Realm of Shadows

Chapter One

A breath left my lips as I watched the sun disappear into the hills surrounding the Kingdom of Paeven. The atmosphere was silent except for the wind whistling and my horse, Chipper trotting along the grass. This was what peace looked like- what it felt like. The Mortal Realm has always been quiet with no war or feuds with the other realms. Well, at least not from when I was born...

    I took in my surroundings, closing my eyes and feeling every sensation from the soft grass tickling my feet and the cool air hitting my warm cheeks, making my hair fly wildly. I could feel my body become electric from the happiness of being alone. From being able to have a sense of freedom and being away from the never-ending duties of being the daughter of a High Lord and Lady of the Mortal Realm.

    Opening my eyes, seeing the sun nearly gone and darkness beginning to seep through the lands, I knew it was my time to leave. My time to ride home back to my family, my duties and my fiance.

    "Come on Chipper." I stood up, wiping my hands on my pants and reaching for the saddle that sat on Chipper ready for me to mount. "Let's go home before Mother Dearest becomes High Lady of the Grumpy Realms again." Snorting at my insult towards my mother, I mounted Chipper and looked out over the hills again to take in my surroundings before riding off down the hills and fields. Riding has always been a passion of mine since I was just a mere child. My father, a rider himself, used to train me before I was given a professional tutor. I blame him for my love of horses and the want to continuously ride all day and every day. My mother, on the other hand, would have rather me stay home and learn how to do embroidery and attend morning tea with the other High Ladies and their daughters. Eventually, she ended up accepting that I much rather keep to myself and let me have more freedom until she introduced me to my now fiance, Prince Callian.

I remember that first meeting like I was still there. I just turned 18 years old, and he had just turned twenty-one. He was the most wanted bachelor that year and even though I had no interest in searching for a man so young. The moment when I'd done my deepest curtsy and looked into his blue eyes, which always seem to glow like two stars in the night sky. I knew that something was different. That night, he escorted me through the castle gardens, and showed me the variety of flowers his mother The Queen, had grown in her free time. It was the most fun I had with another person in a very long time. He made me laugh, telling me about the pranks he and his late older brother Emette, would pull on the palace guards or how they would pretend to be magic bearers to scare them. And when we fell silent, sitting on the edge of the water fountain he leaned in and kissed me. The kiss felt forbidden but it also felt so right. I fell in love with him in that very moment. A few months later, he proposed marriage to me and I hesitated to say yes. The thought of becoming a Princess and being the future Queen of the mortal realms frightened me. If I already hated being the daughter of the High Lord and lady, how was I meant to enjoy being married into the royal family? I ended up accepting his proposal but it still feel wrong to this day.

The ride back to the stables was almost as quick as the journey going towards the back fields. At the stables, awaited various stable boys, one of which was my best friend and ally, Elyot. He was a handsome man, with beautiful brown hair that fell neatly over his forehead, and his eyes were like golden orbs. We grew up together, his father works for my family as the head servant but his mother, unfortunately, passed away when he was very young. Of course, every stupid little girl that ever visited had some sort of feeling towards him. He was everything a little version of me wanted. Handsome, witty, kind. Although it could never have worked, he was what was known as a 'lesser mortal' and so a marriage between two of a different class was almost unknown.

    "Enjoy your ride, my lady?" He asks with that ever-so-polite tone. While the other boys tend to Chipper, Elyot extends his hand out to me, helping me down onto the ground safely.