The Elemental Princess

Chapter One- Present Time

Caedan’s POV

A roar and crash could be heard throughout the halls of Zavaria, the great castle. Caedan rolled his eyes and walked down the long hall to where the noise came from. He really didn’t want to deal with his father today. He reached for the carved oak door and turned the handle. A vase came smashing at the side of the doorway near the left side of his head. “Really father?’ I said. He walked into the destroyed office. His father had managed to smash almost everything easily breakable in the room. Although, to his father, everything was breakable. Chairs were turned over and some of the wood on the arms were cracked badly or splintered. It looked as if he had swiped his arms and cleared everything on the huge oak desk onto the floor. His father sat there with a seething look on his face.

“What is it now father?” I picked up one of the chairs that was in better condition and righted it to sit. “It didn’t work.” He roared at me. “That’s impossible.” I replied. “The ancient decree states that one of them will wield the sword and rule all of Zare as high queen.” I said. “You think I don’t know what the ancient decree says.” He holler-talks back to me.

My father the great King Malos, ruler of the shadow kingdom and a vampire. A little over twenty-three years ago, he stole the throne from then King Blaize and Queen Lucia. He chose to use force and imprisoned the king and queen and their seven daughters in this great castle. Once the last princess had been born and he realized one would be high queen, his world takeover began. He sent warriors to each kingdom to subdue any help for the king and queen. It took him almost two years, but he eventually laid siege to Zavaria Castle, which is the center of all Zare. The city of Vedan surrounds the castle with Vedan forest surrounding the city.

He was largely successful due to his ability to glamour. When he broke through to the inner castle with his warriors, he was quickly able to capture the princesses, forcing King Blaize and Queen Lucia to submit to him without much of a fight. The king’s phoenix, zara Ashe, projected out of the king’s wrist. Ashe is red with orange and gold in its feathers and surrounded the king and queen like he became their aura. Ashe tried bravely to protect the king and the queen from glamour, but eventually Ashe weakened, and my father was able to glamour them. Well, this is what I was told by my mother, who he left behind in our kingdom. I was only three at the time he breached the great castle and took control from the king and queen.

Flashback

My mother, Queen Valeria, ruled the shadow kingdom of Varyn for a decade before tragedy struck. An elite group of warriors from the fire kingdom of Vosan had snuck into the kingdom and the castle shortly after I turned thirteen. My mother had run to my room to protect me, but they found her anyway and were able to overpower her before she could glamour them. She, like my father, has the ability to make one’s blood boil, freeze, stop flowing, over-flow, and such. She wasn’t able to accomplish that task. I think they had a witch or wizard’s spell on them to prevent her controlling their blood. No, spell works on glamour though. Zaras can protect yourself from glamour, but not for awfully long, and it depends on how powerful the zarean is.

The lead warrior sliced her head off with one swipe of his chakram blade which he had burning with fire, so it immediately cauterized the wound, not allowing for any chance for her head to be reattached and her mended by a witch or wizard. I watched as my mother’s head rolled across the floor close to the spot, I was hiding behind the wall in. I had been peaking through a small hole in the wall. I screamed and burst through the wall. They all had surprised looks on their faces.

I manifested my midnight black chains from my arms and whipped out the end to encircle around the warrior’s neck who had killed my mother. I infused the chain with a dark black energy that vibrated to the end, instantly killing the warrior, turning him to ash. I quickly dispatched the other warriors in the same manor. I let my chains fade back into their invisible state. I fell to the floor next to my mother’s body and began to sob and scream. I could’ve saved her if she had just let me. Instead, she had pushed me into the secret place in the wall and told me to stay quiet no matter what I heard. What good was having the power over death if I couldn’t save my mother? Granted, I couldn’t have brought her back to life as only a witch or wizard can with a spell, but I could’ve killed them as I had before they knew what hit them.

Flashback Over

“There must be something missed then.” I told him. “What could be missed?” He seethed. “I’m not sure, but something.” I said. “Maybe summon the high wizard Dallan, or glamour the king and queen to tell you what you may have missed.” I replied nonchalantly. His obsession really was getting on my last nerve. All of this, my mother dying, our kingdom falling to ruin because he isn’t there to rule and I can’t fully rule in his stead, our people being attacked constantly, everything just to become high king for an age. I really hated these times that he summons me to the castle. I’d rather stay in Varyn doing what I can to protect our people and the kingdom from all the kingdoms seeking revenge on him.

“Calas!” He roared loudly. You could hear footsteps running down the hallway. Then appeared my father’s commander of his warriors, Calas, in the doorway. He entered and gave my father a slight bow of his head. “My king,” he said. “Summon the high wizard Dallan immediately and bring me the king and queen as well.” He roared. “Right away your highness.” He replied and left immediately. “I will get to the bottom of this if it’s the last thing I do.” He spat at me.

Within fifteen minutes, Calas had returned with the high wizard and the king and queen. The king and queen were no longer under a glamour, but they couldn’t do anything to defend themselves from it, or any act against my father either. He holds the princesses separate from them and threatens to kill anyone of them if they refuse to obey him. They looked incredibly sad and defeated, standing there side by side holding each other’s hands. The luster of Queen Lucia’s rainbow-colored hair had lost its shine over these over twenty years of captivity in her own home at the time of her capture. Even her caramel skin had dulled to a pale color of the caramel.

King Blaize still stood tall and regal next to his wife, but you could see the defeat in his deep red and gray eyes. His deep red hair with highlights of black had started to gray. His dark brown skin was paling too like his wife. This once proud king was reduced to the same fate as his wife and daughters trapped in this great castle, barely seeing the sun or their daughters. Keeping them out of the sun helps to keep them weakened with their magic. You wanted to feel sorry for him, but you had to admire that he stood there as defiantly as he could showing the king, he was still waiting to break free.

The high wizard stood at the side of the king and queen in his hunter-green robe trying not to look at my father, but side glancing every now and then at the king and queen. Calas stood behind them with his scythe planted firmly in his left hand, just waiting for any word or indication from my father to attack.

“I want to know why it didn’t work.” He demanded in an angered voice to them. They all stood there silent. “Answer me now, or I’ll send for one of the princesses and kill her right in front of you.” He spat. “We don’t know what you mean.” King Blaize said with as much of a strong voice as he could muster. You could tell Ashe wanted to come forth, but the king was suppressing him because my father would kill them on the spot if Ashe appeared.

“Don’t lie to me.” He screamed at them. To King Blaize and Queen Lucia’s benefit, neither flinched or anything but stood firm. The high wizard Dallan, however, visibly flinched. “Wizard come forward,” he demanded. Dallan had no choice but to follow my father’s command or be killed. “Why wasn’t any princess able to pull the golden sword?” He demanded. “I, I don’t know your highness.” He stammered. My father then looked into Dallan’s eyes and glamoured him. “You will tell me why none of the princesses were able to pull the golden sword.” He said hypnotically to Dallan.

“I don’t know,” Dallan replied. My father growled and released the glamour on Dallan. “Step back wizard.” He snarled. “Queen Lucia approach me.” He told her. She looked at her husband warily and started to step forward. “NO!” King Blaize bellowed. “I will go instead.” He lifted the queen’s hand he was holding to his lips and kissed it, then let it go. My father just sneered at that. King Blaize approached my father like the king he is showing no weakness, or so he thought. I could see the strain in his eyes though.

“Tell me why none of your daughters could pull the golden sword, and pray I don’t kill them, or your wife.” He said maliciously with the sneer falling back into place on his face. “I don’t.” He started to say. “YOU’RE LYING!” My father screamed with some spit flying out of his mouth. “Calas slice off a finger of the queen til he tells me the truth.” He said with utter calm like he just ordered his dinner. This is when you needed to be the most worried when it came to my father. Calas grabbed the queen’s arm to get at her hand. She struggled, but she was no match. She was screaming. “NO!” King Blaize screamed. “BLAIZE!” She screamed at him. As Calas raised his scythe to slice her finger off, she screamed, “I TELL YOU!”

Calas looked at his king and then King Malos nodded. Calas let the queen’s hand go but kept hold of her arm. “Go on my lady.” He said with the same calm as before. She looked at her husband then lowered her head. Quietly she said, “There’s another princess.” My father’s head snapped up. “What did you say? Speak up.” Queen Lucia’s head raised up and she looked my father deep in his eyes from where she stood and with her queenly voice full of authority she said, “There- is- another- princess.” Accentuating each word in a staccato form as she said them. My father’s eyes widened. Heck, I think my eyes widened and I probably had a shocked look on my face.

“Where is she?” He demanded. “Not here.” She said. “WHERE?” He hollered. The queen did flinch then, as her demeanor had turned sullen. “WHERE?” He hollered again. Calas grabbed the queen’s hand again, but she didn’t do anything to protect her hand. It was as if she were so defeated, she didn’t care if he chopped her whole hand off. Calas raised his scythe again. King Blaize looked desperately at his wife, and she just gave him a sad look in return. “On Earth!” King Blaize hollered.