The Dark Princess

Mary

I was at the feast for my birthday when the alarm bell started tolling. I looked up, surprised, at the guardsmen and started counting. 20 guardsmen. All of them were here. I knew immediately that it was Brooke, and stood up to tell the guards, who were still just sitting there, gawking up at the ceiling as if they could see the tower above us. Dimwits, I thought as I made my way over to their table. Before I could get there, I started feeling a little dizzy. I leaned against the nearest table and shook my head, trying to clear it. Then I momentarily blacked out. When I could see again, I was standing in the dungeon, watching pale, see-through versions of Brooke and Milo when Brooke lost her temper and challenged Milo to another duel. I saw everything, but it took a long time, and by the time it was over, the warning bell had stopped ringing. I dashed up the stairs, following shadow Brooke and Milo. I got to the stables and watched as the shadows had their confrontation, recognizing both Brooke's attempts to go all dewdrop. Before she could finish the second transformation, Milo had gotten the carriage ready. He jerked into motion, and her concentration was lost again. The pain of losing twice was too much for her, and she collapsed onto her side in the cart. I ran to the front gates, following the carriage. What I saw there was the shadows catching up to reality, and reality was Brooke slowly sitting up in the carriage with tears in her eyes. I froze, remembering my dream. It came true. I could feel all the blood leaving my face, and I fell to my knees, shaking. It came true, so is everything I dream going to be true? What could this possibly mean? Then I came back to my senses and realized that my favorite person in the whole world just got kidnapped. I stumbled back to my feet, scowling, and started toward the forest. I was absolutely determined to get her back, and I didn't have a horse (Thanks, Milo.), so I was going to have to go on foot. I was at the edge of the forest when things started to go wrong.

I began to hear something. It kept getting louder and louder, and the air started to get . . . thicker. I found it hard to move forward, and breathing began getting harder as well.Then, right in front of me, a woman appeared. She might have been beautiful, but her eyes were sunken back into her skull, and her once flowing hair was severely tangled. She was grinning, and though I had been taught to give everyone the benefit of the doubt, I knew immediately that she had fust done something evil. Then she turned her pale blre sunken eyes on me, and her smile broadened. Shivers ran up and down my spine, and I stepped away from her. The lady rushed forward and grabbed my hair with her shriveled hands. I tried to scream but as soon as I opened my mouth I felt a knife against my throat.

"Make one sound, Princess, and you'll regret it." The woman's voice was scratchy and painful to listen to. I kept my mouth shut as she said a few odd-sounding words that I recognized as magic. My surroundings began to dim.

When my eyes began to focus again I was in a completely different place, like when I accidentally transported from the dining hall. This time I was in a princess's quarters (I know because I'm a princess.), and there was someone on the bed. I was still being held by the crazy witch I met outside the forest, but she quickly let go of me, stepping away even as she said the magic words that she used to bring me here. I rushed forward to latch onto her before she could get away-whatever reason she had for taking me here, I didn't want to stay-but I didn't make it in time. I fell to the floor with a grunt. I fully expected the person on the bed to come and see what made all the noise, but they hadn't moved an inch. I got up slowly, still cautious, and went to the bed. What I saw there made me nauseous. On the bed was the elf princess, and she was dead. I couldn't see any signs of what caused her death, so she was probably poisoned. I knew now why the strange lady had brought me here, and why she needed to in the first place. She wanted me to take the blame for killing the princess, and so I had to make sure that I didn't. I walked to the princess's window and opened it. The window was too far off the ground to just jump out. I cursed and went to the bed. I gently touched the princess's body, and realized that it was still warm. In fact, the elfin princess was breathing. I was stunned only for a moment, and then I got back to work. I moved the princess off her bed and tore the sheets and blankets off of it. I started knotting the sheets and blankets together, and when I was done, I dragged the bed over to the window (with a lot of sweating and cursing in different languages) and tied the end of my makeshift rope to the leg. It was then that I heard somebody coming up to the door. My hands started to shake. I didn't have time to test whether or not the sheets would support my weight, I swung one leg out the window, and the elf outside the door knocked. I swung the other and they knocked again, I was disappearing down the bedding rope when the door opened, and my feet were touching the ground when I heard a scream. I ran.

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I slowed as I reached the heavily guarded front gates and tried to steady my breathing. I had to make my story as believable as possible, and that meant me seeming nonchalant. I recalled my story. I was here to negotiate the gold/nature magic deal. The simple guards wouldn't know about it, only the royalty would. The queen had discovered something dreadful and I had been asked to leave.

I approached the front gate and looked up at the guard expectantly. "Well," I said, "open the gate." He glared down at me suspiciously, and I sighed exasperatedly. "Aren't you supposed to remember the people you let into your city?" The guard got uncomfortable and opened the gate for me. Well, I thought, that was easier than I expected. I jinxed it. I looked over my shoulder as I entered the forest. There was a heavily adorned elf talking to the guard I just spoke to.

The guard was on full alert and turned back to face me. "Sorry, Ma'am," he said, "you'll have to-" He didn't get to finish his sentence. I ran into the forest as fast as I could. I heard shouting behind me, though I didn't catch all of it. Just the words "must have been her!" That made me run even harder. Then I reached a dead end. I stopped mere inches away from the edge of the cliff that had appeared out of nowhere. I turned on my heel and could faintly see elfin soldiers running through the forest in my wake, led by the heavily adorned elf I had seen earlier. I assumed that he was the king. I started shaking. I was left with two options. Either I could jump off a cliff, or I could get skewered by an elf. Then another possible idea occurred to me. Barely possible, but I might live if I could do it. I had no delusions that I could, but I turned toward the cliff.

A. N. BUM, BUM, BUUUUUUUUUUM!!!!!!! I did my best with the cliff hanger, how'd I do?