Where are the Princesses?

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| At the Kingdom of Azalon ~ Castle Grounds |

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"Welcome back, Sire!" Royal Advisor Curtis bowed.

Raising a brow, King Zane ignored his words, looking over his shoulder, "Edgar, send that antelope to the veterinary clinic."

"As you wish, Sire!" Edgar beamed with joy.

"How was your hunt, Sire?" Royal Advisor Curtis tried starting up a conversation again.

"Dan?" King Zane called, "Do skin that wolf, I assume you can take care of that?!" His eyes raked down at the guard.

"Y- yes Sire!" Dan yelped in fright.

°What did I do wrong?° Royal Advisor Curtis placed his hand on his chin, perplexed as he followed the King closely.

"And where do you think you're going?" King Zane finally brought his attention to Curtis.

"I... it's my job to see to whatever you need, Sire." Royal Advisor Curtis replied timidly. "Did I do anything wrong, Sire?"

"And what makes you think you did?" King Zane folded his arms, staring daggers at Curtis.

"You have been distant, rarely requesting my assistance. When I do try to help or make a suggestion, you disregard my opinion or just ignore me in the actual sense." Royal Advisor Curtis pointed out.

"Hmmm..." King Zane nodded his head after listening, "If you could somehow tell me how a long lost and assumed dead Princess could return to this Kingdom, I might reconsider my actions towards you, if not replace you." He threatened.

"Sire!" Royal Advisor Curtis dropped to his knees, begging.

°Does he not remember?° Royal Advisor Curtis wondered as he kept to his kneeling posture.

"I assume that's a no?" King Zane shook his head. "Guards!"

Trooping in at the sound of the King's voice, they stomped their feet to a halt, awaiting the King's order.

"Lock him up," King Zane waved his hand, "until he gives valuable information, he is not to be released."

"Sire please! You just have to trust me!" Royal Advisor Curtis yelled as he was being dragged away.

°You are in grave danger! We are not safe° Royal Advisor Curtis had wanted to say, but how could he, when they were all under the watchful eye of the enemy?

~~~~~~~~~~

"Something is definitely going on!" The King said to himself, placing his hand on the door knob, turning it anticlockwise, he tried opening it to no avail.

"Aria!" King Zane called, "Open the door, I need to speak with you." He knocked on the door.

"..."

°Why are guards not assigned to this section?° King Zane wondered as the hallway was devoid of anyone, the silence deafening.

"Don't play games," King Zane knocked on the door again, "I'm sure, you can't be sleeping, it's not yet late hours!" He noted.

"..."

°She can't possibly still be in there, can she?° King Zane contemplated using force.

"I'm going to break down your door if you do not open, Aria!" King Zane placed his lips at the key hole.

°I can't believe I'm doing this!° King Zane deadpanned, looking at the door.

Kicking on the door a few times, the door finally gave way, the hinge broken.

Stretching his leg after the strain he had done to it, King Zane kicked on some of the broken wood in his way, making his way in.

"Aria?" King Zane called again, walking over to her bedside.

His leg hitting a stool, grimacing in pain, he looked down in a clear minded view, finally realizing how scattered the Princess' chambers was. The duvet was in disarray, so was her wardrobe and her her dressing room.

°What happened here? Where is the Princess?° King Zane kicked off the duvet in his way.

"Why didn't her lady-in-waiting see to it that this place is arranged?" King Zane stood still, looking at his surroundings, he was definitely sure she wasn't in her room.

°Clothes? Dressing room? Her lady-in-waiting no where in sight? What am I missing?° King Zane rubbed his chin in thought.

Finally King Zane's thoughts clicked together. "They went out!" He snapped his fingers together. "But where?"

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*Knock* *Knock*

King Zane's knuckles made light taps on the door. "Princess Maelin? Open up!"

"..."

The guards at the side looked at one another, "Sire?" one of them excused.

"What do you want?" King Zane snapped.

"Well umm... Her Highness, Princess Maelin is not in." The guard coughed out.

"What did you just say?" King Zane couldn't believe it.

"Her Highness, Princess Maelin, is not in." The guard repeated timidly.

"You let her out?" King Zane questioned in astonishment.

"Her Highness-"

"Would you cut it out, and get straight to the point?" King Zane asked impatiently.

The guard gulped, breathing out, he began again, "Princess Maelin specifically told us, the King approved of her leave."

"You believed her?" King Zane couldn't believe how gullible these guards were.

°I really need a new set of guards° King Zane rubbed his throbbing temple.

"We thought she might join you hunting." The other guard defended. "She dressed up in casual wear, nothing too fancy, even for her."

"You are both dismissed." King Zane sneered.

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| The town |

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In a cloth stall, Princess Maelin looked through it's glass window as she watched Aria and Leah come out of a house.

"It must be really hard for Pael's parents." Princess Aria sighed in worry. "I just hope they would be fine."

"They will be, Princess Aria." Lady Leah whispered. "You did well, they really valued the time it took to visit them."

°So that's what she sneaked out to do?° Princess Maelin continued her spying, pretending to price a cloth in front of her.

"It was my pleasure." Princess Aria stretched out her arms over her head.

"Lady, are you going to pay for that or would you just keep standing there?" The store owner yelled. "You're preventing others from coming over!"

Princess Aria and Lady Leah's attention went straight to the scene which was causing a stir in a stall.

"Something looks oddly familiar about that lady," Princess Aria narrowed her eyes.

"Now that can't possibly be possible, Your Highness!" Lady Leah gave a nervous laughter, going behind Aria,

she pushed on her back, "You have never been to these parts."

"But-" Princess Aria looked behind her as she was being pushed away from the scene.

"Probably she's a thief!" One of the customers commended, taking a good step back.

"Don't be afraid," the store owner begged, "I'll get rid of this lady right here!" He pulled on the scarf which had covered her hair, bringing out her Azure hair in full display.

"What sort of hair color is that?" The shop owner shrieked in surprise, jumping back, the crowd also doing the same.

"I... um..." Princess Maelin was short of words as she picked up her scarf which had dropped to the ground, wrapping it around her hair once more.

"I knew it!" Princess Aria shrugged off Lady Leah's hands from her back.

"Knew what?" Lady Leah slightly tapped her feet in a rapid motion.

"Look!" Princess Aria forced Leah's head towards the commotion, "It's Maelin!"

"It really is!" Lady Leah's mouth hung down in amazement, "What does she want now?"

"We would just have to find out!" Princess Aria made her way towards the crowd.

"I can assure you, I do not intend on stealing anything here." Princess Maelin rose her hands in defense.

"She is telling the truth!" A voice boomed within the crowd.

"Thankyou!" Princess Maelin sighed in relief.

"Here Sir," Princess Maelin walked up to the store owner, slamming a handful of Azals onto the counter. "My friend here, would be taking that dress to go."

°She would actually defend me?° Princess Maelin looked astounded at the attention she was given.

"Now here's a good customer!" The store owner gave a hearty cheer. "We're deeply sorry for the ruckus caused."

~~~~~~~~~~

"Now tell me," Princess Aria pulled on Maelin's hand, walking over to a secluded area. "Why are you following me?"

"I- I wasn't following you." Princess Maelin defended, folding her hands.

"I suppose you won't mind, telling the people out there I mistook you for someone else. I'm sure they look pretty pissed a few minutes ago." Princess Aria pretended giving it a thought.

"No!" Princess Maelin held onto Aria's hand in fear, "Please I didn't mean to."

"Did you come here on the orders of the King?" Princess Aria narrowed her eyes.

"I came here all by myself, well mostly." Princess Maelin fiddled with her fingers as she looked timidly at Aria, "Well I did use your help in a sense, since I stalked you two."

"Why was there any need to follow us, I thought this was beneath you, Your Highness?" Lady Leah rolled her eyes.

"I was curious..." Princess Maelin looked up as she began, "I thought you normally snuck out like this to meet a lover. I needed to see for myself how sneaky I thought you to be."

"Princess Aria would never do such a thing!" Lady Leah defended, pointing an accusing finger at Princess Maelin, "You on the other hand..."

"I was wrong to have thought on that line," Princess Maelin looked down in despair. "You would risk that much for a mere servant?" She looked up again, hopeful.

"If it's worth it, sure!" Princess Aria nodded in affirmation. "They are also people."

"I see," Princess Maelin closed her eyes in thought. "Maybe I was wrong about you."

"Is there anything you are ever right about?" Lady Leah was enjoying her one moment of taunting Princess Maelin.

"Ow!" Lady Leah cringed, holding onto her head. "Why would you hit me because of her?" She looked at Princess Aria in bewilderment.

"That's not how you speak to a Royal." Princess Aria corrected closing her eyes in pride. "As much as I give you the freedom to speak freely, doesn't mean you disrespect Royal blood." She opened her left eye, taking a peek of Lady Leah's expression

"I'm sorry Princess Maelin." Lady Leah reluctantly apologized, still rubbing the throbbing pain.

°These two are complete opposite° Princess Maelin couldn't help but let out a chuckle.

"It's alright," Princess Maelin assured, "I'm actually the one meant to apologise."

"See!" Lady Leah exclaimed, "Even she gets it!"

"So tell me," Princess Aria brought out her hand, "would you like to start over, on good terms that is."

"I would like that!" Princess Maelin took her gesture in a shake, "Very much!" Her lips curled up in a smile.

°Did they just call it a truce?° Lady Leah looked on in shock, her mouth falling open.

°Maybe this is my chance to start a new° Princess Maelin contemplated.

°Finally, I managed to change the usual setting of things. Bye bye, rivalry!° Princess Aria pulled Maelin in a hug.

"Now!" Princess Aria pulled Lady Leah in for a hug too, who pouted in jealousy, "How do we sneak back to the Castle unnoticed?" She threw the question at both of them.