Chapter 3

A splitting headache was the first to greet Amara when her vision began to return. She found herself lying on a bed, staring at a ceiling. Her heart began to pound as she recalled what happened: a hooded man knocking her out with some sort of gem latching onto her. Did it paralyze her? How long had she been out?

Amara jolted up in her bed, desperate to get answers, but the headache worsened as she sat up and Amara squeezed her eyes tight, gritting her teeth. “Augh!” she hissed.

“Relax, dear,” said a soothing voice from the shadows. Amara glanced over to see an outline in the darkness, and the person made their way forward, the moonlight from a nearby window illuminating her face: an old woman with short gray hair and dark eyes, wearing a pale green dress, her light skin covered in wrinkles.

“Who are you?” Amara blurted out. “Where am I? What happened? What—what year is it? Well, I mean, how long was I out? Not too long, right? This man, he—”

“Calm down. Have a drink of water,” the old woman said, handing her over a glass of water. Amara hesitated before bringing the glass up to her lips as the old woman continued. “You’re in a carriage. The boy Tallius threw a paralysis gem on you to knock you out because he was ordered to kidnap you. It’s only been a few hours.”

Amara set the glass down on her lap, her mouth gaped open. “Why did he kidnap me?!” she yelled in disbelief. “Is it some sort of ransom?! Oh, I knew I shouldn’t have gone in the Dark Forest. It’s the Dark Forest for a reason! My family is probably worried sick—”

“Shhh,” insisted the old woman. “Relax. Your questions will all be answered, but remain calm. You’re going to be all right; it’s not a ransom. We’re trying to help.”

“How?” Amara whispered. She tightened her grip around the glass, feeling tears welling up in her eyes, and a lump forming in her throat. She had been kidnapped, and there was no telling what was going on back at home. These strangers now had her.

“It’s tough to explain, but we’ll get to it,” the old woman said. “To start, my name is Arla. And you can trust me, dear.”

Amara looked at her. “Really?” She wanted to believe it, but she could recall her sister’s words: “Amara, you would trust a bandit if it told you to. You can’t go around believing everyone is telling the truth.” But this Arla woman seemed so sincere, so trustworthy. And she was an old woman. What could she do?

Arla nodded. “Yes. I understand if you don’t want to, but I won’t do anything bad. I know you must be terrified, confused. Everything will come clear eventually, as it always does in the end.”

"The man who kidnapped me,” Amara said. “His name is Tallius?”

“Tallius Mason Argulus. A member of…my group. The Silent Ones.”

“Who are the Silent Ones?”

“That’s for later, dear. Tallius was reluctant to do the job, but he had to. If we are to save this country…”

“Save the country?” echoed Amara. “Do you think…I can save Acirewiel? It doesn’t need saving, and how can I? I’m the princess of Agraud’s Kingdom. The smallest Kingdom. What can I do?”

“Nothing by yourself. But with some others, more than you think,” said Arla with a small smile. “It’s all a part of a bigger plan, Amara, one that I’m sure my friend Erkar would be happy to explain to you; he’s better at that than I am.”

They then sat in silence for a while, and now that Amara listened more closely, she could hear the clopping of horses and see the shaking of the carriage as it moved. “Where are we going?” Amara asked after a while.

“Foreviel’s Kingdom, dear. I trust you know where that is?” Arla said. Amara nodded in response as she continued. “That’s where our next destination is. To continue our trip.”

“How long will this ‘trip’ be? Why are we going on it?” Amara asked.

“We don’t know how long. But right now, you need your rest. Lie back down.” Amara did so, staring at the ceiling before closing her eyes again.

Before she fell asleep, she heard Arla speak again, in a hushed voice. “Acirewiel will be preserved. It will not fall…”

Eventually Amara had fallen asleep and woke up with sunlight coming in through the window. Her headache was gone, and she felt a lot better than she had when she woke up earlier. She sat up and looked around; she was still in the carriage.  It continued to sway in the rhythm of the horses pulling it.  She noticed a bed next to hers that Arla was asleep in.

Still in the carriage. Not at home. Her fear began to settle back in – she needed to know more about this. Arla hadn’t told her everything.

She crept towards the door at the back of the carriage and opened it slightly. The sunlight was even brighter, and she squinted in the light.  She could hear a voice.

“…anyway, she should be fine. Arla healed her so when she wakes up, she’ll be feeling better.”

Amara was hesitant to do anything. What would these two do? She wished her sister was here – Kara would know exactly what to do. By now, they’d probably be on their way back to Agraud.  Kara would speak to them, she told herself. Demand to know what’s going on.

Amara took a deep breath and stepped out the small covered porch attached to the carriage and found herself standing between two men sitting there on wooden chairs.

"Hello?” Amara said, and the two men whipped around in alarm upon her speaking up.

The one on the left was short and pale with messy brown hair and green eyes.  He wore a black cloak and studied Amara. Next to him was a nervous thin man with olive skin and brown hair that was side-swept, with dark brown eyes, wearing a brown cloak. And Amara recognized him; the one who kidnapped her.

"You’re—you’re the one who took me!” Amara blurted out, trying not to shake as she stared down her kidnapper; Tallius, she recalled his name being.

“Uh…yeah,” said Tallius nervously, seeming unsure of how to respond, which took Amara by surprise. Shouldn’t a kidnapper be a bit more tough? “I-I—”

“Why did you take me?!” Amara demanded, fighting tears down to try not to appear weak. Kara certainly wouldn’t. “I…I have family back home that misses me! You took me against my will! You stole a PRINCESS!” she yelled.

The man with the dark cloak spoke up. “Uh…Princess Amara—can I call you that?”

“Sure. What?” Amara demanded.

“Don’t…hold Tallius against this. He was very reluctant, and he had to do it because it was his job,” insisted the man.

"Y-Yeah,” Tallius nodded. “I-I’m really sorry, uh…Princess Amara…but…what Erkar said. I didn’t want to.”

“So don’t do it!” Amara protested. “Why do I have to go to Foreviel anyway? I want to go home.”

The man in the dark cloak – Erkar – nodded. “You probably do. But we need you for this…plan of ours. You’re…destined for great things.”

“What do you mean?” Amara asked, steadying herself against the sway of the moving carriage.  She did not want to fall.

Tallius looked at her nervously. “Ever heard of…the Powered Ones?”

“Of course I have,” said Amara. Her mother taught her about them when she was younger: a group of people with special powers, who were spoken of only in a prophecy saying they’d save the land. Amara was never really sure whether to believe it or not though; Acirewiel was fine. If the Powered Ones were to come, it’d be years later, when the land was actually in trouble.

“They’re…real. I hope you believe in them,” said Erkar, with some caution to his voice. “Because…you’re one of them.”

Amara just stared the two down. “So…not only are you kidnappers, you’re crazy, too,” she said, her voice cracking with emotion, the lump in her throat returning. She just wanted to be able to take back ever going into the Dark Forest. Why would she go in there, after so many times of being told not to? You’re so stupid, she told herself, biting on her lip in attempts not to cry.

They both shook their heads rapidly. “We’re not crazy,” Tallius insisted. “We’re not.”

“Well, I’m not at least,” Erkar snickered, and Tallius gave him a look – not an accusing or angry one, but more of a “what are you trying to say” one. Erkar then cleared his throat. “But, uh…you are a Powered One, Amar—Princess Amara. The tablets lead us to you.”

“No, you’re crazy. I want to go home,” Amara insisted, not bothering to ask what these “tablets” were.

“Okay – we’re the Silent Ones. A group of mages. And we’ve made it our mission to unite the Powered Ones and save Acirewiel,” said Erkar.

The word flashed in Amara’s mind: mages. Her heart began pounding harder; mages were people with magic powers, but her father always taught her that they were bad, that they killed people with the powers they had, which is why they all had to be killed on sight. “Mages?!” she shrieked in alarm.

“Oh, gods. I should not have said that,” Erkar muttered.

“W-Well look, Princess Amara, we’re good mages. We do not kill,” said Tallius. “I will not lay a hand on you, and neither will Erkar, Arla, or anyone else.”

“You did when you kidnapped me!” Amara protested.

"Actually, I, uh, threw a gem on you,” Tallius stammered.

“Then how did I end up in a carriage?” Amara retorted.

“Okay. We are nice mages,” said Erkar. “And like Tallius said. We’re not going to hurt you.”

“Then what do you want with me?” Amara asked, her heart pounding in her chest.

“Didn’t we just tell you? You’re a Powered One,” Tallius pointed out.

"N-No, I’m not. That can’t be the reason.”

Tallius sighed. “And to think this part would be the easy one…”

“Look. You’re the Powered One who can control plants. Have you been able to do anything unordinary like that before?” asked Erkar.

Amara shook her head. “Plants treat me like they would anyone else.”

“Treat you?” Tallius laughed, almost falling off the still moving carriage.  He regained his composure. “…How so?”

“Listen to my voice, answer me, you know. Don’t they talk to other people, too? Well, not talk, I mean, they can’t speak, but…maybe elsewhere, I don’t know—”

“Princess,” said Erkar slowly, “plants can’t talk.”

“Yes they can,” Amara retorted.

“Not to us anyway,” Tallius quickly added. “Only to you.”

“That’s…ridiculous.”

Tallius then turned to face a tree by the road. “HELLO! You there! Tree!” he called. Amara expected it to turn to him, but it remained standing there. He looked back at her. “See? You try.”

Amara frowned. It just doesn’t want to talk to him, she told herself. She then looked at the tree. “Uh…hello?”

The same tree – and others around it – turned to face her, remaining to watch her even as the carriage kept moving. “See?” said Tallius. “You have plant powers.”

“They just don’t like you, or something,” said Amara hastily. She looked at the tree. “Okay…am I a Powered One?” she called. If Tallius and Erkar were telling the truth, the plants would only respond to her because she supposedly had plant powers – so they would know.

The trees all seemed to nod in response before moving back to place. “The trees have spoken,” said Erkar. “There you go.”

Amara frowned, shaking her head slightly. “They’re just joking…messing with me—”

“I’m pretty sure trees don’t joke, princess. You’re a Powered One.”

It couldn’t be true. Amara slid down to a seated position on the floor  between Tallius and Erkar, putting her head in her hands.  But why would trees lie anyway – especially about something like this? They never had before.  She looked up at the two mages – how could she trust them? They kidnapped her, and they claimed she had plant powers. They had to be lying.

But what if they were telling the truth?Amara pushed the idea away, recalling her sister’s words of caution, telling her not to be so trusting of strangers. But at the same time, the plants wouldn’t deceive her. Would they? Despite they were capable of communication, they never showed much emotion – which means they probably would not make jokes. Amara was completely confused, unsure of who to trust – she had never had that problem before in her life.

“Well, Foreviel’s just down the hill,” spoke up Erkar.

Amara leaned and  looked around him.  Sure enough, down the slope of the road, was a Kingdom on the sparkling blue water, a large drawbridge connecting it to the land. Docks came out of the Kingdom, with large ships in port by them. The ocean that Foreviel was on stretched into the distance and seemed unending. The Kingdom much bigger than Agraud; and it looked beautiful. Momentarily Amara had forgotten about her troubles. “Wow,” she murmured.

“Alright then,” said Tallius. “It’s about midday. We'll spend the rest of the day settling in—”

“Who’s leader here, Tallius?” Erkar asked. There was a hint of teasing to it, but Tallius seemed taken aback, like he couldn’t detect it. “But I agree with you. We’ll go to the inn that Margo and Triesa are in and see how they’re doing.”

“Who are Margo and Triesa?” Amara asked.

Tallius didn’t respond right away. “You’ll see.”

The carriage continued down the stone path, and as it did Arla emerged from the carriage. “Are we here?” she asked.

“We are,” Erkar confirmed.

A smile spread across the old woman’s face, which warmed Amara’s heart. “It’s just as beautiful as I remember it to be.”

“Hey Greuder! Hold up!” Tallius called. The horse responded and the carriage came to a stop.  Amara had never seen such a well-trained horse.  Tallius hopped out. “Thank you!” he said, running to the front of the carriage.

“Him and his damn horse. Anyway, we need a plan,” insisted Erkar, getting out to follow Tallius. Amara and Arla walked after him. “I have a vague one so far: we are here to find the two other Powered Ones who are supposed to be here.”

“You’re still going through with this?” said Amara. How far were they willing to go to try and convince her she had powers?

“Well…it’s kind of our job to find the others. You’re not the only one,” Tallius pointed out as they came to the front of the carriage. The man was standing by a smoky gray horse, feeding him an apple.

“I’m not a Powered One though,” Amara insisted.

Erkar opened his mouth to retort, but Arla spoke up. “She’ll need time to trust us, Erkar. Let her remain in her denial.”

I’m not in denial, Amara told herself. The plants may have insisted she was a Powered One, but that was…crazy. Impossible. There had to be a better explanation.

“Anyway. The plan,” said Tallius.

Erkar nodded. “Right. Margo and Triesa are already working on finding the fire and water Powered Ones. They may already have them, but I doubt it. Amara and I will join them in the inn they should be staying at, and work together to find the other Powered Ones. Tallius and Arla, you’re staying out here with Greuder and our carriage. Sell some items so we can have money for our journey. And once the other Powered Ones are found, we’re out of here and going to Lynareth.”

“Why am I going in with you?” Amara asked. “And why Lynareth?” She knew she’d be dragged there too – along with other people accused of having powers – so she at least wanted to know why.

“Because it’d be best if you were to meet the other Powered Ones – and we’re going to Lynareth because the lightning Powered One resides there,” said Erkar. “Any other questions?”

No one spoke up. “No? Good. Don’t draw too much attention to yourself, and especially no magic in front of other people,” said Erkar.

Erkar began to walk down the drawbridge, and Amara walked after him, looking over her shoulder at Arla and Tallius, who were now talking to each other about something Amara couldn’t quite hear.

“Have you been to any of the other Kingdoms before, princess?” asked Erkar.

“No,” said Amara. She could practically hear her sister telling her not to talk to him. Amara didn’t want to, but the other half of her wanted to open up. They seemed trustworthy…said they wouldn’t do anything to her…but she was still kidnapped. I can come up with a way to escape, she told herself. Play along for now. “My father’s overprotective.”

“Well, you’ll like this Kingdom. Everyone does,” Erkar nodded. “And look, I’m, uh…sorry about all this. We’ll get you home as fast as possible and try to keep you comfortable in the meantime, okay?”

Amara nodded back, and she couldn’t help but give a smile too. There was more and more proof these people were good, but the fact that they took her from her home was holding her back from liking them.

They approached the gates and one of the guards spoke up. “Halt. Who are you?”

“My name is Evan Gold of Arsen’s Fist. This is Rose Templon, of the same town,” said Erkar, before Amara could answer. She gave him a look, wondering what he was doing, but he kept his gaze fixed on the guard.

“You may enter,” said the guard, and Erkar gave a respectful nod before walking forward to the gate, opening it.

They stepped into a dark tunnel. “What was that all about?” Amara asked. “I mean, aren’t you not supposed to lie to guards? We could get in—”

“We’ll be fine. It’s for undercover purposes,” Erkar said. “If I said your real name, they’d definitely recognize you as a princess. And if I said my real name – and got in trouble because of…well, magic – then I’d be wanted across the country.”

“Oh,” said Amara. There was silence between them before she spoke up again. “Why do you use magic? Isn’t it evil?”

Erkar looked at her. “You can’t help how you’re born – but this country would like you to think that you can. Mages are born with their powers, and from a young age we have trouble controlling them. We can learn how to harness them, and yes, some mages will use it for dark purposes. However, that’s a stereotype overall – a lot of us aren’t evil.”

More silence as they began to approach the second set of gates. “I didn’t know that,” commented Amara.

“Because they don’t want you to,” sighed Erkar, opening the gates in front of them.

Sunlight filled the tunnel as soon as the huge doors were pulled open, and Amara could see the Kingdom before her.

The place was full of people walking around. In front of Amara was a fountain, and there were buildings all around in a circle, with a path on the opposite side of Amara that lead further into the Kingdom. In the distance Amara could see ships, noticing that the Kingdom’s wall cut off to show the ocean that stretched on behind Foreviel.

“The inn is right in this circle,” said Erkar, and Amara turned to look at him as he spoke. “It’s called the Black Sheep Inn.”

Amara looked over to an inn that was made out of wood, looking to be a bit run-down. A sign was held up over the door, a painting of a dark sheep on there and pretty handwriting labelling it as “THE BLACK SHEEP INN”, with ivy growing up the side of the building.

“Well let’s go then,” said Amara, heading for the building. Erkar walked after her, going around the fountain and towards the inn.

Amara opened the door. Inside the inn there were quite a few people, although it wasn’t crowded. Soft music was being played, and there was a lot of conversation around the place. People were sitting at tables, some standing up, and overall the inn had a sense of warmth to it.

“Hello,” said a voice, and Amara glanced over to see a boy behind the bar, looking to be about her age. He had dirty blonde hair and brown clothes, with sea-green eyes. “Welcome to the Black Sheep Inn. Need anything?”

“Just two rooms please,” said Erkar, diving into his pocket and taking out some gold pieces, placing them on the counter.

“All right,” said the boy, handing them each a key. “You get them for a week. If you need it longer, give us more pieces.”

“A week should be fine,” Erkar nodded. He then turned to Amara. “Now let’s go find Triesa and Margo.”

- - -

Author's Note:
Sorry for not updating! Just started high school. Plus our wi-fi is being stupid (as usual).

Chapter 2

“Our ancestors founded the Hunters’ Contest as a symbol of unity throughout our Kingdom, to show that despite our differences, we must work together…”

Amara paced in her room, her voice trailing off as she examined the speech again in attempts to remember the next few words. She then looked at herself in the nearby mirror and ran her hand through her hair a few times. A sigh escaped her and she sat down in a nearby chair. I just want to get this over with, she thought; it was three more days until she made her speech.

Then a feeling crept over her, as if she were being watched. Amara slowly turned to look out the window, glancing at the Kingdom below; in the middle of the marketplace was a man with a black hood over most of his face, and sure enough, he seemed to be looking directly at Amara’s window.

She flinched at his gaze, pulling back from the window, and as she did she could see the hooded man draw the hood further over his face, turn, and then rapidly walk away.

“…and now, citizens of Agraud’s Kingdom, without further ado, the Hunters’ Contest shall begin!”

The crowd below roared with approval, and Amara stepped aside, her speech finally concluded. Relief washed over her; she wouldn’t have to do that for at least another year.

“You did great,” said Tyra, who was standing nearby.

“Thanks,” Amara smiled, and she could now hear Darren talking; he must’ve been getting the hunters out to the forest. “Do you think Kara will win?”

Tyra sighed. “To tell the truth, I think your sister rushed into this. The other hunters are a lot more experienced…”

Amara realized Tyra was right, but she still wanted Kara to win, despite the unlikeliness. “So…I guess now we wait for them to return,” she said. Spectators weren’t allowed in the forest, so all the citizens could do was anticipate the results.

Just then Amara’s mother came up to her, her father right nearby. A smile split across the queen’s face and she pulled Amara into a hug excitedly. “You did great!” she exclaimed. “I’m so proud of you!”

“Oh, well thank you!” Amara said with a slight laugh as her mother pulled back.

“You did very well,” said her father in agreement, giving a smile that formed wrinkles under his eyes. “It was not so bad, was it?”

“It’s over at any rate,” Amara giggled. “I’m just glad it is.”

“Well, you may be doing it next time,” her mother grinned. “The Kingdom loved you!”

“Of course they did,” scoffed her father. “I am going to go oversee the hunt. Farewell,” he nodded, turning to leave.

Amara’s mother turned to her with another brilliant smile. “I suppose you and I will head back to the palace then. Come on.”

         
Later, Amara sat in the gardens once more, among the chrysanthemums, talking to them. “So I’m worried Kara isn’t going to win, and I really want her to, but the other hunters are more experienced so it’s not very likely—”

“Princess Amara?” spoke up a voice. Amara turned to see a man standing there – a messenger, Ronald Hill. He immediately bowed upon her acknowledgement.
“What is it?” Amara asked. “Is everything okay? Wha—”
“Your sister’s shooting glove snapped,” Ronald said hurriedly, straightening himself. “You know her best, where might she keep spares?”
Amara immediately perked up. “Yes, I know where I can get them.”
“Well, Princess, if you would tell me the location and I can retrieve—”
“Don’t worry, I can get it,” insisted Amara, standing up and running back towards the palace.
She could hear Ronald call after her, but she ignored him; not only did she know where to get a spare glove, but this was also an excuse to go into the forest – which she had always wanted to explore on her own.

They called it the “Dark Forest” to keep people from going too far in; from what Amara had heard, there were several forests like this one throughout Acirewiel, and all of them were equally dangerous.
But luckily, the outskirts of the Dark Forest were completely safe. When he forest began to get darker that was a sign you were too far in – and Amara was positive she wouldn’t go that far. Kara was smart enough not to, so she’d be on the outskirts like everyone else should be.
Amara made her way past the gates (there weren’t any guards posted, so Amara assumed they were dealing with the contest, much to her relief), and headed down the dirt path that lead right to the forest, which was right by the wall that surrounded the Kingdom.
She had never been in the Dark Forest alone. The idea excited her. Her overprotective father would never let her leave the Kingdom on her own, but she’d be quick. She was only delivering Kara her glove, after all, which was currently being held in Amara’s left hand.
Then she was darting through the treeline, and she slowed down as she came into the forest. Worries began running through her head: what if the guards are here? What if Ronald tells my father? But she attempted to push them away; there wasn’t anything wrong with what she was doing.
Except for going out without guards, said a voice of doubt, which your father will not appreciate.
Despite all this, Amara kept going through the forest. It was quite silent – she suspected everyone was further in – so there was no clue as to where her sister was. Amara took in the scenery: the sunlight sparkled through the leaves of the trees, which had turned orange with the new season. She hated to see flowers dying during this time, but when Amara was younger her mother explained the circle of life, how the leaves would turn dull colors and the plants would give out due to the cold of the oncoming winter. It was for the best, her mother had said. But Amara still wasn’t sure why it was.
She then turned to some flowers nearby, who looked lively among the dead-looking trees. “Hi,” said Amara, and the flowers, all clumped together looked up upon hearing her voice. Amara lowered herself down in front of them, and was mindful to keep the dress form hitting the ground – she didn’t want dirt on it. “My sister, Kara recently came through here but I’m looking for her. Do you know where she went?”
Not too long after the question left her mouth, the flowers all turned to look into the distance – east, Amara realized. She beamed at them. “Thank you!” she said, before standing back up and heading in that direction.
Amara continued walking, and she could hear talking every now and then – must’ve been other hunters – but she avoided them in case they’d get suspicious about her being alone. Adrenaline was rushing through her and she couldn’t help but grin to herself. It was like she was on a quest, and she couldn’t be caught – which was kind of exciting, really.
But as she walked, she then heard a voice that was closer than the others she had heard previously – and it sounded like the person was singing. “…he was a shepherd but he could fight off lions…a warrior dressed in robes…”
It was a man’s voice, but it wasn’t very deep. Amara recognized the song he was singing: “The Mighty Shepherd”, which she had first heard at a young age. The song was about a lowly, humble shepherd who was a lot stronger and a lot more of a fighter than everyone thought. She quite liked the tale, and her mother sang it often; but not much anymore.
She then looked for the origin of the voice; and sure enough, nearby was someone in a dark cloak and a hood pulled over their face. Amara hid behind a tree, and she noticed a nearby branch lower down as if to fully hide her – like it knew what her intentions were.
He was walking along by himself, and he crouched down to pick berries off of a bush. “…he took on the beasts of the land, with nothing but his shepherd’s crane…oh, the mighty shepherd…”
She peeked her head around the tree in attempts to get a good look at him. He raised his head slightly, and Amara’s heart hammered against her chest as she realized who he was.
It’s the man I saw out my window!  she thought to herself in realization. What was he doing out here? Who was he? She decided to keep spying, and possibly find these things out herself.
The man stood up and glanced at her, then did a double-take. Amara realized she had been spotted, and found herself just staring back at him. He grew wide-eyed before saying, “oh, hold—wait, wait!”
Amara was about to ask what was wrong when he produced a red gem from the pocket of his cloak and then threw it at her. Amara didn’t even have time to react before it landed on her hip and latched on, and then the man said something in another language: “edestus maak!”

Confusion filled Amara right before a wave of pain came over, and suddenly Amara couldn’t move or yell out. Black dots lined her vision and she fell over, before being completely knocked out.

Chapter 1

“Augh, Tyra, I can’t do this!”

The attendant gave a warm smile at Amara, sitting down next to her at the desk in her room. “You’ll do great.”

“No I won’t,” Amara insisted, shaking her head and running a hand through her long, wavy red hair. “I thought this would be so exciting, but…I’m nervous. What if I mess up in front of the whole Kingdom? Kara should do this, she’s—”

“Relax,” insisted Tyra, calming the girl; being Amara’s attendant since she was born, Tyra had plenty of practice with it. “You’ve got this. You’re good at speaking.”

“Not in front of everyone who lives here!” Amara protested.

“How do you know? You haven’t tried it yet,” Tyra said, glancing out the window that oversaw the Kingdom and the forests beyond. “And besides, your father has purchased a very nice dress and jewelry for the occasion.”

Amara perked up slightly. “What do they look like?”

“The dress is a pretty emerald green. Like your eyes,” Tyra replied, turning to look at Amara, who smiled at the compliment. “And a beautiful pearl necklace. You’ll look great, and everyone will love you.”

Amara frowned. “Why isn’t Kara doing the speech anyway? She’s much better at them…”

“You haven’t made a speech before. Besides, your sister has done the speech every year since turning sixteen. Your parents wanted you to have a try, plus Kara is participating in the event this year,” explained Tyra. She then gestured to the papers that had been set at the table. “I suggest you read over those, so you’ll be prepared as best you can. You have a week, Princess Amara.”

Amara nodded. “I know. Thank you, Tyra. You can go if you wish, I’ll practice the speech and we can review it together this afternoon.”

Tyra bowed her head in response before leaving Amara to glance over the speech that had been written out for her. In one week would be the annual Hunters’ Contest that was very popular in Agraud’s Kingdom. It was always a special event, but this year Amara had to make the opening speech. She got nervous just thinking about it.

She looked down at the papers. Sure, Amara was able to read from them for the speech, but according to Tyra she had to look at the audience as much as possible, so a little bit of memorization couldn’t hurt.

Amara examined the opening sentence. “Citizens of Agraud, we welcome you to the 21^st annual Hunters’ Contest.” She tried to imagine herself standing in front of the Kingdom, saying the words, but the nerves churned in her stomach as she pictured the scene happening. She’d been in front of the Kingdom numerous times, so she never quite imagined having the fear of public speaking; but apparently, she had it.

I’ll study this in the gardens, she thought. Thinking of the gardens immediately made her feel better; it was her favorite place to be, surrounded by the plants and beautiful flowers. She went there often; in fact many of the servants knew this as the place to find Amara.

She gathered up the papers and left the room, heading down the hallway to go to the gardens, which were right outside the palace. She made her way past guards and attendants alike – all who acknowledged her in a bow, curtsey or a “good morning princess” as she walked – and headed through the doors that’d take her to the garden outside.

The gardens had made a wonderful transition from the summer flowers to the autumn ones. Amara stepped out into the gardens, an arch of leaves and roses being the first thing to greet her. She then took the path, with flowers on either side of her and trees that were bountiful with apples. The morning sun sparkled through the leaves and flowers all around her, creating a very pretty scene.

 She sat down by the flowers, looking at them. Some were a pretty purple, while others were brilliant shades of orange and red. Being in the gardens, Amara could slowly feel her nerves calming. Perhaps since she had been here since she was little was why it calmed her down. It was an incredibly familiar place.

She examined the plants nearby after reading the fourth line. “Hello,” she found herself saying, and the flowers faced Amara upon hearing her voice. A smile split across her face. The plants always listened, and she found herself telling them of her situation. “The Hunting Contest is coming up. It’s one of my favorite events in the Kingdom…but I have to make the speech. How do I do that?”

Several of the flowers tilted their petals as if thinking, while a few others seemed to shrug in response. They were somewhat capable of communicating, Amara had learned. But mainly through gestures.

Maybe some flowers in far-off Kingdoms could talk. Amara longed to visit the other Kingdoms – maybe attending a meeting with her father could grant her the opportunity – but in all her life, the furthest she’d been was into the forest nearby, and even then she had to be escorted by guards so she couldn’t fully enjoy the experience.

Just then footsteps reached her ears and Amara lifted her head up slightly to see who it was: she immediately recognized the man as Spencer Lamb, one of the gardeners. He had dark skin and eyes, and was pretty much the tallest person Amara had ever met. In fact, the top of her head just barely reached his shoulder; her height being about 5’1” didn’t help.

“Oh, hello Amara—er, um, I mean, Princess Amara,” stammered Spencer.

Amara gave him a small smile. “It’s okay Spencer. You can just call me Amara.” She talked to him enough to consider him one of her friends, so she didn’t feel the title was a necessity.

“I would…rather not. Don’t want a man overhearing me not acknowledging you as a princess and jailing me up or something,” said Spencer, giving a light but nervous chuckle. “I should not really be here anyways. You know how the council and your family feel about people being alone with you.”

“You’re fine. I can just say you were here to make sure no assassins got to me,” said Amara with a slight giggle.

Spencer smiled in return. “What are you doing here, anyway?”

“Oh, I have to memorize a speech. For the Hunters’ Contest,” Amara said, giving a slight nod.

Spencer’s eyes grew wide. “Really? They’re letting you do that?” Amara nodded and he smiled. “Well, Princess Kara did make her speech at sixteen. I suppose it’s your turn now.”

“Yeah, but I’m nervous. What if I mess up?” Amara fretted.

He walked closer to her and knelt down, right next to her on the ground. “Princess Amara, if there’s one thing you’re good at, it’s talking,” he said somewhat teasingly. “You’ll do great.”

“Not in front of a whole Kingdom,” retorted Amara. “There’ll be so many…”

“Well on the bright side, Agraud is the smallest Kingdom. If you lived in Saluth, Foreviel or anywhere else…that’d be a different story. Plus, everyone in this Kingdom loves you. They won’t hold anything against you if you mess up.” Spencer then gave a slight grimace. “They can’t anyway, I mean, that’s probably against some law…”

Amara gave a slight laugh. “Well…thanks, Spencer.”

Spencer then stood up. “Sure, any time. I got to tend to the flowers now, however. Not doing my job is also probably against some law…”

“You’re overthinking it Amara. It’s honestly not that big a deal.”

Amara had gone to see Kara at lunchtime. She had brought bread and pottage for the both of them, knowing Kara was busy down at the archery range. She was taking a break from her lessons – their father was training her to rule the Kingdom as Queen – and during Kara’s breaks, Amara knew that her sister practiced the bow-and-arrow out in the yard by the palace, not too far from the gardens.

“I’m still nervous,” insisted Amara, watching as Kara put an arrow into the nock of the bow and pulled back to aim at the target. “I mean, it’s the whole Kingdom.”

“Oh, please. If they say anything bad about you the council would have their heads,” muttered Kara, releasing the arrow, which missed the target. Amara heard her sister curse under her breath as she went to retrieve it.

Nearby, Amara could hear the clashing of swords and yelling of the soldiers, who were practicing their fighting. She looked over to see them all sparring, with the Captain Darren Fletcher observing them nearby, talking to a messenger that was standing next to him, a paper in their hand. Darren had one hand on the sword on his belt – Amara knew he often did this out of habit – and with the other hand he tried to get his messy brown hair out of his face.

No one from the army was currently using the archery range, so Kara had seized the opportunity to use it. A few weeks ago Kara had announced to the family that she was going to participate in the Hunters’ Contest; so not only would Kara be the first Queen to be the main ruler of the Kingdom, she was also the first woman to enter the Hunters’ Contest. Amara was very proud of her sister, especially knowing that she couldn’t be brave enough to try and do those things herself.

As she watched her sister practice, Amara noticed Kara seemed to be working herself too hard; although Kara insisted the words of the citizens complaining about a woman being in the contest didn’t bother her, Amara knew her older sibling well enough to see when she was stressed. Every sentence and remark seemed to gnaw at Kara, which she channeled into an ambition to do better and to prove the people wrong. If Kara would relax, she’d probably do better at this, thought Amara.

She decided to tell her sister so. “Maybe you should calm down a bit. You seem…stressed.”

As Kara came back with the arrow, she laughed at Amara’s words. “Me? Stressed? I don’t get stressed. How do I seem stressed?”

“You’re not relaxing when you shoot. You’re doing it too quickly,” said Amara.

“Yeah? And you’re some kind of archery expert?” muttered Kara, putting the arrow in the nock again.

“She’s not,” said a new voice, “but Princess Amara is right.”

Both girls looked up to see Darren had come over. “Shouldn’t you be watching the soldiers?” asked Kara, looking at the target rather than Darren.

He gave a slight chuckle, glancing over his shoulder at the soldiers behind him. “They get boring after a while. A lot of the new recruits need more work to do.” He looked back to Kara, who was still refusing to look back at him. “When shooting, you have to relax and take your time. You seem tense, and I’ve been watching; you shoot too fast.”

Finally Kara looked at him, but only threw him a glare. “I didn’t exactly invite you over here to criticize me, Darren.”

“No, but I wanted to help you. I am hoping you win the contest, after all,” he said with a smile. Amara took a bite of bread as she watched the conversation continue. Darren walked up to Kara, pairing up his arms with hers in attempts to show her how to line the arrow up with the target. “Try to—”

Kara shrugged him off. “I don’t need help. And I especially don’t need everyone watching me.”

“Amara’s been here,” Darren pointed out.

“She’s my sister. I barely know you.”

“And to think we were friends. Fine, I’ll leave you alone. Shoot well.” Darren then nodded and left to go back to the soldiers.

After a few seconds of silence, Amara spoke up. “You acted like you hated him.”

Kara sighed. “I don’t hate him, Amara. I just don’t want people touching me.”

“Oh.” Amara then took another bite of bread. “I think he’s cute.”

“Fine, he kind of is. I still can’t have people interrupting my archery practice though. Except you. You’re fine.”

“Oh. Well thank you,” said Amara. She then glanced at Kara’s lunch. “You’ve barely touched your food.”

“I’m busy, Amara, although the meal is much appreciated.” She then released the arrow, which flew right at the target onto one of the outer rims painted on it.

“Do you have…any advice about the speech?” Amara asked, recalling one of the reasons she had come out to visit her sister in the first place.

“Memorize the lines and don’t mess up. It’s all on you,” Kara said, pulling the arrow out of the target. 

- - -
Author's Note:
So that's chapter one (finally)! Soon I should have a characters page up. It'll only have the main characters though (because there's a lot of minors). 
Any favorite characters so far?

Prologue

Threats were an efficient way of getting people to do things for you. So efficient, it may make one desperate; especially when that threat meant life or death.

So when the Clan’s Second threatened to slit Lark’s throat if the job wasn’t done right – and had practically tossed her out the door – she made no delay in hurrying back to the city of Thirarith, choking down tears the entire way. It was such a dangerous job, that even accomplishing it could end in Lark’s death. She’d done jobs before, but never one so huge or risky.

The words kept repeating in her head: slit your throat. It had been at least a day since she’d heard the threat, and it still rang in her ears as if it had just been spoken.

She’d done minor jobs before, but never one so big. But since she was the Empress’s midwife, she was immediately chosen for this job.

Lark tried to calm herself. At least you didn’t get the other half, she thought. No, that would be given to an assassin of higher ranking. She only had one job: get rid of the child.

Of course though, “get rid of” always meant “kill” in the Larsanic Clan. And how could she possibly kill the Emperor’s child – especially when it had just been born, and the room would be full of the Empress’s attendants? She had three of them; which meant that was three extra people she’d have to remove from the room.

These were the thoughts that ran through her head as she sat at her table at home, not even touching her breakfast, staring absentmindedly out the window. But her thoughts were interrupted when there was a pounding at the door.

“Mother!” exclaimed a voice, that Lark immediately recognized as her daughter Mia’s. “There’s a royal messenger here for you!”
Confusion swept through Lark as well as panic. Why was there a messenger here? Did they discover her plot? Nervously she approached the door, where indeed a messenger stood out of breath. “Mistress Lark,” he said, standing in the doorway. “It’s Empress Justine. She’s just gone into labor.”

Now Lark’s emotions were all replaced by shock – and fear. “What…but she’s not due for another six weeks!”

“They need you at the palace. Now,” the messenger insisted.

There was no avoiding or preventing it. “Mia, come on,” she said to her daughter.

“I’m going with you?” said Mia, seeming a bit taken by surprise.

“Yes. Follow us,” Lark replied, and they took after the messenger, abandoning their morning meal.

                                                                                                

Empress Justine was screaming in pain, lying in bed as Lark entered the room with her daughter. “You’ll be fine, Empress. The midwife is here,” said an attendant by the name of Ruby, glancing at Lark. She then turned to the Empress. “Just breathe!”

There were two other attendants in the room – one, Amelia, who had a damp towel on Empress Justine’s forehead, attempting to cool her off, and the other, Jasmine, was holding the Empress’s hand, and seemed to be humming a tune, as if trying to calm her.

Lark examined the scene. Empress Justine was going into labor quickly, she noticed, which didn’t normally happen with a woman’s first child. She tried to push the thought away as she forced a smile onto her face and approached the Empress, who was now breathing rapidly. “You’re progressing nicely, Empress. Everything’s going well.”

The Empress shook her head quickly. “Something’s not right. It’s too soon, it’s too—”

“You’re going to be fine,” Lark insisted, trying to convince herself more than the Empress. Deep down, she knew this wasn’t completely all right.

“Mistress Lark?”

Lark turned to Ruby, who was standing close by her. She leaned towards Lark and whispered, “she’s been pushing for two hours…and she doesn’t look well. Should I get the physician?”

“No, everything’s fine,” Lark murmured back. “Keep cooling her off. She’s getting feverish.” She appreciated Ruby’s keeping her voice down though; it was best not to alarm the Empress. “You’re doing great, Empress Justine,” said Lark, raising her voice as she turned to the woman, who was convulsing and sweating terribly. “I can see the baby’s coming now.”

Lark then felt someone tap her shoulder, and she turned to see Jasmine right by her. The attendant leaned forward and then hissed, “do your job, Lark.” Jasmine then patted her belt, and fear washed over Lark as she saw the outline of a dagger; she should have known the Clan would have spies among the Empress’s attendants.

But in the past two hours, Lark still had not formulated a plan; she closed her eyes, and found herself silently praying to Aedlas. My Lord, help me to carry out your will. Let me have success in this job—

“The baby’s almost here!” exclaimed Mia enthusiastically, leaning over the side of the bed. “Empress, your baby is coming!”

“Empress?” Amelia said. “Oh my gods! Lark, Lark, something’s wrong with the Empress!” the attendant said in alarm.

Lark’s head snapped around to look at the Empress, and much to her horror, she could see the Empress’s eyes had rolled to the back of her head, her breath now coming out in shallow rasps. The fear inside Lark practically burst through her as she saw blood begin to trickle from Empress Justine’s mouth. “Mother, the baby!” Mia shouted, beating Lark to speaking first.

Sure enough, the baby had been delivered, and it began crying. Lark quickly scooped the baby up, wrapping it up in a towel. “It’s a boy,” she announced. She then handed Mia the baby. “Clean him.”

Mia then nodded and took the baby off, and Lark turned back to look at the Empress. If possible, her fear grew, as she realized her condition had worsened.

The Empress is dying, she realized. She then turned to look at the attendants. “Amelia, get the physician. Now,” she said. Amelia nodded and hurried out of the room as Lark turned to Ruby and Jasmine. “You two, get Emperor Audric.”

Ruby didn’t hesitate to run out of the door, and Lark could see Jasmine’s gaze linger on Lark, a knowing smirk forming on her lips before she turned to follow her fellow attendant.

It was now just Lark and Mia in the room, and Mia was still cleaning the baby. Dread began to fill Lark; everyone was gone, and she realized it was now or never, she had to kill the child. But there was no way she could kill the Empress’s child in front of her daughter. She quickly searched her mind for an excuse to send Mia out of the room; but she could not find one.

Aedlas, my Lord, please help me, she pleaded once more, her eyes closing again. She then opened them once more, and her eyes turned to her daughter, who had her back turned as she continued to clean the Empress’s son.

Lark found herself reviewing the ways she could kill the child – she knew she’d have to now. She then decided that the most efficient way would be wrapping the umbilical cord around the baby’s throat and strangle it; it couldn’t possibly be pinned on her that way.

“Mia.” Lark spoke up. Her daughter turned around, the baby still crying in her arms, and Lark resisted the urge to flinch. “Bring the child here,” she said, fear coursing through her and making her almost shake with nerves.

Mia gave a small smile and began to approach her mother, but just then her daughter’s eyes grew wide. “Mother, look!” she exclaimed.

Lark turned around. The Empress was dead; but not before giving birth to a dead child, who lay still on the sheets, its skin a dark purple-blue color. She stared at the situation for a while before realizing something.

My prayers have been answered.

A plan somehow immediately formed in her head, and she turned to her daughter. “Mia, wrap the baby up and take it home.”

“Bu—”

“Don’t say anything, don’t talk to anyone, take it home and hide it somewhere.”

“But mother—”

“Go! Now!” Lark insisted urgently, and Mia quickly turned and left the room, the baby wrapped up in towels, its body covered.

Lark then turned back to the dead Empress and the dead child, examining them; but not much later the door opened and Lark whipped around, seeing the attendants back, along with Emperor Audric himself and the physician.

All the faces staring at her, a lump formed in Lark’s throat and suddenly she felt all the emotions she’d been bottling up inside her release in a sob. She collapsed to the ground, tears tracing her cheeks. “W-We lost them,” she managed to say. “The Empress, and her child.”

Lark looked up, seeing everyone looking in shock – the Emperor looking the most grief-stricken. The only one who wasn’t however, was Jasmine, who gave a cold approving smile towards Lark and a slight nod.

Thank you, Aedlas, Lark said, collapsing further onto the floor.

It was over, and Lark would live.

- - - 

Author's Note:

Prologue is finally up! This took a while to write but I think I got it good. 

I still need to plan the story out a bit more, so this should just keep you guys busy before chapter one is posted. The chapters for this story are going to be a bit longer than they usually are though. :)

Also, there's a new feature where I tag certain characters in the labels. This way you can click on their name and see all the chapters they're in; it's a good way of keeping track of your own characters too.

Be sure to sign up a character or two, I kind of lack comments on this site (as in there are 0 currently).

Update

Hi everyone!

The Powered Ones is making its return soon, and I have plenty of new characters prepared, along with a bit more of a plot outline. So expect the prologue to be up in July or August, depends on how many more things I realize I need to plan out.

Since the story will be being written again soon, I have made a new sign-ups page that's a lot more simpler than the last one. Go check it out and make a character if you'd like! You can only make one (sorry; I already have a lot of characters), so use it sparingly; and if you ever want to change your character, you can as long as they're not in the story yet. I may give you a heads-up before they make their first appearances in case you need to make changes.

Like I said, I'm working more on the story, but this story is helping me take a big leap in my writing, as I'm going to be including more representation from different types of people in the world. That said, a few warnings.

THIS STORY WILL INCLUDE:

-Cussing (in order not to offend people, I'll bleep them out)

-Different sexualities

-Sexism (being against someone due to their gender)

-Drinking (alcohol/beer-related drinks)
-Violence

Sorry if you don't like some of these things, that's why I'm warning you ahead of time. And if you're not sure what one is, ask a parent or some other adult, it may not be my place to explain it to you.

But yeah, I'm excited to write this story and I hope you guys will enjoy it!