled her along a side alley that she hadn't originally noticed. The man tightly held her hand as they ran through alleys and behind shops, he didn't stop until they were deep in the castle gardens.
Annalyse found out years later that Jack had been following her all that day. She was visiting the Glasgow kingdom and he knew that there were ruffians on the streets. He hadn't realized that she was the princess and she didn't tell him. She let him call her Anna and he glowed at the way she smiled.
As Annalyse lay down in her tent she thought of how his eyes would light up when she tells him the news. She sighed with contentment as she fell asleep, oblivious to the changing scenery around her and the soft moaning of the wind.