Page 1 of Lost Starlight
Prologue
The Cursed Kingdom Chronicles
Once upon a time, there was a land crafted from magic. From the very sky to the depths of the deepest seas of Terra, magic could be found. Humans and magical beings roamed these lands. Humans raised up kingdoms, multiplied their people, and built grand castles and cities. Magical beings and humans lived in harmony together. There was a specific group of magical beings that cared for every living thing, magical or not. This race blessed all life and helped all to grow and prosper under both the light of the sun and the glow of the moon. They were called the Ancients.
“Ancients” was the name humans gave these magical people, for they were said to have been around from the time the world began. It was believed they could go between worlds, and that they dwelt in the very heavens where the creator lived.
Prosperity grew and wealth was abundant on Terra for a long time. Yet, eventually, every precious gem had been mined and every ounce of gold stripped from the lands.Humans sought after more, searching for other riches and treasures. But the world had given all there was to give. Still, the humans hungered. Eventually, these humans, unsatisfied with all that their world could give them, sought to take the magic for themselves.
The curse upon the ten Kingdoms of Terra all began with one man, it is believed—but there were whispers of greed and desire long before that boy's birth. Something had already stirred, perhaps setting the stage for a traitor to be born.
In the highest mountains of Haleston, Prince Falcon, at a very young age, fell in love with an Ancient girl, but his love was not returned. Try as he might to win her, she would not marry him—would not love him in return. Prince Falcon grew bitter and hard, and when it was his time to rule his father’s kingdom, he made a vow to extinguish all magic from the world.
But not all kingdoms agreed with the traitor, King Falcon. Other kingdoms formed an alliance of their own against him and his followers. There were seven kingdoms who aligned themselves with the traitor king. Four kingdoms pledged their allegiance to the Ancients and three chose no side at all, neither aiding the magical beings, nor the traitors.
Then the great war began. Darkness swept over every kingdom. The very air of Terra seemed to change with such bitter greed and hatred; it became thick and wet.Illness was rampant, causing many to die. The very soil and ground shook in anger at such a betrayal of the ancients who had cared for all life on Terra. Plants would not grow. Water tasted stale. Many human cities, villages, and towns were lost to the storms that raged throughout the lands and to the roaring seas which flooded inland, to the mountains, in rage, swallowing up many betrayers.
War raged on; battles covered every land. The sun grew red, tinted in the blood of the fallen. Everyday, more precious life and lands were destroyed. The blood that saturated the soil, and the death that clung to the air, continued to poison the people, but still, they fought.
Then, when the battle reached the highest mountain peak in the Kingdom of Haleston, where the traitor, King Falcon, ruled, icy winds blew, and an Ancient by the name of Draken fought against the traitor king. There on that mountain, drenched in the blood of both of their people, Draken took the very life out of the king, and vowed that he would curse all the human heirs from all the royal lines. Every kingdom which had betrayed his people, would pay for the blood they had shed.
On his own mountain, the traitor king died with malice and hate still dripping from his lips.
There are other stories, though, other tales of the traitor king. These other tales say that he did not die upon that mountain–no, but that he was transformed. It was said, in some kingdoms, that he turned into darkness itself–intoa being which had no light, no form, no shape, but only a mist that destroyed whatever it touched. Others believed that the Ancient, Draken, cast the traitor king inside of the mountain, locking him up deep within, buried under the weight of what he had done, trapped inside the very soil and rocks which hated him. With his own blood, and that of his people, the oath and vow Draken made was sealed, and the corrupted King was imprisoned forever, in misery.
Despite the different tales of the traitor king, all of the human royalty of Terra are cursed upon their birth. Draken, the ancient who stood on that mountain and defeated the traitor king, kept his vow, and he did curse all the heirs of each of the seven kingdoms, who had killed his people, as well as the three other kingdoms who stood with no one. For, not choosing a side, is not knowing what you believe, and some say that the three kingdoms who didn’t choose a side in the Great War were worse than the seven who had destroyed the world, because they watched it happen, and yet they did nothing at all.
Chapter One
Gwendolyn
Three Years Before Present Day
My shoes clicked on the white marble floors of the castle’s long corridor as a servant led me into the library. I wished my dress hadn’t become damp from the light rain just moments earlier when I walked from the carriage to the castle door. It would not make a favorable appearance, and I was about to introduce myself. I did not regret, however, that I’d chosen to protect my book instead of my gown. The book was priceless; my dress was not. Throughout the Kingdom of Walden, the tropical weather, especially during the spring months, couldn't be predicted. Minute by minute, it changed. It was something I couldn’t avoid, and yet, I still felt ashamed for standing there, wet, through no real fault of my own. Mother would not havebeen happy if she had known about my current state.
Who knew how my hair looked.
“Here is the library,” the servant said, pulling me from my thoughts. Before I could thank him, he was halfway back down the hall and then disappeared from my view.Odd, I thought. Usually, I was formally presented when entering a room. I would have to make my entrance by myself, and, somehow, that felt daunting.
It is fine. Everything is fine. I can do this,I told myself.
I faced the door,pushing my shoulders back to keep my posture straight. Holding my chin high with my book under my left arm, I took a deep breath.
I can do this.
As I raised my right hand to knock on the door looming before me, I faltered. My fisted hand shook as it stopped a mere two inches from its destination.
“Blast,” I mumbled.
Do not let me down, Gwendolyn!I could hear my mother’s voice as if she were standing right beside me. I cleared my throat and thought of the knight’s story I’d brought with me. It was a tale I had read many times, a cherished favorite. I knew that my first reading for the Queen would be easier if it was something I was very familiar with.
The knights were always so fearless in those stories.
If onlythat could be me.
Perhaps, they were always so brave because of their protective armor, steel swords, and broad shields they wielded. I had nothing, whatsoever, to protect me. It was not because entering the room would lead to combat, but because there was a raging, emotional battle inside of me. I dropped my fist, looking at the thick book under my arm. I traced the brown leather with my finger, touching the soft cover and then the spine, trying to pull some courage from the words that were within. With knights in the forefront of my mind, I decided that my book would do nicely as a shield. There was no shame in using it in that way, unless, of course, I damaged it. That would have been unpardonable.
You can do this, Gwendolyn. You are a Darling, and it is okay for you to be here.That should have been convincing enough, and yet, it wasn’t. It was a hard thought to believe because the door I stood before was one of the finest doors I had ever seen. That was saying something because my family was one of the most prestigious families in all of Walden. I was a noblewoman, Lady Gwendolyn Darling, and I had been summoned,invited, by the Queen herself.
