Set 17 years after her parent's defeated The Lord of Darkness, Princess Jasmine wants more than just to become the next head of the throne of Fabula.
Curious, impatient and courageous, she regularly escapes life behind the castle walls by learning h...
A year had passed since Jack and Lili had been to the forest.
Putting that frightening night behind them, they focused all their energy on the arrival of their daughter, Jasmine, but Jack continued to monitor his wife to ensure there were no repercussions from the unforeseen events that happened during the ritual.
Luckily for Jack, Lili didn't remember much of that night but she knew something scary happened, so when she became preoccupied with the endless parties that the public was having to celebrate the royal birth, it was a blessing for the king as it gave him more time to arrange new security procedures to protect his oblivious wife and their new daughter.
"Jack, my love, we need to come to an agreement on Jasmine's birthday because it's in a few days and we still haven't decided on whether we should have a party or not?" Lili stated as she tended to her giggling infant in her white and yellow flowered cot, in the nursery in an adjoining room next to their bedroom.
"I think we should keep it small since we've had to raise taxes recently" Jack responded, riffling through the papers he was carrying.
Lili rolled her eyes at her distracted husband, picked up her gurgling daughter and presented her to the preoccupied king.
"It's her first birthday, Jack. We need to make it special" she continued.
He stopped looking through his files and smiled at the playful princess,
"Come here, my little bundle of joy" Jack gushed and took her from his tired wife.
He gently threw her into the air and an orchestra of giggles erupted from the air bound baby as she held her arms out in delight and closed her eyes.
Her adoring parents glanced up in elation at their happy daughter,
"She's precious isn't she?" Lili praised.
"She's our very own precious -" Jack replied before pausing suddenly.
His eyes widened with panic as he looked from his floating baby to his, equally petrified, wife in astonishment.
"Why isn't she coming down?" Lili gasped, holding her hands up in alarm.
"I don't know but I can't get her!" Jack yelled as he jumped and grabbed at the air beneath the hovering princess.
"Catch her, Jack" Lili screeched, running out of the room for her dressing table chair.
The horrified queen ran back into the bedroom, jumped on the white wooden chair and reached out, carefully cupping her arms around her levitated daughter, trying not to scare her, and cautiously stepped down and held her tight as the unaware princess fell asleep in her mother's arms.
The terrified parents looked at each in disbelief as they regarded their daughter in bewilderment.
"What just happened?" Lili whispered with angst.
Jack began pacing up and down the room with a thousand thoughts running through his startled mind.
He took a deep breath and slowly walked over to his wife as he glanced down at the peaceful princess and gently stroked the little girl's auburn ringlets from her face.
She squirmed around in her mother's arms on his touch as he kissed her forehead and went over to the window.
"I have to go back to the forest" Jack announced solemnly without looking back to see his wife's reaction.
"Why?" The queen questioned.
She cautiously walked over to him and placed her hand on his tense shoulders.
The king looked off into the distance and regarded the treetops to the entrance of the forest with apprehension.
"I have to speak to the leaders urgently" he replied and hugged his wife as he grabbed his sword and armour before making his way to the bedroom door with determination.
"Let me go with you! I'll get the nanny to look after Jasmine" she tried but there was no use.
"No! Stay with her and do not let her out of your sight. I'll be back as soon as possible, my love" Jack hurried and went through the door with haste.
Lili carefully put her stirring daughter back in the crib and ran into the corridor to look for her worried husband.
"Where is the king?" She asked a guard.
The imposing armoured man stopped casually speaking to the nanny, who was en-route to the nursery with some fluffy white towels; and looked around anxiously.
They both quickly stopped their conversation and slowly bowed to the flustered queen,
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
"He didn't say where he was going. He just left, your majesty" the stocky man nervously confirmed, wondering if he should have stopped flirting with the petite, red-haired woman and gone with Jack.
"Is everything okay, your majesty?" The young lady asked with concern.
Lili glanced from the workers to the end of the corridor as she panicked, unsure what to do as memories of the ritual came flooding back without warning.
Her eyes rolled to the back of her head as flashes of that night ripped to the forefront of her mind, quickly revealing everything she had experienced in the labyrinth.
Lili fell to her knees in agony,
"Your majesty!" The nanny screamed and tried to help the taunted queen back to her feet.
"I'll get help!" The guard yelled and began to run towards the door at the end of the corridor.
Lili held her head in distress before taking a deep breath and waving to the guard,
"Stop! I don't need help! Everything is fine"
The guard stopped at the door in confusion and walked back to his designated spot,
"Are you sure you're okay, your majesty? You've gone very pale. Maybe we should get the doctor?" The nanny tried.
Lili shook her head as she slowly regained control over her thoughts and firmly concluded,
"I'll look after Jasmine for the rest of the day. Take the afternoon off and I'll see you in the morning".
The baffled nanny nodded in acceptance as they both watched the distracted queen stumble back to the nursery with trepidation.
Lili quickly shut the door and ran to the large arched window that flooded the white nursery with an abundance of light, as she watched her husband ride away from the castle grounds, on his favourite black stallion, and gallop out of sight through the flowered fields.
Her heart began to beat faster as she worried about what could be wrong with her daughter and went over to the sleeping infant.
"Daddy will find out how to help you, precious" Lili whispered as she slumped down on the oversized chair next to the cot and refused to leave Jasmine's side until Jack returned.
Hey everyone! I hope you liked this chapter! If you did don't forget to VOTE for it and don't forget to COMMENT if you want to tell me how you felt about it too!
Also, FOLLOW ME for regular updates on when the new chapters are uploaded and new stories! :)
