The Blessing Of You

Chapter 1

“My Lady, your father is coming. Wake up.” Cerise said. My eyes flickered open, letting the summer light wake me up. I only just managed to get out of bed and put on a gown. It was a beautiful pale pink chiffon dress that was tied around my waist with a golden belt. It was floor length and has thin, loose sleeves. My brother, Ceallachan, rushed in, followed by his nurse just in time.

“King Aubron, of Afreda.” a man announced, as my father stepped out into the room. Everyone knelt on their knees, including me and Ceallachan. He walked to a chair set out for him and sat down. Everyone rose from their knees and carried on their jobs.

“Good morning Cassie, Ceally.” My father said with a smile. After my mother died, he had become sorrowful, but still cared for us well. He was the King of Afreda, a kingdom of magical beings, mostly Elves and Fairies, some half Elves, some half Fairies. He, himself was a Elf, an almost grey haired, green eyed Elf. My brother Ceallachan, Ceally for short, was like our father but had auburn brown hair, almost red. He was 13, a young prince. I had turned 17 in the winter just past, so was not far off marriage age, as princesses are married at 18 into other royal families. I followed my mother, a Fairy, with long ice blue hair that faded into a dark blue, but my eyes were unlike the rest of my family. They were ice blue in the centre, and dark blue around the outside. They were startling and unusual, that is what I would call a curse. The only good thing about my hair and eyes is that I could change the colour of them, because my mother's Fey blood allowed for it.

“Good morning Father.” we both said. The King's face turned hard and I knew he had to talk about something important.

“This morning, I received a letter from our neighbours, King Lawrance of Thorea, The Great King. His eldest son turns 18 in 7 days and has requested our presence at his birthday celebrations.”

“What type of celebrations?” Ceally asked, clearly excited. He obviously didn't know what this meant for myself and Father just yet.

“A banquet, a hunt and a jousting tournament.” The King replied.

“Nothing for a Lady?” Ceally asked, looking at me. The great King shook his head.

“I'm afraid not, my son. King Lawrance’s son chose the events.”

“It doesn't matter, we must still attend the festivities,” I said. “The King has daughters, Princess Lilliana Amatae, Princess Rhoswen Keerrla and Princess Taliha Marie."

“Indeed he does.” King Auborn said, smiling. “We will have to leave in 4 days to be there and rested before the event.” He stood, and looked at us.

“Can we leave tonight, Father? I wish to visit a few places in their city.” I asked.

“Of course Cassie, if that is what you wish, let it be done.” The King said, nodding to me, as if it was not enough for him to offer in return for what was about to happen.

“Thank you Father.” I said, gratefully.

That evening, everything was packed and loaded into the carriage that Ceally and the nurses were traveling in, although a lot of the nurses had wings. We took a quarter of the household, the rest to look after the kingdom in father’s absence. Myself and King Aubron were to ride our horses, Kalisea and Shadow along the Theane road. Shadow was a large black stallion, who’s hide shimmered with different colours in the light. He would have been called Iris if he were a mare, because the humans had a goddess with wings that shimmered like Shadow’s hide does. Kalisea, on the other hand, was a pure white mare with a mane of gold, an unusual colour combination for a horse, but fit her as well as my eyes and hair. By the time we left, I had put on a pair of riding trousers made from cotton and a green silk top, although I feared the colour suited me not. My hair had been simply braided from the crown of my head to the end of my hair, which hung down the mare's soft hide.

We rode east through the countryside along the only road connecting the two kingdoms, stopping to sleep at inns and strongholds along the way. It took 3 days in all, but finally we saw the castle of King Lawrance in the distance. It’s magnificent greystone walls rose high into the sky, it's turrets and towers almost touching the clouds. It was on top of a hill in the middle of the city of Leonos. It was a large city, but not as big as our great city in the west. Here, it was more recently built, after the war probably, so had wider streets and looked like it was made in a hurry. We stopped just outside the city to change into more appropriate clothing. I chose a sky blue dress that would be most fitting for a princess. It was made from chiffon, my favorite material for the summer season, and had a simple golden belt. I had golden bracelets inlaid with diamonds and sapphires around my upper arms and they had long strips of the blue chiffon attached to them so the fabric would whip around in the wind, giving the illusion of wings. My hair was braided intricately and finally hung just above my waistline.

We continued our ride into the city, being greeted by the locals as we passed by, and arrived at the castle at noon.

Ceally was made to ride his horse after our short stop so we all rode in together. I rode in the gates of the castle behind my father at a gallop, followed by Ceally. As soon as the royal family were in sight, my father slowed to a trot and came to a stop in front of the other royals. I followed his example and so did my brother, as if we had practiced for years, even though it had been the first time. My heart hammered in my chest as we approached, because all of the princes from the 9 kingdoms would be attending, and they were all to begin selecting their brides.

Aiden

My father called for me to see him in his chambers. They were grand enough for the most powerful King in the 9 kingdoms, but must have been at least a century old. Everything was inlaid with gold and was made from mahogany. The drapes were made from blue silk with silver lions embroidered at the corners, like a lion's silhouette at night.

“Father? You requested my presence?” I asked.

“I did, I wish to speak to you about your celebrations.” The old King said. He was an Elf, like most of the Kings in the 9 kingdoms, but he wasn't as old as he looked. His once blonde hair was starting to go from grey to white and his blue eyes were creased and wrinkled. This was likely caused by all the war he has seen or my mother's death. My mother had died when I was 13, killed by her people for being a werewolf. That had aged my father drastically, but he was still lively and cared for us and his people graciously. I was the only one out of my 6 siblings that took after both our mother and father, having brown hair and a mix of blue and red eyes. That meant I was born with lilac eyes. And I am both an elf and a werewolf.

“You will be meeting many princesses over the next few days, and I wish for you to notice all of them. I want you to pick a bride, for if not, I will pick one for you.” The King said.

“But-”

“No buts son. You will be 18 years old, the age all future Kings choose their brides and marry. It is your duty as Prince of Thoris to marry a suitable bride. Your brothers and sisters will all have to marry too.”

I sighed. “Yes father.” Someone knocked on the door.

“Enter.” The King said. The door swung open and I turned to face a messenger wearing dark blue, not one of our messengers.

“Your Grace, King Aubron of Afreda will be arriving with his children this afternoon.”

“Thank you, please tell the head of staff to ready 3 rooms in one quarter for our guests.”

“Yes, your Grace.” The messenger closed the door and hurried off.

“You must get yourself ready, boy. You could be meeting your future bride today.” the king said.

“Yes father.” I replied.

Me and my siblings, Lilliana, Drakub, Rhoswen, Felix, Taliha and Zarland met our father on the steps to the palace.

“This family is older than our family, by centuries and just as powerful. Aiden and Lilliana, you both have met them before, when you were both young. Aiden, you used to play with Princess Cassandriana all the time. And her brother, Prince Ceallachan. They are the most powerful family in the 7 kingdoms.” He said.

The gates opened as 3 horses galloped across the large courtyard. The lead horse was as black as night which shone different colours in the light. It's rider was lean and strong, a man with an intricate crown on top of his brown hair, his green eyes visible from a distance. I barely looked at him before noticing the second rider. It was obvious from far away that it was a girl, her blue dress blowing around wildly as she rode. Her hair was the colour of ice, and had eyes that were more noticeable than the first. They were blue, but I wasn't sure what shade of blue. She looked tall, but it was impossible to tell from this distance. As they closed in I noticed the third rider was a small boy, probably the same age as Lilliana, but I didn't take my eyes off of the girl for more than a second. She was the most beautiful girl I had ever seen. I'd seen many princesses and girls in my 17, almost 18, years, but she was the best. And she was staring at me.

My father bowed to the royals and me and my siblings followed suit as the servants ran to hold the reins of the horses.

“Your Grace, it's lovely to see you again after so many years.” My father said.

“And to yourself, it has been 13 years if I am correct?” the King said.

“Of course, your Grace.” My father said in reply.

The King slid from his horse and walked to my father, then clasping his hand. The young Prince jumped from his horse with ease. The princess stayed mounted, waiting for someone to help her down. In proper society, a lady was always helped down from her horse, so I walked forward and offered her my help. I gave her my hand and she took it, swinging her leg over her horse and sliding off even more gracefully than a goddess would have managed.

She was tall, like her father, but not as tall as me. Our fathers were looking at us, making myself realise that we were both studying each other. I bowed to her and she curtsied in return.

“Let us head inside and show our guests around.” My father said.

“Indeed, it would be nice to see what you have done around here since I was last here.” The King said.

“May I?” I asked the princess, offering her my arm.

“You may.” she replied with a smile. She rested her hand on the middle of my arm and I led her up the steps, with raised eyebrows from both our parents and giggles from the younger girls.