Trisharians have always thought of their Princess as the sweet, innocent child of King Vellakscus and Queen Tattaria. And yes, I must say I played the part. For what else could I do? I was fearful. I didn't want to be disinherited and banished from Trisharia like my brother was. My older brother by two years had been heir to the throne of our land. He was honored by Trisharians as a valient war leader (although we never did fight anybody, most other countries thought we were just a myth, or a legend, but my brother was the best swordsman in Trisharia). He also possessed the unusual magic that all the royal family had. It was called Gift of Swiftness, better known as Gos. I, too, had it, although I had not mastered it as my brother did at our University. It enabled the caster to move and run as fasst as teh fastest horse. My parents never found it useful and so never used it, but my brother did---but only after he had lost his crown and been thrown out. You see, when he left the castle, he didn't leave the country like he was supposed to. Instead, he became apart of the underground world of the Rogue. There, he was no longer known as Prince Gregorineth, but took upon the name Swift and learned the evil skills of a thief. And it was there that he fully mastered his magic to its fullest possibilities. These possibilities were perfect for a thief. With magic like Gos, a thief could steal anything and never be caught! He would be too fast! My brother slowly rose in the ranks of the Rogue till one day my parents found out that he had become the Rogue leader, better known as The King of Thieves. This was terrible because it greatly disgraced the family name and now the City Guard were out for head, as the war would go traditionally between the Rogue (especially the leader) and the Guard. I was then forbidden to see my brother and if I did, then I was told by serving my country and our law, I too must try to kill him. This was terrible, for although I hadn't seen my brother in two years since he was banished, before all this had happened I had been very close to my brother. So why was my brother disinherited you say? Because he spoke out publicly against our gods, the Ysandir. Perhaps you've heard of them? I know in Tortall some know of them from the Bazhir. From what I've learned, the Bazhir were once afraid of them and even built a city called Persopolis to watch over the Ysandir's city, known as the Black City to the Bazhir. I think personally this is plain silly! Here is what our history records state written by the palace scribes. That the Ysandir long ago resided in a city located in Yellow Vast Desert, now known as the Great Southern Desert, in Tortall. There our gods lived in peace and happiness, watching over their children---us. Then one day a group of people calling themselves the Bazhir came into teh city, saying that they had been traveling many days and seeked shelter and food for a few days in the Ysandir's city. Being the generous gods they were, they let the Bazhir in and gave them all they needed and plenty more. But the Bazhir didn't depart from the city like they said they would after a few days had past. They stayed. Not wanting to be cruel, the Ysandir let them stay without a word said. Before anybody knew it, the Bazhir had stayed many months. During this period of time, the Bazhir had taken our god's food, used their clothes, slept in their houses, and never did give any thanks in return. Nothing. They didn't even help the Ysandir with the work needed to feed and cloth the Bazhir. So, the Ysandir came together in a council and decided to teleport the Bazhir to a magical land where food would be plentiful and days always good. This way, the Bazhir wouldn't have to rely on the Ysandir anymore like helpless babies. They would learn farming skills and techniques necessary to survive if their people were to live on into many generations. They could live in peace and happiness and not need the help of the Ysandir. When the Ysandir began teleporting some of the Bazhir, though, the Bazhir claimed they were stealing their souls and so they left the Ysandir's city. It was just as well, our gods thought. But then later, our gods heard that the Bazhir had set up a city to watch over the Ysandir City, believing our gods to be evil demons. And then around ten years ago, two true demons called the Burning Brightly One and the Dark One entered the city and killed our gods. That is what our history reads at the University. My brother and I didn't somehow believe all this to be true, so we seeked the truth in ancient books we didn't even know were in our library. This is what we learned. There were no demons. Those "so-called-demons" were only children younger than I am today even! But perhaps I have long strayed from the point. My brother and I, having learned all this, thought is silly that our "powerful" gods were killed by children! Something must have been wrong in our history perhaps, we thought. My brother spoke out about it, telling people that perhaps the Ysandir weren't gods at all. My parents tried to keep the whole thing quiet after they heard of what he had said, but my father's Chief Advisors, having been long jealous of my brother and the honored he's gained throughout his life, made what my brother said known to all and told everyone that by law, it was only right to banish my brother for preaching evil lies to the kingdom. Preaching? Lies? He was just questioning his thoughts, hoping to find someone who saw the whole thing as my brother and I did. So I don't know where all that preaching and lies crock came from, but my father's Chief Advisors had a huge influence in the kingdom and so my father eventually gave in and agreed to what my brother's punishment was to be, or otherwise start a huge civil war in his kingdom. Next thing I knew, my brother was gone. My fun loving brother, gone. I felt like half of me was gone when he left. I later spoke of all this to my parents and protested that it was unfair. They told me to never speak of my brother's lies or I, too, would be banished. They told me I should also be more responsible than that too for now I was heir to the throne of Trisharia. This knowledge brought me both terror and anger. My brother was supposed to be heir. All his life he had learned about our kingdom and how to rule it. And now he was gone because he spoke his mind. I felt guilty. Didn't I too agreed with my brother in his ideas? Yet, I was still here, in the comforts of a big castle with everybody to wait on my least little whim. And now I was heir. I missed my brother terribly! It was like a pain at my heart, and my head, and the rest of my body. And then I remembered at that very moment as I stood before my parents, questioning their rules, what I had taken upon myself as being heir to the throne. The thought made my blood turn icy and I did, in fact, faint. At least blackness was better than that knowledge...
