

The Girl with the Violet Eyes

The Lost Girl Series: Book 1

A novel by

## Jen Weddle

"I like nonsense, it wakes up the brain cells. Fantasy is a necessary ingredient in living."

-Dr. Seuss

Dedicated to my mom, dad and Paul- for always believing in me and pushing me to do what I love

## Lost Girl

## Chapter 1

I have to keep moving on. Another cold and rainy day and I'm staring out the greyhound bus window. I expect to find something, but I feel so lost and it is becoming impossible to find whatever it is that I am looking for. I'm traveling to another lonesome city, and I feel more lost in this world than I have ever felt before.

My mother once told me that unless someone cares a whole damn lot about you, nothing is going to get better about your life because you can only depend on yourself. I think maybe she was right. Who gives really cares anymore?

I read the news the other day, the article described a man who tried to help a woman being robbed and he was stabbed. A hundred people walked by and not one of them offered him help. What if one person had helped him, would he still be alive? Was his fate to die in a pool of his own blood with none of his loved ones around to say goodbye? Sometimes I truly believe that my life is fine as the hermit that I am, even if I feel lonely all the time.

The creepy, lonesome looking man stares at me from across the bus aisle. I can see it in his eyes, he's just as lost and alone as I am, and maybe he's just as lost as the rest of the world. I grip onto my purse tighter, the only comfort I can find. What kind of reaction is this? I want to live in a world that doesn't exist anymore and maybe it never existed. The loud bus driver shouts out some ghost town of a name.

The elementary school girl in front of me is paying more attention to her cell phone then the world around her. The tiny baby crying as the single mother tries to comfort it. The handsome man staring at me and then down at his hands; maybe he's thinking of some way to escape this world. Just maybe escape for a second to find a little piece of mind, and that's all anyone is looking for anymore. I look down at my body; it doesn't even feel like a piece of me. Where are my legs, my arms, where is my mind? I can hear the old woman trying to silently sob behind me, and I look back at her giving her a hopeful smile. In return I receive a look that could kill. That's what I get for trying to do anything, trying to help anyone. If God lost faith in humanity then I'm not surprised. What's the point in trying to save something so incredibly lost?

I don't want anyone getting sentimental because it's really not worth it anyways. I mean we all end up in the same place eventually. I guess the reason that I'm acting so melodramatic today is that I'm on my way home to my father's funeral, and he was the last living relative so today is the day that I became an orphan. My life was pretty normal until my 13th birthday, and then things just turned to chaos from there. I let the tears escape my eyes as I recall that fateful day almost 7 years ago. It was the day my father left me and my mother.

I can recall the day perfectly to every last detail. I was excited because I was finally turning 13, I was becoming a teenager. I was now a grown-up in my youthful eyes, and I had asked for the hot pink Schwinn bike in the store window of our local bike shop. When I rushed downstairs with my little pigtails bouncing against my shoulders I came to a dead stop to find my father's belongings packed at the door and he was standing there with a hurt expression in his eyes. I had on my party dress that mother had purchased the week before; it was white with little pink polka dots and a big pink bow in the front. Of course, I thought it was hideous but I wanted to make her happy so I wore it. My mother was leaning calmly against the door frame staring at my father, and my father was staring at me. The world started spinning in my 13 year old mind because I knew what was coming, it had been happening a lot to my friend's parents, and now it was happening to mine. Divorce. That single word that could break up happy, loving families. We were never a happy, loving family but sometimes I liked to pretend we were. I wasn't shocked that my father had his suitcases packed at the door because I knew my mother and him didn't really love each other. At least they didn't anymore, but I liked to think they did at one time. I still believed love was like in the fairytale stories my father read to me at night when I was young to try to get me to fall asleep. It wasn't his leaving that bothered me, but the fact that he was leaving on my birthday. My hands were trembling and the world felt like it was about to collapse. I tried to hold everything inside but my body was convulsing and I soon found myself on the ground shaking and sobbing. My father was the first to speak and it haunts me still today because that was the last thing I had ever heard him say or that I ever got to say to him. Maybe if I saw him again I could tell him the truth that I've missed him and that I love him, but I guess I will never get that chance.

"Alison, one day you will grow up and you will see that this was for your benefit." he begins but I interrupted with my obnoxious sobs.

I continued convulsing and sobbing on the ground and feeling like I was an infant. Why couldn't he have picked a different day and why did he have to pick my birthday. What kind of father would do that?

"I know it's your birthday honey, but your mother and I we can't agree on anything anymore. She wants me to leave." he looked at me with sad regret, and I stopped shaking and felt a sudden anger rising through my body. I slowly rose up from my previous defeated position, and balled my fists up. Thirteen years of my regressed feelings were boiling to the top and I couldn't control any of them at that moment. I looked at my father with the sweetest look I could muster up and then all hell broke lose.

"Oh daddy, I realize one day I will grow up and maybe one day we can have a normal relationship. It's my birthday and no "normal" father would ever leave his child on her thirteenth birthday, but I guess you've never been normal have you? While my friend's daddies came to their ballet recitals, softball games and their plays where were you? Oh, that's right you were at work." I looked up at him to see if I'd hurt his feelings, and then I continued, "Daddy, you know what I want for my birthday, what I really want is for you to leave. You don't help us anyways and you're never around anymore so it's not like you'll be missed here." I finished with my fists clenched tightly, my fingernails dug into my skin drawing blood.

My face was hot and flushed and I was about to explode, but my father stood his ground and he stared hopelessly in my direction. The one thing I will never forget is the single tear drop falling down his left cheek, and the pained expression as he grabbed his suitcases and tried to walk outside with his remaining dignity to the waiting taxicab. I ran to the kitchen window when I heard the front door slam and watched him walk out with his head hanging low and his shoulders slumped; I watched as he placed his belongings in the trunk of the taxi and I saw him turn around and look back at our house longingly with red swollen eyes. It broke my heart to see my father this way and even if he was never around, I still loved him and I felt horrible about the things I said when he left. I didn't even get to tell my dad goodbye before he left and then I felt a hot breath on the back of my neck that sent shivers down my spine.

"Alison Callahan, I think you made a mistake." She whispered sweetly as she placed the sharp, shiny object to my throat. I could see the light reflecting her tangled red hair off of the knife and I held my breath for what was about to come.

"Your father was the only one able to stop me from doing this." She began. "Oh, he will be happy to see what his leaving has caused. His little princess is about to lose her head." She snickered as she brought the knife's edge hard down on my throat. I could feel the hot blood coming through my fingertips, and trickling downwards. As quickly as the blood had came out of the wound it had stopped. The blood had disappeared and there was no wound where there had just been one. I cried out and stepped back, and in my state of shock I screamed for what seemed like an eternity. Our neighbor, a sweet old lady by the name of Ms. McHenderson came to my rescue. The site she walked in on probably appeared to be terrifying. My mother was looking at me with awe-struck eyes holding a butcher knife and waving it in the air above me and I was holding my neck, screaming and crying so hard I couldn't breathe. Ms. McHenderson rushed to my side and grabbed me in her arms and we were out the door in mere seconds leaving my mother behind. When I looked over Ms. McHenderson's shoulder the sight I saw was terrible; The knife had crashed loudly to the ground, my mother sat on the ground shaking with her knees to her chest, her mouth open and her eyes growing larger by the second.

I close my eyes and grip the side of my seat as the bus driver screeches to a stop in front of "Jacksonville, IL." I open my eyes and stare straight ahead at the outdated bus seat's diamond pattern. I draw the pattern with my fingertips; I try not to notice any of the strangers getting on the bus because I really don't do well with people or in any kind of social environment for that matter. I close my eyes again and rest my head against the back of my seat. I sense someone stop abruptly in front of me so I quickly open my eyes to see a very tall, handsome man standing above me trying to shove his suitcase in an overhead compartment with little to no luck.

"This seat taken Ma'am", He asks coolly in a southern drawl.

I look up to see a set of big, luminous gray eyes staring down at me, and he gives me a lopsided grin. His dark hair just touches his shoulders and it has a wavy texture. He is wearing tight black pants and a dark gray t-shirt fitting snuggly to the contour of his muscles. He could be a famous rock star with his cool and calm demeanor. I lick my lips, and try to guess his age. He seems to be in his mid twenties and I smile up at him and scoot over to the empty seat on the other side of me. Even a hermit like me is a sucker for a cute man and a southern accent. The bus starts to move again jolting me forward and I grimace feeling aggravated. Me and the stranger ride in silence for awhile but I can feel him ogling me from his seat, and I can't help but catch a few glimpses from the corner of my eye at his intriguing eyes and perfect body. I try to stare out the window but the rolling corn and bean fields are becoming somewhat endless. The stranger looks at me skeptically and it makes me look over at him so that we lock eyes for just a few seconds.

"Are you lost?" He questions me with his intriguing eyes.

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## Unusual Circumstances

### Chapter 2

"W-what?" I stutter, and I can hear my voice cracking.

"Oh, it's nothing only my intuition playing tricks, but it's just you seemed so sad. You are way too pretty to ever feel that way. I mean unless you are one of the chosen few who know what lies ahead in the future." The boy with the dreamy eyes answers with a knowing look.

I smile relieved, for a second I thought this guy could read mind's because if he could he would know exactly how I was feeling about the world at the moment. I guess he just assumed because I looked sad I was lost. Still, a very strange coincidence indeed.

"I'm not lost." I say sulkily. "My dad just died, and I have no other living family members so I'm just upset about it I guess."

"Well I'm very sorry for your loss, and I'm sure good things are coming your way."

"By the way where are you headed to? Just curious because I am not sure where I'm going but I know I have to get the hell out of that town there are some creeps living there." He says with a quick glance in my direction and then behind us.

"Creeps? I thought they lived everywhere now." I say jokingly.

"Pretty and witty, you're a real winner." he jokes back. His grey eyes flash excitedly.

He looks at me very seriously, and his eyes begin burning into me. They turn hazy and darker than they were before. It's almost as if he is trying to get inside my head, but I can't stop staring into those big gray eyes. My head burns from the pain and I react to the pain by placing my cool palm against my forehead like a remedy for a migraine.

Alison, Can you hear me?

"What the hell?" I squeak aloud with fright dropping my hand.

"Shhh. don't be frightened. Please just listen it's my job, I can get inside people's heads just talk to me in your mind, think about what you want to say to me and do not say anything out loud because we are being watched by the seekers."

"What are you talking about? What the hell is a seeker, and how did you know my name was Allison? Who do you work for?" I say through my mind, my body is being torn in two. On one side is the burning pain from before but on the other is a calm feeling. It hurts like hell at first, it feels like my skull is on fire. It also feels soothing as if a piece of me was missing until this very moment.

"I can't tell you anything important right now. Where are you going? I am your Protector sent to you from the Kingdom of Newhollow in the Deepwood Forest. Your father sent me for you because he knew you would need my help. I promise that as soon as we reach a safe destination I will explain everything to you." he looks over at me with hopeful eyes, and I try to search for any untruths in his eyes.

"Well you can't expect me to tell my destination to a stranger. First, tell me your name and then tell me your relationship to my father. I promise I will ask no more questions until we reach our destination if you tell me these things." I look over at him and wait for the tingling inside my head to start as he conveys his thoughts into me. I am enjoying this form of communication to much, but it has been the only human interaction I have had in weeks. I wish I could talk like this all the time, I hate talking but I love to listen to others so this is perfect.

"My name is Theo Veltri, and I am the King's advisor. Your father is the King of Newhollow, and you are our beautiful lost princess."

I want to laugh but I don't want to seem rude because I knew when I met him that this was going to be too good to be true. This guy is insane, and I am going along believing that we are having a conversation in our minds. What is wrong with me? This guy just told me I was a lost princess, what a joke. The best thing to do in these kinds of situations is to ignore your confrontation so that it goes away. I ignore him, the bus driver calls out, "Champaign, IL."

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## A Forgotten Home

### Chapter 3

I leap up with great agility and manage to squeeze by the stranger without him realizing what is happening. I only have a backpack so I don't need to fight the overhead compartment for any luggage and I run off the bus without looking behind me. I walk quickly away from the bus until I spot an empty bench and then I sit down and take my backpack off. I check my phone to see what time it is. The numbers blink up at me revealing that it is 10 minutes past 2 pm. I unzip my backpack and grab the book that is lying on top, flipping it to the first page. Before I can even get to the second paragraph someone sits down right beside me. I blow my bangs out of my face and sigh. The nerve of some people, I mean why can't they pick somewhere else to sit there's at least 10 other benches open near us.

"Ma'am you didn't think you could outrun me, did you?" a familiar southern accent asks from the other side of me.

"Listen, I don't know who you are and maybe in Jacksonville it's okay to stalk women that you just met and tell them all kinds of crazy lies about how they are princesses but where I'm from there is such thing as being a gentleman and taking a girl out on a date before you stalk them." I say coldly but then I notice something odd happening to the bus station which had been packed with people a few seconds ago. It becomes completely and eerily empty and the voices have ceased. I begin to spin around in a black abyss and my organs feel as if they are falling out in space with me. I can feel something close to me although it feels very distant, and I close my eyes bracing for impact. Is this what it feels like to faint? Am I fainting or am I falling? Maybe I'm dying. That has to be it; this must be what death feels like.

"You can open your eyes now, Ma'am" The voice says.

I open my eyes to find that my former setting has changed. I have gone from an enormous bus station lobby in the middle of downtown to a very familiar place. It's the kitchen of my old house, and everything is as it was when I left it on my 13th birthday. The dishes are still stacked way up high, its amazing how they don't fall and crash to pieces on the floor. Everything is still disorderly; there are papers everywhere and a giant bookshelf full of my father's odd findings and rare books. The books were all in alphabetical order and the top shelf had knickknacks like a giant shark tooth, a painting done of my parents in Paris near the Eiffel Tower, and a little golden elephant with amethyst eyes. The place still smells like chocolate chip cookies and the dusty books my father loved. I can smell a hint of the cigars my dad used to smoke when he was stressed in his study. I remember sitting by the door and letting the strong smell dwell in my nostrils, and sometimes I would go in the study and sit in his chair just to smell that smell again. I was home again and I didn't realize I missed it so much until this very moment.

"Why did you bring me here?" I look up at the stranger trying to hide my frustratio "I don't know it must have been the closest place to the bus station that you knew of. Teleportation devices only work on places that are near you if you have more than one person using them, but if there is only one person then you can travel anywhere that your heart desires." he tells me matter-of-factly.

"Don't people live here? I mean I haven't been here since I was 13, and I know my mother is in the insanity ward so why is everything exactly the same?" I ask.

"That is simple because your father came back to this house. He searched for you for years but couldn't find you so the only place that he knew of that you might return to someday was here." He answers looking at me sadly.

"Well he didn't look very hard then because I'm sure he could have found me in the orphanage that I was sent to." I say grumpily pouting my lips.

"Just try to forgive your father; He had no idea where you ran away to or where you were sent and he really was genuinely concerned for your safety, but he also had a kingdom to look after." The boy says.

"If he would have told me this sooner then everything would have made sense but now it's just so confusing and the only reason I even believe you is because you used that weird teleportation thing to get us here. Otherwise, I would be calling the cops before you could blink." I look over at him, and he's beaming at me because he knows this means I finally gave in.

"So you believe me. Good, I need you to trust me because I have to protect you and try to explain to you the circumstances of our situation so I need you to tell me in these exact words, I believe you Theo." Theo says mockingly.

I watch him, and then I give out a sigh of relief thinking that maybe I'm not crazy and the conversation on the bus was real because his name is Theo. So maybe this isn't a lie, and maybe my father is the king of some farfetched place. It would make sense if he were the king that his job had to come before his family and all the times my mother said he had affairs after work he probably had to take care of the kingdom. I stare up at the ceiling now realizing that I never really knew my father. I lay my head gently down on the table as my heart feels like it's going to escape my chest, and the lump in my throat becomes to large to ignore, and I begin to cry. Theo walks over to my side and puts a comforting arm around me, but I can't stop crying. It makes me feel worse that this stranger that I just met has to comfort me.

"There, there it's okay, everything is going to be just fine." He whispers as he rubs my back, but nothing helps and after five minutes of me crying I hear him mumble a chant under his breath, and my heart is filled with joy.

"What did you just do?" I say giving him a surprised look.

"Just a trick I picked up when I was younger, and if you can stop crying for five minutes I can teach you all the tricks I know." He says, giving me a mischievous smirk.

"Fine.", I say a bit exasperated.

"Anyways so I guess I should begin by telling you all the things that I know about our world, and what is happening. You'll have to wait to see what we are until we reach the kingdom because the word that we are triggers the seekers to come and find us." He says.

"Please tell me everything you know." I look at him hopefully waiting for answers.

"I can't until you say, I trust you Theo." He says.

"Fine." I say exasperatedly, "I trust you Theo."

"It all began a long time ago when your mother was pregnant with you, your parents were so proud. Your mother had the abilities of a seer, a very powerful ability to see the future which is much different from a human seeker. Your mother foretold of terrible things if you stayed at the palace. Your father had a very trusted advisor named Mathew, who also happened to be his best friend, but the advisor was very powerful and very evil; He grew weary of pretending to be good."

"One night while your mother and father slept in their private chambers after a long, exhausting day of meetings with the citizens the advisor snuck into their room and tried to implant horrible memories into your parents minds. He succeeded in implanting memories into your mothers mind, but the king was aware that something was terribly wrong and jumped out of bed. When he realized it was Mathew he was in shock but quickly came to his senses and was able to pin Mathew against the wall until the guards came to take him away."

"Your father tried for many years to find cures to rid your mother of the implanted memories, but there were none. She would never be the same person she once had been. Mathew was exiled from the kingdom on account of treason and he was sent to the human world. The kingdom put an enchantment on Mathew to strip him of his powers once he reached the human world. They did not realize that the human world had already been enchanted many years ago to allow us to keep our powers for survival so Mathew came to this world with his abilities still intact and has been wrecking havoc on the world ever since.", Theo finished taking a deep breath because he had tried to tell me the sentence as quickly as possible.

"Oh." I respond in shock.

"That is not everything of course. The reason your father sent me here was to be your protector but I also had to come for his body." He looks at me and his cheeks turn a bright crimson red. I do not say anything but stare up at the ceiling. I'm not sure how I feel about him being sent here to retrieve my fathers dead body, I am angry because I feel like the guy is a grave robber but I try not to mouth my opinions. I just sit in awkward silence.

"I realize that I sound like a crazy person, but I'm telling you the truth. Your father was poisoned and our kind cannot die unless we are poisoned by wolf venom. Our kind survives until our 4,000th day. I realize this is a lot to take in because you grew up in the human world and it seems unbelievable but I would never lie to you." He looks genuinely at me.

"So we are not immortal? We can die but we get to live thousands of years, that seems like an unfair trade-off." I say glumly.

"An unfair trade-off; would you rather be a human? Humans only get a life-span of 70-80 years if they do not die of illness or an unforeseen accident first? We get to live exactly 4,000 years, not a day less or a day more and we all die the exact same way." He says.

I ponder what he just said, I have never thought about my future. I have never considered that if I were human I would only get to live another 50 or 60 more years, but now that I could live 4,000 years I could do anything I wanted. I feel better now although I do not like to think about death, I feel relieved that I get longer to ponder life and its meaning.

"Do you still feel that it is unfair?" He asks.

"No. 4,000 years seems acceptable but is there any case where our kind can live longer.

"Can we gain immortality ever?" I ask.

"There have only been 2 cases in our recorded history where our race has been given immortality. In one case, they were given immortality because we needed a historian to keep a written record of our history. She is one of the first of our kind and she will be the last. The second case was one of our kind who had no other abilities but immortality. He had a twin, and she gained all the powers leaving him with nothing. His entire life he lived without having any other abilities and when his 4,000th day came and went, he had not died but kept living on. He helps our historian keep track of our races history now and they are happily married able to live an eternity together.", He answers looking frustrated and his eyes glitter with jealous venom.

"Why did you answer the question in that way?" I ask.

"In what way do you mean?" He questions.

"You answered my question as if you were envious, and these two were undeserving of immortality." I respond.

"Oh, I hadn't realized that I showed my emotions so well to you. It isn't that I feel they are undeserving but I find it unfair that royalty as yourself and your father should not be given immortality.", He answers looking down in embarrassment.

"Thank you for your kind words but just because someone is royalty does not mean that they should not be given the same restrictions as others. If you think about these two people that will live for eternity they will also never experience death, and they will have to live forever watching their friends and family die around them." I say, feeling sorry for the immortal historians.

"I did not mean to offend you princess, and I had never looked at our historians in that way.", He answers.

I begin to feel tired as I notice the sun setting and the sky darkening into a deep violet shade, the cicadas are humming a song unintelligible to human ears in the distance, and the shadows fall around us in the kitchen. I close my eyes exhausted and lean my head back letting my hair fall around me. I reach my arms as high as they will go and yawn lazily.

"Are you tired Princess?" asks Theo.

"Yes I'm exhausted. I think I'm going to go to bed but we can talk more tomorrow. You can sleep in the guest bedroom if you would like." I say.

"No, I must stay awake to guard and protect you in case we have intruders in the middle of the night. Now that Mathew knows you are still alive I cannot take any chances of him coming to poison you the way he poisoned the king so easily and left him to die here." He says seriously.

"Mathew poisoned my father? So that's what killed him?" I ask. "I was unaware of this; even the autopsy said it was the fall that killed him." I say in disbelief.

"Mathew probably implanted them with memories so they would tell you that he fell." He answers.

I stare at him with intrigue. No one has ever stood up for me, or tried to save me from anything. He looks so brave, strong, and attractive in the shadow filled kitchen. He is in that perfect age where his face is still boyishly charming but his body is muscular and manly. I want to run full speed at him and leap in his arms. I scratch my arm awkwardly and look down at my feet. I have never felt so protected and safe in my life, but I am a realist and I know that my life is not meant to be something like a romance novel would portray it to be.

"Thank you." I whisper and turn from him to go upstairs.

He grabs my arm and I spin around to turn towards him. He is inches from my face, I can feel his hot breath on my cheeks. I breathe him in smelling leather and fresh cut grass. He smells like springtime and joy. I close my eyes thinking he wants to kiss me. We just stand like this for a few minutes and he sighs. He lets go of my arm and steps back.

"I will be here for you always to serve and protect you, Alison." He says looking into my eyes longingly.

"I know, Theo. I appreciate this, I mean it. Could you walk me to my room please?" I say nervously.

"Um... sure." He says shakily.

We walk up to my room in silence. I reflect on our moment in the kitchen with a thousand thoughts rushing through my mind. Why didn't he kiss me? Why can't he just take me in his arms now? I grab onto the polished wooden banister my shaky knees struggling to keep my balance. Am I in love? I can't be in love with this guy. We just met today, but he is so beautiful and so different from any other boy I have ever met. I look up to see his eyes gleaming in the darkness, and he walks with a grace that my eyes have never seen. He is like nothing I have ever seen, probably like nothing I will ever see again. He stops and looks back at me smiling making his silver eyes squint and light up the darkness. He reaches his hand down to me and I grab onto it, he pulls me up the stairs and into his arms. He envelops me in a big hug and I cannot breathe. He lifts me up with ease and I can feel his muscles tightening beneath his shirt. His breath and his heart rate quicken to an unfathomable pace as he holds me close. My stomach twists and I squeeze my eyes shut as he carries me against his well-shaped body. He brings me to my bedroom and lays me down on the bed, I wait for him to pounce on me but he just stands over me. I can smell the familiar leather and grassy scent swirl around me. He bends down and kisses me on the forehead and walks towards the door but turns around as if forgetting something.

"Good night, my beautiful princess." He whispers and it echoes behind him as he shuts the door silently.

### Royal Threats

## Chapter 4

"DO NOT TOUCH HER." He screams into my head angrily. The sound is so loud and frightening I cover my head and fall to the ground.

"My King, I'm sorry I just...." I trail off because I cannot finish the sentence.

"Do not test me. I am lying here dead, and my protector is flirting with my daughter. You have been sent here for two reasons. One is to protect her and the other is to bring my body back to the kingdom for revival. I'm sure the kingdom is in chaos by now. I thought I could trust you, now do as I say or you will be banished. Do not touch the princess. I am watching you, Theo."

The voice ceases as quickly as it began. I sit down and rest my head against the cool wall. I wonder if the king can currently read my thoughts, I try not to think about the princess, but I cannot help it. She is so beautiful, so angelic. I think about her long dark hair, and the way the sun shines on it making it appear to be black silk. The way it falls perfectly around her body, enveloping her tiny figure. Her creamy skin, the way she smells of vanilla and her violet eyes. She's more beautiful than the kingdom could have ever imagined. I love her, and I cannot help it. Not only is she beautiful, but she's intelligent and kind. I want Alison more than I have ever wanted anything in the world. I want her more than I ever wanted to be the king's advisor.

I worked hours studying, and training to beat all of the other students and to win the heart of the king. I wanted so badly to serve and protect the royal family, but now I want so badly to have the princess's heart. I would give up my job as the king's advisor to have her. I want to touch her and to love her. I want to give her everything she deserves, and take care of her until our 4,000th day. I sigh deeply. These are all wishes never to be fulfilled because the princess can never be with a guy like me. She deserves a prince, another royalty. Someone who is trained to be able to care for a princess and who can afford all the luxuries she could ever want. My heart clinches as I realize I will never be good enough for the beautiful angel in the room next to me. We are destined to never be together; my throat tightens and I put my face in my hands trying to hide myself from this realization. I close my eyes and begin the long wait for morning; the time when I get to spend another day with the princess, but how will I resist wanting to kiss her or wanting to hold her in my arms and protect her. I will do it for my king I pledge to myself.

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## Funerals are Eventual

### Chapter 5

I wake up with a start, I feel as if I had been falling. I had another nightmare, and my body is covered in cold sweat. My bed is drenched in sweat and I roll over and groan in my pillow. How many nights have I had the same dream, the same horrible nightmare? The dream where I am kidnapped and tortured until a knight comes and rescues me only to be killed by my torturers sword. I know it's just a dream, I know this can't happen we live in a modern world not a fairytale land. We don't use swords anymore and knights don't exist, but why does it feel so real?

I sit up in bed and wonder what the dream could mean. I get up and walk lazily downstairs to the kitchen in search of a nice, hot steaming cup of coffee, but before I reach the kitchen I can already smell incredible scents drifting through the house. It smells delightful, like a mix of chocolate, hazelnut, and vanilla. I have never smelled something so incredibly intoxicating. I hurry towards the kitchen and find Theo standing there in nothing but a pair of gray-striped boxer shorts. They fit snugly around his hips and show off his strong muscular calves, and his abs that gleam in the sunlight with a little bit of sweat dripping down. He has a tattoo on the upper part of his chest, it is a black inky design with two scrolls meeting and connecting in the middle. I look down at my own wardrobe, my robe half falling off showing a bare shoulder and my hair an unbelievable mess. I reach my hand up to comb out my hair and look back up at Theo.

"Oh. I'm so sorry." I manage to splutter out before turning back towards the hall to go upstairs.

"Wait, Princess don't go." He says rushing out and grabbing my arm gently. "I just thought you would be hungry so I made you breakfast and I would have been dressed but I didn't know when you would be awake." He looks at me apologetically.

"I am very hungry, and I could use a cup of coffee but could you please go upstairs and put some clothes on first." I say looking a little too longingly at his abs, and realizing this, I blush and look down at my feet.

"You don't seem to be disappointed by the way you look at me, Princess." He says arrogantly, giving me a flirty grin as he strides off.

"Boys.", I sigh.

I go to the counter to see what the incredible smells are, and come to find that it is homemade crepes with strawberries and whipped cream inside, but the outside is doused in sugar and vanilla with chocolaty syrup. There are two plates set out and on each one Theo has placed two crepes, and chocolate candies. Everything is set out for me to take and the coffee is already placed in a little mug.

"Do you like it?" Theo asks cautiously.

"Yes, it is really wonderful Theo." I say.

"Great, I am so relieved you like it. Your father wasn't sure what you liked, but he said when you were little you loved anything with sugar and strawberries so I made one of my favorites strawberry crepes with hazelnut syrup" He says grinning proudly.

"Wait, you mean you and my dad talked about what I liked for breakfast before he died." I ask curiously.

"Not exactly." He says looking sheepishly over at me. "Since I was your dad's protector first I can communicate with him no matter what so even though he isn't alive right now we can still communicate. His spirit can contact me, and so we have been talking since he was poisoned."

"Oh. I thought we could all communicate telepathically." I say.

"No. The only telepathic communicators are the protectors and the ones they protect because it was an ability given to royalties and their most trusted companions." He answers.

"So my father must really like you to allow you to be our protector and his advisor. You must be a very important person in the kingdom. You're almost like a prince or a knight, aren't you?" I ask in awe.

"Not quite, Princess, I was chosen out of a group of our most talented students to be the King's advisor and protector. Your father trusts me with his life and yours but ever since Mathew deceived him he is a very different man. As for a prince, I can never be a prince because my family is not royalty; our powers are not as strong as your family's. We do have knights but they are often sent on secret missions, they are more like spies then knights. It is not a very highly sought after career by our kind because it is so dangerous." He says humbly.

I grab one of the plates and the cup of coffee being so close to such wonderful looking food is so tempting. I sit down at the table and stare ravenously at the breakfast before me. I don't want to be ungrateful so I wait for Theo to sit down across from me. The minute he sits down I grab my fork and eat the food at a much too hasty speed. The food is gone within seconds, I hadn't realized how hungry I was.

"Is it that good?" He asks.

"It was so delicious. It tastes like nothing I have ever had before, why does everything taste so fresh and natural? These strawberries taste like you just picked them from the garden." I say.

"I may have used an incantation or two." He says looking down at his food, holding up a piece of crepe and staring hungrily at it.

"You can do that to our food? I mean you can put spells on the food to make it taste better?" I ask. "That is so cool. It could solve world hunger, you know."

"Yes, well we aren't allowed to use incantations around humans because it is risky. Humans that come into contact with our spells have often been killed by the spell." He says looking down shamefully. "We are not here to solve all of the human's problems besides we have enough problems of our own."

"You mean if we did an incantation on a human it could kill them? What about Mathew though, he has to put them in his control somehow with incantations without killing them." I ask.

"Mathew doesn't need incantations because his ability allows him to implant memories in the humans. Our abilities cannot harm them, but the magic in our incantations is far to powerful for a human to ever be able to overcome." He says finishing the last bite of his crepe and looking longingly for more. "Incantations died out in our world. Most of our kind uses abilities only now."

"Why are our incantations more powerful than our abilities are? That doesn't make very much sense, aren't they both magical?", I ask.

"Yes. They both contain magic to some degree, but our abilities are blessed with magic that cannot harm humans. Since abilities take little to no magic, and they are just part of us they are not harmful. Incantations contain black magic, which becomes dangerous to use unless you have been trained thoroughly. Incantations require a higher degree of magic and sometimes it can drain its user for days leaving them hindered. If it can do that to our race imagine what it can do to humans." He says.

"Can incantations ever kill us?" I ask.

"I guess it could be possible, although I have never heard of such a case where someone dies from their own magic." He answers. "But enough questions. We need to leave very soon we must rescue your father before Mathew realizes we are here."

"Okay, well his funeral begins at noon just let me go change and get everything ready." I say standing up and leaving the kitchen.

I feel sad. I know my father isn't really dead but going to funerals can make someone feel unhappy and a little gloomy. I sit on the edge of my bed and stare at the mirror across from me, my eyes are red and the tears gleam off of my cheeks. I hold the crumpled piece of paper tightly and think about all the years I missed out on being with my father. I never got to hug him again, or tell him how much I love him. I know he left me for a good reason, but I can't find out the reason until he is alive again. I look down at the paper I wrote for his funeral. All of my deepest feelings and thoughts are on here and I was going to put it in his casket after the funeral but now I want to give it to him. I fold up the paper neatly and put it in my pocket.

I go to my backpack and pull out the outfit I packed for today. A simple black dress, it goes to my knees and the dress has cap sleeves that fit snugly to my arms. I zip up the back and slip into a pair of black flats, I don't ever wear heels. I don't like to feel so far away from the ground, and my lack of grace could make wearing heels a hindrance for me. I hold the black veil in my hand and walk over to the mirror. I put it on adjusting it perfectly, I'm glad it covers my tear stained wet cheeks and my red puffy eyes. I find my little clutch packed with my essentials: cherry Chap Stick, cell phone, a handwritten note for my father and a small pack of Kleenexes. I close it with a snap and tip-toe down the stairs to find Theo cleaning in the kitchen. He is standing next to the sink rinsing off the dishes and humming a song that I have never heard.

"What song are you humming?" I ask.

"Just something my mother used to sing to me when I was little. Do you want to hear it? Of course it was written by our ancestors so you probably can't understand the language but I will sing it for you." He says, clearing his throat and then his voice carries to me the most beautiful language I have ever heard. The sound is airy but deep and strong because of Theo's enchanting voice.

"Tihr a' Lahn, Unasae, lye dagore Fuin. I' dome Athan. Gurth Nuin, ar' kalina hinter lye e' dagora Adel."

"That was amazing. The language is so fantastical, it doesn't even sound real. When you sang that song just now it made all my sadness disappear and it gave me hope. What does the song mean?" I ask.

"The song is an incantation, it was used by our ancestors before they would go out to battle and it's still used by our kind to soothe children. It's like a lullaby that human parents sing to their children at night. Translated into the English language it would be:

Dance in light, Don't give in, we battle darkness. The night beyond. Death beneath us and light behind." he says. "I thought you could use the song's magic before we begin our mission. It is going to be very hard to do this without being caught so we must plan everything out in exact detail. Our first priority is to rescue your father so we will attend the funeral, and then we will sneak back into the cemetery at around midnight. We will recover your fathers body, and then flee. You will take your own teleportation device back to Newhollow, and your father and I will have to go to a closer destination. I rented a car for the occasion because the nearest place to teleport to Deepwood forest is still a four hour drive. So I will take your father's body and come to the car that will be waiting here, we will drive to the ending point of the Mississippi River and there we will be in close enough proximity to enter the forest with my device." He finishes.

"The plan sounds very well-thought out and everything except I don't have a teleportation device and how am I supposed to teleport to a place I have never been to. You can't come with me? I think I'll be to scared to go there alone." I say clearly sounding frightened.

"Your teleportation device is that little elephant your father gave you as a gift. Don't you have it with you? He gave it to you in case of an emergency. Where is it?" He asks frantically.

"No, I know where that is but I thought it was my dad's. It's on top of the bookshelf I noticed it when we teleported here yesterday." I say going over to the bookshelf and plucking the elephant off of it, making dust particles fly everywhere. I turn the elephant over in my hands and notice something happening; the amethyst eyes light up and the familiar dark haze surrounds me. I'm falling and I feel like my stomach could leave me at any moment. It's in my throat, I feel so nauseous please let me get there soon. We stop and I fall in a pile to the ground. I stand up with the elephant in my left hand clenching it angrily. After my eyes adjust to the brightness of the sun I realize where I am. I'm standing in the cemetery of our town, and I'm looking at a small gathering of people. I readjust my dress and brush the dirt and grass off my legs, I try to comb out the leaves from my hair and I run to the funeral session. It has already started, but when I picked up the elephant it was only 10 am I think to myself. I still had two hours to get here on time. I race to the crowd of people and by the time I reach them I am out of breath and heaving. Everyone turns to me their eyes looking apologetic. The odd thing I notice is all of the people gathered here are our neighbors and people from town, not one of the people is someone unknown to me. My father would have had coworkers or friends I didn't know, wouldn't he? This leads me to the realization that everything Theo has said must be true; my father really is the king and I am the princess. My mother, giving me a disgusted look, is sitting in a chair across from me with guards on either side of her.

"Hey, it's about time you showed up." Theo whispers in my ear, tucking a strand behind it. It makes me shiver but it's at least 80 degrees outside so it's not because I'm cold that I shiver.

"Yeah well this stupid elephant..." I begin to explain.

"Shh. be quiet." Someone hisses in my general direction, but when they realize it's me they add an apology with concerned eyes.

The Priest begins the eulogy, and I can hear sobs in all directions. I look down at my feet afraid to look anywhere else, especially at the body in the casket. Hot tears race down my cheeks as the Priest compliments my father and tells the gathered crowd about how amazing he was in life and how helpful he was to our community. He blesses the body and shuts the coffin; it begins to sink into the ground due to the levy. People toss white roses into the grave and I put my hands over my face and sob.

When the last bit of dirt is patted down, I run to the front of the waning crowd and drop to my knees. I curl up and sob until my heart feels like it's going to explode and my throat aches from holding back all the tears. I hear a noise that sounds like a grunt and I look up. My mother is protruding light from her entire body, hurriedly she is whispering something under her breath. I stop sobbing as the guards fall limp and lifeless and she races forward towards me. She grabs me by the neckline of my dress and I choke and sputter and try to kick her. She looks frail and weak but she is still very strong. Her gray hair falls into her eyes and I hadn't noticed earlier how much she has aged. Her eyes are swollen and red and her hair is a disheveled mess.

"Please take me with you, Alison." She manages to choke out before falling to the ground.

"What? It can't be, has she been poisoned?" Theo asks from my side.

"I don't know. What the hell were you doing? You couldn't help me when she was trying to kill me a second ago?" I ask.

"No, she was communicating telepathically with me. We need to take her back to the house quickly. You may get to go with me after all if we have two bodies to revive now." He says looking over at me confused.

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## A Maternal Bond

### Chapter 6

"Theo. Can you hear me?" says a frail voice inside my head.

"Marylyn. Is that you? I thought you had been changed." I answer.

"I must quickly tell you my story. Theo, there isn't much time left. Mathew poisoned me. Earlier today he came to the hospital as a visitor and he offered me one of two things. He said I could live under his control, or I could die with my memories intact like my husband. I chose to have my memories and to die by my husband's side, but I never dreamed you would be here to bring him back to the kingdom in time to revive him. You must save us, but I think that Mathew knows something is wrong so we must hurry."

I stare at Marylyn's lifeless body and breathe in a deep sigh. I look over at the princess who looks baffled, I jog to the tree next to the king's grave and I take out to shovels I had hidden there before the funeral started.

"We have to start the mission early. Your mother's memories have been returned to her by Mathew, and he knows something is wrong or at least he can that feel something is off." I say as I begin digging up the freshly placed dirt.

"What? You're kidding, what if someone sees us digging up my dad's dead body and dragging around two bodies is going to be harder to hide, especially at this time of day." She says looking pale and her eyes widen.

"I can do a quick incantation but it will not be very strong. We can get an hour to be shielded and for time to stop." I say looking gravely at her.

"Okay do it we can dig up the grave in an hour and have my parents in the car and on the way to the kingdom." She says hopefully.

I walk around the grave and then I walk around Marylyn and Alison. I chant out, "coiasira putta" a few times. All noise ceases and the people in the distance are at a standstill. I grab my shovel and begin digging, and Alison follows my actions. We hastily dig until we reach the bottom, and hear the clunk as the shovel hits the coffin. I grab onto the handle and open up the lid. Alison looks away and I grab the kings lifeless body and push myself upwards. I set the king's body next to the queen's and grab Alison's hand. I can hear her panting hard, and when she reaches the top she's covered in dirt and her hair is messy and her black veil is lopsided. She rips the veil off her head and throws it into the dug up grave. If she looks like that, I can only imagine how I look right now.

"Okay, Ali so this is the plan you grab your mother and take her in your arms. I will take your father we will meet at your house and the minute you reach the house get in the car quickly." I say exasperated.

She picks up the elephant laying next to her mother and a moment later they disappear from sight. I feel for my teleportation device, the stop watch is still there. I was worried it might have fallen out when we were digging. I go back to the grave, and touch the dirt and mutter another incantation, "n'alaquel." I hear the clunk of the coffin as it shuts, and the dirt shifts and moves until it is replaced. Everything looks the way it was before so I grab the king in my arms and hold the watch tightly thinking about the princess. The darkness appears surrounding us. I close my eyes and let it absorb every inch of my being; I remember the first few times using it felt like it would rip me to pieces because of its strength. I gracefully land on my feet in front of the little white house still holding the king's lifeless body tightly against me. The car is sitting in the driveway; it's a silver Mazda RX-8. I needed something that would be able to drive quickly and be small enough to be inconspicuous, plus putting an invisibility shield over a silver car is much simpler than any other color. I look over at the front of the house to see the door is ajar, and the flower bed has been demolished. The roses are bent and torn, the lilies lie crumpled, and the dirt in the middle looks like a crater hit it. I jog to the car and place the king's body comfortably in the back seat. I go inside and shout Ali's name, but she doesn't answer me. I go upstairs and peer into her bedroom.

"Ali? Are you in here?" I ask.

"Yeah. I think something happened." She whimpers.

"What do you mean?" I ask her, peering in I see a violet glow around her tiny figure as she touches her mother. The light is brighter near her fingertips as she holds her mother's face in her hands. I can see the queen beginning to move. First her toes begin to wiggle, and then her legs, then her arms twitch, her fingers, and finally her head. She looks like she's convulsing.

"Ali, let go! I think you're hurting her." I scream and run towards her, but the voice in my head stops me.

"Don't make her stop; she has the power to revive." The tiny voice says inside my head.

"But she couldn't possibly have developed her power this much with no training at all." I say feeling the familiar tingling sensation as the queen and I have our wordless conversation.

"In some situations, especially dangerous ones our abilities develop much quicker and stronger without training. She has been under so much stress and her emotions are so strong it just happened."She answers knowingly.

The queen sits up and then stares at Ali in awe. Ali's body is convulsing and she has a pained expression on her face. She begins to close her eyes and she turns as white as a ghost. I run to her plucking her from the ground and into my arms.

"You're warm." She says smiling up at me, then her breathing slows and she falls asleep.

"Queen, are you alright?" I ask. "Will you be okay to walk to the car?"

"Yes, my dear. I feel like a new woman. I have never witnessed a healer with such incredible power as she possesses and I have a feeling that is only the beginning." The queen whispers mostly to herself. Her face begins to contort and change. The wrinkles fade, and her eyes widen in surprise. Her hair turns to its original fire engine red color, and she lifts her hands to look at them. The wrinkles and the age spots fade revealing a fresh new creamy skin. Her face tightens and her freckles increase in number.

"This can't possibly be happening. She returned my youth to me..." The queen looks down at her hands in amazement. She touches her face and a brilliant bright smile flashes across it, but then it fades as she realizes something.

"Theo, run!" She screams as she grabs my hand and rushes down the stairs with a nimbleness that is graceful and beautiful in the same moment.

We run so quickly that I can barely keep up, how can this be? How is she outrunning me when I am at least a few hundred years younger. She flies to the car places her hand on top and whispers, "mori." The car darkens and I grab the handle before it disappears completely. I put Ali down next to her father and crawl into the front seat next to Marylyn. She is sitting next to me grinning widely and playing with her new youthful rejuvenated red hair.

"I can't believe you did that Marylyn. What if I wouldn't have made it to the car in time before the incantation formed around it? Me and Ali would be stuck out there until it wore off. Which could be days or weeks with the energy that you just acquired?" I say angrily.

"I trust you, and I have faith in you Theo. I know that even though you were never my protector the king always spoke highly of you and your abilities." She says looking over at me embarrassed.

"Fine, next time just try to warn me before you decide to take off like that." I say feeling like I'm talking to a child.

"I am the queen. You will listen to me Theo Veltri. Do not speak to me as if I were some misbehaving child because I have not been myself in 20 years so forgive me for having a little bit of fun. I mean I was just a dead old woman 10 minutes ago and now I feel like I'm only 100 years old. I feel completely rejuvenated, I wish there was a way to test my strength." She says looking around for something to punch with all her might.

"I am sorry my queen. I did not mean to offend you, but it's just you frightened me. I have to take care of all of you. I cannot leave any of you behind, and although you do not consider me your protector. I will always be here for you if you need me." I say with pride.

I start the car, and push down hard on the pedal. It has been a long time since I drove a car. I'm accelerating. I'm reaching 100 mph, now 110 mph, and now 120 mph in town. None of those mortal policemen will ever catch me because of our invisibility shield but I have to get there as quickly as possible. The king still needs revived and the princess has exhausted all her powers. I slam on the breaks as we hit the last red light before exiting town.

"Warn a girl before you do that." Ali yells rubbing her eyes sleepily.

"Sorry Princess. I didn't know it was going to turn red so quickly." I say. "Go back to sleep you must be tired."

"I'm not tired. I want to stay awake with you Theo." She says folding her arms and pouting her lips in the backseat.

"Darling, you really aren't tired?" Marylyn asks skeptically.

"Who the hell are you?" Ali demands from the backseat.

"I am your mother, and it is very unladylike to speak to me with such language." Marylyn answers.

"My m-m-mother?" She stutters.

I can tell that they are both in shock, the queen is in shock because her daughter doesn't recognize her, and the daughter is in shock because this stranger is her mother.

"Okay so basically this is what happened. Ali, you have the power to revive but you also restored your mother's youth. Since she had been trapped in the human world for so long her body was beginning to deteriorate and somehow you restored her to her former glory. I have never seen this happen, and it might be a new ability." I say staring coldly at the road because I hadn't realized what this could mean. If Ali has the ability to restore youth and power then she could be very important for Mathew, and if he knew what her ability was he would want to capture and kidnap her immediately. So that's why Marylyn wanted to leave so quickly I think to myself.

I'm racing south down the interstate at extreme speeds, dodging in and out of cars trying to stay one step ahead of everyone. Ali and Marylyn have meaningless back and forth banter and I try to listen but I want to get there as quickly as possible. I am at 140 mph and still going strong, at this rate we will arrive in Cairo by half the time.

"Okay we're finally here." I say driving to the road near the edge of the river. "So is everyone ready?" I say grabbing the king and holding him in my arms.

"Yes." they answer in unison.

"Okay so take your shoes off and go knee deep into the river. Marylyn, maybe you should do the teleportation since Ali has never been to Deepwood forest." I say, watching Ali hand the little elephant over to Marylyn. They pull of their shoes and walk to the rivers edge, they enter it and embrace each other; a moment later they disappear. I grab my pocket watch and think about Deepwood forest. I think about the overgrown trees, and the forest animals. The peaceful sensation I get when I enter the forest, and I think about the smell. The thick scent of musty, earthy, grassy scents combined together. I think about my favorite waterfall near the edge of the forest and the way the air is so crisp, clean, and refreshing near it. The darkness appears fogging my vision, I grip onto the king tighter and my grasp tightens around my pocket watch. We fall through the darkness and land near the waterfall, I open my eyes searching for the queen and princess.

"Theo!" I can hear one shouting, and then the other. They are not far ahead of me so I run towards the sound of their voices.

"Ali! Marylyn!" I yell, and they scream in the distance. What's going on I think to myself. I stop, everything is eerily quiet. It is way too quiet. Where are all the animals, they always warn us of impending danger. A mossy green, red-spotted frog leaps in front of me.

"Trouble." It croaks and leaps off much to quickly. I follow it, sprinting towards the sounds of swords clinking together. Intruders, but where are the scouts protecting the area?

"Theo!" They yell in unison again. They are directly in front of me; I can begin to make out dark cloaked figures. There are four unknown people. They are all of equal height and they wear cloaks covering their faces in shadows. Marylyn and Ali stand in the middle looking like ants compared to the tall dark strangers. The four unknown ones are fighting each other with swords so it gives me a chance to grab the girls and run. This would be so much easier if I didn't have to lug around the King I think to myself.

"Sorry to be an inconvenience to you."He shouts.

"I don't have time for this. I have to get them out of there." I think to him.

"Well use your ability, or you could try to run in there carrying the dead king in your arms. That wouldn't look suspicious."He answers sarcastically.

I close my eyes and for a moment block everything out except the atmosphere around me. I let the world become dark around me, and shut my mind off to all other thoughts. I feel the force of my ability shifting the earth. The ground rumbles around me, and then it shakes so fiercely that it knocks the men with the swords to the ground. They look around wide eyed and begin shouting at each other. Marylyn and Ali take their chance and stagger upwards eyeing the ground surrounding them with weary eyes. The men dart upwards quickly.

"Run!" Marylyn yells to Ali grabbing her hand. They race forward and I chase after them, hot on their trail. I can hear footsteps gaining on us, and they are becoming quicker with each passing second. We keep running until we can hear the sound of the bubbling waterfall up ahead. The air changes drastically, and I inhale the crisp cool air that the waterfall produces. The water shimmers and reflects the sunlight casting a small rainbow across its surface. The queen leaps into the waterfall and is gone, and I follow her. The entrance to Newhollow is enchanted by the elders. This is our only entrance into the kingdom and it can only be accessed by the Elven race. For centuries the other mythical creatures have sought to conquer and control our kingdom only to fail in their search to find it. The portal was made specifically for our kind and anything else is impenetrable.

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## The Arrival

### Chapter 7

My feet touch down on the green grassy meadow, filled with purple and yellow flowers that introduce the elves to the kingdom. It smells just as I remember; it smells like jasmine and lilac flowers. It smells a lot like the princess. I look over at Ali trying to read her emotions and I smile, she appears to like it. She sprawls out in the meadow; her yellow sundress hangs loosely around her waist. Her smile brightens and her eyes widen as she looks up at the bright blue cloudless sky that is always present in Newhollow. The kingdom is almost as perfect and beautiful as the princess is I think to myself.

"Oh, how I love it here." I squeal with delight. "It smells wonderful, and everything is so bright and cheerful. I feel like I'm in another dimension, where it's always springtime without the rain."

I spin around in circles and my loose fitting dress flows freely in circles around me. I have never been so happy in my life. Everything is starting to fit together. I now know who I am, and what I am meant to do. I have a purpose and it's important.

"Stop it." A cold, angry voice grabs me swiftly pulling me close. "What is your name intruder?"

"My name is..." I squeak with fright; oh no, I can't remember my name. Help I think to myself.

"Her name is Alison Callahan. She is part of the royal family, and I suggest you unhand her at once unless you want to be killed for interrogating the lost princess of the city. I suggest you welcome her more courteously next time Simon." demands Theo.

"My apologies, I didn't realize who you were. Fair princess could you ever forgive me?" He says as he bows down with downcast eyes. It's the first time I get a look at the man and he is handsome. He looks wise beyond his years, maybe in his early 40's with wild dark brown hair and some gray highlights, his eyes are as green as the meadow and stubble growing all over his face. His hair sweeps behind his ear and his crooked nose and serious eyes make him look interesting and intriguing. He takes my hand in his and plants a kiss on it.

"Welcome, Princess Alison. I hope that you enjoy the kingdom and can forgive me for my mistake." He says, turning away quickly his dark green robes trailing behind him blowing in the wind.

"That was odd. Why did he leave so quickly? I didn't even get his name." I say thinking out loud.

"He was probably embarrassed because he just attacked the princess and couldn't own up to his mistake." Theo answers with a smirk.

I look over at Theo bemused. I stare at him, if he was amazingly good looking in the human world; he looks like a Greek god in Newhollow. His dark clothes mesh imperfectly with the bright cheerfulness of the environment. He looks a thousand times better in the bright light of Newhollow, I can see every part of his flawless body. The contrast is exquisite, and he smiles wickedly at me. Doesn't he know what he does to me, I think to myself. This is so cruel to not have something so close to me. I envision myself rushing towards him, the surrounding greenery enveloping us as we fall to the ground gripping each other tightly our lips embracing.

"Earth to Ali. Hello?" Theo says loudly making the daydream vanish.

"Sorry. I was a little distracted by other things." I say.

"I can tell. I said your name about twenty times before you even responded. What were you thinking about so intently?" He asks.

"Nothing." I say much to quickly.

"Sure. That's believable." He says, his low rumbling laugh making my heart soar.

"Theo. I need you to take the king to the infirmary. Ali and I have a lot to discuss." Marylyn says speaking for the first time since we have arrived. Theo nods and bows gracefully before the queen. Oh no, is everyone going to be bowing like that in front of me. Theo turns to me and bows, taking my hand and planting a gentle kiss on it.

"Welcome to the kingdom of Newhollow, Princess Alison." He says much to formally for my taste. I watch as he bends over to pick up the king every muscle in his body rippling intensely. He disappears from sight a few moments later leaving my mother and I in the middle of vast greenery. I look around searching for an escape in case she wants to kill me. There is nowhere to go for miles, how the hell am I supposed to get away if she tries killing me. Wait, I can't die I think to myself. Unless she has wolf venom hidden here and this was all a lie and she's actually here to kill me and to bring me to Mathew. I eye the fiery red-head suspiciously.

"My dear child, why do you look at me with such distrust?" She says sweetly.

"I don't know mother. Maybe, I distrust you because you tried to kill me and I find it odd that you miraculously were given your memories." I say coolly.

"All of these are valid points. You were always intelligent as a child. It was not I who attempted to murder you but Mathew. He thought that since you had been born in the human world you're Elven blood would not have developed, but since your father and I have such strong blood lines you must have developed much sooner than expected. I can never express how sorry I am for that. I would never harm you. I hope that someday you will know it was not me but Mathew all those years. I wish I would have had control over my body and my emotions but I didn't." She looks down sadly and her eyes well up with tears, but she continues. "I was given a choice by Mathew. He said that I could both be with him forever and become his queen or I could die uselessly with my husband. He even offered me control of my emotions for the price of death. I was given control of my mind in order to make the decision because he wanted me to choose him on my own accord, but when I choose your father he was enraged. He gave me complete control and allowed me to see everything that I had done to your father and you for the past 20 years. After that he stabbed me with an envenomed knife and left quickly. The venom takes a few days to set into our bloodstream so I decided to go to the funeral in hopes that I would see you and be able to apologize but then I saw Theo and I knew your father had a plan. I hope that one day you will be able to forgive me and love me." She says beaming at me.

"I am one to forgive and forget. It was not you who wanted to kill me and I accept your apology, but it may take me awhile to love you. My childhood scarred me a little to thoroughly." I say seriously.

"I understand, my child. I have a lot to teach you about the kingdom so we must begin our lessons now." She says grabbing my hand and walking forward.

"Where are we going?" I ask.

"To the palace it's straight ahead, can't you see it?" She says looking happily and pointing straight ahead of us.

"I don't see anything." I say, my eyes squint in the bright sunlight as my mother points up ahead. Alright, so maybe my mom is a lunatic because all I see is green fields and flowers surrounding us.

"Open your eyes silly. You'll never be able to see it with your eyes all squinty like that." She says. "Here let me give you a tip instead of straining your eyes, open them wider like this." She demonstrates an astonished look, and I try to mimic hers.

I look away from her and over at what was previously green fields. Now there are buildings and people surrounding us; They cheer our names loudly and clap happily. A white lavish carriage arrives, and it is pulled by two large white arabian horses. The chains the driver holds are made of pure gold. The carriage sparkles and glimmers in the sunshine. The gold trim on the wheel spokes reflect the faces of the people and the door handles are made of gold. The little children race to get in front to see the carriage and I smile.

"Whoa." The driver shouts over the cheers of the people. The horses abruptly stop in front of my mother and I. The driver jumps down. He is much shorter than he appeared to be when steering the carriage.

"My queen and princess, my name is Raleigh Heppler. I am the official driver of the royalties." He says removing his white top hat and bowing down theatrically. He reminds me of a circus ringmaster, I smile to myself. He is short and plump. His white suit fits loosely around his figure and his black hair is in perfect order. He places his hat back on top of his head and helps us into the carriage. The crowd bursts into a loud cheer as he closes the door. The horses begin to move in and out of the crowd while my mother and I bounce back and forth helplessly in the backseat. The inside of the carriage is made entirely of white velvet and it is soft to the touch. The curtains on the windows are a shade of dark gold; I pull the nearest one back and look outside.

"What do you think of the kingdom?" Marylyn asks me.

"I think it's magnificent." I say getting the first view of the city without the distraction of the people. The people dispersed after we entered the carriage and I was grateful for a view of the city and to be out of the eyes of the crowd. The streets were made of red brick and cobblestone and the buildings were of all shapes and sizes. Each one unique from the other; the bakery was made out of a dark mahogany wood with a little yellow door, and the hardware store was made out of a dark gray stone with a forest green wooden door. Each store was made from a different material with a different colored door.

"Mom?" I ask.

"Yes, dear?", she responds.

"What are we exactly? If we aren't human then what are we?", I ask.

"All in good time, Ali." She says, smiling and closing her eyes.

"We have arrived." The driver shouts gruffly from the front seat, I feel the carriage shake as he jumps down. The door opens widely to a wrought-iron gate that stands 10 feet tall. The driver helps my mother and I from the carriage and then the horses and he leave quickly. My mother walks up to the gate and she pulls out a silver necklace. A key glints in the sunlight and she puts it in the lock. The gate groans open and she holds it open as we enter a garden. The garden is breathtaking; it has every color imaginable inside. There is a little stream that weaves in and out of the flower beds. The roses come in every color including red, white, yellow, and black. The lilies grow in multiples of yellows, whites, purples, pinks and oranges that hurt your eyes to look at for too long. There is a small bench near a towering bush and a stone pathway that leads to the palace which is a daunting building hidden by elm trees. It looks very modern compared to the buildings in town. It's almost like a government building in the human world. It is made of steel and granite, so it looks cold and unfamiliar to me. Its beauty is striking because of its large windows it looks well-lit and very official.

"This is home." Marylyn says.

"Why is it so modern looking? The walls are made of steel and granite and the windows are huge." I say.

"So you don't like it..." She says trailing off.

"Oh no. Marylyn it's not that it's just I've never seen something quite so large and menacing." I say embarrassed that I hurt her feelings.

"The structure was designed by your father and I we liked the simplified look and the structural security of it. If we should ever be attacked by the mystics we will be able to withstand it." She answers. "The building is meant for the safety and protection of everyone. If need be we can fit the entire city in it comfortably."

We continue walking up the stone path and we reach the large metal doors. The doors are at least five times the size of my mother and I. She grabs the round knocker and knocks persistently on the door. I look up at the building but my neck begins to hurt before I can even see to the very top of it. It looks more like an exquisite hotel then a palace but I guess that's what you need to keep a city safe. My mother continues to knock on the door becoming furious her cheeks turning as red as her hair.

"Who is it." A small mousy voice questions from the other side.

"It is the queen and the princess." She answers in a stern voice.

"Oh heavens." The voice says frantically unlocking latches and bolts until at last the door clicks open. I am staring down at a tiny old woman in a black skirt and a red button up shirt. Her gray hair is pulled tightly in a bun at the back of her head, and her gray eyebrows scrunch together as she looks at us in amusement. Then, her eyes sparkle and her wrinkles deepen as she begins to laugh.

"It's about time you two showed up. What has it been 20 years since we last saw you." She says between fits of laughter, and her eyes are watering from laughing so hard.

"What's so funny, Mother." Marylyn asks quizzically.

"Nothing and everything. I am just so relieved that you two are safe. My, my, is this Ali? You have grown into a beautiful woman, but you look so much like your father. You must act like your mother then?" She says grabbing me in her arms and embracing me tightly. "What can't give your old grandma a hug?"

"Grandma?" I say questioningly.

"Mom, Ali has had a rough couple days maybe you shouldn't hug her and you know scare her off.", Marylyn says looking at me with a grin. Granny wasn't about to let go of me and when she finally did she looked up with red swollen eyes.

"Sorry for the lack of an introduction. My name is Merian Griesmeyer and I am Marylyn Gries... I mean Marylyn Callahan's mother. So that would make me your grandmother. I have just been waiting for this day for so long that I got a little excited." She explains her cheeks becoming flushed. I can't help but love this tiny, fragile woman. She is everything a grandma should be. She's kind, beautiful, cheerful and understanding. I hug her gently and she takes it as her apology has been accepted.

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## Another Royal Child

### Chapter 8

"Now for you Marylyn. I can't believe you would leave me alone in this giant palace with your son for 20 years. He has driven me insane asking me every question known to man. Grandma when will they come home, why haven't they returned? Are they alive? You have no idea; the same questions daily and since the king hasn't returned in days he thinks he's in charge. I've missed you." She says finally looking down. My mother rushes towards her and picks her up off the ground hugging and shaking her fiercely. "I missed you to mom. It was horrible. I'll tell you all about it over tea. I didn't want to leave but we had to because the kingdom was in danger." She says sobbing hysterically.

"I have a brother?" I ask. They both look at me stunned, but not responding and the next second a loud booming voice echoes through the hall.

"Granny. What's all this racket about? You're never this noisy so what has you so excit..." He trails off, and stares at us from the hallway. A tall boy around my age with the same color hair as mine, and he looks like a younger replica of our father. He has his straight black hair and his broad shoulders. His hands go limp at his sides and his foot begins to tap nervously.

"Mom?" He asks.

He bursts into a sprint skidding across the marble floor and pummeling into her with force that looks like it should knock her down but she easily grabs him in her arms and holds him. He sobs into her gown and she rubs his back.

"Mom. I thought you were dead." The boy with raven black hair sobs into her shoulder. I stand there awkwardly wondering if he knows who I am because I sure the hell did not know he existed until now.

"Is this her?" He questions looking at me carefully.

"Yes this is your twin sister, Alison." She says grabbing me and we all embrace. All I can think is that I'm not an orphan. I have a family; my parents aren't crazy or dead and I have a grandmother and a brother. I grin and let them hold me tightly as we all cry rejoicing each other's long lost company. I have never been so happy in my life... well I take that back except for when I'm with him. What was it about Theo that had me on the edge of my seat? I just met him but there was something very intriguing and different about him, my heart was pounding and I wanted to dance with joy. I had a family, and I was surrounded by love. I was an important person who was going have to learn how to be a princess. I would get to be a ruler one day and I needed to learn how to be a good person. Today was a day I would never forget because I was finally filled with the happiness and joy that I had searched so long for.

"Victor, please show your sister to her quarters. Your grandmother and I will be in the garden; you two are welcome to join us later." She says breathlessly letting us go and we watch as they walk down the big white marble corridor and out the French doors.

We stand awkwardly staring at each other. I have no idea what to say, and by the look on his face neither does he. He breaks the silence with a long sigh.

"What?" I say looking skeptically at him.

"Nothing, I just didn't think I would have any competition for the kingdom." He says, startling me.

"What? Competition but we're siblings and I'm sure you have had a lot more training than I have." I say.

I know I should be mad at him for saying something so mean and childish. I can't help feeling sorry for him. I mean I guess if I never had parents and had to live in this big empty place by myself I would be pretty suspicious of everyone to.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that. We never got a proper greeting. My name is Victor and I am Prince of Newhollow." He says looking down shamefully. I look at him seeing our striking resemblance to each other and I smile. The only difference between us is that he holds himself confidently and I stand and act awkwardly, but we have the same dark hair and strong facial features, our violet eyes matching with long black eyelashes.

"Please do not apologize, Victor. You are my brother you don't have to speak to me so formally." I say grinning at him.

"You don't hold grudges? Good." He says laughing heartily.

"No. I like to forgive and forget. People say things they don't mean all the time. We are supposed to love each other because we're family." I say.

"I'm glad you're not like dad. If you make him mad, then he will stay mad at you for awhile. I've learned that from experience." He says looking glumly ahead. We pass smiling and frowning pictures of royal ancestors. I have never seen so much white in my life. The floors, the walls, the rugs, and the doors, everywhere I look I see white unless we pass a window and see the greenery outside. The place has countless doors and hallways we turn three times and he opens up a pair of double doors. The room we enter is beautiful. I stand gaping at the sight before me. It is definitely a room fit for a princess. The ceilings are high and endless; there are gold embellishments and dark wooden beams that reach the center. In the middle is a large sparkly chandelier with thousands of lights. There are two huge windows with violet draping curtains that reach the floor, and they are tied back with gold ribbon. In between the windows is a pair of French doors that opens up to a large balcony covered in flowers with a small cafe table in the middle. The bed is in the center of the room, it looks like two king sized beds put together. The bed is a four poster bed with a see-through violet canopy. I can see the golden thick bedspread and the white down comforter underneath it. There's a stack of violet pillows at the head of the bed, and a little brown teddy bear. There's a wall covered in mirrors that opens up to a closet full of gowns, clothes, and shoes. A vanity sits on the other wall along with a little changing area and a fireplace with a golden Victorian style chaise that sits across from it. The vanity is a shiny white that gleams in the sunlight and it has a large mirror, and a golden chair. There are already endless supplies of hair and beauty products place neatly on it. Victor leads me to a door near the changing area which is my bathroom. It is an extravagant white marble room, with a large violet claw foot tub in the middle, there's a violet toilet, a matching sink and two windows that open outwards.

"So what do you think? I helped grandma and dad decorate it so in case you ever came home it would be finished." Victor says proudly.

"It's amazing." I say getting teary-eyed and trying to look away.

"Don't cry please. I hate when girls cry." Victor says looking at me, his eyes growing wide.

"I can't help it. This is all to much. It's so beautiful and you called this home, and I took away mom and dad. I didn't even know you existed, and you had to live in this big place alone. I feel like a terrible person." I say through sobs, my shoulders shrug in defeat. He comes over quickly and grabs me in a hug. I try to hold back the tears so I don't ruin his white button up shirt, but they come quickly and uncontrollably.

"You're not a terrible person, Alison. It's not like you did it on purpose. Mother had a vision and you had to leave for the good of the kingdom. I had father here all the time with me. I had it better because at least dad wasn't insane like mom was because of that bastard. He took away everything good that she stood for. She could have killed you if you didn't have royal blood in your veins you might not be alive." He says soothingly. He brushes the tears out of my eyes. "I'm really glad we got to meet, Ali. I've been waiting a long time for this and I'm so happy that our family is together again. I have something for you if you wouldn't mind following me to my room."

I take a towel from under the sink and wipe my eyes dry. The mascara I was wearing earlier covers my face in black blotches and I have to use soap to scrub it all off. I throw the towel in the hamper and follow Victor through the maze of dizzying white hallways until we reach another set of double doors. He opens up his doors to an exact replica of my room except his is full of paintings and instead of violet and gold, his colors are red and gold. The place where my vanity is sits a 42 inch flat screen TV and all the latest gaming systems and games are lying all over the floor. Two red bean bags sit across from the television and a bag of popcorn is on one of them.

"I like your bedroom. It's very manly." I say with a smirk.

"Very funny." He says looking back at me with a grin.

"I wasn't joking. I didn't get a television in my room and I love video games." I say.

"Well, we'll just have to fix that now won't we? For now though you can come here if you ever feel like losing." He says giving me a wink. He goes over to his bedside table and opens one of the drawers pulling out something. He comes back with a little pink and white polka-dot package, a neatly placed pink bow in the middle. He hands it to me with shaky hands and I take it from him.

"It's nothing really big. It's just a welcome home gift from me.", He says.

"I'm sure it's great. I didn't even get you anything; at least you knew I existed." I say, tearing open the package. There's a white picture frame and in it sits a black and white photo of two smiling kids of about age 3. They are in a garden holding hands and laughing happily. "That was us. It was taken by grandmother the day before you, mom, and dad had to leave the city. It's been sitting on my bedside table for years but I thought you might like it." Victor replies.

"We were so cute. Thanks. I love it.", I say smiling up at him.

"That's not all look at the back of it. There should be something else. I picked this out all by myself." He says grinning.

I turn over the picture frame and find a tiny velvet blue envelope. It's stuck on the back with the tape so I take the tape off and open up the envelope to find a small dainty silver bracelet with white gems in between the chains and purple charms in the shape of lilies.

"Dad said you loved lilies, and that you always planted them with him in your garden at home. He also said your favorite color was purple so I had a jeweler in the city make this for you. I even drew up the design." He says proudly looking at his creation.

"Oh wow! This is the best gift I've ever gotten. You are the best brother ever!" I say hugging him happily, and enthusiastically twirling my gift. I put on the bracelet and watch as the little white gems shimmer in the sunlight.

"I'm glad you like it. Yeah, I pretty much am the best, but thanks for acknowledging that." He says sarcastically. "Anyways, we should go meet mom and grandma before they start to think we got lost in this place."

I follow him, completely unaware of the difference between any of the hallways. Every hallway we go through has the same design and layout as the one before it. I could see how someone could easily become lost in this place. We finally get to the lobby area where we first met with the large staircase in the middle that swirls outwards and the huge crystal chandelier that dangles overhead extravagantly. There are a few Victorian style red chairs and a dozen windows. We walk through one more white hallway with family portraits and end up at the end with the French doors that lead to the garden. Victor holds the doors open and we walk down a stone pathway to where mother and grandmother sit on a metal deck overlooking a pond with a waterfall. We take our seats and two servants bring us out iced tea and lemon tarts.

"So how was it my darlings. You didn't get lost." Mother asks us.

"No. Alison had the best palace tour guide around Newhollow." He responds.

"How did you like your room, Ali?", Grandmother asks gently.

"Oh I loved it, and look what Victor gave me as a gift." I say gushing holding up the picture frame and showing off my shimmering flower charm bracelet.

"Oh it's beautiful! You are such a sweet boy, Victor. Can I see the picture?" Mother questions me. I hand the picture over, and watch as her eyes begin to well up. She dabs them quickly with a napkin and shudders. She hands the picture back to me with a frown.

"Why are you sad mother?" Victor asks from across the table.

"I was just thinking about how this was the night Mathew stole my memories and ordered me to burn the city. He wanted me to kill everyone including you and Ali so to keep us safe your father left you here to rule the kingdom in case something should happen and took me and Ali to the human world. Even though I was under Mathew's control I still felt sad and angry because I knew something wasn't right deep inside." She says looking longingly into the pond.

"I wish I could give you those memories back. Even before you were controlled you knew you would have to leave because of Ali and her powers. You foresaw what was going to happen if you didn't.", Grandmother answers.

"Wait, what?" I say angrily. "What do you mean we would have to leave because of me, but you just said she was supposed to destroy the kingdom and that's why we had to leave?"

## True Intentions

### Chapter 9

"Well, Ali. The truth is we had to leave because if we left you and Victor together your powers would flow into just one of you meaning that one of you would get to have a limitless amount of power and the other one would live eternally." Our mother answers.

"What do you mean?" exaggerates Victor. "If we would have stayed as a family one of us would be given the other's entire power? What about now, could that still happen?"

"No. Once your powers have been fully developed then they cannot be combined. The truth is in my vision I saw that Ali had been given the combined powers and that Victor would live eternally unhappily ruling the kingdom. I did not want my children to be unhappy so after Mathew implanted his memories your father thought it would be best if we left; we knew that Ali may never gain her powers in the human world but we had to make sure that everyone would be safe. So now you and Ali both have equal powers." She answers.

Victor and I sigh in relief. I never knew having powers would be so helpful but I also didn't want my brother to have to rule the kingdom eternally that might get to his head. I thought and snickered.

"What's so funny?" Grandma asks.

"Nothing, I was just thinking about something Theo said to me about the eternal historians. How did they get to live eternally?" I ask curiously.

"Well most people don't know this but twins consume each other's power when they are young. They can't develop equally and neither can their power so instead of being split between two equal creatures it combines into one of them. It's completely at random who is given power and who is given eternity." She says knowingly. "There have only been three recorded cases of twins in our race."

"So the two eternal historians were twins? That is amazing, I think I would like to be given eternity." I say pondering my thoughts out loud.

"You would, would you?" says a familiar voice. "I don't believe that would be a wise choice, my dear Ali."

"Father?" I say looking up surprised.

"Yes it is me. I have been healed and restored as good as new.", He says in his deep gruff voice. He is wearing a black button up shirt and matching slacks with a golden cape and a golden bejeweled crown. The crowns jewels shimmer red and blue casting a regal glow. He looks very kingly and exquisite even though he looks rugged and handsome. He walks over to the table and looks at my mother with an interested look.

"My queen." He sighs breathlessly.

"My king.", She breathes in deeply. She stands and straightens the wrinkles from her golden gown. He envelopes her in a hug and they both stand like this smiling. Me and Victor look awkwardly at each other, and grandmother excuses herself from the table. I look back up at my parents who are staring intently into each other's eyes.

"Ahem.", Victor chokes out. "I think Ali and I will go for a walk we have a lot to catch up on."

"Yes, that will be wonderful." My mother says not even acknowledging our presence.

Victor stands up dramatically rolling his eyes and I follow him out into the garden. I look back to see my mother and father kissing passionately and I snicker at the sight. Victor looks over at me questioningly.

"What's so funny?" He asks.

"Nothing. It just seems odd the way they were looking at each other. The whole time I grew up they couldn't stand the sight of one another but now look at them." I say pointing in their direction as they are wrapped up in a passionate kiss.

"Yeah. I guess that would be funny to see them this way for the first time." He replies.

We stroll wordlessly through the garden and I enjoy the solitude. It feels nice to not have to talk to someone for a change. Victor points out the little frogs near the pond, the fox that lives near the willow tree. He remarks that it's his thinking place, and he often finds himself out here to be alone. He stops in front of a gentle stream and removes his shoes. He rolls up his black pants to his knees and sticks his feet in the water.

"Come on Ali." He says patting the spot next to him.

I remove my shoes and sit next to him, dabbing my toes into the refreshing water. I wiggle my toes as the fish swim by us quickly.

"Victor, Have you ever been in love?" I ask suddenly. He looks at me astonished and then looks down at the stream.

"I don't know. I mean, I believe I might have once. Since then I've never found anyone with any of my interests or who would want to be a queen, there are a lot of responsibilities that come with the kingdom." He says thoughtfully.

"Once? You mean you've never fallen in love because no one can meet your standards." I say elbowing him gently and giggling.

"Well, yeah that to." He says grinning. "Have you ever been in love Ali?"

"I don't know. I think I have." I say moving my foot through the water in a rhythmic motion, watching it go backward and forward as the fish dart in and out between it.

"You've fallen in love with a human?", He asks interested.

"Well not exactly. It's Theo." I say blushing after it comes out of my mouth.

"Oh.", He says looking down quickly. Then, he looks back up his violet eyes turning dark and sad.

"Is that bad?" I ask, afraid of what his answer might be.

"It's not necessarily bad; we can't help who we fall in love with. It's just that because of our royal blood we are not allowed to love just anyone." He says looking down regretfully. "I wasn't honest with you before Ali. There is someone that I love, but we can never be together. It is the gardener's daughter and her name is Olivia Vanguard."

"Really?" I say. "How do you know you cannot be with her?"

"Her father is a gardener and she is interested in me but she has no interest in the kingdom." He says sadly, looking down and wiggling his toes towards some of the fish. "I asked her to marry me."

"You did? Aren't you a little young for marriage?" I ask.

"Yes. Well love is different for us because we only feel it one time. The truth is humans could pick any random human that they have an attraction for and call it love, but for us it is more instinctual. It is not a guess for our kind. We are drawn to that person and we meet them at a young age unless we have been exiled to the human world like in your case. Tell me what did you feel when you saw Theo for the first time?" Victor says looking at me intensely.

"Well I felt like I had been missing something until that very moment. I felt like the minute he sat down next to me I was one complete person. My heartbeat got intense and fast, and I couldn't stop looking at him. I wanted him to be mine, more than I've ever wanted anything." I say.

"That's how I felt with Olivia and she felt the same way she said the moment she saw me everything made sense to her. It took us two days to realize that we were a match and it took her one minute to reject my proposal." He says glumly, his eyes turning a deep violet. His anger comes on like a storm, and he says through clenched teeth. "She rejected my offer, but I've heard that she has been arranged to marry Adam, the butcher's son."

"We have to stop her. She doesn't love him, but why haven't you done anything to stop it." I ask astonished.

"Her mother is forcing her to marry him. They are out of money and Olivia told me not to interfere." He says regretfully digging his hands in the dirt.

"Victor. Women say things like that all the time, but it seems like she didn't mean it. You have to stop her before she makes the biggest mistake of her life." I say.

"You don't think she meant I shouldn't interfere with her life then? You think she wanted me to save her." He says pondering my suggestion. "It would make sense. She would never say something like that to me unless her mother put her up to it. When she came here to tell me it her eyes had been swollen and bloodshot and she looked like she had cried for days and starved herself none the less. I hated seeing her that way but I thought she was just upset because she had to stay away from me."

He looks at me carefully and then he gives me a mischievous grin.

"We're going to save Olivia. You'll have to help me with my plan though, dear sister. We only have three days before the wedding and I have very little time to convince Olivia that Adam is all wrong for her." He says rubbing his hands together happily.

"I'll do whatever you need me to." I say joyously.

"First, you have to dress up as a messenger and travel to Olivia's house to give her an urgent message. You'll have to say it's for the wedding and that it needs to be dealt with immediately so that her mother will let you in. Then, once you have Olivia alone tell her who you are and say she is needed at the palace immediately. When she follows you make sure her mother is nowhere to be found and then you two will come here where I will express my undying devotion and love for her." He explains enthusiastically.

We both jump up and race towards the palace eager to put the plan into action. He leads me to a room on the third floor that holds all the palace workers uniforms. We pass aisles of black maid outfits, white chef uniforms with matching hats, red bellboy uniforms, suits, gowns, and finally we manage to find the messenger uniforms in the back. They are made of a dark gray material with gold buttons across the sleeves and front. They have a matching gray hat and a black satchel. He hands me one of the smallest uniforms to try on and leaves as I undress quickly. I hang my clothes on the hanger and place them in the uniforms spot.

"I look like a mailman." I say glumly. Struggling with my jacket that is a little to large for me. "You owe me Victor."

"I think you look adorable." He says grinning as he hurriedly writes a letter to Olivia. He finishes the letter and adds a few hearts near his name. "Okay, here's the letter. Now I need you to say you were sent from the bakery about the wedding cake. The bakery ran out of vanilla and has to make the remaining wedding cakes chocolate. Then you will take her outside and give her this letter to read."

"Okay. I think I can handle that." I say feeling nervous.

"Great. I know you can do it and if anything should go wrong just leave as quickly as possible." He says giving me a hug, and helping me up onto the horse. It's a magnificent black horse with dark eyes and a quiet demeanor. Victor explains the directions to me one more time and the plan and then he sends me off.

The horse speeds through the narrow roads and the dizzying curves at amazing speeds and with such grace that I barely have to move before he leads me exactly in front of a little yellow cottage with tiny windows, a small white fence, and a gorgeous garden. I leap down from the horse and pat him on his head. He nuzzles his face against mine and neighs loudly. I dig through my satchel for the sugar cubes my brother gave me before I left and I give him one which he snatches up out of my hand eagerly.

I see a very petite woman working in the garden and I try to clear my voice. She doesn't respond so I try again.

"Hello. I'm looking for a Miss Vanguard.", I say loudly.

The woman screams and her basket of green roots flies everywhere. I look down at my feet embarrassed; she walks over to me her cheeks rosy and flushed.

"I am Mrs. Vanguard. Are you looking for my daughter Olivia?" She asks.

"Yes. I have some very urgent news for her." I say.

"Okay let me go get her from inside. Wait here a moment." She says turning to go into the cottage. The woman returns with a very fragile looking girl. The girl is in her early teens with wild unkempt brown wavy hair and very high cheekbones. Her lips are red and her face is covered in freckles that compliment her pale skin. She has bright pale blue eyes and she is wearing an apron.

"Hello. What is this urgent news?" She asks in a soprano sing-song voice.

"You must come with me right away." I say eagerly.

"Well can't I clean up?", She asks looking down at her hands covered in flour and her apron.

"Of course." I say smiling at her. She is very beautiful and I can see why my brother has taken such a keen interest in her. Even with her hair a wild disaster and her messy kitchen apron on she is extravagant. She leaves her mother and I in the garden alone.

"What is the urgent news?" Her mother pries hopefully.

"The baker has concerns with the wedding cake." I say importantly.

"Oh, does he?" She says bemused.

"Yes. They have run out of one of the key ingredients to make the vanilla extract and now they must switch everything to chocolate." I say trying to look her straight in the eyes.

"Interesting." She says her snake like eyes darting back and forth.

"Finished." Olivia says.

"Stay here Olivia. This girl is an imposter." Her mother demands.

"An imposter?" Olivia says looking at me helplessly.

"Yes. She says she is here on urgent business for the bakery but I was just there and they had the cake finished and stored away for your wedding. So who are you?" She says spitting in my direction. Both women look in my direction, and wait for a reply. I look at my feet and then back at the garden, unsure of what may happen if I tell the truth.

"Olivia. To be perfectly honest I am the princess and I am here on my brother, Victor's behalf." I say trying to sound royal and important. "I even have a letter hand-written from him for you."

I search through my satchel for the letter and pull it out. I walk over to Olivia and her mother and hand Olivia the letter rolled up and tied together with a violet bow. I watch as Olivia reads the letter, and her mother stares at me angrily. Olivia's cheeks turn bright red and her eyes well up. She folds the letter up and smiles in my direction.

"I must go Mother." She says looking at me gratefully. "This really is the lost princess and her brother has sent for me."

"You are a fool Olivia." Her mother says turning and as quickly as she opens the cottage door she slams it shut.

We walk to the horse and Olivia appears to be ecstatic and excited. She doesn't stop smiling and her hands shake violently. We ride the horse through the forest and up the hills until we reach the palace where we find Victor waiting impatiently tapping his foot. The moment he sees us he smiles joyfully and unclenches his fists. When we get to the palace he helps Olivia down first and than me. Then he returns the horse to its gated area where it gallops freely with the others. I leave as things get even more awkward between Victor and Olivia. He starts to express his undying devotion and I start to get nauseated so I decide to venture out on my own. I haven't been alone since I got here and I could use a little solitude because being a princess is such hard work I think jokingly to myself. I take off my shoes and enjoy the cool wet grass beneath my feet. The locusts are humming and it feels like a warm summer evening beneath the shady trees. I walk past dozens of rose bushes following the gentle stream farther and farther away from the palace.

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## A Stranger in the Forest

### Chapter 10

The forest is getting deeper and darker; I decide to turn around but then I spot something or someone in the distance. I want to get a closer look so I walk in the direction of the strange figure. As I get closer I see that it's a man wearing nothing but a pair of black slacks rolled up to his knees with his feet in the stream. He is just sitting on the bank gazing dreamily into the water.

"I thought you would never come." says a powerful hushed voice. As he looks up I melt. It isn't the same as with Theo, this is a completely different feeling. It's a kind of tear me from reality look that makes my heart soar. His eyes are gold and they sparkle mischievously, his smile is as bright as the sun, his skin is a sun-kissed tan and his brown hair gleams in the sun seeping through the trees leaves. He stands up showing off his well sculpted body and I want to fall down in front of him. His entire aura screams sexually at me. It makes me want to rip off my dress and fall to pieces before him. He reaches out to me and I faint collapsing to the ground in a tunnel of darkness, but I can hear him yelling my name in the distance.

Did she just faint before me I think wildly. What the hell just happened, maybe I should have introduced myself first. Oh her parents are going to kill me now I think looking at the beautiful goddess lying on the ground. I think how like a fallen angel she looks at this moment. Her long lashes against her pale skin, and her mouth in a grimace. I can't believe I made her faint I think unfairly. I scoop her up into my arms and gently hold her close to my body. She moans up at me and I flinch, it's such a sexual sound that I'm trying hard not to kiss her supple lips that are screaming for my attention. Just look ahead I try to tell myself because if I look at her again I may just fall apart. I am always the attention of women but this girl is different. I saw her in my vision wildly lost and I fell in love with her then, but now that I'm holding her I never want to put her down. I hold her closely to my body and sprint the rest of the way up to the castle doors. A servant opens it up and looks at me half naked holding the princess with bemused eyes.

"Nothing happened. Not that I have to defend myself against someone like you." I shout behind me.

I hate this place, but I had to come because I knew she would be here. I've been waiting my entire life for this to happen and when it finally did; I never would have guessed it would be with an Elven princess. My parents were infuriated but sometimes you just have to trust your heart to make good decisions. I don't know why I'm so surprised my mother is elf and I'm half-elf so it would make sense that I should fall in love with one. When I arrived here two months ago her brother and father wanted to kill me on the spot; even after I tried to explain to him that we were supposed to be matched. It was fate and if he tried to stop it she would try to find me. I trudged up the stairs to her magnificent room and laid her down on the bed gently. What if she doesn't love me? What if my vision was wrong and we weren't supposed to be together. I watch the perfect pale goddess sleep peacefully and I decide to wait for as long as it takes to try to explain myself. Even if she doesn't love me at first she would eventually come to love me. Everything was going fine; I sat quietly until I had another vision. It came like an earthquake; everything started to shake around me and the room turned white and began spinning. I saw visions and heard voices in all directions, I tried to find the loudest one but I couldn't find it and then the image became clear. Something was going to happen, and it would go terribly wrong.

## The Halfling Boy

### Chapter 11

"W-what happened?" I ask the odd boy from the forest sitting in my vanity chair. He is staring dreamily into the distance; entranced in something that I can't see.

"Hello? What is your name?" I shout louder thinking that he may have not heard me. He stares ahead frowning in my direction. His face contorts and he falls from the chair crashing to the ground loudly. I jump up from bed and rush over to him. I begin to shake him and then I hit him a few times but in the process end up hurting my hand on his hard stony body.

"Ow." I say rubbing my hand that has reddened from hitting him so hard. I begin to shake him violently. What if he's dead? I feel for a pulse and everything seems normal.

"Hi. Why'd you hit me.", he asks curiously observing my hand.

"Well I thought you were dead." I say.

"So you hit me? How was that supposed to bring me back to life?" He asks jokingly.

"I don't know. I mean I didn't think you were dead when I hit you, I was trying to wake you up." I say embarrassed, my cheeks are starting to get hot. I'm about to blush; I hate blushing.

"That makes more sense. I'm sorry for the lack of an introduction earlier. My name is Riley and I am a half-ling." He says smiling.

"I'm Alison, but most people call me Ali." I say reaching out my hand. He kisses it gently and gazes into my eyes longingly. I look into his for what seems like an eternity and shake my head to clear my mind. "So what is a Half-ling?"

"I'm half-elf, half-wolf. My mother is Elven and my father is beast. They met a long time ago in the first war and fell madly in love. We believe that before birth you are one soul but you become split into two and then become soul mates. They were what the wolves call twin souls. The elves call it Chev or life mates. It's when you have an instant connection with someone and you fall deeply in love with them. Ali, I am yours." He says looking into my eyes seriously.

"Did you bump your head or something? You do realize we've only just met?", I ask trying to avoid eye contact with him. "And anyways, I already have someone and his name is Theo."

"No. Theo is a traitor you cannot be serious." He says, his eyes widening hysterically. "I just had a vision about him kidnapping you."

"Exactly, he probably kidnapped me to get me away from crazy people like you trying to convince me that you're my soul mate.", I say getting up from the floor and going to the door. Riley is faster he reaches the door and stands in front of it blocking my escape. He coolly crosses his arms against his chest; he looks so broody and mysterious that I want to kiss him and hit him at the same time.

"Please, Ali. Just give me a chance to show you that I am yours." He says making a sexy pouty face in my direction.

"Listen. Riley, I already had a connection it was with Theo please leave me alone now." I say and he steps away from the door hunching his shoulders and looking sadly at the floor.

"Fine, just answer this Ali have you had visions of me lately. Did you see me in your dreams or daydreams?" He asks.

"No." I say as I slam the door shut and walk down the endless hall.

I walk past dozens of white doors, trying to piece together the mysteries of life. How have I never in my life had a boyfriend and in this new world I already have two soul mates. When did life become so complicated? This is getting ridiculous I think to myself. I'm lost in thought when suddenly I hear footsteps behind me. Please don't let it be Riley I think to myself. I turn around slowly letting out a dramatic sigh and look up to find Theo racing towards me.

"Ali. Are you hurt?" He asks breathlessly.

"No. Do I look hurt? I'm confused but not hurt." I say sardonically.

"You don't believe him. You don't believe that Riley is your soul mate right?" He asks looking sadly into my eyes.

"No I don't believe in all this stupid soul mate stuff." I say breathing deeply.

"Good. Don't listen to that guy because he's a wolf. You know that wolves can't be trusted." He says winking at me as he grabs my hand. He holds it caressing his fingers lightly against my palm. It feels nice holding a boys hand like this. I feel safe like nothing can happen here.

"So is my dad okay?" I ask him.

"Yeah, H\he's perfectly fine. Although, they didn't do as good of a job as you did with your mom. He looks great but he doesn't look any younger." He says grinning. "That's a great ability to have. We always need healers, and especially good one's like you."

"So what's your ability Theo?" I ask curiously.

"Oh. Nothing really impressive, I can move things with my mind and control the ground." He says nonchalantly.

"Wow. That's awesome! Can you show me it?" I ask hopefully.

"Sure. It takes a second to get into the right mind set. So wait a minute." He says standing very still as he concentrates and stares at the vase ahead of us. The vase hovers in the air and steadily rises faster and faster and then he makes it fly wildly and quickly around the room and land perfectly in its place.

"That was amazing!", I shout gleefully.

"It's no big deal." He says grabbing my hand again and looking over at me.

## Jealousy at the Royal Dinner

### Chapter 12

Delicious smells waft through the halls so we follow them into the kitchen where a feast is being prepared by all the palace chefs. They shoe us out of the kitchen and direct us to the formal sitting room where my family and a few important officials await the meal. My mother has changed into an extravagant golden gown and she wears a golden crown with violet jewels atop her head. Father is wearing black dress pants, a white button up shirt and a golden cape with a matching golden crown. My brother is dressed in the same clothes as earlier staring intensely at Olivia in her red ball gown and red sparkly jewels. She is waving her hands in the air showing everyone her beautiful new engagement ring, a white-gold ring with a large sparkly diamond and two smaller ones on the side.

"You have to change." Theo whispers into my head. We're doing the weird non verbal communication thing that burns your skull.

"Okay. Why?" I ask.

"Your brother asked me to tell you to change because he wants to announce his engagement and he doesn't want his sister wearing human clothes while he makes his big announcement." He telepathically says pulling me away from the crowd and all the guests.

We slip away from the loud conversation of the guests and he brings me into a dressing room full of every type of gown imaginable. It's sorted out in colors, sizes, fabrics, and styles all neatly packed into a large room. He changes into an elegant white suit with a sky blue bow tie, and I choose a sparkly white mermaid gown that accentuates my curves. We sit on the chaise in the middle of the room admiring each other's choices.

"You look lovely, Ali." He breathes.

"You look very handsome as well." I say grinning.

"Would it be okay if I kissed you now?" he asks leaning in closely. I pull his face to mine and our lips part in a rhythmic motion he places his tongue in my mouth and we stay intertwined for a few moments. We finish breathing hard, and our hearts beating quickly. His face is flushed and he smiles at me reaching into his pocket he takes out a long box.

"I've been meaning to give this to you Ali. It's sort of a welcome home gift." he says placing the box in my trembling hands.

"You didn't have to do that." I say tearfully. I open the box up and find a silver necklace with small dangling jewels. In the center is a white pearl in the shape of a heart and in the very center of the pearl is a ruby.

"Do you like it?" he asks worried.

"Like it? I love it!" I scream with joy. "Please put it on me Theo."

He takes the necklace out gently and I pull my hair up in a bun while he wraps it tenderly around my neck and closes the clasp with a click. I can't stop looking at the sparkly necklace and I want to see how it looks so I find a tall mirror and rush towards it. He follows me over and I sigh deeply when I see myself. I look a lot older and more beautiful. I never liked wearing dresses or jewelry but I look so much like a royal princess that the transformation is unbelievable.

"You look wonderful, Ali." Theo says holding me tightly and kissing me on the cheek.

"Thank you Theo. This is such a thoughtful gift." I gush.

"Well we better hurry so we can make it on time to dinner." He says grabbing my hand and pulling me off my cloud and into the formal dining room. Everyone stops and stares when we enter the room. Theo pulls my chair out for me and then sits by me grinning. I can hear people talking about me, saying how I look just like my father, and talking about how I make such a beautiful princess, and it's a shame I've been missing for so long. I catch Riley sitting at the opposite end of me and Theo; he gives us a grimace and if looks could kill me and Theo would be buried 6 feet under by now. His face is red hot with jealousy and he has a pained expression on his face. I try to ignore how hurt he is but I keep looking over catching glimpses of him.

Most of the people around me and Theo want to make small talk. They ask me how the human world is, and if I like the kingdom. How is it being a princess? They tell me how beautiful my necklace is and my bracelet. They go on and on about their problems and the kingdom. I try to pay attention but there are to many people talking over each other that I can't focus.

The food arrives on silver platters and there are five servants designated to each section. Our servant is a petite blonde who rarely smiles but she is fast and she is proper. She brings everyone a plate of vegetable soup that tastes so delicious. It tastes like home grown just dug out of the garden freshness and then she brings out duck in an odd brown sauce that I instantly love. It's so tender and juicy and flavorful; I try to eat slowly and properly like a princess should but the food is so amazing that it's almost impossible. I keep getting my glass filled up with wine, and by the time dessert arrives I'm on my third glass of wine. Everyone looks full and drunk, and when the strawberry cheesecake lands in front of me my eyes light up. I love cheesecake and if it's as good as the rest of the food was I'll seriously believe I've died and gone to heaven. Theo looks over at me with a big goofy grin and I giggle. I look up and Riley's eyes flash with hatred, and I'm instantly ashamed. I don't want to hurt anyone I think mashing my fork into my cheesecake. I take a bite and then gobble up the rest. In my drunken state I've gained some courage so I get up and excuse myself from the table. I tell Theo I need to be left alone and he says he understands so he stays and talks to one of the important people sitting next to him. I can feel Riley watching me intensely. I walk out onto the patio and sit on the ledge staring at the fireflies. I try to count them but lose track at 34 and I begin to weep. I'm not weeping because I'm sad but because I'm finally happy with the way my life is. I can hear something rustling behind me so I wipe my tears and try to act normal.

"Are you okay?", the familiar voice asks. I look behind me to see my father standing in the shadows. He has a pained expression on his face, and I try to look up cheerfully.

"Yeah, I'm fine; I'm just trying to adjust to everything. It's not very easy." I sigh, trying to hold back my tears. He sits down on the edge beside me and puts his arm around me.

"Ali, I've been meaning to say this for a long time but I haven't been around to tell you it. I am so proud of the person that you grew up to be, and I'm sorry for leaving you. I just was torn between love and the kingdom and eventually I had to come back to the people. I love you and I hope that one day you can forgive me for abandoning you." He says in a hushed voice, which doesn't fit him as well as his strong regal voice. I look up at him in surprise, I had not expected him to apologize for leaving but it feels nice to have everything out in the open.

"I would like to apologize to you. I didn't mean everything I said when you left but I was young and stupid and I understand why you had to leave now. I wish you would have told me the truth back then." I say observing the two birds hopping across the lawn and chirping happily, how I wish I was a bird at this moment. I could fly away from soul mates, royalty, palaces, and my problems. I smile at the little black birds enjoying each other's company.

"Thank you Alison. You know if you ever need someone to talk to I'll always be here." He says wrapping his arm around me. We sit in silence watching the sunset together. The sky changes from violet, to orange, to red, and the fireflies begin to dance across the yard.

"How do you like being a princess? And what do you think of the kingdom?", He asks me curiously.

"I love it here. Everyone is so nice and I love the gardens and the way it smells like flowers everywhere I go. I feel like I'm finally home." I blurt out.

"I'm glad that you like it here. I was worried that you would hate it. It's probably nice to already have two suitors to." He says bursting out in a deep rumble of laughter.

"No, that's the worst part. They're driving me crazy with their talk of soul mates and twin souls. I don't know what to do, or who to choose." I say glumly.

"You have the rest of your life to choose someone, although it's pretty evident who you want." He says knowingly.

"It is? I'm glad you know because I have no idea." I say with a sigh. I hear footsteps behind us and look back. Riley stands in the lit doorway looking like a Viking claiming his prize. He is tall and everything about him is flawless. His golden aura matches his eyes, his hair, and even his skin. I cringe and my eyes try to adjust to the brightness that he exudes.

"My grace, can I steal the princess for an evening stroll?" Riley asks confidently.

"She's all yours. Just bring her back before morning." He says grinning and rising up. He shuts the door silently behind him and he leaves us in awkward silence. Come back I wish in my mind. Please don't leave me alone with him, anyone but him.

"Alison. I want to apologize for the way I acted earlier. I know I can come off as a little strong sometimes and I just want to make it up to you." He says sounding very truthful and sincere so I listen to him as he continues. "It's just I haven't been able to get you off my mind since I saw you in my visions and I know we need to begin as friends. So that's what we will do." He finishes and comes to sit by me, a comfortable distance away so that I can't smell his forest scent and minty aftershave.

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## The Other Side of the Halfling Boy

### Chapter 13

"What do you do for fun Riley?" I ask surprising myself with the question.

"For fun...?" He asks pondering my question. "I would like to dance with a beautiful girl, which seems like fun."

"Dancing? Interesting, I would have never guessed." I whisper, mostly to myself.

"Yeah.", He says gazing at the moonlight, his eyes reflect the moonlight casting a silver hue in them. He whispers something underneath his breath and my favorite song begins to play. Frank Sinatra belts out Fly Me to the Moon and I feel like me and Riley are sent to another wonderful time where troubles don't exist. The fireflies dance and spin rhythmically to the music. He stands up and holds his hand out to me. "Would you care to dance with me, enchanting princess?"

I stand up and take his hand. He grabs me and spins me gracefully in circles, and then we dance completely in tune to each other. We can't take our eyes off each other and the way he moves his body and takes the lead makes me want to fall to my knees. I follow his steps and we keep getting closer and closer our noses are touching now and I can see his eyes full of hope and longing. I feel his hot breath against my cheek and the way his hands wrap tightly and securely around me making me feel safe. The next moment we are kissing and holding each other in a heated fashion. I don't want to let go because it's everything I had hoped it would be. He kisses with such intensity that I feel like I might black out from lack of oxygen but then I feel that if he leaves me I'll crumble to pieces falling to the ground. The song ends and he pulls away from me. He looks down at my neck and scoffs.

"What's wrong?" I ask.

"Who gave you that?" he asks in a strong powerful voice.

"Theo.", I whisper.

"Of course he did. Well you're supposed to be mine, Ali. I'm supposed to be your soul mate he's just playing tricks with you." He says looking down at his feet glumly.

He looks up at the moon, gazes up at the stars thoughtfully, and then walks back inside leaving me alone and confused. What just happened? One minute Riley wanted to be friends and the next minute he's playing my favorite song and we're kissing. Why does everything have to be so complicated? I walk back inside dazed; most of the crowd is leaving and my brother spots me and he looks furious. I try to dodge his gaze and walk back to my room without seeing Theo or Riley but they're both standing next to each other arms crossed and angry scowls on their faces arguing about something. I decide to get closer to hear what they're arguing about even though I can already guess.

"Listen Riley, Ali is mine. You're a wolf and you can't just come to the Elven kingdom on a whim. You can't say that you're her soul mate because I found her first." Theo whispers angrily. They're trying to stay quiet so they don't draw too much attention.

"I am half-elf and I can come here whenever I feel like it Theo. The princess and I had a connection and she is my soul mate." He whispers furiously back. I walk up to them with my longest strides possible and grab them by the collars to bring them somewhere more private.

"Listen. If one more person calls me their soul mate, I will literally check myself into an insanity ward. I am not your soul mate Riley and I am not your girl Theo. I'm tired of this and you two need to just leave me alone." I shout, and angrily storm down the hall, leaving their begging and protesting far behind me. I can't wait to escape all this chaos and be wrapped up in my down feather covers. I angrily find my room which is a miracle because the doors all look so similar. I decide that I'm going to make a sign so that I'll never get lost and I can always find my serene bedroom. I open the windows letting the moonlight come in and the cool breeze from the outside blows my curtains. I turn on the light switch next to the door and open up my laptop which had been placed on my vanity. I open up word and begin making my sign. Alison's Bedroom it reads in large block letter and a dark purple font. I hit print and a printer turns on making a loud, creaky, ancient noise. I'm thankful that someone found my computer and installed a printer so that I could have something to focus on other than the two crazy attractive boys fighting for my affection. I leave the sign on my vanity and strode to my closet. I have so many choices that I'm not sure what to wear to bed so I grab a white lacy teddy with matching shorts. I quickly change and then I hear them arguing outside my door, I am becoming infuriated with these two. I open the door wide and let them see me in my see through pajamas. They both fall silent and Riley whistles.

"Leave now, or I will have you both beheaded." I shout frustrated.

"Oh, I like a feisty woman." Riley mocks.

"You look stunning.", coos Theo.

"Shut it, Riley. Thank you Theo." I say, my temper rising again because of Riley's remark.

"You have to pick one of us to stand guard for you tonight." Theo says.

"I have to what?" I ask, angry because I can't even get peace in my own bedroom. "I'm not choosing one of you to stand here all night. I need some peace and quiet so both of you do me a favor and leave." I shout slamming the door to prove a point, and locking my door for safe measure. Really, when it will end, I think to myself.

"Probably never", Theo answers.

"Get the hell out of my head Theo", I command in my most authoritative mind voice.

"Sorry, we're in to close proximity to each other." he says behind the door.

"Fine then go far enough away to where you can't read my thoughts and take wolf-boy with you." I answer.

It becomes silent outside and in my head, after a few moments, so I jump into my bed and start to remove the dozens of covers piled high. I finally find the end and crawl beneath it but then I realize there are too many pillows so I have to throw a few across the room, although placing them next to me would have probably got the job done but I have to let my frustration out somehow. After a few minutes my eyelids become heavy and I fall fast asleep in a deep peaceful sleep. I dream about the knight again. He's riding a big black horse and wearing silver armor; His face is covered and I can't see who it is. I can see myself tied to a table and a man laughing manically above me but I can't see anything else and then the dream ends. I wake up and look around, but it's still dark out so I close my eyes again forcing myself to go back to sleep listening to the relaxing sounds of the bubbling stream and the croaking toads.

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## Wake-up Call

### Chapter 14

I wake with a start to a loud prolonging banging at my door. I close my eyes hoping that it will stop, but it doesn't so I grumble and jump out of bed remembering to put a robe on over my see through pajamas.

"Ali. Wake up it's me Olivia.", Olivia says behind the heavy door. I open up the door to see Olivia awkwardly standing there in a button up polka dot dress that fits her petite frame.

"Good Morning Olivia." I say trying to sound cheerful even though I've always hated mornings.

"I'm sorry to wake you up this way. It's just I needed someone to talk to and we're the same age so I thought you'd be able to help me." She says frantically.

"Sure, come on inside.", I say leading her to my bedroom and through the French doors onto the small patio with a bistro set. Olivia looks paler than usual and frightened.

"Are you okay?" I ask unsurely.

"Yeah, I'm all right, I'm better than fine I'm amazing. It's just I have to tell Adam that I can't marry him and I don't know how to do it." She says looking down at her hands folded down in her lap. "I've never had to break up with anyone, and I've never even had a boyfriend except for your brother."

"So you want me to help you tell him that you have to break off the engagement?" I ask.

"Yes. Please, you seem like a really smart person and I'm sure you've had to break up with someone the way boys here chase you around." She says smirking. What is it with everyone's interest in my love life I think to myself?

"Well if I were you I would take off the engagement ring that my brother gave to you first." I say eying the extraordinary ring that looks beautiful on her skinny finger.

"Okay now what?" She asks straightening up and listening intently.

"Okay then you have to go talk to Adam. Explain your feelings, I like to write my feelings down and then read them out loud. I know it sounds dorky but it's always helped me." I say trying to be as helpful as possible.

"Could you pretend to be Adam just so I can practice what I need to say?" I ask.

"Sure." I say awkwardly. I've never been asked to role play as a man so this could be interesting.

"Hello Adam.", She says coolly.

"Hello Olivia." I say in my deepest manly voice, and she starts laughing hysterically. "This is never going to work if you can't stop laughing."

"Okay. Let's restart this conversation. Adam, I have something important to tell you." She says trying to pull off a serious face.

"Okay.", I say trying to look nervous.

"I can't marry you. I can't marry you because I'm in love with someone else and I don't want us to have to spend the rest of our lives unhappily. I want you to find someone who will truly care and love you the way that I can't because you deserve that. You're an amazing man and I'm just not the one for you." She says sympathetically. "How's that?"

"That was perfect Olivia. It'll be hard but it's worth it in the end because you get to be with the person you're meant to be with." I say.

"You're right." She says standing up, she wraps me in her arms and she smells like honey-suckle. "You're going to make a great sister one day."

We leave my patio together and I go downstairs to the kitchen. I hope there aren't a million chefs in there today because I'm starving. I search all the cabinets for a bowl and a spoon and finally find them, and then I go to the pantry to find cereal. There are all kinds of choices here, healthy or unhealthy, marshmallows or cookie crisp. I opt for a bowl of my favorite lucky charms and pour in some milk. I sit down at the island and enjoy my cereal and the quietness of the kitchen. Grandma walks in and sits down beside me.

"Hello my dear." She says in her cheerful voice.

"Hi Grandma." I reply.

"How did you sleep last night?", She asks genuinely concerned.

"I slept like a baby it was great." I respond.

"Good. Would you want to go to the city with your old grandma today?" She asks.

"Of course, I would love to get a better feel for the kingdom, and the people." I shout with glee, almost spilling my cereal in my excitement.

"Great. I'll get the carriage to pick us up in an hour. Can you be ready by then?" She asks.

"Of course." I say between large spoonfuls of lucky charms. I put the bowl in the sink and rush upstairs where I find someone has placed my sign on the door and when I open my bedroom door everything is clean, the clothes on the floor have been removed and my bed has been made.

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## The Girl with Two Soul Mates

### Chapter 15

I go to my closet and pick out a pair of red ballet flats and a navy blue strapless dress that fits just right. I go to my night table and put on the jewelry that was given to me as a welcome gift. I look in the mirror and smile at my appearance. I look great except for my hair is a disheveled mess from sleeping on it. I sit down at my vanity and grab a brush and start combing out all the tangles. The great thing about my hair is it has a smooth and straight texture. I've never had to use products on it because it just stays flat without anything. I apply very little make-up; I usually only wear mascara, very little eye-liner, and some neutral eye shadow to make my eyes pop out. I love my eyes because they have always been so rare, a light purple color that changes depending upon my moods or the light I'm standing in. I get up and twirl in front of the mirror satisfied with my appearance I race downstairs and out the door where my grandmother and mother stand next to the extravagant white carriage.

"Hello. You look lovely." My mother gushes.

"Thanks.", I reply.

We all stagger into the carriage, and fit snugly inside. I smile at the familiar silky interior and pull up the golden curtain to reveal the vast greenery around me. My grandmother stares outside with her big green eyes that match the enchanting forest around us.

"I know this is a bit soon to start, but would you mind beginning your training tomorrow, Ali?", My mother asks sweetly.

"No. I can't wait to get started on my abilities." I say eagerly.

"Good. You will meet with Lily she is our best Healer and she'll teach you some important incantations. Have you found your other ability yet?" She asks warily.

"I have more than one ability?" I ask anxiously.

"Yes. All full Elven have two abilities, but your friend Riley only has one and that is the ability of Seers. I also share his ability; a Seer is one who can peer into the future through visions or senses." She says sounding uninterested in the topic.

"Will I become a Seer?" I ask hopefully. I've always wanted to see into the future, to know what was going to happen before it actually did would be the ultimate gift.

"It is possible. There are many abilities that elves can possess. The most important abilities are Healers, Seers, and Elementalists. These three are rare abilities that are not possessed by many Elven because they died out long ago." She answers.

"What is an Elementalist?" I ask curiously.

"I believe that Theo is part Elementalist. He can control the earth, wind, fire, air, and water. Do you remember when we first arrived and those men in hoods were trying to capture us he was the one who shook the ground causing them to fall. It's a very useful gift." She says sounding a little envious.

"Amazing.", I sigh.

"Yes it is.", my grandmother replies.

"What kind of abilities do you have Grandma?" I ask.

"Nothing special my dear. I can create force fields and make you do anything I want." She says proudly.

"Cool. Can you show me?" I ask. She places her warm wrinkly hand around my wrist and whispers something under her breath. The next moment her touch becomes icy cold and a thousand knives are cutting through my skull demanding me to close the window. I try to force my hand away but it quickly grabs the curtain and pulls it down with ease. The warmth returns to my body and my mind feels normal again.

"I'm pretty sure I have the coolest grandmother ever." I breathe. "So what's a force field useful for?"

"Well in times of war when I was younger I could project a force field to cover an entire army, but since the war has long since been over and I am too old and fragile I don't get to use it often. It's use is to block magical attacks, incantations, weapons, and any abilities.", She says grinning.

"So you were basically the most important weapon used on the field?", I ask in awe while trying to imagine my little granny standing out in a battle field protecting soldiers from attacks it seemed impossible.

"I wasn't the most important person because everyone had to play a role in the fight, but it sure was fun beating those wolves. I was the elves secret weapon then, they had never heard of an elf possessing such a strong and powerful gift until me." She says clearly reminiscing with a dazed look on her face.

"Okay Mom enough with the war stories; you're going to scare her." my mother announced.

"No. I think it's so amazing that you helped stop the war and you played such an important part.", I say in awe. The carriage jolts to a stop, and the three of us climb out into the bright sunlight of the large city square. People are busy and walking quickly, but no one takes notice of the three royal women in the middle of the city square. Everyone ignores us completely and I wonder curiously why no one is shouting our names or cheering loudly like the first time I was in the city.

"Why is everyone ignoring us?" I ask amusingly.

"Force field." grandmother simply replies.

"The force field causes us to be invisible to the people and they can't hear anything we say or do." my mother proclaims.

"Awesome. It's nice not having to dodge people and worry about anything." I babble, while my grandmother and mother ignore me looking straight ahead to our destination.

"Where are we going?" I ask a little afraid of where they might be taking me. My mother points directly ahead at a scary shop. It's the only shop painted a dark black with an eerie yellow colored door. The sign above reads "Murphy's Mayhem and Mishaps."

"I really had a bad feeling you were going to say we were going there." I gulp.

"Oh. Don't worry it's where we all go our first time in the city.", My grandma replies trying to ease my discomfort, but the closer we get to the store the scarier the people look. I see people decked out in black from head to toe and chanting weird spells. I try to close my eyes but I'm frightened that if I don't open them I might bump into one of the scary gothic people standing outside the shop. We open the door and a cheerful bell jingles.

"Ah ladies, I've been expecting you what can I do for you today?" a tall bald man with beady eyes asks. He is wearing a black tuxedo with a matching black hat, a little black cat purrs and wraps its elongated body around him. He looks more like a cab driver than a man who owns a shop called, "Murphy's Mayhem and Mishaps."

"We need a Seer to tell us who the princess is meant to be with." My mother answers.

"What? I am not meant to be with anyone. I don't want to get my fortune told." I protest but my mother and grandmother have a strong grip on my shoulders.

"Wonderful. Well if you will follow me I can get you a Seer." He says rubbing his hands eagerly together. I struggle harder to free myself from their tight grip, how horrible and embarrassing will this be?

"It'll be fine." My grandmother answers once we enter the darkest, deepest depths of the man's shop. The only thing lighting the room is a few small candles and a glowing orb in the center of a large table with dozens of mismatched chairs. I always imagined a fortune tellers place to look like this. I sit down uncomfortably in one of the seats, and only because my grandmother controls me to sit still and answer all the question the Seer asks. I hate the mind control ability I have decided. It's not a very fair gift when you use it for your own good I think cruelly to myself. The seer enters the room; she is a bubbly lady with long curly blonde hair and way too much make up. She is dressed in what appears to be the attire of an in shape belly dancer, even though she looks like she could be in her 50's in human years that is.

"Hello. I am Madam Serena and I am here to solve your problems." She says in a raspy voice.

"I doubt that." I respond sarcastically.

"You doubt my abilities, young princess?" She demands.

"I'm sorry for my daughter's offensive behavior. My mother and I made her come here to get answers to her love life. You see she has two boys interested in her, but we want to know which one she will choose.", My mother responds before I'm given another chance for an snide remark.

"Give me your hand Princess Ali.", Madam Serena says reaching across the table for my hands. The globe begins to change colors, it was white before but now it's turning blue. I grab onto her hands and hold on tight as we drift into another universe. I feel like I'm floating but watching my life from afar. There are images of me in the human world still in high school having lunch with friends, then me on the bus talking to Theo, then me and Riley riding a majestic black horse, and then Theo's face appears bright red and full of hatred and the images disappear. We fall back to earth our hands slam on the table frightening my mother and grandmother.

"So?" My mother pries.

"It is unclear at this time who she is meant to be with. Both men are good candidates but I found deep in her mind that she knows one of them could be a traitor and only here to play tricks." Madam Serena replies.

"You mean you don't know who her soul mate is?" She asks.

"It seems odd. I've never seen it before but she has had a connection with both of the men in her life meaning that they are each part of her soul." Madam Serena answers. My mother grabs me we find Murphy and pay him in gold pieces, he apologizes profusely and we all three rush out of the store.

"What's going on?" I ask. "Why are you so angry?"

"This can't be happening. How can you have two soul mates? I don't understand it." my mother demands angrily.

"I don't know. I don't even believe in this soul mate crap." I fire back. "It's your fault for taking me to that crack pot fortune teller anyways."

"Okay girls. I think we should go back to the palace and cool off." my grandmother butts in.

"Fine.", I say folding my arms angrily.

"Very well." my mother sighs. She looks worried and concerned as she peers begrudgingly over at me. What I would give to have the ability to read her mind right now. We stagger into the carriage and none of us speak the entire way back to the palace, so it's a long awkward ride back.

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## The Other Girl

### Chapter 16

"Theo!" someone shouts behind me. I lose my balance falling off the ledge of the patio but gracefully landing on my two feet. I shade my eyes from the brightness of the sun and look upwards. It's Blair Yarborough, one of the prettiest girls in the kingdom. She grins down at me; her pixie cut blonde hair bouncing enthusiastically, her blue eyes shimmering playfully in the afternoon sunlight. She is as pale as moonlight and as eccentric as they come, she always wears the color orange (she believes it has the ability to bring her good luck) and she's never seen without a smile. She's brilliant and talented, we competed for the king's advisor position and my charm and ability won him over. I sometimes catch myself wishing that I would have connected with her, but we never had that special moment between us.

"Blair!" I cheer, stretching and trying to show off my muscles. She grins and whistles down at me.

"Theo, you've finally become a man.", she says playfully.

"Oh. I've always been a man.", I say winking in her direction; purposefully making her blush. I can see lust in her eyes; the same lustful look she always has around me. I pull myself upwards and she tries to tug at my arms helpfully. I grunt and finally make it back up the ledge. We sit Indian style reminiscing about our school days and about life. She tells me that she's dating Finn. I don't particularly like Finn; I think he cares too much about what everyone thinks but she seems happy.

"Have you connected with him?" I probe for answers.

"No." she looks down into her lap unhappily.

"So why are you with him then?" I ask realizing the jealousy hidden in my words.

"I don't know, I guess I like him. He's sweet and kind and he takes really good care of me."

"You can't be with a guy just because of that. Any guy can do those things, Blair." I say selfishly. I look up into her deep ocean blue eyes and she looks hurt. "I'm sorry."

"No. It's fine, it's just it's so hard seeing everyone else finding their soul mates around me and I'm stuck being alone." she answers sadly.

"Yeah, Well at least you don't have to compete for your soul mate, that damned wolf boy prince came here claiming that he had a connection with Ali. So my love life has turned into a never ending competition for her affection." I whisper, my words full of hatred.

"Well did he have a connection with her? I mean how is that possible, if you already had the connection with the princess?" she asks.

"I'm not sure, I mean it is possible he's a Half-ling but it's so unfair that I have to compete with a prince; although, he hasn't been much of a competition yet." I say thinking thoughtfully to myself about the prince's intentions. It is odd that he hasn't done anything over the top yet; his family is beyond wealthy and he hasn't showered her with gifts or promises. What if this is just a game to him?

Blair grabs my right arm and her hands feel like they are burning my skin. They warm me like a fire on a cold wintery night. I can feel her digging inside my mind for thoughts but I can't stop her because I'm so relaxed and content so I let her continue. I look up into her eyes frozen in concentration staring directly into my soul. She lets go and I return to normal.

"You know it's rude to just jump inside people's heads like that." I complain.

"Oh you like it, Theo. Anyways, you never tell me how you feel or what you're thinking and it's the easiest way to understand you. Sometimes you're such a closed book." she says dreamily.

"So what did you learn?" I ask fascinated.

"The usual, you were thinking about girls; me and the princess in particular. You wonder if the prince isn't here just to play games with the heart of the princess. I could help you find out, for a small fee." she whispers into my ear teasingly.

"Anything, you name it.", I breathe heavily.

"You promise I can have anything and you can't get mad." she says fidgeting around.

"Yes, I promise. Well anything except murder; I morally cannot do that." I respond.

"Okay. Well kiss me then." she says closing her eyes and leaning forward. She looks so beautiful and innocent; I'd never noticed her freckles, but they look spectacular. She looks so youthful and happy; I lean into her caressing her soft cheek. I can smell her fragrant perfume, she smells like honeysuckle and I breathe it in with a sigh. I lick my lips and then I pull her face towards mine; I can tell she isn't expecting it, but we kiss each other hungrily.

"Theo.", a familiar whisper comes from the doorway. I let go of Blair and look over at Ali standing in the doorway looking lovely. She's paralyzed and she can't move. She just stands there awe-struck and staring at me with her arms folded and her eyes wide.

"Ali, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to..." I trail off knowing it's useless. The girl is as stubborn as they come. I would have an easier time budging a bull then trying to win a fight with her.

"Save it.", she whispers. Venomous hatred fills her eyes and they turn a darker shade. She struts through the door making sure to slam it extra hard leaving me and Blair in an awkward silence.

I run down the hallway, hot tears blurring my vision. I can see people on all sides of me but I ignore their attempts at comforting me. I don't need their help, I don't need anyone. I run and run until I can't feel my body anymore and I collapse into a purple chaise sitting at the end of a hall. I tuck my head into my knees and silently sob. I hate boys, and I hate this place. Everyone is so selfish and everything is like a game that I can't win. I can't please my mother or make boys want to kiss me the way they want to kiss pretty blonde girls. I wish I was still human, still just normal Alison Callahan. I don't want to be a princess, or have a soul mate. I can do fine on my own, and I don't need boys or anyone to make me happy. I hear footsteps creeping nearby

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## Fatherly Advice

### Chapter 17

"Ali.", my name echoes down the hallway. It reaches my ears, making them ring. I cover them up because I can't take the sound.

"Alison.", again my name is called in the distance. My father peers around the corner, and observes me in my crazed state. He tip-toes over to me and sits down noiselessly. He wraps his arm around me, and my pain is taken away. I smile up at him. The one man I can count on, but even he cannot be trusted. He chose the kingdom over his family, my eyes well up again and the tears flow down my cheeks. He takes his palm and wipes my eyes dry, cradling me in his arms. I cling to him and sob because I'm not sure what else I can do. After a few minutes my sobs have become whimpers.

"Do you want to talk about it Ali?", he pleads.

"Not really." I whine.

"It might make you feel better." he offers.

"Fine, it can't hurt. I've had the worst day ever. Everything has gone wrong, mom took me to see a horrible fortune teller and she said I had two soul mates. Now, Mom is mad at me and she yelled at me, but it's not my fault that I've connected with two boys. She wouldn't talk to me the whole ride home so for comfort I looked for Theo." I whimper. "I found him, but he wasn't very much help either because he was kissing a beautiful blonde girl."

I could feel the tears coming again. So I held my breath and thought about something happy, and let my hair fall in my face. Dad brushes it out of my face, and smiles at me.

"Ali. You are a beautiful girl and your mother is just worried because she doesn't want you to choose someone who doesn't really care about you. I don't want to see you hurt either but you're the only one who can choose who your true soul mate is. I'll always be here for you, even though I wasn't a very good dad when you were younger. I'm still a good person, and I want to try to make up for being a terrible father to you." he declares. I hug him because I know that he's trying his best, and I appreciate his help. He looks seriously at me, "I think you should give Riley a chance, he's a great guy. I think he could make you happy. I know we had a war with the wolves long ago, but just don't make a decision based on the past."

He stands up leaving me alone in the cold white halls filled with ancestors and heirlooms. I think about what my father just said. I knew that the elves and the wolves had a war, but I had never considered what would happen if I choose Riley. Would everyone hate me? Would I be shunned, never be able to see my family again? Or was the past really just the past and it didn't have to do with the here and now.

"Ali, can I s-s-speak with you?" Theo stutters. He looks remorseful, like a sad puppy dog with his big grey eyes swollen red. "I know I hurt you. I had to kiss her though because it was a deal. It didn't mean anything; you're the only one that I could ever want like that."

"Theo, can you go away?" I answer. I don't want to see him sad, but I can't let him see me like this: completely vulnerable. His eyes start to tear up, and he nods his head. I can't take it anymore. He turns around and I stop him.

"Wait.", I proclaim. I pat the seat next to me. I know I should be angry but I can't see him acting like this, I kind of feel bad for him. He rushes over and plops down next to me.

"I know you aren't going to be able to trust me for awhile. I did it to protect you though." he gulps. I want to make a cynical comment, but I try to stay quiet. I bite my lips so nothing escapes them unexpectedly. "Blair has a special ability. She can read minds if she touches you, then she know everything you're thinking. She can also know anything you've ever thought. I wanted to use her to get inside Riley's head to make sure he was truly here for your heart and this wasn't just a game." he adds.

"So you kissed a pretty blonde girl for my benefit? Nothing came out of it for you?" I snap. I wanted the truth from him; I really wished for Blair's ability so I could read his mind.

"Do you want the truth?" he asks. "I did want to kiss her. She's gorgeous, but I just wanted to kiss her to see what it would be like. I don't want her the way I want you." he confesses. I stand up and brush the wrinkles out of my dress. I look seriously at the ground because I can't look him in the eyes, I don't want to see him sad again.

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## Fainting

### Chapter 18

"It seems to me like you just want to play games, Theo. I want to be mad at you for a little while. Maybe I will eventually be able to forgive you, but I really liked you and you hurt me.", I sniffle, surprising myself for admitting my feelings to him, even after not being able to admit them to myself. I turn and walk down the hallway; I'm not sure what kind of emotion to feel. I've never broken up with anyone. I mean we weren't together but he was supposed to be part of my soul. My heart hurts and my stomach swirls around with each step. The room is growing dark, the white is disappearing like a painted canvas, and it's covered by black paint. I feel sick, I can feel the room spinning and I fall to the ground with a loud thud.

Is she going to do this every time? I mean I can't carry her around everywhere we go. Why can't we cross paths with each other without her blacking out? I hold her in my arms, her limp body fluidly moving with each bouncing step I take. It reminds me of an odd dance, one where neither of us is in rhythm. I brush her bangs out of her face and listen to her shallow breaths; a deep inhale and a small exhale, its music to my ears. This girl is driving me crazy, and I need her more than I need the air I breathe. I open the door wide and lay her down on the bed. I sit on the bed next to her; and watch her chest as it moves with each breath. I want to kiss her right now; No, I need to kiss her this very minute. I walk over to the side of the bed and lean over her angelic face. What if she wakes up? What would happen if she found me kissing her? I stroke her cheek; it's delicate and soft beneath my fingertips. Her skin is cool and refreshing, and it reminds me of swimming in the river on a hot summer day. I lean closer towards her lips; I close my eyes. I feel kind of creepy leaning over her but I need to be near her, always. I feel like part of me is missing without her in the room. I can feel her hot breath inches from my lips and I finally reach them. The soft suppleness of them intrigues me, and I want more but I feel her moving around. She slaps me hard and I fall to the ground in amazement holding my cheek.

"That hurt!" I proclaim.

"Good. I hope it did." she hisses.

"I really need to kiss you." I groan, rubbing my face. The stinging is nonstop and she's angry. Our first kiss wasn't as I hoped it would be. "I'm in love with you Ali."

"What?" she replies.

"I love you." I repeat. She looks at me with her big violet eyes growing wider by the second. "Say something please." I beg.

"You just met me! You can't love someone that you just met.", she assures me. "I know you think that we are soul mates but we aren't."

I get up and brush my face with my fingertips. "I don't give up.", I boom, and I leave the room slamming the door loudly behind me.

Why does she have to deny what she feels for me? I walk downstairs towards the kitchen in search of Victor. We've become really close, and he really understands how I feel about everything. He's like the older brother that I've always wanted. We play video games together and have food fights, and we can act like we're 10 and no one thinks it's strange. He recently asked me to be his best man in his wedding, and I'm pretty excited about it. I'm not very good at writing speeches though so I'm dreading that part but I'm glad to see him happy with Olivia. I see him wrapped up in Olivia's arms and I wave at him, wishing that Ali would let me hold her the way he gets to hold Olivia.

"Victor!" I shout.

"Hey Riley!" He greets.

"Hi Riley." Olivia chimes in.

"Olivia.", I nod. "Would you mind if I steal Victor for awhile, I'm having some lady troubles?"

"Sure.", she beams.

"No getting into trouble you two." she warns us.

"Not us." we say innocently together. When we're out of earshot I start to explain my problems to Victor and he listens intently.

What is it with everyone? Everyone's telling me about their feelings and I just want to be left alone. My stomach starts to growl, and I groan. I get up out of bed, feeling like I'm in a drugged state. I rub my eyes groggily wondering how long ago I fainted before I woke up. I look at my clock on the wall.

It's 8 pm and we arrived home from town at 5 so that means between finding Theo in the arms of another girl, talking to my dad, fighting with Theo, and blacking out it had been three hours. I put on a pair of comfortable tan fuzzy slippers and walk downstairs towards the kitchen. My stomach gurgles loudly again. I can't wait to cook because it always takes my mind off of things. The fridge is full of every ingredient that you could imagine. I decide on pancakes so I place all the ingredients on the counter before me and begin to work. I put my hair up in a high ponytail and roll my long sleeves back. I hum a familiar tune, Blackbird by the Beatles and dance around the kitchen, stirring and cooking madly. It smells wonderful, and when my delicious creation is finished I cover it in too much syrup and scarf it down hungrily.

I lean back in my chair and moan because my stomach is filled to the brim. A breeze blows behind me and the hallway door slams loudly shut. I gulp and turn around in my seat hoping that it's not Riley or Theo behind me. It's Victor and Riley awkwardly keeping stride with each other. I look up at their faces, there is sweat trickling down them and their shirts are drenched in sweat. They're gasping for breath and holding onto the wall behind them for support.

"Are you guys all right?" I ask shocked. They start laughing uncontrollably and collapse to the ground. The house shakes from their loud bellowing laughter.

"What is so funny?" I demand haughtily, folding my arms across my chest. They continue their childish fits of laughter so I decide to turn around in my seat and ignore them.

"Oh man, I so beat you Victor. It was a close one, but I'm the champion!" Riley shouts with glee. He jumps up in the air and the floor thuds when he lands back down.

"My god, I didn't know we invited an elephant to come stay with us." I say angrily.

"Are you going to take that from a girl, Riley?" Victor asks jokingly.

"You guys are so annoying!" I shout leaping out of my chair and racing up the stairs to my room.

I jump onto my bed and land breathlessly on my mountain of pillows. I stare outside at the setting sun. It's a beautiful evening and the sky is already filled with thousands of fireflies dancing in the meadows below me. I get out of bed and open my door to step out onto my balcony. I sit down and stare at the fireflies as they flicker on and off in the distance. I smile and stare into the clouds enjoying the wonderful colors painting the sky. There is a noise which brings me back to reality; it's a knock at my door.

"Who is it?" I shout loudly.

"It's Riley. Can I come in please?" He begs behind the thick wooden door. His voice is barely audible.

"Okay.", I sigh. I don't really want him to come into my room, but I don't want to get up and yell at him so I give in.

"Ali.", he breathes. He stares at me completely engrossed.

"How can I help you?" I ask. I'm trying to ignore his weird behavior. What the hell is he staring at? Is there something on my face? I brush my face with my hand just to check, but he just stands there staring.

"What is wrong with you?", I ask.

"Nothing, it's just that you look especially beautiful in front of the sunlight, it makes you look illuminated. I didn't mean to look so strange." He says clearly embarrassed by his behavior.

"It's okay. Do you want to sit with me?" I ask. He looks stunned for a moment, but gathers his composure; walks over and pulls out a chair for me, and then sits across from me.

"Thanks.", He says bemused.

"For what?" I ask.

"For this, for letting me be near you without any confrontation between us." He sighs.

"You're welcome, I guess." I mumble. He doesn't respond to my answer and gets a very distant look in his eyes. He stares at the dancing fireflies below, flickering on and off rhythmically.

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## Important Favors

### Chapter 19

"Can I ask you something, Ali? It's a very important favor, and if it's to much then you don't have to do it.", He whispers. He looks over at me pleadingly with his deep golden eyes. I look back into his eyes, mesmerized by their deep brown rings and the golden flecks of light gleaming against the setting sun. He gets closer to me and I can feel his hot breath against my cheek. I close my eyes and breathe his skin in. He smells wonderful like the earth right after a rainstorm and I get lost in his big golden eyes. They start to shimmer and change becoming lighter and lighter with excitement. I start to feel insecure, completely unsure of myself. I know he wants to kiss me, but what if I don't do it right and I make a fool of myself. The only other boy I've kissed was Theo, and that didn't quite work out the way I had planned. I stop looking into his eyes and stare down at my hands.

"What was the favor?" I ask, transfixed looking at my pale hands. I look up at Riley and he looks back flabbergasted. I know exactly what he is thinking without having to read his mind, we just had a moment. We should be kissing right now. Why did she break our connection? I can see the hurt in his eyes. He clears his voice and tries to ignore the awkward thing that just happened between us.

"I need you to come home with me." he says looking at me seriously.

"Home? With you?" I ask astonished.

"Yes. You see my oldest sister is getting married shortly after your brother and I really need someone to go with me. I would appreciate it if you would accompany me.", he says shyly. His cheeks turn a bright red and he looks so adorable that I can't say no to him. His tan skin and his flushed cheeks make him look so vulnerable. "It doesn't have to be a date. We could just go as friends." he adds quickly.

"I would like that, Riley." I say amused. He quickly raises his fist in the air victoriously bringing it down. I give him a smile, and try not to laugh at his quirkiness.

"Awesome. Thanks Ali!" He shouts, jumping from his seat and tossing the chair to the ground. He races out of my room joyfully. My heart flutters and I feel lightheaded. My stomach has a giant knot taking over half of my body and making it hard to breathe. I feel excited about our non-date, and I can't wait until I can see Riley again. I smile looking down happily.

There's a loud knock at my door. Thinking that it's Riley again, I leap up from my chair almost tumbling through my doorway into the bedroom but I quickly catch my balance. I throw the door open, and place a big smile on my face.

"Hi.", I say breathlessly.

"Hello.", my mother answers.

"Mom I thought you were someone else.", I say looking down in disappointment.

"Well please don't seem so enthusiastic about seeing me." she says giggling, her wild red hair bouncing like hot flames around her shoulders playfully. "Anyways, I just stopped by to tell you good night and to tell you to get some sleep. You begin your training tomorrow."

"I do?" I ask excitedly. "I can't wait." I cheerfully dance around the room. My mother grabs hold of me in an embrace surprising me.

"I'm glad you're excited. I also heard some wonderful news." she says grinning sheepishly.

"What?" I ask curiously.

"I heard you have a date with Riley." she answers.

"Oh. It's not a date. I'm just going with him to his sister's wedding." I reply.

"Sure. That's not what he thinks, he has been going around the palace shouting about his date with the princess." she says smiling at me.

"Great. Now I have to explain to everyone that it's not a date." I say blowing my bangs out of my face in frustration. "He is so childish."

"Give him a break, Ali. He's just excited." she explains. "He really is a great guy and he has a big heart."

"Why does everyone keep saying that?" I ask.

"I don't know probably because it's the truth." she answers. "Anyways, I'm tired being a queen is hard work so I'm going to bed. Goodnight darling."

"Goodnight, Mom." I say. I watch my mother bounce down the hallway, cheerfully humming a tune and I close the door. Someone is breathing down my neck. It's a familiar smell, and I turn around to a hulking giant. He's furious and who could blame him?

"What the hell is your problem, Ali?" He shouts, slamming his hand against my wall. I try to scream but nothing escapes my lungs. I'm paralyzed. Help me, I think loudly in my head. Please someone help me. Theo lunges at me, and I get out of the way just in time as he crashes into my vanity. The glass shatters and I use the opportunity to escape my bedroom. The door squeaks loudly and I sprint down the hallway still unable to speak or scream. Someone or something comes sprinting quickly from the opposite end of the hallway. It's moving so quickly that it's a blur. As it whizzes by me, all I can see is a huge mass of fur. It stops short of my doorway and growls, ferociously pawing at the ground. I rush towards it, afraid that it may hurt Theo.

"Wait. Please don't hurt him!" I squeal and sprint towards the wolf, but it's too late it's already in attack mode. It jumps up in the air and I reach my bedroom in time to see the wolf tear into Theo's leg. He screams in agony and the wolf stops biting him. The animal drops down next to Theo, and makes a whimpering sound. I don't know which is worse, the blood gushing from Theo's leg or the overgrown, sad looking wolf in my bedroom. The room fills with mist and it becomes impossible to see. The effects make me feel faint and dizzy so I grab onto the doorway for help. When the mist finally clears I see Riley lying with just a pair of polka-dot boxers on the floor and Theo lying lifelessly by his side.

I cry out rushing to Theo's side. I can't speak because everything has happened so quickly that my brain needs time to respond. Riley looks up at me in astonishment when the white light protrudes from my fingers, I gently touch Theo's leg, and caress his open wound. It begins healing instantly, but the pain that it delivers to me is unbearable. I clench down grinding my teeth and trying not to cry. Riley whimpers next to me and I try to focus on Theo's wound. Theo begins to move around again and the pain in my body subsides. I let go of his leg and put my hands at my sides.

"I'm so sorry Ali." Riley whispers. "I just had to save you, I saw what he wanted to do to you and it scared me so my emotions made me transform." he says looking down bitterly at his shaking hands.

"Thank you, Riley." I whisper. I lean in and kiss him on the cheek. He looks up in surprise. My cheeks are wet and hot from the tears. Theo groans from the other side of us.

"What happened?" he asks blankly.

"You just tried to kill Ali! You bastard!" Riley shouts.

"I, what? I would never do that!" Theo retaliates.

"You wanted to. I saw what the future would be if I didn't intervene!" Riley yells furiously.

"Well, wolf boy maybe you need to get your brain re-calibrated because I would never hurt Ali!" Theo answers defensively. "Really, what just happened?"

"Theo. You just tried to kill me." I say bravely. "I don't know what happened exactly but you yelled at me before lunging at me."

"I did?" He asks astonished.

"Yeah. Do you know what happened?" I ask.

"I don't know. I remember talking to Blair about you and how you were angry with me. I wanted her to tell you that it was her idea for me to kiss her not mine. I wanted to win you back so I came up to your room and then it got really hot. My tattoos started to burn and then I blacked out." He says cautiously.

"Can you lift up your shirt? I have a theory that just might prove to be right. If you're embarrassed, you don't have to." I add.

"Great. Thanks, Ali. He tries to kill you and you still want to see him naked." Riley whines.

"No. I need to test something." I answer. Theo lifts up his dark shirt revealing his fit body. I try not to stare at the sweat trickling down his well-formed abs. I lick my lips trying to focus on my plan.

"Riley. You can read the future, right?" I ask. "Can you touch something and know what will happen?"

"Yeah, I can touch anyone and know what they will become. I will know their gifts, their profession, their love, and their end, but remember being a Seer does not always mean that that will be your definite future. Why?" he asks curiously.

"I need you to touch Theo and tell me what happens." I say.

Theo tries to wriggle free but Riley grabs him quickly. He closes his eyes and his face turns emotionless for a few seconds. He opens his eyes and stares incredulously at Theo. "Who are you?" Riley asks.

"What are you talking about?" Theo asks bewildered. "I'm Theo Veltri. I'm the king's advisor and the princess's protector.

"It's the strangest thing, but when I touched you something went wrong. You didn't have a future. Everything was a complete blank. That has never happened before." Riley cautions.

"Maybe it was a mistake." I chime in.

"No. It was very strange but whenever I touched him I could feel someone shouting at me to stop. Someone kept repeating let go of him, and my hands started burning. It really creeped me out." Riley hesitates. We stare at Theo and Theo stares back at us. He looks frightened and alone. I want to give him a hug, but I decide against it.

"I think we should all get some sleep. Maybe we could discuss it in the morning. I can tell that Theo doesn't want to talk about it and Riley it looks like you just saw a ghost.", I say getting up and leading the boys out of my bedroom. "Goodnight boys. I'll see you in the morning. Maybe we can discuss this serious matter over a delicious breakfast."

I watch them as they head off in opposite directions with their heads hanging low in a thoughtful manner. I close the door, and then crawl into my large, comfortable bed anxiously awaiting sleep but a thousand thoughts fill my brain keeping my mind occupied and without sleep. I look up at the ceiling, and the time reads 3:10 am. There's a soft rustling noise outside of my bedroom door so I quietly creep towards it and try to listen from the other side. I cup my hands placing them around my ear and against the door. I can hear two people in the hallway whispering quietly.

"What are we going to do?" one voice asks. It's unrecognizable and I have never heard this voice before.

"I don't know. She has to find out soon enough what he is.", the other unknown woman's voice whispers.

"Do you think that if she finds out that he isn't who he says he is, she will still love him?" the first voice asks.

"We will have to wait and see, our master gave us strict orders not to communicate with each other. The royalties will suspect something is wrong if they see us together at these odd hours." the second voice answers and silence follows except for their distant footsteps echoing through the hallways.

I want to see who the mysterious women are and know who they were discussing, but unfortunately I can't see through thick wooden doors, turn invisible, or read minds. This healing gift is getting pretty boring, compared to all the other useful gifts out there that I could have had. I return to my bed feeling particularly annoyed about not knowing anything that happens around the castle.

I hear another noise outside on my balcony as something crashes down onto the concrete behind the table. I pull the blankets over my eyes as frightened as a child is of the monster under their bed. The thing outside groans in pain and then all is quiet, I remove the blanket and peek outside. There is only the moonlight shining onto the patio so it's impossible to make out the large figure standing behind my glass. His back is turned towards me, and he is wearing a dark cloak made out of some kind of shimmering material. He turns around and I squeal when I see that it's Riley. I race to the door unlatching the lock and allowing him to come into my room.

"Riley? What are you doing awake and how did you get up to my room?" I ask stunned. He puts his hands to my lips and quiets me. He leans towards me, and puts his lips onto my ear as I shudder.

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## Danger

### Chapter 20

"You cannot think about anything, we must leave immediately. You are in danger, remember keep your mind empty." he whispers. When he moves forward, I see that my grandma had been hidden behind him the whole time.

"Grandmother, what are you doing here?" I ask.

"Ali. You must leave quickly. Riley will explain everything once you are far enough away, but there is something dreadfully wrong in the palace. I will follow you out of town but then you're on your own." she whispers. Riley takes my hand and guides me down the hallway. He and grandmother look around the corners stealthily, and when we finally make it outside they both exhale nervously. I want to ask them a dozen questions but I know that something must be wrong, and I must be in danger so I decide to listen to them and not speak. I can feel myself relaxing as grandmother grabs onto my shoulder helping me onto the horse. She smiles up at me, but in a painful manner.

"You and Riley will ride on horseback together, and I will take my own horse. I will follow you out of town and then I must come back here." she murmurs. I can see her breath from the chilly morning as she speaks. I shiver and Riley removes the cloak and places it over my shoulders. I'm frightened and the expression on Riley and grandmother's face is grim. The ride through the forest is dark and scary; the silence from Riley and grandmother is as eerie as the noises the forest creatures make in the dark hours of the night around us. I wrap my arms around Riley, squeezing tightly as the large arms of my cloak dangle awkwardly past my hands. Riley's chest rises and falls in a perfect pattern that lulls me to sleep, I fight to stay awake but my body is so exhausted that I lay my head on his shoulder and fall asleep instantly before I even get a chance to ask any more questions.

I wake up to the sound of a crackling fire nearby. I sit up urgently searching for Riley, and I spot him bent over next to a tree nearby. He turns around carrying an armful of fire wood.

"Good morning, Sleepyhead." he whistles.

"Good morning." I yawn. "Why is it so cold? Where are we?" I ask shivering and wrapping my arms protectively around my chest. I look around at the scenery surrounding me; it is breathtaking. We are sitting on a grassy hill that slopes steeply downward towards a large half-frozen body of lake. The tiny ice particles reflect the sunlight upwards. In the distance is a few large mountain peaks covered in a blanket of pale white snow.

"We are near the Kingdom of Elacia. It is my home and it is located in the North because werewolves are accustomed to the colder temperatures." he answers. He has changed and is wearing a flannel jacket and a pair of rugged blue jeans. He looks like a real mountaineer and I stare at him as he places the firewood onto the fire. I stare into the fire and think about my family and the palace I left behind longingly, wishing that I could reverse time and return.

"Will my family be safe?" I ask.

"I had a vision earlier before we left that no one was seriously injured. They damaged your entire room but everyone else escaped with minor cuts and bruises." he answers.

"Thank goodness." I breathe out a sigh of relief. "Thanks again for your help."

"Can I tell you what exactly happened at the palace?" he asks cautiously.

I really don't want to hear it, but then deep inside I am longing to know. I look down at my palms glowing with sweat even though the weather is frigid and cold. The chilly breeze lightly blows my hair back and I look up into his golden eyes.

"I need to know." I say trying to reassure myself that this is actually what I want from him. I feel sick to my stomach and any moment whatever I had consumed from the day before is bound to appear magically before my eyes.

"No one was hurt but I know what's wrong with Theo." he says, saying Theo's name callously. "Theo's father is Mathew, but he doesn't know this yet. Theo was forced to kidnap you but since he failed in his attempt Theo has disappeared and no one knows where he went."

"Theo's gone." I whisper feeling much more emotional than I thought I would. This is worse than I thought it would be, Theo my soul mate gone and his father wants him to kidnap me. After I think about the second thing I am torn into two pieces. One part of me really loves Theo, but the other part is angry at him for even considering bringing me to Mathew.

"Theo's father implanted his mind with memories as a baby and nothing that Theo has done since then has truly been his choice. I'm sure that the real Theo would never want to hurt you." He reassures me, I am surprised to see that he is helping him but it doesn't last long. "He's still a jerk." Riley says giving me a smug look and folding his arms across his chest. He stands up and wipes his jeans clean looking around and into the trees. He puts his finger up to his mouth in a shushing manner. I grow increasingly frightened by this motion and try to speak but he races to me holding his hand against my mouth. As I listen closely I hear a rustling noise from nearby and my heart thuds loudly in my chest.

Riley holds me tightly and kisses my forehead then he stands up and draws a weapon out of his pocket and positions behind a tree. The thing moves above us now quickly, spinning around until it lands gracefully in front of us. I think I'm going to have a heart attack and I open my eyes to see a small boy, about 10 years old standing inches from Riley's face.

"Brother!" the little boy shouts with glee and jumped onto Riley's back making him drop the weapon and fall to the ground. They're both on the ground rolling around and laughing hysterically. Riley finally stands up after five minutes of rolling around on the ground and he helps the little boy up onto his feet. Now that I get a closer look at the little boy I realize how similar he looks to Riley. They both have the same shade of golden eyes, but the little boy has dark hair, almost as dark as my own and it is cut shorter than Riley's. They have the same smile and the same upturned nose and rosy cheeks. The little boy is dressed in brown corduroy material with a loose long-sleeved green button-up shirt.

"Is this her Riley?" he asks, staring at me with a big grin. "She is beautiful."

"Yes, Princess Alison this is my brother Lucas." Riley replies patting his little brother on the head. Lucas fights to escape Riley's hold and runs up to me.

"Nice to meet you, Princess. Our family has been eagerly expecting your arrival." His tone becomes much more formal and I shake his hand but he looks at me oddly. He takes my hand and kisses it. "Girls don't shake the hands of men around these parts." He says, shaking his head and doing his best to sound like an old western cowboy. Riley playfully taps him on the shoulder and he cries out in pain, but then the mood turns more serious.

"Does mom know you're all the way out here by yourself Lucas?" Riley asks crossing his arms and trying to look fiercely down at his younger brother.

"Yeah..." he replies with a sheepish grin and as his eyes widen we both know that he is lying. "Aw. Fine. Mom doesn't know I'm out here Riley but guess what I'm starting to get my superpowers just like you!", he exclaims joyfully changing the mood and the temperament of his older brother in an instant. Riley picks up his little brother in a bear hug and swings him around at dizzying speeds in circles so fast it makes my own head spin.

"You got your powers?" Riley shouts with glee. "So what are they Lucas?"

"I'm a Seer, just like you! Isn't that great?" he answers smiling happily.

"That's fantastic." Riley says sounding a little distracted. "Well we should start going back home before the creatures of the night start appearing."

He grabs his little brother by the hand and drags him to our horse where he hoisted him up and then he helped me up afterwards, wrapping his strong arms around my waist. Lucas grabs onto the reins of the horse tightly and Riley begins to lead the horse forward as he walks. I hold on tightly to the fragile body of the small boy. I am worried that at any moment the horse might decide to sprint forward and I will be left with nothing to keep myself on it, and at that moment I decide that I really don't like horses. It is my first time riding one other than when we had to escape the palace. I was so exhausted that I didn't remember much of that journey so this had been my first conscious experience with riding a horse and it wasn't turning out that well. My stomach feels queasy and I am trying to keep the food that I had eaten inside me so I distract myself by looking around at my surroundings. As we start to go down the giant grassy hill, the snowflakes begin to fall all around us shimmering in the sunlight and I look to my left as we pass the body of lake that I had seen from the top of the hill. It sparkles as the snowflakes reflect on it covering it in a thin layer of snow. As we get closer to the lake I see shadowy figures dancing beneath the ice in the water.

"What are those Riley?" I ask pointing towards the lake.

"The souls of demons." He says seriously.

"Right.", I smirk, imagining that he is trying to scare me.

Lucas casts a wary eye towards the lake, but I become distracted by other things. I gasp at the scene before my eyes because unlike the ancient kingdom of the elves, Elacia is a large modern metropolitan city bustling with life and every inch of the city is lit up like an enchanted fortress. The only thing that makes it even appear to be a kingdom of creatures other than humans is the large wrought iron gate that surrounds the entire city, and the sound of horses hooves instead of car engines.

"Where are all the cars?" I ask frowning.

"What is a car?" responds Lucas.

"You seriously don't know what a car is? What have you been doing your whole life living under a rock?" I joke. "A car is something with four wheels made out of machines that transport people from place to place."

"Oh. Those things that humans use instead of horses?" asks Lucas. "We don't really need anything like that because if we need to get somewhere fast we're much faster than any car that a human can build."

"That makes sense." I reply feeling a little disappointed that I will have to get used to riding horses and not feeling in control of my own speed.

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## Captive

### Chapter 21

Hot steamy breath is on my face, and inches from my mouth. Something is standing above me, and I don't want to open my eyes to figure out what it is. I close them tighter than they were before and the numbness of my body is beginning to wear off. I can feel my arms and legs being confined to a cold metal table, and I try to keep my breathing at a steady pace as if I were sleeping. It is too late, who knew how long I had been in trouble by now.

"Oh, you're beginning to come around I see?" He speaks in his raspy hushed voice. It sounds familiar and yet exotic at the same time with a hint of a foreign accent. "It's okay to open your eyes, you know. I can't hurt you."

I don't want to open them I know that if I open them the reality of the situation will come to life so I strain to keep them shut. I use every part of my already weary body to keep them closed, but it won't be long before I have to give up the fight. I don't want to try to speak but I can't just lay here, trapped like a defenseless animal. I know I really only have two options: I can scream like hell until someone hears me, or I can use an incantation. I'm not very good at creating spells in stressful situations, but I have to try because I know that screaming like hell was not going to save me. I reach into the farthest corner of my mind; trying to think of an escape spell, and I close my eyes trying to remember the beginning of my incantation training. It is difficult but it finally comes to me, and I open my eyes grinning upwards staring into the eyes of my captor.

"Loa." I chant loudly. His eyes become enraged and I know that I have angered him, but I feel something in my body that is new and exciting. The room begins to shrink and I grow larger and larger. I can't control it. I have to think of a spell to stop the incantation or I will grow as large as Alice did when she arrived in Wonderland. I close my eyes concentrating and trying to willfully stop the growth with my mind but I continued to get larger, the shackles tighten around my wrists and become unbearably painful. I look down to see that they are beginning to rip and my legs are already free.

"Esteë", I shout with glee remembering how to stop an incantation and the shackles on my wrist make a deafening cracking sound, releasing me from my former prison. The hideous balding man stands in a corner, there are scars across both sides of his face. On the left side is a much larger and deeper wound that had never completely healed while on his right cheek he has a much smaller red scar. He is a tiny man even if I hadn't used my growth incantation he had to be just at five feet, and I tower over him now like a giant. He squeals in agony and I almost take pity on him. I grab him by his collar and put my face inches from his, staring into his uneven lopsided eyes. One of them is a dark blue, while the other eye is a lighter blue, almost a white color. The same light blue of someone that is blind. I shake him in the air with one of my fists and growl with fury. I put my face up against his again just so that he knows I am being serious and I begin to ask him questions.

"Where am I?" I question in my livid voice. I know that if I were on the other end of that voice I would be answering the questions because I was already in a pissed off mood. I could see by the look in the man's eyes that he didn't want any trouble from me and he is willing to co-operate. "Who are you?"

"I am Alfred and this is my laboratory. You have been chosen as one of the experiments of Mathew. You are one of his most important experiments yet. It is an honor to be chosen by him, you see." Alfred replies, sounding like a brain-washed drone and if I wasn't one of the good guys I would have probably rid myself of him quickly but I need more answers that only he an provide.

"Where are we at Alfred? Where is your laboratory? I was an experiment? What does that mean?" the questions were spurting quickly out of my mouth, without me even having a chance to think them over. I am a level-headed person; I never like to enter into a situation without the upper hand. I knew the more time I wasted with the henchmen of Mathew the less time I had to get rid of Mathew once and for all. I listened to Alfred's answers anyway because I thought they could be useful and it turned out I was right.

"We are in the world of mortals, a little town known as Chipewa Lake, my dear boy! Mathew has been here for two decades trying to enter into the world of the elves, but every attempt has been a failure. That is why he needs you. You are his key to gaining access into Newhollow." he explains this all to me smugly.

"You mean we're in Ohio!" I shout. "How the hell am I supposed to get back to Newhollow from here?" I slam Alfred down with a loud crash, and briskly start my search for Mathew leaving behind a moaning Alfred.

I reach the hallway and I'm stunned by the elegance and grandeur of the place. At least, Mathew has good taste. The floors are black and white marble with gold speckles, and the walls are painted a deep red. At the end of the hallway stands a knight in armor looking valiantly back at me. My footsteps echo loudly through the empty hallway full of doors, each door painted black as the night sky. I'm confused by the number of doors and choices they present, there are at least 20 doors in this single hallway on either side of me. I decide to open the first door and start from there, but as I open it I hear the eerie music of a piano filling up the room. It sounds so sad that it fills my heart up and brings tears to my eyes blurring my vision. I quickly shut the door in agony and the feeling disappears. I try the second door. It's a door marked with a large golden two in the center of it. I step inside bracing myself for the worst. The room is filled with humans of every shape, size, and color. They are each in large tubes filled with water and bubbles and wires, an eerie green light as the background to their horrified expressions each one clearly in mid-scream. I back slowly away from the humans and try to reach for the door handle but it's gone. I gasp because there is no door where there formerly was one. I search around the room wildly. Everything is the exact same. The room is still windowless, dark, and eerie. The only difference is where there was once an escape there now is only a shelf full of ancient scientific tools. I am trapped, trapped in a room full of the silent screams of people.

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## The Demon City

### Chapter 22

The horses come to a halt as we stop in front of the giant iron gates that tower above us. They are soaring above us; they have to be at least 30 feet tall. The stench of the city slams into my nostrils making my head spin. It's a mixture between dirt, blood, and a sewer. It's awful and I want to lean over my horse but I pull my jacket up and try to breathe normally.

"What is that awful smell?" I whine as the gate slowly creaks open to let us enter. A tiny hobgoblin with cysts growing out of his forehead and green gooey laceration greets us haughtily.

"Greetings.", he croaks out in a guttural sound.

My mind is whirring and I can feel myself drifting. I can feel it leaving and it's darkening. It's happening. It's going to happen. I try to mumble something but I become paralyzed and the darkness sets in again.

"Dammit!" I shout, as I jump off my horse to catch the princess as she tumbles off her horse.

"What a wimp." Lucas says between fits of laughter.

"Maybe I should have warned her about the city?" I say, winking at my little brother. I hold Ali tightly in my arms and jump onto my horse.

"Boris. Can you get someone to bring this horse to the palace?" I request.

"Of course, your majesty. Will the girl be alright?" he asks appearing to be deeply concerned.

"She'll be okay. Keep up the good work." I answer with a salute as we ride past him and into the hustle and bustle of the city.

"I have to do something really fast. Can you take the horse to the palace and Ali with you?" I ask my little brother.

"Yeah." he responds quickly. He gently grazes the right ear of his horse with his thumb and bright white majestic wings appear on each side. They shine in the darkness like beacons of light. I pull Ali next to my body and I jump off my own horse and place her comfortably in front of my little brother's tiny structure.

"Are you sure that you can hold onto her while the horse is flying?" I ask cautiously.

"Yeah. I'll be fine." He answers as he wraps his little arms tightly around her waist and the horse starts to descend upwards. I watch for a few moments just to make sure that they are both safe and then I pull the reigns so that my own horse moves forward. We move past the faces of all the creatures living in the city. This city was built for all those creatures that weren't wanted in the mortal world or the flawless world of the Fae and the Elves. Werewolves care a lot less about appearances and morals than the Fae and the Elves, we're all for equality.

We built this city as a safe haven for all the unwanted things in the world. We have warlocks, witches, trolls, zombies, dwarves, vampires, ghouls, goblins, ghosts, and anything else that your mind can conjure up. We move past the restaurants, the bars, the shops all owned by the creatures of the night. I look up at the sign that reads Trolley's Trinkets and Treasures. This is the shop I had wanted to go to and I make the horse halt and tie him up on the rail. I pull a treat out of my pocket and the horse's hoof pats the ground happily as I hold it out in my hand. He slurps it up out of my hand and whinnies.

I open the door and the tiny bell rings in my ear. A large troll with large pointed ears, a pointy chin, purple skin, protruding eyes, and a crooked nose looks up from a book. He scoots his glasses forward so that he can see me clearly.

"Prince Riley!" He shouts with glee and walks towards me. "I wondered what had happened to you. Have you found the girl then?"

"Yes, I found her. How are you Trolley? How's business?" I ask.

"Wonderful! What can I help you with today?" he asks in a serious tone.

"I need a ring for the girl." I say.

"Oh, a ring? I have just the thing." He yells as he runs to the farthest corner of the store and digs through one of the many treasure chests holding the trinkets and jewels that the store sells. He pulls out something and puts all the treasure back in the treasure chest quickly. He walks over and opens his hand to reveal a tiny ring. I pick it up from his hand and hold it closely to my face. It's a platinum ring with a pave setting and a big shiny purple diamond in the middle and tiny little ones surrounding it.

"It's perfect!" I say bringing it up to the cash register.

"Will this be going on the tab then?" he asks.

"No. I'll pay cash I don't want father or mother knowing about this yet. So you must keep it secret." I say.

"Okay. Well that will be 100 Liefs." he says eyeing the ring thoughtfully. One thing that Trolls hate is parting with their shiny jewelry, but their love for money far surpasses their love for jewels. I pull out two coins each worth 50 Lief. They both have tiny 50's embossed all over on them and I smile up at Trolley and he places my ring in a beautiful white velvet box.

"Thanks again." I say as I put the white box in my coat pocket.

"It's always a pleasure." He answers grinning and showing his large white teeth.

I exit the shop to find my horse staring angrily back at me. He's a very needy creature if I ever leave him I have to feed him a dozen sugar cubes and the only other person he lets ride him is my sister Helena. He's a very stubborn animal but I walk up to him and pat him softly on the head, untying him from the post. I jump on and lean into his mane whispering the word, "Fly." He releases his wings and we start to float upwards. The wind rushes in my ears and I hold on tightly to the reigns as I give my horse complete control. I look down at the city, it's dark and gloomy but the people who occupy the city are bright and cheerful even if they are monsters there's something very lovely about them, I mean they're lovely during the day. Once the sun sets though, it's a different story if you aren't one of them then you better get out of Elacia immediately. We soar high up above the mountain and cliffs that surround the city. I can see the castle in the distance. It's one of those ancient European ones built high upon a cliff overlooking an exceptionally large body of water. Here in our world this sea is known as the Dark Sea, the one thing that separates the Elacians from the inhabitants of Newhollow. It's a deep dark sea full of mad creatures, who live in a dark and lonely pit. A few of the Dark sea creatures have been known to escape our sea and enter into the Mortal world. One of the creatures that have been known to escape through the portals of wizards are the Trenadines. They're an ancient breed that has lived in the Dark Sea far longer than we have lived on their land. They have dark gray leathery skin, and four tiny fins on their sides. Their teeth are razor sharp and their eyes are as soulless and dark as I imagine the depths of hell to be. They're unimaginably fast and very clever even in the Mortal world only one has been spotted. They've even given the monster a name, "Nessie." I find mortals to be unbearably dull, they have to name every object just to give it some sort of significance.

We land in front of the ancient castle. I take in the scent of the wilderness that surrounds me, the trees, the salty smell of the ocean, and the smell of campfires in the distance. I lick my lips and direct the horse forward to the horse stables. I put him in with the others and feed him a sugar cube, and enter the side door leading into the kitchen. The cooks are hard at work preparing things for dinner. I smile and walk by quietly trying not to distract them, but they all see me and whistle at me. It's their way of saying hello without actually saying it. I whistle back in return and escape into the lavish dining hall, the hall with the giant crystal chandelier and light wooden floors. The room is so large that upon entry it makes my head spin every time. The walls are painted a deep blue and embossed in silver with modern artworks created by a few of the citizens of Elacia. My favorite piece is the one that hangs next to the entry to the kitchen. It's a large painting with streaks of blue, green, and yellow it depicts a field just at sunset but the bushes are painted black like shadows in the distance. I stare trans fixedly at the painting and am startled when someone enters the door next to me.

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## Escape
Chapter 23

Is there someone behind me? I swear that I heard a creaking sound behind the bookshelf to the right of me. I look over but the room is still just as empty as it was before. Why do I feel like there's someone else in here then? I hear a loud clanking noise above me. It sounds like ancient pipes coming to life after an eternity without use. The sound of rushing waters screams into my ears. I hold my hands over my ears as water enters from above me, below me, and to the sides of me. It feels as if a hurricane is forcing its way into my mind. Glass is breaking, and there's crashing sounds all around. I want to give into the water and let it take me over, but there's one thing in mind. One person that keeps me from doing this, it's Ali; she's standing in the distance. She's smiling and running to me, and then her whispers and her hair and her touch fill me up.

They keep me warm and they surround me with love and hope. I know that I have to survive that I have to save her. My conscious mind must still be trying to help me. It whispers two words, and they whisper echoes into all corners of my mind until it finally escapes my mouth, "coiasira putta." I remember the spell to freeze time, but I'll only have five minutes until the flooding begins again. I try to think of all the incantations that I had learned previously, and then it becomes obvious what I must do. I close my eyes and inhale deeply. I shut my mind off and envision a swirling cloud, a cloud so dark grey, and large that it envelopes the room. It eventually envelopes even me. I can feel myself becoming a dark nothingness like the cloud. I exist only to do one thing and that is to get larger, and to envelop everything in my way. I become one with the cloud, I can only feel my breaths as I inhale deeply. I breathe in the water and it fills my veins up until they feel like they'll explode. I can't see what's happening in front of me but I can feel myself becoming smaller. I'm shrinking in size and I'm becoming a liquid element. It's a strange feeling but after a moment it stops. I feel normal, but I feel wet and cold. All feeling rushes back to my body and my eyes flicker open revealing the scene in front of me. I'm stranded in the middle of a lake and all around me are large trees. They tower over the lake and the reflecting branches look like arms trying to pull me out. I exhale deeply and water spurts out of my mouth. I swim to the edge of the lake and find that there's a green bench under the tree. I hop out of the water and take off my jeans and shirt, but I keep my boxers on just in case someone sees me. The branches cool me off from the summer sun of Ohio. The sun beats down in small spaces and I find two large spaces to dry my jeans and my shirt. I put my hands above my head and I lay back on the bench and tap my toes to silent music. I feel happy to be alive and comfortable, and I soon let my sleepiness give in and feel the darkness take its place.

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## The Castle on the Sea

### Chapter 24

"Riley! Is it really you?" a tall woman with frizzy blonde hair asks as she enters the room. Her skin is paler than mine and she is wearing a bright orange dress the color of flames. "Oh, I missed you darling."

My mother pulls me close to her and hugs me so tightly that it's hard to breathe. I try to squeeze out of her death grip but I'm unsuccessful so I just let her hold me, my arms flailing uselessly at my side. She sniffles and takes a step back.

"You look so handsome. I've missed you so much." She says staring down at me because she is much taller than I am. "So did you convince the princess that she is your life mate yet?"

I look down solemnly, and feel a little bit hurt at the thought. She realizes that it's a touchy subject and quickly changes it to something else.

"Your sister is very excited about her wedding tomorrow. You should go see her and congratulate her! I'm sure she would love to see you, and I think that she's already met Aliso and made her part of the family." My mother says grinning slyly at me.

"Mom, can't my family not be an embarrassment? She's my first girlfriend and she'll be my last. I would like it if she had a good opinion of my family, but I suppose that's too much to ask for.", I say dramatically.

"Riley. I swear you act more like your father every day. Stop being such a drama queen. What I meant by your sister making Ali part of the family is that she asked her to be in the wedding. She knew that since you were a groomsmen, Alison might feel awkward without a date to sit by so now she'll get to sit by you during the whole wedding.", my mother replies hastily.

"That's brilliant!" I answer.

"Yes. Well Eva is trying on dresses now for the wedding, you should probably go get fitted for your tuxedo then." She says, turning quickly around and walking out the door letting it slam behind her.

I'm left alone in the empty space and I smile at the door. I missed my mother, even if she's a bit eccentric. She's still my mother. I missed the kingdom and our ancient castle. I open the large wooden doors and trek upstairs to the formal library where everyone is getting fitted for the wedding.

I wake up on a large, soft canopy bed with willowy curtains and light pink frilly sheets. The room is fit for any princess with its plush white chaise next to a large bay window. The room is very well decorated. It has an endless wall of books, a high ceiling with a crystal chandelier, white roses everywhere and a beautiful view of a garden. I must be dreaming, this place can't be real. I pinch myself but nothing happens.

Where am I? I get up and I hug myself tightly. My skin still feels chilly from earlier and I'm wearing a long gray button-down cashmere sweater and some black silky tights. I open the door and enter into a hallway. The hallways floors are made of a grey marble while the walls are covered in dark wood panels. The place looks ancient and smells musty, yet familiar. There are footsteps coming towards me, and I feel a sudden tightness in my chest. I hold my breath waiting to see who will come around the corner. I'm prepared for the worst, and my hands are balled up tightly into fists at my sides. The person walking keeps whistling a tune and they stop short when they see me. It's a large man. Not just a large man, but an exceptionally large man. He stands over six feet tall and he's also rather fat. His belly is definitely rounder than the average mans. He's wearing a medieval helmet and carrying a large sword engraved with mysterious black symbols. He is wearing an entire body of armor and the crest of the armor has the symbol of a dragon in black. He holds up his sword defensively. I moan and try not to panic, is he going to kill me? He throws his sword down and it makes a deafening clanking noise. I cover my ears and my eyes widen as he rips his helmet off gracefully. He lets the helmet drop next to his sword, and with his face covered in sweat he grins over at me. His blue eyes glimmering relentlessly and I realize something that I hadn't before. This man is not just large, he takes over a room and he consumes it, exuding power. He is power, and he is the king. I'm not sure what to do so I do an awkward half bow and half curtsy introduction. The man chuckles deeply, his chuckles shaking the hallway unintentionally.

"So you must be the lost princess that I have heard so much about?" he asks, his voice a tender baritone, with a slight, implacable accent. "My son has been very excited to make your acquaintance."

I feel flushed and hot all of the sudden. I've never met a king, other than my father and now that I'm placed in front of a king other than someone I know personally I have no idea how to act. Of course my brain forgets manners and any hope of being courteous when it actually needs to be.

"I-I'm Ali.", I finally manage to stammer. The king bows down before me graciously and I feel uncomfortable again.

"Well my name is King Edward, ruler of Elacia and I would like to welcome you to my palace and kingdom. It's not much on the eyes, Elacia, but it's true beauty you can find within. Please make yourself at home Ali and if you need anything at all then feel free to come to me personally.", he answers regally.

"Thank you for your kindness." I whisper barely audible. King Edward grunts in response and begrudgingly puts on his helmet and picks up his sword. He turns toward me with his hand tightly clinching his sword.

"I must be on my way. I'm teaching the children how to fight with swords correctly." he says, but it's muffled by the large helmet covering his head. He side-steps past me and continues walking down the corridor. I decide to follow the path that he took and eventually I hear the sounds of laughter behind a closed door. I knock gently on the door and a few seconds later someone opens it.

"Hello. May I help you?" asks an older woman wearing a black dress and tall white socks. Her hair is the same fiery red as my mother's but she looks to be about twenty years older with sagging eyes and laugh lines around her mouth. Her bright green eyes are the only sign of youth still detectable on the woman. I try to make myself look presentable and tug down at the grey sweater I'm wearing. She stands impatiently staring at me.

"Yes. Well my name is Alison. Alison Callahan and I am Princess of Newhollow.", I say trying to sound important. I think I pull it off pretty well because the room gasps and then everyone becomes silent. I can see hatred fill the woman's eyes as she angrily spits at my feet and slams the door.

Hot tears burn my eyes and I begin to sob. I fall to the floor hopelessly and pull the grey sweater up over my head to hide myself. The door opens and shuts in front of me but I do not pay attention to it. I'm to busy feeling ashamed of myself. Someone sits next to me and puts a consoling arm around my shoulders. I continue to cry for a few minutes but my curiosity starts to get the best of me. I poke my head out of my sweater like a turtle pokes his head out of his shell after a scary event has just taken place. I use the sleeves to wipe my eyes and once I can see clearly I see a pretty girl sitting next to me. She looks to be in her mid-twenties with golden bronze skin and jet-black hair falling in natural waves around her tan face. Her brown eyes watch me with concern. She is finally the one to break the silence.

"My name is Helena. I'm Riley's sister. I'm sorry for the actions of our maid. She's been known to be a bit of a kook at times. She had no right to treat you that way." Helena says gently caressing my back. I've never known anyone I've just met to be so good at consoling people and I feel much better after crying and talking to Helena.

"My name is Ali. I have come to the kingdom with your brother but I can't seem to find him. I was trying to find help when I heard laughter from the room you were in.", I say between sniffles.

"Well you should come in and try on dresses with us. It will be fun and it will get your mind off of everything." She says smiling brightly. I stand up and follow her into the room that they were previously in. The room is a large grand library. One wall has three large bookshelves holding books of every shape, size, texture, color, or age that you could possibly imagine. The floor is a shiny dark wood and the walls are painted a bright, clean white. There's a large luxurious antique desk in front of a bay window and chairs are scattered around the room. In every chair are piles of pink formal dresses. The maid is nowhere to be seen and I'm glad that this is the case. The other girls are giddily bouncing around the room trying on different dresses of every shade of pink. Helena introduces me to four other girls. Two of the girls are her younger sisters, Anna is 14 and Isabelle is 16. They both are tall and skinny with dirty blonde hair but Anna has striking blue eyes and Isabelle has the same shade of green eyes as Helena. Then she introduces me to Felicity her cousin. Felicity is a chubbier woman in her late 20's with dark hair and dark eyes. She resembles the sisters in a way but only vaguely. The final girl that Helena introduces me to is Alice. Alice is beautiful and angelic. She's much smaller than the other women and much more fragile looking with her pale skin and rosy cheeks. Her platinum hair is long and straight.

"This is my best friend and maid of honor, Alice." Helena explains to me.

"Helena. Don't tell everyone that they may get jealous." Alice answers sincerely. All the other girls shake their heads saying no, but I can see the faint glimmer of jealousy in Felicity's eyes. I extend my hand to shake Alice's hand as I did with all the other girl's. She takes mine and holds it for a few moments but something starts to happen between us. I try to let go but I can't because it's as if a magnet has been placed between us forcing us together. Our eyes become wide and we stare at each other, her green eyes looking comically large and mine probably mirroring hers. Flashes of images come before us as if a projector screen has been turned on in my mind. I hold my breath as images of Alice and Helena come into focus. It's them as small children in the forest. Alice is on the side of a river soaked and shivering and she's badly injured but Helena picks her up gently and brings her to the safety of the castle. I come back to the room and catch my breath to find Alice staring at me in shock with tears in her eyes.

"Helena saved me; you see she found me when my parents abandoned me. My father threw me from a bridge and I would have drowned if it weren't for Helena. I ended up with a broken leg, a few bruises and a new best friend." Alice explains to me. Helena stands by Alice's side and squeezes her hand. "I've lived in the castle ever since as part of their family and I'm so happy for each and every one of them."

"I didn't know that you were a Seer?" Alice says looking quizzically at me.

"Yes, well that was the first time it's ever happened. I've only recently started developing my powers. I learned that I was a Healer, but that was the first time that I've ever had a vision.

"You know my brother is a Seer. We're half-elf so we each have a power of our own. My power is mind control, but I very rarely use it and only if I really need to. I use it to help people like when you were sad out in the hallway I made you remember happy things to calm you." Helena informs me. I look at her surprised because I wondered how she calmed me down so easily. She used her gift to make me happy that explained it.

"Do you all have superpowers then?" I ask.

"My power is to control fire." Isabella answers, putting her fingers together and rubbing them causing them to spark and a flame to emerge. She shapes it into a ball and then claps her hands together making it disappear. She grins up at me proudly.

"That's so amazing." I gush.

"Yeah, but daddy never lets me use it he thinks it's a disaster because I used to not know how to control it and I would catch everything on fire. He even gave me a nickname, I'm dragon girl." She blushes and stares down at her hands.

"Watch my gift!" Anna shrieks. I watch as she starts to spin around in circles moving so quickly that I lose sight of her and she moves around the room in seconds and back again. She spins gracefully like a ballet dancer and then she stops abruptly. "I'm super fast and sneaky."

"That seems like a great gift, I bet you know all kinds of secrets." I wink at her and she gives me a smirk as if to say that she knows much more than she probably should know. Felicity coughs and clears her throat so that we all must direct our attention to her.

"Ladies, Ladies that's enough fun for one day. Now on to more serious matters like what are we going to wear for the wedding." Felicity says, trying to take control of the situation. Helena claps her hands together and four servants appear with 10 more dresses for everyone to try on. They all undress and redress and I sit down in the extra large rosy colored chair in the corner watching them and giving my opinion every once in awhile with a nod in approval or a thumbs down.

Someone bursts through the door, out of breath and hysterical. I look up to see what all the commotion is about. It's Riley standing in the doorway with his arms at his hips leaning over, his cheeks red. My heart leaps out of my chest when we lock eyes and I quickly look down at the ground instinctively. He rushes over to me and wraps me up into his big, strong arms. I allow him to do it although I feel a little embarrassed. I also feel new warmth in my stomach. I feel calm and safe so I fall back against him feeling his heart race faster.

"Can I talk to you in private?" he whispers in my ear, sending shivers through my body. I try to control the blood rushing through my veins and into my cheeks but it's too late and I can feel my cheeks starting to redden. He puts his gentle hand into mine and tugs me towards the door. I follow, trying hard to listen to my head screaming at me to not be alone with him. We reach the cool, refreshing hallway and he passionately pushes me up to the wall. I wrap my arms around him trying to think of an escape, but he kisses me and my heart melts and my mind goes into shutdown mode. He kisses me tenderly with his soft lips and then he puts his tongue into my mouth ever so gently. I stop and push him away. He looks back at me and grins.

"Sorry. I couldn't help myself." he responds. I want to punch him, with that smug look in his eye but I try to breathe and count to ten. I can feel my anger boiling over the edge.

"The only reason I let you get so far is because I was picturing Leo in my head the whole time." I answer, cold heartedly folding my arms across my chest. His face drops down and he looks hurt. I try hard not to feel bad, but my conscience gets the best of me.

"I'm kidding Riley. Just can we take it slow I thought we agreed to start off as friends and see where it leads?" I say. He looks back up with that glimmer of hope in his eyes.

"I know but you're so beautiful and I was trying not to do anything to you but I can't help it.", he whispers, pouting his lower lip. "Anyways, I really needed to talk to you about something. It's urgent. Can we go out to the gardens? I promise I won't try to kiss you or do anything to you. We'll just talk."

"Alright, no funny business though Riley." I say, trying to sound as in control as I can. He grabs my hand and we walk quickly through the narrow stair case to the first floor and out the large white French doors into the old English country garden setting. There's a brown cobble stone pathway leading to a large black wrought iron fence, but on either side of the pathway are pink, white, purple, and blue flowers. Small trees are speckled throughout the garden making it shady and cool. We sit next to an evergreen with our feet pointed up towards the sky and Riley stares at me while I stare up at the clouds.

"Ali, we have to leave after the wedding tomorrow." Riley says.

"Why?" I ask. I can tell by the look in Riley's eyes that he's full of concern.

"It's Theo. He's in trouble and I think he might need us. He's the last person I want to help but I saw him in a vision a few hours ago and he was trapped. I think that he's been captured by his father, Mathew." He stares at me, waiting for me to answer. I can't answer because my heart is in my throat and I can't find the right words to say to Riley.

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## An Unexpected Guest

### Chapter 25

Someone puts their cold hands over my eyes and mouth making me jump awake. I scream in a panic and whirl around to see who woke me from my nap. Blair stares at me her blonde hair bouncing wildly about. She hands me my clothes looking down sheepishly.

"Blair. How did you find me?" I gasp. "I thought I was going to be stranded in Ohio and that Mathew would surely find me.

"I-I tracked you." she stutters. She puts her hands at her sides looking at me with a confused expression. "Everyone at the palace thinks that you're a traitor, they found out about Mathew being your father."

"A traitor?" I shout angrily, kicking the dirt and leaves around us. "I'm not a traitor, I barely escaped from Mathew. He used some kind of spell to try to drown me but I managed to get out alive."

Blair stares at me silently. Her lips are pursed and she looks at me with a look that I have never seen on her beautiful face before. It's compassionate and lovely but frightened and confused.

"I'm glad you're okay." she says barely audible. We stare at each other silently, sitting across from each other on the green bench. The wind has started to pick up and I pull on my clothes which are still a little damp, but manageable.

"How did you find me anyways?" I ask. It hadn't even occurred to me that she would have had to use a teleportation device to reach the human world, and then she would have somehow found a way to locate me.

"I've been training as a Tracker for the kingdom. I'm getting really good at it.", She replies with a certain note of sarcasm in her tone. She takes my hand into hers and gently rubs circles into it massaging it and staring out in front of her. "We need to go. I sense that there may be another presence nearby."

As soon as the words escape her lips, we hear the sound of snapping twigs a few feet behind us. She holds onto my hand tightly and we're being transported somewhere far away from here. I can only suspect that she is using the device to transport us to Newhollow, but when we land on a secluded beach with only the sounds of waves and the gentle squawks of seagulls I know she has chosen a place in the mortal world. Elves very seldom visit the mortal world, but if they do visit it's the ocean they come for. We have one body of water in our own world and that is the Dark Sea. The sea fits the name perfectly with its dark, murky waters and horrible, ancient creatures. Blair looks into my eyes and then she smiles at me.

"I've never been to the ocean; I thought it would be a nice place to visit with you."

After that it's silent for awhile, we sit on the grainy white sand and I hold her in my arms. I rest my chin on her head and inhale the salty, refreshing air around us. I've never been so close to the ocean before, even though I've come to the mortal world often. I stare at the vastness before us, and think that it's a lot like my own relationship with Ali. She's so close to being mine but yet she's so far away, then I remember who I'm holding in my arms at the moment and it makes the situation more complicated.

"How long have you known about this?" I stand up, infuriated and my hands flail around hopelessly.

"I just had the vision, Ali. I promise and I came to find you right away." he answers and I can sense that he is telling me the truth. I stand dazed for a few minutes deciding what I should do next.

"Riley, I have to go. I have to go now." I say solemnly, sounding braver than I feel. I sprint for the garden exit and try to get a head start but I know that Riley is right behind me. I can feel the grass beneath my bare feet and it tickles my skin. It feels strange, but familiar and the next thing I know I'm lying on the ground with Riley beside me.

"Why can't it ever be easy with you?" Riley asks pounding his fist into the ground. "Why can't you act like all the other girls and just listen to me?"

"Because I am not like other girls if you haven't noticed. I don't drool at the sight of you and I don't obey you when you're wrong. We shouldn't wait another minute if Theo is in trouble, he could be hurt." I answer. Riley sits up and I do the same and we sit across from each other, staring into the distance confused.

"I don't know what to do. I can't miss my sister's wedding, but I can't let you go alone. It's too dangerous out there." He says. "I wish you weren't so stubborn."

"Well I wish you weren't so stupid." I say snidely. He surprises me with a long, passionate kiss and it silences me. It also confuses me but I'm quiet for a little while.

"Don't you feel anything when I kiss you like that?" he asks. I fold my arms across my chest and try to look serious but my stomach is turning and my heart is fluttering around. I want to scream at him, but I want to kiss him again. How am I supposed to answer this simple question? If I say yes then he will never let me live it down and I will be destined to become the next Mrs. Princess Werewolf, but if I say no then I'll just be lying to him.

"No.", I blurt out, without a moment's hesitation. I cover my mouth with both my hands and curse myself for being so impossible.

"I won't kiss you anymore." he says hopelessly as he stands up and waits for me to follow him. We walk back in silence to the castle as I admire the blooming flowers around us; he walks sulkily staring straight ahead. We reach the castle's iron front door and he pulls it open effortlessly waiting for me to go in first. I walk in front of him and enter into the most chaotic scene imaginable. People are running around frantically waving their arms and yelling demands all over the place. I take a deep breath and try to find some solace in the mess that has become the great hall. I find Helena in the center of it all sitting in the queen's throne with a large notebook frantically scribbling something down. I walk over to her because she is the only face that I can recognize other than Riley's and he isn't exactly talking to me at the moment.

"Hi, Helena!" I shout, hoping that she can hear me over all the noise.

"Ali! Just the girl I was looking for," She answers looking up from her notebook and putting the pen behind her ear. She beckons me over and points to the throne opposite her and I walk over and sit next to her in the king's throne; it makes me feel awkward and out of place. "A throne suits you well. Maybe one day you will be the one to help rule the kingdom."

I look up surprised and she looks over at me admiringly. She yells for one of the servants and he rushes to her side. He's a tall, lanky man with pointy ears and sad eyes and a greenish hue to his skin making him look almost reptilian.

"This is Alison. You will need to fit her for a bridesmaid dress because I am short one. Can you handle that, Ben?" She questions without looking up from her writing.

"Yes, madam." he answers in a hissing voice, pronouncing the "s" with a lisp. I look over at Helena hoping that she is joking, but she never looks up and Ben stares down at me impatiently so I follow him to the library where I was earlier.

Blair turns around to face me and she has a serious look in her eyes. I can tell that something important is on her mind but she doesn't know how to talk about it.

"What's wrong?" I ask, trying to keep her calm.

"You wouldn't lie to me, would you?" she asks nervously.

"No, of course not, you've been one of my best friends since we were children. I wouldn't dream of lying to you." I answer honestly. She looks relieved and she rests her head back on my chest.

"Do we have to leave?" She asks seriously. "I wish we could stay here forever. I wish we could stay here where you didn't have to have a soul mate and I wouldn't have to have my heart break every time I watch you together with her."

I let her go and sit in front of her. I take her hands into mine and look seriously into her eyes. "Blair, we aren't meant to be together. I'm supposed to be with Alison. We had a connection and that is the way that our world works. I can't just choose you, you're my best friend." I wipe the tears away from her eyes and we sit silently listening to the wave's crash into the sand.

"Thank you for your honesty, Theo." She sniffles and wipes the tears away from her eyes. "I know that we're only meant to be friends but it's so hard watching everyone else find their soul mate and I am all alone."

"I know it must be terrible having to watch everyone find someone but one day you will be happy and you will find a guy that will treat you exceptionally. You deserve that much, Blair.", I say truthfully feeling that she deserves the best. She nods her head in agreement and smiles hopefully at me.

"You always know just how to cheer me up.", she answers. "I hope that one day I find a boy that's as nice as you are."

"I'm sure you'll find him one day." I answer.

"Well should we get back to Alison?" She asks.

"Yes!" I shout with glee, feeling that I have spent too much time apart from my love. Blair looks down furiously, jealousy obvious in her eyes. She takes my hand and the world turns black. We swirl around in circles with only the sound of the wind around us and collapse on a bed of pink roses in front of a large castle.

"This is Elacia, and Ali's mother said that I would find Alison here and that I was to return her home safely." Blair says sounding very upset. I follow her to the large iron door and we stare up in amazement. This is nothing like any castle that I have ever seen; although, I have only seen Newhollow's white modern palace but this is a storybook castle. It towers over everything else and you can hear the crashing sea beneath us. Blair takes ahold of the large lion-head doorknocker and begins to knock. Someone pulls the door open with a loud creak and stares curiously at us.

"How may I help you?" the large woman behind the door asks.

"My name is Blair and this is Theo, we have come to return Princess Alison to the Kingdom of Newhollow." Blair answers promptly. I stand quietly by her side as the woman looks us up and down and then moves to the side to allow us into the castle. The noise that was evident before we knocked on the door has now ceased and every eye is on us. Riley stares at me from across the room. He clears his throat.

"Everyone back to work. My sister is getting married tomorrow and you have a lot to do for the wedding. These are just some friends from Newhollow.", he says as he takes a few long strides over to us. I can see the hatred in his eyes but there's also something else. Relief. Why would Riley feel relieved to see me though? He takes Blair's hand and kisses it as he bows down, and then he shakes my hand. I try not to show my amazement but it must be written all over my face.

"Ali and I were afraid that you had been trapped by Mathew.", He says.

"Me? Trapped? Never." I respond looking at him quizzically. We stare trying to prove who the bigger man in the room is. I obviously win, but Ali pokes me with her pointy elbow and I blink losing the competition. Damn, I think to myself. I will beat him and win Ali's heart though.

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## Adventure Awaits

### Chapter 26

I shove Theo away from Riley because I can see it in their eyes. They want to rip each other's throats out. It's been literally only 10 seconds and they're ready to fight each other to the death. If we lived in a different time, a time where the Coliseum still housed bloodshed and victory these two would put up a good fight. Theo jumps on Riley and has his throat grasped firmly in his hands. I try to wrap my arms around Theo, but it's no use he's much larger than I am. Riley's father storms into the room banging the heavy wooden door loudly against the wall, rattling the family photographs and the swords on the walls.

"What is this ruckus in my palace?" his deep voice bellows. Everything stops. If it were possible to freeze time then it would have been at this very moment it happened. People stand as still as statues with drinks pressed against their lips, patiently observing the madness around us. The king storms up to us. He takes Riley by one ear and Theo by the other, making them look like puny insects compared to his tall frame.

"You two will follow me and that is an order." he commands as he throws them both to the ground. The two boys follow behind the king and they leave the room as it was before.

The music continues and the party proceeds as if nothing out of the ordinary happened. I'm left standing next to Blair. This is a bit awkward, even for me. I don't know what to say so I wave the drink boy over, and he hands me another glass of sparkling champagne. It tastes bitter but I'd rather be drinking this then having to talk to Blair.

"I'm sorry. Princess Alison, I didn't know that you had feelings for Theo." She says looking into my eyes. I sense that she really means it, but how do you forgive someone that you hated from the minute you met them? I wish I could, but I can't so instead I turn away and find somewhere else to go. I turn around to see Blair red-faced and angry, hatred filling her eyes. They dart in my direction cutting me in half it seems. I spot Riley's sister across the room so I head over towards her.

"Helena.", I say and she turns around towards me. "Congratulations. Are you excited about your big day?"

"Yes. I am so happy to be getting married. You haven't met the groom yet have you?" Helena asks, "Well he should be here soon. At least, last time we talked he said he would be here around 6 pm."

She looks down at her watch. Strange. People wear watches in a land full of magic. Why would they need to keep track of time in a place like this, a place where time doesn't seem quite so relevant?

"Because time is still relevant to us.", Theo answers from behind me. "We still have schedules and we still need order in our world."

I turn around to see Theo. He looks better than before; now, that I can actually get a good look at him. He seems to have changed but for the better. His face shows some wear, revealing a few stubble's of hair. He takes me in his arms.

"Alison. I missed you." he breathes into my ear. My heart stops. This is it; this is where I was meant to be. I couldn't possibly be happy anywhere else. I close my eyes and I take in his scent. I bury my head deep into his shirt.

A loud crash interrupts my moment of peace. Theo picks me up in his arms and we're gone. We're running fast. It feels like I'm flying because we're running so fast. People are screaming; I don't want to open my eyes but I do. I open them just for a moment. Blood. Everywhere. It's as if it's dripping from the walls. I scream as I spot Helena on the floor next to Alice both of them lifeless. They're eyes staring into a world that I cannot see. I scream for what seems like hours, and I won't stop. All I can see now is the scene replaying over and over in my head. Is anyone alive? Am I alive or is this hell? Theo wraps me protectively in his arms and we wade through water as it gets deeper and deeper the temperature gets colder. I want it to go away. I want the pain to subside.

"Swim. Ali. Just swim! I can't control it. Get away from me!" Theo shouts from somewhere to my right. I can't see him anymore.

If I go under would he save me? I let go, I stop swimming and I start to sink. I didn't think this would be the way things ended though. I thought I'd live a little longer. Things are floating around me. Just visions and memories of my life like movies playing for me. There I am at three spinning around in my father's arms, and there my brother is sitting on my mother's lap. We're happy. If I'm going to die then I want something happy to remember. Something cold grabs my wrist. I try to shake it off, but it sticks to me like a leech. No. I want the warmth that this place offers me. The darkness sets in and I fall away from here, but I'm moving upwards quickly.

Air. I can breathe. We aren't in the water anymore now we're on something solid, but I don't know what it is. I close my eyes and I put my hands down trying to feel what it is we are on. It feels smooth and hot as fire. It's red as the flames of a burning ember, but I do not know where we are. I can hear voices around me now.

"Is she okay? Was anyone with her?" they ask a million questions. I can't speak; they must not realize I'm dead. "The castle has been attacked."

My eyelids fly open.

"Riley.", I whisper. "Where are Riley and Theo?"

Water rushes out of my mouth. I feel sick to my stomach but I sit up.

"Princess.", the two people gasp. "We thought you were killed in the attack."

I stare at them.

"They want to eliminate you because you're the one to save us all, to make things the way they once were." the small girl with fire-engine red hair squeaks. "You're the prophecy."

"The prophecy?" I ask. "Why would anyone want to kill me?"

"It has been foretold that there would be a girl to save us all and to reunite the two worlds of Newhollow and Elacia once more. This girl would be referred to as The Lost Princess with Amethyst eyes. She is our only hope against the evils that are to come.", The boy with the sea-green eyes and blue hair answers.

"What are you?" I ask.

"We are water-nymphs from the lost city of the sea. We live near Elacia because they offer us protection against the evil island of Suamar. Suamar is where all prisoners from our worlds go." The boy says. "My name is Yetoro and this is my sister Fira. We can take you to the sands of the island but that is where we must part ways I'm afraid."

"Thank you." I say.

"Alison.", the figure that I hadn't notices splutters water out. He reaches his hand upwards. I crawl towards him and take his hand in mine.

"Riley?" I ask.

"Don't be so happy to see me." he struggles to say. I put my finger to his mouth to quiet him. I hug him tightly and he smiles up at me, pushing my hair out of my face.

"I had to save you, my princess." he whispers and then he closes his eyes and drifts off to sleep.

"He really cares deeply for you, princess. You shouldn't take advantage of his kindness. One of the souls is playing games. When you reach the island, you must find a man named Tovla. He will guide you to the place that you need to go." says Fira.

We stop in front of the island and they drop us off in water knee deep so that I can carry Riley to land.

"We have gifts to give to you from our ruler." says Yetoro.

He hands me two backpacks and then they turn the creature we were using as a boat around. They delve down into the ocean with one large splash. I carry Riley and the supplies but by the time we get into shallow water, I have to lay Riley on his back and push his body to the sand because he is too heavy for me to carry by myself. I sit on the hot sand and stare up at the sky. It's a different color then what I'm used to. The blue and white clouds are a glimmering violet and enchanting grey color. They shimmer around us in a swirling motion. I open up the backpacks in hopes that I might find food or water, but I find nothing but two small silver boxes. I angrily toss one of them to the side, but it bounces back, glimmering and changing colors. Black, red, green, yellow and purple it fades in and out as if it were breathing.

"Unlock me.", it whispers. I pick it up and turn it over in my hands. I search for a code or a message but it just keeps flashing to different colors. I exasperatedly set it aside. It bounces over nudging me in the leg.

"The key is nearby. Open your eyes." it whispers. I look around and dig through the backpack again. I turn the bag upside down but still there is nothing inside. I sit with the color changing box in my hands contemplating where a key could be.

"Alison?" Riley asks. The silver box turns off and becomes transparent again.

"I'm here." I answer. He sits up and reaches for my hand.

"Where are we?" he asks.

"Well according to a couple of sea-nymphs were on the island of Suamar where all the supernatural criminals are." I answer.

"No!", he cries out. "Why would we be here?"

"I don't know. I have to find a man named Tovla because he has the answers that will guide us." I say.

"Oh no.", Riley says and he's gone. He fades away from this world and enters a different one, a world that I will never be able to enter in my lifetime. He folds his head in his hands, clearly looking like he's in agonizing pain.

"They're dead. They're all dead!" he screams. I hold him tightly. I'm not sure what else to do, but I guess he has seen what I have seen. The blood and the chaos and the screaming; the things I wanted to believe were a dream could be nothing but reality.

"It was Theo." I say.

"What?" he asks. "What was Theo?"

"Theo. He murdered all of those people and he was supposed to kill me but the water-nymphs or you saved me. Someone saved me but I was supposed to die." I cry, I bury my face into him. He's cold and we're both shivering, alone and helpless. We're trapped on an island full of criminals.

"My mom, my sisters and my dad" he whispers, "everyone I knew and loved is gone. They were ripped away from me."

I've never seen a boy cry, but I've also never really talked to boys. Before this world, I was just a girl that everyone stayed away from. I was weird and strange, and boys didn't want anything to do with a girl like me. I hold Riley so close to me that it feels like our bodies might become one. His heart rate slows and speeds up. We sit like this for a long time.

"My brother is hurt. We have to save him. He's alive!" Riley jumps up sprinting towards the water. He puts two fingers to his mouth and whistles three times. A flash of white breaks through the purple and grey barrier and comes barreling towards us at unimaginable speeds.

"Felix. Away and I need you to fly faster than you have in your life." Riley yells running for his horse and jumping up to him gracefully. He holds out his hand to me and I pack the two silver boxes into their bags and jump onto the horse with him. "Close your eyes Alison. You're in for one hell of a ride."

I listen and Riley was right. The wind nips at my face and I feel like if I open my eyes they might explode from the pressure. I've never been a girl who likes heights so this suits me fine. My cheeks feel like they are flapping from the force of the wind and I try to hide my face behind Riley. We stop so fast that it sends me flying over Riley and into the grass, but luckily, I land in a bush so there won't be any scratches. I brush myself off and I grab onto Riley as we race for the castle. I'm breathless by the time we reach it but we make it in record time.

"He's in the cupboard", says one of the servants and she points to the kitchen. Riley races off in that direction, leaving me alone in the devastating room. Bodies lie scattered everywhere. I walk to the throne to find the queen's pale arm outstretched towards her husband. I sit down next to her, and hold her hand in mine. My tears fall, creating a stream of water around me. I cry, heaving and sobbing so badly that it makes my head pound. I lay my head down on the floor, and realize how this is all my fault. I created this mess. I killed all the people that Riley loved. He should hate me, but he doesn't. He saved me, even though this was entirely my fault.

"Princess?" someone asks weakly. A hand moves in mine and I let go of it, astonished. "My queen?" I ask. "You are alive."

"Save them." she says. "You're ability. We can save them just give me more power."

I hold onto her hand firmer then before and I will all of my power to connect with hers. I squeeze her hand so tightly in mine that I feel like it might break but she stands up. Nothing but ferocity in her eyes and she begins to heal people. She heals the room in minutes and I watch in amazement as every person that was once lifeless, jumps up full of energy and power, sparks in their eyes and revenge on their minds. Riley races into the room with Lucas in his arms. Lucas whimpers at every movement and Riley puts him down in front of me.

"Ali. Help him please." he begs. I wrap my arms around him and I will for every scrape and bruise to heal. I will for Lucas to be healthy and happy. It happens. He stands up, punching a fist in the air.

The king steps up next to his throne. The room falls silent.

"I am the king. This is my kingdom and I will not condone violence unless it is absolutely necessary. The war has begun I am afraid. The things that we were scared of have been created and we must stop them. We will endure and our kingdom will live on peacefully, but only through war.", he bellows. The crowd cheers and erupts in applause.

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## The Unlocking of the Mysterious Silver Boxes

### Chapter 27

Riley and I sit on his bed, each turning over the transparent boxes. They don't change colors anymore as they did on the island. They just stay a shimmering silver color. We try all kinds of methods but they don't work. I knock on it as if it were a door. Riley sings to it. I yell at it. Riley and I put the boxes together and then on top of each other, but then I remember what I did to make it change. I toss the box aside and turn my back away from it, and to my relief the box bounces to me. It starts to nudge my leg and so I ignore it longer. It begins to change colors now. I ignore it a little longer and look down at it only momentarily to see that it has developed legs and arms.

One of its arms is holding a small golden key, and it's outstretched arm waves it impatiently at me. I pick up the box and take the key.

"You have solved the mystery. Hooray!", shouts the box, and now it glows bright yellow. I set it down and it begins to evolve. It grows so large that it towers over me. It turns golden and takes the shape of a door. Riley looks over at me astonished.

"Open me.", says the door. I proceed to put my key into the lock, but Riley grabs my hand.

"Are you sure about this?" he asks. "We have no idea what could be behind this door. It could be anything. Good or bad."

"I have to know." I answer and I put the key to the lock and it clicks open. I gently grab the door handle and slowly turn it, expecting the worst because this door could lead anywhere. I open the door completely and Riley stands in front of me.

"Let me go first, Princess just in case it's bad." he says and he jumps into the brightness without hesitation. I grab the other small box and put it in the backpack. I put the backpack on and close my eyes as I descend into a tunnel. It's pushing me from all sides and it's hard to breathe in here. The air is much colder then it was before and the tunnel swirls around in blue, white and silver. It feels like ice is pounding away at my skin. I'm so cold, and then I can see a dark hole and I'm rushing towards it because it's sucking all the colors and myself towards it. I land onto sand and I cry out in pain.

"Are you okay?" Riley asks rushing to my side and helping me up. "That was definitely a strange experience."

"Those were the spirit doors. They were used by spirits many years ago to travel between worlds that were no easily accessible." a tall man in a cloak says.

"Spirit doors? I thought those had all been destroyed." says Riley.

"Well, criminals have many friends in low places. Tovla, at your service." says Tovla with an outstretched hand. Riley takes it in his own hand. "I have been expecting your arrival for quite some time. I have so much to tell you, but we have very little time."

"I don't understand. Why have you been expecting us? What do you need from us?" I ask, the wind begins to pick up and the sand spins around us. It stings as it hits our skin and our eyes.

"Follow me, children. We need to get indoors, a sand storm has begun." Tovla says and we follow him into a small, dark cave. It's empty except for a bed, a stove, and a few books. "This is my home or my prison for that matter."

Tovla walks over to his bed and pulls out a knife. My heart starts to race. Maybe, this was a bad idea coming to find a criminal who supposedly has all of the answers I need. Tovla turns the mattress over and begins to cut the middle of it open. He sticks his arm inside and retrieves an ancient looking book with frayed golden pages that has obviously seen better days and a rolled up piece of parchment. He hands them both to me and then flips the mattress back over and sticks the knife back into his robe as if nothing happened.

"I'm sure you're wondering what these things are, Princess. One of these is the prophecy. The one that says you will save the world and put it back together. It's very old and it was created by a seer who has long ago died, but the other is a book. The book explains how to use the spirit doors. They are not just doors, you see. They wouldn't be destroyed if they were only doors they can do and be many other things. The reason I am imprisoned here is because I stole the doors for the only way for you to be able to save the world is with these."

He removes his hood so that I can see what he really is. He's a spirit, a ghost, completely transparent, yet able to grasp solid things. He was probably handsome when he was alive, but now he looks frail and brittle like the slightest wind could cut him in half. I hug him because I realize it is my fault that he is trapped her forever.

"Tovla if it is the last thing I do. I will come back to set you free." I say. I look up into his ghostly face and a smile forms. His hollow eyes sparkle enthusiastically.

"I wouldn't have done it for anyone else. It will be a long and hard journey, but you will succeed. I have seen it.", he says winking at me and pointing to the rolled up scroll.

"So you are the seer who created the prophecy?" Riley asks.

"Yes. And Riley don't give up on being Alison's soul mate for you are the truer of the two." he says as we hear clawing at the door. "You must go now, children. Safe travels, hurry and retrieve the box before the Wilders find you!"

I race to open the bag and I put the ancient book and the scroll inside. I set the silver box on the floor it transforms into the large golden door with a key already in the lock. Riley grabs onto my waist and turns the key. As we jump inside I hear the sound of growling beasts and screaming and we're plunging head first into the cold. I'm shivering and I look over at Riley. His face is pale and his lips are blue but we hold onto each other tightly falling onto the wooden floors of his room. The golden door fizzles and sparks back down to size and the second one forms from the sparks and fizzles left over. Now there are just two transparent boxes sitting side by side.

"That was intense." I say and we sit staring at the spirit doors.

"Alison, we have to be careful and make sure no one ever knows we have these because we could end up on the island of Suamar. These things were banned in ancient times because anyone who controlled them had infinite power."

He takes them and puts them away under his bed. I open the other backpack unrolling the scroll carefully. It's yellowed and weathered but it still has symbols written all over it, symbols of a language that I cannot translate.

"Do you know what language this is?" I ask. Riley shakes his head and I turn the scroll around. There are a few pictures drawn on the other side. One scene shows a girl with black hair and purple eyes and fire in the background and the other shows her riding a large wolf with a sword in hand. I roll the parchment back up.

"Do you think anyone could translate what it says for me?" I ask.

"I know that we have great historians that work here who translate some of the archaeological finds from the ancient world. Maybe, they could help you translate it." he says hopefully.

"That sounds good. Hopefully, we can find someone because if we don't I'll never know what I'm supposed to do to fix this mess." I say.

"Alison, where do you think Theo is?" Riley asks, and it shocks me. I'm surprised that he even cares but then I remember that Theo killed his family and almost killed me, and I sit contemplating where Theo might be.

"Maybe, he is on the island." I say. "That's the only place he could have gone to but he does have a teleportation device so he could be anywhere."

"Oh.", Riley says glumly. "Well we're going to find him and kill him."

"What?" I ask, shocked. Should I be shocked? I mean he did try to kill me and he did actually, technically kill Riley's friends and family. I still can't imagine killing him, something burns in my stomach and I feel a faint spark of hope. I still care about Theo? He didn't kill me, he tried to protect me. He told me to run away from him because he knew that someone or something was controlling him. "Wait. Riley, Theo knew what he was doing."

"He tried to murder you and everyone I cared about.", he says. "Obviously he knew what he was doing."

"That's not what I mean. He was trying to protect me. He ran to take me to the ocean so that I could get away from him. Whenever we were swimming he was telling me to run from him so that he couldn't kill me. He didn't want me to die because he still had control over his mind." I say. It's been his father all along controlling him. Now, I start to feel sorry for him and I wonder what it would be like to live a life like that. A life that was planned out for you where you had no choice in what you were doing or saying. Theo's mind hasn't actually ever been his own, this whole time it's been controlled by Mathew.

"So you think that he was trying to save you? I'm the one who saved you. You can't seriously feel sorry for him after everything he has done." Riley says irritated.

"I do feel sorry for him. Imagine what you would feel like if you were being controlled and forced to do things against your will. It's not his fault that his father implanted false things into his mind. I don't think Theo would do those things on his own.", I say.

"You don't want to kill him?" he asks. "You still love him, then?"

"I think so." I whisper. "We have to save him."

He sighs, standing up and he takes my hand in his. He places a small white velvet box into it and turns away. I'm left in his room silently staring at the little box too afraid to open it. I know what it is, but why would he give me something like this at such a terrible time. If I choose to open it does that mean I really do love Riley? If I choose to keep it closed am I choosing to be with Theo? When did my life get so complicated?

I stare at the tiny box, the one that holds my future. I know what I must do but I don't know who I'm going to hurt by doing it. I put it back into my pocket, knowing that my decision can wait.

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## A Wedding and a Final Choice

### Chapter 28

Riley and I walk down the aisle as the wedding music plays enthusiastically in the background. It's odd that we could be doing this again in a few years together. He stares at me and my cheeks burn red. We haven't spoken for about a week. Helena's ceremony was changed because of the attack on the castle and I've been stuck here for the week helping her plan out every last detail of her wedding. It's been fun and it helped me pass the time.

I haven't told him what I choose yet. He's ignored me for seven days and my heart has ached. Being this close to him is painful because I know I've hurt him. We march slowly to the music as we practiced all this week wordlessly. People stare in awe at us, but I can't focus on anything but the front of the church. One of Riley's sisters is blowing her nose loudly and crying uncontrollable, but the rest of the bridesmaids and groomsmen are standing up straight and smiling.

We reach the front and Riley let's go of my arm. I want him to stay by my side but I stand by Riley's sister, Anna. Next come Alice and Ted. Ted is Riley's older cousin, they look almost identical with tan skin but Ted has light blonde hair instead of dark blonde. Alice giggles as she stands next to me, her face flushed because of something Ted whispered in her ear. Helena told me that Ted and Alice really liked each other but that Ted was too afraid to ask her out. Maybe, he finally had the courage to ask her. Alice eyes Ted wearily and then she leans over to me.

"Ted asked me out!" she whispers enthusiastically into my ear.

"That's great. I'm happy for you." I whisper back giving her a half-hearted smile.

Riley looks over at us and rolls his eyes. He's been very callous the last couple days. If he sees me talking to someone or smiling he turns into a man-child, storming out of rooms and slamming doors behind him.

The music changes and everyone stands up as the bride enters. I hadn't seen Helena's dress before now because she wanted to keep it a secret from everyone, but it's breathtaking. Every inch of it sparkles, and it's covered in tulle. It has a sweetheart neckline and I catch myself fantasizing about my own wedding, wishing that I could look as beautiful and radiant as she does. I look over to see the groom staring at her with is mouth open in shock. He's definitely surprised. She smiles and waves as the flower girls dance about and throw flowers at her feet. She stops in front of the groom and they take each other's hands holding them tightly.

"George, do you take this woman Helena to be your wife? Do you pledge..." the priest goes on and on. I can't stop staring at Riley and he keeps staring at me. Finally, he grins in my direction and I smile back at him. I'm not sure what it means, but maybe he's forgiven me finally. "And you may now kiss the bride."

George and Helena are entangled in what feels like an endless kiss and it makes my heart yearn for a love like that. Where a kiss feels like seconds but in reality it's longer than that. I look at Riley. I could have that with him. We could be happy, even if we're constantly bickering. I could have that with Theo to. He's so kind and smart. I think that the real Theo is the one I love, not the Theo is forced to murder and do things against his will. The music starts and we leave the church one by one. Riley and I ride Felix back to the castle grounds where the festivities begin, but Riley has a different idea.

"We're ditching the reception." he says. I punch him in the arm.

"Riley, you better make Felix go to the reception right this instant.", I say angrily. Felix neighs and whinnies and then he lifts us off the ground.

"I know you're afraid of heights so we're going to fly and talk so you can't escape." he says. I hit him in the arm again.

"You're frustrating." I say.

"Yeah, and you love it." he says. He turns around on the horse and faces me. He takes my face in his and kisses me with so much passion that I swear if it were night time, the sky would be lit up with fireworks. I wrap my arms around him and we get lost for awhile. I forget all about my problems, and the decision that I have to make. I forget about Helena's reception. I forget about the war that is to come against Mathew. I forget about saving Theo. All I think about is this moment with Riley. He stops kissing me and my heart aches again. I need him to be close to me again, I need his warmth and comfort. He stares at me intensely.

"Did you make a decision?" he asks. "I need to know."

I stay quiet because I don't know what my decision is yet. Riley makes an exasperated sound and turns around with his back to me.

"Felix. Take us to the wedding reception." the horse neighs and then darts off as fast as he can fly to the castle. I close my eyes and tuck my head behind Riley. We arrive and this time I don't fly over Riley because the landing is much smoother.

Riley steps down from the horse and reaches his hands up to me to help me down. I smile at him and we walk to the castle hand in hand. I wonder why he isn't angry about my indecisiveness. He didn't get mad at me or yell at me. He's completely calm and something about this isn't exactly right.

We enter the great hall which has been decorated to look like the evening sky with glitter and stars. There are blue and black banners dangling from the ceiling. The tables have been covered by silver cloth. Plates have been placed before everyone. Everyone's eyes land on us, we are the last ones to enter and we walk hurriedly towards the center where the rest of our party sits waiting.

"We may now eat." the king bellows.

Sounds erupt from all over the great hall. The sound of clanking metal and chattering are the noisiest. A woman sits behind us in a flowing pale pink dress playing the harp. The food is delicious, and soon my plate is empty. The woman stops playing the harp and she opens the doors to the ballroom next door. There is a large orchestra band waiting to play music so that we can dance the night away. By the time we get to the ballroom, I arrive in a half drunken stupor and Riley has to practically carry me there. We laugh; he's had more than enough wine and can barely walk him.

We dance so elegantly that it's hard to believe it's me dancing. Then again, my dance partner is an unbelievably good dancer.

"I told you I liked to dance." he says smirking.

"I know." I say in between hiccups.

"Did you have too much to drink?" he asks innocently.

"A little bit." I whisper, touching his face. "You're pretty."

"Thank you, but you're the beautiful one." he says spinning me around in circles. He takes me in his arms, caressing my face. I take out the white velvet box and he gasps.
