A Starcrossed Sorceress

All's Fair in Love & War

Avenia

A magical society.

All people are born with inherent elemental powers and a starcrossed bond.

To be starcrossed is to have destined partner, a soulmate, to be entwined heart and soul.

An equal.

Or that was what it once meant, in the time of the ancients, a time of the purest magic. Now things are different.

Now Avenia is a society ruled by men.

A cruel dark king had only a mind for vengeance, after his own pure hearted starcrossed mate attempted to overthrow his rule of tyranny. He saw to it that all girls in the realm would have their magic bound and sealed from them rendering them powerless.

He believed the soulmate bond made men weak and so in turn began sealing mens' mate bonds with the combined powers of the court. His court of cronies supported him, tempted and drawn in by his promises of greater power. The people were forced to submit to the regime under threats of imprisonment and death.

As the generations passed, this way of existence became accepted,slowly, from fear to resignation and then support.

Those who actively supported the king's policies were far more likely to gain power and status after all...

This left women vulnerable to the feelings that came with the bond, yet powerless with few rights and less respect.

The natural equality of the starcrossed bond was suspended.

Girls natural gifts in magic were bound and sealed away at a young age, married off and expected to simply sit pretty,produce an heir and make for the perfect wife. Always made damsels in distress and limited in education par for that to refine them for society.

Boy however recieve education and are trained in their magic. Many men keep mistresses; runaways and girls whose mates deemed them unworthy in class or whose families left them after scandal.

The Royal family reign supreme however the Spellbinder's Court acts as a parliament.

The court is made up of the most powerful magical families in the realm and the royal advisors.

There are hidden pockets of resistance called nomad settlements hidden in the mountains and farthest corners of the country. Places where families ran too, seeking to raise their children as equals far from the regime. But they do not dare make a stand, too small in numbers and too afraid of the Royals power.

No one will.

Until one day a group of enchantresses rise up from the shadows...

The Circle of Five. Five enchantresses not willing to be mistresses, be slaves to the system or submit. Women who ran from the destiny society would give them. Women too powerful to be restrained.

Circle of Five are told of as extremist evil Enchantresses who abduct children. At least that's the propaganda filled gossip spread in the capital city of Erjia, where the King and court rule from.

The Circle of Five in reality take in runaways and orphans. They restore the girls powers but seal away their mating bonds... believing this the best way to protect them from men who would seek to take advantage of it and control them.

They then began capturing the rural towns in the south of Avenia with their combined power, working their way up the land from the former nomad stronghold of Highlena.

Civil war starts....many women begin fleeing to the land which the Circle holds as the government seeks further submission and repression of women in response, creating ridiculous laws, enforcing curfews and chaperones. This is a war of the sexes, of submission and power,wreaking havoc. There are pockets of pacifism, packed with families not wishing to get involved. After a year of conflict the country is in ruins...a generation lost.

A truce is drawn; A spell is cast by the most powerful in the land, the circle of five and the Spellbinders of Azur, the five most powerful men in the Spellbinder's Court.

In a bid for peace, Girls powers will no longer be bound but all must marry immediately upon discovering their mate and all men and women will once more feel their starcrossed bonds. The spellbinders believe this will still ensure control over the enchantresses and the women. The enchantresses now have power though in court and are determined to see their nation at an equal reckoning of the sexes.

But what happens when the new King and leader of the Spellbinder's of Azur and the Scarlet Sorceress, leader of the Circle of Five turn out to be starcrossed. Destined for one another by the magic binding the entire universe?

So, please comment and or vote! Would love and really appreciate feedback.