….

It was cold. Colder than most nights even for Winter territory. Through the dead and leafless trees moonlight seeped through the branches and seemed to land solely on a lone figure near the edge of the Winter Court. Despite the cold, the female fey stood absolutely still as if frozen, although she didn't even seem to be bothered by the cold. Instead, she simply twitched every time she heard a noise, and when it turned out to be nothing her face would show the slightest bit of disappointment before the emotion once again disappeared entirely. She occasionally would blink the snow out of her eyelashes, but besides that her eyes remained unfocused on the darkness ahead, as if she was waiting for something.

She whirled around when she heard footsteps approaching, although she ended up having to struggle to hide the strong disappointment when it turned out to be nothing more than a Thornguard. Thankfully, the darkness masked her expression before the guard could notice, and she quickly put up a mask of calm indifference.

'Miss Reina,' the Thornguard respectively bowed, 'what is a lady such as yourself doing so far away from the Court?'

'Just getting a little fresh air,' she whispered, "that is all.' Her face betrayed nothing as she gracefully turned back toward Winter; silver dress flowing like a river around her. The Thornguard watched her as she walked out of the light and was quickly consumed by darkness.

...

….

Chapter One

I don't know how I ended up where I did.

Truthfully, that statement kind of sums up every situation I've ever been in. All through my life I've always been the girl who would simply glide and twirl through time, never stopping to pay notice to the misfortune of others. To me life was perfect. There were no wars, no hate, no pain, and everyone was happy; well that's what I chose to believe anyway. During my early years I stayed in my grove where I was primed and pampered by servants, spoiled by the queen, and surrounded by flowers and everything I could possibly ask for. Unfortunately, perfection can never last forever, and I soon stopped twirling and saw that the world was filled with horrors and sorrows beyond my imagination.

However, over time I've learned that beauty and malevolence can often coexist. Whether it be encountering an evil king with a stunning garden; or simply looking in the eyes of the person trying to kill you and realizing that his eyes are the most brilliant shade of blue. Sometimes you only need to open your eyes a little wider in order to keep your head. In our world, beauty and danger go hand in hand, like how it is often the most beautiful of us fey that can hurt you the most; both physically and mentally.

Well, anyways, that's beside the point.

I've been told that we fey are not supposed to remember when we first came into existence. No matter how old or young we are, to us it seems that we have always been around. In fact, no one recalls when any other fey appeared either; it's like our mind tells us that they've always been here, and we just never noticed before. But in my case, I just can't help feeling that there is something that I'm forgetting. It's like there is an empty space in my mind where something once was; something important.

We fey are created by the thoughts, dreams, songs, stories, and writings of mortals. The more well known our story becomes, and more stories and accounts that there are, the more powerful we each can become.

Over my years, I've searched and searched, but no matter how many mortals I've asked, how many books I've read, songs and poems I've listened too, it was all in vain. I've found nothing. There is no record of me anywhere. No record of a dark haired Seelie princess.

Okay, well that's not entirely true. There are some ballads and poems about me, what else can you expect from a fey like myself? But the thing is, I was there when they were written. I sat there and batted my eyelashes as men sang about my beauty. None of these minor works suggest why I'm here.

Maybe I'm just looking too much into it. Not every fey can have a famous work written about them. But still… shouldn't there be something written about the Seelie Queen's daughter and proclaimed Summer Princess?

It's practically like I'm not supposed to exist.

I've been around a long time. As for how long, I'm not exactly sure. But what I do know is that I was around back in a time before technology and iron were even heard of in the faery realm. Back in a time when there were only two types of fey; Winter and Summer. As for the third type… well the third comes much later and for the time being is irrelevant.

Being a faery; I was brought up in the Nevernever. I was raised in the section known as the Summer Realm; Arcadia, or more simply; Summer.

Arcadia is home to the Seelie Court, opposed to the Unseelie whom reside in Winter; which is also known as Tir Na Nog. Arcadia is heavy with greenery with flowers and fruit which are displayed in colors unimagined by mortals. It is home to tiny winged faeries, massive trolls, elven knights, centaurs and satyrs. Summer is ruled by King Oberon and his wife Queen Titania. Queen Mab rules Winter; which by the way is Summer's complete opposite.

Winter, as the name suggests consists of, well freezing temperatures and shitloads of snow. The inhabitants aren't much warmer, to say the least. Still, I've always, secretly of course, been a fan of Winter. There's something beautiful about the shimmering, sparkling white fluffy snow that always covers the ground there. I love shimmery, sparkling, shiny things. Besides Winter is not that cold. It's quite nice actually, a nice break from the constant heat of Summer.

I'm rambling again aren't I? My apologies. I guess I should start off with some of my back-story.

The very first memory I have consists of me cowering beside a tall, beautiful woman who radiated power and was none other then the Queen of the Summer Fey. She had long; what I believed to be golden hair; however, if the lighting changed or I moved my head the right way it would appear silver. Her skin was pale, yet golden and she had startling dark blue eyes.

I remember staring in terrified silence as the women next to me screamed at a tall powerful looking man with golden-white skin, wild long silver hair, and terrifying amber eyes that sometimes appeared green. His eyes were filled with hatred, and strong gusts of wind pelted and knocked down the trees around us. Thunder pierced the sky overhead, and it seemed as if all light had dimmed in the sky. There were vines, and violent brambles that shot from the ground, and I remember hearing screams from a distance as a large vortex of wind began to form overhead.

I recall the man's head bowing down in defeat before the havoc finally ceased. Turns out that I was one of only a select few to witness a fight firsthand between Titania and Oberon the Summer King, and live. Afterwards, the Titania turned around and grabbed my arm, pulling me through a maze of bramble, that actually parted for us as we walked, and into a moonlit grove. The place we entered was where I would be trained, and kept out of the Summer King's way. It was the place which I would spend manyyears. It was the place I would soon learn to call home.

Someone once told me that it's the people that raise you that make you who you are.

Like for instance a girl born into a royal family; the daughter of a king for say, would learn to have the utmost respect, drive for power, and the ability to lead. While a girl born into a family of thieves or poor beggars would grow to learn to steal, sneak, and hate the wealthy.

But what if it's not what you learn in growing up, but what you were born to know? Is it the people who we are raised by the ones who tell us who we are? Or are we born to know and complete our destiny? Are we put into existence because one day we are going to play an important part in something that know one else can? Would a baby thief and a baby princess switched into opposite environments naturally learn to adapt to their positions and never realize something was off?

Or would the thief still constantly look over her shoulder when taking from her own castle? Would the princess still long for the extravagant dresses of royalty, never getting used to the rags that she had worn for as long as she could remember?

After years of thinking I've eventually come to the conclusion that it's a little of both. From the times that I've run away from the grove, not coming back for days after I had seen Titania feed yet another innocent servant to the hounds. I would calm myself by thinking that maybe I was meant to be different. That maybe my getting angry and running away was starting to change something in the mind of the ruthless queen.

Then, also, from the occurrences like screaming at a servant for fetching gold jewelry instead of silver, only to later realize that I had sounded exactly like Titania. It's these combinations of occurrences that make me believe that the people who raise us can only influence us to a certain extent. The other part of us is simply who we are.

Like, for instance, Titania could never make me her clone. She could never turn me into the heartless statue of a woman she was. But she did do one thing; she molded me into a warrior.

Titania's servants might have taught me how to use actual weapons, but it was the Queen herself who made me as strong as I am today. I don't mean that Titania actually sat down with me and gave me lessons on how to become cold and intimidating like her. But, as I've said before, it's the people who raise you that make you who you are. And although Titania didn't really raise me for say, her demeanor eventually rubs off on you. Besides, I had years of practice.

She taught me to always keep my head high and never give in or give up when things got tough. She taught me how to be stone cold and expressionless when the time called for it. She taught me to smile in the face of danger, to never show pain or weakness, and to laugh in the middle of battle.

Of course, I should mention that she also tried to teach me how to use glamour. She had requested that her servants teach me, and although they had tried, I just couldn't get the hang of it. Being a Summer sidhe meant that I was supposed to have summer glamour. It was completely and totally natural. And even though I looked like Winter royalty with my silver eyes and raven-black hair, in my heart I always knew that I was a true Summer Fey.

I loved Arcadia with all of my being. I would fight for it with my life. And it wasn't because of the people either, because through all of my years there, Oberon had forbid that I enter the court. So I was only allowed in the grove and the forest, which wouldn't really bother me except for the constant loneliness I had to bear, only being able to communicate with Titania and her servants. Of course there were festivals that everyone had to attend, which included me. They were the only days I could actually talk to who I wanted, as you can imagine I got a bit overwhelmed.

But anyway, I would fight for Arcadia simply because I loved the land with all of my heart. I loved the colors of the forest when the sun would start setting, I loved how it was always warm in a way that warmed and energized my very being, and I loved how I actually felt like I belonged there. Maybe I didn't belong in the Summer Court, but Summer as a whole was my home. It had to be, it was the only thing I had.

However; as much as the servants tried to teach me Summer glamour, I couldn't do it. Summer glamour was all about life, life of a fire, of a plant, of the wind. It was about controlling these life forces. Like all glamour, everyone has their own skills when using it; your glamour reflects who you are. And I don't mean the way you act either, your glamour comes from your heart, and mind, and blood, you're entire being combining with something else. Sure it goes into titles of winter and summer glamour but your real glamour is from within yourself.

And at first, the best I could do was give life to a dead flower, and sprout a new one. Big freaking whoop. And of course I also learned the basics of glamour from a couple of sidhe servants –learning the things that every faery needed to know such as blending in with humans, invisibility among mortals, and changing the appearance of things, such as a rock into a wooden chair, a shirt into a dress, those sorts of things. That usage of glamour was easy for me, as natural as breathing.

I remember Titania's face when the servants told her that they couldn't teach me Summer glamour. It was the most emotion I had ever seen on her face, almost comical, until she had the servant that broke the news to her killed. Tragic really. But that was Titania for you. She thought it was simply preposterous that someone raised under her watch couldn't learn the glamour of her own realm. So she decided to do the great honor of teaching me herself.

Now favorite or not, training under Titania is no easy matter. It was all black and white for her. It was either you completed your task, or you didn't; there was no in-between. If she wanted to see a vine wrap around a boulder, she was going to see that vine. It didn't matter if she had to post guards to make sure you didn't leave that spot, you simply were not allowed to leave until you succeeded with your task. I'm pretty sure that I was the only one that the Queen had ever trained. It's not surprising really. Patience is not really the queen's forte.

Luckily I didn't give up on things easily. Frustration and determination seemed to go hand in hand for me. Whether that's a good or a bad thing, I haven't quite figured out yet. But anyway, I would sit in one spot for days on end trying to grow a vine, or a tree. So basically I would sit and glare at a spot on the ground, for days. It all had to of been pretty comical really, I'm sure the servants got a good laugh out of it. Although, all things considered, I would eventually accomplish every task, but it took time, a lot of time. I don't know how long Titania kept me in training, but it was way too much for me to sit still for days on end. Titania's training had to of lasted years. I didn't even get a day of a break in between tasks, when Titania was serious about something, she didn't give sympathy. Well actually she didn't give sympathy at all, at any time; but that's beside the point.

Time passed and eventually even Titania realized that I couldn't possibly improve any more. I had reached my limit, which truthfully wasn't very much at all. When it came to plants, I couldn't summon vines at will to trap my opponents, or make foliage bend away at my passing. Sure I could bring plants back to life, but that was the only thing that was effortless. I could do more complex things but it took time and precision. Something I wouldn't have during battle. So in other words plants were totally useless; to me at least.

Fire, was also a lost cause. I knew how to defend myself against it, but I couldn't control it. It took time and effort for me to even start a fire, other than use it as a weapon. Yet another skill that was once again; totally useless.

But then there came wind. Now, I don't know if this was simply because Titania's strongest weapon was wind so she taught it best or not. But, one thing for certain was that controlling wind came easiest to me. It was so not useless, and I loved it.

I loved playing with the air, how if you made it go in a repeating circle it would create something of a vortex. How you could use the wind to make you run faster, or jump higher, or break your fall. How you could create wind storms, knock people down before stabbing them. It was altogether a useful skill to have during battle. And although Titania had planned for me to have the power of a Summer Princess, I could tell that she was pleased with my performance. And even after it was revealed that I could never have the true power of Summer royalty, she still treated me as if I was.

Now, Titania wasn't exactly the most motherly figure; she would treat me as any cold powerful queen would treat her princess. Although, some days I did in fact feel like she actually cared about me. Like for instance, for the longest time she would never let me leave the grove without a guard, for safety purposes. And she would kill anyone who so much as laid a finger on me, without permission that is. And she never actually physically hurt me in all my years, no matter what I did and how much I annoyed her.

Titania had rarely given me any harsh punishments. The worst punishment she bestowed on me was when she had turned me into a rat which she kept caged by her throne. I had "disgraced" her by talking and asking questions to a couple Unseelie during a gathering. She turned me back after about ten sun and moon rises, so it wasn't all that bad really. Not compared to some of the unthinkable punishments she had casted on some of her servants for simply looking at her the wrong way. Sure the queen was a stone cold extremist, but she had a soft spot for me, I know she did.

I was something of a play thing for the Queen, and truthfully, I didn't mind very much. I took any attention I could get from her. She would dress me up in the most extravagant gowns, sit me on a throne, and have her servants tend to me and treat me as a princess.

And I was their princess. I am their princess.

….

Finally the end of chapter one! The last one was the Prologue, in case you didn't know .

But I'm sorry about the really long and boring back-story. 2,999 words exactly… but I actually wrote this a while back, meaning for it to be more of a "book" and wasn't really written for Fanfiction. So we have one more chapter after this, and then it's on to the actual story! So try to bear with me here

Also, the next chapter explains how a certain princess meets a certain cat…

Oh, and the italicized part in the beginning, don't worry it becomes important later on in the story.

And thank you for the reviews; it really helps inspire me to write more :D