Allies of the Sun

Chapter 1 (Aspen)

      Aspen woke up to a knock on her bedroom door. She just wanted to sleep in, or go outside the castle, that would be nice. Aspen wanted to talk to someone outside the walls of the castle, she wanted to be free from her sister's shadow. Her sister had hosted many tea parties but Aspen was never invited, something about being too young. She wasn't a kid anymore, she was turning 15 soon.
      Alina's birthday is tomorrow, but it was also her debut in high society. Her parents wanted Alina to debut as soon as possible. Aspen would still be at the party but she wouldn't be talking to the other ladies. Her parents didn't want her to make a fool of herself in front of everyone before her own debut. Aspen tried not to take offense to it but it was getting to her.
      Aspen pulled the blanket over her antlers. If she were just normal she could be free, she could have made friends a long time ago. But no, she was stuck with being royalty, which would be fine if she had even the tiniest bit of freedom. Being normal was an impossible desire that would never come true.
      Wings and antlers were only on members of royal families, they are called Borena. Aspen has tried to hide them before but they kept showing some way or another, no matter what she tried. And all the guards knew her face, so it would be extra hard to even try to sneak out, let alone make plans to.
      This was also her sister's fault. For some reason, she thought Aspen needed more protection, so she assigned her a personal bodyguard. His name was Liam. Speaking of Liam, he was probably the person who had just knocked on her door a minute ago.
      Aspen got out of bed, still half asleep. She answered the door to an angry man wearing his commander's cape, he had brown hair and orange eyes. He had a tan spot over his left eye, lighter than the rest of his skin. He was so mad, she could practically see smoke coming out of his ears and nose. "Good morning, is everything alright?" Aspen asked, stifling a yawn. He stared at her like her wings were growing out of her head instead of her back.
      She smiled at him. "What's for breakfast? I'm starving!" There was a moment of awkward silence before he finally said, "You are late for breakfast, because of this, your lessons today will be moved up to this afternoon, and your dress is done so as soon as you finish eating a servant will bring it to you."
      There was another moment of silence before he said, "Oh, and princess, your dance lessons were canceled for today." Aspen smiled pretending she didn't care, she loved dancing but she doubted anyone would even want to dance with her, and she knew her sister definitely didn't want to dance with her.
       Liam rang the bell, calling for her maid, and closed her door. She felt the urge to ball out crying. She wanted air, fresh air. She wanted to escape, go beyond the confines of the castle even more now than she ever had before. She wanted to explore the world, well maybe just go to the village to start with. She had to be back before anyone noticed she was gone. Not that they would anyway.
      Aspen heard three small knocks on the door and called for her maid to come in. Strangely enough, it wasn't her maid who walked through her door but her sister! Why would she come here when Aspen was still in her nightgown?
      Aspen stared at her older sister. "Hello Alina, lovely day isn't it," Aspen said in greeting. "Yeah sure, you need to come eat now. Didn't Liam tell you about your new schedule for today?" She nodded, "He rang for my maid so she could help me with my dress."
      "Don't associate me with your stupid maid," her sister scolded, crossing her arms and giving Aspen a sharp look. She rang the bell for her maid again but more violently than Liam had. "When you are done getting ready, eat breakfast and then go to the Royal Tailor for your dress, they said it was done."
      The stupid party was tomorrow, and she had to cram her schedule to get ready for it since her sister had made everyone forget she existed by complaining about every single thing. So now everything she needed to do to prepare was happening today. All of it.
      She had to get her new gown, even though she had plenty of dresses she could wear that she actually liked. Then she would finally be allowed to buy her sister a present, not that she wanted to in the first place. She planned to get her one of those weird magic objects that her sister is obsessed with. The little collectible figurines that act out scenes, and the more figurines you have the more interesting the scenes are.
      She already has twenty-five of them, but there are like over a hundred. They are pretty popular among the noble ladies but they are too expensive for the commoners to afford. Aspen knew why they were so expensive of course, Magic items were rare and it was even more rare to be born with magic.
      Alina dragged her down to breakfast -after her maid helped with her dress- where her family was having a feast of waffles with fruit, coffee cake, and biscuits with jelly. Aspen got herself a waffle, a biscuit, and two slices of coffee cake. She savored the delicious food. When she had finished she was summoned back to her chambers to meet with the Royal Tailor.
      "I have a busy schedule," he said. "And I can't make an exception for you. My time is valuable and I can't afford to waste any." Aspen knew all of this, she had heard it all before. The same speech over and over, but of course, Alina never got that speech.
      Everyone always flocked to Alina, but when things came to her they always grumbled and complained they didn't have time to wait around. It seemed that Aspen was asking herself why Alina got everything, more often than usual lately. She knew it was her birthday, but it wasn't like this last year.
      Aspen found herself looking out her window, admiring the garden. As her gaze surveyed the beauty of it, she saw Conner on a bench eating a carrot. Conner was the stable boy and Aspen had a bit of a crush on him; he was her only friend. The tailor forced her into her bathroom to change before she could get his attention though.

Uploaded: August 5, 2021
Rewrite uploaded: July 17, 2023
Second rewrite uploaded: October 17, 2023