Chapter One: Flashback
"Caeldria," Queen Guinevere, her mother, said quietly, shaking her shoulder gently. Caeldria and Guinevere had the same delicate look and blond hair, while Caeldria had her father's skin and eye shape.
It was the call of her name and the shaking that woke her up.
"Mudder," she yawned, still half-asleep. "It not even morning…?"
"Listen, I know that you think I love your father, but my heart belongs to another. He and I are to run away tonight. Please come. You and him are the only people who understand me here."
Caeldria looked into her beseeching eyes and answered, fully awake now, "I am sorry. I can't come. My place is here, with Tedros and Father."
"Oh, I was just hoping… Never mind. Just don't ever forget me, alright?"
"Yes, of course."
Guinevere got to her feet and waved a final farewell. Caeldria knew that she should tell King Arthur, but something stopped her.
What if… she thought, What if they're in the middle of their story? What if this gigantic problem is a part of their story, err, life?
Letting herself fall victim to sleep, Caeldria wondered if anything would return to normal, or if King Arthur would remarry, and the palace, or possibly the kingdom, would fall into havoc.
"She's gone!" King Arthur exclaimed the morning after Queen Guinevere left. His emerald green eyes widened in surprise and anger. His red hair stood on end and his tan skin looked sickly. Turning to Gawain, he commanded, "Go summon Caeldria and Tedros to my quarters, Gawain. They need to know what happened."
Several minutes later, Caeldria and Tedros were gathered in his quarters. He told them all that had happened. Her surprise was for real, but she feigned horror. Tedros didn't know that it had happened, so his emotions were true.
That afternoon, King Arthur sent out a decree that if Guinevere were to come to Camelot ever again, she would die.
Caeldria and Tedros honored that decree.
One year later, King Arthur died in sadness, and Caeldria and Tedros became an orphaned prince and princess living in the castle.