7Amy-chan Stone Jade Kito
Chapter One: Week One
Intro:
Adalissia Everld was falsely accused of treason by three boys from her home, Archer's Fields. She lives in the country Priessa. Because of this, she was sentenced to a ten week (seventy days) exile in a part of Priessa called Rint River Valley while the court decided if they had enough evidence to execute her, which was the punishment for treason. There was a great lack of evidence and the only actual evidence was sketchy. Three fifteen-year-old boys from the country claimed that they witnessed it, but boys often lied under oath, just because they wanted to see the city without getting in trouble. Here begins Adalissia Everld's diary of her seventy days in exile from her home.
********
Day One
Today I arrived at Rint River Valley. I had not been informed that Princess Allegra was also here in exile for angering her father's advisors with her orders. She insists on everyone calling her Allie. I got in a bit of a predicament when Allie called me Addy and my young maid Lina said smugly that I prefer being called Sia. I punished Lina by making her stay indoors all day because she loves the outdoors. Ally said that Sia is a very strange name and Adalissia is as well. And when I said Allegra was fairly odd too, she insisted that at least she has a decent middle name, Cyana. Then I said that it sounded like she was blue and that my middle name, Liana, is much more normal. She had to agree of course because Liana was her mother's name, her older sister's name, and her grandmother's name. So now she calls me Liana, Li, or Anna all the time. She likes Li the most since I claim it's a boys' name. But other than that, the princess and I get along like we've known each other forever. She is a wonderful friend.
No other news for today, except that some young men are arriving tomorrow for some sort of trip. Allie says their my age and questioned why I didn't get a dreamy look when she mentioned it. I said it is because I have perfectly evil boys back home, and that I do not wish to deal with fifty at once. I guess I underestimated how this exile would be. I assumed it would be miserable and boring. Sixty-nine days left. By the way, I'm fourteen and Allie is sixteen.
********
Day Two
In all my fourteen years I have not seen so many boys at once! Allie said this morning that she would just have to introduce me to Trec Kion, one of the boys. She says he's a lot like me and that he is very handsome. She claims that if she wasn't a sixteen-year-old princess who's marriage proposals were being alphabetized because there were so many, she would have wanted to marry him. But she still made sure to become his friend, just in case. Now Allie thinks I'd be better with him than she would. I, unlike most girls my age, do not like boys. They are quite obviously not icky anymore, but they're not angels either. I wonder why I have not met Trec before. His home, Silver Meadow, is right next to mine, Archer's Field. Oh dear, Allie is going to break the door and my eardrums if she keeps pounding on the door and screeching for me to let her in and help me pick a dress. More later.
*Later*
Allie insisted I wear my ice blue satin dress with the billowed sleeves and square collar. She says it makes me look thinner which I do not believe possible. I am thin as stick and have never once found a corset necessary. Even Allie said I was thinner than the corset could ever make her. She is not fat in the least, she is normal, but still wears a horrid corset. She had me wear white heels and a silver choker with quartz gemstones. Although two years older, Allie is my height and loves to share her clothes with me. She said that I could be one of her ladies-in-waiting if they did not execute me.
Trec is a lot like me. He's not hyperactive like boys at home. We were both chosen by the fairies to receive gifts. Each of the eight fairies gave us one gift at our birth. I am honest, serene, well-mannered, artistic, healthy, intelligent, stylish and musical. Although not part of my gifts, I am obedient, lovely, and graceful. Trec is also intelligent. He is also handsome, a good leader, friendly, kind, mechanically inclined, strong, and knows when to trust people. He says that I'm the first one his gift immediately accepted for trusting. Allie's eyes widened and it looked like she knew something I didn't. Then she teased him about a prophecy coming true about him, and even later she wouldn't tell me what it was. He blushed bright red when she started teasing him, and I've been so busy pestering Allie, that I did not have time to ask him about this prophecy. Sixty-eight days.
*********
Day Three
I just realized that I never explained how I got this book. It was supposed to be a joke, but that backfired when I was exiled. One of the boys gave it to me on the way to court and said I could write my last words and thoughts in it, then all of the boys started laughing. They thought I would be executed, but they didn't know there was a lack of evidence. So when I got here I finally got a chance to write. So here I am in Rint River Valley which has many names. Everyone inside it is confused. All the people outside of this place and the Lord and Lady call it by it's proper name, Rint River Valley. The peasants call it Rint River Canyon or just The Canyon, and the servants call it Hell. Most of the guests, myself and Allie included, call it Rint River. This way no one thinks we're calling it the wrong name.
No matter what I call it, I'm stuck here for sixty-seven more days. I haven't seen Trec today since he's avoiding Allie and me. I can tell because whenever I do see him he manages to see me first and run away somewhere. It's the same for Allie. I know because I spy on her. It is great fun to hide behind tapestries and spy on people. I have found many shortcuts in the manor that allow me to find a good hiding place before the person I'm watching turns the corner and sees me. It helps to be thin. I'm going to spy on Trec tomorrow and then ask the friends I se him with if they know about this prophecy. I wonder what it is. Oh no! My candle's burning out!
********
Day Four
I cannot believe it! The greatest sorcerer in Priessa prophesied that the first woman Trec's gift allows him to trust immediately is the one he shall wed. His friend Jiru told me so. Jiru is one of the Lord's favorites so I know I can trust him. Well I for one will be quite a bit less optimistic during the remaining sixty-six days of my exile. I mustn't let Allie find out that I know, because she would tease me too. She cannot tease me about something she doesn't think I know. Well, now I know what that prophecy is, but I certainly wish I did not.
I never did have any luck. I was born on All Hallows Eve, during a full moon. Ever since I can remember I've been getting into more trouble than I can get out of. Like the time my little brother and I were playing Tag around the manor and I was it. He knocked over the dish with the uncooked thanksgiving turkey and I got blamed for it because I was there when the cook turned around to find the cause of the noise. I have never played Tag indoors again. I have almost drowned, I almost decapitated myself with a sword, I almost broke my neck sliding down the banister, I have broken every limb I have, I have gotten into more fights than most boys at home, and I am supposed to be well mannered. I guess she meant I would have good table manners instead of being nice. I wish I was nice. The only luck I've ever had is with my paintings, drawings, and musical pieces. I can compose, and am very good at it in fact, but I do not like to. I like to play the harp. It has a solid frame, yet inside the strings are delicate and must be handled just right to get a beautiful melody. In this way, the harp reminds me of myself. I am very good at playing the harp. More tomorrow. Nothing interesting today.
********
Day Five
The most interesting thing happened today. Unlike yesterday, which was completely boring, today was so exciting. A new animal arrived for the Lord's zoo. I had not yet been to see the caged animals, but then I wanted to. The animal was big and beautiful. The men who brought her say she is a white tiger. I must also visit the library and learn more about these magnificent tigers. Allie says it's silly to call an animal magnificent since they are not at all intelligent. I asked if she could prove that and she said that if they were intelligent they would not have been caught and locked in cages. She won that argument.
More news! I just remembered, a notice came from court today, but not for me. Princess Allegra is going to marry either King Engle of Lotus, a neighboring country, or Prince Hoko of Harrs, a far-away country. Allie bawled when she heard this, for Engle is twenty years older than she, and Prince Hoko is ugly and lives so far away. Hoko has also been married once before, but his wife disappeared. I was well known that he hit her, and so everyone thought he had killed her. I told her that if I had to choose, I'd choose King Engle any day. She just bawled more and cried out that she didn't want to marry someone more than twice her age. I left the room then, there was nothing to do. I feel so bad for poor Allegra. All her life she's gotten her choice of everything and now they're choosing for her and she doesn't like either path. I wonder what my path will be. I'm approaching a crossroad, I can feel it. Mama says I have magic for foreseeing. Every firstborn girl in her family has. I know my path will soon cross with someone else's, but whose? Trec, maybe. Or Allie, or maybe even someone I don't know yet. Sixty-five days.
*******
Day Six
I do not know why but I was spying on Trec today. I almost got caught too, but I managed not to be noticed. I should stop spying for a while though, in case someone's watching. Imagine, someone spying on someone spying on someone else. Allie still doesn't know I spy, or that I know the prophecy. She has been too upset to even notice when I leave the room. Still no crossroads. Sixty-four days.
*********
Day Seven
I have made it through a whole week. It is raining. Nothing new happened today. Sixty-three days left.
*Later*
I can't believe I had so little to say this morning! I received notice today that I am not to be executed, and that I have been found innocent. But I still must finish my exile here as a punishment for letting the boys think I did such a thing. I have found it mildly amusing that Allie, who is now being forced by the Lord and Lady to be called Allegra, will be released from exile the same day as me. She has finally stopped her bawling now that I'm no longer in danger, but she spend all her waking time in the library, trying to find a loophole to either of the marriages. She is quite determined.
A very strange thing happened today. Trec spoke to me. He hasn't even gotten near me since Allegra introduced us, but today he came right up to me. "Princess Allegra says you are innocent for certain now. Congratulations," he said. Although I was in much shock, I remembered to curtsy and say thank you. He asked me if I knew what Allegra had meant when she teased me and I said I did not. When he explained it, I pretended that I hadn't heard it before. I opened my eyes wide, nodded, and gasped at all the right places. "Oh dear, I didn't imagine anything like this could ever happen," I said in my most ladylike voice.
He knows me as Lady Adalissia, not Liana, not Addy, not even Sia. Just Lady Adalissia. He didn't know about the time I pretended to be a boy for two weeks with my parent's amused permission. He didn't know I climbed trees and raced and fought like any boy. He knew me as a girl. But as Mama always says, I'm a tomboy. That means I'm a girl that acts like a boy. Well, I held up the charade of being a proper, delicate lady until he had to get back to training. When I asked him why the boys were here in the first place, he said it was a training camp. The boys came twice a year, spring and fall. Trec says they're just learning swordfighting and things like that. It's for boys up to age fifteen who do not wish to become knights. Trec says this is his last trip; he'll be fifteen even before this visit is over. All three of us, Allegra, Trec, and I, are to be released from this horrid valley on the same exact day. When I asked Trec if I could fight him with a sword, he laughed and said sure. But he also said he wouldn't go easy on me and that he would try not to hurt me. I just pouted and walked off, changing my face to a smirk once my back was turned. Sixty-three days. We fight tomorrow.