The Lost Princess

It was just before dawn, when my alarm started its shrill screaming. I jumped up, rubbing my eyes, and slammed down the snooze button. I debated sleeping for a few more minutes, but I had something to do. Something urgent. So I climbed out of bed and put on my fighting leathers.

I was just about to open my door when I heard the shouting. Not bad shouting but excited shouting. It was beginning.

I grabbed the brass handle and opened the old oak door. Instantly I was met by a group of others rushing past my door, chattering with nervous energy.

           “Can you believe it’s finally time?” One student said.

           “I can’t believe we get to pick our factions today!” Said another.

I joined the back of the group passing by and tried to calm my pounding heart. Today was the most important day of all of our lives. Today we chose if we were going to live or die. Sorry that’s just a bit dramatic, but its true. The faction we choose basically decides how long we live or don’t live. That’s the reality here. We either join the scholars, the warriors, or the leadership path.

  I’ve been training my whole life to join the leadership path, because that’s where my family has been pushing me. My father is the senator of the territory, and my mother is the advisor to the ruler of all the territories. My sister and brother have various positions as aids for others in high positions of power, working their way up.

But I’m not like them. I have no interest in sitting around arguing with other snivelly people thinking they are better than everyone else. They don’t even try to make living conditions better, they just work to make sure their lives are easier while walking over those who are less fortunate.

I want to make an actual difference; I want to protect those who cannot protect themselves. My parents would never understand. I’ve been training in secret with my best friend Analiese. She comes from a family of warriors and when I approached her 5 years ago when we were 15, she was more than happy to train me.

  Today we were joining the Navir faction. Nobody knows but her. So my parents are going to be in for a big surprise. Speak of the devil there Analiese is waiting for me at the end of our hall.

           “You ready for today?”, she asked.

  I took a deep breath to try and steady myself. “I don’t think I’ll ever be ready to go against my family. They think I’m going to be the one to put the on the map.”

  I have excelled at all of my leadership-based classes. Well not just excelled but I’ve been top of the class out of everyone pursuing the leadership track. I’ve gotten the best marks anyone at the school has seen in 20 years. Not even my parents got as good marks as me. Everyone tells me I could make a run for senator and be the youngest one to get it. We don’t have a democracy like other nations. No all the rich families get together and decide who they want who will guarantee they keep all the good to themselves, while the rest of us work to get enough food.

I refuse to be a part of the system. I want to help others not put them down.

           “Alright lets get this over with,” I said to Analiese as I looked at her. Her onyx hair was tightly braided close to her scalp, her emerald, green eyes bright. She had the kind of face that would make anybody do anything for her. Meanwhile, my ashy brown hair was dull, and my blue eyes were cloudy in comparison to hers. I had an average face, and it always surprised me that we were such good friends.

We met ten years ago, when she saved me from drowning in the icy river. I was out exploring the forest, when I saw something glimmering on the edge of the riverbank. My parents have always told me I have an overactive imagination, but what they don’t know is that I can see things that others cannot. My grandmother is the only other person who knows, not even Analiese knows.

 I took one look at her and felt this connection. I don’t know how to explain it but it was like a piece of my soul finally found rest. We have been inseparable ever since. She was my soul sister. She understood me even better than my actual sister has ever.

           “Ok, lets go! I can’t wait!” Analiese said excitedly.

As we made our way down the long, winding, ancient stairs I couldn’t keep my mind off the Choosing Ceremony. Too soon we were standing at the bottom of the stairs in the middle of the line waiting to pass through the gates. Behind the gates loomed the portal that would take us to the stadium.

I’ve only been through the portal once. When I was seventeen, and first came to school. The portal opened in the middle of our town square, and I had the same feeling then as I do now. All others saw was black smoke, and a void. What I saw was a rainbow of colors swirled among the black, I heard the voices too. I asked Analiese if she ever has ever heard the voices when we were twelve and watching in town square as the other students passed through the portal. She looked at me like I was crazy, and I changed the subject quickly. We have never talked about it since.

The first time I went through the portal I had the feeling that I belonged. The voices whispered in my ear secrets in another language. I can’t explain it, but it was like I belonged in that portal, among those voices. There was always a longing to be able to go back through, to hear those voices again, and to travel to places nobody has ever been.

We neared the portal and I felt a rush of excitement that drowned out all of nervousness. “Alright lets do this.”

           “You sure you’re ready?” Analise asked.

           “It’s now or never,” I replied.

           “Ok, see you on the other side,” she said before walking into the swirling mass of color.

I took a deep breath, and then tentatively took a step forward. No or never, I told myself. Immediately I felt the comfortable pulse of the portal. I wished I could stay in here forever, but Analise was waiting for me on the other side.

I took a few more steps, and then I felt it. Not the end of the portal, no. I felt a phantom pulling. I started walking faster, trying not to panic. This was not like the last time at all. Last time I walked a few steps through and then I was where I was supposed to be. This walk was taking too long. It felt like wading through mud. Which I had a lot of experience with. I tried to calm my panicking and slowed my steps.

The next thing I knew I was being pulled to the side, and then a blinding light erupted all around me. I felt it deep in my bones before I could even see where I was. My sense sharpened as I dragged in a breath. Slowly my eyes adjusted and I spun around in a circle gaping. The colors were so much brighter here, the smells stronger and a lot lovelier. Was that jasmine I was smelling?

I kept spinning in a circle until I saw it and stopped dead. A giant castle. White gleaming towers crawling with ivy. The clouds in the sky were so plump they looked like cotton candy. The grass so green, the green of emeralds. And was that a gryphon lazing around in the grass?

The gryphon perked up and immediately started bounding toward me. I started to panic, and turned to run when I smacked into someone.

I think I was screaming, because after a tanned had clamped itself over my mouth all the panic stopped. I opened my eyes and came face to face with an older woman with hair that looked like it was made of liquid silver. Her eyes the blue of the ocean. Something about her was so familiar, but I couldn’t quite place it. She slowly removed her hand and pulled me into a giant hug.

  When the gryphon stopped right next to us, I almost jumped out of my skin. It didn’t begin to try to eat me like I thought it would. No, it just started nudging me with its beak, almost like it was comforting me. Like it new me and was trying to tell me it missed me.

           I looked back at the familiar woman. “Where am I?”

           She looked at me with a bright smile, “You are in Elvandor. Welcome home Princess Eliana. Welcome home daughter, I have missed you.”

Then it all came flooding back to me like a giant tidal wave, and then I burst into tears. I grabbed the woman and held on to my mother. I held on like the second I let go I would lose her forever. “Mom?” I asked with a giant sob.          

           “Yes Ellie.” Ellie no one had ever called me that except my mom. I started crying even harder. “It’s ok now. You’re safe. You’re home. I have missed you dearly.”

And with those words, I finally felt what I was searching for during those countless hours of exploring: home. I was finally home.