The house tilted precariously on the wooden stilts which held it up as the woman inside ceaselessly scratched words

and figures onto a piece of parchment with an elegantly adorned feather. Her pale blond hair was tied in a tight bun atop her head, although the ferocity of the woman's scribbling caused more than a few hairs to fall out of place. Her name is Marina Harcourt and she is not in a good mood. Last week, her father managed to convince her to take on the daunting task of balancing the income this year's crops had brought in. Marina longed to return to her ship, delivering shipments and seeing the world. It was always something she excelled at and seemed to have a natural talent for. Instead she was bound to a desk with a task that had already taken the better part of a day to complete halfway. Marina was in the kind of mood where the thought of burning things and dancing around naked seemed like a good idea when a messenger crashed into her quaint little home, bringing with him a particularly terrible wave that washed away all her hard work. As the wave receded, Marina simply stared at her now empty desk, quill still in her hand and dripping with ink and water. Cringing the messenger stared at Marina and waited to see her reaction. Seconds turned to minutes and the messenger impatiently cleared his throat. He took a quick step back at the sound of the quill delicately held between such seemingly gentle hands snapped like a twig and clattered to the floor. Marina slowly turned to the messenger and looked him right in the eyes. "What is it?" She asked tight lipped. He shuffled uncomfortably under her stare but he had a job to do, whether he liked it or not. "I have a message to deliver from a Master Harcourt." He recited formally and straightened his fancy raiment. "I'd assume you'd be here for that purpose, yes. Now get on with it. What is this message?" "Master Harcourt requests your presence in the main hall immediately. That is all I can say for the moment, as the matter is of the utmost secrecy." The messenger responded and puffed out his chest with importance. Marina rolled her eyes. "Then why do you know about it?" She mockingly asked and he opened his mouth to answer a question that was never intended to be answered. Before she'd be saddled with his confused and frankly rather dimwitted reply, Marina exited her home and marched along the planks with the intent of ridding herself of the pesky messenger forever. Regrettably, he was right on her heels and Marina was forced to endure his presence for a little longer. Bounding through the giant double doors of the main hall, Marina found herself standing before her father who was currently eating some rather succulent looking grapes. "Ah, Daughter, you've finally arrived. I was beginning to get lonely you know. I may have to punish you for this. How do you feel about marriage? No you're right, you're far too old for that aren't you." Master Harcourt jested and his eyes sparkled with the mischievousness of a child. "Well, what did you want, Father?" Marina asked tired of his foolishness, and Master Harcourt narrowed his eyes revealing the cold intelligence that lurked within. "News from the Heirs. Seems one of their lot up and died sometime during the winter. Now they're holding a competition to determine who will become the new heir. You are going to represent our family." "Me!? Why should I? Besides, I have a lot of work to do. With the river finally unfrozen, we can finally deliver all those supplies we were behind on!" "Oh puhlease, I can find someone else to do it. Come on, it'll be so much fun." "No, forget about it."

"Alright, in that case I may have been too hasty in my judgement. Yes, I see it clearly now. You will be wed tomor- no tonight!" "What!? No way, Father!" "Too late, I've made my mind. I won't let you be an old maid in my house forever. I think you'd be a good wife for Frank the messenger boy. You two really seemed to hit it off on your walk here!" Master Harcourt announced gleefully and Marina had to repress a shudder. She was beat and they both knew it. Once more, Marina marvelled at the sheer audacity of her father and his surprisingly cunning nature. "Fine I'll go be a stupid contestant. Don't think I'll forget about this anytime soon." Marina admonished and began walking out of the hall. "Wouldn't dream of it." Master Harcourt called after her in a cheery voice before the doors slammed shut. Marina entertained the thought of being the new heir and all the power she'd get from it on her walk home. Thoughts of having her father do all her taxes and messenger boys being outlawed danced across her mind, she was in that kind of mood.