“After all this time, it’s really you.”

Henrick remained on one knee, his face plastered with a look of awe. For years, they had said that they would find her and now here she was, the lost princess. Henrick continued to stare, but it seemed like the girl was becoming more uncomfortable by the minute. A second voice tore them both from the awkward situation.

“Oh! Hey, you guys alright?” Aron called as he trotted toward them. Surveying the scene in front of him, a small smirk began to play on his lips “Should I come back after the proposal then?” He remarked coyly. At this Henrick jumped up and away as if he had been burned.

“Oh! Umm, no. Sorry about that! Just … excited for that thing to work! You know, I thought that there was no chance of it finding anything, but -” A hand slapped over Henrick's mouth, abruptly silencing the stammering. Aron gave a kind smile that seemed a little too forced for the situation. 

“Sorry about that miss, my brother can get a little overexcited about these things.”

Henrick looked up at Aron as he continued to smile at the girl, annoyed at the fact that the lie seemed hardly believable, “thankfully, she doesn't seem to care” thought Henrick as the lost princess started to fiddle with the device that had just moments ago found her, before holding it out to Henrick. 

“Oh, it’s no problem, but you really should be more careful with this thing in a crowd.” She said as Henrick grabbed the object from her hand as if it was a sacred object. This seemed to make her even more uncomfortable, as she soon began to back away from the duo. 

“No,” Henrick thought, taking a quick step towards the receding girl. “Were so close! We’ve come too far to lose her now.” This move seemed to be the wrong one, however, as the girl's eyes merely widened at Henrick's unsolicited move towards her.

At this point an older boy appeared at her side, taking Henrick and Aron by surprise. They hadn't expected to be interrupted. “El, you good? I went back to mom but you weren't there yet, did something happ- oh, hello.” The boy said, noticing the strange pair that his sister was backing away from. “Can I help you with anything?” He said drawing a protective arm around her, a scowl falling over his features.

Henrick moved to speak, but Aron cut him off once again stepping forward, his once forced smile now more charming as he addressed the boy. “Oh no, we just had a small mishap. Nothing you need to be worrying your pretty little head over.” Aron gave the boy a small wink, causing a streak of red to cover the boy's face. 

“Come on Elsie, mom’s waiting for us.” He said, before quickly walking away with Elsie in tow.

“Sorry, we couldn't talk more hot stuff! Feel free to get in touch sometime!” Aron called after them. The boy only quickened his pace, causing Aron to laugh before walking in the other direction with an anxious Henrick on his heels.

“You horny bastard! We almost had her!”

“Had, her?! Geez, Henrick, we want her to come with us peacefully, not kidnap her!”

“Still, she was so close! We can’t go back alone, she is the key to all of this, to the prophecy!”

Aron stopped walking for a moment, a plan starting to form in his head. “So we follow her,” he said, as he looked back, watching the girl and her brother make their way across the baggage hall. “We track where they are going, and make her listen to us. With any luck, she can help us.”

“You think it can work?”

“Work? Please, if it gets me closer to that cutie she’s with, I'll make it work.” Aron chuckled before beginning to trail their target. 

“Alright, keep it in your pants lover boy” Henrick groaned before following suit. “You know this makes him like the fifth person you have flirted with here.”

“What can I say? Everyone in this world has impeccable taste when it comes to men.” Henrick swished his cloak dramatically, earning him a cheer from a cluster of girls nearby. He gave them a wink before turning back to Henrick. “So, what do we know about this kid so far?”

Henrick narrowed his eyes, watching the shock of red hair disappear up a staircase and out of sight.

“Elsie… Her name is Elsie.”

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The Ravenwood family braced themselves against the frigid December wind of Washington D.C. as they stood on the airport's metro platform, patiently waiting for the next train which would undoubtedly provide the shivering group with some form of reprieve from the biting cold. Lilliana had not yet left her phone call and was now frantically pacing up and down the platform with Albert on her tail, seemingly unaffected by the cold.

Elsie and Max watched their mother and loyal companion for a moment before turning back to their conversation, reviewing the strange events that had only happened minutes ago. 

“It was so weird, he acted like we had known each other,” Elsie said, replaying the uncomfortable interaction in her head. “It was eerie.”

“Maybe you do know them,” Max suggested. “I mean, we have moved several times. They could have been some old acquaintance that you forgot?” 

“No, that's not it. Even if I did make friends, that's not how you act when you see someone you know. I mean, you saw it, the younger one kept looking at me like I was a god; just creepy.” She shivered, the memory more of a culprit than the cold.

“What made them talk to you anyway?” 

“They had a toy or something,” Elsie said, recalling the small object that had knocked her to the floor. “At least, that's what they called it.”

“Odd,” Max said, continuing to assess the situation. “Did you catch anything from them? Names?”

“Not that I know of. The older one said they were brothers, I think. What was with him anyway? The one who flirted with you?”

“Max’s cheeks, already pink from the wind turned a deeper shade of red. “Beats me. But whatever he was trying to achieve, it's not gonna happen.” He said, drawing his scarf tighter around his face, trying his best to cover his blatantly obvious mortification. 

“Well, hopefully, we don't need to worry about them anymore.” Elsie sighed as the squealing of brakes announced the arrival of their train and hopefully the end of this small debacle. As their group reconvened to board, something caught Max’s eye as he crossed the threshold of the car.

“Um, El? I think those guys are following us.”

“What?” Elsie leaned out the open doors, following her brother's gaze to where two cloaked figures had appeared on the platform, clearly looking for someone. After a moment the younger boy spotted Elsie pointing him out to the older. 

A shrill chime rang throughout the station, alerting the impending departure of the train. As the doors to the train started to close, the two mystery boys ran to the nearest car, barely making it before the doors slammed shut and the train made its way towards the bustling city center. 

“Okay, this is starting to get creepy.”

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Elsie splayed out on the small twin bed in her new room. The townhouse which they were living in, had been graciously furnished with some small items by their father; a small signal of his presence, even if he was still at his new job. Several objects that she had packed, such as her paints and brushes, had already been set up in the corner of the room, ready to adorn a spot on the desk that was soon to come with the objects entrusted to the movers. Her room on a whole, was not bad, with a lovely view onto the snow-covered street. She sighed, staring up at the ceiling before her mother's voice called her down for dinner. 

*

“So how do we like the new house?” Lilliana asked as she spooned out the Chinese food that had just been delivered. 

“I enjoy it so far,” Max said, stuffing his face full of orange chicken. “My room is so big I think I might be able to convert it into a study!” 

“Max, where will you sleep?” Lilliana asked. This was not the first time she had dealt with her son's enthusiastic plans for a new room.

“Oh, I can just shove it in the closet.” He cheerfully replied before continuing to dig into his food. 

“And El?” Lillian asked, turning to her youngest. 

“I like it too,” she said, giving off an encouraging smile. 

“I'm glad you guys,” Lilliana said, relieved that her children were adjusting. She glanced over at the clock. “Oh dear, it's already nine!” She said, hurrying to toss her food in the garbage. “I need to be at the office by five tomorrow, apparently I need to fill out some paperwork to transfer over to this office. Will you guys be ok?”

“Yeah mom,” Max said, moving to throw his food away as well. “ I was planning on turning in any way; today has been a little too eventful." Elsie was the last to leave the table, throwing away her food before following the duo upstairs bidding goodnight to the fluffy outline of Albert who was also exhausted from the day of travel. 

Safely in her room, Elsie made her way to the window, watching the winter wind violently blow around the snow that had started to fall a couple of hours ago, before picking up the scarce art supplies she had, hoping to once again relieve stress through her art. 

She drew silently for a few minutes making the basic outline of a male shape while she summarised the event of the day in her head. As the face became clearer on the page, Elsie began to draw more fervently, until the aw-struck gaze of the young mystery boy stared back at her. It took her a moment to register who she had drawn, but as soon as she had, she tore the page from her book. 

“I swear, I don't want to see that creep's face again” she muttered under her breath, before a clink on her glass, made her look out her window. Standing at the front gate, stood the very face she had just crumpled up, silently shivering with his companion behind him. 

“You have got to be kidding me! She hissed, rushing downstairs to the front door but not before she grabbed a poker from the nearby fireplace. 

Flinging open the door, Elsie began to stalk towards the strange duo, trying her best to look intimidating. “LOOK I DON'T KNOW WHO YOU ARE BUT YOU BETTER GET OUT OF HERE RIGHT NOW! I AM NOT AFRAID TO USE THIS!!!!!!” 

The younger boy held up his hands in defense, the taller blond taking up a stance in between the two. Clearly, whoever he was, he was more prepared to go up against her. 

“Look miss, we don't want to hurt you, '' he said, raising his hands to show he was unarmed, “We just want to talk”. He spoke slowly as if his tone would prevent Elsie from trying to smash his teeth in.

“I don’t want to talk!” She shouted. “You two have been following me and my family all day, and it's creepy! What are you kidnappers, rapists?!”

“No no! We're nothing like that!” the younger boy, said stepping out from behind his companion. “Just, here. Look at this,” he said reaching into his pocket. Elsie raised the poker ready to strike. Cautiously the boy removed a silver locket on a chain and tossed it to her. 

“What is this?”

“Just open it, please?” The boy prompted. Elsie hesitantly opened the locket, revealing a portrait of a young couple, holding a young baby girl in their hands. Each member in the portrait wore a crown on their heads, adorned with glittering jewels. Elsie didn't recognize the two smiling parents in the painting, but the red hair and green eyes of the baby were unmistakable.

“What… is this?” Elsie asked, anger and confusion beginning to rise. “Why am I in this locket? Who are these people?!?!”

The young boy stepped even closer, ignoring the fact that Elsie had once again raised the poker over her head. He knelt on one knee, those green eyes once again staring into their only hope for victory, and with all his heart he spoke the truth. 

“Elsie. You are the daughter of Queen Evalane and the Late King Ephraim of Morena. Fifteen years ago you were kidnapped by a powerful dictator named Mordal, and sent here, to another world. As a princess born to a king of magic, you are destined to join me, Prince Henrick of Fretan, in combat to fulfill our destiny and defeat Mordal as the prophecy has been foretold. Please understand my plea, and join us so we may end his rule.”

Henrick stood back up, the desperation in his eyes was enough to loosen Elsie's grip on her weapon, sending the rod clattering onto the pavement, its metallic tone echoing through the garden and down the street.