Enchanted Love

Chapter 1: Macosna

A whimper leaked from my throat as I stood at the doorway to Kindred's stronghold. The sun was dragging itself into the sky, out of the bed of the eastern horizon, bathing the mythical land of Loor in weakly lit beauty. "You know, considering how long you've been living here, one would think you'd be used to leaving the house by now." I turned toward the voice to see Malice, my half sister, smirking at me with her hand on her hip.

"This isn't my home," I reminded her, "I'm never going to be used to it." She was about the only one I was used to. And that's only because she was practically sewed to my hip when I first came here with our father, Kindred. She'd been so attached to me that she even adopted my speech pattern that I carried over from the mortal world.

"Why? You know the other Folk are all bark and no bite," she chuckled as she came to watch the sunrise at my side.

"You are all bark and no bite," I corrected her. "But you're also not the one who's 99% human, and in danger of traditional Folk foods and customs. You can live however you want. I need to watch myself at every fucking turn."

She went quiet, her beautiful smile fading as we looked out over the forest we were to travel through to get to our daily classes. "Father made your lunch," she said after a moment, handing me my satchel.

"Of course he did," I muttered as I took the bag and slung it onto my shoulder, not bothering to look at the contents. He was still trying to earn favor with me, but he refused to take me home. Which, to his dismay and my own, was the only way he would get so much as a hug from me.

We left the house and started our walk to classes, set to be held in the palace courtyard. I hated the courtyard. It was much, much too close to the royal family for my comfort. Not to mention we had one of the Prince's in our class. That location always gave him a holier-than-thou attitude. More so than normal.

"You're kicking again," Malice muttered as my boot collided with a rock that I had guided along the path since we left the yard of the stronghold.

"So what?" I asked, sending the rock flying across the forest floor. "It's better I kick the rock than Prince Rovaki's head, right?"

She only sighed before giving me a look that would make anyone think she was older than me. "You know fathers training you in combat for a reason, right?"

"It's literally his profession. He's not trying to do anything but bond with me," I told her, scorn evident in my voice.

"No," she shook her head, "He's trying to give you the courage to stand up to Rovaki and his little circlet of puppets."

I clapped my hands in front of me as I abandoned the rock. "Mal, you know I love you," I started.

"But?" she sighed.

"My courage wouldn't come from a blade. I'm an alchemist, and the day I get Rovaki back will be the day I finally find a recipe to turn him into a worm I can feed to Fred."

Malice rolled her eyes. "I still don't get why you named that crow something so mortal."

"I am mortal, what do you expect?" I retorted as we left the forest and walked into the palace gardens.

Prince Rovaki was already there, sitting beneath a tree with his three power-hungry friends. He was leaning back on the trunk, aiming a small bow and arrow at another of the human students, who was reading a book not far away. I glowered at the Prince as Malice and I passed. He glared back at me as he released the arrow, skimming the boys arm and making him release a cry of pained surprise as Rovaki's puppets burst into laughter. The Prince himself smirked at me, his blue eyes shining with scheming delight as he flicked his oak hair out of his face. Hate burned in my gut as I took a step toward him, reaching for a knife on my belt. If he wanted to inflict unnecessary pain on a student who did nothing to him, then he was going to have more necessary pain inflicted on him in return.