Once Upon A Switch

8

"Cassandra, hand me my red bag," said Jamie.

Cassandra heaved a sigh of frustration before standing up and walking across the room, taking her bag and handing it to her companion. Jamie opened it and searched inside but then she stopped before closing it again.

"The blue bag. My notebook is not on this one," she said, handing her the red bag again.

She rolled my eyes and proceeded to do what the princess said. She handed her the blue bag and Jamie took out a small red notebook from it.

"Is there anything you would like me to do, again, your highness?" Cassandra asked.

"Yeah. A glass of water from the kitchen would suffice," ordered Jamie.

Cassandra mentally rolled her eyes before leaving Jamie's room and heading towards the kitchen. As she was walking, her mind wandered back to the reason why she's in this situation in the first place.

--

"What did you and Eugene really talked about? Don't lie please."

Cassandra's eyes widened, an empty feeling on her stomach. She bit her lower lip as her mind tried to come up of ideas. What if she told him that they talked about horses? No. That'll be too suspicious. What about saying that she just scolded Eugene? It'll work, right? She hope so.

She opened her mouth and was about to say her new excuse when a voice startled the both of them.

"Cassandra! Hey, can I talk to you for a second?" She turned her head and to her surprise, it was Jamie walking towards them, her long blonde hair swaying as the cold breeze passed by.

She hastily grabbed the dark-haired girl by the arm and dragged her off the horse. If it weren't for Cassandra's fast reflexes, her face would've kissed the ground a moment ago. What is this girl's problem?!

Varian's eyes furrowed as Jamie dragged Cassandra. "Jamie, wha-"

The princess cuts him off. "Shut it, Varian." It was a rare moment when Jamie would act like this. Varian had known her since they were kids and she would only act like this if there is something serious in the matter — but why is she bringing Cassandra with her? "This is a girls talk," the princess added.

"Fine," Varian let out a defeated sigh. It must be important. His eyes met Cassandra's brown one. "I'm sorry," he mouthed, feeling sorry for his fiancee who is now being dragged by his friend back to the woods. He is curious - there's no denying that, but it wasn't enough for him to go against his moral and eavesdrop on their conversation.

"Let's go back, Talia," he commanded his horse. "Follow us, Rem," he added, looking at the horse his fiancee picked. He couldn't help but smile. Rem is a picky horse and he wouldn't let someone just ride him — he wouldn't even let Varian ride him. But with Cassandra, he seemed to be comfortable, the horse barely even flinch nor kicked when Cassandra first laid a hand on him.

Talia, his horse, let out a neigh which he understood as a agreement. She galloped back to the stable with Rem following them. Their horses were trained by Sebastian. That man is like the ambassador of animals — it's like he can talk to them, not literally, of course. But he can understand them well. He's the one who introduced him to Rudigger.

Speaking of Rudigger, where is he? It's been two days since Varian saw his trusted pet. He's getting nervous and worried at the same time. He consulted Sebastian about it yesterday but the latter said that he didn't saw Rudigger everywhere. He can't send out guards to search for him since they didn't even know that he have a pet raccoon. He sighed as he got down from Talia.

His mind was wandering elsewhere while he was walking out of the stable. He kept walking and walking, the heat of the sun not bothering him for even a bit. He didn't even realized that he had already arrive at the castle entrance. He sighed and proceeded to walk inside when a voice called out to him.

"Prince Varian!"

He turned her head and saw his fiancee's lady-in-waiting, Rapunzel. He gave her a kind smile and walked towards her.

"I told you to just call me Varian, Lady Rapunzel," he said.

The brunette crossed her arms. "I will, if you drop the lady in your Lady Rapunzel."

He thought for a moment. If she said it then he guess it's no big deal? It wouldn't look like a sign of disrespect, right? Instead it'll look like they are close friends.

"Alright," he started and Rapunzel blinked. "Rapunzel," he added.

Rapunzel gave a huge and kind smile. "That's the spirit, Varian!"

"Anyway, why did you call out to me?" He asked.

"Oh," realization dawned on her face. "I wanted to talk to you."

"About what?" He asked.

"About Cassandra."

"Jamie, slow down! You're going to rip my arm apart!" Cassandra shouted as Jamie's hand gripped her arm tighter that her nails dug on her skin. She's sure that it'll have a bruise after this.

For someone who grew with all the wealth and protection around her, Jamie is surprisingly strong. Her dangerous aura screamed that Cassandra should just shut up her mouth until they arrive to wherever it is they are heading — but being the stubborn girl she is, she continued to complain, seeing no point of the princess dragging her to the woods like this.

"Can you pleas-" they stopped and Jamie let go of her arm with force, making Cassandra glared at her. What's with that attitude? Is this about her honey again? If it is, then it's probably pure nonsense.

"Why did you do it?" She asked, her voice quiet and cold.

Cassandra furrowed her eyebrows. "Did what exactly?"

"Stop playing innocent!" She snapped, giving her a glare.

Cassandra frustratedly ran a hand on her hair. "What exactly do you mean?"

"I know that you are not the real princess, Cassandra," she stated.

Cassandra felt her hand ran cold, a heavy feeling on her stomach and her heart beating fast. How did she know. She gulped and kept up a calm facade. Maybe she's just tricking her.

"That's not a good joke," she said.

"Stop with the act," Jamie started. "I wouldn't come here without any evidence, Princess Rapunzel's Lady-in-waiting and royal guard, Cassandra Lim," she added.

Her face lost it's color as her eyes widened. She knew everything. The facade is over and Varian is going to know about this. Heck! She didn't even last a week.

"I will tell the king about this," she threatened.

Cassandra opened her mouth to say something but no sound came out — she couldn't think about any other argument with her situation right now. Her mind being occupied by the fact that Varian will be angry at her for lying - not to mention the fact that she could get killed.

"But-" Jamie raised a finger. "I won't tell them if you do everything that I will say. If you choose not to, I will tell the king and make sure that you'll get hanged for impersonationg a royalty. It's my word against yours."

"What?!" Cassandra reacted, her mouth wide in shock. She is kidding right? She have to be her slave?!

"Your choice, Cassandra. I have my connections throughout the Seven Kingdoms. Even if the Princess of Corona will protect you, it still wouldn't work. I have strings everywhere," she said, an evil smile on her lips.

"Y-you manipulative brat!" She snapped.

Jamie shrugged. "Nah. I've been called worse." She crossed her arms. "Now, your answer?"

She glared at her. "I don't have much of a choice, do I?"

The princess nodded. "You don't."

Cassandra let out a frustrated sigh. "Fine."

Jamie clasped her hands and let out a sweet smile — but Cassandra knew that it's just a facade she was putting up.

"Good! Let's go back to my room. I need to find something."

--

Well that took a dark turn pretty quickly. XD

So, what do you think of this chapter? Share your thoughts!