Princess of Prophecy

The river ran backwards on the day the Queen vanished. Over a thousand-year long reign this had only happened once before, when she vanished for a year to bear a child. That child, now nearing his fourth century, wasted no time in consolidating control and declaring his mother dead. His reasoning was the river; when she disappeared to give birth to him, he said, the course of the river stayed true. The Elder Council, wise and long in their years, concurred with the Prince’s statement. Furthermore, the forest through which the river runs was becoming blighted, the blight seemingly being sourced from whatever foul sorcery had changed the course of the river; presumably that same magic that had caused the Queen’s absence.

For the time being, the Prince Regent had declared a state of emergency; nobody was to leave the forest to communicate with the outside world until new rule had been established. Nobody would be permitted to freely enter and wander about and leave, either. The Wards would be set up to ensnare all outsiders, bringing them to the Shining City of the Stars no matter what their intent. All such outsiders were to be imprisoned, interrogated, and kept according to their responses, and whence they originated. Some in comfort, some in chains. Some would be left to rot and to feed the forest.

Serina, half Elf-folk, half human, would miss her grandmother. Her Royal Father, as she now had to publicly refer to the Prince Regent, was wrong. She was sure of that. Her grandmother still lived. She kept appearing in Serina’s dreams. Her father simply dismissed these dreams with no further thought. He always had, even when they proved true.

Serina stormed through the Royal Manor, past guards in their resplendent and heavily enchanted armour who snapped to attention the moment she strode into view. She ignored them all. Her father had ignored her suggestion to send an expedition upstream yet again! She was furious, the blood boiling within. She needed to let it out, or else it would incinerate her from within.

She burst through the doors to the training ground, saw the War Leader step towards her, see the look on her face, then quickly step to the side and behind his cousin. Serina didn’t need that kind of advice right now, knew it was coming anyway, and that just fuelled her rage further.

Serina released everything she held within, directing a stream of fire towards a large boulder situated within a large, sandy arena. Sweat was pouring out of her forehead, plastering her normally curly brown locks to her face. Both hands flung forward, she channelled all of her rage, her fury, at the monolith.

She fell, exhausted, to the sand at the same instant a mighty crack! Resounded throughout the forest. The stone slab split in half down the middle, one half still standing, the other lying on one side in a small crater of glass.

“Are you done?” Alastorian grinned, handing her a waterskin. Serina sat up and accepted it with a wry grin. She drank thirstily, poured some water over her face to wash away the sweat. Handing the skin back to her cousin with a smile of thanks, he continued. “So, what was that all about?”

“The usual,” Serina said, simply, still sitting in the sand. “My…”

“Your Royal Father, I see.” The War Leader finished for her. “Well, he is in charge, now. He dictates, we follow. As we did under your grandmother. As we may well do under you, some day. You are Kalindor’s chosen successor, after all.”

“And the only half-human member of the family. Probably the only half-human in the entire Shining City of the Stars.” Serina said, bitterly.

“That means less than you think to the Court. It means nothing at all to your father, you know that. Or me. Or the people who count.” Alastorian told her. He placed a hand on her shoulder. Her brown eyes looked up into his blue, she put a hand on his, patted it.

“My siblings taunt me relentlessly over it, cousin, you know that.” Serina said, glumly.

“They don’t count.” They chuckled together, Serina standing slowly.

“I hope you’re right.” She said.

“I am. You’ll see.” He replied.

“You just want to be able to say ‘I told you’, don’t you?” Serina poked him in the ribs.

“You know me so well, cousin!” He laughed.

They left the training ground together, as a couple of Elves came in to train. Serina could hear them as they shut the door behind them.

“What happened to the Stone?” One said.

“It pissed off Princess Serina, clearly!” Came the reply. Serina glanced at her cousin, who grinned. Serina grinned back.

Early the next morning, Serina had just finished dressing for the hunt. She’d released the immediate fury last evening, but some lingering resentment remained. The best, most useful way of dealing with that would be to find her grandmother, but with nobody permitted to leave the forest, she’d have to settle for hunting and providing food for those that needed it.

The sound of someone knocking at the door startled her. Nobody visited her, certainly not at this hour. Summoning a small globe of light in one hand, she walked to the door. Opened it to see the War Leader and her brother, Silantus. The one sibling she had that she could stand.

“What is wrong?” Serina asked, her face full of concern.

“Nothing, sister,” Silantus smiled. “Our Royal Father wishes to speak with us.”

“And nobody is to know but the four of us.” Alastorian said with a smile. “Put that light out and follow us, please.”

Serina did as she was bid, the trio stalking the halls silently in shadow as most of the Manor slept. The halls had an entirely different feel to them this early, Serina felt as though they were up to nefarious deeds. She’d left early for hunting excursions before, often with one or the other of her companions this morning, or both of them. But something felt different about this morning. Something felt off.

Her father greeted them in his study, dressed only in a robe tied about his waist by a silken cord. He embraced his children and nephew warmly.

“Thank you all. And I apologise, Serina. You were right. You are always right.” He smiled at her.

“Not always.” She corrected him.

“Often enough. The Council, however, are reluctant to act on the words of an ‘untested girl’. Their words.” He told her. His expression spoke volumes about his thoughts on the subject.

“Was that all they said?” Serina wanted to know. “Are you sure they didn’t say ‘untested half-human girl’”?

The Prince Regent’s silence told her everything she needed to know. A full-blooded Elven prophecy they’d have taken notice of.

“Bastards.” Alastorian and Silantus voiced Serina’s thoughts aloud in stereo.

“The Council are not here, and the three of you are. Because you are right, Serina. We must send an expedition off to the source of the blight, the source of the river, now that its source has changed.” The Prince Regent’s brow furrowed, and he stroked his chin. “Indeed, I’ve never heard of a river flowing against the current before. Any river, let alone ours, which is fed normally from the Stonewall Ranges. But the blight has been approaching steadily for years. Now, something has reversed the flow of our river.”

“So, who did you have in mind for this task?” Serina asked. The War Leader stifled a chuckle. Silantus did not. “Wait, us? Why us?”

“Because you know there’s something wrong, and these two believed in you enough to seek me out and talk to me individually last evening. I’m told we need a new monolith in the training ground, among other things.” He put his hand on her shoulder. “I was planning this meeting with you this morning, regardless of their input. They just rendered my decision of escort easier, that is all.”

“The two best blades in the City?” Serina said, astounded. “But… why?”

“You are my daughter, and I want you protected as well as can be. This will be a perilous journey, after all. Your cousin and brother will aid you in whatever way they may. And you are the Princess, it is your duty to secure the forest and the City, and our People. If the Queen still lives, I trust nobody more than you to rescue her.” The Prince Regent smiled softly, sadly. “And if she does not, I trust nobody more than you to exact vengeance in my name. Even above our War Leader, whose sworn duty it is to do so.” He glanced at his nephew.

“Make no mistake, any of you. My daughter is in charge of this expedition. You will do as she says. But protect her, advise her, honour her. Help her.” He strode to a chest near one wall, bent over to open it.

“This bow was carried by my mother when she left last, on the last journey that she made.” He handed his daughter a bowstave taller than himself, and a bowstring. “The bow will always hit the intended target, and this string will never need an arrow knocked.”

Serina strung the bow, drew back on the string to test the draw. A ghostly arrow appeared, transparent and giving off a faint green glow. Alastorian hurled a goblet into the air, Serina swiftly drew the spectral arrow to her cheek and let fly, with the intention of pinning the goblet to the wall.

No sooner than she had loosed it the arrow curved towards the now-falling goblet, nailing it to the wall. A few seconds later the arrow dissipated into nothingness and the goblet fell to the floor, clattering loudly as it did so.

“Nice shot, cousin,” Alastorian said. Silantus clapped her on the shoulder with one hand. “What do we get?”

“Between the two of you, Elf-Prince and War Leader, you have enough weapons and enchantments to bring down a small army. My daughter, however, has none of this. Had none, anyway.” The Prince Regent said, smiling. “Now she has her grandmother’s bow. And the three of you need to leave. Now. These Wardstones will allow you passage through the forest to the outside world. Find help among the human and dwarven lands. If there is help. Find the source of the blight, put an end to it. Find my mother. Find the Queen. Please…” He pressed a small stone, engraved with runes, into each of their hands, kissing each one on the forehead as he did so. Then he bade them leave, turning his back so that two of his four children would not see the tears rolling down his cheeks.

Serina, flanked by Silantus on the left and Alastorian on the right, strode forth into the forest, following the river upstream. It would be a week before they were out of the forest’s enchantment and another ten days until they reach the nearest human settlement. Whether they would know anything useful about the blight, or the river’s change of course remained to be seen, but it was at least a place to begin.

A part of Serina, small at first but growing larger every day, realised that she would soon be able to experience humanity for the first time. She’d grown up with Elves all around, the only half-human at Court. She felt excitement and not a small amount of trepidation every time she looked at the map, the place at what seemed the centre of the world. A small town that straddled the river. A town called McKinley’s Crossing.