• The next morning, Princess Lorien awoke and looked out the window of her bedroom. Something was bothering her and she didn’t know what. She looked down at the kingdom of Bright Splendia and was frowning at how much less lively it looked ever since the death of her mother. She sighed and went to look at herself in the mirror.

    She didn’t look any different than usual but she felt awfully strange, like she’d forgotten something. She shrugged at herself.

    “I’m sure it’s nothing. I probably didn’t get a proper good night’s sleep,” Lorien said to herself and got changed. She pulled out her red dress from the wardrobe and looked at it for a moment. For some reason, it felt very significant to her she didn’t know how. She shoved the dress back into her wardrobe and decided on wearing her light blue dress to breakfast instead.

    When Lorien arrived in the supper room, she caught sight of Samuel and her heart started beating 3 times as fast as usual. A big smile spread across her face when Samuel smiled at her.

    “Good morning,” they both said at the same time and started laughing to themselves. Mrs. Coldwell looked at Lorien strangely as she laid out breakfast for the 2 royals.

    Samuel pulled out Lorien’s seat for her and when she sat, he gave he kiss on the cheek and she blushed. She caught sight of Mrs. Coldwell’s eyes widening for a moment before she turned away and headed for the kitchen.

    “It feels strange sitting at the top end of the table,” Lorien said, slightly sad but at the same time cheerful. Samuel laughed at her comment and she laughed with him.

    Lorien and Samuel spent the whole day talking and laughing and every time Lorien heard Samuel’s deep, smooth voice, her heart skipped a beat. But something in her heart felt otherwise.

    Why doesn’t this feel right? Lorien thought to herself but eventually ignored it when Samuel started talking again.

    Mrs. Coldwell entered the room and when the Princess saw her face, she knew something was wrong. The old woman came to whisper into Lorien’s ear.

    “Your Highness, are you feeling alright today? You seem… different,” Mrs. Coldwell said worriedly. Lorien looked at the old woman strangely and whispered back to her.

    “Nonsense Mrs. Coldwell, I feel fine,” but something about Lorien didn’t convince the woman. Mrs. Coldwell looked up at Samuel and he was smiling. It wasn’t his normal warm smile but a more cold and evil one. Mrs. Coldwell shivered slightly and mustered up the best convincing smile that she could. She scuttled away back to the kitchen.

    Samuel and Lorien spent the whole day walking around the castle talking and laughing. They never kept their eyes off each other and Lorien felt that she couldn’t be happier. Although, in the back of her mind, something felt wrong. She felt guilty but she didn’t know why.

    After walking for a while, Samuel and Lorien eventually ended up in the Crystal Garden. Again, Lorien felt that it was significant to her but she couldn’t remember how.

    She suddenly noticed someone sitting on one of the marble benches. He was a handsome young man with emerald green eyes and wonderful light brown hair. It was Captain Lucas, the captain that led her kingdom’s army to victory. But there was also something about this boy but she couldn’t put her finger on it. It was like he was special to her in some way. She felt discouraged when she realized there were a lot of things that she had forgotten.

    “Wonderful day Your Highnesses,” The Captain said politely. He smiled at Lorien in particular and she smiled back. Lucas noticed that it wasn’t her usual smile. It looked as though it was false. There was one thing he knew about the Princess and there was definitely something different about her.

    “Indeed it is Captain. What brings you to the castle on a fine day such as this one?” Samuel said. Lucas also noticed that there was something different about him too. His voice was harsher when he spoke. Lucas thought about a proper excuse for a moment. He had actually come to see Lorien, naturally, but he regretted the thought for a moment. Lorien looked normal, too normal. This worried Lucas.

    “Just keeping an eye on the castle, making sure that no one is trying to disturb the peace,” Lucas said politely staring intently at Lorien. He thought her saw her cringe slightly. There was definitely something wrong with her.

    “I think the castle is in perfect hands if you don’t mind Captain,” Samuel said harshly, grabbing Lorien’s hand for Lucas to see.

    “Then I guess there’s no need for me here then,” Lucas chuckled quietly. Lorien suddenly looked up at him. There was definitely something about the Captain, something about the chuckle that he gave that puzzled her.

    “No, I guess there isn’t” Samuel said turning to walk away, Lorien following closely behind. The Prince and Princess left Lucas in the garden, stupefied and puzzled. Samuel turned to look at Lucas one last time and for a second, Lucas was sure that he saw Samuel’s eyes turn stone black.