SapphirePeter


Winters upon winters have drifted by, and still, the North remains without its destined sovereign. One by one, pretenders have fallen, claimed by the death that guards the empty throne. 
As despair consumes the realm - people dying, their purpose withering - a whispered prophecy stirs the ashes — the one they seek walks among the South.

While the Heavens remain without the offer of an heir to the North, a Southern Princess drinks to excess at a Royal Event and exposes royal rot.
She is ordered to be killed, steel drawn... when a certain Prince Commander claims her to be his wife.
Marriage was never her fate. Certainly not to him,  but desperation writes its own vows. There were no promises, no expectations, but love came, slow and certain. 
It seemed the sun had broken through the clouds, but something superiorly vital is then taken from this Princess, and she is sent to the worst of dungeons when her husband is at war. He returns, thinking she left him, and he falls into the deepest of despair.


The Princess’s heart is heavily marked in this strange new world where unfamiliar souls shape her. They teach her, harden her, and rebirth her into something nearly unrecognizable.
She flees with them as a circumstance exposes her to be the ruler they have been in search of.
Through hardship and pain, she ascends—not only to lead the North but to stir the balance of the universe itself.
But at what price? What must be given?
Follow her odyssey - a journey of life, of love, betrayal, revenge, of war and transformation, and of staggering power that shakes worlds.
Her name is Nadezhda. 
Nadezhda means hope. She is our hope.




QUEEN OF THE NORTH (THE WILL OF THE HEAVENS)

Blindfolded with arms tied behind him, he was hauled from the dark cellars all the way to the grand court. 


For most of his life, he has been the one commanding prisoners to be brought this way but not today and perhaps never again… 


He wasn’t on Southern soil, and like a thousand others, he had no knowledge of who was sitting on the throne of the Northern Realm. 


For someone like him who had spent more time at the forefront of the battlefield, fear was almost a foreign concept to him, but with every unending turn the soldiers pulled his body through, his mind began to grasp it. 


Suddenly, there was a shift in the expanse, and despite the darkness he was surrounded with, he discerned that he had gotten to the final stop. Instead of forcing his knees to the floor, he was made to stand properly. 


“You are in the presence of The Crown, The Forty-fifth ruler of the North, Her Majesty The Queen. Kneel, Spy of the South’ 


The prisoner was confused. To the outside world, they were told of a King, the one whose face many had not been graced with, but one whose hands many had fallen by. 


‘How is it that they speak of a Queen…a woman?’ 


But regardless of who it was, he was not willing to easily succumb to his knees. It was better he was forced or made insane than willingly bend his knees to a monster who is terrorizing his people. 


His parched voice still heavily laced with authority quipped, ‘‘I kneel before no one’’ 


There were snarls and heated grunts of disapproval around the court. 


The snarls and grunts ceased almost as soon as they started and he surmised that it must be because of their ruler. 


From a distance ahead, sounds like tiny precious stones cascading down a flight of stairs were heard. 


The sound continued for a while, drawing closer and closer until it halted when it was right before him. 


Like the finest satin he had set his eyes on a decade ago, like the graceful fall of water from a cliff, the figure before him spoke. 


‘‘Unlike what you think, the North is not a place of strife. 


We do things because we must, we do what we do to keep the balance-” 


The Queen was interrupted as he tried to move. A guard was still holding onto the chains that bound his hands from behind. 


“I know that voice. I know you. I-I know that-" He called in a gravelled tone, and there was uproar in the court. 


This prisoner was breaking more rules than anyone ever has. 


First, he tries to spy on them. Next, he refuses a royal command, and now he dares to speak while The Crown speaks. 


The Queen raised her hand, and the courtroom was quiet again. 


‘‘Free his sight’’ She ordered calmly. Everyone in the room became uncomfortable again but they reeled their emotions in. 


The prisoner narrowed his eyes as the light hit his face and then he zeroed his focus on the glazing figure before him. The face was covered partly with a transparent veil and only the eyes were very visible. 


His body tensed as recognition and clear memories gained colours in his mind. 


‘‘Re-” He started softly, but the Queen did not allow him to revel in the surprise before she spoke. 


‘‘I’ll only say this once Son of the South-” 


The prisoner heard a sword being unsheathed behind him, and he knew without doubt that its purpose would be fulfilled if he didn’t adhere this time. 


‘‘KNEEL” The Queen breathed commandingly. Her voice resonated in the walls of the room and settled in his ears. His tied hands formed to fists and his jaw clenched so hard the pulse in his temple glared. 


But slowly he glided down before her, their eyes fastening on each other as he lowered his towering figure to her feet.


BEFORE THE BEGINNING BEGAN