Signs From The Stars

## Disclaimer

Do not edit this page, it belongs to QueenBookOfTheSilkWings. If you have grammer/spelling fixes or other things, please tell me instead of editing my page, or ask for permission before you edit the page.

I based this off of a prompt I found online, which was: Write a story about someone looking for a sign in the dark sky.

Please enjoy, and let me know if you like this/have any suggestions for me!

## Chapter One

The ever shifting stars twinkled brightly against the jet black sky. Amara lay against the soft, bright lilac blanket that seperated her from the grass beneath it. Anxious, she scanned the stars for what she was looking for. She needed to know if it was there. Her blonde hair swished gently into her face with the breeze, and she moved it out of the way with pointed, dainty lilac nails. Every night, the stars changed their places, constellations left to interpretation for whoever might see them each night. It was said that if you were in need, and if you looked hard enough, you could see a message. A message to you from the sky that could tell you your fate or the fate of a loved one. What Amara was looking for was her own destiny.

There were a few reasons that Amara wanted to discover these things. First off, she was a Princess in the kingdom of Oxidora, the largest kingdom across the lands of Izona. She wanted to know several things of her future, those being: Would her father force her into a poltical marriage or would she find someone that she truly loved? Would she ever accomplish something beyond simply living off her family's wealth and legacy that would never truly be hers? Would she be happy? Would she be able to follow her hobbies and passions, or would she be mocked into giving them up? She had too many questions for the stars to answer, but she hoped that maybe they could answer some of them. Even one answer would suffice, though she hoped for more. One would be a very wonderful start, she thought, at least.

Amara was a beautiful young woman, which is why she was led to believe an arranged marriage would occur: she had many known and likely many unknown suitors. Amara was of medium height, not short, but not overly tall. Blonde hair tumbled down her back in elegant waves, reaching just below her shoulder blades. Fair skin dusted with freckles, along with smooth skin and hands with clean painted nails showed that she hadn't had to work or do physical labor at all. Her blue eyes were striking, almost electric in their vibrancy. Her features were slightly sharp, but soft enough she looked rather innocent, matching quite well with her slender figure. Amara often wore flowy dresses in pastel colors, less often in richer, more vibrant colors. Pastels suited her best, and she was not allowed to wear dark colors even if she wanted, so it was either that or bright colors for her, though she preferred the pastels.

As Amara stared up at the stars, waiting and searching, she caught what she was looking for. The stars had finally stopped, and what she saw was slightly frightening. Four symbols were layed out against the dark background in bright dots, in the order of this: a sword, a ring, an arch she interpreted as a door of sorts, and a cluster of stars intentionally and methodically grouped together. This was the only symbol Amara could discern no image from, but she knew-somehow she knew-that it was absolutely one of the symbols meant for her to see. A sword would likely mean danger for her, but next to the ring it could also mean a marriage to a knight or someone of the sorts. The ring, she thought, likely meant a marriage she would have no control over would come to her. The doorway...that might mean a few things. One that stuck out to Amara most was that it may mean a change, new opportunities, perhaps new developments in her personality or life. Since she knew not of what the last symbol was, she could not discern what it could possibly mean.

One thing was certain now in Amara's heart: the stars would give her no more and it was now time to return home. She stood, taking the soft blanket in her fingers and folding it up, tucking it underneath her arm in a smooth motion. She went to leave, but paused, swearing she could feel someone watching her. She looked around, smoothing the material of her dress in an almost anxious habit. The feeling of someone watching her lingered, though she could see no one. Amara sighed, perhaps the thought of potential danger was making her imagine things. She really should return home, she knew that, so that was what she began to do. She began to walk down the small, grassy hill, longer strands of grass brushing across her ankles as she held her skirt up slightly so she wouldn't trip on it while walking downhill.

Amara made it to the base of the hill when someone grabbed her, picking her up. Frozen in shock and fear, she could not move for a moment. Once she actually regained mobility-she had recovered from the shock-she began to struggle. As she cried out, they had a hand over her mouth to stop her from doing so. Amara wasn't neccessarily strong, so even though she tried as hard as she could, she couldn't fight them off.

Horribly afraid and at the ends of her struggle, Amara heard them whisper, "Princess if you would please stop moving. I know this is frightening, but I promise I'm trying to help you."

Now more confused and still plagued by fear, Amara tried to turn to see them, but could not. Overwhelmed suddenly by a sense of fatigue, Amara's struggle slowed until it was no more and she was unconcious.

## Chapter Two

Golden sunlight streamed through a small window, shining down on Amara's face. Gently rubbing her eyes, she sat up, trying to remember what had happened. It was only for a moment, the feeling that occurs the moment you wake up and you aren't sure what has happened. And then it struck her all at once in a rather depressing thought. She had been *kidnapped*. Although she knew that to be a fact, her surroundings only confused her more. She had woken up in a bed, and it was actually rather nice. She was in a nice room, she noted, despite the icy terror that she felt still after figuring out she had been taken and brought to who knows where.

There was a door on the left side of the room, carved from oak that matched the flooring. A deep red rug spread from underneath the bed she was in to a rich, velvet purple couch on the other side of the room. Across from that couch was a matching chair, both sat in front of a fireplace that had no active fire in it. The sheets she was sitting on top of were a dark velvet red, and were actually very soft. That didn't really register in Amara's brain enough she had a thought about it, though. The small window on her right let sun into the room through it, giving the room an added natural beauty. Outside the window was seemingly a courtyard with colorful flowers and plants arranged gorgeously. The grass was vibrant and marbled stone benches were placed sparatically around the courtyard. A large tree sat farthest away from her of all the things she could see, in the center of the courtyard.

Amara moved to stand up and get off of the bed when the door's handle twisted and the door began to open. She froze, the fear spiking in intensity as someone opened the door. A girl stepped through the door, closing it gently behind her. She had tanned skin and dark hair tied back into a simple bun, with brown eyes so dark they appeared almost black. She was beautiful, slightly shorter than Amara and wearing a simple dress in a dark grey color, a white apron, and flexible black shoes. Her eyes landed on Amara and they softened as she smiled at her. Amara felt slightly put at ease by this, but she didn't know why. It wasn't enough to make a decent change in how she felt, but it was a slight bit of comfort.

"I-wh-" As much as she wanted to, Amara couldn't make the words that she needed to say, to ask, come out as fully formed words.

That only made the girl laugh slightly, but it wasn't in mockery, "Would you like to come sit with me? Perhaps I can explain what's going on, yes?"

Amara agreed and stood up shakily, walking over to where the girl had headed. She sat on the chair on the left, so Amara sat on the corner of the couch closest to the dying embers and coals. She glanced at said coals before back at the girl, confused, afraid, and wanting answers. Somehow, almost like she had read her mind, the girl nodded slightly. She folded her hands into her lap, crossing her legs at her ankles and smoothing out her apron before returning folded hands to her lap. She gave Amara that same comforting smile, and it eased her a little, but not enough. Truly, what she needed was someone to tell her what was going on. She needed answers.

"So, I understand you will have questions. That's alright, but I would like to try and explain the basics of what's happening first, if that's alright?"

The words would normally be a statement, but left the girl as a question, "R-right, yes, of course. Please do," Amara stammered.

She nodded, sighing and looking at Amara sympathetically, "First, my name is Selena. Your's is Amara, right?" When she nodded, Selena continued, "I know this must be scary. Waking up in a strange place after being...what seemed as if it was kidnapping. And in the basic sense of the word, I suppose that it *was* that. The boy that came to get you, Cane, really isn't a bad guy. He was sent to come get you because he is one of the least intimidating of our recruiters. He came to get you because...you were in danger. Your parents agreed with the Academy Council that we would bring you here *willingly* when you were seventeen, but we couldn't wait. We were made aware that if you stayed in the palace, you would have been killed," she paused, "And Cane apologizes for his un-gentlemanlike behaviors last night."

"Uhm...I...my parents *agreed* to this? And-and what is the 'Academy Council'? How was I in danger? Who was going to try and kill me?" The questions rapidly left Amara before she could contain them, and she wasn't even sure if they would be coherent to Selena. She hoped that they were.

Selena nodded, "I figured those were the sort of questions you might have. Yes, your parents agreed to bring you here, but not like this. And not this soon. The Academy Council is a group of our most experienced people organized into a council that watches over our Academy in lots of different ways. We aren't exactly sure who was going to try and kill you, but it was likely many people. You have a very special talent, Amara."

"What *kind* of talent?" She was a little nervous, scratch that, incredibly nervous.

"There are certain people in our world with...abilities. It is especially rare, and their abilities are amplified if they are of royal blood, which is even more rare. To put it simply, you are magic, Amara."

This must be a joke. But...how could it be? Amara swore she had read about people with magic abilities once, but it had been about history, not present day. And how was *she* magic? She had never been magic. At least, she didn't think. But maybe she was. Maybe she was and she had just never known. Clearly her parents had known, as they had agreed to send her to this academy of whatever it was. Magic, she supposed.