The Mage Princess-Prologue and Chapter 1

Hello all,

I've reposted so you can read the prologue and part of chapter one together and hopefully this makes more sense now. I went over the 3000 word limit last night and it did not show up, so hope this works now. Any feedback is welcome. Between the Xs was in italics (in prologue) but this was not an option here.

PROLOGUE

The figure hunched over on his horse’s neck was oblivious to his surroundings. He did not notice the thick forest thinning, or the splendid view of the Castle up ahead, too absorbed in his grief. The horse stumbled, jerking her rider’s head up, but Narns' eyes saw not what lay ahead, only the scene that had taken place over a week ago in his study.

XXX

‘Narns,’ the young man closed the door with a sigh, ‘now how did I know I would find my favoured brother in here, hmm?’

‘Jaksu,’ replied the 20-year-old, not looking up from the scroll he was reading, ‘and to what do I owe the displeasure of your company?’

‘Funny, not,’ the dark haired Jaksu said, punching his brother lightly on the shoulder. ‘Narns, how many times have I told you to stop being holed up here? You know, you’d never find a bride this way.’

‘Dearest, brother,’ replied Narns, still reading, ‘I must wait until you marry.’

‘Narns!’ half yelled Jaksu, feeling thoroughly exasperated, ‘the wedding was more than two years ago! Our first child’s nearly two!’

‘Oops,’ said Narns carelessly, still refusing to look up, ‘did I say wedding? I meant for the excitement of your wedding to die down.’

‘You’re hopeless, Narns,’ Jaksu said, sounding defeated. The 22-year-old pulled up a seat next to his brother.

‘Narns,’ he began, ‘I need to ask you a favour.’

Now that got the young man to look up. ‘Yes?’

‘Well,’ he said taking a deep breath, ‘you know how much Ella loves you, right?’

‘Umm, no,’ said Narns, hesitantly.

‘Narns!’ Jaksu half yelled again.

Narns chuckled, ‘you get annoyed so easily, big brother. Yes, I suppose because, possibly, I’m the only one that does magic for her. I mean, how many others let her fly without anything to support her, hmm?’

‘You what?’ asked Jaksu, looking aghast, ‘you never really did that, did you?’

‘Oops,’ Narns said, ‘I thought you were there when I did that.’

‘What if she fell?’ demanded Jaksu.

‘You’re acting like a protective parent, Jaksu,’ teased Narns, turning back to the scroll.

‘That’s because I am, Narns,’ gritted out Jaksu, ‘can’t wait until you have yours. See what I do, then.’

‘Are you threatening me, Jaksu?’ asked Narns, casually, ‘you wanted a favour remember?’

Jaksu looked up at the ceiling like he was praying for patience. ‘Yes, Narns,’ he said, ‘I want to take Ariana on a trip and I was hoping you’d keep an eye on Ella.’

‘You’re going on a trip,’ Narns looked up again, ‘and you want me to baby-sit?’

‘Please, Narns,’ pleaded Jaksu, ‘you know you love her dearly and she absolutely adores you. Please, I really need to take Ariana away for awhile from court.’

‘I don’t know,’ Narns said glancing at his scroll, ‘I just found this scroll with a spell I’ve never seen before. It’s really, really old and I was hoping to…’

‘Oh, please,’ Jaksu interrupted, ‘only for a few weeks. And it’s not like you have to keep an eye on her all the time, just pop in once in awhile, so she sees a familiar face. Please, Narns, I would take her but Ariana thinks it’s too dangerous for a baby.’

That caught Narns’ attention. ‘And pray tell,’ he said warily, ‘where exactly are you going?’

‘We’re going by ship to her home,’ Jaksu said, in a matter of fact tone.

‘In the middle of winter!’ exclaimed Narns, ‘are you out of your mind?’

‘It’s been really warm,’ Jaksu waved him off, ‘and the weather mages predict that it would stay so for some time. We’ll sail there and come by portal on our way back, okay?’

‘No,’ Narns said, vehemently, ‘I still say you’re crazy.’

‘She loves sailing,’ Jaksu said, somewhat desperately, ‘and court has been getting to her lately. And,’ here he paused and looked immensely proud, ‘she’s expecting again.’

‘What?’ asked Narns surprised. He had known that Ariana had been getting ill lately, but he thought she was coming down with something. Narns sighed and against his better judgement he agreed to ‘keep an eye’ on Ella.

‘Thanks, Narns,’ Jaksu clapped him on the back, ‘I owe you.’

They sailed the next day at dawn and a storm hit that night. Pieces of the ship and some bodies washed up the morning after. Jaksu’s and Ariana’s bodied were never found again.

XXX

The young man dropped from his horse and sank down on the ground, burying his face in the grass. He should have stopped them. He should have made him see sense; travelling in the middle of winter on ship was suicidal.

His shoulders shook with sobs. It was all his fault. He was the only one able to think rationally; Ariana was pregnant and preoccupied with her morning sickness and Jaksu was preoccupied with distracting her. And him? All he had was a scroll which he could have studied at anytime. Anytime he wanted. But did he? No, he had to look at it then, and lost his brother and sister-in-law in the process.

Ella, he thought, wiping the tears from his eyes. He finally looked around where he was. He saw the Castle and sighed. This was it, the last of his freedom. The last of his freedom for the next fifteen years. He closed his eyes and sighed. This was no more than he deserved, he told himself. In fact, you got lucky, he thought with a bitter taste in his mouth.

He should have had an entourage of soldiers and advisers with him, but seeing him in his current state, they feared him. When he said he would go alone, they meekly accepted it, warning him that it was only for this one time.

He got up and slowly began the spell of protection. If he was not so occupied with his grief he would have thought of any travellers that might be in the vicinity. A very important thought, because as soon as the spell was in place, anyone in the vicinity of the forest of Castle Conover that was not with him would find themselves in either of their neighbouring Empires, or very, very far from where they were. Besides them being lost, they would momentarily lose sense of who they were and what they were planning on doing, leaving them very vulnerable.

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CHAPTER ONE

‘So Elaine,’ Prince Regent Narnasieus Socoda said coming to the end of his rather short talk with his niece, ‘your betrothed will be coming soon. I do hope you understand that this is what your parents wanted.’

Princess Elaine had sat quietly without interrupting her uncle once. She loved her uncle dearly and could see that it distressed him to reveal to her that she had been betrothed as a baby to Duke Darien D’kas, eldest child and only son of Duke D’kas Marnos.

Elaine curtsied to her uncle kissing his hand. ‘I know this has nothing to do with you,’ she smiled warmly, ‘you are only fulfilling your brother’s last wish; to look after me and to see to it that I marry Darien.’

Uncle Narns, as he liked to be called, smiled looking relieved. He kissed her on the forehead, ‘You are a good girl, Elaine.’

Elaine curtsied again and left her uncle to get on with his work. She needed time to think so she went to the room she used as a study and took a book from her desk. She then hurried out of the castle but slowed down once she was out in the open air.

She loved her home, this old castle away from everyone and everything. Mainly because of the freedom it afforded her. Being a princess and the sole heiress to the throne, she would normally not be allowed out of sight of bodyguards. Here, however, there was no one and nothing to fear. All staff members were trustworthy and loyal servants, tested by her uncle magically.

Most people did not even know where Castle Conover was. And those who did know would be hard put to actually find it. Castle Conover was in fact protected by very powerful magic, and very old magic which her uncle Narns reactivated. Apparently, her ancestors had build and applied the most powerful magic known in their time—now all forgotten but for the reactivating spell passed down to the heir and his immediate family—to this land to protect future heirs that might be in danger. Like herself, thought Elaine dryly.

She did not mind, the land had hundreds and hundreds of acres, mainly forested, so there was plenty to explore. Plus it was beautiful. The Castle was on a cliff, with the ocean on one side and fields on the other. Immediately beyond that was a forest full of trees where trunks were so big that five grown men surrounding it could barely touch each others’ hands. There were so many different flowers nearby which Elaine liked to pick for her nanny, Nermu. Her favoured spot was not too far from sight of the kitchen under an enormous tree.

Elaine lay down under it now, her book propped open on her tummy. Instead of reading she thought of what her uncle just told her. Her parents engaged her to Darien D’kas. Though she made out to her uncle as if she were happy with the arrangement in truth she was furious. She did not care for Darien. True, she had not seen him for nearly eight years; she did not like what she remembered of him when she was only five. He was the pompous son of the most powerful man apart from her uncle; nobles deferred to him, servants stood in awe of him and the elders fawned over him. At the age of nine he had been highly skilled both at weapons and hand combat; and scholarly, was years ahead of his age. And, according to young ladies, he was good looking.

Why is it that a fellow with a little more talent than his contemporaries acts like a pig-head? Elaine wondered annoyed.

She had seen him with his father a few times at the Castle when her uncle came to visit her. He walked here and there as if he owned the place and everyone in it. The few times he deigned to speak were to order everyone around, the look of contempt permanently etched on his face. At least, now she could understand why he was so domineering; he knew he was to be the future king when they married.

Last she remembered, Darien was standing over a small boy who was begging and pleading with him through tears. The boy was the son of one of the servants and was only six years old. She had often played with him as there were no noble children beside herself at the Castle. Darien had come with his father who had an important meeting with Uncle Narns. So when Elaine saw her friend in tears she jumped to his aid.

‘Leave him you bully!’ Elaine had yelled, putting her arm around the weeping boy. Darien had only looked down his nose at her.

‘Do not stick your nose into matters that does not concern you, princess,’ he said with a sneer, pronouncing her title as if it were an insult. ‘This is between me and this servant. Now why don’t you run along and play with your dollies?’

‘How dare you?’ Elaine could barely talk for rage, ‘This is my home, my servant and nobody threatens my people under my roof.’ Taking the boy by the hand she turned around to leave, ‘And if you don’t like that, then you can always leave.’

That had been the day Darien and his father were leaving and the last time she had seen him. She was filled with rage just thinking about it. Bad enough that he had been strutting around as if he was master of Castle Conover—and everything in it, including the people—looking down his nose at everyone, but to pick on a weak child, younger than him, was barbaric.

She suppressed the small voice at the back of her mind that said she was merely looking for an excuse to dislike him as he pointedly ignored her throughout his visits, a huge bashing to her five year old mind, especially as everyone else went out of their way to please her.

No, she thought firmly, her dislike had nothing to do with the fact she had been looking forward to meeting the boy her uncle was so fond of for the first time when he had completely shunned her company. She covered her flushed cheeks with her book.

Instead of such embarrassing thoughts, the princess fed her righteous indignation with the fact that his behaviour had been so appalling.

Was she to marry a man who had treated servants as slaves without feelings? How was he to rule justly and honourably when he had so little respect for the lower class who just happened to be the majority of his subjects? She may be the heiress to the throne, but once she married, the authority and power belonged to her husband who would become king during the wedding ceremony. For that matter she wanted to marry a just and honourable man not an arrogant fool.

That was another thing that bothered her that she could never really rule. She was merely on object necessary for bearing heirs to the throne. Once she had an heir and a ‘substitute’, then she was expendable.

Oh! thought Elaine in fury. What is wrong with a woman ruling? Surely they would make better rulers! We are kind and considerate and think of others whereas men only think of bloodshed.

Perhaps if her parents were alive she could beg them to reconsider the betrothal. Surely they would at least think about it. She did not actually remember anything about her parents as she was less than two years old when they died in an accident out on the sea. They were very kind, generous and just as she was often told by Nermu and the few people that did come to the Castle. She was also told that her father was the most powerful man, the direct descendent of Marvigen, the Kingdom’s first monarch and most powerful man that ever existed.

Most people thought that only the men inherited the powers, but women did too and often were more powerful than their male counterparts. Her mother, Ariana, was quite powerful, not like her husband, Jaksu, but more than people gave her credit for. There were very few people that possessed magic and the innate ability to control and use it safely. Those with any hint of royal blood had the potential to become a mage. In reality, very few could become one. The majority lost whatever they had when they were still children. The ones that possessed the ability were taken by master mages and taught to control their powers. Usually the male heirs were more powerful than their male contemporaries. But the female heiresses were paired off to the strongest pupil of the mages. This was the rule set down by Marvigen and his God. No one dared defy any rule set down by Marvigen lest they be cursed.

Without a doubt, Darien was the most powerful of the small lot that had powers, which is why her parents betrothed her to him. Still, he was so horrid; why could not the suitor by chosen by virtue rather than an innate ability?

If you think that then why not choose your leader based on character rather than birth? Elaine thought, it is not like anyone can choose who they are born to.

As she pondered over how unfair life was someone pulled the book from her face. Cheeks burning to have been caught unaware, they reddened even more when she saw who the person was, with anger.

‘Well, the life of a princess must be very difficult indeed. Imagine the dilemma of having to choose between lazing around in the sun, daydreaming of silly girly things or rolling around the dirt like the meanest of commoners,’ said the tall, handsome young man that stood over her.

As she had just been thinking about how unjust he was to the lower classes, her sense of righteous outrage was evoked when he spoke of mean commoners. She stood up so fast and delivered a hard smack across his face. It was evident from the shocked look on his face that was not the greeting he was expecting.

Through gritted teeth the young man said, ‘Do you know who I am?’

‘The wretched son of D'kas,’ said Elaine in distaste, noting he hardly changed since she last saw him, except in height.

‘Do you normally go around slapping people?’

‘And do you normally go around insulting your betters?’

‘I am your betrothed,’ spluttered Darien in fury, ‘You cannot slap me.’

Elaine slapped him on the other cheek. ‘I just did. What are you going to do about it?’ she said as she looked him up and down.

‘If you were a man….’ Darien said through clenched teeth.

‘Go on, pretend I’m one,’ she sneered at him. They looked at one another for a moment and with a contemptuous sniff Elaine grabbed her book from him and w