In Celestia's great palace, high above mortal sight, stood the disillusioned princess Elira Aethar before the great mirror in the long-abandoned temple on the kingdom's border. It was a relic of ancient times, lost to the passage of time, but its magic had been carried through the centuries. Elira had heard whispers about the mirror—how it could reveal a person's deepest wishes, even wish-granting. But Elira wasn't seeking simple wishes; she was searching for a way to escape the suffocating expectations of her royal life.
Her clan, the Aethar, once great mages, had been in decline for years. Elira's magic had dwindled with each year that passed, and she was no longer the brilliant, shining heir everyone had dreamed of. She was now a princess with hardly enough magic to light a candle, much less protect the kingdom.
The disappointment weighed on her chest each day. She was blessed with a beauty that was a weight, too weak, too fragile, and too vulnerable. Her body, once a testimony of elegance, became a prison of self-hatred. She had attempted everything to recall her strength, but all in vain. The only solace was the hope that there had to be another kind of life—a life where she could break free from the relentless gaze of the kingdom that seemed to follow every step she made.
Lila sat in her small room, looking out of the window as the silvery light of the full moon illuminated the city. It was a still night, but her thoughts were by no means at peace. In the past, she had sometimes come here to escape from the world that felt so heavy upon her shoulders. But tonight, the loneliness only amplified the pain in her chest—the same old feeling of invisibility, disregard, and lovelessness.
She trailed her fingers along the top of the windowsill, the wood chill against her skin, and let out a deep sigh. She'd always felt like she didn't belong, as if she were a character in a book who didn't belong. At home, at school—everywhere, in fact—Lila felt that she was too much of something or not enough. Too loud, too fat, too clumsy, and most painfully of all, too plain. She couldn't live up to the expectations that were set for her. The world had its own standards of beauty and of value, and she felt that she had failed at all of them.
Her parents had always encouraged her to be better, thinner, and more elegant. Each remark, however kind, cut a little deeper than the previous one. "Lila, why can't you be like your sister?" or "You could be beautiful if you just lost a little weight." They didn't get her. They couldn't see the true her.
But tonight, the solitude was different. It wasn't just the pressure of society's disapproval bearing down on her—it was something else.
"I just want to leave… get away," she whispered to herself, gazing out into the darkness. She wanted to be anyone else, someone else, in a world where she was a perpetual failure. Far, far away, where nobody knew her name, where she could begin anew.
The wind shrieked through the streets outside, disturbing the leaves on the trees in the yard below. Lila's brow furrowed, and she pulled the curtains shut. The sound only reminded her of the tempest building inside her heart. She'd always had a sense that there was something lacking in her life, something just out of her grasp. Like a piece of the puzzle. What was the use in attempting to change, to conform, when nothing she did would ever make a difference?
A cold chill swept over her suddenly, and she shivered. She glanced about the room, but all was quiet, too quiet. The atmosphere thickened, as if the air itself had shifted. Her heart was racing, and Lila questioned whether she dreamed it for an instant. She breathed deeply, attempting to soothe herself, but then—something odd occurred.
A warm glow started to radiate from the middle of her room, a light so intense that it caused her to squint in amazement. It was as if a burst of energy, calling to her, compelling her to look, making her both scared and inexplicably attracted to it simultaneously. Before she could move, a force she did not comprehend pulled on her, grasping at her chest like an unseen hand.
"Wha—what's going on?" She breathed, her words shaking.
The light intensified, and in an instant, Lila was raised off the ground, her body weightless as if the air itself had turned into liquid. Fear burst in her chest as she kicked and struggled, grabbing for something to cling to, but she couldn't. The light closed around her, and then, in that moment, there was nothing.
When Lila opened her eyes once more, the world outside them was different. The bed she lay upon was unfamiliar, the sheets warm and smooth to her touch. The room smelled of incense and flowers, the fragrance calming but alien. She blinked a few times, in confusion, before struggling into a sitting position. Her room was unlike the one she had at home. The walls were lined with intricate tapestries and golden patterns, and tall windows admitted the soft light of a twilight sky.
"What… where am I?" Lila whispered, her voice heavy with confusion.
She was reaching for the door when she saw the woman standing at the end of the bed. Her heart leaped in her chest. The woman was tall and stately-looking, with long silver hair falling down her back in a cascade of moonlight. Her eyes shone with an otherworldly, almost haunting sheen, and her robes were richly embroidered, drawing the light in impossible ways.
"I. I don't know," Lila stuttered, a knot twisting in her stomach. She had no clue where she was or how she'd ended up here.
The woman's eyes softened with recognition, as though she'd been expecting Lila. "You've come, child," she said, her voice soothing and commanding at the same time. "You've come to take her place."
Lila's head shook in an attempt to understand what was going on. "Take her place? What do you mean?"
The woman moved closer, her eyes never leaving Lila's. "You have traded places with Elira, the princess of this realm. You are no longer home, Lila. You have entered a world of magic, a realm where you were always destined to be."
Lila's head reeled. Elira, the princess? Magic? A world of magic? None of it fit. She attempted to collect her thoughts, but the words would not come together. She parted her lips to say something else, but the woman quieted her with a gentle motion.
"Do not be afraid," the woman went on, her tone even but weighed down with something Lila couldn't understand. "You have been brought here because Elira is dying. Her heart is shattered with the responsibilities that have been thrust upon her, and she cannot go on. You are her substitute, for she cried out for someone who could alter her destiny."
Lila stepped back, her mind racing to make sense of what she was hearing. "No, I don't get it. I don't belong. I'm not Elira. I'm just Lila. You've made a mistake."
The woman's eyes softened, a sorrowful smile on her lips. "You are the one the spirits have chosen. The one who carries the blood of the elemental kings in her veins. You are the true heir, the daughter of fire, water, earth, and wind. The spirits have waited for you."
Lila's breath was caught in her throat. Heir of the kings? The words echoed in her mind like a burden she could not bear. Magic, spirits, and monarchy—all these things felt so distant, so unattainable, and yet the harsh reality of her circumstance bore down on her.
"Who are you?" Lila whispered, her voice barely audible.
"I am Isolde, the princess's protector and the essence of this world's ancient magic. You are not the first to arrive here, but you are the one who will deliver us."
Lila's head shook in shock. "Save? Save whom? What am I to do?"
Isolde's eyes went soft as she moved forward. "You need to save the kingdom, Lila. You need to substitute for Elira and fulfill your destiny. The world is in danger, and only you can restore it to balance."
As the words set in, a strange feeling of resignation washed over Lila. She had no idea how or why, but she knew that this was not an error. Her destiny, and the destiny of this kingdom, had been forever intertwined in a way that she could not yet comprehend.
And as her reality changed yet again, Lila understood that there was no going back.
End of Chapter 1