The Warrior Princess

     The royal family was a kind and giving family to all the citizens. The king, King John, was a Royalboy Xweetok. The queen, Queen Clarissa, was a Royalgirl Xweetok. They had two children; Prince Cole, a shadow Xweetok, had his mother's deep purple eyes. Princess Clarity, however, was very different. She was a white Xweetok with bright blue eyes. Her family didn't understand why her eyes didn't match any of theirs. It was a very interesting thing. When she was little, they had special doctors look to make sure she didn't have any problems. The doctors would say nothing looked wrong.

     Clarity, of course, loved her eyes and would look at them every morning and every night. Her eyes were bright and happy, just like her. She was kind to the petpets that came around the castle. Princess Clarity had her own private tower. The tower was filled with stairs. When at the top, there was a oak door. Inside was the princess' bed room. There was a four poster bed on the far wall. Across was a set of two windows. By the windows was a small desk. On the wall that was across from the door was another door that was the princess's closet. The closet held all her gowns, tiaras, shoes, and jewels. A door in the closet was the bathroom, complete with a nice sink, bathtub, and toilet.

     The princess loved her room. The prince's room wasn't much different, except his furniture was on opposite walls compared to his sister. He loved his room, as it was a place he went to hide from many of the troubles of royal life.

     The family was a kind family that would always be there for the villagers. Until one day...

      ***

     Queen Clarissa was walking alongside her husband down the stairs from their tower. They would be going to breakfast, then the throne room for audiences with the villagers. They greeted their children at the breakfast table and sat to eat a quiet meal.

     After the meal, the family went to the throne room. Many villagers came in to speak of complaints, or request money for their farms. After a while, a villager came in. This villager wore a dark cloak that had a hood that made it impossible to see the face. The villager was hunched over and had little gray hair peek out. Obviously an older villager.

     In a raspy, but feminine voice, the person said, "I am Mara. I come from a small home near the edge of our village. I need some money for food. I feel I am due the money."

     The King chuckled and replied, "My, my, what do we have here? I can't give you money, but I can give you a means of earning the money. If you would like to give me a reason you are due the money, that may change my mind."

     The old lady said in an angrier voice, "I am due the money for my old age. I cannot earn money! Look at these old bones. How do think I can earn the money? You are a selfish King. You will be cursed, just you wait. Your whole family will have a curse. Starting with you!"

     The cloak disappeared revealing a tall standing, ebony haired, lady. She had some gray in her hair that seemed to absorb and turn black. Her old hands became young and nimble. She wore a gray dress and black shoes. A wand appeared in her hand.

     With a voice, not raspy or old, she said, "You refused to give me the money. Obviously you have a problem with manners. Give me one good reason not to make you all cursed!"

     The king stood and said, "Please, miss. I meant you no harm. In any other circumstance, I would have given an old lady money. You are no old lady. I can still set you up with a means of money."

     The lady laughed an evil laughed that startled Clarity to the bone. She felt a hand on hers as she was tugged from her throne and behind it. Her brother and mother were opening the secret passage that could get them anywhere in the castle. Clarity stepped in, then her brother. Her mother shut the door without stepping in.

     Clarity asked, "What is Mother doing?"

     Cole replied, leading Clarity down the hall, "Mother wants us to escape. She and Father will deal with the witch. I don't want to leave them, but we must. It's the only way."

     Clarity nodded and followed her brother. Before long, they were outside the castle. They closed the secret door. When they turned around, Clarity screamed.

     The witch was standing there. She said, "You think you can escape that easy, huh? Well, I've already put your parents in the dungeon. You two, however, will be separated from each other. You'll be put in your own cell room, naturally. You'll never escape, Princess. As for our Prince, I hear you do a bit of magic. You can be my apprentice. Or your family will become a far memory from you and the kingdom."

     The Prince said, "Of course. I will be your apprentice, as long as you don't hurt my family."

     Clarity couldn't believe her brother. He was willingly going to help their newest and worst enemy. How could he? It was wrong of this lady to hold them all hostage. Now her brother was going to help this lady. It didn't seem fair. This witch was evil and had captured her family. Why would he do this to them?

     The witch laughed her very evil laugh and snapped her fingers. The princess was now in her own jail cell in the dungeon. Her mother and father were in the one next to her.

     Queen Clarissa exclaimed, "My daughter, are you okay? Where's your brother?"

     Clarity had tears running down her cheek. She replied shakily, "I'm fine and Cole is no brother of mine, for he is a traitor. He left us to work with that witch. She snapped her fingers and I appeared here. How are you, though?"

     King John replied, "We're fine. I fear the witch might be tricking Cole for his power."

     Clarity shrugged and said, "He doesn't have much, so what's the big deal?"

     The king shook his head and replied, "I lied to him to keep him safe. He has more power than a witch and wizard combined. His blood is even powerful. How he became magic is beyond us, for none in my family ever had magic."

     The queen lowered her eyes. A secret lay within.

     "Mother," Clarity began, "Are you hiding something?"

     Clarissa said, "Yes. My family has practiced magic for as long as I remember. Unfortunately, who you saw was my sister. She insisted dark magic wasn't all evil and it wouldn't control her. It did. We sent her to a deserted island. She must have built power up to leave. I'm sorry. If I know Cole, he is using this as an excuse to save us. First, he is finding her weak point."

     The family was silent after that. No one was angry, just shocked by something so surreal. Clarity felt awful calling her brother a traitor. Only time would tell if he was.

     Clarity looked around her cell. Gray brick was behind her. There was cell bars on either side and in front of her. Moss grew up the brick. A small cot lay near on the side of the cell wall. There was a high, barred window, preventing anyone from leaving through it. Across the way, from the cell, was a key ring. It held as many keys as there were cells. At the left, outside the cells, was a steel door that prevented any breakouts further from the cell.

     Clarity sat on her bed. The moon was shining through her window. She couldn't sleep. A guard who was working for the witch, more so hypnotized, brought the family food. The king and his queen ate, but Clarity refused. She wasn't hungry. She needed to figure a way out of there.

     Clarity, as a young girl, had to learn how to climb and fight. It was a tradition of Shenkuu. Being close to Shenkuu and Altador, they often were accustomed to those traditions of the neighboring countries. Clarity surveyed the wall. She could easily climb it.

     Clarity decided she would climb it that night. She would break her parents out, then run away for a while until she could fight the witch. She had to look for someone to train her in light magic. Her mother spoke of her whole family doing magic. It was obvious that the queen had given up her practice. If she could find some family, they could teach her and she could defeat her enemy.

     Clarity woke her parents up. She told them she was going to get them out of there.

     King John replied, "No. We will stay here, like we should."

     Clarity said, "Then I will miss you, Father. I am not staying when this witch will put the village in ruins. I'm sorry. Goodbye."

     Clarity climbed the wall and made it to the other side. It was really dark. Clarity walked a ways to get to her tower. She climbed up and jumped in the window. She grabbed a bag and loaded clothes inside. She then put on ninja clothes she bought in a visit to Shenkuu a few months ago. She put on the black clothes, the dark purple belt, and black mask. All that could be seen were her eyes and the white fur around them. She grabbed her swords and put them in their sheath. She looked around one more time. She jumped out and landed softly on her feet. She ran and ran. One day, just one day, she would be back. When she got back, that witch would be wishing she had never come here. She would be sorry. Clarity would make sure of it. For now, Princess Clarity would be a name that would give her away. She would go by Clare.

     Clarity looked back one more time before fleeing to Altador. She would miss her family, even Cole. For now, leaving was what would save them all. One day, she would come back. One day.

The End