The white knight and his black roses

Prologue

Once upon a time, there was a mystical land named Pangica. In Pangica, the magic ran wild, creating and destroying with no limitations, when creatures roamed the lands unchecked and unkempt. It was all in chaos until the five great ones came. Arcmin, with his steady spear, calmed the staggering water. Selester with his ever-growing knowledge and power satiated the fires of knowledge. Hela shook the ground to provide the gems with light. Camulos sent a peaceful song to silence the howling breeze. Belarus painted the scorching skies with a peaceful night. After bringing balance to the world, the five great ones made havens for themselves, and those havens became the five kingdoms we know today.

"The kingdom that we live in is called Selestia, do you know why?" My mother asked as she turned to smile at me. "Because we live in Selester's haven," I answered with an innocent smile. "Very good Marrow," She said before looking back at the book, "let us continue."

Every kingdom has a staple, and our kingdom is no different. The Kingdom Selestia is the haven of the flame of wisdom, it has the largest libraries and has the highest number of magic users in the world. The people in Selestia are wise and strong with an unshakable sense of duty. Legend says that the first Queen of Selestia was Selester's only daughter, and she named the kingdom after her father. Rumors also say that the wise one's soul still resides up top the highest tower in the castle library.

I didn't hear the rest of that story; I had fallen asleep too quickly. The next morning, I woke up to the sound of my brother shaking me awake, "Marrow wake up!". My name is Marrow Crosshelm, the youngest daughter of one of the most prestigious families in Selestia. My father is a war hero who only achieved his dream of marrying my mother by rising to the rank of a General. They had three kids together, myself being the youngest. My small hands wiped the sleep from my eyes as I sat up. "It's time for breakfast and you are late!" he said as he started pulling me out of bed. "Atticus, I'm coming," I stood up slowly and started making my way to my dresser with my brother closely following. "I think Miss Ann made pancakes this morning and I know you love those, so I didn't want you to sleep through it." He said as he grabbed my brush and brushed my hair. He did this every morning when he wasn't at his fencing lessons. I never minded it or his nagging. "Are you even listening to me?" He questioned in a huff, I just yawned in response. That made him a bit annoyed, but my hair was nicely brushed by then so the two of us set off for the breakfast table.

On arrival my father was just getting there himself, "Father, must you always be late for breakfast!" Atticus said as he chastised our father, "Marrow takes after you now." My father could only chuckle in response as he picked me up. Honestly, I dosed off again after Father started to carry me but once my breakfast was placed in front of me, I came back to reality, "pancakes!".

"Good morning to you too," My mother said with a chuckle as she started helping me cut my breakfast, "How did you sleep?" I responded in between bites, "Good until Atticus woke me up." I smiled to myself knowing that my dear brother was staring at me with a salty glare, "If I hadn't you would have slept through breakfast like Dad does!" My mother chuckled as the rest of us started to enjoy our breakfast. "Where is Cirus?" my mother asked suddenly before a servant chimed in. "The young miss is working on one of her projects and would like to stay in her room to finish it" " he said calmly.

That was normally how my days started but today was different for me and I can never forget it. After breakfast, I was dragged back to my room because my brother wanted to make sure I got dressed. "Marrow, you're going to get dressed so that we can go out today," Atticus said with an excited tone as Miss Marga helped me out of my pajamas. She put me in my summer dress and my mind started to wander a bit. Was my brother taking me shopping again? Once Miss Marga finished with my dress, she sent me out to my brother. "Let's go now!" Atticus said as he grabbed my hand and led me out towards the garden, they were planting more lilies and orchids. I wish I had time to look at them, but my brother was in a rush as he dragged me to the gazebo near our hedge maze. Someone I had never seen before was sitting there with our father. He looked very regal and important; I won't lie seeing that man's clothes made me feel a little intimidated. Atticus, on the other hand, approached with a confidence that I never had, "Hello Sir, my name is Atticus, and this is my sister Marrow". I could only wave silently as the regal man turned to smile at us, "Hello little ones." His voice was very kind as he greeted us before turning to my father with a grin but before they could say anything a voice came from behind me. It was kind of shrill and a bit taxing on the ears, I turned to see a brown-haired boy being dragged over by a very regal woman. "Mother stop!" He said a bit of annoyance in his voice. He looked so ridiculous in his get-up that I could hardly recognize that it was my friend, Henry. I couldn't help but laugh at him a bit. When he noticed he got rather annoyed with me, "Mari, don't laugh!" He said as he started to pout. After I calmed down enough, my father picked me up and sat me on his lap and he told me that Henry was the prince and the regal man in front of us was King Aither, named after the realm of peace. I didn't know it then, but the king was looking for someone to be the future queen and Henry's wife. Due to the friendship that my dad had with the king, they thought I would be a good fit, but they didn't tell me this because I was a child. I just wanted to play with my friend and sleep in.

As the day went on, my father and his majesty went into the study to talk about business. That left Atticus, Henry, and I to play ball in the garden. While we were out there, we did as children do, and got very messy. It didn't help that it started to rain very hard that afternoon making our dirty mess into a muddy one. My mother had to pull us inside by our ears because we didn't want to come inside. "You're filthy, the three of you will need to get washed up before dinner." She said as she had the servants take us to the bath. The boys were taken to a different bathroom than me and I was immediately thrown into a bath. Miss Marga chastised me for getting so mucked up in the first place and how it was improper for a lady. She nagged and nagged before she stopped mid-sentence. I could see her ripply reflection in the water; her face began to slowly distort from her normally calm expression to one filled with horror. I didn't know why at the time but she quickly rinsed me off and wrapped me in a towel. Then she sat me down on a stool in the bathroom and left me there. I was confused, I sat there in silence for what seemed to be what felt like forever until someone came back in. My mother came in with a look I had never seen before. Miss Marga had tears in her eyes as she moved my towel. What she showed my mother made her hold me. At the time, I didn't know why everyone was upset. "Momma, what's going on?" I asked nervously but my mother didn't respond like I thought. She just held me and sobbed.

I was only five years old when it appeared on my body, the blight. In most of the world, people with the blight were seen as evil and dangerous. They were often turned away from many establishments and killed for even existing. My mother wept for me because she feared for my life and my livelihood. My father started to blame himself because the blight runs in his family and my grandmother agreed with him. In Selestia, no noble with the blight could go to any noble academy in the country and it was nearly impossible for them to get any tutors either. After most of the staff found out, they started to mistreat and mock me behind my parent's back. My home became very hostile after that, the only people who still cared for me were my family. Especially my brother, Atticus, would still come to see me. Whenever he caught someone messing with me, he would drag them to my father every time. As I grew up, my father wanted me to be able to go outside and since I loved seeing him in his armor, he had an armor set made for me. It was a beautiful ivory color and was lightweight, it was an amazing birthday gift.