Taya was a fairly average height for her age, and had dark eyes, which at times were mistaken for being black. However, when Taya spent long hours in the sunlight her eyes would change colour. The majority of the time they would turn gold, but on occasion they went red, orange, or green. Around her neck, she wore a golden locket with a green jewel that her mother had given her at birth, and she also carried a brown leather diary which she wrote in constantly. Her favourite place to write was her bedroom, where she could sit on the windowsill over looking the tower walls. In her diary, she could leave the kingdom of Caelestis and create her own world, a world of fairy tales, childish at first, but the more she wrote the more mystical and complex they became.
As the princess of the kingdom she was bound to a specific routine everyday. She was to spend several hours of the day with tutors; she learned proper etiquette in nearly every social situation a princess would be expected to be a part of. Her favourite subjects to study were astronomy, plant biology, and animal biology. She was especially interested in the stars and how they so easily moved across the sky. Whenever she had spare time, she could be found either in her room or out on the tower walls, writing in her old battered leathered diary. Taya’s parents had given it to her when she first began to write at the age of four. She was twelve now and would write furiously everyday. The diary was plain at first glance, but upon further inspection, one would see where there had been gold lining on the seams of the leather. There was a small symbol on the top of the spine, a silver spiral with a circle underneath it. The front cover hid no secrets except for a small gold phrase which was written along the bottom. Taya did not know what it meant, as it was written in an ancient language which know one she knew could translate. Her parents bought the diary from a traveling merchant who was given it by a friend. Unfortunately, neither the merchant nor his friend spoke the language, and they did not have the foresight to inquire. Her writing habits became the entirety of her life; she brought her book to the table during meal times as well as to her studies. She slowly drifted away from her friends because she found that she enjoyed the company of her imagination more than the common children who played all day and did not once consider the possibilities of what one could create with only one’s mind.
One day, Taya was writing in her journal, on the tallest part of the castle wall, feeling the east wind caress her skin. Her thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a group of boys. One of the bigger boys, the son of one of her father’s advisors, walked straight up to Taya and snatched the diary out of her hands.
“What are you writing, weird eyes?” the boy snickered.
“That is none of your business!” Taya exclaimed, reaching for the book.
“I think I’ll just hold on to this,” he said. His name was Blake, he was the leader of the group, and the other boys would do whatever he asked them to. Blake dangled the diary over the edge of the walls.
“I will give it back to you under one condition,” he said.
“And what would that be?” Taya asked, looking at him indignantly with her arms crossed.
“Leave the palace and stay in the woods for a night.”
“No! Of course not!” she sucked in her breath, aghast.
“Well, either way you will have to go outside the palace walls,” Blake said, as he let go of the leather diary. It flew to the earth, barely making a sound.
“No! How could you!” Taya yelled. She stormed off towards the palace gates.
Her afternoon was taken up by the search for her precious diary. She searched all day and into the night. At that moment in time, her life spun out of proportion changing her purpose as we know it. Taya had stumbled upon a little baby dragon, who was in fact, lost. On first sight Taya knew that it was her destiny to save this dragon. The dragon was silver with a turquoise highlight across its body. On the left wing Taya noted that there was a peculiar marking that was coloured a deep purple. After several hours of pondering and staring at the night sky she saw a blaze of light cross the sky, a shooting star. When Taya saw the shooting star she decided to name the young dragon Zenith to represent the heavens. Zenith was so young that he easily began to bond with Taya. She wrapped him in her large cloak and hid the dragon under her arm. She discreetly began to walk up to the castle gates. There her diary was, sitting almost at the base of the castle wall just across from the gate.
“There you are!” She exclaimed. She reached down and retrieved the diary. Taya then snuck through the main part of the castle, until she reached the cellar. She carefully unlatched the cellar door and quickly crept down the stairs.
There her mother stood, waiting. As Taya clambered down the stairs, the Queen instantly knew that something was wrong.
She asked in a calm voice, “Why are you coming through the cellar door, darling?”
“...I was just playing a game of hide and go seek with some of my friends.” The Queen knelt down next to her daughter and softly brushed her hair,
“A princess should not be playing childish games around the palace.” Taya slowly nodded her head and backed away, carefully concealing the cloak behind a wine rack. In the blink of an eye Zenith slipped out from under the cloak to return to the side of his new friend. The queen screamed in terror and jumped back at the sight of the dragon. Zenith was so startled by the outburst that he screeched and in an instant the cellar was on fire. Through the smoke, Taya could see the outline of a silver back. She called out to Zenith, who turned in an effort to locate the voice. Taya grabbed the cloak, which a moment ago had concealed her friend. She called out again in an effort to rescue Zenith from the collapsing building. There were dark clouds of smoke rising in the air as ash began to fall.
Taya felt more alone than she had ever felt in her entire life. This was her fault. How could she bear to face her father? How could she lead a kingdom? The thoughts were too overwhelming and she began to cry. She began to walk away from the fire, determined never to return to the place she once called home.
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