Narrator:

Once Upon A Time, there was a land called Camelot. Composed of fields full of crimson roses and breath-taking violets, gurgling streams of crystal clear water, and people with dreams as tall as the sky…


The Hawk’s Triumph


Anabella:

When I was a little girl, I was always wondering who my real parents were. Isolde and Markus, my foster parents, were okay. But now that I was fourteen, the common age to be getting married in Camelot, I seemed to be getting less freedom, and more lessons on how to be a proper lady. Isolde took it upon herself to make me a lady worthy of the palace. She used to be a maid for the queen before she married Markus, and had past experience with the nobles. I had to practice for hours every day carrying books on my head and learning how to put up my hair. A thing I hated the most about these sessions, was the diminishing time I had with my best friend, Wes, who lived next-door. His mother, Thea, was a seamstress like my mother so she often visited our small cottage. She understood how much I hated the etiquette lessons, so lately she had been coming over more frequently, and freeing me from my duties. Wes would always be outside on these occasions, waiting for me so that we could set out into the forest.

Our favorite place in the forest was the trickling creek that was hidden deep into the foliage and trees. We didn’t know anyone else that knew about it, so it was our little secret. He was always amazed by the animal life that it held. Whenever I managed to look at him through my own investigation, he was always helping a hurt bird or feeding nuts to a squirrel. I preferred to look through the rocks and crystals. One time, I had found a large robin’s blue crystal egg. I loved the woods because you never knew what you would find in it.

Wes:

I tugged on the reins to Swiftflight, my stallion. He nickered softly and blew into my face. I had gotten him when I was eight, and now fifteen, was getting older. I loved him just the same though. I put down a blanket along his back and hopped on. We made our way over to Anabella’s house, where she was still condemned to her lessons. She dreaded them, and made a point to tell me every time she saw me. As we arrived at the house, I could see Anabella’s lithe form dancing around one of the rooms, and smoke coming out of the chimney overhead.

Her long, blonde hair swished around her waist, and her eyes shone. Her pert nose was turned upward, to keep the book on her head from falling to the floor. Her pink lips were being bitten by her straight teeth, and high cheekbones and forehead glistened with sweat. She looked over at me and smiled while she mouthed “I’ll be out in just a moment”. This little bit of movement caused the book on her head to topple to the ground.

Just then, Isolde came into the room and reprimanded her. She stood solemnly in front of her mother and took the blame. As she stood there I thought about how the children of the village had always thought of her as a changeling. For one, she was the only person with blonde hair, and she had sapphire blue eyes. She looked like no one else in our small community.

The children, and even some of the adults, took to teasing her about her looks, but she brushed off their hurtful comments and never seemed to mind.

I hated the way the village treated her, as if she was some dangerous object, or wizard, that was going to blow up any minute and curse them.

Anabella:

I looked out the window, hoping to see Wes today. It was May Day and he said he had a special present for me. I continued to walk around the room, replicating the way Isolde had told me that ladies at the palace walked.

I glanced out the window again, and saw Wes’s high tan and structured face. His full lips were twitched up in amusement. His brown curly hair fell just below his ears, where it curled. Swiftflights’ muscular form could be seen behind him. I smiled to myself in anticipation, and told them I’d be there in just a minute. Just then, the book I was balancing fell to the floor.

I looked down at it and sighed. This was way too hard. I’d just have to tell Isolde that I’d do extra lessons tomorrow. Isolde strode into the room as if hearing my thoughts, and told me that I had to do extra practice the next day.

I donned my cloak and flew out the door, eager to spend the rest of the day with Wes.