Crimson Princess and Her Fated Lover

A Time of Celebration

Serenity turned and giggled to herself once more and then proceeded within the castle gates. She walked into some of their soldiers practicing their swordsmanship and having sparing matches. One of the soldiers had the other one to his knees and he surrendered. She bounded over to the soldiers and cheered “I get the winner!”. She was an excellent swordsman or swordswoman, as the case may be. She had been trained since she was young and was evenly matched with even their best wielder. The victor soldier raised his hands up and surrendered. “You win, Princess. I am no match for you.” He chuckled and backed off.

Serenity actively play pouted. “How am I going to get better if no one wants to spar with me anymore?”

The soldier laughed and said “Your highness, you wouldn’t be sparring with us, but beating us mercilessly. You need to spar with someone more on your level.”

Serenity chuckled and then decided to head to the kitchen to see if she could steal a few goodies. She was always ready for a snack and food was a weakness for her, though you would never know it by looking at her. Serenity had a slender, toned build and had a nicely developed top. She was very active and was used to wielding swords. While she did not have bulging man muscles, this helped her have very toned arms for a female.

The castle was lively with commotion and the servants were busy with making everything perfect for tonight. Tonight, was not only the night that they celebrated Serenity’s birth, but also the night they remembered and honored Queen Gweneth. Serenity walked to the kitchen and peeked her head inside. The smell of all her favorite foods made her stomach growl. On the long kitchen bar, there were dozens of dishes of food being prepared. A bowl of steaming sweet buns caught the princess’s eye. Target acquired she thought. She slyly slid into the kitchen, grabbed a few buns, and then flashed out of there. As she headed to the balcony, munching on her sweet buns, a hand landed on her shoulder. She spun around and looked up to see Alexander.

“Oh, hey Alex! I wondered where you went.” Serenity grinned. Before Alexander could say anything, she shoved a sweet bun into his mouth. “Peace offering”.

Alexander bit into the sweet bun and quickly devoured it. “Okay, that was delicious! That is worth a cease-fire for now.” Alexander rested his arms on the balcony ledge and the two of them stared out towards the distance. “I’ll be traveling to the Shadow kingdom tomorrow to meet up with King Damien”.

Serenity scrunched her nose at this. Alexander had come to visit for her birthday celebration and had only been there a few days. She was enjoying the time with him. She always had to split his time with his other close friend, Damien. Damien was very similar to Alexander in that they both became their kingdom’s kings at young ages. Damien had also lost his mother at birth and he lost his father at the age of 15, due to sickness. She knew little of Damien except that he was 25 years old and that he had been a close friend of Alexander’s since they were kids as well. Damien was not as popular of a king as Alexander and he had a dark side to him. He ruled his lands roughly and some would say viciously for 8 years. He had earned the reputation of having a scary temper and being unkind. According to Alexander, he has changed during these last two years, but his reputation precedes him. Serenity frowned and pouted “I am way cooler than that goon”.

Alexander chuckled and tossed his arm around her shoulders. “That you are little Wren. What friend would I be to come this close and not pay him a visit”. Alexander let his arms shrug slightly and said, “Maybe you could come with me?”.

“I would love to! I have never gotten to travel outside of Adalon…... I wonder if we could convince my father?” Serenity said furrowing her eyebrows.

“Let’s give it a shot tonight at dinner.” Alexander suggested and the two of them began to plot on the idea.

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Meanwhile at the Kingdom of Dragath

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A man rode past an army of men and stopped at the front. The man turned to address the soldiers and took off his metal helmet, the last of the sun setting behind him in an open field. The only sound that could be heard was from the impatient stamping and snorting of horses. The light retreated with the sun and the sky revealed its gloomy hue. The man stared out toward the suited warriors with his dark eyes scanning through them. His hair, as dark as ebony, sifted in the light breeze. His iron cold face bore no emotions …. except maybe that of contempt in his eyes.

“Countless times, I have requested an audience, countless propositions have been sent. Rejections…. IGNORED…..This has been brought upon themselves. I will take what is mine. No longer can they shield the Crimson Princess; she will belong to DRAGATH!” Prince Simon roared, followed by the cheers of thousands of armored men. Prince Simon let an evil smile rest on his face. Father, stay well. You must live to see the day I bring Dragath to power. With that thought, Prince Simon kicked his horse, who snorted in reply, and turned toward the direction of Adalon, starting a slow walk.

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Adalon

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The birthday celebration was well on its way, after the kingdom paid their respects to their belated queen. King Jordan sat at the head of a long table with Serenity to his right and Alexander to his left. There were also several other people of importance that filled up the table. Everyone was enjoying themselves and greedily partaking in the delicious food spread before them. King Jordan, while he missed his dear wife, was content and happy. His daughter had grown up beautiful, kind and generous. He was certain that she was going to bring peace to all the kingdoms. His eyes filled with pride as he stared at his daughter, who has happily chatting away with Alexander from across the table. He wished that the two of them would have married long ago. Alexander was a good man, who he trusted with taking care of his daughter. Alexander knew of the prophecy surrounding her but never treated her any different. He was the king of a mighty kingdom but never used his might for evil.

“A toast to my lovely daughter. Serenity, may happiness and love” King Jordan gestured slyly towards Alexander “always surround you.”

Serenity rolled her eyes and smiled as cups clanged together around her. She looked over at Alexander and made an eye motion towards her father. Okay, Alex, ask him now she said with her eyes.

Alexander looked towards the king and let out a nervous breath. “Jordan (both were kings and on a first-name basis), I am going to be traveling to the Shadow kingdom to visit my good friend tomorrow. I was thinking about taking Serenity with me if that's okay with you? I can bring her back on my return to my kingdom. I thought it would be a good way for her to see more of the world and how other kingdoms are run.”

The deafening sound of silence filled the room, and all eyes were on King Jordan.