Prologue: Annie
For most of my life I was shadowed, lost in the distressing personalities of my mother and sister.
Alexandria, or Dria as she was called. She was two years my senior but acted the opposite. Her immature and rather stupid demeanor spurred many fantastical tales and roomers from the gossips.( Gossips tend to turn on each other. Although my sister was the queen of their pack they still whispered about her behind her back. Just like she whispered about them.) She tended to speak everything, and do anything as soon as she thought of it.
Madelina. To this day I have no idea how I came to be this woman's daughter. There is absolutely no resemblance between us. Her hair was blond and in a bob. Mine was to my waist in a dark red braid. She was the exaggerating braggart, I the soft-spoken, overlooked observer ( I don't mean to brag or gain pity here, I'm just trying to give you a clear picture of our differences).
Always absorbed in their own affairs, they never noticed any of my adventure-seeking excursions. Sometimes I'd take my black stallion, snow-globe (You'll find that I love irony and paradoxes. If I get the chance to name something it will be the opposite of what the thing really is. I called the massive forest we lived near the 'dwindling wood' and our dusty attic chamber the 'royalty suit'.) galloping through the forest. Other times I'd go out into the city and listen to conversations. The simple clothes I wore drew no attention and I could listen to anyone without being noticed. Occasionally I'd steal something or other from a booth, just to prove to myself that I could.
By the time I was thirteen I knew the area of the city like the back of my hand and could identify every citizen of Drakenzberg by their voice.(That's saying a lot. Its not some dinky town we're talking about. Drakenzberg was a major trade city, we had hundreds of people.) Not only that, but I could stare someone straight in the eye and they wouldn't even realize that I was pocketing their wares.
My family was wealthy and I had been born in the city. My father had died in a small epidemic that had broken out when I was three. Instead of re-marrying, Madelinda had thought she could run the household and our business on her own. I had admired her for the act of feminism at the time, however as the years went by she proved to be hopeless at doing anything. We ended up hiring Maxell, a quiet, competent man to run our affairs. (Maxell, aside from being useful and quiet, was overwhelmingly passive-aggressive and controlling. He could get his way with a single glance of his small eyes in their wire-rimed glasses. Those glasses still make me cringe when I think about them.)
I attended diners and dances, weddings and funerals as well as christenings and coming of age parties to keep my family in good social status. Dria and Madelina came with me occasionally, but only if it suited them. Every now and then an ambitious mother would push their daughter to be my friend, hoping to get their greedy pig names in my families good books. After a week or so the girls all got bored of my quiet ways and went back to the world my sister loved so much. Their fake world of fashion, giggling and boys. Dria. Blond, popular as hell, wench-y, scanky, stupid, yet despite it all, obeyed. At times I envied her. Mostly I just hated her. She ridiculed me around her friends, pushed me around and handed me the blame for her idiot misdoings. This was my life, don't forget though. It was all I had ever known. I even found it occasionally enjoyable. All of my friends were commoners. My best mate (and future lover), Jack, was a servant in my manor. I used to steal him a horse and he came with me on most of my rides through the dwindling wood. When he could get off work he even came with me into the city, although he couldn't lie or steal like I could. I preferred to be alone the rest of the time. Most people took it as me being stuck-up, but I just liked to observe society, not be a part of it.
My entire life changed the summer of my fifteenth year.
My name is Annie and this is my story.
