Salva Falls

Before my life ended, I was a crown princess. My family ruled from the capital city, Salva, for seven generations. According to tradition, the eldest child of the royal union would ascend the throne on their 21st birthday. My parents didn't last that long.

Salva is divided into six great cities, each ruled by their own powerful families. With my birth came an alliance between the two greatest families in the realm and a pact that should have guaranteed peace between Rhodalia and Salva for generations to come. My family's obsidian for grain, their biggest trade.

My childhood was happy. My parents worshipped eachother and my younger twin, Eli, while annoying, was one of my dearest friends. On my sixth birthday my parents also introduced me to my dearest friend, Margot. She looked so similar to Eli and I that people thought, for years, we were actually triplets. Well.. Margot thought we were anyway.

For the twelve years that followed Eli and I remained thick as thieves, with Margot always lurking nearby in our shadow. Even Eli's military training didn't keep us apart.

Everything in my life was perfect.

---

The wind smells fresh this morning and the castle is a flurry of activity. My maid, Ira, throws up the curtains with a huff to force me out of bed.

"Tis late child, it's a big day and we've much to prepare before the party t'nite" she stated factually, leaving no room for me to argue, before continuing, "now, UP."

With a groan, I pull myself up and stretch out the sore muscles in my back. I'd slept on it funny again, Eli would make fun of me for it later if I limped around like an old woman. "I'm up" I mumble pulling back the blankets and swinging my legs around the side of the bed.

She doesn't wait to make sure I am, instead heading out into her adjoining rooms. When my toes touch the floor I shiver, that first step down was always cold in this far into the fall but from the sun it might actually shape up to be a beautiful day.

The bath is already drawn in the corner of my chamber, the fragrance of rose petals wafting over the air. In five steps I've slipped behind the divider, stripped off my nightgown and stepped into a large claw footed tub.

The water is like a warm embrace and I'm thankful to dip my head below. Sleep hadn't been restful last night, lately the nightmares had followed me.

When I finished bathing I put on a light white silk tunic with gold accents, white silk pants and gold flat sandals. This was the traditional outfit of the royal family when they received citizens for open hearings.

My mother always insisted we take at least two hours to hear their issues each day. She explained that it was important to give the people a voice lest they rise up and replace us one day for being ignorant rulers.

Salva's power was it's people... and it's queen. Soon, that would be me. Outside my balcony I can see the shimmer of the magical tree that rooted itself in the courtyard outside the castle. It's leaves dancing in the breeze.

Nobody quite understood how it worked, or why, that was lost to the people of Salva --but once you pledged yourself as queen you could never be apart from the tree for long. A few days, a week, any longer than that and you would simply die. Like a magic being cut from a tether.

My mother told me once that the tree also granted her many gifts, and that my gifts would show themselves once I was bonded as well. My bond would replace hers and then she would finally be truly free again. My nails tapped a tune on the bannister before I turned around to walk deeper into my room, I couldn't put off the meetings any longer.

When I stepped into the hall to head towards the receiving area there was a flurry of activity. Mata'ar are scurrying about cleaning, decorating and making sure everything would be ready for tonight. I didn't spare them a second glance.