Chapter 2

The ride was long, but silent. When we made it home, which Robert simply forgot to tell me is a castle, he helped me down. 

"Welcome home." He says smiling down at me. I glare at him and cross my arms and he laughs at me.

"Come, meet Mother and Father." He takes me by the hand and leads me up the steps towards the huge stone entrance. 

 Once again, memories plague me. Walking up those steps and meeting his family, the rose garden. The memories haunt me like an irreversible curse that I wish I could change after it all. I wish I could go back and erase the feelings in my heart from him and never feel the pain he'd causes when he left.

"Wait here." Robert says releasing my hand. I look around in a room that looks similar, only the drapes and rug are different.

"I guess I'll have to start over again." I whisper to myself as I remember how long it took me to find my way around last time. Robert looks confused. I smile, he had heard me. He shakes off the confusion and leaves. Seconds seem like hours as I wait then I begin to wander around, looking at paintings and portraits but always making sure I can see the door. 

As I begin to make my way back to the door it opens before I have the chance to touch it. Two guards holding a man struggling between them walk in. As impolite as it is, I stare. The guard to the right of the man bows his head to me.

"Milady." says the other as they pass. It seems strange to me that they would treat me though I am poor. I have been in this situation before. The castle, the people, the town could all be the same and yet it couldn't be. It's a different castle, a different country, and different people. A gasp interrupts my thoughts and I whip around to see where it came from only to see a mirror image of myself standing a few feet away from me. All I can do is stare; her hair is the same brilliant red, her eyes silver like mine. Instinctively I know her.

"Mother…" I whisper. She smiles and rushes over and pulls me into a hug. I feel another pair of arms rap around me. But these are not the small arms of a woman, these are the arms of a man, the arms of my father. Robert joins in, so now I am surrounded by the family that I never knew I had. For how long we stayed in that position, I don't know. It almost doesn't seem like long enough.

"Sire," Interrupts a guard. "I am sorry to interrupt such a moment, but the thief has been captured. The council awaits your decision." I am in shock the respect in the guard's address and the words he said could only mean one thing.

I'm a princess.