Once upon a time, there were two fraternal kingdoms, united in peace and in the faith of benevolent deities : the kingdom of Piltover and the realm of Zaun. At this time, people lived in harmony with each other and with ancient magic that freely roamed these blessed lands : the world was beautiful and untainted by the violence of war and fratricide.
However, after centuries of peaceful coexistence, the first day of a series of misfortunes came when Zaun tried to invade Piltover, triggering a war as long as it was deadly. Piltover had no choice but to retaliate : while Zaunites distinguished themselves by their prowess with weapons, Piltovans were always known as being wonderful battlemages. The situation balanced out and it even seemed that Piltover would succeed in subduing its enemy ; but the cunning and felonious lords of Zaun ordered their most infamous wizards and sorcerers to curse the luxuriant lands of Piltover. If they had succeeded, it would have been the end of the glorious civilisation of Piltover…
Thankfully, a saviour appeared : the ancient Elvish Mage, Heimerdinger. Elves were extremely rare creatures, blessed with the purest and powerfulest magic that could exist. Mage Heimerdinger summoned a gigantic magical barrier between Piltover and Zaun, thus reflecting the evil spells and curses coming from the other side to infect Piltovan people. All the dark, demonic magic was redirected towards Zaunite lands, cursing them forever, making the soil infertile and killing or corrupting the remaining nature. The realm of Zaun caused its own destruction three hundred years ago, and Zaunites were still paying the price of their ancestors' hybris.
Or at least, that's what was taught to Piltovan children for centuries.
Caitlyn, on her side, had always felt a hint of fascination toward Zaun. These people lived in such desolated lands, but they always found a way to survive - and not only to survive ! Zaunite knights and soldiers were still known for their impressive talent and raw strength. Even if only a few people were aware of this fact, there were still powerful wizards and sorcerers in Zaun - of course, not powerful enough to threaten the kingdom of Piltover, nor their protector Heimerdinger, who sat as the highest counsellor of the royal family since immemorial time. Nevertheless, these people were so mysterious and intriguing - especially from the point of vue of a young princess who had never been allowed to leave the Royal Castle without a ridiculous amount of bodyguards.
Today, as usual, the blue-haired lady was sitting next to the window in the highest tower facing south - facing the realm of Zaun. All of our story could have ended here, with this lonely princess lost in thoughts and dreams of freedom and adventure. All could have been different : she could have stayed here, gaze lost in the distance - in the not so distant black mountains of Zaun -, waiting sadly for her destiny to be fulfilled by the will of others - to be married to a foreign lord or lady from the mighty Empire of Noxus, from the far Kingdom of Demacia or even from the cold lands of Freljord, as expected for a well-behavioured princess of Piltover. All could have been as planned by Queen Cassandra, Caitlyn's mother - and what exactly could have been ? Perpetuation of the cycle of violence ; never ending cold war ; silenced suffering of a whole people. All of this could have been, but it never happened.
Because by pure chance, Caitlyn looked down and saw her. A pink-haired young female knight who, also by pure chance, looked up at this exact same moment.
Their gazes met. The sad deep blue eyes dived into the bright light blue-grey ones. It was only a moment - a moment which changed the whole destiny of the two, once twin, kingdoms.
Princess Caitlyn eventually blinked, and the magic was broken. The knight was no more staring at her.
The blue-haired woman then noticed that the pink-haired one was handcuffed and escorted by four guards. "She is a prisoner…" Caitlyn thought in astonishment. Indeed, it was the most likely explanation to her dirty, damaged yet high-quality leather armour, the absence of her sword at her belt and even the furious yet resigned expression on her face. They were leading her right to the Trial Room of the Castle, which was at the base of the South Tower.
All of this was enough to arouse Caitlyn's curiosity. She hurried out of the room and rushed towards the stairs to go down. She wasn't going to the front entrance of the Trial Room, but to its back door.
Once she reached the back door of the Trial Room, she hid for a few seconds in a dark corner to steady her breath and to make herself as silent as she could. If a guard spotted her, they would tell her mother who would be upset : Caitlyn was not supposed to attend the trial of an unknown knight - at this point, the princess hypothesised that the pink-haired woman had committed a violation of the code of chivalry (given her rebellious appearance, it would not have been surprising). Would she be banned from the Order ? For a strange, unsettling reason, Caitlyn hoped not.
The prisoner was certainly already in the room. The blue-haired princess sneaked carefully through the little back door. She knew the place very well, as she used to play here when she was a kid : the first thing she did after entering the room was to hide herself behind the closest large marble column, a few feet from the door. Her heart was beating quickly and for a moment, she closed her eyes, hoping that nobody saw her. She listened : nobody was approaching her. She heard the voice of a clerk reading a list of accusations in a weak, monotonous and unintelligible voice, which made it impossible for her to understand clearly what was going on.
Caitlyn glanced furtively behind the column and catched a glimpse of the scene : in the middle of the circular room stood the pink-haired knight - which was significantly smaller than what the princess had firstly imagined ; a dozen of guards were split all around, two of them holding the knight's strong arms ; finally, the judge (Caitlyn didn't know his name) with two clerks was facing the prisoner from above and, by his side, knight Marcus Rem in person !
Marcus was the second-in-command of General Grayson, the knight lady in charge of the defence of Piltovan borders. While the woman had always aroused Caitlyn's admiration and respect, Marcus always appeared as an unpleasant intriguer in the princess' eyes.
Maybe… maybe the unknown knight was under General Grayson's command, as a member of the borders' defence ? Caitlyn couldn't suppress her sudden excitement : this woman had probably travelled through so many distant lands, had probably seen so many foreign beasts and marvels ! How she envied her ! A strange impulse pushed her to come closer and talk to the pink-haired girl, despite all the guards and the judge. The princess bit her lip and repressed the sudden emotion : she had to stay discrete after all ! Plus, she really wanted to know why the knight was attending court…
She jumped slightly when she suddenly heard a familiar voice : knight Marcus was talking.
"Your Honor, before you start the interrogation, you have to know this woman had never earned the title of 'knight'. Therefore, the Code nor the Order's protection would not apply to her…
"You're lying, you bastard !" the pink-haired girl exclaimed loudly. "I AM a knight, I have been knighted…
"...by Vander Warwick, the felonious king of Zaun" Marcus interrupted meanly. "Your title is worthless in Piltovan lands."
Caitlyn merely gasped : she would never have guessed that the prisoner was a knight of Zaun ! Everyone always told her that Zaunites were ugly, filthy, disgusting people, with almost non-human corrupted appearances : the pink-haired girl with grey eyes and cute freckled cheeks was totally on the opposite of this description !
Wait… why was she internally using the word "cute" to describe the woman's cheeks ?
The princess had no more time to overthink about her feelings, because now the judge was talking in a pompous, overly ceremonial voice :
"Violet, adopted by the criminal Warwick clan of Zaun, you are accused by the Supreme Court of unleashing forbidden fire magic in the lands of Piltover, then orchestrating the murder of General Grayson Shohreh of Piltover, who was sent in Zaun in order to investigate and find the culprits of this terrible attack on our lands."
This time, it was hard for Caitlyn not to let out a cry of surprise.
"Ge…General Grayson… dead ?! What ? How ? When ?! Why didn't anyone tell her ?!". Even if the princess was not that close to Grayson, who rarely came to the capital, she still had some precious memories of the old woman : when she was younger, the General saw her secretly practising archery and, instead of reporting it to her mother, helped her to improve her training. When Caitlyn was fourteen years old, there was an archery tournament at the royal court : the young princess participated and won the prize against Grayson, who let her win. At first, Caitlyn was furious against the knight ; but then, when Grayson explained she did this to help Caitlyn prove her talent to her parents, she understood that the old woman was benevolent, almost considering her as her protégé.
And now… Grayson has been murdered… by THIS woman…?
No… Caitlyn could not believe it.
Before she rushed out through the back door, almost knocked out by her conflicted feelings, the princess of Piltover only managed to hear the final sentence:
"Violet Warwick, for your crimes, you will spend the rest of your life in the dungeon of the Royal Castle !"