Peacebringer

Chapter One - A Stirring in the Castle

The princess shifted in her bed, unable to fall asleep. This had been an increasingly persistent problem these last few months. No matter what she did, her mind continued to race long into the early morning hours. Her bed always seemed too hard, or too soft, or too lumpy, or too cold. There was always something.

She knew that in reality it wasn't the texture of her bed that was keeping her up, but more the myriad of things that were on her mind. She was sure it was starting to affect her during the daytime. She was always sleepy and irritable, and unable to focus on her duties. As princess, her duties were not very difficult, but greeting subjects and aiding in her Father's court had become increasingly irritating. I'm sure this didn't really make her a very pleasant person to be around, but she was trying her hardest to keep her temper at bay. Not that they really had many visitors to greet nowadays anyway. She found herself short of temper, not at all befitting the ideal princess persona. She was supposed to be delicate, graceful, endearing. She felt more like a caged tiger.

The increasing unrest in the kingdom of Karda caused her great unease, thus the disrupted sleep. The conflict between the king and the spinners was only getting worse. If the spinners didn't continue hiding their abilities, there would be trouble. They were already headed for a full-on war. She shuddered at the thought. Karda hadn't been at war since the time of her great-great-great grandfather's reign, before the alliance to the north with Sayreen. The last war had been during the Dark Ages, when fearsome creatures walked the earth.

She heard loud voices, an argument. Someone was downstairs. She was used to hearing loud voices in the castle, but not here, not this late at night.

The princess slid out of her silken sheets, grabbing a small blanket from the bedside table for warmth. The stone castle was always cold at night, even on the upper floors. She slid her boots on as well, to protect her feet from the chill, but then quickly pushed them off again. The heavy soles of her shoes would not do for her night time stealth. If she was going to find out anything, she needed to minimize her noise production as much as possible, even if it meant frozen feet. She had unfortunately inherited her mother's intolerance for the cold.

She contemplated lighting a candle to take on her quest, but decided against it. Also too risky. She wasn't sure who the voice belonged too, and she didn't want to risk being seen by the guards. The guards tended to leave the tower with her personal quarters alone for privacy, but she knew that they would be present at the bottom of the staircase. Since she wasn't sure who the voice belonged to, she needed to remain unseen.

Out her bedroom door and down the corridor she went, swiftly and silently, following the sound of the voices. She was accustomed to leaving her chambers after dark at this point, and knew exactly which parts of the hallway would creak when stepped on. She had ventured out of her room late at night since she was old enough to read. She would often sneak down to the library to read by candlelight. Her mother had impressed upon her the Sayreenian tradition of reading and telling stories. The Queen was Sayreenian, like myself.

This was back when the princess's father, the King, was calmer, kinder. He would find her reading in the library and stay with her to finish the story, even if it meant reading until dawn. Reading had always been their way of bonding. Her father said that her mother had always been an avid reader. She was the one who had transformed the library into what it was. Before the princess was born, it had been an empty, unused chamber. Her mother had transformed it into a home, a haven, a place of togetherness. It wasn't that the Kardan's didn't read, it was more that they didn't read for pleasure as often. They also didn't write their books the same way, especially historical ones. The library in the castle was full of books from both places, but the princess had definitely preferred the lively Sayreenian ones. Their pages were the most well-worn.