Identity: Unknown

Hey, thanks for reading! This is my first story on wattt-pad, so please, treat me kindly. this is only a first draft, but I will edit it.

Please, enjoy!! :)

Prologue

Many years ago, a king and queen were happily married. For their first anniversary, the king gave the queen a specially made pendant that the queen wore every day from then on. The pendant, an oval with a large diamond inside a ring of emeralds, was worn on a simple gold chain and was the queen’s favorite piece of jewelry.

Years later, a princess was born to the couple and named Jane Marie. On the princess’ tenth birthday, the summer castle where the party was taking place was suddenly attacked by an enemy army and in the ruins of the castle, the princess was never found. The queen, who had just given Jane her pendant as a gift of love, was found dead in the ruins of the ballroom, but the pendant was never found. The king, along with the survivors of the attacks, fought the small invading force into retreat and then set out to find and punish the attackers. When he finally found them all, none knew of where the pendant or the princess was. The king spent his entire life following leads, and to this day there are people who go to the king with useless information or imposters of the princess.

A close friend of the king had a son, who grew up with Jane Marie, and now spends time interrogating the informants and possible princesses to find the one true princess. It was he who pronounced that the one who brings the queen’s pendant will receive great honors, but the one who finds the princess will have the highest of places in the kingdom under the king: equal standing in power with the princess herself.

Chapter 1

A tall woman wandered the rubble of the destroyed castle, watching ghostly memories dance in the fog. Her fiery hair was soaked and wild, her green eyes shone brightly out of her wet face as she stepped through a ruined arch into what used to be the ballroom. There was a silver-handled sword in a black scabbard strapped onto her back, two handguns at her hips and knives in her black boots. The tails of her dark overcoat floated behind her as she walked, and when she stopped, they fluttered in the slow wind. The woman stooped down, picked up a necklace, and let it dangle in her fingers. The pendant was golden, with a ring of emeralds around a large, sparkling diamond.

Blue hair streamed as the girl ran, her skirt swirling around her knees, and her face alight with joy. She entered the gates of the town at a sprint, heading for the town square. She skidded to a stop at a corner, narrowly missing one of the King’s Warriors and the Master Baker’s stand. The wagon in the square was decorated in bright cloths, and the window in the side was covered with a scarlet curtain. New travelling storytellers and gypsies had arrived the night before and were going to tell tales any minute. She scrambled for a seat in front of the window, knowing that in a few minutes, the chance of a good seat would be gone. The curtains opened and after some squealing, the entire square quieted down; the woman who told the tales wore green and had fiery hair, blue eyes and a sad smile.

“Today, I am going to tell you a story of mystery, of love, of joy and sadness; the story of the Queen’s Lost Pendant and Her Lost Princess,” the woman had a rich, flowing voice that was low instead of high, and ranging rather than flat; a mass of contradictions as she started a familiar story. When she was done, the girl shifted uneasily, no one had told the tale quite like this before, not in this much detail. The boy next to her leaned over as the applause started, “She’s new around here isn’t she? She’ll learn soon that the story isn’t that much of a crowd- bringer; everyone here knows it already.  Anyway, what in the world did you do to your hair, Anne?!?”

The girl smiled and tried to comb her hands through the newly blue locks but her fingers got tangled halfway through. The boy laughed and helped her out, and then the two ran off towards home, making sure to dodge the strange woman in black at the edge of the square. The woman was too busy staring at the storyteller’s wagon to notice the stares from the villagers.

The door to the pub opened as Celeste and the rest of the performers sat at a large round table. She didn’t notice at first the woman who was stalking toward her; she was laughing Raoul’s newest prank on Ralph, his twin. Travis, the leader, looking over her shoulder made Celeste think that she had some admirer, but the rest of the troupe was staring past her as well. She turned, and had to tilt her head back to meet the eyes of the woman behind her. Celeste smiled politely, “Can I help you?”

The woman nodded to a table at the edge of the room, “I need to talk with you, in private.”

Celeste stood, “Okay, I’ll follow you. Then you’ll tell me what you need, yes?” she walked to the table indicated and sat facing her friends. The woman talked in a low voice, unable to be heard by Travis, who kept a constant ear and eye on the conversation between the two women.

The woman sat in the shadows, letting Celeste face her friends. Celeste sat down and the woman immediately waved away the serving girl who reluctantly stood at the table, gripping a board for drinks with both hands. Then she met Celeste’s eyes, “Where did you learn that story, with those details?”

Celeste’s brows furrowed; this was not what she had expected this woman to ask, but she answered anyway. “Actually, my mother told me the story. I was obsessed with it when I was younger. Why do you need to know?”

“Let’s just say I have a vested interest,” the woman shrugged, deliberately casual. “I’ve been looking for someone who knows more about that story for a long time. You seemed knowledgeable on the subject,” she shifted, made eye contact with Travis briefly. “I wanted to know if your troupe knew anything different from what I’ve heard, so I approached you. Talk to the others. I want to speak with all of you, in a more private setting.” The woman stood as she spoke, revealing pistols at her hips as she stood and her long coat shifted.

Celeste watched as the strange woman exited the crowded pub. Then she stood and walked back to her friends. Travis looked at her, ignoring the others laughter at Ralph’s retaliation against Raoul. Celeste sat next to him, smiled at the others, then discretely leaned toward him and whispered, “She wants to talk to all of us, privately, about some rumors of the lost princess.”

He looked at her, mildly curious, mildly cautious. “Why? She can talk to others about it.”

“Yeah, but she thinks we can give her fresh news and rumors to work with,” Celeste replied, wanting him to agree to meet with the woman; she was interesting. Travis understood that but he needed to be sure that it wouldn’t put any of his friends in danger. He sighed.

“Do you have any reason to distrust her?”

“No. she seemed straightforward and truthful, but the fact that she’s so mysterious makes her noticed.”

“Alright, fine. We’ll meet her tomorrow, outside of town. You ask her where she wants to meet and I’ll tell the others.”

“Okay, I’ll go look for her right now.” Celeste stood and hurried outside. She dodged past a man leaning on the back two legs of his chair as he drank out of a tankard, and slipped out after a couple of very drunk King’s Warriors who had just spent most of their months’ pay on beer. She stood on the corner outside the pub, looking for the woman when she heard footsteps behind her. Celeste whirled and found herself face to face with the strange woman.

“There you are!” Celeste exclaimed, “Travis wanted me to tell you that we’ll meet with you whenever you want to, outside of town. I still don’t know your name, though.”

“It’s Jade,” she said without hesitating.

Celeste grinned, “It suits you.”

“Tell Travis that I’ll meet you at the bridge outside town, just after noon tomorrow,” Jade told her, and then walked away. Celeste watched her until Jade disappeared around a corner, and then went back in to tell the others about tomorrow.

 

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I don't know what to say down here.... but I will be posting pictures up. mostly hand drawn of the charaters....

See ya! :) maybe...