The Dark Princess

Brooke

My excuse for getting beaten by Milo a second time: I have an extreme temper problem. I, when angry, do really, really stupid things. Exhibit A: accidentally busting Milo out of prison and getting myself kidnapped. Also, I guess you could say that my temper is short and bright; emphasis on short . . . and bright. For now, though, let's focus on "short". When I had burst the lock to Milo's cell door, I had used up a bit of energy, and by the time I was inside, I wasn't angry anymore. Soo . . . I wasn't in the mood to fight anymore, and I'd lost all the anger that gave me the energy to burst the lock in the first place. Now let's focus on "bright", shall we? Some potatoes in the face wouldn't provoke a normal person to burst a lock with their anger, no matter how bad the potatoes were, but I did. So, like I said, I have slightly extreme temper issues.

My nightmares after he knocked me out included more information this time, including the part where Milo dies. I couldn't fathom why I would be so devastated at his death, because at the moment, I was pretty sure I hated him. He annoyed me really bad over and over and over again, and every time I went to the dungeon something bad would happen. Usually it would happen to him, but still, it was a little irritating. Before I could finish these thoughts, the dream changed. I was standing on a hill shrouded by mist with a mirror in front of me. My reflection stared back at me, curly brown hair, deep blue eyes . . . no, my eyes weren't blue, they were a misty white, and the background . . . was that the prison cell?  The image in the mirror changed, and I was looking out from my not-reflection's eyes, and yes, it was the prison cell. That she was in. Milo stood with his back against the wall, his dark eyes filled with fear and confusion. He said something, but the sound was far away and resonated like I was hearing him underwater.

"H-h-how can this disaster b-be averted?" he garbled. I realized with a start that he was talking about the thing I saw in my dream. Then I realized that this was a dream, and my head started to ache. I couldn't hear my "reflection's" reply except for the words "very specific chain of events". The mist began to close in around me, covering the mirror until I stood alone on the hill. Then it enveloped me, and all went black. Just before I woke up, another image floated into my head. A still image of my Papa, lying on the ground, a knife sticking out of his front, eyes glassy. I woke up with tears in my eyes.

I was instantly stunned. What met my open eyes was not the dungeon, and I was not lying on the cold stone floor in Milo's cell. I was upside down, looking at the back of Milo's dirty tunic, my hands tied behind my back and my ankles tied as well. I craned my neck to look somewhere, anywhere, besides the unpleasant view of Milo's backside, and found myself in the city, not far from where we first fought. Suddenly I was dumped onto a wooden surface, and I mean dumped, exactly like a sack of potatoes. I glared angrily at Milo, but when he ignored me I forced my anger down (for once). I needed to concentrate. When he turned away I closed my eyes, concentrating on the sweet sound of the rivers and streams and the crash of waves on a sandy shore. I felt it beginning. I was slowly bringing out the dewdrop part of myself and turning all water. I felt the tingles as I urged it on, and the cleanliness of freshwater began overtaking my human body from the inside out.

"What are you doing?" My eyes jerked open, all my concentration lost. The halfway-finished process of turning dewdrop reversed all at once, painfully wrenching my insides back to human. I groaned and doubled over, instinctively straining against the ropes binding my hands to attempt to clutch my stomach. The pain passed and I looked up into Milo's one remaining eye with complete and utter loathing.

"The question is," I bit back, "what . . . IN ALL THE SEVEN REALMS . . . are you doing?!!!" Milo had the annoying nerve to smirk!

"Well, it is your fault you or I are here at all. I'm packing you up to take to my . . . mother." I looked at him a little funny when he said that, noticing how he hesitated to call the Dark Princess his mother.

"The one who put a curse on you so that you would die if you didn't return in time," I asked innocently. He glared at me and turned back to the now hitched up horses. I smirked, but then I remembered the predicament I was in. I would never complete my transformation and escape without a distraction, and even then I might need help. I took in my surroundings and realized we were by the stables. I smiled as I looked up at the castle's tallest tower. The tower that contained the warning bell.