Disclaimer: We own the three Kingdoms, but most of the characters are not ours.
A/N Tinuviel Undomiel: This idea came to me one day and I had to run with it. It is a four parter story, very different from our other fantasy story The Five Heroes. I hope you enjoy it.
A/N Nerwen Aldarion: This is one of my favorite stories to write, I love the fun characters of Atlantis and I love being able to throw them into a story like this. I can't wait for y'all to read it.
Part I
The Princess
Prologue: End of a Reign, Beginning of a Journey
Surrounded by a vast ocean lay three kingdoms of men. Legends spoke that they shared a common ancestor, but that was all they had in common. Peruthna was a merchant kingdom rich of trade and gold, but known for its cowardly kings and crafty viziers. Across the Gorjian Desert lay Tior, a mess of a realm whose lords constantly battles for a crown few could remember to whom it really belonged. Past the Tireshan Mountains was Abolingea, the greatest kingdom. Abolingeans lived in peace and comfort with strong kings and the majestic chalice for protection.
Hundreds of years ago, a young Abolingean king was sailing the Rynak Sea when he came upon a ship floundering in the blue waves. The king saved the twenty passengers who were unlike any race he had seen. They came not from Ralonna, the small kingdom west of Abolingea surrounded by the Rynak, but from the unknown realm of Mateirna. The twenty men and women were magical beings called sorcerers. The young king brought them to Abolingea and gave them the asylum they needed. Mateirna has fallen to a great enemy of the sorcerers and the passengers were the last of their kind. In return for his kindness, the sorcerers presented the king with a golden chalice. Once a year the Abolingean king would pour holy water from the sacred well blessed by the sorcerers into the Scrian River, and Abolingea's crops would grow tall, and the kingdom's wealth would flourish.
With the king's bidding, the sorcerers built a guild not far from Aurona Palace. Many intermarried among humans and, to their surprise, the children of these unions possessed an equal power to their sorcerer parent.
For hundreds of years, the Abolingeans and sorcerers lived in peace. The royal line of Abolingea welcomed the sorcerers into their court with friendly hospitality. Each year, the chalice would bless the land as long as it was in the king's possession.
500 years after the chalice was gifted to Abolingea, King Mercan married Princess Lishta of Ralonna. The people blessed their marriage since it was not out of convenience, but the two monarchs truly loved each other. However, the happiness didn't last when a strange and evil enemy sailed in from the Rynak Sea. These beasts, called Idrilkai, looked like humans but could take the form of any animal of man. Their first attack came upon the Sorcerer's Guild which happened so unexpectedly that the sorcerers were defenseless. Within a day the guild was destroyed and every sorcerer killed.
The Idrilkai were led by ruthless king Rujjik, who fixed his eye upon the humans of Abolingea. For four years, the Idrilkai swept the countryside, but didn't dare to attack Aurona Palace. The sacred chalice continued to protect its master faithfully.
As the war raged in Abolingea, Queen Lishta gave birth to a daughter, Princess Elizabeth. That was the last joy Abolingea had. Eight years after the sorcerers were massacred; Rujjik boldly attacked Aurona Palace in secret—going straight for the heart. The chalice was plucked from its holy resting place by an Idrilkai spy, leaving no defense for King Mercan.
Lightning flashed across the sky but no rain fell to refresh the ground. Mercan was in his study hopelessly watching as the Idrilkai stormed his palace. His men put up an honorable fight, but it was impossible to discern which was friend or foe when the Idrilkai took the form of his soldiers. Mercan turned away from the window and picked up his sword. No more sitting back and watching as his men died, if this was the end he was going to fight with them.
Shouts from the hallway drew his attention towards the door. Seth, his closest friend, burst into the room, "Your majesty we must get you out of here."
Mercan shook his head. Abolingea was about to crumble, but he wasn't relinquishing his kingdom without a fight. "Get my wife and daughter out of this palace," he ordered his friend as he unsheathed his sword.
Seth knew he would never change his mind which is why he didn't protest, just nodded as he left to room to obey his king.
Mercan battled the Idrilkai as he tried to reach his wife's chambers. A handsome man with black hair and brown eyes dresses in obsidian armor crossed swords with the king, "Will you fight or be a coward King Mercan?" It was Rujjik, Mercan knew this even though it was the first time he had ever clapped eyes on him.
"I will fight for my kingdom."
"Brave words, but your chalice isn't here to protect you now," Rujjik sneered.
King and enemy fought fearlessly, the custody of a kingdom resting on the power of their skill. However, Rujjik was no great swordsman. When the Abolingean king's sword cleaved Rujjik's in two, Mercan placed his sword tip at Rujjik's throat. "With your death," Mercan declared, "Abolingea will be free."
A bloodcurdling scream sounded from the Queen's rooms and Mercan recognized it to be his beloved Lishta.
Rujjik saw his advantage and stabbed Mercan in the heart with the broken blade, "Now Abolingea is mine," he whispered as death closed the noble king's eyes.
Seth sidestepped bodies and fleeing servants as he ran to the Princess's rooms. The Queen's Quarters had been overrun with Idrilkai, and he could tell that it was too late to rescue her.
Martha, Princess Elizabeth's nurse, opened the door a crack when he banged on it for entry, "Oh Seth, is it really you?"
"Yes," he assured her, "we must get the princess out of here."
"To where?" Martha asked, "Abolingea has fallen. There is no where safe for her."
"The arrangements have been made," Seth pushed open the door and walked into the room.
The sweet little princess was bundled up in her rich furs and clutching a little doll to her pale face. Even at four years old, it could be seen that she would grow into a beauty like her mother. Queen Lishta has the same curly brown hair and fair skin, but the princess had her father's emerald eyes. Her gay little spirit was frightened now as thunder crashed across the sky.
A great roar of cheers sent Seth back to the door, "What is it?" Martha asked fearfully.
Seth looked at the nurse with a grave face, "The king is dead."
As soon as it was said, Martha's face crumbled and she sobbed into her hands, "It is over."
The heavy clomping of boots stomping towards the door mad Seth pull out his sword, "Not yet," he told her, "Get the princess out of Abolingea. As long as she lives, Abolingea will too." He opened the door to battle the incoming onslaught.
Martha's face went pale as she could hear the clanging of swords. She knew that it was hopeless. There was no escape.
"Martha, look!" the princess cried and pointed at a large tapestry on one of her walls.
It was pushed aside and a young boy with messy brown hair rushed into the room from a hidden passage, "Count Hammond sent me," he told her breathlessly, "This is the only way out."
Of course, Martha hadn't thought about the servant quarters.
"Hurry," the boy urged as he ushered her inside. He grabbed the princess's hand and passes her to the nurse. The green bracelet of Ralonna glass slipped off her slender wrist and into his hand.
The boy closed the wall and pushed the tapestry backing place. At that moment the door crashed open and several Idrilkai soldiers marched into the room, "Where is the princess?" the leader demanded.
The eight year old looked up at the much larger man, "What princess?" That earned him a cuff on the side of the head that sent him crashing to the floor.
"Search the palace," the lead soldier barked, "Bring him to the others."
The young boy didn't know what that meant, but at that moment he didn't care. Instead he focused on the tiny green bracelet clutched in his fingers.
And thus a kingdom fell to the sound of evil cheering and good people weeping. The Abolingeans that survived either fled or the misfortunate ones were forced into slavery to be ruled by the Idrilkai and their treacherous king Rujjik. So the people suffered but none so much as a noblewoman whose heart was pure as gold but whose fate was black as night…
The young woman stared out the window from her room in the castle overlooking the barren land. Her light brown hair rustled in the breeze as tears slid from her pale green eyes down her cheeks. Her hands slid over her stomach and the rich fabric of her dress did nothing to hide the slight bulge of her belly.
When the castle fell many of the ladies of court had been trapped and left at the mercy of the Idrilkai. Most were raped and forced to be mistresses to the Idrilkai high court, only one of them was saved. Saved for an even worse fate.
It had been three months since the ritual that has placed her in this situation, the ritual that had forced her to conceive a child, Rujjik's child.
How she hated what fate had forced her to bear, she hated Rujjik even more than she hated the child. She had always wanted to be a mother but to give birth to a child of evil was more than she could tolerate. Her anger burned at her life, anger that was directed at the child.
She heard footsteps in the hallway and turned to see one of the Idrilkai servants that had been assigned to attend her every need. "Only the best for my child," Rujjik had boasted and toasted the coming babe when it was announced; all the while she had sobbed.
"You're evening meal," the Idrilkai said placing the food by the bed.
"Thank you," She told him, "Could you please light the lamps, it is getting rather dark in here."
He walked to one of the lamps that was mounted on the wall and reached to light it, all the while she was creeping behind him a jug of water in her hand. She brought the jug crashing down on his head and rendered him unconscious.
She quickly gathered a bag that she'd had prepared for along time ago and raced from the room
The castle was in an uproar as they searched for the king's missing mistress, and the child she carried. Every room was searched but they were in such a hurry everyone missed the young woman in a cape sneak through the halls and run from castle in the dead of night. She planned to find a town far away from the castle, as far away from Rujjik as possible.
Rujjik searched the surrounding lands for the child for year. He was desperate to find his heir, a desperation that grew as time passed. Few knew that the king was steadily growing weaker and even fewer knew the reason for his failing health. But twenty years passed and the heir was considered lost.
For years Abolingea seemed lost to its surviving people, but as King Mercan's friend said, as long as the princess lived, Abolingea would survive.
Far off in Peruthna, a young girl lived in a quiet village, unaware of what her true heritage was.
A/N: I hope you enjoy the prologue, now read on to chapter one. Oh and do review please.