Lost Royalty Writing contest

Blinded by Desperation

The setting is after the deadline of finding her has been hit and the chapter is about Daniel Mason.

Chapter 13.5: Blinded by Desperation

No no it couldn't be! thought Daniel Mason as he heard the information that Oscar was saying. She's still out there! Look harder! It took everything in him to restrain from crying or throwing plates across the room.

"I won't believe it!" He yelled. "She must still be out there somewhere!"

Daniel never got a response, only continuous sobbing.

"She isn't dead!" That statement Daniel knew for sure. If Eliza was dead he would feel it, death itself as he lost his other half.

"It is time to admit that this is over. There is nowhere else to look." Oscar stated.

Lies! There is always somewhere to look when Eliza is still missing.

After a family comforting day of hugging each other, visiting Eliza's hill and basking in the memories of her, Daniel wanted to look for himself. Exactly at midnight he got out of his bed, dressed in the dullest looking clothes he could find–which belonged to his servant Henry–and went to the stables. There, Daniel Mason prepared a horse and started riding as soon as he could.

The wind flew through his hair. Adrenaline pumped through his veins. He would find his sister. That he knew for sure. He wouldn't stop until he did.

The ride was long and exhausting. By morning Prince Daniel had made it to a small town. To his luck it was a friendly town full of people willing to help the visitor. They directed him straight to the hotel and took his horse to the hotel's stables. Once Daniel made it into his room, he immediately fell onto the hard bed and fell fast asleep.

~

Morning came again. Daniel Mason woke up with an aching back. His body wasn't used to normal beds. He'd only ever slept in the palace, a place where the most comfiest of beds lay.

Feeling hungry, Prince Daniel went out to the town's market. He was in the mood for some fresh fruit. There were plenty but not as much as the city's markets had. A girl at the apple stand caught his attention. He seemed to recognize her. Could this be my sister? he wondered. From the back it looked like her. Same long dark wavy brown hair and the way the girl stood, it was like she was born royalty. Daniel's heart sped up as he walked over to the girl. He tapped her shoulder. The girl turned around. Daniel's breath hitched. He couldn't believe it. The girl's eyes were round and blue, she had light freckles on her nose. The girl smiled at him.

"Can I help you?" Her voice sounded light and innocent like Eliza's was when she was little.

"What's your name?" Daniel asked her. It was a stupid question. Surely the kidnapper would've made her change her name.

"Liz Marie. And yours?" she asked curiously.

Liz as in Elizabeth, thought Daniel. He was certain this was his sister. He thanked God she seemed to have had a decent enough life. But why didn't she seem to recognize him?

"Daniel," he answered, making a fast decision to use his real name.

"Nice to meet you Daniel." They shook hands. "Now what brings you to Mayfair?"

"I'm looking for someone," stated Daniel.

"Well then I'm sorry but you have come to the wrong place. Everyone here has been living in this town for years. You're the first visitor in three months." Liz Marie looked very apologetic. Daniel ignored her statement and asked to see her later on that night. She blushed before agreeing.

Daniel had spent the day with nervous anxiety. Liz Marie was his sister. He saw his sister. It took everything in him not to go find her right now and take her back. Even with his surety, he still had to ask her questions before bringing her back. He didn't quite believe it. Dreams of reconnecting with his other half flashed through his mind; talking in his or her room late at night, sword fighting where he'd let her win the first few times, her dragging him up to her hill to see the view. He wanted it all back. Every bit of happiness and every bit of annoyance that came with Elizabeth Mason.

He planned to meet Liz Marie in the market again after dinner. Although his dinner was moonshine and leftover apples at the hotel. If it were any other time, the prince would complain. But this time he wasn't hungry. He arrived in the market early, extremely eager to discover the truth of his theory. The sky was a pink and golden beauty covering the land. The air outside grew chilly. Daniel started to shiver in his servant's clothes. 

"Cold there?" said a voice to Daniel's right. He looked up and saw Liz Marie grinning at him. She offered him a jacket. It was dark blue and didn't look feminine. "I noticed when you came into town you didn't bring much with you and it gets pretty cold nowadays. This is my father's."

"Thank you," he said as he took the jacket and put it on. Liz Marie sat right next to him. Her blue eyes glowed in the fading light.

"What can you tell me about your family?" asked Daniel right away. He had to know.

"I have a father, a mother and two little brothers."

"Childhood?"

Liz Marie chuckled but answered anyway.

"I was an only child at the time. My father worked too much so my mother was always there. I remember being held in her arms and looking up at her as she sang to me," said Liz Marie as she looked at the darkening sky.

"Do you remember me?" Daniel anticipated for the answer. He didn't really know if he wanted to hear it or not.

"No I just met you," she giggled. The answer felt like an arrow stabbed Daniel's soul. He looked straight at Liz Marie to see if she'd change her mind.

Then something clicked. The girl Daniel dreamed of didn't match the one sitting beside him. Sophie didn't match the girl sitting beside him. Her head was too narrow, her hair was too curly, the depth of her eyes looked nothing like the ones Daniel saw in the mirror everyday.

Liz Marie was not Princess Elizabeth Mason after all.

***

This was so amazing! I really wanted it to be her... even though I knew that it wasn't. It was very well written, with great grammar and sentence structures.