Chapter One – The Princess and the Troll
People in my village called my mother a witch. It wasn't true of course, but when you come from a small, rural kingdom rumours are inclined to spread faster then a wildfire. I learned from a young age not to take such trivial things seriously. My mother certainly ignored the comments and the suspicious whispers each time we walked through the village, so I tried to do the same.
I suppose that the rumours weren't entirely unfounded. Mother was extremely talented when it came to the mixing of poultices and herbal remedies. It was something that she did every day at the palace whilst she tended to the Queen, who suffered from a weak constitution. But knowing one plant's properties from another's hardly required any magical ability, if there even was such a thing, just years of practice – at least that's always what she said.
I went with her every day so that I could learn the skills of a healer in order to benefit the royal family when she could no longer, and I counted myself lucky that I was able to acquire personal relationships with the nobility as well. I was certainly not permitted to treat myself as their equals, but I was happy to know that even without friends in the village – since they were all too superstitious to speak with me – I could at least value one friendship above all others.
The King and Queen of Whitecliff had but one child, a daughter named Riona. She was a year older then me, and everything that I thought a princess should be. Her hair was long, silky and golden, and she always wore the most beautiful gowns and jewellery. Riona could sing, dance, and embroider far better then anyone I had ever met. Even at only 8 years old I revered the very ground she walked on, and wished that I could be like her someday. But now, 12 summers later, where she was purity and virtue in human form, I was most definitely not.
I was a terribly gawky child, who grew up to be a terribly gawky adult. Admittedly I could have put more effort into my appearance, but it was something I never bothered with since there wasn't really a point. My hair was frizzy, red and so full of tangles that it stood on end, piled at the top of my head. My face was covered in unladylike freckles, a by product of being out picking herbs all day in the sun. And as for my figure – well I didn't have one. In fact, the villagers often called me troll, saying that I looked like I belonged under a bridge somewhere, scaring travellers.
But with Princess Riona as a friend I never much cared about their jeers, even when she adopted the nickname as one of her own. It made me feel important in a strange sort of way, to even be noticed by such a noble lady. I knew that I couldn't ever amount to much, and as such I put all of my faith in her. I would have done absolutely anything that she asked of me without question, and I often did -though by doing so I usually found myself in rather unorthodox situations.
Take today for instance. The Princess was with Eughan, one of her father's knights, in the stables tending to her horse - but she asked me to keep watch and cover for her if need be, and so that was what I was going to do. Why she couldn't just admit what she was doing I'd never know. But my mother was too busy with the poor Queen to notice that I was gone anyway, and King Aengus was occupied with a visiting noble. Hence, Riona had assumed that we would be relatively safe in our plan – or more accurately her plan.
I waited for her for quite some time, pacing about her chambers. When I heard the door open I spun around quickly, since I had already invented a variety of excuses for her if her father or mother came looking. Thankfully though, it was neither of them, but the princess herself, as pristine as ever, even with slightly dishevelled hair. Something that was bound to happen when grooming a horse I supposed.
"Thank you for looking out for me troll! You are such a good friend. Father would simply die if he knew what I was doing with Eughan." She laughed, the sound echoing through her rooms like the tinkling of soft bells. Mine resembled the braying of a donkey, and so I was always disinclined to join in.
"Speaking of which my lady, do you think it is such a good idea to be fraternizing with him? Think of your upcoming engagement to the Crown Prince of Tyrin." I said, causing the princess to roll her green eyes.
"Haven't you heard? There is to be no engagement. Tyrin has suffered a political coup and is now under the leadership of Lord Malachi. He's apparently a powerful sorcerer - if you believe in such drivel. Nevertheless, he murdered the entire royal family." She said, sitting down in front of her mirror while motioning for me to fix her hair.
"That's horrible. Those poor people." I mused sadly as I picked up her silver brush and ran it through her golden locks.
"I suppose, though it gets me out of marriage to the Prince. I've heard that he was a giant bore anyway." She chuckled.
I didn't reply. Frankly I wasn't sure what to say since the way I saw it, the murder of an entire family was absolutely awful, and nothing to take so lightly. Then again my opinion didn't really count for overly much, and perhaps if I was in her position I would feel the same way she did. I didn't have much more time to dwell on the subject however, as a knock on the door summoned me to meet my mother. It was time for me to return home.
Curtsying, I left the princess' chambers and headed towards the exit of the castle, where I knew my mother would be waiting. I heard her before I saw her.
"Hurry now Kaileigh, it's getting dark!" She called out to me, and so I quickened my pace.
"How is the Queen mother?" I asked, as I did at the end of every day.
"Fast improving - But we shall need to collect some Dewmera herb tomorrow morning." She said in her generally stoic manner. My mother wasn't a woman that showed much emotion. Not to me, not to anyone. That didn't mean that she was a bad person or anything, I just think she had a hard time opening up to anyone since my father died shortly after I was born.
I didn't remember anything about him, but when I was a child mother always used to say how he was brave, handsome, kind and strong –no man could ever live up to him. I wished that we could have met, and I often wondered if I looked like him, since I certainly didn't resemble my mother at all. It was true she had red hair as well, but it was more of a subdued auburn colour then that of my flaming tresses. Besides, she was beautiful, and even her wrinkles were dignified. But even though she always maintained a cool demeanour, and our conversations weren't exactly the most familial, I always knew that she loved me. When I was a little girl, she would always tuck me into bed and sing me to sleep and sometimes if I had a particularly bad day, she still would.
"Mother, Princess Riona said something interesting today, about Tyrin. She said that it was taken over by a man claiming to be a sorcerer, and that the royal family was killed. Is King Aengus planning anything to offer the citizens aid?" I asked, the idea of the slaughtered family still at the back of my mind. It seemed to me that if a man was willing to murder the nobles of Tyrin he wouldn't hesitate to harm its people either. And what if Whitecliff was next? My mother tended to overhear a lot of royal discussion and so I hoped she would know the answer.
"The Princess was correct. As for what is to be done, I doubt the king will act. It is far too dangerous, and Tyrin is much too large of a kingdom to risk angering. Especially under the rule of a tyrant."
"But how does one simply take over a kingdom? Surely just by killing its leaders isn't enough." I wondered.
"I fear my child, that politics has never been a strength of mine. Nor should it concern you. Your life is here, not in Tyrin, and it is not productive to think of things which you cannot change." She stated firmly. It wasn't exactly the answer I had been looking for, but there was nothing to be done of it. She was right; I needed to remember my place in the grand scheme of things. Mother didn't approve of my friendship with Riona.
She had told me time and time again that the princess was only using me to achieve her own ends, and that the very moment my usefulness had ended I would be discarded. It always hurt to hear such things, though in the end I knew that she was right, I couldn't help myself from keeping the only friendship I had. I think it frustrated her though; as such a relationship would bother any mother. Perhaps she viewed it as her own fault, since I could hardly befriend village children because of suspicions cast on her.
I stayed quiet for the rest of the walk to our small home on the outskirts of Whitecliff Village. There were no villagers out and about at this time of night, everyone was already safe in their homes, and the warm glow of firelight shone through thatched windows and doors.
Whitecliff wasn't overly populated, but it was a beautiful country, full of rolling green hills, and on the coast of a great ocean. The vast majority of its people were farmers, though we were known far and wide for our blacksmithing capabilities. A sword forged in the city of Whitecliff was one worth having, be you a noble, warrior or commoner, and all of the blacksmiths in town were made ridiculously wealthy due to all of their clients.
This city was all I had ever known, the sound of cattle or of hammer hitting steel was overly familiar, and I couldn't say that I was uncomfortable living where I did – rumours about my mother aside.
Nonetheless I couldn't stop myself from wanting more, but just what more was seemed to elude me.