CHAPTER 1: PART 1

Castle Dewmire, 2221 A.D.

There were four towers, one at each of the four corners of the castle. Each tower was four stories high. A courtyard sat in the center of the castle. It was designed this way so that she could go outside and get fresh air and still be protected. And although she had free reign of the entire castle, tower B was her favorite spot because it not only gave her the best views of the courtyard, but in the center of the courtyard also happened to be where her garden was.

As the top half of Princess Kaya’s body dangled precariously over the edge of tower B’s second story window, her fingertips dug into the cement grout between the bricks as she tried to steady herself. Kaya gazed down at the walkway below her and tried to imagine what it would be like if she just allowed herself to fall. Would her bones break? Would she suffer internal injuries when her body slammed against the stone? She knew she wouldn’t die, that was impossible thanks to the King’s immortality spell that he had cast on the entire castle grounds just for her safety. But she wondered if she would feel any pain at all before the magic took effect and reset her injured body back to new again.. She needed to feel the pain. And not because she was morbid and wanted to self-harm. No, it was for the sake of her sanity, so she could feel something other than what she was currently feeling at that moment.

Kaya knew these weren’t thoughts a princess should be having, but they couldn’t be helped. Being hidden away in this castle since her 18^th birthday, forced to watch as all the realms and their beings constantly changed and evolved over time, while Kaya stayed exactly as she was for the last 332 years was, well, it was frustrating for her. Kaya had the same ivory soft skin that she had on her 18^th birthday, not a single wrinkle marred its perfection. And while most women would love this problem, she didn’t. She wanted to age like she was meant to age. She also had the same lustrous waist-length blonde hair the color of warm honey that she kept fastened in a long braid, which was currently hanging over her shoulder swaying in the breeze as she continued to dangle over the rough-edged window. One time, while watching the four realms on her enchanted tv, she saw some Earthen girls wearing their hair in a new bob-styled cut. She wanted to be like the other girls, to be normal, so she cut her hair, but it just grew right back within minutes. Nothing about her would change as long as she was behind the walls of Castle Dewmire.

And to make things even worse for her, even though she was now 350 years old, she still had the hormones of a teenager! Battling these hormones day in and day out were taking their toll on her. One minute she felt like she would die if someone didn’t touch her, then the next, she wanted to curl up into a ball on her bed and cry for hours, which she sometimes gave into.

But the need to have physical intimacy was growing stronger every day, and Kaya knew that soon she would have to find a way to appease these intense hormonal urges. She knew that if she continued to ignore them, something terrible would happen. She wasn’t sure how she knew this, call it a gut feeling, but she just knew that something had to be done about it, and soon. It was as if she had an internal clock that was ticking away inside her. 

Kaya squeezed her eyes shut as her frustration grew… She didn’t know where to begin, who to talk to, or what to even do! She had never even experienced a kiss before, so how could she explain what was going on with her? How could she do anything when the only beings allowed around her were the ones her father had approved of? Kaya didn’t know who she could trust, she was sure they would all report back to the King. But she was determined to figure something out. There was no choice about it.

As bad as it all seemed, Kaya understood why her father was so strict with who he allowed around her. She knew how important she was to the realms and to their people. It had been long since told from her birth, that a special man who carries a specific gene in his DNA, one who also bears the mark of the key somewhere on his body, that he, and only he, was destined to be her perfect mate. And upon his birth and maturity, he would have a need to seek and find her. And when the time came and he found her, the key would then mate with the princess, then the two destined souls would become one and they would become the King and Queen of all the Realms, protectors of all beings. But, there is a heavy warning that went along with the story. One that her father had ingrained into her since childhood. She had been told many times that if the wrong man were to steal her virginity, a darkness would simultaneously grow over the four realms while it also took over that person’s soul. So if the princess were not matched with her rightful mate, the magic from her body would have a reaction with the man’s body, which would cause pure darkness, greed, lust, and hate to twine through their veins. It would change everything it touched into evil, including Princess Kaya herself. Kaya had heard this story so many times that she knew it by heart. She believed every word of it. But, even though she knew all of this, her hormones were still driving her nuts. They were taking over her body like she was being possessed by demons. She felt like she would totally lose it if she didn’t escape this prison soon. And that could be dangerous for everyone. Kaya understood how dangerous sex could be for her, and that was one of the main reasons for keeping her behind these castle walls. But she didn’t plan to actually have sex, she just really needed some sort of physical intimacy. Sex didn’t even have to play a part in it. All she knew is that she needed to be touched and held, to be caressed. She shivered as she felt the fire of need begin to burn within her blood. Her skin became hot and she knew she needed to stamp this feeling down before it took control. She couldn’t explain why she had such powerful urges. She didn’t think normal girls felt like this. If they did, she would’ve seen them on her enchanted tv acting like animals in heat. She imagined if they felt anything like this, they’d be attacking all the males who came near them. Keeping her hormones in check, and having to banish all sexual thoughts for so long, was really wearing on her. Kaya felt like the castle’s walls were closing in around her. The weight of the four realms and keeping all their beings safe rested on her shoulders. Having this much responsibility and not being able to have a normal life was beyond hard.

Still hanging over the edge of the window, Kaya spread her arms out like wings. She stretched them as far as she could, while at the same time trying to stay balanced by nudging the tips of her toes against the wall to hold her body in place so she wouldn’t actually fall. Balancing on the ledge with more of her body outside than in, Kaya gathered some saliva in her mouth in preparation of making a spit bomb. Whenever she released a spit bomb, she liked to imagine that it was her plunging to her death. It was as close as she could come to really living it. It kept her mind occupied off her hormones for a while. This was going to be a big one. She could feel it as her mouth filled to the brink with spit. She pursed her lips and used her tongue like a tool to slowly let the saliva slide out of her mouth. It created a ball of spit that was still attached to her lips like a bungee cord. She sucked it back in, then let it slide out again, repeating the process, each time letting it go further and further. Then just as she was releasing it to its death, the jingle of chainmail startled her. Her body jerked in alarm, which caused her foot to slip and she lost her balance. She flailed her arms like a mad woman, trying to keep from tumbling over the ledge. Luckily, she caught the edges of the window with her hands and was able to stop herself just before she fell. Unfortunately, her spit ball wasn’t so lucky. She knew what was coming, but she still cracked one of her eyes open anyway and watched in horror as one of her guards walked directly under her line of fire, right in the path of her spit bomb! His shiny bald head might as well have had a target painted on it, the spit bomb landed dead center before dripping down the front of his face! The shocked guard, confused, and thinking it was rain drops falling on him, looked up and she immediately recognized it was Jym, her afternoon guard, a male who didn’t like to play around. He spotted her and she could tell that he knew what she had done. She winced when he hit her with an angry glare.

“Sorry Jym!” Kaya called down with what she hoped was a sincere look on her face. But he just wiped his head off and gave her one more hard glare before stomping off. Looks like she would need to bake some brownies later and take them by Jym’s room. All ten guards shared a wing on the lower east side of the castle. She wasn’t close to all of them, just a couple, but she figured she should probably go ahead and bake some brownies for all of her guards. She wanted to at least stay on good terms with them.

Kaya sighed as she pulled her body back inside the window. Things just weren’t going her way today. Being stuck inside these walls was really messing with her. She needed to make some kind of plan, but she couldn’t think straight with all these feelings going on inside of her head and body. As she leaned against the edge, this time keeping her body inside the window, she solemnly looked out at her courtyard and tried to ignore the massive mountain that was riding on her shoulders. She eyed her garden, which was her pride and joy, a hobby that succeeded in giving her at least some kind of happiness over the past 300 years, and she hoped that it would take her mind off her problems so she could think more clearly. The hundreds of beautiful flowers, all grown by her, because she refused to allow a gardener to care for them, dotted the scenery in the center of the square-shaped clearing that was framed by the stone walkway where the guard had just walked by. Sections of reds, blues, yellows and greens reminded her of a rainbow. But her reason for her flowers wasn’t because she loved the flowers themselves, although she did think they were nice to look at and they smelled good, no, she grew the flowers to feed her collection of live butterflies. A hobby that had grown into more of an obsession over the years. Speaking of butterflies, she remembered that Sike, her friend and advisor, was due to arrive back to Dewmire today with a surprise for her. He usually brought her butterflies to add to her collection because he knew how much she loved them.

Movement to the left caught her attention and she glanced in that direction and saw Sike setting a bunch of small boxes on the ground. He must have just arrived back from Peru on the Earthen Realm, that was sooner than she had expected. Kaya’s insides jumped for joy and she grew giddy as she watched him unload more of the tiny boxes. She couldn’t wait to see what kind of lovies he had brought for her this time! That’s what she called the butterflies in her collection, lovies. Yeah, it sounded stupid, but she didn’t care. They were so sweet and gentle, innocent little creatures, she just loved to watch them flit from bud to bud. Sike was always bringing her new butterflies. He also always came back with the wildest stories to go with how he acquired each of them. Some stories were funny, some were dangerous, but they always kept her entranced. One could almost say that she lived vicariously through his stories. And he knew just how much she loved his stories. He enjoyed making her happy. In fact, one day he even told her he would go to the ends of the Realms to see her smile, and she knew he meant every word. She was lucky to have such a trusted and loyal friend like him. Kaya felt a warm mess in her chest just thinking about her friend. Stuck inside of a tall, willowy body with skin as pale as the first winter’s snow, Sike’s heart and personality seemed to just burst from within him, as if it was too much for his lithe body to handle. If only she were attracted to him, he would make such a sweet partner. But she wasn’t, so a friend he would stay. Plus, Sike liked boys, and she was definitely of the wrong gender for him. 

Leaning against the window sill, Kaya watched as a butterfly landed on Sike’s pointy nose, causing him to stumble over the boxes at his feet. Her hand flew to her mouth as a giggle escaped her. She tried to contain it, but it was too late. Her eyes widened as she peered down at Sike below. She knew he didn’t like when people laughed at him. He had been made fun of as a little sprite, so it made her feel even worse for laughing at him. She hoped that maybe he hadn’t heard her, but as luck would have it, he did. Sike’s eyes shot up to the tower to exactly where she was. She could almost hear his exasperated sigh as he shook his head at her. Great. Now she felt even more guilty. He was scared to death of butterflies, which she thought was hilarious with him being a descendant of the Royal Sprites, keepers and protectors of nature. But, again, Sike would do anything to see her smile, even travel all over the Earthen Realm collecting butterflies that he was scared, just to make her happy. He really is a good guy she thought to herself as she watched him. Sike jumped to his feet, brushed himself off, then grabbed another box, ignoring her previous outburst. He looked up at her and winked, letting her know he wasn’t mad. Emotions welled up inside of Kaya. She thought about how Sike suffered through his fears all because he knew what the butterflies meant to her. He was the only one who knew what they meant, not even her own father, the King, knew.

Her father, King Lance Dewmire, thought she enjoyed the butterflies because they gave her something to do, which was partially right since she was stuck within the walls of her half-a-million square foot magic-bound castle. He knew she was getting tired of being trapped behind the huge stone walls. She had told him that it wasn’t that bad, but sometimes, like today, it felt more like a prison than the beautiful majestic castle that it was. And it was times like this that all Kaya wanted was to escape, to go on an adventure to the Earthen Realm where she could travel to all the different lands, mingle with the people, and maybe make some new friends and gain new experiences. She was extremely lonely here in Dewmire. And although she respected her father’s decision, she still dreamed of what it would be like to one day walk amongst the people, to be normal, to be free.

Trying not to depress herself again, she focused her thoughts back to the beautiful creatures that now covered her 4-foot-tall yellow and orange Lupin flowers. She admired the flowers fiery glory as the plants stood tall in their giant urn-like pots. She put them at the four corners of her garden to emulate the four towers of her castle. Her new lovies now covered them like a sea of mystic blue.

Sike was standing in the center of the garden where she had set up a little sitting area. She watched as he grabbed another small box and released yet another butterfly into her garden. These new lovies, which were 20 Rhetus Periander butterflies, known for the vivid blue markings on their wings, were the 700^th species to grace Castle Dewmire’s garden. They were also the closest match to the special butterfly from her memories that she had been in search of for years. The only difference was they were the wrong color. These were blue instead of the deep purple she remembered. But the markings were right, which must mean they were getting closer to figuring out what species her special butterfly was from. This sparked a bit of hope in her chest that maybe soon she would find out what her deep connection to this particular butterfly was. Why it meant so much to not just her, but to her mother, goddess rest her soul.

Thinking about the real reason she began collecting lovies in the first place always made Kaya sad. She was just a little girl when her obsession started. Her earliest memory of butterflies was a quick flash that was seared into her mind. It was the day of her birth, a time people don’t usually remember since they are so young, but Kaya did. She couldn’t figure out if it was because she was special, since she was the last of the Artemite bloodline and a direct descendant of the Royal Nymphanite King, or, if it was just stuck in her memory because it was also the worst day of her life…. Just thinking about that day brought a dark cloud over Kaya.

She remembered being in a dark tight passage, and for the longest time she couldn’t get out of it. Then she emergedto a bright scene. She had made her way out of her mother’s womb. A warmth enveloped her and she felt safe as she was laid upon her mother’s chest. It was on her mother’s right breast that she remembered seeing the majestic purple butterfly. It looked almost alive, like at any moment it could peel away from her skin and take off in flight. But then things changed, and that same beautiful memory turned into her worst. It was just moments after her birth, as she laid there looking at that butterfly, listening to her mother’s heartbeat, that her mother’s heart suddenly stopped. Kaya, even as a new infant, knew something was terribly wrong. She felt the moment her mother’s spirit left her body. She remembered screaming when an intensely sharp pain seared through her when the bond between her and her mother severed with her mother’s death. As her mother’s spirit soared further and further away, a coldness crept into Kaya’s body. Her mother’s soul joined the stars of the universe, watching over Kaya from above.

Looking up at the heavens, Kaya whispered a silent prayer. She hoped her mother was still listening and that she would give her the strength she needed to stay sane so she could protect the beings of all the realms. Feeling a tickle on her hand, Kaya looked down to find one of her new lovies had made its way to her window. It was currently stretching its wings on her like a runner would stretch their legs after a good jog. Watching the butterfly closely as it continued its methodic stretches gave Kaya an idea. A smile spread across her face.

“You, my lovie, might just be my ticket out of here.” She whispered to the butterfly and ignored the tiny seed of doubt that was growing in her gut. She would make it out of here and keep her virginity and all of the realms safe… Wouldn’t she?

To Be Continued…