The Legend

:Chapter One:

Song is "Come Away to the Water" by Maroon 5.
The photo is of Feiye.
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The prophecy of Diana's Peak:
"An unholy war to be ended by Diana's descendant, an difficult choice to be made, which would give either side the victory. She who sits on the peak, waiting for the two parties to look for her.
Thou's name is Feiye, and will be the most important aspect of the war."
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I'm Feiye Firedaughter, one of the last known descendant of Diana, the first Elf Queen. My mother, the current queen, is other known descendant.

Our castle was high on Diana's peak,
where my ancestor gave up her long life for her lover. In my opinion, love was just a distraction. The Goddess's way of putting her children to the test. To see if they were worthy enough to have a mate. Diana had been willing to give up her life for her mate's shortly after she gave birth to her first daughter, Alina.

I have read the story plenty of times, and I still don't understand it much about it.

I walked to my mirror, studying the elaborate armour that I wore. Today was my crowning, where I displayed my ability to rule in the Queen's Coliseum, which consists of my ability to connect to my people, my ability to negotiate, and my ability to battle. I have to recite all of the queen's names from Diana all the way to my mother, which is 23 queens in total. There would be a ancient sea serpent by the name of Sei who would test my lineage.

I took a deep breath, and stepped out of my bedroom, walking down the long hallways and staircases until I reached the stables. My horse, Rain, was a chestnut brown mare, with tack that matched my ensemble. I gave her a handful of oats before mounting. We set off, galloping through various city streets until we reached the coliseum.

It was large, the walls made out of eroded sandstone. Raine trotted into the arena, head held high. Cheers went up as I entered, but they were soon cut off by a serpent's roar. I dismounted, and Raine was led away by a well-dressed stable boy. Sei's large head looked down at me, and I kept up my confident stature as I looked ahead. "Expose your palm, child." The serpent's voice boomed. I did as told, sticking my right palm out, callused from my sword. The serpent purred before slashing a claw along the skin there. It brought its large head down, a forked tongue coming out and licking the blood off. "You are the 24th descendant of Diana." The wound knitted itself together, and I pulled my hand back. "What is the most important aspect of this queendom?" It asked the first question. "The people that live in it." I answered, and it told me that I was correct. "What do you do if a foreign ruler offers you great wealth for your hand, but the person you love gives you little for it?" It asked the second question.

"I would ask the ruler if he would offer a different trade for the wealth, and give my hand to the person I love." I responded, and the serpent told me I was correct. Love had always been a large aspect of our culture. "Which one do you eliminate first in a battle— the archers or the swordsmen?" Sei asked the third and last question, which I knew well. "The archers." I answered immediately. The archers would be easier to kill and have long-range weapons, while the swordsmen have melee weapons, and are more heavily armoured than the archers.

"Name the queen's line." The serpent ordered.

"Diana, Alina, Reina, Sia, Province, Zai, Marianna, Hani, Elena, Neir, Raine, Dove, Adeline, Issix, Arin, Lily, Briar, Mariam, Isolde, Gai, Catrina Elizabeth, and Isabelle." I named the 23 queens.

"All hail Her Highness, Crown Princess Feiye Firedaughter." Sei announced.

It felt as if a new burden was placed upon my shoulders, as those words echoed through my mind.

I would have to marry soon, which meant I had to go through The Goddess's love trial, which would be intertwined with my duties and lessons. This year will be the hardest of the many that will be in my very long life.
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I rode back to the castle, Rain trotting through the city's streets. I waved as I passed, elves reached out to me, trying to touch me and my horse. My bodyguard stopped them from getting much closer than a few feet.

I rode up the castle's path, the gates to the grounds opening for me and the group that followed. I held my head high, keeping the mask up as we rode into the castle grounds, dismounting our horses at the stables and moving into the castle. The group left once we walked in, leaving me alone. A servant rushed up to me as I entered one of the main hallways. "Your Highness has been ordered to the throne room immediately." She squeaked, then ran off.

I bit my lip and made my way to the throne room, whose grand doors were already opened wide. I made my way to my throne, sitting neatly on the hard surface. My mother sat in her throne beside me, but she didn't bother addressing my presence. I could have a hundred insults to her listed in my brain, and that still wouldn't be enough for all of the bad things that she does and is.

I sat ramrod straight in my throne, my hands placed neatly in my lap. My eyes were trained on the grand doors, and on the hallway beyond. Servants scurried around, delivering messages, food and whatever else. I still don't understand why my mother hired so many servants, twice as much than any normal castle requires. I found it absurd.

My thoughts were interrupted by the racing of my heartbeat as I saw who was coming into the throne room.

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