Chapter 2

My eyes slowly fluttered open, finding it hard to breathe? That's weird, though I do take in air, it's never hurt before….

My vision was blurry, I tried moving myself, only to find my body unable to move. It felt like something was restricting my movement.

Once my vision cleared I scanned my surroundings, I was in some sort of room on a….some sorta mat? Looks way thicker than a mat, and somethin soft underneath my head.

I looked down at my body.

'What the….whats this white stuff? And why is it wrapped all around me?', I confusingly thought to myself.

I tried to force it to get off of me, but halted as a sharp pain coursed through my body. My eyes getting teary as I found it harder to breathe.

'What was going on?! Why does it hurt so much?! Where am I?!', Frustrated, all I could do was lay down and wait for something to happen, unable to move due to some unknown pain.

Minutes gone by, and I perked up a little, ignoring the pain going through my body as I looked in the direction of the sound I just heard.

A person dressed in strange clothing walked into the room, and as soon as he saw her awake he widened his eyes and shouted.

"Goodness she's awake! Quickly! Check her condition!", as soon as he said those words, two more people in the same strange clothes as the guy who shouted came rushing into the room, getting closer to her.

I tried to say something, but when I opened my mouth nothing came out. My eyes shot wide open, as I tried to force something, anything to come out.

But no matter what I did, I couldn't say anything, and with the pain in my neck getting worse and worse, I stopped.

"Don't speak! Your neck was injured from where we found you, and so is the rest of your body! By the lord, it's a miracle the knights had found you alive!", I processed this information slowly.

Knights? Injured? What was going on? Why does her body even hurt this much!? With injuries like these she should've poofed by now! But why isn't sh-

Then she shifted her arms a little, but instead of feeling a hard smooth surface, all she could feel was her own chest.

'WHAT IS GOING ON?! WHERE'S MY GEM! WHAT THE HECK!!!', I screamed internally, how was this possible?! Where was her gem?!

She ignored the strange people, concentrating as hard as she could on what her current situation was like.

She was in an unknown place, with a bunch of unknown people, who did not look like gems at all. She was heavily injured and somehow has not poofed, and her Gem was somehow missing.

'But how?! Why?! Only thing I remember is when that met-', My thoughts came to a screeching halt.

I had broken the rules of her game….and with my current location, there was no way of knowing if Pink could ever find me….and even if she did…..

Guilt, Shame and Sadness shot down at me. I ruined everything…my only purpose in my life and I failed….Pink….

Everything hurt…from the outside to the inside, knowing that I was a failure, and a defective Gem who couldn't even complete one simple game weighed crushingly onto my mind.

I felt like crying, but nothing could come out, and as my breathing got heavier and faster, everything went black again….

"How is her condition at the moment?", asked a girl wearing a luxurious looking dress with jewelry hanging from various parts of her body.

"She had awoken quite some time ago princess, but it seems that the pain was too much for her and she went unconscious again. I don't blame her, with injuries like hers, she shouldn't even be alive right now. It's a miracle!", replied a man wearing plain clothing, but with an insignia on it, signifying that he was a doctor.

The princess nodded as she walked past the doctor, with her head clouded with thoughts. Who was this girl? Was she somehow connected to the large sound that was heard earlier? How did she get those injuries?

Her curiosity came to a halt as she bowed her head to a large pot bellied man she had encountered while turning a corner.

"Greetings Father, what brings you to the infirmary? Are you perhaps checking in on our newest patient?", she tried asking, but only got a dismissive wave in return.

"Certainly not dear daughter, I have no need to waste my time with some random lowly peasant, no I simply came here to have a doctor check on my toe, it's feeling a little sore after all.", The man, now identified as the King huffed arrogantly as he strut past his daughter.

A hint of irritation crossed her face before she schooled her expression into a neutral one.

'Always with the attitude father….truly a shame…', The princess headed towards her quarters, thinking deeply about the future.

'It has been 37 years since the start of your rule, and not only has the state of our kingdom deteriorated, but the other kingdoms are also looking down on us….', Angrily, she stomped her way towards her door, and slammed it open, locking it behind her.

'If only Mother was still around, maybe-', with a shake of her head she dismissed the thought. The past was the past, now she needed to focus on the future of her kingdom.

'I need to find a way to take the throne, father has been wasting away the kingdom's resources for his senseless amusement, and now the people grow hungry and angry….but how?', She had thought about this multiple times, though she had a plan, she needed pieces.

After all, what good is a game of chess if there weren't any pieces on the board?

She pondered, and a gleam of malice appeared in her eyes.

Her thoughts drifted towards the unfortunate soul who found herself heavily injured and on the brink of death. Her clothes seemed to suggest that she was of peasant lineage, and with how she was in the middle of the forest, one could assume that she was either abandoned or forcefully placed there.

If that was the case, then it means that she had nowhere to go, and had found herself in a foreign kingdom on her own. Though with her injuries, if one were to look closely, you could see hints of dense but lean muscle. And with the way her physique looked it seemed like that of one capable of holding her own in a fight.

'An unknown foreigner, who is now injured, possibly forced out of her kingdom with nowhere to go and is able to potentially be a great combatant…'

A devious grin spread across her face, as she giggled to herself.

'It looks like I've found you then, My Queen."