The Silver Woods

Chapter 1

 When I was born, there were no flashing of lights or fanfare. Even though my blood was technically royal, there were no blessings either. As a baby, I was never particularly good-natured, or even that cute. I was just...normal. Average for a newborn, and even now, average for a girl. Nothing much has really changed, except I've learned to walk and speak and my hair has gotten longer.Okay, so maybe that isn't really true. I'm sure people think I have a "great personality", I mean, many people have actually said that to me before. I probably wouldn't even be that bad if it wasn't for Calista.Oh, Calista. You never realized what effect you had on others, and what that did to me. You were always in your own bubble, a sweet, beautiful little bubble that contained flowers and sweets, and beautiful people just like you. But there was no room for me in that bubble of yours, and even though I know you didn't mean to shut me out, (your very nature would be appalled by such a thing), you did. And I'm sorry to say that I grew so jealous of you, dear sister. I was just little Rebecca, your ignorant, innocent Becca, and you were Calista, the light to my darkness. And you overshadowed me.Yes, you were cursed, although you seemed to have it all. Your gifts made it easy for you to do many things, while as Mama and Papa were scared I would have the same experience as you did, my lack of gifts made me have to work harder at everything else. Everything else but one thing, something I felt came very easily to me. The one thing you had also taken away from me. But even though I see now that it wasn't your fault, I'm afraid to say that's where the story all began.And it's also how it ended....

 Silvery flakes drifted down, glittering in the bright light of the moon. A blackbird swooped down, rustling my hair which gleamed like a shadow in the night. I pulled my cloak tighter around myself with a shiver, and hurried on my way. I couldn't afford to be seen.As I made my way to the small clearing I usually referred to as "hidden", I could hear faint sounds of something long banned in our kingdom. Music.

 Even though it was forbidden, I loved it.I loved the way the notes ran together to form a melody, the way they rang and echoed, creating a medley of sounds but with a person still able to pick out the individual instruments and commodities. I loved them all, their deep, ringing sounds, but the flute had always rung in my ears the longest, and the melodic pitches of its shiny tube had always drawn me closer.I glanced around me, hesitating before breaking out into a short sprint, over to a wizened oak tree, standing tall and firm with many scars and knots that told you that the tree had been in the battle of life for a lot longer than the souls of humans on this earth.It was surrounded by a canopy of larger, albeit younger willows that hid it subtly with their flowing tresses.

 I sidestepped cautiously in their direction, before darting over to the oak and knocking on its brittle surface.I counted to ten silently, and then back down again. At the moment my mental clocked ticked zero, the tree bark shifted. A wrinkled, hunchbacked woman stepped creakily out of the doorway that had come from the invisible lines of the hinges in the tree.

 "Rebecca! Can't stay away, can you?

 "I was opening my mouth to reply, when the little old woman beat me to it.

  "Well don't just stand there! You'll freeze!"

 I grinned and ducked my head slightly as I entered the dry, dark, wooden hallway located inside of the trunk of the tree. I could just barely make out the steps that led downward, and hear the notes of music emanating up. "Thank you Aniya. It means alot."Aniya, or Mother Annie, as many people christened her, was our very old, very sarcastic, and underneath all of that, very kind gatekeeper. She was tough to the core and knew probably more than all of us combined. She smiled with a glimmer in her eyes, and with a flourish she knew I detested, swept her arms in a fancy bow.

  "Right this way, Princess."I shot her a glare. Usually, this was one of the only places where I could be stripped of all my titles, and sometimes, even forget for a moment. But, sometimes it still followed me.She sighed.