The Princesses of Takor

Author: Ms. Julia

The fires erupted throughout the halls, bright magical flames and two heads bobbed and weaved through the tapestries. "Sal, I'm scared." Murmured Elaine, pressing closer into her best friend's side. Sal smiled, "Don't worry, we just have to get outside." Tugging her along more quickly the girls burst out into the clearing, everyone was gone. Pulling at her inner flame...

Rated: Fiction M - English - Adventure - Romance - Fantasy

A Fairy Tale

Two girls face the persistent struggle of trying to live in a world were nothing is constant except the fight for power, money, magic, cruelty and possesion.

A pack of travelers wandered the dark lands in the early hours of the night with two tiny hands to light their way. Salvaya coughed slightly catching bad bouts of wind off from the east.

"Darn's crook-snakes!" she cursed under her breath as she lost her concentration.

The light emanating from her hands flickered before going out and she growled in frustration, it had taken a lot of strength to summon the fire the first time. A small hand wrapped around hers.

"Nel, I'll concentrate harder." Stated Salvaya, knowing all about the lecture she would get for breaking her concentration from her teacher.

The motorri teacher smiled kindly at her favorite student, her only pupil at the moment and the most talented one to ever land on her doorstep.

"Remember, breathe deep, think deeper," stated Nel.

The long-time motto of her teacher annoyed the young student immensely, Salvaya waved her hand, "Yes, yes, yes, I know."

At one time Takor had been a beautiful country with benevolent rulers that cared for its people. Markets flourished, crops grew, and people lived gentle, kind lives. Those times were long ago, so long many people had forgotten what the country looked like before the mages from across the ocean came and took over. The war that ensued between Prince Erik and the King of Takor was brutal. So brutal in fact, that the country would continue to be scarred for many years to come.

Takor after the war took on a new face, many of the Motorri who lived in the country were forced out of the country or enslaved. Many believed that to be the reason that nothing would grow within the country's boarders. Salvaya was one of those people, a young Motorri woman of impeccable lineage and unrefined magical talents. Her power was about the lead her away from the comfort of her familiar home into something far more sinister, far more dangerous, her own past.

My cat-like eyes scanned the walls, it'd become sort of a habit you see; examining the cracks and crevaces of my ceiling when I couldn't sleep. But deep inside I was glad that nothing had changed, I wasn't really a fan, not since my parents shipped me off and had me dropped on the doorstep of Nel's house.

I couldn't help but sigh, "I can't even remember what they look like anymore."

The meager light the stars that were still peeking out beneath their blanket of cloud offered was just enough to get me out of bed. What was there to do at this time of night? I gripped the railing once I made it into the hallway and walked a thin line along the inside of the staircase.

"No deep breathing, silent as a mouse," I reminded myself as I tiptoed down the hall.

Chapter 1; The Tragedy

I slipped out the front door and ran as fast as my small feet could carry me before collapsing in a fit of giggles.

"I did it!" I cheered, having a hard time believing I'd managed to escape my know-it-all mentor.

Quickly I concentrated on my hand and a ball of unnatural crimson flame erupted in its palm. My surroundings were unfamiliar and I cringed when I realized that I'd ended up inside the forbidden forest.

"Darn's crooksnakes!" I swore under my breath at the god of thievery and treachery.

"If Nel finds me here she'll skin me alive!" I said to no one in particular while trying to retrace my steps only to find myself wandering deeper and deeper into the woods.

In the center of the woods lay a lake of glistening silver water with a tavern. There were people of all kinds lounging around a bonfire outside, it looked almost like a ramshackle way station, which couldn't be true so far into the woods. I'd heard of people living out here to avoid the kingdom before but did I really just stumble onto their camp?

A man was standing in the middle of a ring around the fire, he was tall with broad shoulders and a sword hung at his hips.

"The time is near, we can overthrow Tokoto's rule, who's with me?" He shouted.

A chorus of cheers erupted from the crowd, and I couldn't help looking a little smug. The man expected to take down a nation's worth of mages and the royal guard with twenty people? What an idiot. I know I've been called a prodigy and I wouldn't even risk taking on Tokoto, so what kind of a chance do these people think they could possibly have?

One of them finally took notice of me standing there, and quickly I realised my mistake. Gasps erupted throughout the crowd and the man in the ring drew his sword, "It's one of Tokoto's mages!" someone screeched as the crowd seperated.

The undignified accusation infuriated to the point my eyes flashed golden, "I'm not working for that evil monster."

The crowd became eerily silent. When they didn't say anything, I began to feel unnerved, "I'm leaving, I didn't see or hear anything."

The man resheathed his sword and dropped to his knees, "No! Princess, we thought you were dead, we thought the whole royal family was gone, I appologize for not recognizing you the moment I saw your green flames. I could never forget your eyes though, do you remember me?"

This man must be insane, and I started to edge away from him, when another person stepped forward.

"It's all your fault my husband is dead because of your family, my children enslaved, it would be better off if you really were dead!" The woman hissed, throwing a handful of dirt in my face. I didn't know what to say, because I didn't know what they were talking about.

"You're both insane, I'm not a princess, there aren't even any princesses in Takor. You must be confused." I shouted edging away from them further. The man on his knees leaped up to stop me, and I grew increasingly panicked.

The dancing red flames in the pit flashed, grew and they spread from the pit like a tiger moving in for the kill. The man and everyone else was forced to back away and I ran as quickly as I could in the opposite direction of the clearing. The second I was out of the clearing the flames disappeared and I fled, back to what was home, back to my mentor, back to ashes.

Something definetly wrong for Neltrava to have not come looking for me yet, I could feel it in my bones and then I felt a sharp piecing pain in my shoulder. I'd been shot with an arrow, someone shot me? Where's Nel, I need to find Nel, Nel will know what to do. I need help.

The forest grew thinner, and thinner until I finally saw the house I'd spent most of my life in smoldering in the distance. The arrow in my shoulder might've hurt, but right now I think my heart hurt even more because I knew deep down that the only reason Nel wouldn't have come after me at this point was that she must've been in no normal sleep when I left earlier. I didn't even want to consider the possibilities about what must have occured earlier. Nel was my only family, I didn't even remember what my parents looked like? Where was I going to go? What was I going to do?

I don't think I can go to Koterro, I'd seen some of Nel's letters to him denying him something and likely he was the one behind all of this. This had become my home and now it was gone, destroyed by magical flames, the residue of the crimson flames still flickering in my minds eye. Whoever was responsible for hurting Nel would pay. I groaned, my shoulder felt like it was on fire and my whole arm was tingling. The blood loss made my head light and my world go dark.

When my eyes finally opened, my surroundings had changed completly and my mind was blank, perhaps a little more than what was natural. There was a tired looking old man with wrinkled skin and a scar down his arm sitting nearby and I inched away from him towards the wall. The strange man in the chair next to me twitched and turned in the chair as if to get more comfortable. Slowly, I used my cat-like agility to creep out of the straw bed, though the bandage on my shoulder limited that movement and caused me to stumble out the door and into the most immaculate kitchen I'd ever seen.

"Wh-where am I?" I couldn't help but gasp. The precious jeweled floor was responsible for yet another stumble as I tripped over a particularly large emerald. This display of wealth was almost sickening to one of my background where even wooden floors and a roof was luxury.

"Father did we really need another slave in the kitchen? " Murmured a young man with a snobbish accent and aristocratic fingers.

"Shush!" bellowed the older man to the young man who had strikingly similar features, "will you just be quiet and listen for once in your measley life boy, that's not a slave its a youth, much like yourself. She's even gifted with magic."

I stood for a moment watched the curious exchange before asking aloud, "What are you talking about?"

The old man turned around to face me abruptly ending the conversation with the young man, "Girl you're a wild wielder, my mages sense your power, your potential. You surely know this?"

The somewhat blank look on my face must have pulled at his heart strings because he stopped talking when I didn't respond. Instead, the large man snapped his fingers and the same tired looking old man came out of the room I had just escaped from.

"Miroke go get this youth some clothes and warm a bath for her as well, she'll need to be presentable if she's to stay here." He commanded.

I couldn't help the confused look that fluttered across my features, "What do you mean stay here, what is here?"

The man turned a steeled eye towards me and spoke in a low warning tone that seemed to dare me to challenge him, "I mean exactly what I said girl."

Slowly and carefully, I followed Miroke out of the room while I made sure to always keep an eye on the man barking the orders.

Miroke stopped once they'd reached a safe distance from two of the overly oppinionated members of the household and addressed me quickly in hushed tones, "Girlie yer best ta be careful round dem two."

I was afraid to ask why. After a few moments that fear slowly began to dissipate and I mumbled an equally hushed reply, "What do you mean 'be careful'?"

"I mean they're a dangerous bunch." He answered me quietly, continuing to walk ahead. Well how informative. I shrugged my shoulders and Miroke stopped at a door, inside was an awe-inspiring sight, my very own room.

I let go of the breath I was subconsciously holding, it was beautiful. I'd expected something a little more dungeon than guest suite but I won't be arguing. The room was elegant, large and had tapestries hung along the walls to give it a cozy feeling. The sparkling marble floors were my favorite feature.

The only thing that seemed out of place was a large mirror which sat in the corner of the room, opposite the bed and facing a blank wall. Confused, I approached it -a deeper desire told me to touch it but a hand gripped mine before I got that chance. The owner of the hand was a woman with long elegant curls that tumbled down her back that seemed to be peering at very soul with her chilling eyes.

"Don't touch that mirror, she enchants your kind; you know that." the woman breathed in the airy tones that seemed to dominate her voice.

"What are you talking about, who is she?" I asked, confused, while looking back down at the mirror. When I looked back up, the woman and the hand were gone.

With a sigh, I edged away from the gothic looking mirror and began to look around when the slush of the water in the bathroom drew my attention. It would seem Miroke was running me a bath, which felt weird because I'd never had anyone do something like this for me before. It just seemed too personal.

Sitting down on the soft downy bed; I removed my slippers and wiggled my toes. A second later Miroke appeared at the ingress between the two rooms, "Yer bath is ready gurl."

Smiling at him in thanks I stood up slowly and leasurely walked into the bathroom whose beauty was rivalled by only that of the bedroom. The polished marble floor made the room sparkle in the light of the candles and the window off to the right of the tub.

Looking out the window, I noticed that I was several floors up and sighed sadly, that mean't I was essentially trapped in this marble apocryphal heaven.

Miroke bowed to me which made me feel more uncomfortable and then looked up at me briefly, "Gurl if yer in needa 'nyting pull dat tring dere ill be ere."

I looked over to the string and then by the time I looked back my room was empty.

"He just vanished.." I shuddered as I snuck glances around the room before slipping off my clothes and into the bath of soothing hot water.

The smooth downy pillows surrounded me in an opalescent slumber as I put my head down on a rather ample burgundy buttress and my cat-like eyes scanned the room for any hints of movement. Sleep was a cranky master who came as he pleased and left before I was ever satisfied.

Sooner than I would like the day light broke through the tangled confines of my somewhat flamboyant hair and cast its caressing touch on my pale skin. I couldn't help but yawn, and stretch like a cat as I slipped out of my bed.

Enchantments repressing my memories had cleared from my system over the night like a bad cold. I was in the king's castle, I just knew it. Those letters to Nel, maybe this was his way of acting on them? I pulled inside summoning the flames of crimson power from my core. Concentrating on the tingling in my fingers as the magic began to push its way through my arms and up to my now-ignited finger tips.

Life was about to get alot more interesting.

"So you'll have me believe that a mage of her power came easily, that Motorri girl would not leave her mentor to join me, I demanded so of her mentor Neltrava many times but to no avail." Stated a man as he sat upon his dark throne to the Lord which had come to deliver the news, "Yes milord," answered the Lord in a submissive and respectful tone without meeting the eyes of the other man. "How?" questioned the King, stepping down into the light. He was a young man, a tortured man.

Sitting up, the Lord on the ground smiled in a twisted and cruel manner, "We disposed of Neltrava and suppressed any memories she may have of teacher, we've used the ruse of amnesia to cover for her lack of memories of her life."

"Excellent, begin her instruction in the arts today then, she will take to them quickly since she has already learned them with Neltrava but I forbid her to learn the healing arts, lest she discover the ways to heal herself and rid the magic repressing her memories. You've remembered to repeat the spell each night, correct?" King Koterro smirked; thoughts of power were becoming even more intoxicating by the minute.

"Sire, we recast the spell every two nights, meaning last night it wasn't cast but tonight it will be." Said the Lord, the King Koterro looked at him sharply. "I see. And you didn't think that she has natural healing abilities that would heal her then. You are an underestimating fool!"

The Lord cringed, "I will remedy that situation immediately."

"Be gone from my sight!" The King harshly ordered before looking away from the Lord and only then did he depart.

"I think you were a little harsh with the little lord Erik," cooed a voice in the hall.

The king turned in a huff, "You were the one who said she was worth acquiring, I'm working on the spell for you."

"That's my boy, you're always such a good boy, do it as quickly as you can. She's powerful and her power will help us." Cooed the man again, and the king smiled.

"Well you're the only father I've ever really had Eduard, anything for you."

I trailed my fingers through the fabrics of the air, my eyes seeing so much more than I did only the night before. Quickly I set about searching the room with my magically-enhanced vision. Nothing at all to prevent escape but a dark, dampening shadow seemed to set over the room the longer I used my power. Quickly I closed my eyes and forced the power back down into my core, the pure red light that seemed to seep from my very pores diminished until it was gone.

Words began to echo in my mind, in a language I couldn't quite grasp. They were pictures that flashed and gave me the distinct feeling of urgency and danger but I wasn't sure of what.

"What was that?"

The urgency in the voice spoke to my core, I understood and yet I didn't. The speaker I could not see; all of these things caused me to flee the room, the marble apocryphal heaven was no longer really mine.

The voice trailed behind me as I ran about the mansion, seeking desperately an escape, seeking desperately a way to the outside, seeking desperately my freedom.

The Lord rushed about the halls, the wee hours of the morning being his only blanket of comfort. He peered around a corner, I can't be seen or people will ask where I've been all night and he would not like that.

My long red tresses trailed behind me as I ran wildly down the halls in search of the forever escaping exit to the outdoors. As I ran, I found herself in the garden in the middle of mansion. Thinking quickly I hid among the many beautiful blossoms by the pond and sat down. Runes of power came to mind and I began to weave a spell.

I pulled at my core and began to weave tendrils of power together, like Neltrava had shown me. The elements were worthy guardians and adversaries so I called out to them first: Earth, Fire, Water, Sky, Light and Darkness. I then implored the elements for help, a safe guard against being imprisoned by their spells.

The Lord carefully made his way to Salvaya's door and pressed his hands on the beautifully sculpted handle, "I'll just cast the spell using the door as my medium and head off to bed." He snickered and placed his hands on the door, pushing forth tendrils of power to blanket her room.

I sat back and licked my lips, my green palm changing colors repeatedly and quickly. It was flashing a whirlwind of amazement in front of my very eyes. Quickly I had to find something to touch and gift with this power, there was nothing nearby until I came across an amulet discarded in among the flower beds. The gem, an emerald, flashed momentarily in my palm before I knew the spell was set and proper.

What am I going to do? What can I do?

If I escape they'll hunt me down and bring me back, if I stay.. who knows what will become of me? Will they try to turn me into one of their mages? Will they torture me? Either way I'm doomed- unless, maybe if I bide my time I can find someone who isn't loyal to the empire and seek to guide a rebellion into being? At least this way I'll know what is happening, the only question now is how to make sure I keep my memories if the amulet fails..

Suddenly, I had an idea. I guess Nel was right, I really was an excellent strategist who always had a backup plan.

The girl ran from the gardens; sticking to the flickering shadows of dawn in an attempt to return to her room as a young man sat in the courtyard watching with cold calculating eyes. His hard eyes would make even the bravest of men shudder.