Seven years ago...

"Go away, Aston! Nobody likes you!" The young princess spun around her bedroom door quickly closing it shut with the weight of her body. She huffed in and out hoping to catch a quick breath before Aston would inevitably teleport himself into her room. Sure enough, right as she got her breath back, he appeared standing on the dark pink sheets of her canopy bed. He had lost his tan from years spent isolated in the castle, much like Gwyneth herself.

"Everybody likes me! I'm the savior!" He smirked at her, arms in the air.

"The savior of what? Germs? Get your nasty feet off of my bed!" She screamed, running to her bed and tugging at the sheets to make him fall.

Of course, he would never actually fall - he was too proud for that. He teleported behind her grabbing a lock of her hair and causing her to scream. She didn't have room to run with the bed right in front of her.

"Have no fear, princess! Your knight is here!" A blond boy with a faint tan burst through her door, toy shield in hand which he used to shove Aston out of the way.

"Thank you, Elric," Gwyneth tried to force a smile. "But you know you'll get in trouble if you so much as scratch our "hero"." She used air quotes as she rolled her eyes.

"That idiot deserves it." Elric returned her eye-roll.

"Are you three fighting again?" A petite, pale white, purple-haired girl walked in carrying a silver platter. She gracefully closed the door with her back and set the tray on one of the dressers by the door. "Hello, Aston! Have a cookie!" She reached up to shove her cookie in Aston's mouth who was too stunned to react. Isla was perhaps the only person he wasn't a complete jerk to, simply because she tried so hard to be nice to everyone. The one time he had pulled a prank on her, she cried in the corner for hours. He immediately regretted it and tried to be nicer from then on.

"If only cookies could solve everything." Gwyneth crossed her arms and let out a hmph.

"We fight because we're friends, right?" Isla smiled, handing a warm soft cookie to her friend. "No matter how much you fight, just remember..." She trailed off. "I'll always be here with cookies!"

Elric chortled on his cookie. He should have known Isla wasn't much for deep metaphors. He knew the three of them would always be friends, but questioned if Aston would ever truly be welcomed in.

"Tea," Aston demanded. Isla was quick to pour a cup and rush it over to where he was sitting on the edge of Gwyneth's bed. Despite claiming to be friends with the rest of them, his distance from the other three who had taken their usual spots on the couch and armchair admitted otherwise.

"You have magic. You could have gotten it yourself." Gwyneth sighed as she poured her own cup of tea.

"Why waste it?" He shrugged.

"Does the regent know you're here instead of practicing for that entrance exam?" Gwyneth turned to Elric.

"About that... I hope father will forgive me." Elric scratched the back of his head. The sound of glass breaking could be heard.

"Y-You need to take that exam seriously!" Isla practically had tears in her eyes. "You're going to become Gwyneth's bodyguard one day! You have to protect her!" Isla was taking the whole knight thing a lot more seriously than everyone else was, and Gwyneth couldn't help but smile trying to hold back a chuckle at her friend.

"Won't matter." Aston chugged his tea before leaning back onto the bed. Huh, softer than his. "Once she's married to me, she'll have all the protection she'll ever need."

Gwyneth exaggerated a gag at the mention of their marriage. "You know you're allowed your pick of any lady, right? You can pick someone else. Besides, why would you want me? We have nothing in common."

"Cause you're a pretty princess!"

"Yes! Gwyneth is very pretty!" Isla nodded vigorously.

"Actually... You look pretty young." Aston scanned Isla up and down. She appeared to be around the same age as the other three, ten, even if she was a full head shorter than Gwyneth. "You old enough to be a maid?"

"Yes!" She beamed with pride. "I'm fifteen!" The minimum age to work without supervision.

"What?!" He sat up.

"Fae ages are weird like that." Gwyneth shrugged.

"But she's only half-fae, right? Wonder how that happened."

A cup of warm tea spilled on his face.

"Don't. Go there." Gwyneth was glaring daggers at him. Even though he had magic, the way she stared terrified him. This girl was clever and had outsmarted him at his own game plenty of times, enough for him to know how dangerous she could be.

"Um... I never knew my father," Isla spoke up, shifting ever so slightly. "But my mother was-"

"Don't. You don't have to tell this self-entitled idiot anything," Elric snapped, attempting to save her from bringing up bad memories.

"O-Oh..."

"Still," Aston continued, choosing his next words carefully. "Wouldn't they account for age differences? There are child labor laws after all."

"You think they would care about that with a fae?" Elric quickly realized what he said. He turned to Isla whose head was bent, a smile that was obviously forced. "I'm so sorry... I didn't mean to..."

Isla shook her head. "I know you didn't mean anything by it. It's the truth, why bother hiding it?" Isla was always soft-spoken unless unusually excited or scared, yet her voice reached a new level of softness that the others could barely hear.

Aston had wondered why they had bothered to hire her at all considering her lineage but knew the other two would never let him hear the end of it. Besides, it wasn't hard to figure out. She was half-fae so maybe they were holding onto the idea of her being able to wield magic. Which was ridiculous considering the few half-breeds that did exist couldn't use magic. Why would she be any different? Still, desperate people cling to desperate dreams.

"So, what are your plans after you fulfill your quest?" Gwyneth turned to Aston, completely devoid of her usual annoyance for him. Why was she starting a conversation with him? Was it simply out of pity for Isla? "Besides marrying me. Which you're not." She narrowed her eyes.

"I dunno. If I marry you, I'd become king, right? So, I'd be doing kingly stuff."

"You wouldn't be king, you would be a prince consort. Besides, I said you're not marrying me," she snapped.

"If I didn't marry you... I don't know. Maybe I'd travel the world. I will have just saved it. Might as well see my hard work, right?"

"How very... noble." She didn't have many civil conversations with Aston, so she didn't know how to reply sincerely. Besides, part of her figured he would just terrorize the five kingdoms. Even if the fae might deserve it.

Maybe the Fae kingdom would benefit from a visit.

"Yeah! I hear Aquariot is really pretty during the summer," Elric added in. "It's a shame we're too far to ever really get the chance to see it."

"Unless Gwyneth marries Prince Kai." Isla waggled her eyebrows.

"Shut up! That's my future wife you're talking about." Aston crossed his arms.

"No, no, we could set you up with Princess Mitra," Elric suggested. "See? It'll all work out!"

"Is she pretty?"

"Totally." To her own people, at least.

"What about you?" Aston turned to Isla. "Surely you don't want to be a maid all your life, right?"

"Ah, well... Being in the castle is probably safest for me. My purple hair sticks out like a sore thumb." She gently scratched her cheek with her index finger.

"At least you didn't get the eyes." He cringed. Her skin contained faint hues of pink that wouldn't immediately give away her Fae race. "Hair... That's easy enough. I could change the color. What do you want? Brunette? Black? Blonde? Man, why do all hair colors start with a B?"

"R-Really? You would do that for me?"

"Sure." He still felt guilty about indirectly bringing her past up. And accidentally setting her apron on fire the other day.

"Well... I think I'll stick with purple for now. Thank you. I will be sure to contact you with all future hair necessities."

"Guess I'm saving your sorry hides in my future." Elric crossed his hands behind his head. "Could be worse."

"Again, your service is not necessary. Go find a new occupation. You'd be a hilarious court jester."

Elric sputtered for a moment before deciding this boy was a lost cause.

Days would continue to pass in a similar fashion. Aston would torment some unfortunate maid (and accidentally Isla occasionally), Gwyneth who considered herself to be one of the few sane people in the castle would intervene, and he would torment her in return. They all knew deep down (except maybe Aston) these days would be nothing compared to what they would have to go through once they were fully grown.

Hope you enjoyed the first actual chapter! Things will be picking up next chapter where you'll see our cast of characters start their journey :)

I've read a few stories where the writer asks questions at the end, so I decided to try to do that with this story! I'll ask one question related to the story and another question unrelated. Feel free to reply to one, both, or none! I understand (cries). 

Each kingdom except Zetheria is associated with an element. Which element do you think the kingdom of Aeceria is? 

Name one good thing that's happened to you today!