Prologue
Arianna
Ten Years Old.
“Papa!” I giggle as Father tickles my belly after chasing me through the gardens. It’s my tenth birthday, and we’ve spent all day celebrating with the village of Cherish—the town our castle is nestled in. There are rows upon rows of rose bushes as far as the eye can see. They make for wonderful hiding spots when I get to play outside. Lately, that’s been less and less, though. Something is happening to our home.
The adults are worried, Callista—a real, live mage, a mystical being filled with power and light—has been having more and more trouble helping the people of Graeline. I love our home, and I would hate to see any harm come to it.
“How does it feel to be ten, princess?” Papa inquires as we lay in the grass, my birthday dress a complete mess. It's caked in leaves, flower petals, and dirt. Lots and lots of dirt. Mother will be so upset.
“Like I am still nine,” I tease. Truthfully, I don’t understand the fuss over me turning ten, but it was a big deal for everyone today, so I went along with it. I got to play with the children in the village, taste some of the people’s family recipes, and enjoy so much laughter.
A menacing cloud quickly rolls across the sky with thunder crashing through the silence, making me jump as a commotion stirs from the castle.
“Princess!” Callista runs towards us. Panic etches her face, and stress lines her eyes as I stand. “King Stefan, something is coming. It’s happening now. They’re making their way.”
I step back into Papa as he stands. A chill runs down my spine at the way Callista's eyes roll back in her head, turning white. Usually, I’m fascinated when she sees things, when she casts small spells, but this time, something is off. This time is different.
As she comes to us, my father urges, “Take Arianna to her room. Stay with her.” I watch as he runs to the house just as the skies open, and rain pours down on the land like a tidal wave. Thunder and lightning blast the grounds with a force that nearly knocks us off our feet.
“What’s happening?” I cry as Callista grabs my hand, and we rush to my tower.
“Quickly, princess, we don’t have time to waste.” Terror courses through my body, and I follow along as we trudge up the stairs and are met with a sight that leaves me horrified.
Outside the window, below the castle walls, the village men are lighting fires to homes, pulling residents from their dwellings, and slaughtering them at will.
“Callista! Make it stop!” I know she can. She has more power than any other mage in the world. Callista can do anything.
Climbing onto the windowsill, I watch as she closes her eyes, moves her hands in precise circles, and chants quietly. Sitting silently by her side, I place a hand on her knee for support, and the power that moves through her body as she concentrates on saving our people is potent. I can feel it rushing through my veins.
Another blast of lightning hits a tree, the light so bright that my eyes pop open in wonder as I watch her magic spread. Powerful positive sorcery rolls through the atmosphere and extinguishes fires, repels the evil, and soon, the clouds clear, revealing blue sky once again.
“This isn’t the end,” she murmurs as she slumps against the wall while we watch the chaotic storm return to a peaceful day.
I don’t need to be a grown-up or a mage to intuit that she’s right. Evil is in the air. Something life-changing is afoot.
Arianna
Present Day.
“Welcome to the world, Princess Arianna of Graeline. My gift to you, pretty girl, is the gift of everlasting love. A love so strong, you’ll be chained to its darkest promises. The day you meet your soulmate, you’ll begin the fight to find the goodness within the world you’ll soon believe in.”
“Princess Arianna of Graeline, my gift to you, on your eighteenth birthday, is for you to discover both heaven and hell. Good luck.”
Gasping awake, I stare around the room, searching for the source of the nefarious laughter. Every night for weeks, I’ve been having the same dream—a night terror, really—of a curse cast upon me. The trouble is, I don’t know who the source is or why.
The words, the evil intent, haunts my every waking hour now. It’s all I think of, and when I try to speak to Mother or Papa about it, they brush me off. They tell me it’s only a harmless nightmare. Trouble is, tomorrow is my eighteenth birthday, and I’m no longer able to ignore the niggling feeling that this is the day I will get sucked into hell.
Sitting up, I toss my covers back and stand. Grabbing the robe off the bedpost that I hung it on the night before, I wrap it around my body as the morning chill from my open window invades my body. Every year on my birthday, ever since my tenth, the village of Cherish holds memorials for the lives lost on that day those long eight years ago.
We still have no ideas as to how or why the attack happened. Nor who was behind it. We just know that we lost dozens of lives, and our people still reel with the loss.
I’ve been locked down on the castle grounds ever since, and I believe now is the time for me to leave. To seek the answers we have yet to discover on our own.
“You had one again, didn’t you?” Callista asks from behind me. She’s the only one who openly discusses my dreams with me.
“They’re getting stronger. The images, the words. I can feel the devilry filter through my mind.” I turn to assess my confidante. I have no idea how old she is, but she appears my age, with long blonde hair and bright violet eyes. Her beauty is unmeasured.
“You must be careful these next few days," she warns. "With the mourning that will take place today, we do not know who could be here.”
Callista is my only true friend in the world; I trust her with my life, but I can’t do as she requests.
“I have to get out there. I have to find out what happened,” I tell her.
“You know exactly what happened, Ari. We watched it together. We stopped it together.” She swears she was only able to end the ensuing chaos because I lent her my strength. I’m far more skeptical.
“No. Something caused that mayhem and destruction. Something we haven’t been able to look into before, but we can now, Calli. We can search until whoever it is gets brought to justice. Our people deserve that.” Guilt has eaten at me for years because, perhaps, if we weren’t celebrating my birth, then we would have foreseen whoever it was coming after us.
Striding towards me, Calli puts her hands on my shoulders and shakes me. “You have to get that notion out of your head right now. It was never your fault. You are not to blame!”
Taking a deep breath, I try to find the same peace in her convictions, but I don’t buy into it. Whatever took place that day was aimed at me; I know it was.
“Knock, knock!” I hear Mother's chipper voice and place a finger over my lips, signaling to Callista. I don’t like discussing this in front of her.
“Good morning, Mother.” I smile as she enters with a beautiful package in her hands.
“Good morning, birthday girl!” Her grin is infectious. “Your father and I have a small gift for you.”