No Peace For the Weary

Chapter One-Chosen

I sat in the carriage, nervously playing with the tiara in my hands. I cannot believe that I had been chosen for this job. It was the most important job in all of Fiende. Peacekeeper. I was not qualified for this in the slightest. I barely even know how to talk to people. How was I expected to keep the peace between Anessa and Aquaria if I didn't even know anyone?

As the carriage made it's way up a long hill, the last leg of our long journey, I thought back to the ceremony. That one fateful sentence that had changed my fate forever. It felt like it had been centuries ago, when it had only just been spoken this morning.

"Amara Sophitoir, you have been chosen."

It was the mid-summer carnival, and it was set to last seven days. It normally only lasted three, but the trials and the judging was happening this year, meaning that a new peacekeeper would be chosen to hold the two kingdoms together. Elder one had retired, and, since she only had a year left in her, it was time to choose a new one so that she might be trained to be a good peacekeeper when elder died. I couldn't remember the Peacekeeper that had trained elder, I was only 17 and elder had been the Peacekeeper for 132 years, set to die on her next birthday, which happened to be the day before next years' mid-summer festival.

I had entered for fun, and after a lot of begging from my best friend, Mylena. I knew there was no way that I could win the trials, even though I didn't even know what they were. All I knew was that a girl would enter a black tent at the edge of the fair grounds for a certain amount of time, then she would exit. Each girl who left the tent looked excited at their prospects. I knew that I would be the only one who would be leaving without an excited face. I could hear them now.

"I'm sorry, Amara, but it looks like you are not qualified to even participate in the trials," or maybe "Amara, you have been the worst trial-comer we have had today- in fact, you have been the worst in all of history!" I knew that I would fail, but I couldn't say no to Mylena's puppy-dog eyes. So I got into the line with her.

Mylena went in just before me, only staying for about five minutes before exciting the tent, the same excited look on her face as all the other girls. She mouthed 'good luck' to me and gave me a thumbs up before walking back to the carnival, presumably to wait by the Ferris wheel, the meeting place we had decided on while standing in the line. I sighed.

"You. Come, child, you're next." A wrinkled old man had poked his head out the tent flap and was motioning for me to come inside. I nodded and walked forward, stepping into the darkened tent. "Sit, sit." Said the man, gesturing to a comfortable chair. I looked around and noticed that the only other chair was a gnarled stool that seemed as though it was simply a tree stump torn from the ground.

"Are you sure, sir? Have you been sitting on that all day?" I asked, gesturing toward the uncomfortable-looking stool. "Why, yes. I have." The man said. "We must keep our trial-comers happy, shouldn't we? Wouldn't want to scare them away before they even got through the actual trial." He gestured to the comfy arm chair again, but I crossed the room and perched on the stool instead. "No sir, I insist. I'll be here but five minutes and I'm sure you haven't gotten a bit of rest since this morning."

The man grinned, hopping slightly in his excitement. Excitement over what, I wondered. I didn't have time to ask, though. He launched right into what I assumed were the trials.

"Alright. First question." The man said. "What is your name?" I was surprised. I didn't think that my name would matter, just my abilities.

"It's Amara. Amara Sophitoir. What's yours?" I asked, though I immediately regretted it. I knew that he was the one asking the questions.

But the man seemed perfectly chipper about it. He was nearly bouncing with his excitement. "My name is Cadbey." He said, grinning at me. "Next question, which kingdom do you live in?"