Elven Chronicles Book 1: Into the Shadows

It had been a couple of weeks since my father said that I could go to the kingdom that he rules over. My birthday was yesterday and it was me, my family, Leto, Alia, Elwen, and the Battlemaster and his family. It was really nice, and the food was awesome. We had told my sisters about the elves last week, so they are okay with everything. They think it is really cool that I am a princess, and now they pretend they are princesses too and make Koda their baby prince. My father is coming tonight to tell me when I am going to join him at his kingdom.

"Hey," I said to my father as he came out of the woods. He moved so quietly and I hope he teaches me how to do that.

"Hello, Kida. Before you interrupt I am going to tell you everything that is going on. I spoke to your parents yesterday about the arrangments about when you are going to come. You will come Friday afternoon, and I will bring you back at about eight o'clock on Sunday night. On that Friday, I will send some guards to come and pick you up. Alia, Elwen, and I cannot come because we have matters to attend to. They will get you around twelve- thirty and bring you to the kingdom. If you run, it should take you about two hours to reach the kingdom. I will meet you when you arrive and, then you will have an unoffical introduction to the kingdom."

The excitement rose inside me,"Okay. Wait, what am I supposed to tell the tribe?"

"Ah well... we are going to tell them now."

We both stood. Me unsure and unsteady, my father with an unwavering gaze. We got my mother and the three of us walked out into the center of the town. The leader had been told about this the other day, so he came out and called everyone out of their houses. They came out wih puzzlement upn their faces when Leto stepped into view. My cheeks started to burn with embarrassment at them all looking at me. I tend to stay under the radar for most things.

"Greetings humans of the forest," my father started this confidently. "I am King Leto of the Elven nation. I have come to speak with you today to tell you of a secret. Kida, your wonderful citizen, is my daugher. Her mother and I were together about seventeen years ago, and I wanted to let you all know that Kida will be visiting me frequently now. Thank you."

Everyone's eyes turned to look at me. I stood there with my face turning redder and redder. They all just let me be after a few seconds and returned home. I thought they all took it well, and my father did great. He turned to my mother and I and said, "Well that went well." He adressed me,"My men will be by to pick you up on Friday. Be packed and ready to go. Good-bye."

The next day at school was hell. The other students in my class stared when I entered the room. Even my friends looked uneasy, and I was unsure if they wanted to do anything to do with me anymore. Turk the jerk (yeah that is the nickname I came up with) was the first to speak.

"Hey Kida. Are you like a princess or something? Should I go and get you a crown?"

"Yes, I am." I answered with confidence." That does not mean that I am suddenly different. I want to be treated the same as everyone else." I stared down everyone in the room, daring them to argue with me.

That seemed to do the trick. They all stopped staring at least. The rest of the week went by as usual. Then came Friday. I was sitting at my lunch break with some friends, and the Elves arrived. There were about ten of them, all geared for any type of trouble we could meet. I ran to them.

"Hello. You must be the men my father sent."

They bowed with very serious expressions on their faces. "That is correct Princess Kida. Whenever you are ready, we will head off to the kingdom." The larger Elf in the front adressed me. The rest of them bowed again and waited respectfully. This is going to take some getting used to.

"Um.. very well, I will be out in a minute."

I ran to my house and grabbed my bag, stave, homework, and dagger. I said good-bye to my mother and ran back to the Elves. Our good-bye was quick because we had said a longer one that morning with the rest of my family.

"I am ready," I told them.

"Please follow us Princess. Just tell us when to slow down or take a rest."

I almost laughed at this. They thought that a little 'Princess' could not handle the running. We took off at an Elven pace (that is really fast) and just kept running. Some of them looked at me with a newfound respect and suprise. Two hours later we reached the Kingdom, and my father and some other soldiers came out to meet us. The men with me all bowed to my father and then to me and left.

"Welcome Kida," my father said. "Come, and I well introduce you to your new home."

I followed him and the others into the kingdom and my jaw dropped. It was the most spectacular sight I had ever seen. There were hundreds of houses in neat little rows, and elves were walking everywhere. Then, there was the castle. Imagine the tallest trees around, multipily by two and you have how tall that castle was. It looked big enough to have at least a hundred rooms. I could tell that there was plently of land behind it too. It was made of stone and there were a beautiful set of stairs that led up to it. There were several fountains spread out around it and gardens everywhere. I had never in my life imagined anything like it. My father seeing my expression said,
"Do you like it?"

"Are you kidding? This is fantastic."

Some of the gaurds laughed at my response. My father led me to the castle where Alia was waiting to assult/assist me.

"Hey Kida. Welcome to the kingdom. Come on."

I followed her and my father into the castle. It seemed even bigger on the inside. It was a huge hall that opened up into several large rooms.

"Kida." My father brought me back into the world we were standing in. "Come and follow me to your room. You are going to love it."

I followed him up a beautiful, enormous staircase into the upper hall. There were doors on all sides as I followed him through the hallway. When we got to the end, the opened the door and my jaw dropped again. The room was almost as big as my house! There was a queen sized bed, a bathroom all to myself, a huge window, and lots of other furniture all around the room. Then, I noticed some pink things hanging out of a closet.

"What the hell are those?" I asked and pointed to them.

"Oh that," my father continued. "Well those are dresses. Wait! Wait! Before you kill me, let me tell you that those were not my idea. The maids put them there. In the other closet, you will find dresses of any other color."

"Um.... I don't do dresses."

"As a princess, you do. Pick out one you wish to wear and the maids will dress you up."

"I knew there was a catch," I mumbled.

My father walked away laughing and a maid entered the room.

"Hello, Princess. My name is Rose, and I am here to help you. What do you want to wear?"

"Hi. I guess I'll wear that blue one."

The dress I had to pick out was a light blue with a v-neck, sleeves that went down to my elbows and it glittered a little. I have never worn a dress like this before. The shoes had heels on them. I probably will fall in this getup. Rose had me take a shower, and then she did my hair. I almost smacked her at one point, but it ended up looking really good. My hair goes down past my elbows and it is a reddish blonde (More blonde), and it is curly (long curls). Rose but four small braids in it and clipped them in the back so my hair was half down and half up. Then, she but some make-up on my eyes, and finally we put on the dress.

I looked in the mirror and gasped. I did not even recognize myself. I looked like the beautiful elven woman in my dreams. My father opened the door and stopped breathing for a minute. Then he said, "Wow Kida. You look amazing, and I almost did not recognize you. Come on, it is time for me to introduce you."

Now I was nervous. I was not sure if I could handle this. I followed my father down the hallway to a balcony where I was to be introduced to the people. We stepped out and he started to speak.

"Welcome, fellow elves. Today is a special day for all of us. My daughter, Kida, is about to join us as our Princess. Our elder will give her her crown."

The crowd cheered, and an elderly man came a place a crown on my head. It was gold inlaid with sliver and beautiful jewels. After he put it on, I decided to speak to the crowd before the sensation to throw up became too great.

"Thank you, everyone. I am honored that you have welcomed me, and I hope to get to know all of you personally. I have never seen a castle, or clothes like this, or even so many people before, but I know with your help this can work."

After I was done, they cheered their asses off. Alia and Elwen gave me the thumbs up and I went back inside. If everyone is going to react like this, I might end up liking it here.