The halls of Crystalia Castle rang with laughter.
King Jasper III put down the map of his kingdom and listened as his giggling daughters ran past his throne room.
“She’s got to be in the armor room!” Princess Citrine hollered from the front of the group.
A moment later, Princess Ruby gave a squeal of laughter.
She had been found.
Only Amethyst, the youngest, was left.
Clever girl.
His daughters were too old for games like hide-and-seek—all in their teens or twenties. But once they all got together, there was no stopping the fun.
Princess Sapphire, the eldest and most serious of his daughters, and Citrine, his third daughter, already an accomplished warrior, had just returned from their inspection of the troops stationed in the Wandering Monk Mountains. Adventurous Emerald was back from the Fae Wood, with new stories to tell of the elves and the Deeproot Tree. And Ruby, ever a constant in Crystalian high society, had freed her schedule of admirers and negotiators.
Today was Amethyst’s birthday. They would all celebrate together.
And soon, when the time was right, all of Crystalia would have something to celebrate.
The prophecy foretold it. Long ago, the Goddess bound her essence to the Dark Consul and drove him out of Crystalia. As she did so, she prophesied that five heroes of noble birth would rise up and defeat the Dark Consul once and for all and, by doing so, free the Goddess again from his clutches.
King Jasper III’s daughters were the five princesses of prophecy: Princess Sapphire, Princess Emerald, Princess Citrine, Princess Ruby, and Princess Amethyst.
The king went back to his map and made notes on trade route attacks, attempting to triangulate possible locations of new spawning points, places where the Dark Consul’s influence was creeping back into Crystalia from the Dark Realm.
A half hour passed. Jasper looked up. The voices were gone. The halls were quiet.
Where are they?
The king stood from his desk, walked swiftly to the window, and looked out over the garden yard that spread out between the tall castle and the siege wall. Ruby stood in the center of the yard, her hands cupped on her mouth, calling.
She turned and her face met his. Tears ran down her cheeks.
His office door banged open, and King Jasper whirled around.
Princess Sapphire stood in the doorway, buckling her sword belt and breathing heavily. “Have you seen Amethyst?”
“No. She was with the golem in the garden—surely you found her.”
“Father.” Princess Sapphire’s eyes brimmed with tears. “We can’t find her. And there’s no sign of the golem either. Just Amethyst’s footprints. Then they’re gone.”
“What?” asked King Jasper, dumbfounded. This couldn’t be happening. Not here.
There was a horrifying screech of metal and a grinding of gears from the garden. Princess Sapphire turned and ran from the room. She drew her sword as she went.
Worry seized his heart. No. Impossible.
The castle warning bell began to ring. King Jasper threw open the window and leaned out, calling at the top of his lungs, “Amethyst!”
But no one answered.