Our Story

Chapter 1

"Come on Kaliah! Love is a great thing! Tonight is going to be amazing!" Dana, my best friend laughed as she twirled in her beautiful black gown, her striking red hair pulled into a bun of braids.

"Amazing for you" I grumbled as I pulled the ice blue gown up my torso. Tonight was going to be awful. My mother, Queen Lilah the snow witch, decided it is time to begin looking for a man for me to marry. She is hosting a ball for the princes to come and meet me. I groaned as I pulled my long dark brown hair away from my back so Dana could pull the corset strings tighter. Her huge smile reflected in the mirror in front of us.

"Come on. Look how beautiful you are. Any man would fall in love with you the moment they saw you. It's inevitable. You will fall in love eventually." She pleaded with a sad pout as the scowl on my face grew with each word. "Besides, I saw the men coming in today. They are hot Kali. You should be flattered to have so many handsome men trying to get you. I mean the humans were a little on the unattractive side, but they are just ordinary so what do we expect."

"This is stupid Dana. I do NOT need to get married, and I especially don't need to fall in love. My mother rules alone, and everything is fine. I could easily do the same." I said pulling the front of my hair back, pinning it with the matching blue pins.

"You will do this Kaliah. You have no choice in the matter." Queen Lilah said as she walked in. Her blonde hair fell in waves down her back, in startling contrast to her blood red gown. She moved to my side with grace, and pinned a loose strand of hair back into place.

"Mother, this is pointless." I pleaded with her. I put the silver heels on, knowing that arguing with her would be futile. She always got what she wanted, one way or another.

"Come along my Princess. We need to leave or we will be late to your ball." My mother sighed, and grabbed my hand. I looked pleadingly at Dana, but she was following quickly behind, a skip in her step.

We arrived at the entrance to the ball room and stopped. The guards slowly pulled the doors open, and I straightened up. As I stepped into the room, I realized just how many people were here. Many kingdoms had come to celebrate and compete for a chance at my hand. There were many people partying and dancing as we entered. The music stopped as my mother made her way in, pulling the attention of the whole room to us. The crowds quickly bowed, and made room for my mother and I to make our way to the main table at the front of the room. She walked deliberately slow so the people could admire her beauty. She had done this every time I saw her enter any room, no matter how many people were there.

We sat down at the head table, and waited for the music to begin again. A couple of servants brought two glasses of wine, a red for myself and a white for my mother. She slowly surveyed the room, her eyes searching for the men who were to be presented in front of us any minute now. I took a long swig of the wine in front of me, hoping to dispel some of the displeasure from my face. I began to scan the room, in hopes of finding one thing to make this night better. About halfway through looking at the large crowd, I caught the dark brown eyes of my best friend Micah. He is part of the royal family that governs the southern edge of our land. He smiled and winked at me, clearly reading the facial expression I carried.

"Good evening everyone" My mother's voice boomed through the room, causing everyone to fall into silence. "As you know we are here to begin the tradition of courting for my dear daughter, Kaliah's hand." She smiled down at me expectantly. I plastered a smile on my face and stood next to her.

"We shall first begin my bringing the men forward." She said to the crowd. "You did review these men's background, right?" she whispered to me as the crowds spoke to one another, waiting for the men to gather.