Prologue

Once upon a time there was only one kingdom in the entire world. Just one. This kingdom was ruled by the fair wizard, King Menalaeus, and his beautiful and wise faerie wife, Queen Cassaille. Because of this, the world was a peaceful place.

Soon a baby girl was born to the royal couple. She was a faerie, like her mother, but also very powerful because she was the child of a wizard and a faerie. She was named after her mother, and took a great likeness to her as well. Like her mother, baby Cassaille was very beautiful.

The king and queen loved baby Cassaille very much. They raised her themselves. They adored her and pampered her. But soon, by the time little Princess Cassaille was two, Queen Cassaille got pregnant again, and gave birth to another girl, another faerie princess. They named her Flourai. But very soon after Flourai, only five minutes later, another faerie princess came out. She was named Livaei.

Cassaille did not receive as much attention as before, since Flourai and Livaei were the new beautiful baby princesses. Though the twins loved their older sister, Princess Cassaille did not share the affection.

By the time Cassaille was five, her powers started kicking in. She began moving objects with her mind and having premonitions. From one of her premonitions, she found out her mother, her namesake, was pregnant once again.

And so it was, three years after her last birthing, Queen Cassaille gave birth to her fourth child, Arisala.

Cassaille soon found herself loving Arisala, although Arisala’s birth meant even less attention for Cassaille. At first, the inseparable twins, Flourai and Livaei, were jealous of all the attention they were not getting. But before long they came to love Arisala, who was said to be the most beautiful of all her sisters—including her younger ones.

Only a year after Arisala was born came Esilla. Cassaille was six; Flourai and Livaei were four. Arisala felt an instant bond to Esilla, although Esilla “stole” Arisala’s attention and Cassaille spent a lot of time with Arisala. Cassaille got very jealous. But Cassaille quickly forgot about her jealousy for a while when she had a new startling premonition—a new baby! The newborn Esilla was already five! Arisala was six, and the twins were already nine! But, at the christening, everybody was there—except her. Where was she, Cassaille?

Cassaille’s jealousy grew as Esilla’s and Arisala’s sisterly bond grew stronger and stronger. And as they grew older, Cassaille was blamed for many things that weren’t her fault, and was lectured and scolded more than anyone else. By the time Esilla was four and she herself was ten, Cassaille couldn’t take it. Between Arisala no longer wanting to play with her, the twins teasing her with their powers (Flourai made the leaves purposely fall on Cassaille, having earth powers, while Livaei made them burst into flames immediately, having fire powers), and Arisala as well—flooding the tub while Cassaille was taking a bath, making her beg for Arisala’s healing of some major cuts and bruises (Arisala had water powers)—and her parent’s “disciplining” her, Cassaille finally snapped. She just couldn’t take it. So she ran away. She flew away on her delicate but powerful faerie wings and telepathically moved a small bag of clothes and other necessities in front of her. When King Menalaeus and Queen Cassaille found out their eldest daughter was missing, they panicked. They searched everywhere. The other faerie princesses, her sisters, searched too. But they couldn’t find Cassaille.

The royal family believed she would come back. They kept on hoping and hoping and hoping. But days passed. Then weeks passed. Then months passed. Finally, about half a year after Princess Cassaille ran away, the royal family lost hope and declared a month of mourning for their lost daughter. And a year after she left, Weyia was born. And just as Cassaille had foresaw, Esilla was five and Arisala was six and Flourai and Livaei were nine, but she, Cassaille, was nowhere to be seen.