Disclaimer:

I don't own any of the Ranger's Apprentice characters or the books, new characters are mine however. Disclaimer for whole story.

Author's Note:

First off, this isn't supposed to be based on Duncan's death. It's a story of trust and mystery, with of course, romance.

From trying to write some good one-shots of her and Horace plus others (which is being updated soon, I promise), I've realised as well as Gilan/Jenny, I'd love to take a crack at writing a serious story with the Crown Princess.

I also plan to go back and forth from past to present, the dates will give you a clue.

So there is character death and other bad things, but there should be some sweet moments.

You guys know the rules:

Read and review! (But no nasty stuff) I take advice and criticism where relevant!

So here I go!

Prologue:

|| If Only a Dream ||

12th February, 650 Common Era

xxx

'We must embrace pain and burn it as fuel for our journey.'
- Kenji Miyazawa

Within the confines of Castle Araluen, there was little to fear.

Surrounded by constant intelligence from the Ranger Corps, the Araluen Royalty and nobility were well informed about anything concerning them. There was almost no danger to them at all.

Almost.

The Crown Princess, Cassandra, had never been subjected to nightmares.

Tonight however, she couldn't shake the feeling of disaster that haunted her dreams.

It didn't help that the night was cold and dreary, with strong winds howling against her windows and the candles constantly flickering with an unknown breeze. The room filled with light at random times as lightening struck down the country side.

She sat up suddenly, breathing heavily as she attempted to wipe off sweat that had formed across her brow.

'It was just a dream.' She muttered, pulling her bed covers up closer to her chin, gaining comfort from the small gesture.

The room was dark except for the few candles she had placed near her bed, but distanced from anything flammable.

Cassandra screamed when a hand appeared out of the shadows, reaching for her bed cover.

A new candle was brought to her face, reflecting her primary maid, Fiona.

'My lady, it is just me.' Her maid and friend whispered, placing an arm reassuringly on Cassie's.

Proper formality demanded Cassandra was 'her Royal Highness,' but she was a humble girl who had long ago forbid her maid from calling her that when they were in private. Fiona was one of her best friends, neglecting other noble ladies she associated with. She still regretted the death of her servant Evanlyn from long ago and vowed to treat all her loyal maids as humans and friends.

'Oh Fiona, I'm sorry. I must have startled you really badly.' Cassie whispered, taking her friend's hand and giving it a gentle squeeze.

'It's alright.' The young girl gave her a sweet smile.

'What brings you here?' Cassie asked casually, pretending they both didn't know she had just been terrified. Her shaky hand pulled her blonde hair out of her face, her intelligent eyes curious as she watched Fiona.

'I'm not sure. There was a commotion, so I believed it would be better for you to have me be with you until the danger or whatever has passed.' Her friend admitted, frowning at the mass of hair that covered the Princess. She left Cassandra's side for a moment to fetch a brush, returning to tame the hair.

'If I'm only going to sleep, there's not much point.' Cassie told her, taking the brush off Fiona.

Her maid smiled weakly. 'I know, but it is a comfort to distract myself. I haven't once had something like this happen in the middle of the night.' She confessed.

'Is that so?' Fiona nodded. 'Then how about we try this, I'll brush your hair instead.'

Cassie grinned when her friend protested but firmly stopped her struggle.

'I never get to brush anyone's hair, not even my own. It's not a chore.' She told her.

The two girls sat quietly in the room with the only sound being the thunder that rumbled deeply outside.

They began to talk quietly, enjoying the conversation with Fiona admitting to having a crush on one of the kitchen boys.

'What startled you so before?' Fiona asked unexpectantly, glancing up at Cassie.

'Oh...nothing. I had a bit of a nightmare; I think it's the weather.' She replied idly, glancing out the window and blinking when the light filled the room once more.

The villages around Araluen might not benefit from this much rain and stormy weather, she thought. She would ask her father to send messengers to see how much damage had been done in the morning.

'What was the nightmare?' Fiona asked curiously.

'I don't know if I want to talk about it.' Cassie mumbled, taking her mind off the storm and returning to plaiting Fiona's long, brown hair.

'Sometimes, talking about it helps. I would rather help you, but if it hurts to much, ignore that I asked.'

'Mhm, maybe you're right.' The Princess said quietly. 'It's kinda silly now I think about it.'

'How silly?' Fiona giggled as Cassie's fingers tickled her head, combing through to divide the hair properly.

'I dreamt a huge dog was chasing me through Skandia. I don't even know where the nightmare came from.'

'Maybe it's a bit silly now. I can understand why you were frightened though.'

'Mhm, it was confronting.'

More than an hour had passed since Fiona had entered the room, and the two girls were getting sleepy once more. Fiona slept close to Cassandra's room, in case she needed her.

'Perhaps it was nothing, I think you should go back to sleep, properly.' Fiona finally suggested, eyeing the bed after having to shake Cassandra from a light sleep.

'You can go back to sleep if you want. And thank you for staying with me, but I don't think I'm ready to face my dreams again.' Cassie said and managed a smile.

Fiona gave an understanding nod and patted her hand gently while whispering goodnight. She took her candle with her towards the door.

There was a shout from outside and the door flung open, knocking Fiona to the ground. Two of her personal guards marched in, as well as guards from around the castle.

'What do you think you're doing?' Cassandra she yelled at them, ignoring the fact that she was in her night gown and making sure Fiona was okay.

The maid was fine, although unconscious. Lucky, her candle had been dying and flickered out during the impact, instead of catching fire to the rug.

'Idiots, you know to knock.' Cassandra muttered, checking Fiona's head for any injuries that may disable her.

It took her a moment to realise her all the guards were kneeling on her floor, with their heads bowed.

She stood, confusion etched on her pale face.

The castle folk knew she did not require this much formality, if anything she didn't like it.

'What's this?' She demanded, her arms clutching herself in uncertainty.

'Your majesty...' One began, raising his head. His eyes were sad and showed fear.

'Why are you saying that?' Cassie whispered, as she fell back onto the bed with a soft thump.

'Your majesty-,' He began once more, but Cassandra raised a hand, silencing him.

'Tell me what happened. What is so urgent that you had to knock my friend unconscious?' She was angry now; a part of her hoping it was all a trick.

'It's the King. King Duncan...

...he's dead, majesty.'

No, no, no, NO!

'You lie!' She growled, tearing a dagger she had hidden beside her bed and putting it to the man's throat.

Her servants were loyal; she knew in her heart that they wouldn't joke about something like this.

'He was assassinated!' Another guard told her, bowing his head and expected for her to do something drastic.

The dagger dropped, making such a loud noise that seemed to echo through the castle.

Father, - dad... dad is dead. She thought numbly.

The tears wouldn't come. It was too much of a shock.

The men still cowered at her feet, unsure of how to act.

She knew it was a dream. It had to be. Like the dog, only much worse.

Cassie picked up her dagger and stood; her blonde hair tussled from sleep made her look wild and deeply frightening. Her blue eyes flashed dangerously, glistening with tears.

'I won't believe it; no one could have made it in and done such a thing! He was a good person, a great King! Why would someone want to murder my dad?' The impact of the news pummelled her as if she had struck the dagger deep within herself. She was shouting now and brandishing the dagger with ill content expressed on her face.

One of the men did not move as she placed the dagger above his head, her intention clear to everyone in the room. He didn't try to move; he was already feeling very guilty, being one of the guards and knowing they did not do their job to protect the King.

'This is a dream, so this will not matter.' She whispered.

A hand placed itself on her arm, bringing the dagger away from the unfortunate guard.

'This... is not a dream.' Crowley told her gravely, tears trailing down his face.

Um, I wanted it to be longer. Well at least it's easy to read. And I have it all plotted out, so it's much easier to write. Plus the next chapters will be longer, although this was just the prologue.

Who killed Duncan? :o

We shall find out, later on! rawr ;)

Btw: Cassie isn't crazy. Comon, she just lost her dad.

I was gonna make Halt appear and talk to her instead of Crowley, and then I thought, 'what would Halt be doing there?' o.0

- Mae.