Moonlight Princess (The Moonlight Trilogy Book 1)

Chapter 1

The sun shone down over the rolling hills of Eribourne, giving the pure, white snow a reflective quality that it would otherwise not possess. The last of the brightly hued leaves of autumn were beginning to turn to a dead, brown color as they struggled to stay attached to their home tree. But one-by-one they began to fall, subject to the first snow of the year, floating gracefully down from their heights and landing gently on the soft blanket of white below them. 

Villagers had been preparing for the snow for weeks, knowing that its impending appearance was soon approaching as the year came closer and closer to its end. The women bustled around in their worn-out dresses, trying to collect the last of the autumn vegetables that had not yet succumbed to the cold while their husbands began to chop copious amounts of firewood to keep their families warm for the next three to four months.

All while the adults continued their routine change-of-season chores, the children relished in the joys of the first snowfall. They had their hats or earmuffs put firmly over their ears and had scarves of every plaid imaginable wrapped around their necks. They struggled to form the snowballs they so desperately wanted to throw at one another while mittens restricted their fingers. But not even the limitations would stop them from having endless fun, as they eventually gave up trying to form the sphere of snow and threw handfuls of unshaped frozen water at each other. The air filled with the glittering substance as they did so.

Celena giggled at a small boy bothering a girl that looked to be around the same age as she watched out the window of her bedchamber in one of the castle's towers. The boy chased his playmate around as she struggled against the long skirt of her dress and the snow to run away. But despite the struggle and the amount of snow the boy threw at her, she continued to laugh, enjoying every little bit of the freedom she was given.

But all good things must come to an end and eventually the parents summoned the little boy and girl to help with chores once more, their little bit of playtime interrupted until further notice.

Their departure into the stables indicated that Celena was to stop gawking out the window of her bedchamber and get back to her life as well. She spent enough time fantasizing; she had to do something productive.

She strolled through the elaborately decorated halls of the castle, ignoring the many candelabras and suits of armor and swords gilded with the most expensive jewels. They were items that a younger version of Celena loved to stare at—wonder where they came from, what the stories behind them werebut now found obnoxious. They were signs of the power that her ancestors had held—the same power she would never hold with her brother as first in line for the crown. Celena was merely there with no purpose other than to show up to events held at the castle, dance with a few suitors, and realize that no one would ever want to marry her because, despite being the princess with an impressive dowry, she would never hold true power.

She much rather preferred her time in the lower levels of the castle—in the kitchen, the servants quarters, outside in the stables. The people who worked there were her only friends, after all. Once the guests she met at parties left, they were gone forever. At least the servants and lady's maids stayed for a couple of years before finding work elsewhere, if they ever did at all.

"Oi! Why is the fire so high for the stew? Were you planning on giving the King burned beef?"

Celena descended the stairs to the kitchen to find Mrs. Abernethy rushing around the kitchen, instructing her aids what to do and what not to do as they prepared the meals Celena would be eating later that day in the grand dining room two floors above her current location.