The Hidden Princess and the Sword

Prologue

The old man stumped across the ground, stumbling every few steps. Light streamed out of the castle and glinted off the snow.

His gnarled hands shook as bright lights began to streak across the sky. Blue, white, yellow. Red, green, gold.

The man's eyes widened and he whispered, "The prophecy."

With age-defying speed, he raced toward the upper floors. A trail of muddy snow covered the newly-scrubbed entry hall and up the velvet-carpeted stairs.

He burst out onto the top floor. "Your Majesties!"

A large but neatly dressed and youthful man met him. "The queen is in labor, wise one," he said. "What is it? I do not have time to waste. "

The old man panted and pointed towards the heavens.

The King took a moment to realize the enormity of the situation. "The prophecy."

They both rushed into the room, but it was too late. The petite queen was sitting up in her bed, smiling broadly. "Mathis!" she said. "We have twins!"

Her smile dissipated when the King did not smile back. "What is it?"

"Which one was born first?" he asked, frantically riffling through papers.

"This one, I believe." The Queen reached out and the midwife passed her one of the babies.

"Give it to me," the King said. He gently took the girl and lifted her into the air.

"The firstborn of the King and Queen of Indova." The Queen looked puzzled at her husband's behavior. "I hereby proclaim you Anabel, the one that will save us all."

"What about this one?" The Queen took the other baby from the midwife. "What shall we name her?"

"I don't care," said the King. "Name her what you will."

"Annika," said the old man softly in the Queen's ear. "Name her Annika."

"Annika," said the Queen, and the baby smiled in her sleep.

Hey, y'all! I hope you enjoyed the start of my story. In class we're doing a big project on the Hero's Journey (look it up) and this is what I'm doing. Clearly I'm not going to finish before my school lets out but I'll keep going for your sake (and mine).

Uh, vote, comment, follow, all that jazz. This chapter is still unedited but it's also pretty short so hopefully I didn't make too many mistakes.

Hugs,

Redde