Stolen

Everything is different

I slowly opened my eyes to see a bright room. I looked around. I was laying on a bed, but I wasn't in my house. I was in a large room with lots of beds, but only mine was occupied. A lady walked in and saw me awake.

"Ah, perfect! You're awake!" She said. She looked older than me, probably around her mid twenties. "How are you feeling?"

"Um." I said quietly. I still had no clue where I was.

"Oh! Where are my manners? My name is Gianna, and welcome to the Whitehaven Fortress." I gasped. I was in the castle just outside of my town. "I'm sorry, I always forget how confused people must be. You're here to be presented to the prince. There're about 50 other girls and he will choose one to marry. The others will be made as servants, like me. It's not so bad though, they treat us well." She smiled. I couldn't believe that, it sounded so unfair! I had only heard rumors about what they did with the girls they stole. I didn't know this was the reason why. "Enough about that though, what's your name and where are you from?"

"Erm - my name is Violet. I'm from the town here." I informed her. She was ruffling around with some clothes.

"Oh interesting. I didn't know they were taking people here now too." She said, and I noticed her bitter tone. "Anyway, how old are you?"

"I'm 17." I answered. She turned around holding some clothes, but we were interrupted by someone walking through the door.

"Hello." It was a boy who looked like he was around my age. He had blond hair and was somewhat tall. He looked over at me and smiled at me. He had bright blue eyes. I gave him a small smile and looked away awkwardly. "What's your name?" I looked up to see he was still looking at me.

"Oh!" I turned red and cleared my throat. "My names Violet, and yours?"

"Niall." He said, kindly.

"Can I help you with something, your highness?" Gianna asked Niall. I gasped, they both looked at me.

"My apologies, your highness." I apologized quickly, my face growing extremely red as I realized I had greeted royalty as if we were equal. I jumped off my bed and bowed.

"Nonsense." He waved it off. "You mustn't feel the need to apologize. It's completely fine." He turned to face Gianna. "I was wondering if you needed any help." I had never witnessed royalty being so nice.

"I'm actually good for right now, I just have to get this last one ready, but if you really wanted to help I'll need a bit of help preparing her room. Only if you really want to." She added. He nodded.

"I'll meet you in her room in a little bit." He smiled. He turned around to leave and smiled at me one last time. I realized my jaw was wide open and I quickly shut it, smiling at him as he left. I blushed and Gianna smirked at me.

"Follow me." She gestured a hand showing me where to go. I followed her into a bathroom. "I'm assuming you can bathe yourself?" She asked me.

"Yes." I laughed.

"Oh, good." She breathed. "Okay put these clothes on when you're done and find me back in that same room." She smiled.

"Thank you." I said gratefully. She left the room and I looked around. The bathroom was so fancy and not to mention it was huuuge. Back in town, nobody was rich. Our house was small and we luckily had one small shower that we shared with our neighbors. But we didn't use it much because hot water is hard to come by. I filled the tub with hot water and undressed.

After I had gotten cleaned up, I got changed into the clothes she gave me. I had only dreamed of clothes this fancy. It was a blue dress that went down to my feet. She had also given me some flats to wear on my feet. I combed through my hair and then walked back to the room where I would find Gianna.