Chapter 2: Born of Fire

Alcazar wasn't what Mallory had described, it wasn't even what the priests at the Light Temple had described. Victoria half expected the kingdom to look dark and miserable, filled with wilted flowers and trees without leaves and barren land without any form of nature. She didn't expect to see a kingdom look so normal. She expected to see hell.

The people of Alcazar seemed to be in a festive mood even, women and children dancing along the streets to the sound of upbeat music and cheering as they did so. The men having large cups of mead and goblets of wine while laughing to a joke someone had made.

"I bet they're still celebrating Elveria's defeat." Mallory commented bitterly. "I want to set fire to this entire market square."

Victoria didn't respond, because she was busy watching a group of young girls dance with deep purple flowers on their hair with the happiest smiles she'd ever seen.

The Market square filled with people selling their wares and even more people patronizing those goods.

The only thing that seemed dark about Alcazar was the sky above, it was grey as if it would rain soon. The grey clouds seemed to take turns in shielding the sun from view very often.

Hardly anyone paid any mind to the white carriage riding through the festival and towards the castle, Victoria had also been expecting a mob ready to attack her through the carriage. She was from their enemy kingdom, she thought they would.

They rode for about an hour, through the town littered with black and silver flags, through the markets and through a vast field for what seemed like a year.

Victoria's soul nearly left her body when she caught sight of the majestic Alcazarian Castle, she had never seen a castle such in good condition before, the walls made of polished marble, the peak of it seemed to reach the clouds, black flags with a silver hawk in the middle decorated the gigantic castle Mallory's jaw dropped, she herself had just been born when the Elverian castle had been destroyed by the enemy. So this was also her first time seeing a castle that wasn't almost to a the ground.

That was one of the signs that Alcazar would finally obtain victory, but the Elverian ignored that. Light would always prevail over Darkness, they said.

The horses came to a halt when they had finally reached the large iron gate, two soldiers adorned in the traditional Alcazarian armor stood out to the gate.

"Halt!" One of them yelled. "State your name and business!"

Mallory let out a sigh and dug into her dress pocket, pulling out a rolled up parchment containing the royal seal of the king and left the carriage leaving Victoria sitting there alone.

"My name is Mallory O'Neal…" Mallory said, trying her best not to stutter or shake in fear. "Inside the carriage is Lady Victoria Everhart of Elveria. We have an invitation form the His Majesty to participate in the Selection."

The guard stared Mallory down with contempt upon hearing that they were from Elveria, he snatched the parchment from Mallory's hands making her flinch, stomped over to the carriage and opened the door to see who was inside, he laid his eyes on the girl dressed in silk, her eyes were golden in colour, her long hair was ink black and curly, her skin flawless and fair, she stared at him with piercing gaze . He had an urge to bow for a reason he did not understand. She was Elverian, he owed her no amount of respect. He beckoned to his partner to open the gates so they could go in.

At the entrance of the luxurious castle, stood three other well dressed girls and their handmaidens who had just come out of their own carriages, it seemed like Victoria was the last to arrive. The girls stopped the conversation they were engaged in when when they caught sight of Victoria's carriage approaching them.

"My, my." One of the ladies drawled with a thick Alcazarian accent when Victoria came down from her carriage with Mallory making sure Victoria's dress didn't embarrass her, Victoria wasn't used to such dresses. She hadn't really grown up as a lady like these other girls. So she needed help. "When I heard an Elverian would appear in the Selection, I thought it was a joke." Victoria glanced at her, the girl had blonde hair with eyes so red it looked like they were rubies instead of irises. Despite her captivating beauty, Victoria had no choice but to notice the condescending smile she wore.

"Now, Lady Freya." Another girl said in a low yet scolding tone. She was dark skinned and she had bright green eyes and a kind smile on her beautiful face as well as a dimple gracing her left cheek. "Be nice."

However the third girl barely glanced at Victoria's direction, too busy staring at the black and silver butterfly which had landed on her pale fingers to care about an Elverian two feet away from her. She had honey brown hair and grey eyes,with a slightly bored expression on her delicate features.

The dark skinned girl girl gave Victoria an elegant and we'll practiced curtsy as she introduced herself, "I'm Lady Guinevere of Stohmount House, I'm an earth elemental, and you must be Lady Victoria Everhart of Elveria, are you not?"

Victoria curtsied back albeit less elegantly, she wasn't a lady so things like this were foreign to her, "Yes I am. Pleasure to meet you Lady Guinevere."

"Oh please, just call me Gwen. That's what everyone calls me, what elemental are you if I may ask?"

"Oh, I'm of Fire." Victoria replied.

Gwen was stunned for a moment, the girl with the grey eyes found herself interested in the conversation all of a sudden. "Of Fire? I've never heard of a Fire Elemental in this era, I thought they were all wiped out during the Great Hunt."

The Great Hunt happened over five hundred years ago, two hundred years before the Battle of Light and Darkness began. It was a period of bloodshed which lasted for about thirteen years, Elementals in Elveria where hunted down and killed because people with magical powers were thought to be associated with dark magic and thus were responsible for the illness that killed thousands of people at the time for a ritual that would make them even more powerful, powerful enough to take control of the Light Realm and contaminate it with dark magic.

It was only after the people born of Fire were completely killed (because they were thought to be the most dangerous) and the other Elementals were driven into isolation that the Great Hunt finally ended. Ever since then, Elementals were a rarity in Elveria. Fire Elementals were then deemed impossible to exist.

"I am the last of my kind." Victoria said curtly, trying to mask her sadness. She also didn't want to give out too much information. She was here on a mission…not to make friends with her competitors who were also Alcazarians of higher status.