Acadia Restoration

Chapter 1

 Her casket lined with flowers, or at least it would have been if Norah had not given them to Leo. Leo needed the flowers, like she needed the fish. It was their trade. The body, the blade slice had been stitched and covered. Her eyes sewn shut. She looked away, unable to stare at her sister's body any longer. Then she looked back, her eyes wide open. The brown pools staring into Norah's soul. She grabbed her wrist. She screamed, the corpse spoke only two words:

"Happy Birthday," she awoke in a cold sweat. Her heart pounding.

"Just a dream, just a dream," she mumbled to herself, but her sister was dead. Stabbed dead, or rather sliced dead at the border six years ago. The killer was never caught. In the continent of Cadean there were two kingdoms: the Cira Kingdom and the Grimore Kingdom. The Cira Kingdom consisted of centaurs whose animal halves are carnivorous and the Grimore Kingdom with those who are herbivorous. Crossing the border between the two was punishable by instant death. Tensions were always high between the two Kingdoms, but even since the murder a fear of war shrouded the continent of Cadean. Instead of war, trade agreements were dismantled. Grimore no longer supplied meat to Cira, and Cira no longer supplied plants to Grimore. Then on top of the lack of trading, a famine has swept over Cadean.

Norah quickly got dressed and pinned up her hair. She grabbed a bag and headed out of her room. She stealthily snuck out of the castle and observed the fresh snow on the ground. Ever since Stella's death and becoming the heir to the throne of Cira, the castle was on lockdown. Every morning she'd sneak out early and go on a walk. On her walk she would stuff various plants into her bag. The sound of the snow crunching under her gave her peace of mind. At least until she reached her destination. She stared at the mass of rocks and pushed away a wall of moss to reveal an entrance into a cave.

She stepped into the cave. The ground shifted from dirt to sand. In the middle right of the cave there was a pool of water. At the opposite end of the cave there was a second entrance. Norah walked towards the pool and sat at it's edge, waiting. Then she heard noise and perked up. There he was; Leo hastily walked in.

"Sorry I'm late, I slept in and had to run here," he stammered. The running explained why he was in his centaurian form. Leo, unlike Norah, was Grimorian. The heir to Grimore to be correct. Somehow the Grimore royal family had managed to maintain the original centaur form, while other centaur had evolved into animals other than horses. The evolving eventually led to the separation into the two classes of predator and prey. Leo's form being a clydesdale horse. Norah eyed him, thoroughly examining his coat. She stopped at his hooves, which were matted with dirt from his run. His soft brown eyes followed hers and he quickly dipped his hooves in the water. Norah gingerly walked around the water to the side he was at and helped him clean the dirt.

"It's fine, I wasn't waiting long, here," she handed him her bag.

"Oh yeah," he gave her his bag that was full of fish. "I brought extra, happy birthday by the way,".

"Thank you, Leo," even though she wouldn't be eating any of the fish, she appreciated the gesture. Norah never ate on her birthdays, she always gave her food to her subjects.

"Don't mention it," he smirked. "So, eighteen.. You know what that means,".

"Oh goodness don't remind me," she covered her face.

"Betrothals," he wriggled his ring finger in the air, flashing the engagement ring on it.

"Well it was easier for you, you already had a significant other. I don't have anyone," she fell back on the sand and sprawled out like a starfish. "Speaking of this, how is Cristina?"

"She's doing good, undergoing plenty of queen training," he told her.

"That's good that she's managing," Norah remembered her training, she hated it. She wasn't supposed to be queen. She had never, in no circumstance, ever imagined herself as queen. Then when her sister was murdered everything changed. She was stripped of her childhood and forced into a future that wasn't hers.