Chapter #9 The Golden Ticket

          Security for the Vailstone city castle had increased exponentially since the attack, especially since the absence of the grand duke and the soldiers that followed with him. Safety precautions were at their highest level, foods were checked for poison, the castle was accepting no visitors, and all business matters were postponed until the grand duke and prince returned from their quest. It was a stressful time for everyone, yet princess Alisha was able to occupy her mind with her romance novels. The princess loved to read her novels, but loved to dream of her "true love" more. Living in a region of the continent where magic was most common assured writers with vast imagination and epic stories. Despite being a princess, Alisha found her life to be somewhat boring and uneventful. Her days mainly consisted of learning about royal procedures and proper etiquette. Her only escape was her fictional stories, which is why she would spend a great majority of her time in the enormous library.

The library was the perfect place to read and immerse oneself into the fabricated world provided by the writer. Alisha found herself falling in love with the hero of her novel series. Her crush for him grew stronger with each chapter. Alisha's escape from reality was interrupted as footsteps could be heard approaching. The princess placed her book down on the table and looked up at the intruder with an annoyed look upon her face. It was one of the maids hired to attend to the princess' needs. "Yes?" the princess asked.

"Excuse me madam, but you received a package in the mail." the maid said nervously.

"Well, where is it?" Alisha asked.

The maid didn't answer back, nervously regretting to inform the beautiful princess of news surely to upset her.

"Well?" Alisha asked again.

The princess rushed into one of the royal chambers where the king and the queen stood near a window viewing into the courtyard. The princess ran up to her mother, "What's going on?" she asked anxiously.

The queen placed her arm around Alisha's back and placed her hand on her shoulder, "Something for you came in the mail, the guards are just verifying that it's safe." her mother explained.

Alisha was nervous, she and her parents watched through the window intently. The guard downstairs in the courtyard was very meticulous and took his time since his life may be at stake. The guard removed from his pocket a stone given to him by his superior. It was a castor stone, a stone capable of emitting light when exposed near magic. The guard placed the stone back in his pocket once it revealed that no magical spells had been cast upon the package. The royal family could see that nothing had happened as the guard opened the box intended for the youthful princess. The guard removed a fluffy teddy bear from the package and awaited further instructions.

One of the king's royal guards approached him and handed him an envelope. "This letter came with the package, your majesty."

King Dorian opened the envelope and looked at his daughter with confusion after briefly reading only a few lines. "It's a love letter."

Everyone was looking at the princess, her face started to turn red and her eyes began to tear up. She immediately turned and ran out of the room. The princess was embarrassed beyond belief. Alisha ran to her room and shut the door behind her. She jumped on her bed and buried her face in her pillow after shoving her stuffed animals onto the floor. Nobody was aware of the love letters, romantic poems, and gifts being sent to Alisha from various princes from around the continent until now. During the moment, Alisha's mind was not filled with self-pity, but rather racing with questions. Such as who was the package from? Will her parents be upset? Will she be grounded for keeping such secrets? Her series of worries were interrupted by a knocking at her door. "Go away!" she cried out.