Sela looks out over the work camp. She doesn't understand why her father had forced these

people into labor simply for being born in the East.

“ Come along, Sela,” the king says. Sela puts her head down and follows her father throught the

camp.

“ Father, may I go to the infimary?” She asks timidly. Her father gives her a single glance and nods.

She starts off across the barren, dusty land to the hospital. When she reaches it, the smell of rot and

ruin becomes overwhelming. Sela peers into the tent that is the makeshift hospital. She slips in and

walks timidly from bed to bed speaking gently to the occupants. When she reaches the end of the last

row, she sees a girl only a bit older then herself. Sela quickens her pace. She stops beside the girls

bed and gently shakes her awake. The girls eyes flash open and are toughened with a glare when she

opens them.

“ What do you want? Is it time for a new beating?” She asks in a rough voice.

“ What have we done to you?” Sela asks quietly.

“ Your people captured, torchered, and killed many of my people,” the girl says. Her amber eyes fill

with tears.

“ I will set this right. I will free you. What is your name?” The girl's mouth tilts up in a half smile.

“ Alis.” Sela smiles.

“ I will set you free.”

“ Can you swear it?” Sela nods.

“ I swear it. I will be back.” She takes off running out of the imfirmiry, holding up her skirts.

“ Father, father,” She yells her high voice filling the camp. Her father comes from the mines and walks

quickly towards her.

“ What is it Ma Cherie?”

“ Alis.”

“Who?”
“Alis. She is in the imfirmary and I want her sset free.” Her father looks her in the eye and says

sternly, “ If I let her go free, she is your responsibility.” Sela nods fervently.

“ I understand.”

“ Then she may go.” Sela squeals andher father gives her a look of dissaproval. She turns around and

hurries back to the hospital.

“ Alis, you are free to go.” Alis looks up at her with a look of wonder.

“ I am free?” She suddenly releases an earpeircing shreak.

“ Are you ready to go?” Sela asks. The other girl sobers suddenly.

“ I will come back with you, as a servent.” Sela smile and nods.

     “Sela, wake up. It is time to prepare for your wedding,” Alis says gently shaking Sela from her

dreams. Sela's eyelashes flutter as she wakes.

“ I had a dream,” she says.

“ Oh, what was it about?”

“ The day we met.” Alis smiles at her younger mistress.

“ That was a great day. Now let us prepare you for your wedding.” Alis sets about preparing Sela for

her wedding. When Alis goes to put Sela into her wedding dress, a knock comes at the door.

“ Come in Cyr,” Sela calls. Her body guard walks in and looks down at her and Alis.

“ Princess, I was sent with a message from your husband.” His voice obviously hardens on the word

'husband'.

“ And what is that?” She feels Alis singing the vines up her back and through the loops in her dress.

“ He sent me to tell you that the guards have spotted a rival army approching the boarders.” The

princess gives him a stern look.

“ And you took so long to tell me this why?” The guard smirks.

“ Okay, send one thousand men to the boarder to protect it. As long as I am corrinated by the eve,

the kingdom will be safe.” Cyr nods and turns to leave the chamber. He pauses and looks over his shoulder,  “ you look stunning.” The princess smiles at him.

                Cyr walks out of the room cursing himself mentally. 'You look stunning?' What were

you thinking.'  He walks down to the stairs and turns right. He continues the walk down to the

soldiers quarters.  Once he reaches them, he calls the men to order.

“ Alec, Alex, take your troops and go to the weest boarder and stop the advancing army. Make sure

no one inturrups the corranation.” The two men he had singled out rushed off to outfit their men.

       “ Alis, are you sure I look alright?” Sela asks. Alis rolls her eyes.

“ Sela, you look stunning. Amis is going to love you.” Sela looks in the mirror. She sees the girl Alis
\
sees. The glowing young woman in the amber dress that hugs her body and has gems dripping off it.

Then she sees the woman about to be queen. Then she sees the girl who is about to have to lead a

country into war.

“ Sela,” Alis hesitates.

“ Go on Alis.”

“ I am to be wed” Sela spins around and looks her best friend in the eye.

“  Congragulations” Her voice breaks. She can see tears in Alis's eyes.

“ Thank you. His name is Amar.” She says with so much joy that Sela feels it down in her own heart

“ Now let's get you married.” She steps back behind Sela and begins

to pin up her hair with lilies.

            Several hours later, Sela stands by herself at the entrance to the throne room where she will be

wed. She hears the wedding song come on and begins her walk down the asle. The opals click as a few

drag along the floor and the silk russles as she passes by the people in the room. Her heart hammers in

her chest as she stares forward into her future and defiantly tells it to give her its worst. After several

long minuites, She reaches the end of the asle.

“ Amis, are you willing to take this orphan princess and make her your queen?” The preist asks. The

whole room holds its breath. Then just as Amis opens his mouth, Cyr stands up.

“ He cannot. I wish to take the young princess as my own. I will protect her and make her happy, but

most of all I will satisfy her parents wish for her.” Amis stares in shock at Cyr.

“ Cyr, please don't do this,” The princess begs. He does regret inturrupting the weddin but the princess

knew how he felt and he knew she felt the same way for she had told him such.

“ Sela, you want this too.” She shakes her head and with tears in her eyes says loud enough for the

room to hear, “ No I don't.”  Amis glances at her for permission to continue.

“ Yes, I take the princess and make her my queen.” The room is silent as they wait for Cyr's reaction.

He stands up and walks out of the room slowly, not willing to watch his best friend do what she didn't

want to.

“ Then, I proclaim you husband and wife.” The room erupts in cheers. Amis checks with his bride and,

in a giant production, leans her back and kisses her for the first time.

            Outside the throne room, Cyr stands still as a statue waiting for the princess to finish changing

so she may become his queen. After an hour, Alis pokes her head out and gestures for Cyr to take her

place by the princess. He walks in and has the breath ripped out of him. She was otherworldly. She was

more beautiful than an elf or fairey. She stood swathed in a midnight black dress that brought out the

creamy white of her complexion. Her hair fell over the dress and seemed more blue than black.

Necklaces of onyx and pearls custered around her jugular and yet, something was wrong. She moved

her chains, then moved them back and repeat, several hundred time. She was nervous.

“ Sela, what is bothering you?” He asks gently. Her head shoots up and she scans him up and down

several times before coming and fixing one of his metals.

“ I feel I cannot measure up to my mothers beauty nor my father's wisdom,” she confides in him.

“ Oh dear Sela, you are twice as beautiful as your mother and as for your fathers council, you have

Amis to help with that.” She shoots him a hard glance.

“ Speaking of Amis, why did you think it was okay for you to act as you did?”

“ I cannot apologize for speaking out for my heart and yours, but I will apologize for doing it in such a

public way,” he says. The princess rolls her eyes to the heavens but seems to forgive him.

“ Now princess, let's go make you queen.' He offers her his arm and she takes it.

        When she lays her hand on the curve of Cyr's arm, he felt a warmth that hadn't been there before.

He hand always was unusally warm. We walked down to the first floor when we run into her new

husband.

“ Hello, darling, Cyr,” he says with a smile.

“ Hello, Amis,” Cyr says his hand moving to cover Sela's hand. Amis notices this and his eyebrows

raise.

“ Cyr, I can take Sela to the corination,” he offers. Cyr can feel his heart stutter and he subconcously

tightening my grip on Sela's arm.

“ I'm fine with taking her. As long as you do not mind, your Highness.” His eyes tell me he knows

exactly  what I'm thinking.

“ Not a problem.” He leans down and gives Sela a slow, sweet kiss. Cyr's blood begins to boil at the

sight of another man kissing Sela.

“ Princess, we need to be going,” Cyr says in a false sympathetic voice.  The King and Princess part

with a sigh and longing glance that made Cyr feel sick. The Princess gives her husband one last

longing glance. She begins to follow me to the ballroom.

                      I part from Amis's lips with a sigh. His kiss was slow and sultry. It stripped her of all her

walls. His eyes lock on hers and  she cannot pull them away. Whiskey colored eyes bore into me,

intoxicating me better then any actuall whiskey could.

“ Princess, we need to be going,” Cyr says in a very obvious false sympathetic voice as he begins to

pull her  away. She  gazes longingly at Amis and reluctantly followed him.

“ Princess, are you prepared to become queen?” He asks and her mind flicks back over to the war that's

on the boarder. 
“ Not in the slightest. Are you ready to become Captian?” She asks estatic that she was now able to tell

him about his new job. His eyes pop out of his head.

“ Are you offering to let me lead your army?” He says his mind having obviously not taken in the fact

that is what Sela just said.

“Yes, I don't need a personal bodyguard anymore, I have a score of them and my husband so I want you

to lead my army you already do so much of it anyway,” she says quickly hoping he will accept.  His

face breaks out in a smile.

        An hour later, Sela is kneeling before the priest, about to be crowned for the first time. Her heart is

in her throat and her hands are sweating.  Just as the crown is placed on her head, an arrow flies right

over her head and sinks into the preists chest. Blood spurts from his breastbone and all over her crown.

She screams and the whole room breaks out in chaos, people screaming, hitting each other and the

soldiers pulling out their swords. Sela pulls out her daggers and stands in a readdy position. Amis is

fighting his way through the crowd to her and from the opposite end of the room, Cyr is running to her.

Neither of them reach her before the reble.  The young man who lands in front of her has eyes like blue

dimonds, and his hair is like corn silk. She realizes a second before his first attack that he's a fariey.
  
       He lunges forward with his sword aiming at my chest. The reble seems to think that since he's a

fariey, Sela can't fight him. Her blade flicks up like light and stops his blade. She smiles at him and he

scowls. His bade comes in a flurry of sparks the next blow and hers is right there to meet it in a clatter.

He feighs an overhand and switches to a sidecut thinking it will catch her off guard. She flicks her

blade down a second to late. Her blade only just takes the edge off the blade. The blunt of the hit hits

her  in the side right below her rib. Luckly for her, the blade only slices her skin instead of organ. 'He

thinks he's won, oh the poor nieve darlin,' she thinks. She collapes on the floor in a dramatic manor and

drives her blade up into his unsespecting stomach, cutting it in half. He releases a strangled scream

before collapesing and beginning to choke on his own blood because the knife had punctured his lung.

Cyr runs up from behind her and picks up the body and he leavees to dispose of it. Amis picks her up
from behind, turns her around and kisses her, hard. He releases her lips and hugs her close to his chest.

“ I thought I was going to lose you. He just just lept off the awening and landed in front of you. The

people were too paniced for me to get to you,” he says very quickly.

“ Well, I'm alright. Cyr taught me to fight starting when I was five.” Amis glares at Sela.

“ Why did you ruin a romantic moment by mentioning him?” She blushes and looks away. He takes her

face in his hand and kisses her hard.

“ Doesn't matter, these rebles are more of a threat then we thought. We need to attack immediately.”

“ Alright, I will give Cyr the order.” Sela pulls her skirts up from around her feet and hurries off to

the soliers corrdiors.

                     “ Men, get your wepons and be suited for battle in ten minuites. We are heading to war. So

grab whatever woman you're going to kiss, say goodbye to your familes, and meet me here fully

outfitted in ten minuites.” There is a scurry of movement as all the men rush to prepare themselves. At

that moment, Sela rushes in in a flurry of settling skirts and flying hair.

“ Cyr, outfitt the men, we are headed for w- oh you already did that. Good job.”

“ Well I do try. Wait did you say we? You are not going to fight. No way.” She raises an eyebrow at him.

“ Yes I most certianly am. You have no power over me anymore. The second I said I do, you became

commander of the army and lost all power over me.”

“ Well, I am sure that Amis will not let you go either.” She rolls her eyes.

“ He is fine with it.” She grabs her skirts and storms off. Of course he had said the wrong thing once

again.

         “ The audacity of that man. Thinking he can tell me what to do. I am not his. I was never his.” 

She rams into Alis close outside the throne room.

“ Alis, can you get me a couple of of leather pants, tunicts, and a riding habit please. We're going to

war.” Alis nods and scurries off.  Sela hurries after her maid as fast as she can without her skirts

getting tangled around her legs.

    Meanwhile, Amis is standing in front of the mirror outfitting himself. He straps on the chain mail

then puts the heavy, armored breastplate on.

“ How can I let her go to war?” He stares at his reflection. “ The only woman I've ever loved and I'm

sending her out to fight a war.” He shakes his head, his mind still riddled with uncertianty. He straps

on and tightens his metals gauntlets.

      “ Are you ready for war, my Queen?”

  “ Are you ready to fight, your Highness?”

“ Are you ready to go to war, men?”

“Yes,” they all answer.

          After three days of hard travel, the Queen's army meets the rebles with swords raised. The din of

the battle was deafing. In fact, the only thing that matched the din was the stench, the smell of men

dieing, of sweat, blood. Sela feels her heart thumping against her ribcage as attacker after attacker

comes flying at her with clubs, darts, daggers, swords, and all other sharp objects. She blocked and

ducked several of the attacks, but she was tireing fast. She had never fought this long before against

this many people. Each swing of her blade felt like a thousand and each block was slower then the last.

Steadly, the rebles made their way closer to her, striking unde her guard. She kept them at bay as best

she could as the battle raged all arround her.

     Cyr looks out over his men for their weakest point before riding off to the west flank. No one else

would notice, as they were well disguised, but the men fighting were not all men. There were several

elves present and that alone could be enough to keep them from winning the battle. Cyr took down man

after man as his men fell beside him. The ones that could watched as he sliced the head off one only to

turn and in the same move block a fatal strike from the other side. He took down man after man until

they were no longer being pushed back but pushing back the enemy.

    Amis watched from the rise as men fought and died for him. He wished with all his being that he was down there fighting alongside them, but with the queen fighting, he had to stay back incase she died.

He sees when they start to lose and he feels great dispare over the loss of so much life for a piece of

land or gold. 'Greed really can kill millions,' he thinks as he watches the battle ebb and flow. He sees

when the tide changes and they begin to take the lead again. He sees where Cyr is and where Sela is

in the battle. He sees when Sela weakens and when Cyr takes controll of the battle.

    “ To me,” Cyr yell, the men begin to congregate around fight back the enemy. Sela runs over and

joins the throng of men around him. They force the enemy back into the dead lands. Before long, they

hear the order for the rebles to retreat. They turn tail and race in the other direction in a cloud of killer

dust. His men silently begin the task of tending the wounded and buring the dead.

      Sela watches as the army races off into the distance and her own men tend to their comarads. She

sees the dark cloud that is settling over them. They may have won the battle but they were still fighting

the war.