The Fate of Whisteria

Part 1

A dark figure sat on the ground, trees surrounded it spreading out as far as the eye could see. A ring of rocks circled the figure, a small symbol was written next to the rocks. It was a circle with x's crossing it out I could not make out what the symbol meant, it must have been a symbol from the old language. After my grandfather, Wheyvern passed away the old language was put away and eventually died out. Almost no one knows any of the old languages. The current king, my father, Wholien made sure to keep the old language locked away so no one could see it. I never knew why they kept it hidden from the kingdom, it made no sense.

The figure crossed his legs and place his hands together as if he were meditating. Then it happened, his eyes flew open and the rocks glowed red. Flames shot from the circle of rocks and spread to the surrounding trees. His eyes met mine as the flames were spreading out around him. The blood red eyes bore into mine as if saying "Nothing can stop me, be prepared for destruction"

My eyes flew open, sweat dripped down my face as my body flew up gasping for air "what was that?" I asked myself. The red eyes filled my mind, it was all I could remember from that dark figure. I could not see his face or hair, only his eyes. The door busted open and Maylen came bustling in with her arms full of clothes and beauty products. "Maylen, what are you doing this early?" I looked at her little frame covered with different items, you could barely see her face through all the items. "Today is the day!" She yelled out but sounding muffled through the clothing. "The day?" I questioned, what could be so important....... OH! "TODAYS THE DAY!" I jumped up the dream thrown out of my brain and ran to Maylen. "Todays his birthday! I get to see everyone! It has been so long since I've seen Aylen and Kain. It's been years and I get to see the rest of the family!" I jumped around Maylen the adrenaline pumping through my veins from excitement.

"Ok Ok calm down love, we have to get you looking like a fairy before you go out into the world" she joked. "Maylen" I hit her arm and walked over to the vanity and looked into the mirror and flinched back. "Ok, maybe you have a point, I look like a hodag". "You got that right" Maylen laughed out. As I sat down, she dropped everything onto the bed and made her way to the bathroom to draw the bath. "You know this party is going to be boring Fleyire," Maylen said from the bathroom. "Why do you say that Maylen?" I questioned. "Well your brother Aylen has been gone dealing with political stuff concerning the kingdom, he has been trying to make sure the alliance between Whisteria and Kylian actually happen. After years of tension between the two countries after the war was over, we needed their alliance to have the upper hand on the trading market. With the alliance with Kylian we will have the upper hand also with the military because you know Milale has been making threats towards our border for the past couple of years" Maylen said while setting things up to get me looking more fairy-like. "Ok and your point is?" I questioned. "I'm SAYING that he has been off dealing with adult things, so he has probably changed in some ways. He might not be a fun and cool brother like he has always been Fleyire" Maylen finished setting things up, "The bath is ready now."

I stood up and walked to the bathroom stripping off my night clothes, what Maylen said was weighing heavily on my mind. What if he is not how he used to be? Will Aylen be different? I always tend to overthink things no matter how small they were. I don't want him to be different I want him to be my brother, I hope he doesn't treat me any different.

I thought of Aylen the entire bath, hoping that there won't be anything different between us. He spent the last couple of years in a tense environment, trying to make a deal to be allies. Hopefully, the stress of his work of the last couple of years won't have made a huge impact on him. I stepped out and covered myself with a bathrobe, "You're all done Fleyire?" Maylen yelled out from the room. "Yes, I'm coming right now," I said while walking out of the bathroom. Maylen pulled me to the chair and began running a brush through my hair. I sat there in silence as she got me ready for the party. I stared into the mirror my reflection looking back at me, at that moment the dream came back to me. I remembered the red eyes as they stared back at me from behind the flames. It really seemed like he could see me watching him like it was real and not a dream. It all felt incredibly real, I could feel the flames licking my exposed skin as I floated near the man. I could feel the fear of my kingdom burning down, the tightness in my chest as the breath would not be allowed in from my throat contracting.

"What's wrong Fleyire" she could see the fear form on my face as the dream came back to me. "I had a dream last night Maylen" I confessed, "What happened in the dream?" She asked while continuing braiding my hair. I explained to her everything that happened in the dream and how real that it felt, and how I could feel the heat of the flames and how scared I was of the dream. I told her I was scared that it would happen, that's how real it felt. I felt like I was there with him, somehow while sleeping I was transported to him. "Fleyire, it was just a dream you have nothing to worry about. The kingdom has a protective field around it plus the soldiers guard the force field all day and night. No one can break in and no fire can come in either." She explained but it still did not soothe my worry. She won't understand because she did not experience it, should I tell other people? Or would they all respond as she did?

What do I do then? Do I keep this all to myself, or find someone who will believe me? What about Aylen, would he believe me? "Fleyire turn around please," Maylen asked me, I turned around per her request and she began putting makeup on my face. "Only a couple more minutes and then you need to change into your dress."

Ten minutes passed, way longer than she said, and the makeup was all done. I got up and she helped me to put on my undergarments and then the dress. After the dress was tied in the back a knock sounded on the door. Maylen walked over and opened it to reveal my Mother Llevia, "Are you done getting ready love?" She asked. "We just have to put jewelry on her then she is complete your highness" Maylen answered bowing slightly while she spoke. "Ok once you are done Fleyire you need to come to the dining room to meet some people," She said and then walked out. "Who am I supposed to meet?" I asked Maylen, but she just shrugged. "I have no idea but let's just get you finished".

I was walking down the hall with Maylen to my left people bowing to me as I passed. I never really liked that, I always told them to not worry about it but I guess they feel obligated to do so. When me and Maylen where alone we would act normal as friends, but outside of that she would take on the servant role and act 'respectful' to me. We arrived at the dining room and the two guards opened the door for me. The queen (I had to call her that when others were around) sat at the head, two men sat to her left and one woman sat to her right. "Who is that?" I whispered to Maylen. She shook her head no, so Maylen didn't know either. The queen looked up and smiled at me and gestured for me to sit. I walked over to sit next to her, on the second seat at the head of the table. "This is princess Fleyire" she pointed to me and then the others "This is King Lorenn, Queen Mulian, and Prince Hyuive of Kylian" I was shocked for a minute, I thought they were still working out the alliance between our two countries. Why are they here? I smiled and greeted them nicely "It is very nice to meet you, your highnesses" I bowed my head to them. 

"We were talking a lot about you Fleyire," the queen said. I looked over to her " Talking about what? May I ask?" I responded. 

"You and Hyuive will be married to complete the alliance between our two countries," the king of Kylian said. My heart dropped, in the past, my parents always said they would never make me marry for the sake of the country. They were both forced to do that for Whisteria and they never wanted us to go through with that. 

I remember my mom telling me how she fell in love with a man when she was younger. They met while she was riding her horse into the woods, which she was not supposed to due to the rumors of a witch that resided in those woods. This witch Jofien practiced evil magic that plagued the land a long time ago. This plague killed hundreds of people including the old queen Yuivya.  The old King Wheyvern sent out many soldiers in attempts to capture her but all who lived came back empty-handed. 

-woosh- -flashback-

I was riding her horse when a man ran out in front of her making the horse stopped suddenly and causing me to fly off. The man immediately helped me up and apologized. "I am so sorry are you, ok mam?" He asked. I looked into his eyes, they were a beautiful vibrant blue. "Ah uh, yea I'm ok," I responded. He was so beautiful it made me stutter. "Good" He smiled and patted my shoulder. "What are you even doing out here? It's dangerous" he asked. "If it is dangerous then why are you out here?" I countered back to him. "Ah, yea got me there" he laughed it off.