《Songbird and Solider》 Preface ¡°This story starts with pain~¡± ¡°The pain of the world¡± ¡°Magic used to flow through every crevice and crack in the ecosystem of life~¡± ¡°But nature was depleting and my magic was stolen¡± ¡°Leeches milking power from their creators~¡± ¡°Humans enslaved everything from pixies to dragons¡± ¡°Everything used to work~¡± ¡°Everything used to be balanced¡± Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. ¡°Curiosity killed that~¡± ¡°they found ways to use my power without my knowledge¡­¡± ¡°¡­and the world started to weaken~¡± ¡°My sister¡¯s power was barely touched, but her children¡­¡± ¡°my trees, my beasts, life as a whole¡­~¡± ¡°¡­were depleted to better suit the needs of leeches¡± ¡°Humans used to be amazing~¡± ¡°We would delight as we watched them grow and change¡± ¡°The needs of the few outweigh the many I suppose~¡± ¡°To them, the world was a garden to be harvested¡± ¡°We watched as they drove our little haven into madness~¡± ¡°My sister had enough, I had enough¡± ¡°But after Eons of being spectators, we allowed a change that would shape the world...... I had a kid~¡± ¡°Do you really have to say it like that?¡± ¡°What¡¯s wrong~¡± ¡°I mean we¡¯re the gods of this world, shouldn¡¯t a god¡¯s kid sound a little more grand?¡± ¡°Oh, I see what you mean¡­ perhaps something like this¡­ Ahem, I manifested a large amount of my energy and condensed it into a small vessel~¡± ¡°Yeah that works¡­¡± ¡°My plan was to drop it where it was most needed so it would mold into what ever was needed~¡± ¡°Of course humans got in the way of that¡± ¡°What should we expect at this point~¡± ¡°Anyway, here we go.¡± Chapter One A man walks into a forest carrying a backpack with some wood and food The man notices glowing light on the forest floor, covered in plants and walks towards it. The vines surrounding this strange light disappear as he approaches. When he gets close enough to clearly see the light for what it is, he sees the form of a human child curled in a ball. The man stops in confusion. Who in their right mind would abandon a child in a forest known to be filled with beasts? (The answer to this question is no one in their right mind would, but who cares about that.) "I suppose I should take this child to the orphanage, huh" the man murmured to himself. So he does what any "sane" man would do. He drops the child into his backpack without care and heads for the path to the nearest town. The town the path leads to is a rather large town for the area. The market is still crowded even though the Sun had long ago gone down. The man arrives at a large wooden building after twenty minutes of walking. The door opens with a creak and an old woman at the front desk welcomes the man with a placid smile. "Hello there, young man. Are you here for adoption or the Lost and Found System?" Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. "Lost and Found..." The man replied gruffly after a beat. "Now would that be drop off or pick up?" the crone responded with the same fake placid smile. "Drop off." "Is that so..? Where is the young one than?" inquired the old lady, not seeing the puff of silver hair inside the man''s backpack. The man calmly reaches over his shoulder and drops the bag with the child inside of it down on the desk. "Oh." The man stares expectantly at the women as if expecting something. "Is something wrong?" The man than points at the newest poster on the walls that says "Reward for bringing in a lost child. Limited time only!" "Ahh, yes. I forgot we did that, hold on one minute." The lady than opens a drawer in her desk and pulls out a single silver coin. She than hands it to the man who walks out content after receiving his reward. "Hello there young one. My name is Madam Delia. Depending on your situation this may be a passing encounter for you, or you will be seeing a lot of me in the future." The Madam scoops up the silver haired child into her arms. "Alright then, lets put you with the others¡­" The madam carries the child into a small room filled with a wide variety of children, both in age and ethnicity. Some are dressed in nice clothing, it''s obvious that they won''t be staying here long. Others are in rags, obviously abandoned. Perhaps some never had anyone to be abandoned by. A poster on the wall shares the information that children not claimed within 72 hours would be placed in the orphanage system. The door closes with a click and the room falls dark. Introducing One of the Main Characters We start with a screaming match. Between a mother and a father. You can barely hear them. You can make out some words, doctors, pricing, your child, yours too, murderous. This continues until they stop and one voice starts crying and you hear words of comfort coming from the other. A young girl wipes her tears away and opens a crack in the door so she can listen in. "Silas¡­. It is not your fault our child was born this way. We can try our best to help, but in the end it is not our place to force a child to become something they do not want to be." "But¡­. our family¡­" "...will endure. We will have plenty of children willing to take the crown if he cannot." "What about their safety?" Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. "if they are hurt, he will not go unpunished" The girl turns around to see her brother also listening in.. The girl is terrified. Her brother has an expression of distaste as he both listens to his parents talk and watches his sister¡¯s terrified expression. He then draws a finger in a line across his throat with a smirk. The girl nearly screams in terror. The girl runs back into the hall and hurries back to her room. Her room is fairly small for such an enormous house (huge by normal standards), but it is full of trinkets with sentimental value. The bed sheets are worn but well taken care of. A dresser filled with dresses barely worn. A box is filled with toys never used, except for a wooden sword placed on top of a side table that looks like it had been through the apocalypse. (beaten all to hell, weathered, scarred) An sleep deprived maid is asleep in a plush chair in the corner of the room There is a mirror in the room. The girl faces the glass with a fiery determination as she puts her hair up. She then picks up her wooden sword and heads out to the balcony and starts swinging violently. The moon rises as time passes and she slowly falls asleep with her sword under the moonlight Does it spoil it by saying that this is the main villain? The young prince was delighted to have scared his sister, as the eldest he should be respected after all. This young royal¡¯s life had started off with misfortune, as a newborn he was cursed with corrupted magic, and after a few years his parents realized there was something wrong with his mind. If he had been born in a world more familiar, he would be known as a psychopath. This eight year old was raised under the impression that he was superior. His curse allowed him strength like no other and his mind was as sharp as a knife. One thing he desired above all was power. This little boy loved the feeling of people kneeling before him and greeting his every beck and call. This child knew his future was secured, when his parents died he would take their place, and in the meantime he would have all the luxury he could ever want. Then his sister was born¡­ He was two years old at the time. This child needless to say, was a bit of a genius. He understood immediately that his standing was at risk. The first time he saw the sister that garnered his parents attention, the parasite they named Allisa, he tried to get rid of her. First it was by shoving his fingers down the baby¡¯s throat, then it was trying to twist her head off her body like he did with his toys. It was an understatement to say that he hated his sister. But Noooooo. Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. No Isaac, you can¡¯t kill your sister! No Isaac you can¡¯t knock her unconscious either! Even worse, his mother was pregnant again! At this rate, the chance of him becoming king will decrease to nearly nothing! The only way to guarantee that he would be king was by scaring his siblings into submission. He would be king, even if it meant unethical methods. He would not sleep until he had a plan to take what was rightfully his. He sat on his plush mattress, thinking. Thinking of ways to get rid of his siblings without wronging his parents. His parents were his ticket to power after all¡­ The prince may have been a psychopath, but he was still a kid and this kid had just stayed up past midnight just to eavesdrop on his parents so naturally, he fell asleep. Isaac¡¯s peaceful sleep was interrupted by a knock on his door. Another doctor had come. Isaac was sick of this. Every doctor that had come promised to help him feel. Every one of them failed so it was natural that Isaac was tired of the interruptions of his day to day life. Why did he have to be awakened at such an ungodly hour? Isaac walked down the hallway accompanied by a maid and entered the room set aside for the doctors that visited. ¡°Hello young man,¡± the doctor said. This one looked a lot less distinguished, the prince thought. He had a long-ish beard that was barely covering the folds of fat underneath his chin. ¡°I have a proposition.¡± The Longest Chapter yet Allisa finds herself in bed confused. She did not remember falling asleep under her warm covers, especially not tucked in carefully. The sun is blinding as she peers out from underneath her sheets with curiosity. Was she kidnapped? Did a dragon come and whisk her away from this house and her nightmares? The possibilities were endless! Sadly, she was just carried to bed by her maid, Mary. Such disappointment. Her door creaks open suddenly and Allisa hides under her covers pretending she was never awake. Allisa¡¯s maid, Mary, chuckles as she sees Allisa hiding underneath her sheets and blankets. ¡°I wish her highness would wake up, the chef prepared her favorite dish for breakfast, with a special slice of chocolate cake for her birthday¡­¡± The maid heard an audible gasp and watched as Allisa dramatically feigned waking up from a restful slumber. ¡°Good morning, your highness. Happy Birthday¡± ¡°It¡¯s my birthday?!¡± Allisa screamed in excitement. ¡°Yes, you are now four years of age¡± ¡°Goodness!¡± ¡°Exciting, isn¡¯t it?¡± ¡°Yes!¡± ¡°Why don¡¯t we get you dressed in this lovely gown so you can go and greet your family?¡± ¡°...no.¡± ¡°Why not, your highness?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t like dresses¡­¡± Allisa¡¯s face is filled with guilt and discomfort. ¡°When can I wear clothes like my brother''s?¡± ¡°When you are older my dear. Now let me help you get dressed¡± Minimal time skip Allisa is now dressed in a simple gown with minimum frills and embellishments, the few of which could provide for a normal family for half a year. The best way to describe her is adorable, her curly hair cute as ever. She enters the dining hall with her maid, smiling in anticipation of cake. ¡°Happy birthday, darling!¡± Her mother shouts at her arrival. Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. ¡°Happy birthday, Allisa.¡± Her father states in a tone which might seem frightening if you didn¡¯t know he was exploding with adoration on the inside. Allisa plops down on her plush chair at the table happy with everyone¡¯s adoration. ¡°Happy birthday, sister.¡± ¡­ .. . ¡°Th-thank you, brother¡± Everyone in the room¡¯s expression was a mixture of shock, curiosity, and bewilderment. Issac hated his sister. Never once said good morning, good day, or good evening. Never said sorry when he was in the wrong. Never once acknowledged her existence as his family. Yet, he wished her a happy birthday, calling her his sister. What was wrong? ¡°Al-Alright! Let us have breakfast!¡± Her mother declared. ¡­ Breakfast was a delicious meal prepared specifically for the princess, all of her favorite breakfast foods were served with elegance and love. The only thing keeping this meal from being joyful was the tense atmosphere hovering around the family, as if the gods themselves were walking on eggshells. Breakfast ended with the maids bringing out a small cake, enough for each member of the family to have a slice. Sadly the only one with enough appetite to eat it was Allisa. ¡°Now!¡± Her mother clapped her hands together with this word. ¡°We have presents!¡± As soon as the queen said those words, servants swooped in and cleared the table like this had been rehearsed for years. As quickly as the dishes and utensils disappeared, a myriad of gifts appeared before them by servants¡¯ hands. They were separated into two piles. One had gifts from people who didn¡¯t know her, the other had gifts from her friends and family. Obviously she was told to open gifts from her family first. Her father¡¯s gift was a thin box delicately wrapped. An ordinary person would definitely stop to stare at the craftsmanship of the wrappings themselves. She immediately tore the wrappings off with glee and found¡­ paper. She unrolled the piece of paper that laid before her struggling to pronounce the words as she read it outloud. ¡°Th- The Orch-taa-nese Pal-ice¡¯s Ownership sh-shall be trains-fored to Alisa Veola Ark-cain-oo¡­ Oh! That¡¯s my name!¡± ¡°Honey, I can read it for you if you want, it¡¯s a rather long document¡­¡± ¡°I¡¯m fine, Mommy! Okay, umm, by order of the forty scek-ent king, Silos Ark-cain-oo. ¡°Muffin, let me read the rest.¡± ¡°I¡¯m fine, Daddy! Really! ¡°Muffin, at this rate another one of your birthdays will have already passed by the time you finish.¡± ¡°Alright¡­¡± ¡°Ahhem, ¡®The Orchestiese Palace¡¯s ownership shall be transferred to Alisa Viola Arcano by order of the forty second king, Silos Arcano. Therefore, all staff, and items are gifted to The Princess by association.¡¯ There we go.¡± ¡°Oh.. OH. Wait! Isn¡¯t that too much!¡± ¡°Nothing is too much for my daughter.¡± ¡°Uh, Okay¡± Her mother¡¯s gift was a round box decorated with ribbons and gems. As soon as Allisa unwrapped it, the room was filled with the aroma of chocolate. It would be a lie to say the girl didn¡¯t drool. ¡°I got all of your favorites, Honey. Ooo, that one is raspberry, and this one is lemon cream¡­¡­ ¡­¡­. The explanation of each flavor went on for a while. No one had noticed the package sitting under the table near the prince¡¯s until he reached out underneath and pulled it out. It was small, smaller than the king¡¯s gift. The size of the gift wasn¡¯t really important compared to the fear on the girl¡¯s face as her brother sat up and walked up to her. He dropped the gift without care in front of the girl and walked back to his seat without a word. The hall was silent. No one breathed. No one spoke. The only noise was the beating of everyones¡¯ hearts as their fear consumed them.