The Ultimate Winter Writing Challenge l My Story Part 1

Hello everyone! Here is the first part of my story. I haven't found an appropriate title, so sorry! 

Imagine a castle. A large bright blue castle on a hill. Now, pretend you are out on the front balcony of the castle, overlooking a wondrous sight. A pretty small, but fair village. Houses with smoke rising from the chimneys. Here in Icilia, there was never spring. You could never wear a bright sundress. You could never run barefoot. It would be much too cold for your feet, dear reader. Now, before I rush completely into the story, let us go back just about a score, shall we? 

It was eighteen years ago. Spring was just starting to blossom and everyone was happy. The king, King Harold, was loved and adored by his citizens. Then there was the priest of the castle, named Tim, and the guard Caydan. The king's wife, Jules, was also adored. Everyone seemed happy. Well, almost everyone. You see, the guard Caydan, was the rightful heir to the throne of Icilia. When he was a young lad, he left the kingdom to adventure to new land. For about six years, he didn't return. During the second year of his leave, Caydan's father, the old king, fell ill and died. People were wondering if they would ever have a king again. Another slow long year past and the people went without a king. So, they all gathered in the village square to pick a new king. If Caydan wouldn't return, they would find themselves a new king. All agreed to make Harold, a young silversmith, the king. Harold declined the crown, but a week later, he finally complied. He couldn't leave the people to suffer. So they made him king and everyone was happy. When Caydan returned three years later, he was shocked to learn that there was a new king in his position. Caydan demanded that the crown be turned over to him. The people were enraged. King Harold had been taking care of them for the last three years. He was fair in many ways. He made them pay taxes, but never too much. He gave them fine supplies of lumber and wood, only if they worked. He was always fair in trades and the people adored him for that very reason. Though protocol was broken, King Harold made a new law: When the old king dies, the oldest heir of the throne must take the throne in the next two days after his or her coronation. King Harold, though, was a kind man and let Caydan be the captain of the new guardsmen. But being just a captain, was not enough for Caydan. He deserved to be king. He deserved to wear the gold crown that sat atop King Harold's head. He deserved to sit on the royal throne and order the peasants around. So, he tried to spread propaganda about the king. He failed, but never gave up trying to overthrow the king. In that same year, Queen Jules became pregnant. She gave birth to a beautiful baby girl, but sadly died in childbirth. On the day of the funeral, everyone in the town closed their windows, dressed in black and went to the queen's funeral. Not a single person was in the village that day. The king and peasants grieved the death of their beloved queen. Now, King Harold had a young little baby, Elsa was her name, to raise and to love. After the queen's death, the snow and ice never melted and Icilia was turned to winter year-round. 

Now, we must move back to present time. Elsa is now eighteen years old, grown into a beautiful girl with bleach blonde hair. She is a bit wild, but a respectable young princess at the same time. King Harold never remarried, but was happy with his beautiful daughter. 

"Hello, father! Good bye, father!" Elsa rushed past her father, who was sitting on his throne. 

"My goodness, Elsa, where are you going?" King Harold looked up from the letter he was reading. 

"I'm going with Edmund to decorate for the Winter Festival!" Elsa replied, breathlessly. She pulled a warm white fur coat over her beautiful dark red dress. 

"Oh, joy, it's that time of year again? Be a good girl and give this to Edmund. It's for his troubles fixing my carriage." the king handed her a brown pouch. 

"How much did you pay him?" Elsa asked. 

"Thirty layels." 

"Good. I'll be back in time for dinner." Elsa called over her shoulder. 

"Oh, Elsa! The King of Glenson and his wife and son are coming for dinner tonight!" 

"Okay!"

Elsa saddled her horse Snowflake and rode off to where Edmund was waiting outside the castle gates. What a sight he is! Elsa sighed. With dark hair with a slight wave and warm brown eyes, he was a fine catch around town. 

"Elsa, you look beautiful, as usual." Edmund stuttered, a bit as he teased Elsa. 

"And you look handsome as usual." Elsa shot back, playfully. Now, reader, close your eyes and imagine. A village with cobblestone streets, big and little houses, Main Street and the town square. The bake shoppe, the bakery, shoemaker, silversmith and dress shoppe were all on the corners of Main Street. The houses were made of wood, some high-priced ones were made of brick. If you were to actually be in Icilia, you would see snow everywhere. Snow would be in piles by the sidewalks after the streets were cleaned off. People would be talking, children laughing, dogs barking, and the sound of horses hooves and carriage wheels rolling down the street. If you were to take a deep whiff, you would smell freshly baked breads, cookies, sticky buns, fresh lumber, a bright fire burning inside the silversmith's shoppe and wintergreen and pine from the pine trees surrounding the village. That's what Icilia was like. Elsa and Edmund immediately set off to help with decorations around the village. Streamers were needed to be hung up, laterns needed to be lighted, and all those sorts of things. Elsa was set on hanging up streamers, while Edmund was below setting up wooden benches in the town square in front of the newly made stage. They worked for hours, all while teasing each other and having fun with the little ones in the village. All of a sudden, a shriek was heard. Elsa almost fell off her ladder, from the scream and turned to see Kim Shraider wobbling on the ladder. In that moment, she fell off, letting out a scream. Edmund dropped the bench he was holding, and dashed below Kim and held out his arms. Kim landed quite gracefully in Edmund's arms. 

"Oh, Edmund, you are such gentleman." Kim gushed. Elsa felt a stab of jealousy, as she watched Kim gush all over Edmund. Why would she need to be jealous, you may ask, reader? Edmund was not actually "qualified" to wed a princess, for he was just a peasant. Edmund set Kim on her feet, but she did not release her hold on him. As usual, Elsa started to compare. It was one of her extremely bad habits. What if Edmund likes golden blonde hair and green eyes? Maybe he thinks rich royal girls are snobbish and rude. Maybe he finds Kim attractive. With her natural golden curls and perfect green eyes and flawless skin! And those large fancy dresses she wears! I wear old ones to fit more in with the townspeople to make them feel like they are on the same level as my father and me. Elsa started to fidget. Her thoughts were broken into by Kim's sweet voice, which was saying, "Oh, Edmund. I've baked sticky buns and yummy Christmas cookies for tomorrow's festival. Come and taste them!" She pulled him along. When Edmund wasn't looking, Kim shot Elsa a sneer before disappearing inside the bake shoppe. From that moment on, Elsa could not focus. Edmund didn't step out of the bake shoppe for nearly an hour. 

"Edmund, I must go. The king, queen and prince of Glenson are coming for dinner." Elsa climbed onto Snowflake and galloped away without even waiting for him. Edmund saddled his horse and broke into a fast canter to catch up with Elsa. Poor Wellington. I really need to give him an extra carrot for this long haul to catch up with Elsa. Edmund murmured as he urged his faithful horse faster. They were near the palace gates when Edmund finally caught up with Elsa. He grabbed Snowflake's reins and pulled both of them to a halt. "Elsa, what's going on? Why did you rush off like that?" Edmund panted. 

"No reason. Nothing." Elsa lied. "Now let go of the reins. Father won't be pleased if I am late." Edmund stared her down for a while, before giving up and letting Elsa ride through the palace gates. 

That night, Elsa patiently stood as her lady-in-waiting tied the laces on the back of her dress. She chose an ice blue dress with beautiful sleeves and a flowing skirt. She left her long bleach blonde hair down with her crown with diamonds atop her head. With that, she left her room. When she walked into the dining room, her breath was stolen. It was not by the prince of Glenson, who was donned in a suit and his many small ribbons and sash. It was Edmund who stood tall by the door in his black suit and tie and crisp white shirt. His dark hair was combed back and he had on white serving gloves. The prince, whose name was Todd, watched Elsa walk through. His eyes also went to Edmund, who immediately stood taller when Elsa walked through the door. He watched Edmund's eyes fall onto Elsa. When Todd was introduced to the princess, he was stunned to see such blue eyes. 

"So, let us talk about marriage." King Julius proclaimed, as the first course of gazspacho was served, along with rolls and green beans. That was only the first course out of six. The second served was a salad, the third was roasted chicken, and mashed turnips, the fourth was a glorious stuffed turkey with cranberry sauce, the fifth was a pasta dish, and the last course was dessert. The dessert was freshly baked cinnamon scones.

"Yes, let us talk. Todd, what do you feel about an arranged marriage?" King Harold inquired. Arranged marriage?! Elsa choked on her warm scone. Edmund immediately rushed over and patted Elsa gently on the back until she could breathe again. 

"I think it's a grand idea." Todd nodded in agreement. "I've always been open to marriage, arranged or by choice. I'm twenty-two years old and ready to marry and start a family as soon as possible." A family? As soon as possible? Elsa sipped her soup, quietly. She was doing all that she could to resist take a glance at Edmund, just to see his reaction. But she couldn't. 

"What are your thoughts, Princess Elsa?" Queen Tiana asked. 

"My thoughts? I, I, I suppose I am open to an arranged marriage. But I thought that a, a marriage was based on mutual trust, love and, well, actually loving the person you are going to marry. I would like a choice of a potential husband." Elsa stammered. Todd couldn't help but notice the way Elsa's eyes turned to Edmund when she had talked about her kind of a marriage. He also noticed, how Edmund fidgeted as Elsa spoke. They both seemed the same. Young, awkward and lovesick for each other. 

"Well, that's why we're here. You and Todd can spend loads of time together and getting to know each other." King Julius proclaimed, happily. That still doesn't settle my nerves. Elsa silently replied. 

After the king and the princess had retired to their sleeping quarters, deep within the castle, Caydan, the captain of the guardsmen was wide awake. He was inside of his private room It was a small, but cozy room. Stone walls, one wall was actually a book shelf, many of the shelves used to hold random knick-knacks. There was also a bed, a desk and a chest. 

"I must find a way to overthrow the kingdom. It's rightfully mine. I left to see new lands to add to the kingdom. What welcomes me back home? A new king!" Caydan snarled, bitterly. He opened a book reading through the old and present laws. Nothing seemed to give him the power he needed to overthrow King Harold. 

"And his pretty little daughter, Elsa! That little bothersome girl. Always everywhere, and always has eyes in the back of her pretty fair head." Caydan shoved glass bottles off his desk. They broke and made a mess. With a growl, Caydan looked down. Surprisingly, there was a piece of folded paper in the mess of green, yellow and magenta liquid. Grabbing it, Caydan was surprised to see it was as dry as could be. He unrolled it and read the words aloud. 

"Marhiverous Nuttis." Caydan sounded out. In that instant, a man in a long blue robe, hat, and a long white beard that fell to the floor appeared. 

"What may I do for you, o worthy master?" the man bowed. 

"Who-who are you?" Caydan stuttered. 

"I am Aragon. I am here to do whatever you tell me to do, for you are my master, and I am your humble servant and worthy magician." Aragon declared, pulling a long crooked titanium wand from his long robe sleeves. 

"You could come in handy. We have to think of a way to overthrow the king." Caydan told Aragon. " I will think of a way. And you will help me." 

What Do You Think Of The First Part Of My Story? Comment Your Thoughts! I Apologize For Any Errors In This Story, And If You Or I Spot Any, I Will Be Sure To Change It!