Chapter 1: The Little Princess

In a palace by the sea, a little redheaded princess ran around the palace gardens. She would smile and laugh, touching each flower she passed. She would stop and look around the fields in front of her, and turn back to wave at someone, but then something or someone grabbed her hand and take off with her...

 

         That's how the dreams always started, it was one of the three dreams I had growing up. The weird thing was that the little girl always reminded me of myself. Her blue eyes had the same orange ring around the middle, and her hair was the same shade of red that mine is. Her ears were even the same shape as mine.  As an elf that lived in the same home as the king, I didn't get to do the same running around that the girl in my dreams did. I have a bigger task at hand, to find out what gift the ancestral elves granted me. When I find that out, I get to know my new name. Most everyone calls me 'Sunshine' because I am always smiling and laughing. My aunt Star calls me 'Little one' because to her, I am her child, and all these names are okay except for the one that Dawn calls me. He calls me 'Red' because of my red hair, which I think is rude.

                Dawn is the king's son, he is a smart boy but he talks a lot, and is working to find his gift too. To elves, names are important; they describe who someone is and their history. My aunts name is 'Star' because she is bright and gives hope to all those around her, she is a future-gazer. We live in equality with the royal family because of her gift, so, most of the time, I am grateful for that. I spend most of my time in the fields, painting or singing because we live in the castle.

                  I opened my eyes to see that it was almost lunchtime; I scrambled to get up knocking my coal pan onto the floor! I never sleep this late ever! "Ouch!" I rubbed my foot, and someone knocked on the door, "Yes?" I called, in came the king, I stood up and bowed. "Sunshine, how many times have I told you, you don't have to bow. You're in my home and are family to us." he smiled. I blushed and picked up the pan, the king ushered in two servant elves to clean it up for me. The girl, Moline, took the pan out of my hand scolding me. "Sunshine, you mustn't do these chores,” she whispered. I rolled my eyes, when my aunt found me, she had not yet found her gift and so we lived normal elvish lives for three years. I cleaned up after myself, and it was hard not to do it out of habit.

              "I'm sorry for sleeping so long Bijan." I said, still blushing. Bijan put up his hand, "It's okay, you deserve to, it’s not every day that an elf princess turns twenty." he smiled. That's right, I forgot about my birthday, twenty was a big year, it meant the start of our own journey in finding out who we are and we could start to court the men. Bijan sat down on a white chair by the door; his name fit him well, in act and looks. He is handsome, strong but still gentle, 'Bijan' means hero, and he had saved many through his life. "Oh, I forgot that was today, I've been nervous to be quite honest, in fact so nervous that a dream from my childhood came back last night." I explained. Bijan looked at me questioningly, he knew about my dreams but he always seemed to know something I didn't when I told him about the dreams.

                 "You're going to be wonderful Little One." he remarked, I stared at him, he had never called me by that name before...only Star had. He called for Moline to come back; she came in holding a big package, which she set down on my bed. "This is for you to wear tonight, Star and I thought it would be fitting." Bijan explained. I opened the package, a long and light dress showed through. It was a white loose dress with brown tree branches stitched all through, and bright green leaves as the shoulder strap, at the waist, and throughout the branches. When I pulled the dress out completely I noticed little stars had been made to look like sparkles through the whole dress. "B... Bijan, I... this is so beautiful, I don't think I could wear it, what if I tear it?" I asked. Bijan laughed, "That's expected, so we have pieces ready to be substituted just in case."

                  "Thank you, you are right, it fits perfectly.” I smiled. I put the dress down, “If it’s alright, I want to go walking and look at the things in the market, I need some alone time before tonight?” I asked. Bijan nodded, “Of course, stay warm, today is a bit chilly.” I nodded and waved goodbye. When Bijan left I sat on the floor and looked at the dress, “Moline, why did he call me ‘Little One’ Star is the one who gave me that name!” I asked.

            Moline sat by me, “Sunshine, you don’t see it but the whole kingdom cares for you. The king sees you as his little princess, when Andrea moved on; Star and you were his anchor to get through the grieving. You are, his little princess.” She explained. I laid my head on Moline’s shoulder, “I still don’t understand.” I stated. She sighed and kissed my head, “I know Sunshine, I know. Now get dressed so you can go explore before you’re big moment tonight.”

            Moline always knew when I wanted to get away; it was to see everything outside of the castle. I grabbed my tan pack and ran out the door before anyone could ask me what my plans were. The chilled air hit my body all at once, Bijan was right. I went to the first town; they always had the best honey, and berry breads. “Oh Sunshine, you’re not supposed to be out.” a voice called, I turned around. The voice belonged to sweet Aaron, the old man who always sold me the best honey.

            “I know Aaron, but I couldn’t go the whole week without your honey!” I smiled; he hugged me and brought me to his stall. He brought out a jar filled with honeycomb, “No charge today sweet girl.” He smiled. “Oh no, Aaron I can’t take it from you, you work so hard!” I pleaded. “Nonsense, you’re twenty today, it is my gift to you!” he chimed. “You remembered too! It seems I am the only one who forgot!” I laughed. I took Aaron’s hands in mine, “Thank you Aaron, you’re the sweetest man.” I said.

            I left Aaron’s stall after telling him about my plans for the day and headed to Windsong’s stall. She was a young girl but her gift of cooking was more incredible than anyone in the elvish kingdom. “Hello Windsong! How are you? Your hair looks beautiful!” I marveled, in awe of her blonde locks. She smiled, “Oh Sunshine, please, all I did was put it down.” She huffed, handing me bread. “Still, it looks amazing, thank you.” I smiled. Windsong also gave me the bread without charging me. Everyone seemed to know about my birthday and wanted to make me happy.

            I walked towards Aurelius, the next town, they had a waterfall that I sat by and ate while I watched the world. Climbing onto the rocks was my favorite part; I enjoyed the work out and the challenge. It felt different today, easier but also more mysterious, it was a little more foggy than usual. When I got to the top there was a figure already sitting on the rock, I sighed and turned around. “No need to disappear, I won’t do anything, you can share this rock if you’d like.” The figure said.

            I turned around to see a man standing in front of me, “Oh, it… its okay, I just come here to sit and eat.” I explained, backing up. “Really, its okay, I’m just watching.” The man said. “Oh.. okay…thank you.” I mumbled, walking to my spot and sitting down. The man sat beside me, “I am Bear.” He said, I wanted to laugh because this name fit him well. He looked like a bear, his dark hair was wild and his brown eyes were intense.

            “I am Sunshine.” I smiled, “I can see why.” He beamed, I blushed, was he trying to complement me? I took out my bread and honey and offered him some, he nodded thanks to me, “Where are you from Bear? I don’t believe I’ve seen you in Aurelius before.” I asked. “I’m from Pike, two towns over, this is my first time here.” He explained. It made sense to me now, I hadn’t visited Pike yet, I was still exploring Kenwa, the town before his.

            “Where are you from, if I may ask.” Bear questioned, “Oh, I uh, I live in Rainwood.” I said, he looked surprised. “Most elves from Rainwood don’t come this far.” He mentioned. I nodded, “I suppose they are too comfortable, and okay with not exploring.” I answered. “You’re right, thank you for sharing your time and food with me. This honey and the bread are the best I have ever had!” he laughed. I smiled, “I know, they are from Rainwood, there is a young girl named Windsong who makes the bread, and an old man named Aaron who makes the honey. They are kind and hard working.” I explained.

            “Is Bear your name? What is your gift?” I asked, “Yes it is, I found my gift when I turned twenty, I speak with animals.” He explained. My eyes widened, “Oh wow, that is beautiful! I don’t know my gift yet but I will know soon, I was reminded today is my birthday, I am twenty today.” I said. Bear smiled and pulled something out of his pocket. “Here, have this, happy birthday!”  He opened his hand to reveal a leather bracelet with a wooden animal carved on it. “Oh my, this is beautiful, I don’t think I have ever seen this animal before, what is it?” I asked.

            “An elephant, they are found in the human countries, they are big an gray with big ears and gentle spirits.” He explained, I marveled at the bracelet. “Thank you, thank you so much. I must give you something, especially because I just met you and you are so nice to me.” I gasped. “No, no. Its okay, just take it, I have a few in my pockets, I sell them as I walk through the towns.” I sighed; I don’t think anyone was going to let me be kind in return today.

            For a while we sat in silence watching birds play in the water and children chase after them. One little boy grabbed ahold of one and it almost flew away with him, luckily the mother was there to catch him. The fish were nowhere to be seen today but there were many deer drinking from the sides of the water. I looked at the sky; the clouds were shifting to reveal a color change. “Oh no! I’m going to be late if I don’t leave now. I’m so sorry, I have to go, thank you for your kindness and company, but I must go.” I said. We stood up and Bear bowed, “Thank you. Go swiftly.” He waved. I waved and ran all the way to the castle. Moline snuck me in before anyone could see that I was wet and had been in the towns alone.

            “Miss Sunshine, you’re going to be found out someday if you are not more careful.” Moline scolded as she helped me put on the dress Bijan and Star had for me. “I know, I know, I met someone new today and we lost track of time.” I explained. “Oh Little One!” a voice called, it sounded like Star. She came around to face me, “You look stunning, here let me fix your hair.” She said. Star took the comb to my waves trying to get them to behave and wrap around the flowers.

            “Thank you Star, I love the dress. I’m so nervous for tonight though, in front of all those people and what if I mess up?” I asked. Star held my face in her hands, “You will be fine Little One. I have a good feeling about tonight.” She smiled. I nodded and let everyone fix whatever they wanted to fix. “Are you ready Red?” Dawn asked. “Yes Dawn, I’m ready.” I said putting my arm around his. He had to walk me out, “That dress that father and Star had made for you is nice.” He whispered, I nodded, “Yes, it is, I just hope I don’t ruin it.”

            Dawn chuckled, “You’re graceful, I’m sure that will be a challenge.” I laughed. When we walked out the door everyone cheered, Bijan held out his hand for me. I stood next to him as he went through the ceremonial speech and talked about his experiences with me. As he was talking I saw a star shoot across the sky, and I had a vision. When I looked back at Bijan my eyes were wide, he leaned close to me, “I….I know my gift..” I whispered.