The Kingdom of Amouria was a beautiful land, covered in lush forests, golden fields, and colorful flowers.
The Kingdom of Amouria had but one royal family. The King and the Queen. The King desired an heir. The Queen proved unable to produce an heir. The King belittled her for this, blaming her if their royal family line ended due to no successor. Riddled with guilt for her incapability, the Queen encouraged her husband, The King, to take a mistress of lower status in secret, of her choosing. With the intent to reduce the castle staff and deceive them few remaining into the notion of the Queen being ill with child. Once the child was born they raise the child as if he was their own full blood, as the first prince of Amouria and open the castle once more.
Nobody would know the wiser, except the birth mother. Who under order of the Queen was to remain anonymous during conception, she was to speak not a word, keep her head shrouded, and upon pain of death would be silenced if she disobeyed these orders. The King accepted the company of a mistress of lower status in his bed chamber. When it was known she was with child within one month's time, he never saw her again. Nine months later the mistress bore him a son. This mistress was monetarily compensated by the Queen and sent away, never to be seen or heard from again. The first and only prince of the Kingdom of Amouria was presented to his Father, the king by his wife the Queen. Their family now finally seemingly perfect. The castle was fully staffed once more and the kingdom was in full celebration.
Despite having much to celebrate and be thankful for The King was a bitter man who ruled in the shadows of the throne room and was rarely seen by anyone but the Queen and their son. The dauphin grew and good health and sharp mind. He was learned in ways of literacy and politics. He had all the appearances of his father, except his eyes. He had his mother's eyes. Blue as a summer sky, it was a striking contrast compared to his parents who bore brown eyes. Then the Plague swept through the land. Not even the castle was safe. The Queen fell into the grasp of death and The King's bitterness deepened into cruelty and hate for the world around him for what had happened. For the lost of his wife. For the extreme measures they had to take to get him a son. For all the trials he had endured in this life. He took this out on his 10 year old son the most, turning the child who once was sensitive and astute, into a beast much like his father.
The people prospered, despite living in the shadow of their king. Few people had ever seen the king; though rumor said he was a hideous beast. As the years went by, seasons came and went. Crops would be planted and harvested, and then winter would come. Cold winds would bring snow and ice to the land, shrouding the kingdom in white.
The dauphin grew into a young man be selfish and cruel just like his father. When his father died in autumn, the year dauphin turned 20 years of age he found himself alone to rule the kingdom. After his father was laid to rest and he was coronation as the new King of Amouria he went on a royal hunt alone.
The young king was a skilled marksman. He came upon a young deer. Not even that of a yearling buck, but a fawn that still had its spots. His cruelty held now bounds and he steadied his arrow to fly. Just before he released his arrow a Raven came swooping down and startled his Arabian steed named Thunder. Thunder had been treated in equally cruel manner and was often found trying to escape the royal stables. Thunder reared onto his back legs in surprise, nearly throwing the king off of him. The arrow did not meet its intended target and the young fawn vanished. The King had released his weapon and the horse damaged it when all four hooves met the ground once more. The King was upset at the horse for rearing suddenly, for making him miss his shot of the fawn, for damaging his weapon. In a fit of rage the King secured the horse and began to strike the animal.
"Stop." A woman's voice called and he did stop to look about him. "Who dares to say that? I am the King of Amouria. I demand you show yourself." He demanded. A woman with summer blue sky eyes and fair hair as golden as sunlight rays she stepped out into sight. Dressed in commoner clothing, she was not extraordinarily beautiful but she wasn't hideous either.
"I ask you to stop your cruelty and change your heart, for yourself, for your kingdom, and for your mother." The woman asked of him and the King scoffed at her, replying. "My mother is dead, and so is my father. It is I who rules this kingdom now and I will do so however I please. Now be gone or you will be next to feel my ire after I am done with this beast."
The woman with mournful eyes she said, "It is you who is the beast." The King had had enough of this strange woman's antics. He turned to face her once more and found himself face to face with a beautiful enchantress. Against his pleas of forgiveness she cursed him and his body changed into that of a beast. The storm grey Arabian horse broke from his restraint and fled from the scene.
The Enchantress spoke, "Until you learn to love another and earn their love in return, only then will the spell upon you be broken. If you cannot, you will remain a beast for all eternity. Remember this, only love can thaw a frozen heart." Repulsed by his haggard appearance he fled from the sight of the enchantress and back to the castle. Where he confined himself to ruling from the shadows, just like his father.
That was the year where winter did not leave. The winds grew stronger, bringing more and more bitter cold air with them. The kingdom grew weak. There was little food and the people were starting to lose hope. Then, one day a letter arrived at every home in the kingdom: there was to be a ball held at the palace. Everyone was invited, and everyone went. The time spent in the palace was grand.
That was until one of the guests went missing. A young woman was escorted from the ballroom and was never seen again. Spring returned for a short time, and then winter crashed back down upon the land. And another ball was held. People were skeptical and did not want to attend, but they had no choice. Yet another guest went missing, another woman. The parties continued annually. Everyone in the kingdom was forced to go and every year, another person was escorted away. Most years it was a woman, one year it was a man. It has been six years since the beginning and winter is coming, after yet another short spring. It is time for another masquerade.