Introduction

The Angostin had been at war for a long time. Nobody knew why, nobody for how long. It had all been forgotten. In its stead was a burning hatred. The people they were at war with?

The Detrenin.

The Detrenin were the only living inhabitants of the only other known continent. The Angostin occupied the first. The continents were, therefore, known merely as Angostin and Detren. The Angostin were tall, and fair of eyes and hair. The Detrenin were of medium build, and had dark eyes and dark hair.

They were, in short, opposites.

Arymilla was in trouble. Again. It seemed to her she was always getting in trouble.

At least, she thought, it’s never for the same thing. Well…mostly.

(Every night after she was caught doing something she wasn’t supposed to, she would lay awake and replay it in her head, marking everything she did wrong and working out a way to not get caught next time.)

This time, it was for something completely unavoidable. She could not help being lonely. The only people anywhere near her age were …well…she couldn’t think of any nice words to describe them. It wasn’t her fault her guards were overprotective. It wasn’t her fault her guards had treated her absence as a kidnapping, despite several warnings from her. They knew she liked to slip off. But who did Lini scold? Her, of course. Not the guards. The injustice was overpowering. And, to rub salt on an open wound, she was constantly treated like a porcelain doll! Except for her nursemaid Lini. Lini treated her like a naughty child. She even preferred being treated like a naughty child to being treated like a porcelain doll! It didn’t help that everyone tried dressing her like one, either! She had nothing against looking nice-she loved looking nice-but they tried loading her down with so much jewelry and absolutely unnecessary rouge, she felt like a mannequin.

And yes, she did like needlework, and all that other lady stuff, but doing it in the presence of faint-hearted gossipers, she started to detest it (which was a pity, since it calmed her down, and she was known for her anger management issues).

She felt like she was suffocating. And nobody understood! Why couldn’t they understand? Why was she so different, so alien to them?

Tired of the subject, she fell asleep quickly.

Liadan and Diarmid were 16-year-old twins. They were the oldest of five children. Numa was a prim little girl of 13, and the middle child. The youngest were the identical 11-year-old twin dears Sean and Seamus. The only disruption to the restrained, methodically organized lifestyle of Detrenin nobility was the younger twins’ occasional insistence on unusual pets (mostly used to exact revenge).

On this particular day, however, the pets had all been unusually restless. A most disturbing state of affairs on a good day, but today, King Leodhram and his entourage were visiting, and were to hold court in their castle.

And what’s worse, Diarmid thought, we have to be present. Just because we are high-ranking nobles and expected to marry into the king’s line, we must be subjected to the excruciating torture of the intense boredom inevitable in court.

Well, it’s not as if it’s meant to be a punishment. Liadan thought back.

Liadan, Diarmid, Numa, Sean and Seamus had linked their minds so they could talk uninterrupted. This form of communication was usually limited to between twins or soul mates, but a gifted personage could speak directly to others’ minds, and hear their thoughts. A group of gifted personages could enter into a link in which only their ‘spoken’ thoughts were revealed. If one was exceptionally powerful, one could even open another’s mind to reveal all (everyone in a position of power, including all nobility, learned to shield their minds). And although rare, all five children had inherited the gift from their mother, with whom the gift was strong.

This was also very convenient for coordinating pranks and having conspiratorial conversations (like they were currently doing).

Children. The cool mental voice of their mother interrupted their conversation. You are not planning any pranks, to embarrass your father and me, are you?

No, mother. Liadan elected to answer.

And you aren’t playing any word games with me? Lady Protea was justifiably wary when her children chose Liadan as their voice. All of the children were quite charismatic, as a whole, but Liadan in particular was quite demonic when it came to word games.

Would I plan a prank to embarrass my parents? Liadan was in her element now.

Are you planning any pranks that would, in any way, shape or form embarrass us?

We are not planning any pranks. Liadan surprised her mother with a straight forward reply.

Are you planning any potentially embarrassing surprise?

You are persistent. We have to give you that,-

Liadan. Her mother said warningly.

All right, all right. We may or may not have a thing or two in mind. Liadan admitted reluctantly.

Forget all plans, you five! Their mother admonished.

But she needn’t have bothered. There was far greater mischief and mayhem afoot than her bored children had the heart to wreak.