A/N A new short story in the fairy tale genre... 

Once upon a time there were two kingdoms that lived next door to each other with an enchanted glen between. They celebrated a great friendship for many years, and each year on the anniversary of their promises they met at the glen to hold a fair. One year, the prince went to the fair and saw the princess from the neighboring kingdom and fell in love with her beauty instantly.

Alas the princess was already promised to her true love, a brave knight from a good and loyal family. The king refused to break the pact, knowing that his daughter truly loved her knight. The prince was a spoiled and selfish man, and although he backed down at the time, he never forgot her supposed slight.

So it came to pass that when the old king died, his son assumed the throne with a jealous heart. He did not attend the fair, nor did he permit any of his people. Instead he sent an army. They killed many of their neighbours, caught unawares, and destroyed the peaceful alliance in one fateful afternoon.

Many generations passed between the two kingdoms in conflict as they fought; they fought over the slighted prince, over the ruin of the fair, and over who should now possess the once beautiful land in between. They stripped the surrounding land with their warring, and the glen became a dark, boggy and lonely place.

Little did they know that the glen was an enchanted place, and they had fractured the good magic that was steeped inside. The sorcerer who cared for the glen and looked after the magical beings within was devastated by the loss. He vowed vengeance on the two kingdoms and watched over gleefully as they fought and destroyed each other generation upon generation.

When it was long past the time that the two kingdoms could no longer remember why they had been fighting to begin with, two tired kings came to the thrones. Steeped in the loss of brothers and friends, they vowed to end the war once and for all. The two kings sat down together and finally talked. As neither had yet to have children, they agreed that the first to bear a son would have them become the heir, and the other would conceive until a girl was born to wed to the heir.

So it came to pass that King John and Queen Charlotte were the first to conceive and delivered a beautiful baby boy, whom they named Vincent. Three years later, Queen Anne finally conceived a child. The kingdoms waited with anticipation as the day grew near ...and bells throughout both kingdoms rang out clear with joy when it was announced that the child was a girl. She was named Alexandra.

Alexandra spent many years in both kingdoms with Vincent as the families fostered friendship and responsibility in their children in order to keep from falling into the mistakes of the past. They were raised as friends and it was not so far a stretch for them to become wedded when they were older. A ceasefire was strictly maintained and they learned to rule together.

Not all were pleased with the turn of events though, most of all the sorcerer who had once lived in the glen and watched as the two kingdoms had razed his home to mush and ruin with their sparring. He held no love for the people of either kingdom and would sooner see them divided for an eternity than live happily ever after. 

So begins our story with the two unsuspecting youths at the peak of their courting...