Chapter one

16 years later

"Ha! Give it up sis, you're no match for me!"

"Wanna bet?" I said as he aimed his weapon at my head. I ducked and swayed to the side, easily avoiding the wooden sword; at the same time trying to hit him in the ribs, and sadly failing. He'd seen it coming and jumped back. I growled low in my throat and he laughed condescendingly.

"Sure, I'll bet! I bet you couldn't hit the broad side of a barn!" he said as he laughed and started backing away, trying to move our sparring match away from the snowy training ground and into the garden where I'd known he'd set up traps. I wasn't about to let that happen. I focused my magic on a certain spot behind him, willing the snow to turn to ice, and smiling as it worked and my obnoxious brother stepped on the ice and fell flat on his butt. Without wasting a second chance I manuvered myself right in front of him and placed the end of my own wooden sword at his throat.

He glared up at me, nostrils flaring and strands of snowy white hair, not unlike my own, falling into his face. "Hey, no fair! You cheated! You know using magic in martial arts duels is against the rules!" he yelled. I widthdrew my sword and glared down at him.

"Oh, is that so brother dearest?" I asked in a fake sweet voice as he got up, still glaring.

"Why ask when you know it is!" he yelled.

"Leave it to a girl to cheat!" said the ever rude and always annoying Barron as he wiped away strands of red hair that had fallen to cover his red eyes. Barron is my brother's best friend, so naturaly he's always here. It was his stupid mouth that had started the duel, so is was no surprise that once the duel ended he would walk over to be annoying.

Raina and my two friends Skye and Mara had walked over. Raina had come to look at my brother with her love struck smile and was batting her long eyelashes at him. He didn't seem to notice her. 'I guess he's not into blue eyes, or maybe he just doesn't like blondes?' I thought with a mental shug. It didn't make a difference to me, so I turned my attention back to my brother's obnoxious friend.

"Watch what you say Barron, last I checked it's also against the rules to set up traps," I said in a dangerously quiet voice just loud enough to hear before turning my pale eyes onto my brothers matching ones "Isn't that right, brother?" His glare heated up but he managed to refrain from growling, barely. He then turned to Barron, and with a quick "Let's go," they left with the spoiled brat Raina following at their heals, swooning over my brother. As I watched her I couldn't help but think 'She makes me sick'.

"Wow, Aryanna, you really kicked that clowns butt!" cheered Skye, drawing my attention back to her and Mara as she did a peace sign, making her medium length brown hair get in her face. She didn't bother tucking it back behind her ear though as she started laughing, making me laugh also.

As I looked at Mara I saw that she was smiling from ear to ear just trying not to burst out laughing. Her joy was filling her light blue eyes. 'It seems their smiling's contagious, because I can't stop smiling back' I thought as I caught my breath enough to joke along with my friends.

"Well what did you expect? You didn't honestly think that I'd let my fool of a brother beat me, did you?" I asked smugly. Skye and Mara laughed at the thought.

"No way, you had Azreal beat from the start, no question about it." Skye'd said with a wave of her hand as she laughed at my brother's expence. Mara however sobered up, though she didn't lose her smile.

"You were wonderful Miss Aryanna, just splendid!" she said politely while nodding her head, making her dark blue hair bounce slightly. I nodded with a smile.

"So, what do you suppose we do now?" I asked as we started to head away from the training grounds, laughing and joking all the while. I hadn't noticed that my mother, Queen Lilac Larcet Marienatte, had been watching. Maybe if I had I would have seen the sad look in her eyes at how poorly Azreal and I got along, or maybe I would have seen the first signes of her illness. As it was I hadn't seen her and so I continued on with my friends for the rest of the day until their parents came and picked them up.

Later that night, after I'd bathed and dressed in my lovley white nightgown I headed towards my room to sleep. On my way I'd passed Azreal's room and overheard something like crying. With my curiosity piqued I couldn't help but listen in.

"Why? What caused this to happen? How'd this turn out so wrong?"

'What's he talking about?'

"Why do we have to fight? We used to get along so well! Why'd that go away? We used to be good siblings. What happened? I miss the old days when we were little."

I couldn't listen anymore and decided to hurry to my room before I was caught, and before I started crying to. Once in my room I layed in my bed and cried silently into my pillow. It was true, we used to be close. We loved each other, we were siblings after all.

But time changes things, and the real world caught up with us. We weren't meant to be close. As soon as he'd befriended Barron and I befriended Skye our own friendship died. He'd spent countless hours with Barron, and as a result spent countless time with Kazar. Throughout that time his head was filled with sexist ideas from a chovanistic pig.

While, on the other hand, I had spent my time with Skye and her mother Serina. Serina was kind, but she had very different view points. Serina was a feminist, so in my time with her I learned that girls are just as good, if not better than boys.

We basically grew up with our friends, and in the process we grew apart.

'Sigh, there's nothing we can do about it now.' I thought as I got out of bed and walked over to my vanity. I sat at my chair, grabed my brush, and started brushing the knots out of my hair before it was time to go to bed. As I was doing this I watched myself in my mirror and saw my most prized possesion. My snowflake necklace that was normally tucked into my dress.

I'd reached up and grabbed it, holding it tight in my palm. It was the last thing Azreal had given me when we were kids. He'd worked so hard to make it. I never took it off. It used to fill me with such happyness. As I grew it filled me with hope that maybe some way, some how, Azreal and I could one day be as close as we used to be.

But the happyness ended, and the hope died. Now there's nothing but pain and the sad realization that we will never have what we once had.

A week later

"Ready! Set! Spar!" Keith, our instructor, yelled before moving to the side lines opposite our mother as Azreal and I went into our fighting stances. In this sparring match we weren't using wooden swords but instead our bare fists. 'Think, think, okay, let's see, Azreal's stronger and bigger then me, but I'm faster. If I move quick he won't be able to-'

"Queen Lilac!"

Azreal and I stopped before our sparring had even truly started. We both turned to see Keith rushing towards our mother, catching her as she fainted.

"Mom!" Azreal and I yelled simultaniously before worriedly rushing over to her prone form.