Hi. My name is Mila Brooks. I'm a young woman who graduated from UCI, and an aspiring author. I have medium length, black hair, with some purple highlights, that I keep in bubble braids. I have tan skin, sea green eyes, and I usually wear pastel baggy sweaters and beige cargo pants. I have a theme, and I'm writing a book, a fantasy novel, to be specific, and trying to include all the things I like. Romance, magic, adventure, a warrior queen, that stuff. Although, my story has been... put on hold. Let me tell you why.

About a year ago, I was writing my story. Or, at least trying to. I had just gotten a new notebook and had written down ideas for my story. I had the characters, I had ideas, I knew what I wanted. So, I got a new pen and started writing down the story. I had titled it 'Of Earth and Sky', and preferred to write on paper, so I used my new notebook. I clicked the pen, and started writing chapter one. The backstory of my main character, Samara. She looked kind of like me, but completely black hair. I had a clear image of her in my head. Her favorite color was black, she had red eyes, the way only fictional characters can do, tan skin like mine, but a little darker, she was younger, 19, and had long hair. This was what I wrote.

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Chapter one: The kingdom of Alahn ~Samara~

My name is Samara. I am the princess of Alahn, and my mom is sick. So, I have to do all the queenly duties that belong to my mother for her. I was in my room, painting this little lizard that came in, when there was a knock on my door. I walked over, and saw my friend Bella.

"Your majesty," she bowed, "Your mother gas requested to see you."

"Bella, how many times do I tell you, you don't need to be formal! We're friends!"

"Ok, well, we have to go, this is urgent."

"Ok... woah!" She pulled me through the castle to my mother's room. Usually, queens get the best doctors, but my mom was very sick, and she could die. Our kingdom is poor and falling apart. We're doing our best, but if we can't do something soon, our kingdom is doomed. We arrived at my mother's room, but I instantly knew something was wrong. It wasn't warm and welcoming like it usually was. It was cold and unfriendly, like some kind of monster had taken my mother's place. "Mom?" I asked, as I entered the room. No response. I walked over to her bed. "Mom?" No response. I tried again. Another time, no response. "Mom?!"

No response

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I had finished this chapter, but I felt it needed more than just a cliffhanger. So, I gave it a little more.

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 I sat down on the bed, and touched the lump on the bed. It was cold. Freezing. Then I noticed red stains on the sheets. I tore off the covers, only to find, my mom had been stabbed. "Mom..." then I noticed the weapon had been left next to her. I grabbed it. "I will avenge you, mom."

Next thing I know, I hear a voice behind me. Bella, gasping. "Guards!" She called. "The princess has killed her own mother! Seize her!" Who did she think she was saying that? It's not like she could command the guards! I'm the princess! Surely they'll see reason! They rushed in the room,  all of them shocked to see me by my mother's corpse.

My friend Ethan, a knight who always stood by me came in first. "Sam...? Why would you- how could you-?!" He was freaking out. Then I realized why. I was still holding the weapon. Someone wanted to frame me. And I think I know who it was.

"Bella!" I shouted. "You said my mother wanted to see me, clearly you knew she was dead and wanted to frame me!" It was an assumption, but it was impossible for someone to kill my mother in the amount of time it took Bell to go back and forth from my mother's room.

"Excuse me?! I saw you stab her!" She said. I glared back at her and threw down the knife. "I don't think this kingdom deserves to have a queen who killed her own mother!" Then I saw Emily, Bella's sister, run in. She looked mad. They arrived at the same time and all three of us were good friends. Now I think they're just traitors.

"Samara! Did you- why would you kill your mother!"

"I didn't!" I said. I may have muttered stupid under my breath.

"My sister does not lie! She said you killed your mother and I believe her!"

"Your sister lied just now, is that so hard to believe!? Everyone lies!"

"See?! If everyone lies then how do I know you're not lying about your innocence?!" Well, this escalated quickly. "You know what?! You don't deserve the title of royalty, your majesty. I challenge you for the throne."

"Excuse me?" What? Why? How? My head was spinning. It was legally in the laws that anyone could challenge for the throne, but no one actually did it! Only in our kingdoms darkest hour, do the bravest warriors ever challenge royalty! "What. Do. You. Mean?! You really want to kill me?"

"If you don't surrender now, yes. Challenge tomorrow morning."

I thought for a bit. "Challenge accepted." I don't want to just let a murderer steal my throne without a fight!

This woman was going down.

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This felt like a more full chapter. I closed my book and stopped writing for the day.