Prologue

The woman stood at the balcony of the castle, her gold crown and jewels glimmering in the last light of the afternoon. She surveyed the landscape with the weary eyes of a queen who has seen many sunsets on days full of darkness. In one hand was clutched a worn scroll, and the other rested lightly on the balcony.

Footsteps sounded quietly on the gold trimmed red carpet behind the woman. She did not turn around--she knew who it was. One person and one person alone was permitted into the room at such times as this. Even the guards stood outside the great, high ceilinged hall with it's red banners and two gold-gilded thrones.

The man who had entered rested his hand on the woman's shoulder. She relaxed a fraction, but her dark eyes still skimmed the horizon.

"Are we doing the right thing?" The man's voice was low and concerned. Worry lined his face, and his grip on the woman's shoulder tightened.

"I asked myself that many times," replied the woman. "And the answer was always yes. If we keep her here, then they will destroy her as soon as they learn her secret. If we send her away, she will be protected until she has grown into her inheiritance. Then she will return to us, and rule as it is written. Her sister can take care of the kingdom until then."

The man followed her gaze out towards the horizon. "Reighna, I hope that you are right, for the sake of Tiroulau."

"I am always right," the woman laughed slightly. "I am queen, am I not?"

At that moment, a knock on the door sounded throughout the hall. Reighna and the man turned. "Enter," the queen called. The

two ornate oak doors opened and a messenger, dressed in silver and red, stepped cautiously into the room. He bowed nervously. "My queen, the Arbeds are here," he announced.

"Thank you," Reighna dipped her head. "You may leave us now." The messenger closed the two great doors, and the Reighna and the man were left alone.

"This is it," the man announced, straightening the silver cloak that hung on his shoulders.

"Yes," Reighna murmured. "She will be alright."

The man kissed her forehead. "I'm sure she will," his words said, but his eyes told a different story.

☆☆☆☆☆

Out in the antechamber, two people sat on a wooden bench. The man had blue eyes and a brown beard, and his wife leaned against him. He hair was covered by a patched and stained shawl. The doors opened and the two figures straightened up. Reighna and the man walked through the doors.

The two couples exchanged no words, for none were needed. Another woman, rather large and red faced, hurried up, and made a clumsy curtsy. In her hands she held a bundle wrapped in a yellow blanket. "King Lennox, Queen Reighna," she said with a flustered air. "Here is the princess."

"Thank you," Lennox said, taking the bundle from the woman.

The nursemaid looked at the bundle with tears in her eyes. "Oh, excuse me," she said. "It's just...I've grown so close to her in the time she was here." She wiped her eyes, then made another curtsy and walked away, wiping her eyes.

A biting silence followed this small drama.

At last the man with the beard spoke. "We are ready."

Lennox squeezed his wife's hand, and then handed the bundle over to the other couple. The woman with the shawl took the yellow cloth in her arms and peered down at it.

"Oh, she will be a beauty when she's older," cooed the woman.

The man and Lennox exchanged a look, then both nodded.

Reighna's eyes had tears in them as she looked down on the child that the woman held in her arms. She gave herself a little shake, and the moment was broken. She bent over the bundle. The child's bright eyes, the color of violets, looked up into her mother's. Reighna kissed the baby's forehead and straightened up.

"Keep her well," was all she said. The couple bowed, and then turned and walked away down a passage to the left.

"There she goes," said Reighna. "There she goes, the one who controls the fate of our world."

(Suspense, suspense!!!!!!!! ***Keep this in your memory, it won't really be important until WAY later on in the book, but it is terribly terribly important to know this scene!!!!!***

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