Arcanum

Chapter 14: Aiyana

I walked back to camp feeling more awkward with each step, and flinching at anything around me. I still couldn't believe that Lucas had to see me like that. The thought made colour rush to my cheeks, and I sighed and shrugged it off. When I thought again about the general, I started to wonder why he didn't kidnap me. Yet again, something about that made me wonder if he cared about me.

"Hello!" Charlene bounced up to me when I entered the village, and I smiled at my friend,

"Hi." I said, but my voice came out quieter than expected,

"What's wrong?" She instantly noticed that I was behaving odd,

"Oh nothing." I shrugged it off,

"I don't believe you." She raised an eyebrow,

"It's okay. I promise." I touched her shoulder, and then headed toward my house. A white wolf suddenly ran in front of me, and turned back into a human,

"Excuse me princess, but I was wondering how your bath was." Akira asked,

"Great, it healed me up greatly." I lied, and Akira grinned,

"That is great to hear." He then gently waved before taking off to meet his brother. I chuckled softly, and then walked into my new home. As soon as I did, I collapsed onto the bed and let my thoughts run wild. I felt horrible about getting so angry that Lucas happened to run into me when I was bathing. Honestly, I'm sure he didn't do it on purpose. I mean, maybe he did, but I doubted it. Why was I even worried about getting angry at him though? He was my enemy.

"Princess Aiyana!" A female guard rushed into my room, a smile on her face,

"Hi, Belle." I smiled at her, and rose to my feet,

"I was just spying on the castle with a few other guards. There is a ball coming up and we think it would be a perfect chance to capture the human princess. They need to learn a lesson about stealing our princess." She grinned, and I thought for a minute,

"That would be great. When is this ball?" I asked,

"Tonight. Also, the alchemist created us a potion so we can turn into a completely different person!" Belle giggled, and I rose to my feet.

"Would I be able to accompany you?" I asked her, and she seemed shocked,

"Of course princess. Isn't it dangerous though?"

"Nonsense. I'll be fine." I placed a gentle hand on her shoulder, and smiled.

"Okay, great! Two of our other Knights are going to accompany us too.". I watched the brown haired Belle leave, and I suddenly had a huge grin on my face. This was the chance to speak to the General, and really find out what was going on.

---

I stood in front of the mirror, and watched my appearance change dramatically from the potion the alchemist gave me. My height shrunk down so I was now five foot three, and my long blonde hair transformed into a bit shorter of chestnut brown hair. Then, my whole face changed, and my blue eyes turned into a forest green. My cat ears and tail were gone in a instant, and I found myself staring back at a completely different person. There was no way to tell I was even once the princess.

"Wow." I gasped, and walked to my bed, pulling on a dress I just happened to find in my closet. It was a strapless dark red ball gown, with many different silver patterns on it. The dress was tight at my waist, and then transformed into a large skirt at the bottom. I sat down by the mirror, and tousled my hair so it would be the faintest bit curly. It turned out better than I thought, and when I stepped back, I examined brown hair with bouncy curls at the bottom. Charlene walked into the room, and I grabbed her arms before she could scream,