Prologue

The spectacular palace overlooked the major city in the Central Kingdom of Arasya. Protected by a massive stone wall, the palace easily rose above the city and inspired a sense of awe with its sheer beauty and size. Within the confines of the wall, in addition to the palace, were courtyards, gardens, stables, a pond, and a section of buildings specifically for the training of knights. It was a beautiful spring day and people were taking advantage of the season. Young pages and squires were partaking in their daily training under the critical eyes of their superiors. Nobles invited to court that day strolled easily through the palace gardens and across the grounds.
               High above in one of the towers of the palace, a young girl dressed richly in an embroidered gown and delicate jewelry attempted to look down upon the grounds and at the people who walked beneath her. Her height, however, did not allow her to see above the solid stone railing that kept her safe in the tower. At first she tried jumping up and down, her long brown hair bouncing with her, in order to see over the ledge, but she was only able to see the view for a few brief moments at a time. Sticking her lip out and determined to achieve her goal, the young girl stood on her tippy toes and placed her hands firmly on the ledge for balance. Her sapphire eyes were barely able to see over the stone barrier. Then, giving a gentle grunt, she began to pull herself up atop the ledge, her ability to see what she wanted increasing with the distance between her feet and the stone floor of the tower.
               She dropped back down onto the floor as she heard footsteps come up behind her. A man emerged from the stairwell and stepped onto the landing. He was tall and handsome, his muscular frame covered with elaborate garb and a crown placed atop a mane of dark brown hair. A short beard framed a square jaw and sensitive mouth. His grey-blue eyes met the gaze of the young girl as she looked back at him.
               "My darling Ares," the man said, "what are you doing?"
               Ares continued to look at him as she explained, "I'm trying to see what the people are doing, Father." She turned back around and tried to lift herself up again. "Why does this wall have to be so big?"
               The man laughed and grabbed his daughter before she could make another attempt at seeing over the ledge. "I don't think that the wall is big, rather you're much too small to see over it," he said. "Besides, princesses shouldn't be up in towers all by themselves. It can be very dangerous."
               "But I want to see what the people are doing," she repeated, sticking out her lower lip in a display of her persuasion abilities that came with her five years of age.
               King Christopher of Arasya grabbed his daughter's hand and smiled at her. "Well, I'll take you down to the grounds and we can go see what the people are doing. How about that, hm?"
               Ares smiled and nodded as her father led her down the spiraling stairs of the tower and into a long hallway in the palace. Their feet gently padded across the stone floor as they made their way through the palace, the walls beautifully decorated with intricate wallpaper and trims. Two servants opened the main door as they approached and the father and daughter exited the palace and stepped out onto the palace grounds. Ares looked up at her father and stretched out her arms, indicating that she wanted to be carried; the king obliged and bent down so she could perch herself atop his strong shoulders. The two of them walked around the grounds, passing by many people who were enjoying the spring day, all of whom bowed or curtsied to the king and his daughter.
              After some time, the king began to walk down to the Training Court, the courtyard where the squires and pages were practicing. When Ares asked why they were doing so, the king replied, "I like to see how the future knights of Arasya are doing with their training. Besides, two of them may be your personal guardians one day. I want to make sure that you will only be getting the best." As they approached the courtyard, the king took his daughter off of his shoulders and held her hand as he led her towards a group of pages who were practicing basic sword skills. A tall man with graying hair carefully watched his students as they displayed their skills in mock duels using wooden swords. His gaze focused on the king and his daughter as they approached the group, and he ordered his students to stop.
               "Your Majesty," he said as he came towards the two of them and gave a low, sweeping bow; the pages behind him echoed the motion. "And Princess Ares too, I see. To what do we owe the honor of your visit?"
               "I wanted to show Ares the new recruits," the king replied. "Are there any that show promise, Sir Jonathon?"
               "Indeed there are, Your Majesty. Some, it seems, were born to wield a sword; their skills come naturally to them. Would you like to see for yourself, Your Majesty?"
               "Of course, of course," said the king with a smile. Sir Jonathon turned and ordered his students to get back into their dueling stances. The pages eagerly did so and stood at the ready, their feet spread shoulder-width apart and their swords held out in front of them.
               As Sir Jonathon called out series of numbers indicating which type of strike the first set of pages should use against their partners, King Christopher and Ares sat on a stone bench at the edge of the practice field. Ares swung her legs, her feet unable to touch the ground, as she looked at the group of pages. Her eyes went from one face to another and she noticed that there were both boys and girls in the group.
               "I thought only boys could become knights," Ares said quizzically.
               "It used to be that way," said the king as he looked down at his daughter. "For many years, only boys could come here and train to become knights. But then it was decided that girls should be given the chance to become knights too, and so a law was made allowing girls to do so. So far, quite a few girls have put the law to good use."
               Ares turned her attention back to the pages and continued to survey the mock duels, her eyes skipping from one set of pairs to the next. As she was doing so, her gaze landed on two pages who were dueling. One of the pages, a girl, had short charcoal hair and piercing green eyes that stared at her partner as she effortlessly executed the sword skills that had been taught to her, moving with a grace and ease that made it seem like she had been holding a sword her entire life. Her partner, a boy, blocked her strikes with equal ease. But Ares was more intrigued by what he looked like rather than the execution of his skills. His hair was thick and auburn in color, the only page in the group to have that kind of hair color, and fell gently around his face. He had a strong jaw, even for a boy of only ten years in age, and a sensitive mouth. As if sensing her stare, the boy looked at her. Ares's own eyes went wide as his gaze met hers. His eyes were amethyst in color and had a depth and kindness about them that completely mesmerized Ares. His gaze seemed to have a sense of magic behind it and as she sat on the bench staring at the boy, Ares could feel herself falling under a type of spell. However, that spell was broken as the boy turned his attention back to his partner and blocked another strike from her.
               Ares blinked and shook her head, as if by doing so she could shake off the spell that she still felt was on her. She looked up at her father, who was staring intently at the pages, studying them with a critical eye, and then she turned her attention back to the two pages that had caught her attention. The boy did not look back at her, even as the pages switched positions and the boy began to practice his offensive skills with the other pages. Ares couldn't look away from the pairing; she didn't want to. She stared at the girl and the boy for what seemed like hours, as if by doing so she could figure out who they were. Finally, Sir Jonathon gave the pages a break and the group placed their mock swords back into the wooden stands that lined the field.
               Ares and her father rose from the bench and walked over to Sir Jonathon. As the king gave his opinion of the pages and began some small talk with the knight, Ares looked at the pages again. The red-haired boy and the girl were talking and laughing among their friends, not paying any attention to the royalty that was amongst them. She was so focused on the pages that she didn't hear her father bid farewell to Sir Jonathon and she didn't hear the instructor announcing the departure of the king. As her father grabbed her hand, the pages all turned to them and bowed in recognition that the royalty was leaving. Ares allowed her father to guide her away from the training field, still trying to catch any glimpse of the red-haired boy.
               "So, Ares," the king said as he looked down at his daughter. "Were there any pages that caught your interest?"
               Ares nodded her head as she continued to look back, the distance between her and the boy that had so intrigued her continuing to grow. But just as she was about to turn away, the red-haired boy looked up and matched her gaze. She could feel his amethyst eyes piercing her and the spell that entranced her before consuming her body, filling it with a warm tingling. Ares smiled at the boy and although her visibility of him was decreasing, she knew that he was smiling back at her too.