Prologue

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While the rest of the world experienced the wonderful seasons, the mountains of Ivoria were forever watched over by the white skies of winter, always covered in sheets of snow and ice. Inside of the highest mountain, protected from the harsh elements, was a beautiful, elegant feline. Her fur was a glittering white, just as the mountains themselves were, but her coat was dappled with black splotches. 

She was Queen Taiga, the most powerful snow leopard alive, and earlier that morning she had given birth to three healthy cubs, each looking quite similar to her. She was laying quietly on a nest of feathers from lands far away, observing her three newborns with great interest. At last, she called for her head servant, Arctic.

Arctic silently slipped in through the entrance. He stopped at once, admiring the cubs for a moment, then lifted his head up and came before the queen.

"Your Highness," he whispered, "they're beautiful."

"Of course they are, Arctic," Queen Taiga answered. "Skull is waiting in the cave below, yes?"

"Correct, Your Highness. Shall I go get him?" the servant asked. Taiga answered with a small nod. She watched Arctic leave the cave, only to return a few moments later with King Skull.

The king was a taller, skinner, more fragile-looking leopard, with a long, well-built, tail. He anxiously walked over to his mate, gently pressing his head to hers in greeting before his eyes fell upon the three sleeping cubs. 

Taiga lifted her head and shot a stern look at the servant. "Arctic. Please." She gestured with her tail for him to leave. "We would like to name them in private." 

"Yes, of course, Your Highness!" Arctic politely dipped his head and left.

King Skull settled down beside the queen and curled his tail around her. "Do you know which one was born first?"

"Of course. I would not make the same mistake my mother did," Queen Taiga replied quickly. She touched her nose to the cub on the left. "This one was. She will be a great queen someday."

"Yes," Skull blinked. He gently placed a paw on top of the newborn princess. "I see she has your fur. It's so sleek and soft."

Taiga gazed at the cub thoughtfully for a long, silent moment. "Then she will be called Princess Feather," she insisted. Skull gave a smile in response.

"This one is a prince, so you shall name him." The queen gestured towards the cub in the middle.   

Skull gave a small nod. "I want to call him Wind. Prince Wind." 

Queen Taiga for a split second showed distaste on her face, but she swallowed her opinions of the prince's name, and almost instantly changed the subject to the last cub, a female, by quietly meowing, "Mist. Her name will be Princess Mist. Her fur almost looks blue." 

King Skull blinked, his eyes watery. "Now that they are named, we must summon Everest to bless them." 

The queen waved her tail in agreement. In order to be true royalty, the cubs would have to be blessed by Everest, Ivoria's wisest and oldest Healer leopard. The blessing had been given to Taiga and her siblings when they were born, and to Skull when he had become Taiga's mate. Everest himself had been given the blessing when he was younger, because some of the oldest and most experienced Healers were considered royalty. Everest would bless the cubs by chanting words of the Ancient Tongue, an old forgotten snow leopard language that only some Healers understood. 

Skull got to his paws and exited the royal cave, walking down through the cave tunnel to the lower levels of the mountain palace where Everest was waiting.

Everest was a small and frail cat. His tail was short and his fur was very thin in his old age, so he was kept inside most of the time. While not a pretty sight, he was by far the most respected snow leopard in Ivoria besides the other royals. Upon seeing the king, Everest got up wordlessly and followed Skull back up to where Taiga still lay. 

Everest waved his tail for Queen Taiga to rise up. She met with Skull in the back of the cave to stand and watch the blessing.

The Healer shut his eyes and began to chant. "Ég kalla forfeður áður að blessa þessa sem sanna konunga, því þeir eru fæddir konungi og drottningu og munu lifa lífi sínu sem prinsessum og prinsum. Láttu engan skaða verða fyrir þeim og láta þá lifa löngum friðsælu lífi. Ég gef þeim blessun til að drottna yfir fjallaríkinu sem kóngafólk. Lifðu konungarnir! Lifðu konungarnir!

Everest opened his eyes and turned to face the king and queen. "It is done. I must give an individual blessing to the heir. Which one is your firstborn?"

"The one on the left, Princess Feather," King Skull told him. Everest turned back to look at  the cubs. Seeing the heir was a female, he said quietly, "So we will have another queen as ruler." He shut his eyes once more and finished the ritual with a final shorter blessing for Feather.

"Forfeður áður, blessa þessa frumburði prinsessu til að vera erfingi hásætisins og frá því augnabliki sem drottningin heldur áfram mun hún taka sæti hennar sem drottning og drottna yfir fjöllunum. Lifið prinsessan, lifið drottningin!

Everest dipped his head to Taiga and Skull. Both dipped their heads in return and said, "Þakka þér fyrir, thank you." That was another part of the ritual. With that, the Healer silently padded away. He didn't seem to be the talkative type. 

"Our children will serve as a blessing themselves to Ivoria," Queen Taiga told her mate. "Mist and Wind will become respected in whichever path they choose, and Feather will be a great ruler. I know it."

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