The Lady of The Forest

Chapter one

This is a tale of a girl. A tale of an innocent little girl who lived in a small village by the river on the lands of Lumentia. Her name was Arina.
Like any other child, Arina had a pure heart and was mischievously curious of the world.

One day when she was playing outside, she started following a blue butterfly and she ended up losing her way. She found herself on the edge of a forest that she heard about from her father several times, but she had no idea which was she came from. She realised how far she might be from her home and her vision started to blur as tears filled her eyes.
But then she suddenly heard a voice, a voice she was familiar with. The voice was of a lady. Arina recognised the lady who had no face but she had seen several times in her dreams. She wiped her tears and started looking around but she found no one.

She knew she definitly heard that lady whispering, but then confused little arina heard another voice. It was her elder brother Amara calling out her name.
She screamed "Amara! I am here!".
When Amara reached her, he questioned her with concern, "how did you get here sister? Don't tell me you were chasing butterflies again.."
"Sorry Amara, I got lost. I was so scared.." Arina apologised.

Amara smiled with a relief and told her that it was okay but she should remember to stay close to the village and not go far. On the way home, Arina told her brother about the invisible lady, he laughed and didn't take it seriously. And the incident vanished and little Arina forgot about it by the time they reached home.

Sirila was a peaceful and prosperous village on the outskirts of Lumentia. The people were simple and kindhearted. They believed in the divine power and gentleness of nature. The soil of Sirila was extremely fertile, because of which it was one of the main centres of trade to Lilium, the capital city of Lumentia. After the sudden and mournful death of King Cleo, the Great king's wife Queen Nara was to take charge of ruling of the kingdom. The next day, her coronation ceremony was to take place in the Grand Palace which was built in the heart of Lilium.
Everyone from around the kingdom of Lumentia, kings & queens and ambassadors from neighbouring countries were invited.
And the preparation for the same were going on in Sirila.

Arina, who had never left her village ever before was extremely excited for this journey to Lilium. She was playing, and wondering how the palace might be like or if the queen was as beautiful as the stars like she heard in the market the other day. Her father came to her smiling and asked her, 'what are you thinking about Arina?'
Arina shook her head and eagrely started asking her father questions like 'Have you ever seen the palace papa? What is it like? Is it huge and beautiful?'
Her father laughted and then told her 'It is beautiful and tomorrow you will see that for yourself. But right now, you have to go with your brother and help him bring the fruits and vegetables that we are going to present to queen Nara tomorrow. Okay?'
'Okay papa' she replied and her father went inside.
Arina loved her brother's company. Even though Amara was her elder brother, but he felt more of a friend to her. He would play with her, teach her about all different sort of things like farming, crafting and many more that could help her in life, one of which was sword wielding. It was something that only men of Lumentia were allowed to practice. But Amara wanted her sister to know how to defend herself and he knew her potential as she was still young but she was also a fast learner.
Arina was outside waiting for her brother.Amara came and asked Arina to hop on the horse cart and they were on their way to the farm to collect the fruits & vegetables. After reaching there, Amara started putting the sacks into the cart, and Arina started playing a game. She would hide behind random things and ask Amara to find her. While playing the little game with her brother, she saw a blue butterly, for a while she ignored it as she was enjoying her game too much, but then she remembered the whisper of that invisible lady she heard few days ago on the forest entrance. She once again started chasing that butterly, hoping that it would lead her to the forest and to her surprise,  it did. When she stood there on the edge of the forest, she looked around but the butterfly was gone. She was standing all alone and she felt the breeze, it was colder than what she had felt while playing with Amara, then suddenly Arina heard that voice again. It was the same voice as she heard the other day, but this time the lady was calling out her name. This made Arina so curious, that she went after that lady's voice into the forest.