The Kingdom of Derva spread from the western shores to a range of forbidding mountains in the east, a rich, fertile needle of a land, well-protected and comfortably populated. The kingdom was a serious power in the region, with a strong trade economy, a small but well-armed and trained military, and a large and popular royal family.
Princess Sia was the second daughter of the enthusiastically procreative king. Typical of the traditions of the land, she'd been married off as soon as the laws allowed, betrothed at 14 without much consideration for her finer feelings. Her husband, the lord of a small section of land in a neighbouring kingdom, was a wide alliance for Derva. He was kind, gentle, not unintelligent, but more interested in lengthy hunts and formal dinners than he was in his wife.
The pale, slender, dark-haired girl, now a healthy, alert sixteen years old, was regularly left in the small castle that was the wedding gift from her parents. Alone... except for the small army of servants that bustled about... she was always seeking a new diversion from the dragging days.
Princess Sia was the second daughter of the enthusiastically procreative king. Typical of the traditions of the land, she'd been married off as soon as the laws allowed, betrothed at 14 without much consideration for her finer feelings. Her husband, the lord of a small section of land in a neighbouring kingdom, was a wide alliance for Derva. He was kind, gentle, not unintelligent, but more interested in lengthy hunts and formal dinners than he was in his wife.
The pale, slender, dark-haired girl, now a healthy, alert sixteen years old, was regularly left in the small castle that was the wedding gift from her parents. Alone... except for the small army of servants that bustled about... she was always seeking a new diversion from the dragging days.