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Shea Koshan
Shea looked
longingly out the window from the throne room to see the lush green grass
and small villages of the countryside. the sky opened up, it's bright blue
shining through and beckoning her to come out and fly through it once
more, as she had done when she was little. She would give anything to go
back to those days, and to be free of this confinement she was forced
into. Curse her wings for this. Curse
them for making her a fairy, and therefore, royalty. Never would she be
able to go out and fly again, to travel the countryside and venture into
the depths of the forest to see her old friend that resided there. Never
would she be able to travel out of the castle without an escort. She had
not been out of the castle for four years now, and the future held no
change to that routine that she could see. Curse her
wings. They had always been there, ever since
the day she had dropped out of the sky and into the Queen's lap while she
and the King were out on a picnic. Ever since the two of them had laid
eyes on her 'cute little wings' they knew that she would be their
successor. They had found themselves unable to produce children of their
own, so they adopted her and realized her as their daughter, teaching her
and the others the ways of the castle and
kingdom. Though she was their chosen
successor, the King and Queen had adopted many more children. They all had
their shot at castle life, but some found themselves overwhelmed and fled,
fearing for what their future held and unwilling for the potential
responsibility. The rest who stayed learned much and were initiated into
the royal court, gaining grants and control over certain sectors of the
kingdom. At nine, Shea's education was
furthered when she was appointed as Adisor Minakra’s student. Adisor was
the advisor to the throne and not exactly the best person to allow a child
to be taught to by. He was a stickler for the little rules of protocol and
often drilled her on posture and the right way to hold onto the railing as
she went down the stairs. Often enough to make it seem like a punishment
for any small mistake she ever made. If ever she slipped up and missed a
part of the code of laws for the kingdom, she would have to go back and do
those accursed drills again. At about
the same time, she began to discover that she could wield magic. She kept
this a secret from everyone, not wanting Minakra to catch on. He, she
found, detested any creature was magically inclined. She did not need him
to dislike her anymore than he already seemed to. Blasted
wings. Then again, her wings were not
all bad, Minakra as well. The time she had ventured out into the Jinarle
Ruins to see what was so interesting about them. She had heard stories
about them being haunted and that dragons often roamed about them. She
snuck out of the castle one day and flew there, finally able to spread her
wings and fly again without Minakra telling her it was unbecoming of the
future ruler. As she landed lightly on
the remnants of a wall and looked around. Immediately she spotted a pair
of eyes, carefully watching her from the forest. A dragon, she realized,
was going to try and eat her. Living in the sheltered life of the castle
and having only heard the stories, she did not know the true horrors of
what a dragon could do. Instead, she thought she could attempt to get him
to stop attacking and practice all Minakra had taught her.
She drew herself up until she looked
possibly more like royalty than anyone in court, despite her peasant
clothing. Minakra had taught her well in that respect. She gave the large
creature a piercing stare that made it halt where it was. “Don’t you know
that it is very rude to approach someone with the intention of eating
them?” The dragon seemed to ponder this
for a moment, considering what the child said. It was, technically, quite
rude. However, the best way to hunt was to sneak up on one’s prey, and
eating defeated the purpose of politeness. But the fairy child had a
point. Ah, I see now, a fairy child,the dragon said wearily. >But you are much larger than the native Fae that
reside in these parts. What brings you to our part of the world,
child? “I am not a
child, I’m ten years old,” she protested. “And I came here by dropping out
of the sky one day into the Queen’s lap. Everyone knew, I thought. They
always seem to want to talk about it.” Not I, the dragon said. Not I, but I would so love to hear of it if you
wish to tell me of it. I believe you have allowed your manners to slip,
young one, as have I. My name is Tristan Carshen, leader of the Kritarken
dragons of this kingdom. “I am Shea
Koshan,” she said with a deep curtsy. “Future ruler of the Kingdom.” Shea
carefully regarded the dragon for a moment. “Why do you eat
people?” Why, because they hunt us, Tristan said. So we go into the villages to find them and make
sure that they never can bring harm to us. I must admit that some of the
younger dragons have a problem with controlling their impulses. perhaps,
as the future ruler, you would be able to enforce a law that states that
all humans cannot hunt dragons. “As long as you
tell your people to not hunt my people,” Shea agreed. “Unless, of course
they do try and hunt you. You can eat those ones, as long as you are
positive that they were trying to hunt you.” Now I feel badly, little Shea, for
trying to scare you earlier. Should this treaty work, is there anything I
could do to make it up to you? “I’m not
little,” she said in defiance, but her face broke into an eager smile. “Do
you know magic? I want to learn so
badly.” They spent a few hours together
after that as Tristan tried to explain to her the basics of spell casting
and the importance of control, a very difficult lesson for an excited ten
year old to learn. Afterwards, she rode home on the dragon’s back and to
the throne room where her parents were resting between conferences with
the problems of the people. For some reason, the way here had been filled
with bloodcurdling screams and many people avoiding them. The guards at
the entrance to the throne room ran away in terror, much to Shea’s
bewilderment. The King and Queen seemed
more than a bit perturbed by the fact that their daughter entered on
the back of a highly dangerous beast. Eventually she was able to calm them
down and they drew up the law against dragon hunting being banned for the
benefit of the kingdom, allowing her to sign the document, as she had
arranged it.
Then, a mere
year afterwards, it happened. The event still brought tears to her eyes
and a weight in her heart. She remembered every detail so very clearly.
They were just settling down for dinner, the three of them and Minakra to
discuss her future and to enjoy a meal at the same time. Minakra brought
in the drinks, milk, and she caught a slight glimmer of silver as his hand
passed over the cup when he set it before them. She hated the goats milk
she was forced to drink, so she changed hers into a sweet honeydew drink,
and disguised it as milk. The King
proposed a toast to the future prosperity of the kingdom, and they all
drank deeply. The honeydew was a bit too sweet that time she had done it.
The royal couple, however, found their drinks much less pleasurable. A few
minutes later, as they had begun discussing a few orders of etiquette and
how to deal with certain members of the court, they simply fell out of
their chairs and were dead before they hit the ground.
The kingdom was in turmoil for weeks
afterwards. The former rulers of the kingdom were dead by poison and no
one knew who had done it. When Shea finally accepted the throne, things
began to resume as normal. Under Minakra’s guidance, she learned well how
to run the kingdom, and that her advisor was positively paranoid about her
well being. She caught sight of a bird
fluttering carefree across the beautiful blue sky. It had been four years
since she had accepted the responsibilities of the throne, though she
refused to wear a crown. She kept only her tiara to show that she was
royalty, but it was enough to ensure her confinement. That and her wings,
the ones she could be using to fly free as that bird now. Instead they
kept her confined to the castle, sometimes allowing her only passage
between her room and the throne room for months at a time. Curse them.
A thought occurred to her. They could
also lead her to freedom if she truly tried. Now, how to get this window
open…
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