Prologue

“You see that over there?” The man said, kneeling behind his five year old daughter who was actually too busy playing with a rubix cube to look at what he was pointing at.

“Uh huh.” She said, absently.

“No you don’t.” Her father said. Slowly the girl lifted her head and looked at the city landscape below her. “All that…that big city.”

“What about it?” She asked.

“That will all be yours.” Her father said. The girl looked at him and let go of the cube. It stayed floating in the air where she had released her. Her eyes returned to it and she waved her hand over it. The cubes started turning themselves.

“Why do I want a city?” She asked, watching the faces of the cube each become it’s own colour.

“Because when you have a city…you have the people in it.” The man said. “And when you have the people…”

“Then I have everything?” The girl asked.

“Exactly.” The man said, touching the rubix cube. It stopped, each face a single colour now, before falling to the ground. “Once you have this city, you take the next one, and then the next one.”

“Sounds like work.” The child remarked, making a face as she bent down to pick up her toy.

“Everything requires a bit of work.” The man said. “Even if you are magical.”

“I don’t like work.” The girl said. The man chuckled and stood up. “You’re going to leave me.”

“No I’m not.” The man said, frowning now. “Why do you say that?”

“People always leave.” The girl said, shrugging. She pressed her hands against the rubix cube and it shattered into colourful glitter which fell to her feet.

“I will not leave.” The man said. He looked around. “This is the only place you can freely do such things.” He glanced at the pile of glitter. The girl gave a nod, her head down as she stared at her feet. The man sighed. “What makes you think I will leave you?”

“Because they say so.” The girl said. “They say you can’t stay with me.”

“Who are ‘they’?” The man asked, kneeling beside his daughter. “Abigail…who is saying that?” The little girl lifted her head, her eyes were blank. The sun seemed to set faster and it was dark within moments before she finally spoke again.

“Them.” She said at last. At that moment noise erupted from the trees behind them and the little girl screamed as her father tried to protect her. From the forest came a hundred or more people, dressed in dark colours and with mouths that were stained red.

“Peek-a-boo…we found you.” The woman at the front of the group said. She smiled a dark and sinister smile. Her deep red lips pulling back to reveal elongated razor sharp canines.

“Daddy?” The little girl said.

“Don’t worry Abigail. They will not get you.” Her father said, standing. He pushed her behind him.

“How sweet.” The woman said. As she moved closer, the others behind her followed. It was clear she was the one in charge, the highest amoung them all.

The queen.

“You will not have her.” The man said.

“I beg to differ.” The woman said, snapping her fingers. The people behind her lunged forward. The little girl screamed again as her father was dragged away from her. As soon as he was a few feet from her, the woman came up next to the girl and dropped to her knees behind her. “There, there child. All will be well.”

“Why?” The little girl asked.

“Because everyone has a time.” The woman said, tucking the little girl’s hair behind her ear. “And his time is now.” She then held the child’s chin. “But your time will not be for quite a while.” She lifted the girl into her arms and held the child’s face to her shoulder. “Do not look. Do not raise your eyes from my shoulder and keep your fingers in yours ears.” The girl did as she was told as the woman walked past the man who was still trying to fight off the attackers. He would fail, they all knew he would.

The girl did not cry. She did not show any signs of sadness towards the lose of her father. She did as she was told until the woman allowed her to lift her head to find herself in a beautiful, dark and mysterious forest.

“You are my child now.” The woman said. “You will learn to act and be raised as a princess.”

“A princess?” The girl asked, quietly. Sleep was overcoming her now.

“Yes.” The woman said.

“No work?” The girl asked.

“There is always work.” The woman said. The girl sighed and yawned, her head falling back onto the woman’s shoulder.

“My father is dead.” She said. There was a long pause.

“Yes.” The woman said finally. The girl sighed yet once more before drifting into sleep.