Prologue - King Cesile

“You are out of your damn mind if you think I would agree to that!” Thundered King Cesile II stamping his foot on the dais. Upon his exclamation all soldiers he commanded in the room put their hands on their weapons readying to fight. The color of the King's face matched his crimson robes. Nested in his white hair was the crown of the Solar Elves, the blazing ruby symbolizing his rule over the Isle of the Sun.

“Your Majesty, please reconsid-” started Gregory, a Human Envoy from the Thatopian Kingdom, he was dressed simply in a blue robe that paled in comparison to the finery of the King. 

“You only want to open relations because you want to send in your assassins to kill me and my family!” The king interrupted. “Now begone before I order you executed!”

“But your maj-” Gregory started.

“Leave it Gregory, it’s obvious his mind is made up.” Said the envoy’s guard, a brown haired Dwarf with light skin, wearing a leather jerkin over a light shirt and pair of pants. His braided beard almost down to his knees.. “We should head back to the ship and leave before they fire upon us. We aren’t welcome here.”

Gregory lets out a frustrated sigh. they both turn, leaving the audience hall of the palace. 

The king sat back down on his throne. After taking a few deep breaths regaining his composure, he turns to his advisor and asks, “Am I wrong to turn them away?” The king asked. 

“No sire, caution is warranted in your situation” The adviser replied. 

The King gave a sullum look towards the ground saying “I only worry because I am the last of my brothers, and can’t let anything happen to me or my children.”

“Only time will tell,” replied the advisor. “Speaking of your children, General Gabtree has announced earlier today that Prince Cesile has mastered all basic swordsmanship techniques and is ready to move onto the more advanced lessons. It is said that he is the youngest person to master them since your Grandfather’s generation.”

“That’s amazing!” The king said proudly about his son. “Maybe soon he can take a position in the army as an officer!” 

“Your highness. He is only 9.”

The king stood up, “I am going for a walk. Plan a meeting with the heads of the noble houses tomorrow. I don’t think the decision to open the borders should be left to me.” He ordered.

“At once sire.”

The king moved out of the audience chamber through a side door onto a balcony that overlooked the courtyard. It was a nice summer evening just past the heat of the day. The air was cooling and it was accentuated by the scent of the crisp sea air. Shelarion is the capital city of the Isle of the Sun and it’s a port city. The location was chosen because of a natural bay surrounding it. It was a large port of trade back before the current king's isolationist policies, though now the harbor is mostly empty save for a couple unmaintained military ships.

He looked down and saw his twins doing their own things. Prince Cesile, the older of the twins by 4 minutes, was sparring with one of the kids of the nobles. His interests lied in such things as fighting, camping, and horseback riding. Just the previous month, he once went out into the woods with nothing but a knife surviving a whole week.

“Hyaah” shouted Prince Cesile knocking the practice sword out of another kid’s grip, then holding his practice sword to the face of his defeated foe. “Ha, I win again!”

“No fair, you already mastered the basics, why must you continue to spar with me?” the defeated child asked.

Princess Violet was more into gardening, reading and cooking. The king reminisced the first time she tried cooking. It was a disaster. She tried making cookies but added salt to them instead of sugar. Since then the chef has taught her how to cook, and she had the gardener teach her how to tend to flowers and other plants. 

The king sighed and Prince Cesile noticed him. “Father, did you hear the good news? General Gabtree said I mastered the basics of swordsmanship!”

“Yes I did my son. I am so proud of you!”

Prince Cesile was beaming with pride from the compliment. While it wasn’t apparent, Violet was a bit jealous of the attention her brother gets.

“Your majesty, there you are!” a female voice called out. The king turned to see a maid running up to him. “It’s time for supper. You too children, come eat!” she called.

“Thank you,” the king replied politely, as he turned heading back inside.

At dinner the 4 members of the royal family sat down to eat; the king, his two kids, and his wife Eamoki. Eamoki was a beauty when it comes to solar elf women. She has a smooth complexion and is also wearing extravagant red robes. Upon her golden, braided hair is a jeweled tiara. From an outsider, it may be hard to recognize the difference between elven men and women, but to the elves, they can pick on the subtle differences with ease, between the smaller eyebrows and less angular faces; apart from their behavior differences like how they wear their hair. 

They eat quietly for a bit, then the king announces to the table, mainly to inform Eamoki “So our son, Prince Cesile, has mastered the basics of Swordsmanship.”

Prince Cesile smiled at the praise again as Eamoki spoke, “Congratulations son. I am so proud of you.”

Princess Violet mumbled something under her breath. 

“Speak up,” the king requested. “A princess shouldn’t be muttering to herself.”

“Of course you praise his brutal violence,” Violet repeated. “No one even cared last week when our instructor said I have obtained fluency in Dwarvish!”

“That’s because you're just a princess.” Cecile teased.

“Better a princess than a dumb oaf,” repsonded Violet in Dwarvish.

“A princess is only good for being married off.”

“That's enough!” shouted the king.

Violet just got up from the table, running to her room with tears in her eyes. The king sighed, feeling slightly guilty of being more proud of Cecile’s accomplishment over Violet’s. He looks to his wife, and she stares back concerned. They finished their meals in silence and retired to their respective rooms.

“Am I doing the right thing?” The king asked his wife.

Eamoki was massaging his shoulders. “You do tend to treat Cesile better than Violet, but since he is the crown prince, that is inevitable.”

“It’s not only that, It’s also with me sending the envoy away without actually consulting the nobles. I know they are up to something more sinister than wanting trade and relations. But I cannot see a way of the nobles accepting me for doing so. I feel they will rise up against me if I don't open the border, for it's their livelihoods as well.” The king anguished.

“We can only tell with time, and if they say they want to open the borders, then you can send an envoy to the Thatopian Kingdom.”

“That’s true,” The king responded gently. “Thank you for keeping me grounded my love.” He kissed her, and they enjoyed their company for the night.

The next day, during the afternoon, the meeting with the nobles commenced. 

“I have called you here today because we have an important matter to discuss. Yesterday an envoy from the Thatopian kingdom arrived. They came to negotiate a trade deal between our kingdoms and to open an embassy in our fair city of Shelarion.You know my view on this, I do not trust anyone but our fair people. But I know that it isn’t only my livelihood, so I’ve called you, the heads of the major families, to discuss this matter.”

After his speech, the meeting began in full, with nobles on both sides of the matter who devolved to bickering back and forth. The meeting lasted for hours before arriving at a consensus. It was late evening when it was announced.

“Alright, against my better judgement, we will open the borders to the Thatopian people only. Squire, fetch an-”

It was that moment the alarm bell from the primary watchtower started ringing, as the distant fire of canons drew near.