Chapter 1
A young girl of five starred innocently at her father as he plucked carrots out of their garden.
“Papa, why is there a line on the land?”
“That’s the Border, Zandra.”
“Border?” Zandra asked, making a face. Her father sighed .
“ “Yes, Zandra, the Border.” He leaned down again and rolled a large rock out of the garden. Zandra stepped away carefully, her dark eyes widening. She pushed her thick braid of ink black hair behind her shoulder once more.
“Why is there a Border, papa?”
“To separate The Lands.”
“Why do we separate? Wouldn’t we be stronger together?”
“Yes, Zandra, we might be. But It is as it is. They got that side and we have this side.”
“Why did we choose this side?”
“We didn’t. We were pushed to this side when the First King’s Son rebelled.”
“Tell me the story!” Zandra asked as she gatherd more carrots into her basket.
“Again?” her father asked, exasperated.
“Please?” she insisted.
Her father sighed, squinted up at the sun and wiped his brow before starting to weed again.
“One, a very, very long time ago—“
“Before I was born?” Zandra asked. Her father smiled.
“Long before you were born. There was a king. He was the First King and her ruled when the two lands were one. He was a strong king; he was fair, kind, and he kept his people very happy. However, his son was jealous of his power. So he got a group of followers and attacked his father. The war raged for many years until the First King was shoved into this land. His loyal people were on the brink of death when a Hero came. He was the True Prince. The True Prince managed to save everyone, build the Border, and start a new kingdom. Now—although we love the First King—the highest rank is a Prince. The Nashtons, named after the Traitorous Son remain cruel unwelcome people. We still prosper while they sit back, hungry for more.”
"And now we have Prince Holli.” Zandra added.
“That’s right. His young son Areli will be the next Prince.”
“Have we ever tried to be nice to the Nashtons?”
“Why should we? They are greedy demons.”
“Oh. Do they have horns?”
“Huh?”
“Do they have horns?” Zandra repeated.
“No, Zandra.”
“Tails?”
“No Zandra.”
“Then how are they demons?” Zandra asked, now completely confused.
Her father sighed heavily.
“Zandra, they don’t have to have tails or horns to be demons. They are evil people. Why don’t you go play?”
“Alright papa.”
“And stay away from the Border!”He ordered as she scampered out of the garden.
“Yes, papa!” she called over her shoulder.
Zandra immediately set her course toward the Border.
Humming, she clamored over a stiff wooden fence before running through a field into a thick forest. As she stumbled over logs, she sang a song:
“Spiders, socks, and little bears,
Princesses with lots of hair,
Pretty dresses—not for me!
But I don’t mind getting dirty.
Great big rivers, shining lakes,
Sparkly snow and tiny snakes.
It’s not a place that you can draw
Here in our strong Alicida!”
Finally, she saw the Border. It was a long stone wall that stretched from one end of Alicida to the other. But it was ancient and crumbling. There was one spot were the water trickled through a crack in the wall. It was her favorite place because over the years it had created a small creek. She would jump around in the brook, toss stick and pebbles or simply lay in the cool water.
Today she picked smooth stones from the edge of the creek, happily humming her song. Then she heard a loud cry and twigs snapping. Frightened, she sprang to her feet and looked around, dropping the colorful stones. There was a thud and a groan near the tall wall.
Taking a deep breath, Zandra stepped forward to investigate the suspicious sounds.
There at the foot of the wall stood a boy not much older than she. He had just started to sit up when she arrived silently. He brushed back his brown hair and looked at the Border with satisfaction. He started to whistle softly before picking up strange sticks and stones. Zandra watched, curious. She did not get to see other children very much but even with her naive experience, she knew this boy was acting strangely.
She squinted to get a better look at the stick in his hand. It had a long thick string attached from one end to the other. He picked up another stick with a stone on it and set it up to the branch with the string on it.
“What are you doing?” Zandra felt herself asking. She clapped a hand over her mouth in surprise. She hadn’t meant to ask the question. The boy jumped, paled and dropped his strange sticks.
“W-where are you?” he asked. Zandra stepped out of the shade and gave a small wave.
“Right here.” She answered. “My names Zandra. What’s yours?”
“Phillip.” The boy said obviously relieved.
“What are you doing, Phillip?” Zandra asked, tilting her head.
“Hunting.” Phillip said proudly.
“Oh. What are those things?”
“Huh? Oh, this is my bow. The arrows aren’t very well made but I’m not supposed to be over here. Anything will do.”
“You aren’t supposed to be over here?”
“I’m a Nashton.”
“Well then. You most certainly don’t have tails or horns.” Zandra said, surprised. She circled the boy who leaned down to pick up his bow.
“And you’re an Alicidan?”
“Yes.” Zandra said proudly.
“That’s strange. I didn’t know that your kind were beautiful.” He said plainly. Zandra smiled.
“Not all of us are. Some of us are really ugly.”
“Us too.” The boy admitted. “But my momma is very pretty.”
He has such a funny way of saying things! Zandra though as she watched his soft gray eyes.
“my mama might’ve been pretty, but I don’t remember her much.”
“Where is she?”
“Papa says she went to Heaven.”
“Well,” Phillip mused. “If she was as nice as you, she had to.”
“you think?” Zandra asked hopefully.
“My Pap always has said only nice people get to go to heaven.”
“how would he know?” Zandra asked.
“He’s a blacksmith, and he’s real smart. What about your pap?”
“Well, my papa farms but sometimes we let people stay at our house. Say, do you want to help me find stones?”
“what kind of stones?”
“The ones that the creek makes. It’s not far, I’ll show you!” Zandra said, grabbing his hand she pulled him towards the creek easily and showed him the pile she had dropped when he had scared her.
“That blue was is very smooth.” He remarked pointing to the soft rounded rock. She plucked it out of the pile and held it out.
“Here, you can have it. I like the purple ones best.”
“Really…?”
“Sure!” She replied brightly, pressing it into his hand.
“ZANDRA?! DINNER!” a loud voice called.
“Oh, that’s my papa. I’ve got to go.” Zandra said sadly.
“I’d best get home to. But I can come back tomorrow.”
“how?”
“There’s a long thing of ivy. I’ll see you tomorrow and we can find rocks then!” Phillip
said with a smile.
“alright! Bye, Phillip, I’ll see you tomorrow!”
“Oh, Zandra? Don’t tell anyone you saw me, ok?”
“Ok!”
And from that day on, the two were best friends.
