The Cursed Kingdom

ONE

~ FATE ~

"This is a bad idea," Oriana stated, huffing warm air into her cupped, shivering hands. "What if Julius catches us?"

Julius was the lord of our tiny village, Amaryllus, which resided in the far north at the base of the tallest mountain in the Human Kingdom. With no children, Julius had looked after my friends and I as if we were his own. He carried out our nation's laws and reported back to King Caspolean, whose palace resided in the tropical southern lands near the Fae Kingdom, where myrmaids, Faes, and faeries roamed.

I always dreamed of living there one day, to swim in the salty ocean and meet the beautiful half naked creatures who would try to seduce me into its waves. But circumstances made it impossible to leave Amaryllus. So I was limited to living out my fantasies through books and tales from passing merchants, who were notorious for exaggerating for an extra copper coin or two.

"I think you're being a wimp," Taylium uttered matter-of-fact, his voice muffled under his thick scarf.

His twin brother, who was identical to him down to every freckle, Tylem, nodded his head in agreement, strands of brown hair poking out from under his hood.

I turned my head up to the grey sky, grateful that it had finally stopped snowing before we started making our trek to the border, an idea conjured by Taylium for his and Tylem's eighteenth birthday.

The sound of my name penetrated the lulling rhythm of our boots crunching through the snow.

"Huh?"

"I said: So, Raena, do you want to turn back too? Scared the big bad wolves will get you?" Taylium laughed and leaned his head back to face the sky, dragging his scarf down to reveal his pursed lips that were surrounded by the thin scruff he hadn't bothered to shave that morning. "Awooooo!" he cried, not being able to contain his laughter. Oriana shushed him, swatting at his arm and calling him names. "AwOOOO—"

A howl, a real beastly howl, pierced the air, making us all go quiet and stiff at the sound we usually only heard once a month under a full moon sky. It was deep, powerful, frightening, yet beautiful and I found myself trembling not just from the cold. When it ended, I let out a sigh of what I assumed was relief, my breath misting and swirling up peacefully into the air.

"Can we please go back now?" Oriana hissed, tugging an ebony hand at Tylem's sleeve. She knew there was no use in trying to persuade the other twin's mind. "This is stupid." Her wide, brown eyes gleamed up at the boy with desperation.

"Maybe..." Tylem trailed off, turning to face his brother apprehensively. His green eyes looked regretful, having usually been compliant with his brother's ideas no matter how insane or heedless, yet I could tell he was growing just as wary as Oriana. What had been a ridiculous attempt at demonstrating their masculinity was starting to prove less and less worth the risk.

We all knew the dangers that lurked near the border, the ones waiting for daring teenagers like ourselves to take that irreversible step over the boundary line to 'rightfully' attack us as trespassers.

Although I trusted we would be more careful than the people in the stories, I wasn't exactly against turning back either. I could hardly feel my toes and my cuticles were starting to turn a shade of blue.

"No," Taylium spat, trudging forward in spite of the fact that the rest of us remained in place. "We've made it this far and—hey! See, see!"

He pointed to a spot in front of him and started running—well, tried to run—through the thick layers of snow. Tylem muttered something under his breath and chased after his brother, shouting for him to come back to no avail.