• Chapter 1
    Thirteen




    *. It happened on my thirteenth birthday. I couldn’t believe it. I was entering
    the ballroom from the room at the top of the stairs. Before I even glided down the first step, someone screamed and my governess rushed up the steps and pushed me back into the room. She locked the door and moved some of the furniture up against it.
    *. “Amy,” I wasn’t allowed to call her that in front of my parents. “What is going on out there?”
    *. She looked at me. She didn’t dare answer.
    *. “Amy?”
    *. “It’s none of your business. It’s between the strange man and your mother, now. Let’s go.”
    *. She rushed me through the maze of rooms, locking each door behind us, and barricading them, too. As I was rushed I wondered why my father hadn’t sent the strange man away the instant he made someone scream. I should have known he tried.
    *. Finally we reached my room and she locked the door, barricaded it, and slid the heavy bolt home.
    *. “Amy, tell me what happened.” I demanded calmly.
    *. She opened her mouth to speak, but then there was a loud thump. Someone had made it past several rooms, and it sounded like they were only three rooms away. Amy hopped up and started opening a small trapdoor cleverly hidden above the canopy on my bed. She climbed in and motioned for me to follow. I climbed in and found a rather nice room, with a small window.
    *. I watched as Amy wrote a note and left it on the floor before climbing down out the trapdoor. She climbed out and began to pile everything the two of us would need into a small bag. As soon as she handed me the bag there was a large thump. Someone was trying to break down the door. Silently, she closed the trapdoor.
    *. I listened as they hit the door. Once. Twice. Three times. Four times. Five times. Suddenly they were moving furniture away from the door. I heard a man ask Amy where I was. I heard her say she did not know. Out of all the things I heard, though, the worst was hearing him slap her, and hearing her scream as they dragged her away.
    *. I waited for them to either find me, or give up trying. They searched the closet and the drawers of my dresser. They searched under my bed and under all the pillows on it. For one scary minute I thought for sure they would find me, for they even climbed on top of my canopy, but they soon gave up. Amy must have disguised the trapdoor before they broke in.
    *. As soon as they left I finally moved. I went to see what Amy had written.

    Anne, in case something goes wrong,
    wait an hour after they leave and then
    use the rope in the corner to climb
    down and into the unused west wing,
    it has a hole in the roof. There you
    will meet the gardener’s helper, he
    will help you get away. He will tell
    you what happened.


    *. I looked around and saw the rope. I took a deep breath.
    *. As I harnessed myself up an hour later I worried about Amy. I wondered where they had taken her. I felt bad because she was taken away for protecting me.
    *. As I opened the window I cast one more glance around the room. I wondered if I would ever come back.
    *. I can't remember much about my descent, only that I wasn't scared. When I landed on the roof of the west wing, I didn't make a sound. As I ran across the roof I didn't make a sound, either. It seemed that my father made the west wing so that one could run along the roof silently and without slipping. He was smart.
    *. As I climbed down the hole, it had a ladder, the gardener's helper, a boy 15 years old, helped me down.
    *. "I have been waiting for you, Princess Anne." he told me.
    *. "I know, and... this is embarrassing but... Idon'tknowyourname." I bit my lip.
    *. "Most people don't, and you're the first person I worked for, royal or peasant, that cared. Personally, I'm shocked that a you're not a snobby brat, but I digress, I'm Daniel." He rambled off.
    *. He told me what happened. The strange man had come in, covered in the blood of our guards. My father told him to leave at once, but he challenged my father to a duel. He cheated. One of his lackeys snuck up on my father, and that was when my mother screamed. He spun around and fought them both off, but soon it was four against one.
    *. That was when Daniel began to sneak to the door to the west wing, but he saw what happened next.
    *. The strange man walked up to my mom and said, "Long time no see, Margaret."
    *. My mother glared at him with all the hatred in the world and more.
    *. So there I was, crying my eyes out, with Daniel's arm around me awkwardly. I couldn't believe my father was dead.



    Chapter 2
    Escape




    *. Daniel looked up and said, "We should probably get going."
    *. I nodded, crying too hard to say anything. He pulled me to my feet and towed me to a window that was low-set, closer to the ground and opened the bottom half. He jumped out and held his arms out to catch me, but I landed on my feet next to him, I had done things like this before.
    *. We ran until I couldn't run any longer. He was complaining, saying that he could run farther and that I could too, I was just complaining because I was a spoiled royal brat, but I smirked. I could see on his face that he would have stopped a minute ago if it weren't for the fact that I was still running hard, and that relief was all over his face, relief that he didn't have to baby me and relief that he could rest his sore feet.
    *. I had lost all my energy very close to a spring so we trudged to an area next to it that was surrounded by closely spaced trees. He saw no reason for it but I did. If the man after me was who I thought he was, he had dragons trained to spot those he looked for and hounds trained to smell them out.
    *. I had heard my mother and father talk about him when they thought I was asleep. I knew alot about his allies and enemies, but all I knew about him was that he was in love with my mother, but she never loved him back; he was a horrible person for as long as she had known him.
    *. If I was right, then I was in grave danger, and so was Daniel. Maybe it would be best if I left and Daniel would be safe. He was sleeping, it would be so easy. . . I shook my head; we'd probably be in more danger without eachother; they might have each of our scents, it would be better to stay together.
    *. I stayed up half of the night watching, waiting, expecting a hound dog to attack any minute. When I was too tired to stay up, I woke Daniel up and told him to keep watch. He grumbled but agreed and I fell asleep.
    *. The next day we filled our canteens with the spring water, and started off. As we started, I thought I heard something behind us. I whirled around to see what it was.
    *. It was a dwarf and he didn't look happy, but he seemed to know who I was; he bowed to me. To Daniel's annoyance, I told the dwarf our situation and asked me to take us to his stronghold; all dwarves are against the man who was after us. He looked thoughtful for a moment, but didn't answer.
    *. “Please,” I asked. As I expected, Daniel was surprised that I was begging or being polite.
    *. The dwarf thought about it, then, after what seemed like hours, slowly nodded. He said his name was Noe-Ma-Ninn, and that his stronghold was just west of here. We thanked him and then we were off.
    *. We stopped in front of a waterfall; Noe-Ma-Ninn seemed hesitant to go on.
    *. "Noe-Ma-Ninn, we won't betray the hideout, what reason have we? And we won't be there long." I said, and then, after he was still hesitant, I added, "Please,"
    *. Again.
    *. As anyone might have guessed, the entrance to his stronghold was through the waterfall. As he led us through, I saw many eerie balls of blue fire floating in mid-air.
    *. "Wizards." I whispered in shock. "They have wizards here."



    Chapter 3
    Safety




    *. They had wizards here, all right, and much, much more. They had were-wolves, dragons, druids, fawns, and even a vampire. Everyone kept away away from him, mostly. They didn't trust him.
    *. When everyone had heard what had happened back home, they were all shocked.
    *. "What the heck did you think me and Daniel were doing so far away from home?" I asked, and then covered my mouth. I really needed to start acting more ladylike; I am a princess.
    *. "Well," Noe-Ma-Ninn started sheepishly, "I had thought that you were running away with a boyfriend who your parents didn't approve of."
    *. Immediately Daniel started to splutter and his face grew redder and redder.
    *. "Wha-what!? Me date her? A selfish royal p ric k? Why would I do that!?"
    *. "Oh, why thank you, Daniel, that's very flattering. I think you need to see that I'm not like other 'selfish royal pricks!'" I said, before storming outside into the rain. I was never scared of the night before, but tonight I was.
    *. After hearing the story of how my father died again, it was all that I could do to not cry in front of them, but I was alone, up on the roof of their hideout, and I couldn't help it. I heard footsteps and I assumed it was Daniel, but it wasn't.
    *. "Hey, I'm Eric."
    *. I looked up. It was the vampire. I felt scared, and it was all I could do not to run inside.
    *. "Um, hi? I'm Anne." It sounded more like a question than a greeting.
    *. "You're probably about to crap your pants out of fright, huh?" He asked.
    *. "No, of course not!" I said, but my voice betrayed me.
    *. "Look, it's fine if you run inside, traumatized. I'm used to that." He said, frowning.
    *. "Oh, just what I need. Another boy thinking I'm like everyone else, rude and selfish. Great." I said, angrily.
    *. "No, no! That's not how I meant it! It's just that even a polite person would be scared out of their wits sitting next to a vampire!" He said, defending himself.
    *. "You say that like I'm not a polite person." I stated.
    *. "Well, that's not how I meant it. Besides, you've obviously gotten over your fright, because you aren't terrified to argue with anything I say." He said, slightly triumphantly.
    *. "Yeah, I guess you're right." I said, in a shocked tone, realising that I was actually at ease with him after the tiny fight.
    *. "You ready to go inside yet?" He asked.
    *. "Not yet," I replied, realising that I still hadn't stopped crying, and hoping that he hadn't noticed through the rain and dark.
    *. After a minute I asked, "So, how old are you?"
    *. "Fourteen," He said.
    *. "How old are you? I'm not asking about physically."
    *. "Fourteen, you people are so annoying, sometimes. The only differences between humans and vampires are appetite and speed. I eat normal food, and I drink emotions and feelings. Only the lowest of the low vampires drink blood, and only one kind doesn't age." He said, in an annoyed tone.
    *. "Oh, sorry," I started, "What do you mean, 'emotions and feelings?'"
    *. "Vampires, we can't feel good, we can feel bad emotions and pain, but we can't feel good things... well, we can but..." he trailed off.
    *. "But...? You need to take them from other people? What?" I urged him to continue.
    *. "No...; well, yes, but that's only ordinarily. We can feel our own emotions if we find our true love." He answered.
    *. After another minute I said, "I think I'm ready to go back inside... Oh, and I hope you find your true love."
    *. As we walked back inside Daniel looked relieved, but then he looked at Eric and his relieved grin changed into a suspiscious glare. It was all I could do not to smirk. As I walked over to him I almost started laughing because his suspiscious glare faded the instant that they put food in front of him.
    *. An hour later, Daniel looked at his plate, which had been filled three times already, "Oh, I'm stuffed. I'm miserable. I couldn't eat another bite if I wanted to... Hey! Noe-Ma-Ninn! Can I have a fourth helping?" He said.
    *. That was it; I couldn't help it any more. I burst out laughing. It was just too hilarious.
    *. "What!?" He asked me, angrily.
    *. "Do you hear yourself?" I asked after a minute; I was still laughing hard. "You're eating your fourth helping, but you were complaining after your first helping! This is your fourth helping! Fourth!!!"
    *. He glared at me for a second, but then the fourth helping arrived and he started digging in. It took me another five minutes to stop laughing.
    *. After Daniel finished his sixth helping and went to sleep, I went back outside. It had stopped raining and the clouds were gone, revealing a full moon. I gasped at te beauty of my surroundings. I could almost see my castle from the top of the hollowed out mountain.



    Chapter 4
    Leaving Safety




    *. The next morning, Daniel and I discussed when we were going to leave. He thought we should leave as soon as possible, because of Eric. Daniel really, really doesn't like vampires. But I wanted to stay for as long as I could, because of Eric. I didn't like him, at least not like that, but he was always all alone, and I felt sorry for him. I wasn't about to go around dating a vampire. Most of my fear of him had faded, but not enough that I was going to get that close to him.
    *. Every day for the next week, I spent an hour with Eric on the top of the hollowed-out mountain/stronghold. Every once in a while, Daniel would join us, but he never stayed long. Like I said, he doesn't like vampires.
    *. After that week was over, Daniel and I got ready to leave. After I was done packing, I went back to the roof to watch the sunrise. Eric was already there.
    *. "I knew you'd come up one last time." he said.
    *. I smiled at him. I sat next to him and watched as the sky began to change from dark blue to a lighter shade, and then to a striking shade of violet. It got more and more beautiful with every change of color. Violet to stunning pink, pink to dazzling orange, orange to radiant yellow, until it finally changed into plain old sky blue.
    *. A few seconds after the change to sky blue I sighed. Daniel popped his head up through the trapdoor.
    *. "We should probably go. " He said.
    *. I sighed again, then replied, "That’s exactly what I was thinking."
    *. Daniel climbed up all the way and dragged me down.
    *. "Jeez, Daniel! I am perfectly capable of walking, myself, thank you." I said.
    *. After he closed the trapdoor behind us, he said, "I don't trust that Eric guy, okay? He creeps me out."
    *. "'That Eric guy' is fine! He wouldn't hurt a fly!" I said
    *. "Yeah, but you aren't a fly! And you never know when he'll get thirsty." Daniel pointed out.
    *. "Daniel! He only needs human food to survive! He's not going to suck my blood!" I started angrily. "You just don't like him because you're a sissy! I bet you you wouldn't be able to be alone with him for a minute!"
    *. "Shhhhh! You'll wake everyone up. And what if he's lying to you?" Daniel whispered.
    *. "He's not!!!" I shouted as loud as I dared, exasperated.
    *. We spent a few minutes checking that we had everything we needed. We didn't say a word except to confirm that we had everything.
    *. "Anne!!! Wait!" I spun around.



    Chapter 5
    Chase




    *. "Anne!!! Wait!" I shouted, completely ignoring the people that I was probably waking up. She turned around.
    *. "What is it, Eric?" Daniel asked, his tone almost threatening.
    *. "I ignored him and asked Anne, "Can I come with you guys? It's not like there's much for me to do here."
    *. Her face brightened immediately "Yeah, that would be_."
    *. "No, you can't. Maybe if you had asked sooner." Daniel interrupted. I could tell he meant that I was not welcome anywhere near Anne. He grabbed Anne and dragged her out through the waterfall, and out of my sight. I listened to her protest until a minute later when she finally quieted down. I started after them now that I was sure that I would be far enough behind that I could hear them but they couldn't hear me.
    *. After about an hour of trekking after them, I heard something. It sounded like... dragon!!!
    *. "Anne!!!" I shouted as I ran after them. even though they were a half of a mile ahead of me, I closed the distance quickly. Not quick enough, though, because the dragon had made it a second before I did. It was three yards off of the ground with her in its claws.
    *. Daniel was nowhere in sight. But I couldn't stop to look for him. I ran and jumped. The dragon was twenty-three feet off the ground by then, easily. My fingers brushed Anne's, but we weren't close enough to hold on.
    *. "Anne!!!" I shouted after them.
    *. After the adrenaline rush subsided, I noticed Daniel. He had been knocked unconscious, probably by the dragon's tail. I poured his water canteen out over his head.
    *. "Anne!" He shouted as he started awake. He looked arond, and then at me.
    *. "She's gone. I almost saved her, I tried." I answered the question in his eyes.
    *. "I believe you," He said, full of remorse. "But I can't believe I just let them get her."
    *. "It wasn't your fault," I started. "You're lucky that it didn't kill you with a flick of its tail. At least this way we can save her."
    *. "We? All right, fine. I suppose you could be useful, just as long as I get most of the glory." He said.
    *. "Are you kidding? Either we share the glory or I beat you by an hour and I get all the glory." I replied. "Now, let's get going, or we'll lose them."
    *. I grabbed him by the shirt collar and dragged him after me until we were under the dragon.
    *. "Wait, wait, wait! I never said that I was willing to be dragged the whole way!" He shouted at me.
    *. "Yeah, well, it's only when we fall too far behind, so I think you can cope." I told him, not really caring.
    *. After another minute of him grumbling, I turned to him with a glare that I'm sure I could have scared my mother with.
    *. Even though my glare had silenced him, I still said "Daniel, if you don't shut up, I will suck out every happy emotion, all your favorite memories until there's nothing left but bad, got that? All that matters is that we find Anne!"
    *. When we had fallen farther behind, I grabbed him by the elbow and dragged him again. He rubbed his elbow but he didn't complain.