Valley of Shadows and Roses | ONC 2024

Chapter 1

We could start with the words once upon a time, but I warn you that this will not be a fairytale about a cursed princess whom a brave prince saves on a white horse.

This story takes place in a faraway land. A beautiful but sad castle rises to the heavens in the middle of a vast forest. And in this castle lives a young princess. Her name is Luna. Luna is beautiful. Hair like liquid gold. Eyes the color of soil. Even though Luna lived in a happy and prosperous kingdom, she never fit that picture. Luna was profound, and her soul deeper than the depths of the universe itself. She was walking through beautiful gardens full of blooming roses. Red, white, pink. Their brightly colored heads smiled broadly at her. She could spend hours surrounded by their thorns. Princess Luna was like them, too beautiful, but when you got close, she pricked you. Her mind was always somewhere else, wandering into distant worlds beyond the unknown. She lived lives that were not meant for her.

One day, darkness crept into this usually sun-drenched land. A thick fog rolled through the forest, engulfing everything in its path. At first, it occupied its edges, then advanced deeper into the forest's bowels until it finally usurped it whole. At night, its intangible hands stretched out under the castle's windows, and with the first rays of morning, they retreated under the canopy of the treetops. And in that mist, you could see shimmering silhouettes. Shadows. At that time, no one knew what they were. They appeared rarely, nobody noticed them much, and as the days passed, you could see them more and more often. They watched you, and when you started watching them back, they evaporated into the void. They chased fear.

The day of the nineteenth birthday of the beautiful princess Luna has arrived. A grand celebration was held in her honor at the palace. The whole court gathered. Everyone was dressed in their best clothes. It was a display of luxury and pomp. The weak light of the candles illuminated the hall in a soft glow. Gold and marble glistened. The crystal chandeliers shone in their full glory. Rich floral decoration decorated the entire castle. Dozens of servants waited to fulfill their masters' every wish.

The first guests arrived. The nobles of the Rose Valley court came to wish their princess a happy birthday. Guests from distant kingdoms also arrived. Kings and princes gathered to honor Princess Luna. Alluring music echoed through the vast space of the palace. People were dancing wildly, having fun. If someone asked the princess to dance, she had to accept. They waited in lines to dance with her. On this day, Princess Luna looked breathtaking. Her golden dress fluttered as she danced. Sparkled in the candlelight. Her beautiful pale face was framed by intricately tangled hair the color of gold. She acted as the queen of light and shared the name with the queen of the night, Luna.

More than one young noble, during this ball, tried his luck to steal Luna's heart for himself. But she rejected every single one of them. She had fun and then let them go as if they had never existed. Blown away by the wind like leaves in autumn. They did not come to ask for her hand in marriage because they wanted her, her soul. Either they had heard of her beauty and thought she would be the brightest glory in their court, or they were concerned with the power a union with her would bring. No one saw the cocooned butterfly she was, waiting to spread her beautiful wings a fly.

Princess Luna technically could not sit on the royal throne. She could not inherit the crown. If Luna wanted it, she had to find a husband. But she refused to be just a mascot while someone else ruled. She once declared, "I'd rather watch this kingdom burn in flames than be a plaything of someone else. I will not be a secondary character in the story of this kingdom. Of my kingdom. Either I will rule, or no one will. I want it all or nothing."

Her father, the king, understood why Luna rejected her suitors and did not force her to choose. At least for now. He trusted her heart and believed she would make the right decision.