Arizium

Chapter 1

"Ouch!" The girl exclaimed, rubbing her arm where the rock had hit her. The boy who had thrown it grinned wolfishly, already taking another projectile from his pocket.

"If you didn't want the pain, then you should have been paying attention." He pulled his arm back and let loose the second rock, sending it spiraling towards the girl's arm again. Just as it was about to make impact, the girl caught it and stared at him with purple eyes full of rage.

"Maybe I should show you a lesson in manners you filthy rotten-"

"That's enough!" shouted their tutor, Sir Morris. His voice boomed loudly throughout the stone silent library, causing people, who were no doubt studying, to stare angrily in their direction.

He blushed slightly and lowered his voice "If I see one more rock leave your hand Lucius, I'll rip both of your arms off and shove them down your throat. Do I make myself clear?" He had been a great knight once, and was completely capable of carrying through with his threat, and Lucius knew that. He exchanged a look with the girl before bowing his head and nodding slowly. The old knight huffed "Good. You two are twins, one would think that you were the greatest of friends. God help us if you both become rulers." He looked back down at the parchment he had been reading before the outbreak had occurred and started muttering about how he didn't get paid enough for a job like this.

Amaria and Lucius exchanged another look, both smiling broadly. They usually didn't fight, but they hated this tutor more than anything in the world; they did everything they could to annoy him in the hopes that one day he would finally quit.

Sir Morris sighed and rolled up his parchment, "I suppose we can stop for today, but don't forget to study those maps I gave you!" He called after them, but the twins had already ran out of the library.

Castle Erlis was an intimidating thing to behold with it's four large walls, each at least a hundred feet high. At every corner and around the gates were enormous spiraling towers that held most of the guard barracks for the capital.

There was no need for a moat, since the castle rested upon a high hill overlooking many small towns and valleys. The mountains rose in the north, their peaks covered with snow drifts, and the ocean lapped to the east where many small ports and bays were located. The Unmapped Forest, which is said to consist of so many twists and turns that it takes no effort to get lost, sat to the west and south. No one has yet been able to draw an accurate depiction of it, some even believe that the forest actually changes shape every day.

Inside of the walls, Erlis rose high, even grander than the capital, Cecilta, that surrounded it. Within the castle there were gardens and courtyards of all shapes, sizes, and beauties, all connected to many barracks, stables, and servant's quarters. Located inside the main building was the library, throne room, royal dorms, kitchen, dining room, and dungeon. All of which were guarded heavily at all hours of the day.

The two twins walked from the library to their favorite spot in the whole castle, a garden which was dubbed as the Royal Gardens, since it was the biggest and most beautiful to behold. Amaria and Lucius both strode gracefully, nodding curtly at servants who bowed respectfully to their princess and prince along the way, before finally emerging into the cool spring air.

The gardens were especially pretty during the spring, all of the cherry, orange, and apple trees were in bloom, as well as the maples, aspens, and beeches. There were many exotic plants as well, too many to name, along small crystal clear streams and brooks.

The incident with the tutor was exactly five years ago to the day. Lucius and Amaria were now much older and... slightly... more mature. They were in the gardens yet again, a long day of court required an even longer day of rest. There weren't nearly as many trees as there used to be, and the garden wasn't as well tended as before, leaving plenty of room for weeds to peek out here and there.

Amaria jumped gracefully on top of a rock, causing her blue dress to flow wildly and her long white hair to bounce. Lucius joined her and they both took in the peaceful scenery laid out before them while a raven shrieked overhead.

"Sometimes I wish we were never born into royalty." Lucius thought out loud.

"Why is that?" Amaria asked and absent-mindedly started picking random blades of grass off of her sandals.

"There are just so many responsibilities and challenges. It's not even worth the crown at this point."

Amaria smacked her brother on the head with the flat of her hand "Never say that in front of me again." she said haughtily.

Lucius rubbed the spot and said "First of all, ouch! Second of all, why do you feel so strongly about ruling? It's just an uncomfortable piece of gold and a whole continent that you have to constantly keep in order, which isn't easy in the slightest."

"But imagine what I could do, dear brother," She said, gazing off into the distance "I could end poverty and starvation, I could make allegiances with the world, I could make peace throughout the continent, I could require everyone to wear their hair in braids."

"I don't think the men would like very much." Lucius interrupted.

"You're missing the point." She said, annoyed "I could do anything. No one would be worried about when their next meal would come. No one would have any reason to fight since everything would be equal. Don't you want to live in that world?"

Lucius sighed and hopped off the rock, "You think that you can do better than our lord father? He's already working his arse off on the throne and Armoria still has countless problems. Hell, we're pretty much at war with Movrias. What would you do to solve that, sweet sister?"

Amaria slid off the rock to stand in front of him "Just give them what they want. All they're asking for is some meat and grain right? What's a couple missing cows to us?"

"We're already starving enough as it is. You'd rather risk our lives to save theirs?"

Amaria looked at the ground and muttered "Well, no. That's not what I meant...."

Lucius put his finger under her chin and made her look at him "Amaria, we've only just passed our thirteenth name day. King Endrew and Queen Lithia aren't going to be dying anytime soon. We'll have plenty of time to worry about ruling when the day comes." A raven shrieked in response overhead.

His twin smiled back "I guess you're right, but that doesn't mean that I still couldn't rule better than the king."

"Yeah, yeah. You keep dreaming, princess."

Amaria scoffed and said "That is no way to talk to your future queen."

Lucius bowed deeply and said "I'm deeply sorry if I have offended Your Grace."

The "future queen" patted his head and smiled "Apology accepted, but I'm still upset. Maybe an apple would make up for it?"

Lucius bowed and said "Yes, my queen." Before setting off into the branches of the nearest apple tree. It wasn't long before he disappeared into the dense foliage. Amaria tapped her foot in mock annoyance "What's taking so long?" She called playfully.

The response she got wasn't one that she was looking for, as Lucius came crashing to the ground from his perch that must have been at least twenty feet off the ground.

Amaria gasped and rushed over to him "Lucius! Are you okay? Please tell me you're okay." His nose was bloody and he had a couple of bruises beginning to form on his face, but he managed to get up slowly, with a groan, and a little support from his sister. Amaria swore she could almost feel his pain.

"I think I'm fine. Nothing broken, anyway." He said, spitting out a clot of blood.

"What made you fall? Did a branch break? Something scare you? Was it those ravens? Talk to me dammit!"

Lucius looked back up into the tree, and Amaria followed his gaze.

A girl with short black hair was sleeping on a tree branch not more than twenty feet off the ground.

(AN: Not really different from the original at all. Couple sentence structure fixes, grammar fixes, etc. I still don't really like the first chapter, I don't know, it just seems noob-y and written poorly. I'm too lazy to go and revise EVERYTHING though, so yeah. First chapter. Holla xP)