The Rise of The Phoenix

Koa

After a rigorous training session, we all grab a quick snack from the kitchen next to the dining hall. Every time a new person joins the royal staff, they're always astonished by the size of the castle itself. There's a huge huge arena to the right of the castle that we use for training, entertainment, and duels. The castle itself is four stories tall. The first floor is all a communal area, with the ballrooms, and a huge dining room that seats the whole guard and their families, as well as the royal family and the rest of the staff. It also has two kitchens on either side of the castle, one to service the ballrooms and one to service the dining rooms. Once you walk in the entrance on either side of the far wall, there are two spiraling staircases that lead up to the living floors. They're covered with a red carpet and are wide enough to fit multiple people and widen towards the bottom. The second floor is all living space for the staff and their families. The third floor is where all the head guards and their families reside. All the rooms also have their own bathrooms. The fourth floor is all living spaces reserved for the royal family. On the right-wing is where the royal family stay and the left-wing is reserved for any guests the royal family is hosting. The basement is where all the laundry and chores are done. Out the back of the castle is a huge lake and our town is a short ten-minute horse ride away. The whole grounds and town is surrounded by dense forest all except one dirt road to the next town.

Once we have our snack all ready to go, we head straight for the woods. The sun is already getting really low so we need to hurry. We're late. We packed apples, berries, and some nuts that we'll eat once we get to our secret hideout. Yep, that's right, we still have our hideout, but we've upgraded it over the years. Instead of a small cubby made from branches and tarp, it's a huge treehouse built up in our favorite climbing tree. We painted the roof green and left the walls their natural deep brown wooden colour. It's our favorite place to hang out and where we meet Koa every full moon.

We get to our treehouse and eat, talk and laugh for hours. We laugh about how Baron got knocked to the ground in training and how he pranked our trainer by putting berry juice on his sweat towel that dyed his forehead blueberry blue. He has to train every morning before breakfast now but Baron says it's worth it. We talk about how Gypsy is improving in combat training and how she really hopes to get placed as a palace guard and warrior. We talk about my birthday and what the cooks could be serving for the special occasion. It's in these moments with them, where we're just laughing and goofing around I feel most content. Gypsy and Baron truly are my best friends and I'd do anything for them.

"You know, I really thought he'd come today." Gypsy looked down at her hands. "He's never forgotten your birthday before or any of our birthdays, for that matter."

I sigh and look up to the moon that's now creeping it's way across the sky. " Yeah, I thought he'd come too but I guess we were wrong, he would have been here by now if he was coming."

Baron sees our disappointed faces and I think it breaks him a little inside. We're like his sisters and he hates seeing us sad. No matter how we fight and bicker, we're family and we love each other.

"Aw come on guys, don't look so down. Don't forget, we still have the Ball tomorrow night and remember because it's such a special occasion, all the royal families from all the tribes were invited! That's a lot of people to party with!"

It's true, they were all invited, even the tribes that I overheard we weren't on great terms with. I heard a rumor that one was even threatening war. I think my parents are using this party as a way to keep the peace. It's definitely something I'm looking forward to though.

"That's true, come on Gypsy, Baron is right, we need to stop waiting around for Koa. I'm getting really sick of this, friends don't stand each other up like this all the time."

She looks at me, draws her mouth into a line, and gives me a look of determination. "You're right Rae, he's never been the best friend to us, I have no idea why we've been waiting on him like this all this time. I think him missing your birthday is the last straw. He's missed all our birthdays now, so it's been a year and if he still wants to be a part of our lives, he needs to start showing it."

I always loved Gypsy's resolve and how fired up she gets about everything. "Your right, he knows he can come anytime and even just leave a letter or take our letters we leave for him by the entrance. He clearly hasn't even been in the area for ages. I mean, it's already been 12 moons since we last saw him. I say we give up on this until we see a letter and get ready for the Ball tomorrow night." They both looked at me with smiles starting to creep across their faces. "So Gypsy, have you picked up your dress from town yet, you're coming to my room to get ready with me right?" Now she was really smiling. "Of course! We have to get ready together and just wait till you see my dress! I picked it up today and it's gorgeous!" This time I'm the one who's really smiling. "I can't wait to see it, the seamstress is bringing my dress tomorrow morning. I'm so excited!"

"Okay ladies, I'm sure you'll both look great, but right now all I can think about is dinner, so let's get to the dining hall before everything is gone!"

On that note, we all got up and left. Dinner was amazing. We had Turkey and roasted vegetables with chocolate truffle berry pudding for dessert, my favourite! After dinner, we all hug and say goodnight and went to our rooms to get ready for bed and get our beauty sleep for tomorrow.

Before I can get to my room, my dad calls down the hall to me, "Auraelia, come here please, there's something I need to discuss with you."

I walk over and my Father ushers me into his study that's adjoining his bedroom. "Yes, father?"

He points to the chair on the other side of his desk, asking me to sit down. I'm getting worried, it's not often he talks with me such formally.

"Now firstly, I hope you've enjoyed your 18th birthday and you're looking forward to your Ball tomorrow night, you are, aren't you?"

I smile, "I am very excited Father, Gypsy is coming to get ready with me tomorrow and I can't wait to see her dress... and mine too for that matter."

My father smiled back at me but his eyes showed he was hiding something. He looked nervous. "Yes, wonderful, now about the Ball tomorrow. As you know, we have invited every royal family to attend as well as certain well-accomplished knights and, well, you know. What I want to talk to you about is an alternate motive for the Ball tomorrow night. You will also need to be meeting and looking for suitors. As the Princess of this tribe, you have a duty to pick a suitor that would be a good fit for not just yourself but this tribe, and you also need to make sure it is politically the right move," He keeps fiddling with his hands, "I know we haven't involved you much with this kind of thing in the past, the decisions, the process or the outcome. However, you are getting older and now it's time you started thinking more about this kind of thing, and starting the process of finding a suitor is the perfect place to start."

To say I was shocked is an understatement. I knew I had a duty to my tribe and my people, but I never thought of anything like this. This is the first time my Father has mentioned something even remotely like this. I can't deal with what I am hearing and need time to process everything.

"I understand and I want to do whatever I need to, to serve my tribe, but that was a lot to take in, I need to sleep. Goodnight Father."

"I know it's a lot to take in, but this is how it must be," he gets up, walks over to where I'm sitting, and kisses my forehead, "Goodnight my dear."

He walks out of the study and leaves with my thoughts. I don't know what to think, I just pick myself up and take myself to bed. I can work it out tomorrow. Right now I need sleep.