Prologue
Longago,whentheBramberry Forest was nothing but saplings and the Zircon Mountains were only just learning to carve their rivers through the earth, two sister goddesses awoke surrounded by the quiet beginnings of life.
Alone, with only gurgling streams and the whispers of breezes to greet them, the goddesses tried desperately to find a way back to their home realm, Aurramere, with no luck. But they had each other, immortal lives, and their magic that sang through this strange new realm.
The first goddess, Faune, radiant and beautiful, quickly grew to love the lands she now inhabited. Divine magic thrummed through her veins, begging to release light upon this new realm. She wanted to bestow loveliness upon it, wanted her power to bloom into creation itself.
Phades, the second goddess, never forgave Aurramere for her unexpected exile. Draped in shadows and distrust, she spent years scouring the landscape with the intent to rip through its peaceful illusions and find the secrets contained beneath its surface. She knew this realm must connect to Aurramere and she was determined to tear the veil apart until she found another way home.
The decades passed as the sisters experimented with their magic, slowly drawing further and further apart, lost to their own restless minds. Faune marked the land with a surge of omnipotent power and creation burst forth–unending and unyielding. Pleased with her contribution, Faune named this new realm Terramere–the realm for the living.
Phades used her power on every corner of the realm, hunting where the veil between realms thinned, still seeking a way to return to Aurramere. Instead, she uncovered an empty god realm burrowed deep in the heart of a mountain. After exploring every groove and hollow it contained and finding no way home, Phades named the realm Minmere and returned earthside to reunite with Faune.
She found Faune agonizing over one of her poor creations, a being with now-withered skin and soft brown eyes. Faune cried as her first creation took their last breath. Guilt over leaving Faune alone for so long had Phades gently carrying the being's body into the depths of Minmere to rest forevermore in peace.
Phades loved Faune and was hesitant to leave her again, knowing her sister needed her now more than ever. So, the Goddess of Life created and nurtured new beings into existence, and the Goddess of Death carried them into the soft embrace of Minmere once their decades on Terramere waned.
This worked until it didn't. As the years passed, Faune became frustrated over losing her creations to mortality, and began imbuing bits of her magic into each one so they would live longer. Phades warned Faune of the dangers of this, stating they should keep their magic to themselves, fearing what these creations would do if they became too powerful.
But Faune did not heed her sister, determined to create a being time could not take from her so quickly. One night, when the moon was full and Phades carried another creation into Minmere, Faune snapped, torn apart by grief over death, and recklessly imbued a being with so much of her god magic that the creation rivaled the goddesses themselves. Faune called her newest creation Vessel, a companion time could not so callously erase.
When Phades returned from Minmere, she grew angry, demanding Faune take her gift of magic back from the Vessel. Faune refused, and Phades struck the creation down, stating the Vessel was too dangerous to keep alive.
The sister goddesses fought, branding Terramere with their fury. Their battle scorched forests, leaving wastelands of glittering sand in their wake, barreled across the seas and shattered massive islands apart, leaving marks on this realm forevermore.
Faune claimed their magic should be shared, and Phades argued it should be protected.
Compromise did not come, and when neither reached an agreement, Phades stormed off into the depths of Minmere, leaving Faune alone on Terramere, swearing to never return to her sister's side.
And though Faune never again created an equal to her Vessel, she did bring forth a new race of beings imbued with small bits of magic, and Faune named them Fae.
Deep,rhythmicbreathingalertedthe Queen that the Princesses were fast asleep. Through the room's large, gilded window, stars peeked out from behind wispy purple clouds, illuminating the Royal Gardens below.
The Queen softly closed the book of fables, murmuring prayers to the goddesses above and below to watch over the two small, blanket covered bundles as she slipped from the bedroom, finding the King standing alone outside the door.
"What is the point of a bedtime tale if they fall asleep before the ending?" the Queen asked as the King extended his arm to her. "They didn't even get to the part where the sister goddesses reconcile. I swear, Scottrell, theyneverhear the moral of the story."
"They are ten years old, Elera," the King chuckled in response, guiding his Queen down a hallway lined with glittering opal columns. "Even if our daughters listened to the ending, I doubt they’ll be spouting introspective musings anytime soon."
"The story this evening was of Faune and Phades," Queen Elera said as they traipsed down the hall.
King Scottrell shot his Queen a tight smile as he replied, "Phades and Faune, sister goddesses with their own strengths and weaknesses–who fought over power, forgave out of love, and ultimately ruled their realms together." He paused, pressing a kiss to his Queen's forehead between the slim opal horns that protruded from her head. "Esmeray and Adarawilllearn the moral of that story one day, my Queen."
Chapter one
Lenna
Eighty - Eight Years Later
Theafternoon’srainstormlefthumidity and muck in its wake. Lenna trudged through the puddles, the wicker basket in her arms growing heavier with each step as she tried to ignore the creeping pain forming behind her eyes. Keeping her head up, she rolled her shoulders back, attempting to relieve some tension, while praying the grime would easily wash from the hem of her dress.
Rounding the corner of the narrow dirt path, the tall stone wall surrounding the brick Manor came into view, its arched roof jutting out above the embankment. Heavy fog clung to the branches of the silent trees leading up to the Doortan Estate. It was as if the untamed forest appreciated the recent winds and rain and now slumbered until the sun once again warmed their bark. The only sounds left were the heavy swish of Lenna’s mud laden skirts and her labored breathing as she ascended the small hill to the front gate.
Ivy covered the stonework–broken up only by the twisting metal archway of the gate itself. Passing through the yawning mouth of the entryway, dirt and puddles gave way to pebbled white gravel. It was avast and well-manicured difference from the wildness of the path leading back from town.
Overhead, the sky reflected Lenna’s mood.
Gloomy, dreary, dull,grey.
