Disclaimer: All the wonderful Twilight characters belong to Stephenie Meyer, but the story 'Tragic Lovely' belongs to me.

I would like to clear one thing up with the disclaimer-although I did write this story, much of the storyline is taken from the story 'Wicked Lovely' by Melissa Marr.

Enjoy!

Prologue

Third Person POV

The Summer King sank to his knees before her. 'Is this what you freely choose, to risk winter's chill?"

She watched him-the boy she had fallen in love with. She had never dreamed he was inhuman, but his skin glowed as if flame flickered beneath the surface, so strange, yet so beautiful that she could not bring her eyes away. "It's what I want, and I am sure."

'You understand that if you are not The One, you will carry the Winter Queen's chill until the next mortal risks herself? And you will warn them?" He paused, looking at her with pain in his eyes.

Not trusting herself to speak, the girl simply nodded.

"If the next mortal refuses me, you will tell the next girl and the next and not until one accepts, will you be free of the cold." He had moved closer, his face leaning in towards her.

"I understand." She tried to smile reassuringly. Quietly, she approached the nearby hawthorn bush. The leaves that decorated the bush brushed against her arms. She reached underneath it.

Her hand wrapped around the Winter Queen's staff. It was plain, and very worn. Countless hands had clenched around the wood. It was the hands of those other girls who was once in her place, but she did not want to dwell on that.

She stood up, hopeful, but afraid.

Behind her, the Summer King moved closer. The trees rustled, creating an almost deafening sound. Brightness from his skin, his hair, intensified. The girl's shadow fell in front of her.

He whispered, reverently, "Please. Let her be the one…"

She held the Winter Queen's staff and hoped.

For a moment, she believed.

But suddenly, ice pierced her, and filled her like shards of glass in her veins.

The girl screamed. "KEENAN!"

She stumbled towards him, but he was already walking away, no longer glowing, no longer looking at her.

The girl, Donia, was alone. With no one but a wolf for companionship, she waited to tell the next girl how it was stupid to trust him, to love him.

:)

-BellaJ