This, my friends, is my gift to you, I will add on to this one "chapter" so as to make it easier to read.

Excerpt from book:

And then he leaned in to her neck, breathing against it. The hairs on the back of Azalea's neck rose. Choking, she couldn't cry out as his fingers gripped her hair, and his lips traced, just barely touching her skin, to hers-

Chapter One: Azalea

Quite suddenly, Mr. Keeper bent back as if by force. Azalea took that distraction to untangle her wrist from the ribbon.

"A-Azalea, are y-you alright," Clover stuttered as Azalea gathered the girls about her, "We c-couldn't s-see what he was d-doing."

Azalea, glad that the girls remained innocent to what happened, assured them that he had only wanted to compliment her dancing.

"Come girls, we must be going now, it is Christmas tomorrow after all and Mr. Keeper must be busy."

This was met by groans and sighs as the girls filed out. Azalea, who was herding the back, looked back to the pavilion once more and saw that Mr. Keeper seemed to be prowling the ground around the pavilion for something. She was about to turn back when she noted Mr. Bradford's watch still in the pavilion.

"Az, you coming or what?" Bramble had turned around to see that Azalea was not following the rest of them, she followed Azalea's gaze to the watch.

"No Az, we're better off leavin' while Mr. Keeper's busy-" Bramble might have continued if not for the determined glint in Azalea's eye. "Well Az," she whispered, "I guess it wouldn't hurt to grab the watch while he's distracted..."

Azalea grabbed Bramble in a hug. "Thank you, now go and help Delphinium and Clover with the girls, I'll be back in a jiffy, okay?"

Bramble nodded and as she left, she glanced at Mr. Keeper, still prowling, then at Azalea. "I hope she's careful," she muttered under her breath.

Azalea watched her sister leave and as soon as Bramble was gone, she crept across the bridge to the pavilion. Conveniently it seemed, Mr. Keeper was preoccupied as Azalea snuck inside. She had walked up to the watch and had reached her hand out for it -suddenly she found herself pressed against one of the supports of the pavilion.

"Now, now Miss Azalea, it isn't polite to leave a party without being properly excused." Mr. Keeper once again wore a tight smile that did not reach his black eyes. "Besides, I wasn't quite finished with you yet."

Azalea's heart froze; what had she gotten herself into …

Mr. Keeper pressed closer and when she had started to struggle, he twisted her hands above her head. "Let us continue where we left off, hm?"

Azalea closed her eyes as Mr. Keeper leaned forward.

'Someone please help me!' She thought desperately.

Chapter Two:Azalea

Azalea's heart was pounding in her ears as Mr. Keeper's face drew near to hers again. Passing up her lips, he instead placed his own at her ear.

"Now, now princess, it was not nice of you to invite someone here without my permission, and a gentleman at that."

Azalea tilted her head in confusion; "Surely you do not mean for me to believe that you think so poorly of my promise not to tell. For I assure you, Mr. Keeper, that not even my sisters have I told."

Near the end of Azalea's little myriad, her tone had changed to something more reproachful. Mr. Keeper, who had listened patiently to her, now reached his hand out to swirl a stray lock of Azalea's hair with a thoughtful look on his face.

"Is that so? Well then, this is indeed troubling. For if I did not invite a gentleman nor you, then the only explanation is that he came uninvited. How rude indeed, especially after he interrupted us, do you not agree princess?"

Azalea's confusion only grew as she tried to piece together what Mr. Keeper could mean by this 'uninvited gentleman' who had "apparently" interrupted them. But if that were true, Azalea pondered, then where was this mysterious gentleman?

Looking around, she tried to see if anything was out of place. Mr. Keeper, who had watched these thoughts flit across her face, answered her unasked questions.

"Ah, well now, you will not be able to see him."

Azalea lifted a wary eyebrow at him. Taking this as a cue, he continued; "Yes, it would seem that the little devil got his hands on one of the high king's wrath cloaks. However, I can still sense his presence here and what better way to draw a rat out than with bait."

Mr. Keeper gave Azalea a sinister, yet charming smile that for once sparked something in his eyes.

"B-bait?"

Azalea had a sinking feeling that he meant to-

"Yes, you will be my bait, very good bait at that," his hand slid down her neck towards her collarbone.

Shivering, Azalea tried to pull away, but Mr. Keepers hold on her only tightened and she remained against the support.

Smiling down at her as he rubbed her neck, Mr. Keeper whispered to her with delight; "Now then, shall we test my little trap and see if the rat will go for the bait?"

Not even bothering to let her reply, he waved his hand before her mouth and she found herself unable to speak. Outraged, she ignored her fear to the prospect of being the 'bait' and let out muffled shouts.

"Mhgh mph erghp!"

"Tsk, this will not do. I cannot have you messing up my plans with all of your kicking and screaming," Keeper paused then smiled, "Perfect, well it has been pleasant, my princess, but for now I bid you good-night."

Azalea was helpless to watch as Mr. Keeper placed his hand over her head. In but a moment, drowsiness took over her system and the last thing she saw before falling into darkness was Mr. Keeper reaching forward to catch her fall.

Chapter Three: Keeper

'It just wasn't right! He had waited so long for this, so painfully long, and some rat had the audacity to get in his way.'

Mr. Keeper allowed a dark scowl to mar his face for a moment before he let it slip away.

'Just wait', he thought to himself 'I may not be able to see you yet, but I happen to know not even the smartest of mice can resist such fetching bait'.

He smiled then, as he walked farther away from the pavilion near the back where the foolish princesses had never dreamed of treading.

'Then I will have you cornered you rat. And then, not even the devil himself will be able to save you from me'.

As that last train of thought ended, Mr. Keeper looked down upon the 'bait' in his arms. Princess Azalea lay still in his arms as he carried her across the grass and despite her current situation, she had a faint smile upon her lips that completed an expression of peace. Mr. Keeper's eyes twinkled in amusement at the irony of it and he decided to take advantage of her stolen moment of peace to study her features a little more.

'Not as pretty as her younger sister Clover', but yet there is an underlying beauty to her in a different respect entirely.

Mr. Keeper had found himself drawn to Azalea almost at first sight, whether it was her alluring smile 'or perhaps the fire in her eyes that just wouldn't go out…'

He had not one clue. He did know however that he would have all the time in the world to find out as soon as his plan was set into motion-and he was freed from this eternal prison.

He finally arrived at his intended destination; before him stood a large wooden door without a handle or any visible means of entry. Mr. Keeper glanced about for any trace of the then quickly whispered a few words:

Reveal to me what is to be concealed,

Remove any obstructions and break your seal.

The door creaked open and a cloud of dust rose towards them. Glancing once more around the room, Mr. Keeper held Azalea a little closer as he slipped inside.

Chapter Four: Bramble

Clover and Bramble had just tucked in the little ones, having settled some protest from the twins about waiting up for Azalea.

"Do you think that Azalea will be back soon," Clover fretted.

"Of course she will," Bramble reached over to give her sister a squeeze "Az knows what she's doing, she'll be back in a poke, I know it!"

Clover offered a faint smile before heading to bed herself. Bramble watched her eyelids flutter before going still. In a similar way, she checked her other sisters to find similar results.

'Come on Az, we're worried about you. It's not like you to do stuff like this…'

Bramble removed the pins from her hair as she walked over to the vanity. As she sat down, she chanced a glance in the mirror. She immediately frowned.

'Why am I so disagreeable? My hair's too wild an' bright. My face is covered in freckles. Ugh, compared to Clover and Azalea, I'm just...I'm practically an eyesore, no one will ever like me.'

Bramble sighed and put her head in her hands,

'What about Mr. Teddy? He seems real sweet an' he's awful funny. So maybe, maybe he might like me. No, no, no he came for Azalea because she's the crown princes!'

Tears began to fall from her eyes as despair tightened around her heart.

'Why? Why do all of them like those two! Clover's always been the prettiest and Azalea will always have suitors because of her title. Why couldn't it have been me? Az is pretty 'nough without the title, she even has Mr. Keeper's attention!'

Bramble's head snapped up at that thought.

'What on earth is wrong with me?! I love my sisters... and right now, Azalea needs me!'

Bramble stood up quickly and and grabbed the silver handkerchief. Running to the hidden door, she rubbed quickly to open it. She gave a quick glance over her shoulder at the girls before ducking inside.

Clover

Clover woke with a jolt. Sitting up, she quickly took in the sight of Azalea's bed; it was still made neatly. Getting out of bed, she crept towards Bramble's bed only to find the redhead missing.

'Where on earth are they? Azalea should have been back by now and Bramble-'

Clover glanced quickly at the hidden door.

"Oh please, please let them come back safe."

Lily began to fuss, so Clover walked over to her crib and began to rock her.

To be continued...

So, what do you all make of my new format and chapter?