The Lost Princess - Volume 1

The Lost Princess : Volume 1 of 7

Once upon a time a time, in a city far far away, known as Toostan in the Clouds, there lived a beautiful princess, youngest sister to the King. Her name was Zelia and her life consisted of philosophy, study of the stars and music and was quite an accomplished artist and weaver, as all princess should be. She was graceful at flight and dance and good of heart and innocent, helping those less fortunate, prone to much charity work, and worshiped the old goddess Aerdrie, and well as having a place in her heart for Dru'el and O'Ma, as she very much loved stories of the Spiritland and admired her childhood hero of Vandrioviel very much.

One day, a group of T'nanshi elves came to visit Toostan to pay their respects. They were led by two families: one who followed Corellon, and another who followed Dru'el. These two families were welcome by the King and by the city and were offered all the hospitality that the city could provide. The King realized that the avariel were shut off from the rest of the world; he felt that being cordial to the true races of the world they chose to make their home in was a good start to the avariel's time here.

The King had a younger brother as well as their youngest sister; both the brothers doted on Zelia, as she was as beautiful as starlight itself and twice as charming, not through guile, but through honest good hearted-ness and faith.

Amongst this group of Nanshi, the Priest of Dru'el brough his son Sareve: a bright boy of jet black hair, curious nature, and all that joy that Dru'el lends to His people. Smart and funny, the boy Sareve was delighted with the city and the exotic nature it held. He watched the avariel fly from balcony to balcony, marveled at the small spell jamming port, read exciting books from others worlds, explored, hunted and generally made himself at home.

One fine afternoon as the sun was setting, and the clouds shined purple and pink and gold, Sareve was climbing atop the walls and trellises of the royal compound, and he espied the royal princess Zelia quietly practicing her lute in one of the gardens. Being too young to have been invited to court, he didn't know who she was, only that she was the most beautiful creature he had ever seen in his entire life. Her voice singing an ancient song in time with her strumming, swept away his heart in an instant, and in the way that boys often are ... he was smitten beyond reason. Grabbing hold of the trestle of white roses he perched on, he quickly picked a dozen or so flowers and swung to a position above her. He picked the petals one by one to let them quietly drift to her head as she sang into the twilight. Before long, she was covered in petals and stood up, searching for the reason. Sareve stayed well hidden though, and she could not see the cause. He repeated this act the next night, and the next ... next with yellow ... then pink ... then red petals gently falling on her lap.