the other kingdom

Estelle - the fae kingdom

She had watched herself mature in the small shard of mirror that she had for a while now. She had grown and changed this last year, it was strange to think that she'd live for almost forever , and she would look the same , if only a few years older. Today was her seventeenth birthday and she would assume her full fae form when the moon rose into the sky. Her father would be back from his travels to see it too. It was rare for him to be back in the fae lands as he was frequently away working for the king and queen.

Unbeknown to most of the fae, her father was a spy and visited the human lands frequently. She hoped she would be a shadow controller like him , or maybe she would be like her mother, but that would leave her with no power , since from her ears , she had always assumed her mother was a human. Her father had told her that he had been on a mission when her mother was pregnant with him , she had been born in the human lands and brought back here. As a half breed , it was her only chance to not end up in the hunting grounds , so long as she had a power that was seen as useful. She couldn't think about what would happen if nothing happened at the ceremony. The hunting grounds were not an option. She would not see her last moments as being sucked dry for blood by some witches.

She couldn't help but think about all the other seventeen year olds , witches , pirates , whoever they may be , all chosen to be who they were destined to be , on their seventeenth birthday. She knew that things would work out. And if they didn't , her father would protect her.

Realising she had been staring in the mirror for too long she put on her trousers and a simple tight fitted t shirt and headed to training. Half breeds weren't usually allowed in the palace , but because of her father , she was allowed to train with the other gifted fae just beyond the palace walls. She was miserable sometimes , her shorter fae ears caused a never ending stream of giggles and curses alike from her peers. The most embarrassing time it had happened was when the prince had seen all of her peers making fun of her the day he came to observe them. But soon , when her powers showed themself , she hoped she would serve him as a spy , just as her father served the king and queen. It was all she could think about. Riding away from the fae lands , fighting with shadows at her side, coming back with news of war from the other side of the continent.

She ran through town stopping at the market for only a moment to buy an apple , and then ran on , faster, until the castle loomed above her and she was by the gates to start her training. The male who trained them was a simple brute. He taught them stances and how to spin off of their feet into the air and land perfectly to avoid your enemy. She loved the feeling of the simple iron sword and the grooves and calluses it had formed into her hand. She prayed to be as good a fighter as her father , she had trained for years now in preparation in case she served the royals , but not once had he seen her fight. But today would be the start of everything good in her life. She could feel it.

Soon she saw the others heading towards her and they all started stretching on the grass , awaiting the arrival of their trainer. She was jealous that her birthday was so late into the summer because most of her original class had become knights or were serving lords and ladys of different fae courts. She watched the others stretch and realised this was the last day she would see most of them. She probably should have been saddened , but she was relieved by this.

The day passed quickly , sparring , lunch , more sparring , agility training , and then she found herself sprinting away into town , back to her little cottage to see if her father had arrived. Happiness seemed to burst out of her and she was smiling at strangers , though not all of them smiled back when they saw her ears. But she couldn't care. She saw the horse out front , tied to a post , and hurtled inside right into his arms. He definitely wasn't the hugging type but yet again , today it didn't matter. they unravelled from each other and he looked her over.

"I'm so proud of you Estelle, you sure you've been training hard. You sure you want to work for the prince forever? We can skip the ceremony if you want to" he said , all in a quick gasp , as though he had to say it in one breath.

"Yeah , why , do i not seem ready" , hurt flashed across her face. Why would her father never stay here to see her train , he knew nothing about her , who was he to insinuate she wasn't ready , he had never cared till now. just because she was a half breed didn't mean she would be weak.

"I'm just worried about what will happen," he replied , fear creeping into his voice.

Estelle became angry at that , "well I'll either have the same powers as you or ma , won't I , and most likely it'll be yours , I can be just like you , strong and brave and powerful. Right?"

"Yes of course sweetheart , of course , you will be like me , i can sense it." This seemed to have calmed him for some reason , and so she walked away to get dressed for the ceremony. Only nothing would happen as she thought...

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She had pulled her curly into a tight bun behind her head and left small strands out at the back too. She then tugged herself into a tight blue satin corset and pretty trousers that her father had brought her with intricate patterns down the side , and a pair of fighting boots. She put her precious necklace on , strapped her dagger to her waist and turned to observe her room. With her dagger and necklace she needed nothing more. If all went well , she wouldn't return to her small cottage for a long while. She didn't really care about her simple clothes and books, and she wouldn't need them.

Bells tolled in the distance , so she grabbed a coat and left for the ceremony. Her father had left before her as she had taken a long time to get ready. Her pace quickened as she walked through town. There weren't a lot of children in the fae kingdom and so this claiming was a rare occurrence, especially for a half breed. The fae had children very rarely because they lived so long, this meant that there would be everyone there tonight. She only hoped that when her shadows came , she wouldn't pass out like some others did who had powers.

Of course not all fae had powers , sometimes they would just stand there , and it would be over. But she had prayed to the gods, she was ready for power. She needed that power. Soon she was near the ceremony and saw people milling about before it began. No one paid much attention to her. The nobility came to every claiming but treated most as parties and didn't care much unless the fae child was from nobility themself. Noone knew of her father's job and she was a half breed which made them doubly nonchalant. But they would see her importance tonight.