Based off of Linnet and the Prince by Alydia Rackham. Check her out, she's amazing!
I OWN NOTHING..
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Tale of the White Princess

Chapter One

"Wake up every morning with the thought that something wonderful is about to happen"

Kanta woke up irritable. She had no idea why. Mornings had always been her favorite part of every day. Something about the way the sunrise peeked through the tree leaves was just breathtaking. The cool, crisp smell of the forest relaxing. The quiet, subdued murmur of the palace peaceful. It had always been impossible for Kanta to be ill-tempered surrounded by all the beauty. But today was different. A ball of anxiety had taken up residence in the pit of her stomach and she knew, without an trace of doubt, that something awful was going to happen today.

With a worried huff, Kanta dragged herself out of bed and made her way to the bathing room. She barely spared the mirror a glance as she brushed out her hair. Every one of her people hade the same silky straight dark hair, the same smooth golden skin, the same mysterious tilted dark eyes. They all shared the same delicate facial structure and slim build. And they all had magic flowing through their veins.

It was the only way her people were able to survive living in the White Forest. People were outnumbered by beasts here and nothing about the wildlife was natural. There were bunnies with burning red eyes and sharp teeth that had a taste for human flesh, birds with wicked claws and a hypnotizing gaze, and carnivorous horses with a razor horn and square pupils. Kanta's people, the Foresters as everyone called them, had control over the elements and since the creatures seemed to fear fire, could survive in the supernatural forest.

However, lately everyone's worries hadn't been about the supernatural creatures. One of their western neighbors, the Badi, had recently recognized a new king and Harith was ruthlessly ambitious. Quickly, he had nearly doubled the size of his kingdom, pushing the Highlanders and Plainspeople relentlessly back. However, the Highland King and the King of Seshem had formed an alliance along with the King of the Northern Marshes, and together they had managed to hold Harith's army at the base of the Black Steps. Now, both the Alliance and Harith had turned their attention to the Foresters.

Both sides knew that the stalemate could only be broken if one side managed to gain the help of the forest people. However, despite living in a brutal violent place, Kanta's people weren't violent in the slightest. And so they had looked to the royal family for guidance, Kanta's Family.

King Micha and Queen Priya had been gone for nearly two months now, having left Kanta alone so they could work out a treaty with the three northern kingdoms that would please them all. As for Kanta, she had been charged with the task of coming up with a treaty for the Badi. It had seemed easier than dealing with three very different people, but it was still the first treaty her parents had trusted her with. She had spent weeks thinking over every detail, looking for loopholes, making sure it was flawless. When she had finally finished, a meeting had been arranged at Tilmidel Castle to sign the documents. Harith had barely glanced at the thing before signing his name and, despite being slightly annoyed, Kanta had been relieved.

She hadn't been exactly fair in the treaty. The Badi got exactly one-hundred soldiers and nothing more. The soldiers were to take Kanta's orders and Kanta's orders only. She could order them to stand down indefinitely or to not use magic at all. On the other hand, the Badi kingdom had agreed to stop their ruthless expansion and release all the war prisoners they held. The second Harith had left with his one-hundred soldiers, Kanta had sent word to her parents telling them of the new developments. They had replied telling her it was a job well done and they were still working things out farther north.

Now, exactly six weeks later, Kanta just knew something was going to change for the worse.

With a frown fixed firmly on her face, she made her way over to the dining hall. The palace was huge, with soaring ceilings and majestic terraces. The dining hall however was rather small and cozy. Tapestries covered the walls and a enormous fireplace was located directly behind the royal table. Not many feasts were held at the palace, and when they were, they were held in the courtyard. Holidays were celebrated with close friends and family. Plus, most of the people saw the royal family on a fairly regular basis, either through arranged meetings or just around town.

However, despite being smaller and cozier than the rest of the palace, the dining hall felt vast and empty without any people in it. As Kanta moved to sit down, two girls carrying their body weight in dishes glided over to the table. Both smiled at Kanta as they laid the dishes down and murmured a good morning. Kanta smiled back and motioned for them to sit and eat with her.

"Arianna, Pangai," she exclaimed. "How have you guys been?"

"Pretty good. Your uncle taught me how to shoot a crossbow yesterday," Pangai answered, peeking shyly up at her.

Arianna snorted. "Yeah, it took him the better part of the afternoon and you're still horrible."

"Hey! I am not!"

Kanta smiled. Uncle Cai held a combat class three times a week and Arianna and Pangai were two of his students. He taught them how to shoot bows, wield swords, and fight in hand-to-hand combat. Arianna had been one of his first ever students and, at this point, she was almost as good as Kanta. On the other hand, Pangai, the youngest of three sisters, had just joined Arianna four months ago. They had taken a liking to each other immediately and were as close as two girls could be. And their favorite pastime was arguing. About stupid pointless things.

Friendship was a beautiful thing.

Just as all three girls were about to dissolve into laughter at the silly argument, a hush seemed to fall over the entire palace. They all sobered up immediately and could hear the slam of the palace doors in the ensuring silence. The pounding of boots on stone quickly followed and it was soon very clear that whoever those boots belonged to was heading towards the dining hall.

Kanta shared a glance with Arianna and motioned toward the main entrance. Arianna got up from the table and took up position on the right side of the door. Kanta pulled Pangai under the table first and made sure she wasn't visible before following suit. Now, with a fighter on either side, Kanta and Arianna waited as the footsteps got closer.