Before I fell into a new world, I lived a very different life. I was born Anaphalia Lynette, of Pergamum. I have a younger brother, the crown prince of Pergamum, Talon Lynette. And a younger sister, Raella Lynette. The three of us peacefully grew up in our castle. My brother was training to become the king, and my sister and I were being raised to make good wives. My sister and I were very close. We may have been opposites, but we both found common ground in our shared upbringing. Eventually, our father began to play favorites with his son and my younger sister. My brother, the crowned prince, had been given all the power and none of the drive. He seemed to float from one thing to the next without much interest. But he was the son and therefore the true heir of the crown in our country. My sister, Raella, was blonde, blue-eyed, and beautiful. She was soft-spoken and often looked for help from others. She would make the perfect bride someday. But seeing as how I was the eldest, that would have to wait until I was married.
I may have been born first, but I was the family's disappointment. Named Anaphalia, I was tall, thin, and had dark brown hair and eyes. My beauty was nothing special, like Raella's. I also didn't behave like a princess. I had too many ideas and not enough power. I constantly felt trapped in the body of a woman. When I was younger, my father allowed me to be trained along with Talon at the sword. Just because he assumed I would make an easy target for my brother. But that wasn't the case. I loved learning the skill. I spent hours with the sword trainer. I found something that excited me. I eventually outstripped my brother. I began winning every sparring match against him. Talon got so frustrated that he refused to attend lessons with me. After hearing this, my father banned me from picking up another weapon for the rest of my life. He took away the one thing that I loved. I wanted to continue to learn, even if it meant going against his wishes. Due to the decree of my father, I was unable to find anyone of status to teach me swordsmanship. But I eventually found a commoner who didn't know who I was who taught me. We met in secret once a week. My sister kept the secret for me. I was supposed to be meeting her for tea in the city. She always took my side when my father yelled at me, so she told no one about my lessons.
My sister and I were as close as two sisters could be. Raella loved having someone look after her and I loved having someone to listen to me. We spent many nights talking until we fell asleep in my bed because we got too tired to walk to our room. Raella and I were opposites, but fortunately, that worked in our favor. We needed the other to help keep us balanced. Raella brought peace to me more than anyone else. I could trust her and tell her anything. I spoke up for Raella when she needed something. Our parents compared our beauty, but we didn't let their words bring contention between us. We both knew that despite our beauty or lack of beauty, we would be forced to marry whomever our parents chose. We stayed together through everything. My life was relatively peaceful until the assassination attempt on my brother's life.
One Sunday, on our way to the temple, my brother and I's carriage was attacked. It was dark and raining, so the assassins hid themselves under the cover of clouds and mists. Our carriage suddenly turned on the side and a hand broke through the door. I was knocked out and thrown to one side. My brother attempted to stop them with his sword, but he was eventually taken captive and tied up. The four assassins began talking about their orders. If I hadn't had any formal sword training I would have remained knocked out, but after years of training, I was decently good at taking a hit and recovering. When I came back to consciousness, I saw my brother in front of me, about to die. I had to save Talon. I grabbed his sword, which had been tossed aside, and took the assassins out one at a time. When I gutted the last assassin from navel to nose, my brother looked at me in fear. He had no idea that I possessed such skills. He was afraid to sit next to me on the way back home because I was covered in blood.
The truth about my secret came out that night. My brother went to my father's chambers to report what had happened. I had begged him not to say anything to father. I had just saved his life, you would think that maybe that debt would have earned his respect. But that's not what happened. I had barely gotten out of the bloody clothes when I was summoned to my father's chambers. He was livid. He yelled at me for three hours straight. How could I hide something like this from him? How could I dare to learn a skill for men? How could I ignore his wishes? Did I have no intentions of being a mother or wife? I was playing with fire every time I picked up a sword. I could die in an accident. My tears mixed with exhaustion by morning. He only calmed down when Raella came in. Her presence broke the spell. She reminded him that his son was only alive thanks to me. She promised him that I would be better now. I had learned my lesson and I would give up any further training lessons. I had to promise to be followed by a personal guard to ensure I wasn't lying to my father.
I felt suffocated. I was now followed around by one of my father's guards every minute of every day. After a month, my father told me it was time to get married. He claimed it was because Raella was turning 18 and he wanted to marry her off while she was still young. But I knew the real reason why. He wanted to get rid of me. My father then made a deal to send me far away to the land of Witherington. He found a crowned prince named Galenus Stepwhite who was now my fiancé. He had agreed to marry me and bring a new trading agreement between our two nations. I couldn't believe my father was sending me far away. I had never been to Witherington or even met anyone from it. I would most likely never see my family again. I spent the next three weeks crying in my room. I couldn't imagine never returning home to Raella. Raella assured me when I became a queen, I could demand to return home and see my family. But it didn't give me much hope.
Galenus and I met two times during our two-year-long engagement. He was tall with dark black hair cascading down his face, and he had piercing red eyes. Red eyes did not exist in Pergamum and made Galenus unique. He spoke to me only a few words each time we were near each other. He was always formal and welcoming. But never anything more. I looked in the mirror and wondered what I could offer a prince like him. But I heard a rumor that Galenus was a war general who was very good with a blade. I began to hope that maybe a move away from my family could be a fresh start for me. And potentially even lead to a better life. I imagined a future where the two of us could lead Witherington as strong military leaders. My future husband and I could bond over our shared love of sword-fighting. It had been almost a full year since the last time I held a sword and my body missed it. Perhaps all this would be enough for him to eventually fall in love with me, despite my plain appearance.
I was grateful that during all these turbulent times I had one constant in my life, my sister Raella. She was there for me when I found out about Galenus. She sat with me when I first met him. She listened to me tell her all about my frustrations with my father, my longing for sword fighting practice, and how I hoped that Galenus could be my dream come true. If anyone could be a knight in shining armor, it was him. She was always there to listen to my fears, comfort me, and dream for the future.