Water, Fire, Earth, and Air.  They are the elements of our world, and they are my friends.
    Sitting in the grass I hold hands with dear Earth; he’s usually gentle, but occasionally stubborn.  Air blows through my hair; she’s pushing my curly mane away from my face.  Water dances next to me, performing a beautiful ballet as always.  And Fire isn’t right here, but he’s close.  I can hear him cackling at his own joke.
    Everyday we spend countless hours together talking, dancing, making jokes, but it never is enough.  So the next day we do it all again.  I give them my drama, new prince, good meal, rude visitor, and so on, and they give me theirs, hyper fish, hilarious farmers, new wood, gorgeous clouds, and so on.  But our conversations stay between me and Water, Fire, Earth, and Air.  To my family, friends, and subjects I am just the princess of Regnum Elementorum, a beautiful land of open air, tall, tree covered mountains, lovely rivers, and the occasional forest fire, but my hidden love is being able to talk to the elements
I used to spend all my days in my room, sitting there looking at my fireplace or out the window.  Sitting there staring into the fire I would sometimes think about what it would be like to have a friend, or even a best friend.  They would be the first one I would go to when I wanted to do something.  They would be the one I would want to talk to, cry to, or just be with.  It would be nice to care about them more than anyone else and vice versa. Everyone has that special person, but at the time I was alone.
I didn’t like being the constant center of attention.  “Harmony pose for this, Harmony can you answer this, Harmony how do you like being the new princess?” just didn’t appeal to me, and so I kept myself locked in my room for most of the day.  There was always a fire burning in my room, and one day I was so upset that I started talking to it.  Screaming and crying I asked the fire why I could just go outside and see my country without being hunted down by town’s people wanting autographs or bombarding me with questions.  Suddenly the room filled with the soft warming words of the fire, “You can see Regnum Elementorum here for the time being, until the world around you settles down.” Shocked I looked back at the fire, scenes of the mountains around me started forming.  Tiny details like trees, deer, cabins, and streams started forming.  I felt like I was standing right in front of the scene.  Every couple of minutes the scene would change.  I fell asleep only after watching the hypnotizing display of fire making Regnum Elementorum come alive in my room for hours.
I became close with Fire, and then I was introduced to his counterparts, Water, Earth, and Air.  My first encounter with Water was at a stream near my castle.  Walking by the stream there was sudden surge of Water and a “hand” waved at me.  I then had a brief conversation with Water that started the bond between us.
Earth was apparently always trying to get my attention, I just hadn’t realized it.  The trees swaying and the ground moving were signs, but I hadn’t picked up on them.  I only realized that Earth was there when I was yelled at in the woods for picking flowers. I was angrily told, “to ask before I take”.
Air won the award for the most startling meeting, though.  I was walking on a path towards the woods when the wind started to pick up.  I ducked my head and continued walking, assuming the wind would die down soon.  I was mistaken, and suddenly I was in a full on wind storm.  The wind was so strong that I was afraid I was going to be picked up off my feet, but I continued trudging on.  Just as I was about to turn around, I was lifted into the air.  Screaming and flailing, I tried to get back on the ground, but nothing I did seemed to help.  Looking down at the ground I realized that I was headed towards the woods, and that there was quiet music surrounding me that sounded like flutes.  I began to relax.  I was soaring through the air with a gentle breeze flowing through my hair.  Then Air spoke in a whispering voice, “Where would you like to be dropped off, Harmony?”
After meeting all of the elements, soaring through the air, walking by streams, and talking to the elements became common.  I grew up with them at my side giving me undying support, and in return I tried to help them whenever I could.  Much to their delight I passed nature conservation laws.  I thought that I wouldn’t need their help again, but I was wrong.
Walking through the castle, I was pulled aside by my advisor.
“We need to talk,” he said. ”You are almost 18 and that means you must find a husband with whom to rule the country.  You have 8 weeks or else there will be a new ruler of Regnum Elementorum.”  Shocked, I nodded and quickly walked back to my room.  For hours I ranted to Fire about how unfair this world was.  Back and forth we went about the pros and cons of the situation, but to no avail, I was still stuck.  Then Fire came up with a good idea, “Why don’t you pick a few suitors, send them to a remote location, and then Water, Air, Earth, and I can test the men, and give you constant updates.”  That was the winning idea.
Over the next couple of days I looked at photos, read descriptions, and even did some interviews with possible husbands.  By the end of the long process, I had narrowed the search down to three: Robin, Flint, and Dakota.  Robin was your classic charming prince, very handsome polite, and king worthy.  Flint was outdoorsy, in a good way, he seemed like he knew his way around nature, which was very important to me.  Finally, there was Dakota.  There wasn’t anything super special about him, but he was extremely kind.  I felt like we were friends the moment we met.  After choosing the guys that would possibly be my husband, I double checked with them to confirm they were okay with the “challenge” they had to pass.  All agreed. 
The following week Robin, Flint, and Dakota were ready to be flown out to the Island of the Elements, Earth picked the name.  I wished them luck and that was the last I would see of them for four weeks.
According to Air, the island was just over the mountains, farther than I had ever been.  There was a small forest, a large hill with caves, multiple water sources, and the coast was constantly being bombarded with strong wind gusts.  The island was a playground for the elements.  Once the men were dropped off they were given their first “test”.  They were each given a letter that read, “You are now on your own so that we can test your skills, qualities, and overall compatibility with Princess Harmony.  Your first task is to find or make a shelter that you can stay in for four weeks.  Choose wisely, certain spots are better than others.  Look for a paper airplane in a week for your next task.  Good luck, the Elements.”  Of course the suitors don’t know that by “the Elements” it actually means the Elements.  Once they read their letters they headed off in different directions to start their test.
I was told by Earth that Flint had settled down in the woods.  He had built a tree teepee of sorts and was already on the search for water and food.  Dakota was making his way towards the caves in the hill, which according to Earth is a smart move.  Robin on the other hand was having some difficulties.  He seemed very out of place in the wild in Earth’s opinion.  I told Earth not to give up on him yet, since he had some good qualities when we had met.
Night fell and I was nervous for the guys.  I had gotten an update from fire that Flint was doing extremely well, and almost had a whole camp.  Water claimed that Dakota had made it to a nicely sized cave near water.  He was in search of some water and food when he stumbled on Robin.  Instead of just leaving him in the wilderness, Dakota invited Robin to stay the night with him.  Apparently, this was a very kind act, almost prince worthy.  At least that’s what Water says.
The next day I got an update from Air that Robin had made a shelter out of some leaves.  Air threatened to blow it down because it was so poorly constructed.  She can be quite cranky sometimes.  So each potential prince had a temporary home, but they don’t know their next challenge.
Each suitor received a paper airplane at the entrance of the shelter.  When they opened the letter it read, “Congratulations on finding shelter on the Island of the Elements!  Now for your next challenged.” At this Robin groaned. The letter continued, “You will need to find a way to reach the summit of the Great Hill.  If you look now there is a flag.  If you are the first to the flag, bring it to your shelter and hang it up.  You will be rewarded for completing the task first.  Even if you don’t make it to the flag first you still must reach the summit, or else your chance at Princess Harmony’s heart is finished.  You may begin whenever you like, but beware of the dangers the Island of the Elements holds.  Good luck, The Elements.”  After finishing the letter Robin started right away towards the Great Hill.  He determined that he could use any reward at this point. Earth choose to follow him and give me updates.  Flint decided to finish his breakfast, and then get started.  He packed some food for the trip and headed up the steepest, but shortest route.  Air decided to follow Flint, she likes his go with the flow attitude.  Finally there was Dakota.  Dakota was a planner.  He decided to gather up some supplies he might need in an emergency and then get started.  Being thoughtful about the length of the trip, he also decided to follow the stream that seemed to flow for the top of the Great Hill.  For this reason, Water choose to follow Dakota.  Fire didn’t have a potential prince to follow, but that was okay because today was Fire’s challenge day.  And boy was he excited.

To Be Continued...