The Darkness Beyond the Stars

Chapter One: I'm bartered away

 The rain lashed in thundering torrents against the library windows, but the crown princess of the kingdom of the Pure High Elves didn't care. She was far above the floor and the echoing rain, in a hidden alcove behind the top of the bookshelf on the southeast corner of the library.

There the rain pattered against the tiny round window set in the wall. Through it, you could see the gardens, dreary but still vibrant in the rain. But Lilya wasn't looking out the window. Indeed, she couldn't even hear the rain. She was curled up with her back against the stone, her eyes fixed on the book propped up on her knees, and nothing else entered her thoughts.

She turned the page.

The light that filtered through the drops on the window began to fade. She turned a little so that the little light left would fall directly on the page.

It grew darker, and the rain beat more heavily against the glass.

Lilya rubbed her eyes with one hand, and looked around dazedly.

"Candles." She muttered, and felt around. But, alas, there were no candles to be found. She sighed and closed the book, setting it back in its place on her little shelf. She had thirty or so books in the hiding place, all lined up on three shelves set in the stone. Ison had set those shelves. And most of the books there were from him. Something creaked below, and Lilya crawled over to the opening and pushed the white curtain (which matched the wall perfectly) aside slightly. Once she saw who it was, she stuck her head over.

Isun stood below, his pale pointed face turned up to look at her. "You better come!" He hissed.

"What?" Lilya whispered back.

"Family dinner! Ten minutes."

Lilya carefully crawled onto the top of the towering bookshelf, and then descended the shelves like a ladder. She skipped the last few and jumped, then turned to Isun. "Lost track of time."

"Must have been a good one."

"Horrifying."

He grinned and they wended their way through the towering shelves. "Once you finish it, I want to read it."

They reached the tall double doors, and Isun pushed them both open. As they were heading in the way of the dining hall, Lilya watched Isun. "Any ideas what the topic will be tonight?"

He glanced at her from under his mop of dark hair. The tips of his pointed ears shone in the light from the candles along the hall. "Maybe about your guard. The one you really like."

Lilya smacked him. "Äsal?? He's been gone. Forever."

Isun grinned. "Maybe he's coming back. Maybe he loves you..." He wiggled his fingers.

"If he did, he would respond to my letters." Lilya grimaced. "We've known each other our entire lives. And I thought he didn't like me. But before he left..." She fell silent. Nobody knew about that. What happened before he left. And it wasn't something you told a brother, especially one like Isun.

Isun spun around to face her. "I did see a messenger arrive yesterday. The dinner probably has something to do with them."

"Did they arrive by horseback?"

"Yes. Looked exhausted too. Both horse and rider."

Lilya bit her lip and sighed. "Who was it?"

"I couldn't get close enough to tell for sure, but they had red hair. Only messenger I know who has red hair is Ryril, who was-"

"Assigned to the south."