Chapter One: The Spring Solstice

Rena sighed as she leaned against the ballroom wall; gazing out at all of the dancers on the floor.  She watched as her eldest sister danced with every eligible suitor she could charm.

Vera laughed as a tall human male with a grey wolf's mask whisked her away from her now sour dance partner.  Rena only narrowed her eyes as she lost the couple in the crowd.  She had a sinking feeling that she recognized  that human; but leaving Vera to her fun, Rena decided to try and locate her second sister Valena.

So devoted was she to her search, that Rena missed the hand that grabbed her around the waist and turned her quickly.  Squealing with laughter, Rena cocked an eyebrow up at her only brother as she smacked him lightly in his shoulder as he chuckled.  

"Valerian?! What in the Seven's name?!"  She said trying to sound curt but she could only grin as her brother laughed.  Val's aqua-coloured eyes twinkled with mirth from behind the peacock's mask he sported every spring.  He continued to laugh as he manuevered his baby sister easily onto the dance floor.

"Dearest sister, you will only grow roots if you stay in one spot."  He stated as he twirled her 'round, causing a giggle to escape Rena's lips.

"However did you know it was me Val?"  She questioned as Val smirked, she was the only one who used a silver butterfly mask for the Solstice ball.  Rena was not only the youngest of the Elven royal family; the Tarocs, but she was also the only one of the four of them who so closely resembled their dearly deceased mother.  Valerian was lost in his thoughts about how his baby sister so closely resembled their mother, from the shape of her face down to the colour of Rena's eyes.  Even the powers that Rena had inherited were only powers that Phinalona Taroc had been born with. 

The Taroc siblings were very well known in all of the Seven Realms.  King Gareth, their father  had ruled over the Southern Elven Realm for nearly three millenia.  While a good chunk of Gareth's long reign had been peace filled, after the queen's mysterious death fifty years prior had only left Gareth cold and ruthless.  He chose to let his subjects suffer as he suffered, losing the woman he loved had forever changed his persona.

Many across the Realms speculated that his newed advisor was to blame.  Valerian's mouth formed a hard line as he thought of the dark and mysterious elf that had shown at random one hundred years past.  Val did not trust the elf as far as he could throw a comet at a star.  Coran of Dorth had wheedled his way into the king's closest advisors in a small amount of time.  Valerian believed the gossip and talk that spread throughout the realms of Coran's use of dark magic; and always made it a personal job of his to keep a keen eye whenever the seedy man wandered near his sisters, especially around Rena.

Coran watched from the darkest corner of the ballroom as Val twirled a laughing Rena once more in a dance.  Coran had had machinations on the crown and the throne even when Phinalona was still alive.  He seethed with a blind rage as he thought of Phinalona, why couldn't she have been his?!  She only married the king because of his position and power, Coran wouldn't..no..couldn't believe that Phina had actually loved Gareth.  After her death, he decided the only way he could work his dark manipulation and magic would be to turn Gareth into a cruel ruler; hated by all of his subjects.  However, the siblings made it a point to show the Realms that their father wasn't solely cruel, but that heartache could make any sane person become altered.

Coran sneered as he watched Valena, Valerian's twin sister, dance with her partner Sandrine.  Sandrine was a commander among the Valkyrie who resided in the Northern forest realm.  Sandrine was three inches taller than her wife, and with her short hair and muscular build; many believed her to be a man and were very surprised to find she was not.  Coran believed the twins shared some strange afinity for the same gender, as he recalled Valerian having a tryst with one of the Human princes long ago; and how Val had been punished severely for it.

He turned his attention to the one royal sibling few ever saw, as she had decided to immerse herself in all the states' affairs.  Vera was still dancing and being charmed by the strange human with the wolf mask for nearly an hour.  Coran had once thought that he could sway Vera to be his, but her first love had been books and learning.  He scoffed as he turned back to Valerian and their younger sister Rena.  Rena so looked like Phinalona that his blind rage nearly took him into a red hot rage.  This copy of Phina however, would do to his advantage.  As Coran moved stealthily from the ballroom, he vowed that she would be his; he only need bide his time.