There once was a girl named Terra Fonte. Terra was the princess of Titianion, the largest kingdom in the land. Her parents, Queen Sonia and King Nigel, had no other children so their entire kingdom (which was in huge debt) rested on Terra's shoulders. That meant marriage.
Thing was… Terra wasn't intrested.
By law, she had to marry a prince by her 17th birthday or her land will be parceled out to neighboring lands and her family's title would become void. At the age of 14, Terra was betrothed to Prince Harrison of Midalan. Prince Harrison was boorish and rude to women, even at a young age. When the prince first met Terra at their betrothal ceremony he looked her up and down and asked…
"Father, where's her breasts? I want a wife, not a flat chested princess lazing around the castle. Are you sure she's a girl? I'm prettier than her."
" Well, forgive me for having small breasts. When I gain two watermellons on my chest, I'll send you a postcard. Until then Harry, go suck a-".
"That's enough sweet Terra," Queen Sonia quickly interjected.
"You watch your mouth, woman!" Harrison cried, pointing a smooth white finger at her.
"Oh Ho! I thought I was a girl?! Now I am a woman? Make up your mind. Or is the brain of man more feeble than I previously believed?"
"Father! She cannot speak to me like that!"
"And why not?! I am the same rank as you! No one is beneath anyone in this room. Your parents hold the same rank as mine and I am a princess, as you a prince."
"You are a girl and I am a man! I will always be more superior. Now shut up you ugly troll!"
Terra looked at the prince with a sneer. He was a little older, a tall boy for 15 years of age. His sandy brown hair was swept from his deep green eyes. She could see he would become a handsome man as time progressed. She envisioned herself in his eyes. What did he see? She knew she was not ugly, not in the least. Her blonde curls hung to the small of her back, glossy and thick. She saw the tiny freckles that dotted her nose. The pretty blue eyes from her mother that glinted in the light like sapphires.
No, she wasn't ugly. She was in fact very beautiful. She may have been flat chested, but she was still young. Terra laughed suddenly.
"What is so funny? Tell me!" His perfectly sculpted face burned with anger.
"Why am I even conversing with the likes of you? Hmm? Why do I care if you think me ugly? Breasts are so overrated. You men are all alike. Stupid pigs. Caring not for women in a way they care for you. Only if they bear you more sons so you may teach them the ways of chauvinism."
"Princess Terra! Is this what you preach to your daughter, Nigel?"
"I'm sorry, Phillip. She must have caught fever. Terra, hush yourself at once!"
"Why?! Is a woman who speaks the truth a great threat to order of things? Or is it that I speak a hurtful truth?"
"I cannot have a wife who will not obey even her own father! Let's go."
With a great flourish of his ermine lined robe, the prince's family left the castle grounds"
Terra snorted. "Good riddance to bad blood."
King Nigel reddened with anger. "You dolt! Do you know what your outburst cost us?!"
" Do I care? Better question is why should I care."
"Because King Phillip has money. We have the largest kingdom, but we're poor," Queen Sonia said between clenched teeth.
"I know why we're broke. All we spent our money on was those ridiculous balls. One every week?!"
" To entertain ourselves!"
Terra turned to her mother with fire in her eyes. " What of the common folk?! I've seen little boys and girls my age eat from the garbage like vermin. Even the hunting dogs have more to fill their belly. Yet we dine like there's no tomorrow!"
" So would your rather us live like paupers? Without the touch of smooth silk on our arms?! Dirt and dust in your pretty blonde locks? Hmm, Daughter?!"
Terra turned on her father. " Yes. And I'll enjoy it."
The king and queen looked a each other with a mix of surprise and disgust.
"Chose your words carefully, Terra. We will send you out into that harsh world if you truly mean your words," King Nigel warned.
"I be not a fool, father. I speak of only what I mean. I wish to know of life beyond my own comfort."
"I cannot let my only daughter live in squalor! I will not ha-," Sonia started to cry.
" Let her go. She'll come back in a week's time," Nigel sighed. Then he smiled. He began to laugh hysterically, doubling over.
"What be so funny?!" Terra never seen her father laugh so hard. Actually, she never really seen him laugh.
" You act so righteous yet you throw a fit whenever a spot is found on your gowns! It could be the smallest of spots, yet you come near to tears! Ha! You're spoiled to the core. If you wish to torment yourself, go ahead. We can always have more children."
"Nigel! You stop that," Sonia hissed pulling on Nigel's arm.
"I'll be off late this noonday! I cannot be in the company of the likes of him any longer!"
Nigel laughed again. " What shall you take with you?"
" Nothing, I need not a thing from this place. Paupers have nothing, so I shall have nothing."
"You foolish little girl," Sonia mumbled.
Terra walked to the huge oak doors. "Better than an old one, mother."
Later that day, Terra switched from her pink and lavender silk dress to her favorite servant girl's wool service dress.
"Be you sure, mistress? You have no idea how hard life is out there! Robbers, murderers! Someone may kidnap you and make you a slave in a far away country!"
" Pray tell me, Becca, do you think I can handle life on the outside?"
Becca looked about herself and shyly answered, " you think you know more than you do, mistress. I believe you will survive but only barely. For month perhaps, but any longer and you may not come back. May not be able to come back."
Terra smiled. "My name is Terra Fonte, strong like the earth we stand upon. I shall over come all obstacles that dare stand in my way."
As soon as she was ready, Terra quickly embraced her mother."I shall see you again, mother. And I will tell you of my travels."
" Terra, please reconsider this. Listen to yourself, you sound like a man who's off to battle. You are a girl, a princess, my daughter." Queen Sonia sniffled."My baby girl."
Terra sighed. "Mother-," she began.
"You're still here?" King Nigel sauntered over, looking down at his own daughter already as if she really was one of the servants.
"I'll be going mother," she whispered before kissing her mother's cheek. She glared at her father. "I'm going now."
"Take care to not cross paths with the Old Ones of the forest," he laughed.
Terra raised an eyebrow, but she asked not of the Old Ones. She simply turned her back and headed for the doors leading to the courtyard.
"Princess! Princess!" Becca ran after her carrying a tattered bag and blanket.
"Becca? What are you doing with all that?"
"I'm coming with you. It'd be suicide to go out there by yourself, especaically with the Old Ones roaming about."
Old Ones, she thought. " What are these Old Ones?"
"They're the beasts of the forest. They range in color and size. But the scariest thing is that they can all shapeshift into human form!"
"Are they violent?"
"We assume so- no one who has crossed paths with an Old One ever comes back unscarred."
"Why do you think they are violent?"
"Well, most of the Old Ones were driven out of the forest to build this castle. Most of the men were killed and their women were taken by humans."
Terra was horrified." You mean... my family- my great grandfather, committed genocide?"
"My mother, before she died, told me how the Old Ones were nearly wipped out. There wouldn't be any Old Ones if one of the princesses wasn't pregnant with twin boys."
So, they have a right to hate us, she thought. "So you've encountered an old one?"
Becca stopped. They were at the gate already. "Becca?"
"Terra, my mother died at the hands of one such Old One. His name is burned into my memory."
The wind blew and stirred Becca's long black locks. " Slade."
"Slade?"
Becca began to cry."Infront of my very eyes, he killed my brother Robin and my mother Gloria! That damned man took everything from me!"
Becca looked at Terra. "I come to find this man and exact my revenge. I will kill this Slade and avenge their deaths."
Terra never asked about Becca's life before. She now realized how little she knew of the world, where a child can watch the slaughter of her family and still be strong.
"Let's be off, before they think I'm reconsidering." Terra took Becca's hand and walked through the gates.