Once upon a time there was a kingdom. A kingdom full of common people who were scraping by however they could. A kingdom full of nobles who had more than they ever needed. A kingdom full of imbalanced power and inalienable longing.

There was a servant girl who was the mother of the king's son. There were many other women who were the mothers of many saccharine children.

And somewhere in the reality between realities, there were four women creating.

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Malina-Deprassi was a world of extremes. The Big People had more than they ever could need. The Small People struggled to get by. Events occur which cannot be explained. Prophecies are told which gain widespread attention. Children are born into the world.———

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The kings and queens were satisfied ruling in their large palaces. They thought, falsely, that their people loved them. The people were struggling to scrape by with their poverty and their oppression. But the Forest glowed beyond the fields and villages. The Forest that was the only thing the nobles feared.

For it's powers and it's magic did not belong to them.

But the young woman with the dark hair and eyes, as much as the prince wanted her, she belonged to the Forest. And she would use the powers it gave her.

Harmony Ametsenya is too young to face the cruelties of the city. At ten years old, she shouldn’t be hungry, she shouldn’t be cold, she shouldn’t be worried about where her next meal is coming from. But it doesn’t change the fact that she is.

Fourteen-year-old Msitu Ametsenya shouldn’t be either. But it doesn’t change the fact that she will keep Harmony safe at all costs. At all costs. No matter what.

Their lives are full of fear and pain work. Because in this city, nobody cares about two impoverished orphan children trying to stay alive. Nobody cares about the impoverished at all. The city is grey, made of metal and glass and concrete. The water is grey, full of pollution. The sky is grey, full of smog.

As Christmas comes around the corner, the first Christmas since their parents died, how will Msitu make it a time of joy and hope? Because after all, in a world run by greed and apathy, hope is everything.

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This work is in the public domain and anyone can do anything they want with it.