Within

TEN

I must have fallen asleep because I woke up to hear loud, repetitive knocks on the door, and I could see that the sun has fallen through the sky and was lower than before. It was 1pm on the clock my the mirror. I got up slowly, still sleepy, and opened the door.

Lawrie was standing there, a scowl on his face. I could see that the maids had given him fresh clothes and bandaged his arm properly, and I could see he was definitely not happy.

'What do you want?' I groaned.

Lawrie let out a cruel laugh. 'Has the princess had enough of me already?' He joked.

I stared at him, confused. Before I knew it, Lawrie had his hand on the doorframe and was leaning close to me.

'You lied. You told me a whole web of lies back in the forest, and now the soldiers say you're the Princess of Caeli. Are you?' He hissed.

'No. I'm not. I don't get why you don't trust me. I found that locket in the room I was staying in at the lodge. I had no idea it belonged to royal or something. I went along with what the soldiers said so that we could get to the palace. That way I could gather more information about how to get to the hunters and you could see how civilised people lived.' I tried to sound brave, like it didn't phase me at all that Lawrie had some major trust issues. I also tried to hide a smile, at the end.

'That's hardly plausible. I'm out of here. Have fun at the ball.' With that, Lawrie walked off, his boots making a click every time he stepped. Lawrie was not going to just walk away on my watch. I wasn't sure why, but I didn't want him to leave.

'Wait! Lawrie. At least stay for the ball. They have food, a big feast, I bet. If you go out to the forest now, who knows when you'll find more food, what with your arm hurt.' I shouted after him, basically asking him to stay with facts and reasoning, but he didn't even falter. He kept walking. Walking away from me.

*

After Lawrie left, I was called down to lunch. I fished around in the closet, which was filled to bursting with gown of silk and velvet, all in different shaded of blue. I chose a simple velvet mini dress, hoping it would be like the real princess to wear it to lunch.

I was escorted to a room with low ceilings, a Christmas tree in one corner and a large rectangular table in the middle, with velvet chairs adorned with gold. Other guests of honour were there, each in grand gowns and suits. The table worked the same way the small ones at the lodge did - the food just appeared. The guests weren't phased at all by the strange way of serving food. But there was no sign of Lawrie.

Afterwards, a maid lead me back to my room. 'Would you like help getting ready? I could do your hair, Your Majesty.' She said as I opened the door.

'No thank you.' I replied and closed the door behind me. I set to work browsing through the cupboard to find the right dress.

There were petticoats of every colour imaginable, and at least one dress to match in colour. It was like a vintage shop threw up in that cupboard.

The sun was setting, and in the middle of my dress hunt I walked up to the window. The sky was streaked with gold, orange and yellow, and stars were already peaking out from the sky.

Long stretched out shadows were cast over the garden below. One of them was moving. When I looked closer, I could see a boy with uneven, messy hair and a bandaged arm walking around. He looked so serene and peaceful, at one with the plants. I was relieved that Lawrie hadn't headed to the forest yet. My heart beat a little faster.

It was six by the time I was ready for the ball. I still had no clue why there was a ball, or what it was about. All I knew was that there was going to be one, and I needed to dress up as the Princess of Caeli.

I looked in the mirror and saw someone else entirely. My hair was loose and curled into ringlets cascading down my back and shoulders. A silver tiara was perched on my head, one I found in a small box at the bottom of the closet. It was encrusted with deep blue sapphires and twinkled under the lamps above me. My dress was dusty pastel blue and had intricate white lace around my shoulders and on the full skirt. It was scattered with small snowflake beads and looked like something out of a fantasy.

There was a knock o my door. I went to open it, and saw another maid. She curtsied to me and spoke softly, 'The ball will begin shortly. If you would like to follow me, I can lead you to the ball room.'

'Of course. Thank you!' I followed the maid through the palace and when I heard violins I knew we were nearing the ballroom. Guests were making their way to the entrance, nodding at each other as a low key polite greeting.

My stomach filled with nerves. I did not think this through. I wasn't going to the ball as myself. I was going as a princess I didn't know at all. I was given a role to play but to script, no backstory, no notes or anything.

By the large doors to the ballroom, there was a man in a tail coat announcing each guest. As I came closer, I thought of what my title would be. Her Royal Highness? Her Majesty? But my thoughts were stopped short as I came up to the man. He looked me over and allowed me to go through without saying a word.

The ballroom was a huge place, with marble pillars wrapped in tinsel. Another Christmas tree was in the middle, and to the left there was a large banquet table stacked high with food. A small orchestra was playing beside me, and guests were already dancing.

'Her Highness Princess Skye of Caeli.' I almost choked on air. The announcer said Skye. As in, the same as the girl that stole Jake away from me. (Well, he wasn't mine to start with, but you get the point). I had to breathe deeply. The anger and regret of what happened at school came crashing back to me. After a few deep breathes I was feeling lightheaded, but a lot calmer. Great. Even here, in this totally wack place Skye still haunts me.

I scanned the crown, trying to figure out what to do with myself. Many of the people had animated faces - larger than usual eyes and drawn on lips. It was puzzling. How come there are world with magic tables, or people with weird eyes? Why was there a bonbon that transported me to Reding Isles in the first place?

But my eyes caught on someone in particular, standing in the corner. He had evenly chopped hair and neat trousers, a vest and a white shirt underneath. He was almost unrecognisable, except for his usual scowl and annoyed eyes.

I walked up to Lawrie, weaving through the growing crowd. I smiled, surprised to see him so neat.

'Hey!'

'Hey. You look nice.' Lawrie said, instantly acquiring two soft pink patches on his cheeks that matched mine.

'You - you look good. It suits you. The hair, I mean.' I said awkwardly. Instead of the mop of night - sky black hair, Lawrie had a sideswept fringe just over his eyes. It was a big improvement.

Silence descended on us. Well, silence except the background noise. Lawrie scuffed his polished shoe on the wooded floor.

'I didn't expect you to be here!' I said over the music and the chatter, breaking the awkward moment.

Lawrie looked me over, 'Why wouldn't I be here?' He smiled slightly.

We looked into each other's eyes for a second. I smiled, feeling like I was going to melt from the fiery sweet intensity of his eyes. Then I grabbed him by the hand and dragged him towards one of the small balconies on the side of the ballroom. I had to convince him that I wasn't anyone but myself, anyone than who I told him I was that night in the forest. Lawrie protested, but I kept a firm grip as I swerved from dancing couples. Outside, it was cool and dark, a breeze blowing softly.

Neither of us spoke for a solid five minutes. The trees swayed slightly to one side, and the light spilling out of the ballroom cast golden glows onto the leaves. It was a perfect romantic scene. Except there was nothing romantic about us. Not even the fact that in the end it turned out that Lawrie was gripping my hand instead of the other way round.

I opened my mouth to say something, but I was interrupted by a deep loud voice from behind us.

'Imposters! Halt!'

I didn't even need to look behind me to know guards were behind us. Our cover was blown.

'Run.' I hissed.