¤¨°·.,.·¤¨°·.,.·¤¨°·.,.·¤¨°·.,.¤¨°
Once upon a time, there was a kingdom, known to others as the Kingdom of the South East. The king and the queen had two children, a boy and then a girl. Though the queen died shortly after giving birth to her daughter, the people loved the remaining King and his children.
Years passed, and King Fujitaka watched his children grow. Prince Touya was well on his way to inheriting the throne. His appointed court guardian, Yukito, often said he was made to be King.
Touya's sister, Princess Sakura, disagrees. She says the people will all leave the kingdom once Touya takes over, for which Touya ate her slice of cake.
Princess Sakura had a different role. As her family before her, she was brought up to protect the magic. Although Touya had powers as great as his parents, it was Sakura who was going to keep it. For this she had her own court guardian, Cerberus. She fondly calls him Kero.
However, even with Kero at her side, the life of one destined to be keeper of magic is lonely. Princess Sakura, so loved by all, needed a friend.
By luck, or fate, or some other intangible element, her need was granted.
Lady Sonomi of the Lily Lake was the most distraught of the Queen Nadeshiko's death. The Lily Lake, a small kingdom itself to faerie, was in fact Queen Nadeshiko's original home. Her marriage to King Fujitaka was both political and out of real love. Though Lady Sonomi had no love for Fujitaka, she loved Nadeshiko enough to want her happiness. And she knew Sakura to be much like her mother.
In peace to Fujitaka, to keep the alliance strong, and because she still loved Nadeshiko, Sonomi sent her own daughter Tomoyo to learn magic with Sakura.
This was not an unusual practice in the kingdom. All magical races kept peace with the King, however kind he was, by sending envoys, representatives, or mere friends to the court. This kept the peace in the kingdom. It was most popular to send very young agents to grow up within the walls of the palace. Though it did nothing for the pure bloodedness, it certainly kept the kingdom peaceful.
The emissaries of the princess' age were invited to learn with her. In this way, Princess Sakura was no longer lonely.
For a few years, it was simply her and her small group learning under court magician Terrada.
Chiharu, messenger of naiads.
Rika, representative of dryads.
Naoko, delegate of oreads.
Yamazaki, ambassador of the paladin's citadel.
Tomoyo, agent of the people of the Lake.
It continued like this for a while. Until one day, they were to have a new emissary join them. He came from the North East Kingdom. He was known as Prince Syaoran.
NOTES:
A dryad is a forest or a wood nymph.
A naiad is a water nymph.
An oread is a mountain nymph.