Chapter 1 Introduction

The morning sun shined brightly across the valley on Altara the only human city in this part of the continent.

Altara is the southern most city of the kingdom of Joren and during the endless war it had often been attacked as it had been the only piece of land owned by mankind between the two warring states.

But this has not been the case for the past 20 years which is why you see so very few soldiers in the city right now.

Though the fact that there were any soldiers on the streets was unusual because ever since 20 years ago there had been peace in these lands.

Nowadays the primary occupation for the citizens of Altara was either hunter or engineer at the weapon-factory. But the weapon-factory had closed down recently due to a law that was passed by the current king of Joren; banning the production of weaponry.

To the south were the countries of Jin and Jagun which are still continuing their endless war among themselves and since several years ago the country of Joren has started to sell weapons to the two countries and thus Joren and especially Altara which was at its border has grown very wealthy.

But because a week ago the king of Joren had outlawed the building of or selling of weapons; there has been social and political unrest as had not been seen since the war ended for the kingdom of Joren 20 years ago. It could be said that this was also the reason why Frank, Isabella and their dad had to move to Altara from the country of Jin where they had lived most of their lives.

In a classroom at a school in the city of Altara; this is where Isabella is currently residing at. What is she doing you may ask. She is introducing herself to her new class.

*end of narrative*

'Students; quiet please. We have a new student joining us today.'

As the teacher turned to Isabella: 'Please introduce yourself to the class Isabella'

After nodding Isabella started her self-introduction;

'My name is Isabella Kirkwall I am 16 years of age, I moved here with my father Yoran and twin brother Frank after my mother Ella was killed by assassins.

We moved here from the capital of Jin which is 3 days travel to the south-west of the southern mountain-pass.

We used to live in Jin because my father was assigned to be the ambassador there.

The king of Joren is my uncle which is why my last name is Kirkwall. I hope we can get along despite that I am part of the royal family.'

Isabella had said all of this; looking at a spot on the opposing wall trying not to make eye-contact.

She was quite anxious about meeting her new class. The fact that there were two of her guards just outside of the door who had escorted her to the classroom hadn't helped getting rid of the anxiousness from her new classmates.

After she had finished introducing herself everybody just stared, not saying anything or rather; they did not know what to say or how to react.

Isabella had feared that this would happen.

Then after gathering her wits the teacher said, 'Isabella is new and though she is of the royal family she will not be getting any special treatment from me; so neither should you treat her any different than you would one another. From today on she is just another one of your classmates.'

The teacher then turned to Isabella;

'Nice to meet you Isabella, I won't point you a place to sit because we spend very little time in this classroom for the rest of the week because we will be going on many hunting trips so just try to find someone you want to sit next to during this time.

Although I said I wouldn't give you special treatment it doesn't mean I won't give you special treatment due to your loss. Which is truly regrettable, my condolences.'

The teacher then started giving orders to the class rounding up everybody and giving them tasks to prepare for the hunting trip.

As everyone was rounded up Isabella was looking around at all the new faces in her new class who were as strangers to her for now. One of her her new classmates walked towards her.

The girl that came to Isabella was around 5"2 with wavy black hair that went up to her shoulders, she wore a white blouse and her chest was covered with red leather armor as were her pants, her belt was made with black leather and she had a leather pouch attached to the belt.

This was highly unusual and the girl started talking to Isabella before bowing first and without speaking as one would to royalty. Which was most intriguing because it is stated in the law that you may not speak to royalty unless you're spoken to or allowed to do so specifically.

'I'm Asa Moor the class president, welcome to our class. Have you hunted before?'

Isabella shook her head and said:

'No.' with a smile.

'Just in case the teacher had asked me to pair up with you and to look after you during the hunting trip.'

Isabella was quite relieved that she had someone to talk to. Life becomes much easier when you have somebody to talk to.

Isabella replied, "Please don't call me that just call me Isa, that's easier. Thanks for looking after me and why not be friends. That way it won't be considered breaking the law when you start talking to me"

'Sure! I had forgotten about that law. Glad that you hadn't.'

Isabella then asked: 'So what is the plan for today?'

Asa replied: 'Today we will be going to the Tamarin jungle. Usually we go hunting in the mountains because its closer but the dragoon riders have been acting strange lately...

Anyways we'll be going soon so if you need to use the outhouse or anything before we go now is the best time, the jungle is teeming with insects that make doing your business there very very uncomfortable. Just as a heads up.'

Isabella chuckled lightly in a dignified manner.

'So, I heard you have a twin brother? What is he like?' Asa Moor asked.

Isabella answered with a proud look:

'He is a true genius in the arts of manageering, (engineering of mana-devices.)

In fact he was the one who made the first mana-device, the mana-battery allowing one to store up mana for later use.

Due to his smarts he was able to skip several years of school just because he outsmarted all the teachers that he met and he was doing stuff that was much more useful when he was at home in his lab so when he asked if he could stay at home instead of going to class my parents willingly agreed.

However this did make him be more of a hermit and thus he had next to no social contact at all.'

Asa tried to ask something again but before she could Isabellla continued on with talking about her twin brother.

'Frank also designed a power transformer that made it possible to harness mana from heat or anything warm. Nowadays it is primarily used by the giants who live on the lavaline which is a string of volcanoes going between Jin and Jagun from the Golden tower all the way out to the ocean and thanks to this mana-converter that Frank designed the giants are now able to harness vast amounts of mana in mana batteries that Frank invented.

Frank also invented a mana-shield which powered by the lavaline became nearly impenetrable. Because of this the giants can now live in relative peace by keeping up a manashield to protect their cities from the constant fighting between the human nations of Jin and Jagun. '

Franks smarts however also had its downsides. Jin and Jagun both saw the potential of Franks inventions. The prospect of generating mana from the lavaline was very tempting since it would provide enough energy for an entire country.

As the lavaline previously had been an area that was undesirable by either side it had never been the target of their conquest but now with the prospect of harnessing energy from it the two nations then started fighting not only around the lavaline but also to take over the lavaline.

The war intensified causing more death and destruction. The Giants then went into seclusion and wouldn't dare to come out of their mana-shields.

Frank blames himself for it. He also blames himself for the death of his mother.

This is because he thinks the assassins were trying to capture him.

But his theory which has caused him to feel regret was quickly disproved by the unfortunate deaths of our diplomats in Jagun. Frank still couldn't shake the feeling that he had something to do with it though. His gloomy demeanor and lack of social skills made sure of that.

Plus the fact that he was royalty. Meaning that nobody was allowed to start talking to him by law didn't help him to fit in that day,

Franks introduction was much shorter:

'Hi, my name is Frank.'

Asa then replied with with a smirk on her face:

'I guess you two aren't much after all despite being twins.'

After a quick toilet break Isabella went with the class on the hunting trip.

She walked with Asa Moor as the class went on their way to the Tamarin Jungle.

It took almost 3 hours of walking through forests and plains.

Asa Moor answered all of Isabella's questions about the things that they had learned at school. Much of the theoretical things Isabella already knew of but Asa also told about them learning about wood carving, crafting, tying knots and how to set up sluices in a river.

'What should I know for when we go hunt?' Isabella asked.

'Hey, I've explained a ton already and I know next to nothing about you yet. Now its your turn!'

"I guess you're right. I'll start at the beginning.

As you know our continent has many kinds of people and different races living in it.

My dad due to his occupation as a diplomat has always made sure that me and my twin brother knew history because as my father says it 'history repeats itself' since we are of the royal family we are to become diplomats too.

But this is something that neither me nor my brother are very fond of, sure its got its perks. Like we will never have to worry about money or food or where to live but with how smart Frank is he wouldn't have to do that anyways.

But the burden of having the responsibility over villages, cities, tribes, nations, entire races and the relationship between them especially in these troubling times isn't something anybody would be looking forward to bearing.'

She then continued after shaking off some of her gloominess:

As you know the 'endless war' started when the human kingdom split in three due to the birth of a triplet in the royal bloodline.

All three were first child of the king and each were given part of the human kingdom and each of these new nations was named after their new king.

Joren was given the river-delta in the north, Jin was given the fertile and mountainous lands to the south-west and Jagun was given the desert and the steppes in the south-east.

A desert may not seem like a very nice place ot live in but there are lots of underwater rivers in Jagun and many gems are found along those rivers. So even though it may look like a desert beneath its golden sands there is a bustling nation that has had a grudge against both Joren and Jagun ever since its conception.

Jagun wanted the fertile lands that his brothers had gotten, Jin wanted the gems of Jagun and the nation of Joren housed the ancient capital where the human kingdom's previous king lived.

Joren wanted the woodlands of Jin and the gems of Jagun.

Or that's what my dad told me, I'm pretty sure it was just sibling rivalry each wanting to reunite the kingdom but under their own rule.

But so did their children, and their childrens children and right now we're at the 12th generation. The successors followed quickly after one another because over the past few decades a lot of the kings and royalty have been assassinated.

This is also the caused the strict rules which prevents people from interacting with royalty. If there is less interaction then there is a smaller chance of an assassin being able to infiltrate.'

'What does your father do?' Asa Moor asked

'My father helped with the establishment of the 20 years of peace that Our nation of Joren has had. He was there when they signed a non agression pact 20 years ago with Jin and Jagun.

We used to live in the capital of Jin to ensure a friendly relationship, but assassins came after us and our mother was killed. We never found out who had sent the assassins.

Neither Jin nor Jagun was deemed safe to live in so we left and moved to Altara. This is actually my first time in my home-country.'

'Then why did your father choose to move to this small city of Altara? I mean it is practically in the middle of nowhere.' Asa Moor asked again.

'Well Altara is close to the border with Jin so if my dad is to still be a proper diplomat he has to do at least that. Plus this is a big city with ties to the dragoon riders and I've heard that Altara even used to trade with the Tamarin. Is that true?'

'Hahaha, of course not.

Nobody can see a Tamarin let alone trade with them; they can bend light around themselves with mana becoming invisible to the eye.

You only see them if they choose to be seen or you have to catch them by surprise.

There was one time a crazy hunter in Altara who wanted to capture a Tamarin woman because he had heard that they were very pretty. He saw one and from him we learned that the Tamarin are covered in scales and that they have tails.

But that's an old story, I was told that it happened more than 50 years ago and there have been no reports of the Tamarin ever since.'

'Why not?'

'Well that's because nobody can get through the Tamarin jungle and the Tamarin retaliated after they found out about that hunter and that scared the people around here so much that they reinforced a new law to ensure nobody would try that ever again.'

'Why can't anybody go through the Tamarin Jungle?' Isabella asked

'Well that's because they drag anybody who is still in the jungle at night out of it after drugging them.

Sometimes people try it multiple times so they're held and returned a year later with amnesia.

This is also why we left for the jungle straight away because we need to get out before dark.'

'Then can you tell me anything about Altara, I've only been here for 2 days and spent most of that time unpacking my clothes.' Isabella asked feeling slightly embarrassed.

'You did 2 days to unpack your clothes?' Asa said with a surprised face that could make people wonder if she dislocated her jaw or that she was a distant relative to the boa constrictor.

'Anyways' she continued; 'The river streaming through Altara provided us with clean drink-water, the power for our houses and it provided us with fish which was bred by those lucky enough to live along the river.

Fish prefer streaming water to live in and that is what we provided them with the help of some sluices.

The sluices had originally been built to keep the constant streaming water from eroding the river-banks after the trees that held the earth together were cut to build houses.

By building the sluices the speed at which the water streamed through Altara was considerably lessened. It was also guided along the city walls through a mote.

Due to this constant stream of ice-cold water and the height-advantage that the city walls provided the city of Altara had never been breached. In other words, we currently lived in the safest place in the world. '

As they were talking Isabella and Asa had already reached the jungle and they happened to get reprimanded by the teacher that they were being too noisy.

Later that day Isabella came home.

Frank had already gotten home and had retained his gloominess throughout the day. Both he and Yoran were happy to see that Isabella had come home.

Because of Franks gloominess the resulting atmosphere was quite oppressive and Yoran did not have the energy or the will to lift Frank up.

Feeling the gloominess in the room Isabella decided to be extra jolly to lift up their spirits.

As she came in she made a lot of noise and shouted:

'Look what I caught!' With a proud smile she showed off her new friend.

In came Asa Moor. 'This is Asa Moor the class president, she taught me about the life in the jungle when the class went hunting.' she said as she was jumping up and down.

Dads face quickly lightened up as he put on his signature smile that he showed whenever a guest was around, probably a habit from being royalty in a foreign country;

'happy to see that our daughter made a friend, nice to meet you Asa, I am Yoran glad to see that you've become Isabella's friend, I know she can be quite a handful at times but please do take care of her.'

Asa nodded in reply; quite excessively.

Isabella replied with a voice:

'I am not a handful!' *pout*

Yoran seeing that his words had hurt his daughters feelings; or so he thought; quickly apologized.

Isabella smiled to him and said:

'I forgive you'. before walking to her chair with a spring in her steps.

'Thank you, and what else have you found and caught today?' asked Yoran

Asa replied as they sat down for dinner which was being served by the servants after they had noted the arrival of Isabella;

'Well we didn't catch anything today which is understandable since it is Isa's first time in the wild.

Or so I presume based on how many animals she scared away with her inconspicuous stalking skills.'

Isabella then asked; 'what animals did I scare away? I didn't see any animals'

With a knowing look Asa simply said: 'exactly!'

Everybody laughed, Isabella felt slightly embarrassed but she was able to grin while looking down at her food.

It was a nice evening with good food. Asa stayed till the sun started to set after which she went home. Yoran made sure that she was escorted by a couple guards just to make sure she was safe.

Isabella and Frank went to bed soon after. Yoran simply proceeded with the work that he had left at his desk after wishing me and my brother a good nights sleep. This had become a habit of Yoran.

Sleeping in a bed all alone made him miss his wife. Because of this he stayed out of bed as long as possible and due to that he also slept out till late too.

There were also a lot of letters that he had to answer, letters for work, letters for condolences, letters from old friends in Jin whom wanted to stay in touch.

Many letters, much to read and write; a welcome distraction and the condolence letters and the letters from his old friends in Jin were very comforting.

Then he opened a letter that bare the royal seal. In it was a letter containing a message from the king.

'Dear brother,

First off condolences. It was a big loss for our nation, our family and especially for you.

I wish that this would be all I had to write but a situation has come up that needs your immediate attention.

As you had suggested I ordered that no more weapons would be exported to Jin and Jagun.

There were many naysayers and it took time to convince them but I succeeded in getting the majority vote in the referendum.

Jin and Jagun were both made aware of this but the nomads in the east are still smuggling weapons to Jagun.

Jagun has used this against us. They have fed information to the spy network of Jin that we are still supplying Jagun with weapons.

Jin has now threatened us with war and word is that they are already moving some of their troops from their eastern front north to the white tip mountains.

To prevent the endless war from coming back to our lands we must act now. Therefore I order you to go to Jin and fix this situation because if you don't many more will die.

Make sure to bring big enough of an escort with you. The dragoon riders in the white tip mountains have cut every tie with us and I don't know why.

Yours Truly,

Joren'

The next morning contrary to what Frank and Isabella had expected to see; their father was awake. Both Frank and Isabella were surprised and also worried since this probably meant that our father couldn't sleep; or that is how they reasoned it in their heads.

Frank asked his father;

'why are you awake so early?'

Their father then asked us to sit down; seeing as it seemed to be something serious Frank and I sat down at the breakfast table without asking any questions. Yoran then after sitting down himself proceeded to tell of the letter that he had gotten from his brother the king;

'You know how I helped convince Joren to stop selling weapons to Jin and Jagun in an attempt to stop the war?"

We both nodded, wondering what this had to do with not sleeping at night.

Yoran then continued:

'Well the nation of Jin is now very upset about us not providing them any weapons and so was Jagun but Jagun is pretending that we are still providing them with weapons.

Jin has therefore threatened us with war and to mend our relationship with JinI have been asked to go back to Jin as quickly as possible before war breaks out.

Because it is a long and dangerous journey I'll be leaving tomorrow early in the morning and I'll be leaving you two here but I will be back as soon as possible.'

Yorans eyes had slowly grown more and more gloomy looking down at his feet as his dad was telling this, it was clear as day to see that he understood what this meant.

Yet he couldn't say a thing while Isabella cried and pleaded her father not to go but in her heart she knew he was doing the right thing.

Namely being responsible for a nation; it is never without risk.

After Isabella cooled down from throwing a tantrum she and Frank went to school not having eaten breakfast due to the tears and not being able to concentrate on anything that school day; the day went by very slow.

Frank didn't have any friends to talk to about it but Asa got an entire bucket load of emotions, worries and tears from Isabella.

For Isabella it felt as if her head would literally explode if she didn't throw out all of her worries and fears at someone even if that someone was Asa who she had only met the day before.

When Frank and Isabella came home early they found that their father had prepared a big meal for them. As they sat around the table quietly the servants brought in the 3-course meals consisting of fresh salads made with various exotic vegetables from the jungle, a main course made of guava meat and as a desert chocolate flavored snow.

Frank, Isabella and Yoran ate quietly and though they were hungry and though the food was delicious they couldn't really enjoy it nor was anybody able to speak.

The next morning Frank and Isabella went to school again. The house had seemed awfully quiet that morning. The absence of our father weighed heavy upon us. Isabella was able to get some comfort from her new friend.

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