The Silver Woods

Prologue: A blessing or a curse?

Looking back, it was a summer day, unremarkable in every way except for the fact that a very important event would be taking place. A baby blessing. And not just any baby blessing. This was the blessing of a princess. Scholars around the globe had debated the who, why, what, and how of the situation, but the only thing that they could ever agree on was one thing: that it was unexpected.

In the kingdom of Anastasia, a new person had just entered the world. Her name was Princess Calista Pearl, her eyes were as blue as the summer sky, and her hair shone like gold. She was a beautiful baby, not to mention good natured, and everyone in the castle fawned over her as soon as she was born.

Her blessing was planned for the following week, and the queen and king hurried to send out invitations to witches, wizards, and guests as far as the postal service would take them. For the witches and wizards, they took special care to include passes for blessings; without them, they weren't allowed past the guarded circle where the baby would be kept. But the king and queen, in their hurry to send invitations to everyone who was anybody, forgot to slip a pass in one of the many envelopes, indirectly and unknowingly sealing their daughter's fate as the letters traveled around the world, inviting anybody who was anyone to come and witness.

On the day of the blessing, the guests trickled into the great hall in a stream, and soon, a torrent. The king and queen sat comfortably on their thrones, alternating between watching their baby and the new arriving people. "Do you think we should've been so...unpicky with our guest selections?" the queen whispered worriedly to the king as she watched a foreign wizard pull several miniature fireworks out of thin air, them popping and smoking brightly before fizzling out. Several people clapped as the wizened old man bowed, and the king patted her hand comfortingly. "Calista will be okay, dear. The guards are surrounding us, and at the first sign of danger they'll pounce."

The queen fanned herself nervously. "Yes, but they'll be getting so close to the baby..."

He sighed and returned to watching the newcomers. "She'll be fine."

The guests were indeed a sight to see. Anastasia was a fairly friendly kingdom, and they had come from all over the land. Exotic faces, skin tones, and the chatters of different languages filled the room. And aside from the regular people, there were fairies too, with their brightly colored skin, witches and wizards trying to be as magical as they could to top the other witches and wizards, and a motley of other various magical beings.

A tall, thin witch with a rather thin face but with sparkling, intelligent eyes entered the room later in the evening. She pushed her glasses farther up her nose and tugged on her black and purple cloak self-consciously. Her name was Fadina, and she was a shy, bookish witch from the Eastern parts of the land. Her mother and sister were both famously known for their many accomplishments, some for the good of others, and some...not so much for the good of others. But as Fadina's mother always told her, usually while shaking her head sadly, 'You can't be good at magic until you unleash your emotions and let it flow.'

But Fadina liked control, and unleashing her emotions didn't feel like something she would be able to keep control of very easily. So instead, she used her time as the bookkeeper in the local magic shop instead. Frankly, it was much easier, with so much less expectations to fulfill. And she was happy. At least, as happy as she could be

Fadina approached a large group of witches, who, including her mother and sister, were laughing loudly at some unknown topic. The laughter died down slightly when Fadina approached, and she sidled up to her sister, Kihmner, fidgeting under the gazes uncomfortably.

"Where have you been?" Kihmner hissed, as she smiled sweetly to a gray haired witch who was watching them suspiciously.

Fadina blew at a piece of hair that had already come undone from her hurried updo. "I was busy." she said, crossing her arms.