Born of Broken Promises

Chapter One

The mountains rolled like the waves of an angry ocean for miles under the bright autumn moon. Its foothills overlapped, causing the many rivers that filled the forests to twist and turn with land. The slopes themselves were a patchwork of green made even more varied by the shadows of passing clouds. Deep within the canopy the sky vanished almost completely and only a few fragments remained – like the scattered pieces of an impossible jigsaw puzzle. The air was ever rich with the fragrance of leaves and damp moss. Even weeks after the last rains of the seasons had passed, the soil always remained wet enough to release its heavy fog.

It was here in the rocky trails that made up her land that the Lady's ancestors decided to build their kingdom, where it lied protected by both the land and an almost palpable magic. Here their people could simply exist in a place where yesterday was inconsequential and tomorrow would be as well, for the mountains cared not for time. The rocks and streams payed no mind to minutes or hours; not for days and hardly for years. A mountain only regards the eons.

If one was to travel far enough east into the wooded terrain, past the point where the powerful waterfalls fell and the surging rivers became peaceful streams, they might stumble across the kingdom's chief city in a pristine and peaceful condition nestled into the mountainside. At the peak of the mountain's gentle slopes and green cliffs a palace sat, as steady and constant as the rocks it sat upon. Inside this palace there were statuesque guards stationed at the mouths of corridors, their iron armor glinting in the moonlight that shone in from the many windows. Straight ahead, the door to the throne room would forever be propped open, the grand doors eternally welcoming all who might venture into the brightly lit room.

Filigree designs took place of windows and the moonlight flooded in, followed by a warm, gentle breeze. A path made in rough stone lead towards a picturesque vision on a raised pedestal. Upon that pedestal were two thrones, once of which emitted a heavy emptiness that had been present for many years. The other radiated the subtle strengths of the one whom sat in it, maintaining an ever rigid and majestic posture. The Lady sat in pristine elegance, her presence casting warmth and strength throughout the chamber, as she always had, as did her mother before her. Her face resembled a porcelain doll, her features regal from her delicate jawline to the tips of her pointed ears. She was the picture of elegance, her emotions masked beneath flawless ceramic. She was deep in thought however, her crystalline eyes the only thing betraying her absence.

The war tore at her fragile heart and the suffering of her people ripped at her very soul. She had her duty to uphold and she would do what was needed, but this war had waged so much longer than anyone had foreseen. Her people were strong in heart and loyal beyond reason, and she couldn't bear seeing them writhe in the throes of battle. She had been witness to war before, prior to assuming her throne, and she knew the horrors of the battlefield. She knew the despair that was wrought upon those that fought desperately. Long since she had tired of war and rather than wiping the tears of her brothers and sisters on the battlefield, she now wiped the tears of the suffering and carried the rage of her kingdom.

Those who had once been called a friend stood on the opposite side of a scene of violence and soldiers wept not only for their own fallen, but for their brothers which they faced in battle. Ten years was so long a time for war to wage. Ten years that the Lady oversaw young men head into battle, married women weep for their fallen lovers, and parents pray for their child's return.

It was almost too much to bear.

So many of these thoughts and more were hidden behind her ceramic gaze, the Lady could have been mistaken for a statue for she sat so still. Her nearly white hair spilled over her shoulders like the waterfalls of her mountainous home and her thoughts wandered far from the throne room in which she sat.