Pretty Little Princesses

So this is just an idea that I had; what if the liars where Disney princesses? So I wrote all the PLL characters into different Disney princess stories, so each of the four girls is a princess and I've created their story so that it reflects both the PLL girl and the princess she's portraying. This first chapter is entirely about Aria, any guesses which princess she's supposed to be? One last thing: reviews are very appreciated!

Prologue – A Lost Princess

Princess Alison was a beautiful blonde girl with many admirers. She liked the attention – in fact, she loved the attention – but saw it all as a game. She liked to play around with the many boys, collected secrets from them. She was probably the most knowing person in the five kingdoms – Northern, Southern, Eastern, Western and Origon. Alison's mother and father were the king and queen of the centered kingdom, Origon, which was the biggest of the five kingdoms.

Not only did Alison have admirers and toys from all the kingdoms, she had also hand-picked four friends – one from each of the kingdoms. These friends where princesses, nothing less, but where still honored to be friends with Alison seeing as she was the princess of the biggest kingdom. There was only one thing; these friends of hers did not know of each other. And they were all under the impression that they were her one and only best friend.

Now being the most beautiful, most loved and, first and foremost, most secretive princess, people would definitely go after her. And one autumn morning, when the trees had been painted bright yellow and red, Alison had vanished without a trace.

At first the king and queen thought Alison had been kidnapped and that the kidnapper wanted gold or treasure in return for giving them their daughter back. But as no message came they grew more and more worried until the day that they just assumed she was dead.

Chapter 1 – Beyond the Eastern Shadows

Aria, princess of the Eastern Kingdom, did not have a very interesting life. Some people would even call it boring. All she did was her duties as a princess and listen to her younger brother Mike's arguments about anything and everything he thought was unfair. His sister becoming the queen for example, he saw it more fitting for him to become king. Some days Aria wanted to walk over to her brother and tell him that he could have it all, she didn't really want it anyway. But she kept quiet as a good girl should. She kept quiet about a lot of things lately, like how it hurt to stand by the window and watch the colorful trees outside. It made her think about a year ago when her close friend Alison, the princess of Origon, had disappeared. She was still gone, and people where still looking.

But it wasn't just that. Last autumn, before Alison had disappeared, she accidentally saw her father, King Byron, kiss someone who was most definitely not her mother. And that's when she begun to keep quiet. Her father had asked her – begged her – not to tell her mother, and she didn't tell her. As much as she regretted it now, she hadn't told her. It was constantly haunting her mind. Why had her father been kissing that girl – Meredith, her name was Meredith – and why hadn't Aria told her mother Ella? She deserved to know. Know what? That her beloved husband was cheating on her with a young blonde and there was nothing she could do about it? It would only cause misery, that's what Aria had told herself when she decided to shut her mouth. And what if the word had spread through the kingdom, then her family's' reputation would've been ruined.

Aria wasn't one to care what people thought about her, but if the Eastern Kingdom knew this… she didn't even dare think about it. So Aria kept quiet, pretending that nothing was wrong. And it worked on the outside, but on the inside she was wrecked. The fact that her only friend had gone missing just a month after she'd caught her dad with Meredith did not make the situation any better.

Alison was a strange girl in many ways. She was very secretive and liked to brag about things she couldn't tell. So Aria caught herself thinking about how she never really knew this girl who was supposed to have been her best friend. And Alison knew everything about Aria, every little detail.

Aria was sure that if she didn't move away from her bedroom window soon she'd start to cry, so she pulled herself away from the sight of red and yellow treetops.

~BlueBelle03~

"Ouch!" Aria flinched as a needle accidentally touched her porcelain skin. Aria was wearing a beautiful golden gown with loose-fitting shoulders that was being sewed to fit her perfectly. There was a big ball coming up and her parents wanted to make sure that their daughter looked stunning. Aria on the other hand liked it better when she put together old dresses, mixing colors and patterns no one would've thought of putting together. But as the good girl she tried to be she stood like a statue while the golden dress was being edited.

"My apologies, my princess," the sewer said. Aria managed a weak smile as if to say that it's okay. The sewer kept sewing and Aria kept standing still. Playing the mannequin game was one of Aria's least favorites. Her interests laid in a completely different direction where reading and learning was on top of the list. Aria loved books, that was a fact. And she loved to learn new things about the world. To live in a world without any knowledge about it must be extremely boring.

"Aria, honey, you look great." Queen Ella walked into the room with a smile upon her face. Aria pushed her luck and tried to manage another smile. This one came of more as a grimace, but Ella didn't comment. "I thought you'd look good in yellow."

"I guess."

The ball that she had to attend to in her current dress was held two nights from tonight and was the annual Autumn Ball. Each of the kingdoms – except for Origon – was responsible for an annual ball. Eastern Kingdom had the Autumn Ball, Northern Kingdom the Winter Ball, Western Kingdom the Spring Ball and Southern Kingdom had the Summer Ball. The yellow colored dress was its color because of the fact that it was the Autumn Ball she was attending in it.

Aria usually liked to go to balls and dance, but this past year she hadn't really been herself. The way she felt right now told her something about not wanting to go. But her mother would be so disappointed. Besides, a ball was the perfect place to meet someone with husband potential. She knew that as a sixteen-year-old she needed to marry, and that soon. Her parents had waited with unbelievable patience, but Aria knew very well that the time now was up.

"Aria, have you thought about, you know, looking for a… husband?" Ella said carefully. She froze for a second; it was as if her mother had read her thoughts.

"I should probably do that, huh?" Aria sighed. She crawled out of her dress and put on her other dress. The sewer hung up the golden gown and quietly left the room.

"Your father and I, we don't want to push you. That is the last thing we want to do but–"

"Mother, it is fine. I will keep my eyes open for a decent man who I can see as a potential friend. I don't want someone I can't stand and I don't think I will just look at someone and fall in love. I think love is out of the question, but a friend is the least you can let me have."

"Of course," Ella murmured. "It makes perfectly sense, I don't see why not. But there is however some bad news."

"Bad news?" Aria echoed.

"You need to find a husband or one will be decided for you."

Aria's eyes narrowed. One will be decided? She felt as if the oxygen was pulled out of her lungs.

"Would you excuse me for a second?" Aria said and hurried away. She didn't stop until she came to her bedroom. She pulled out a book from her bookshelf and started reading; she needed to think about something else. Anything but the pressure. Today was definitely one of those days she'd like to make her brother the older, he'd like that and so would she.

The book was not what Aria had expected. It was a dark story – a legend, in fact – about the old castle beyond the Eastern shadows. Legend had it that the reason no one dared to go near the castle was because it was lived in by a terrible beast who did not like to be disturbed and showed no mercy to unwanted visitors. Of course, Aria thought, it was probably just a story to scare children from going there. It could be dangerous to go to an old castle all by yourself, you could get lost.

Looking from Aria's bedroom window she could see the highest towers of the castle beyond the shadow that hugged the outer parts of the Eastern Kingdom. That's why it was called the Eastern shadow, because the whole Eastern Kingdom was surrounded by its thick fog. Aria had never went beyond the shadow except for when her family attended the annual balls, but then they were riding in a carriage drawn by horses. What if she tried to walk there and find out what that castle was all about?

No! She said to herself. You're not planning a trip to the old Eastern castle, that's not happening!

But looking out at the castle, Aria couldn't help but notice her thirst for adventure.

~BlueBelle03~

The ball approached quickly and Aria was dancing with strangers in her yellow and golden gown. Aria told herself to at least pretend to have fun and it might fool herself. It did, a little. But the problem remained as she couldn't seem to find someone she'd like to spend the rest of her life with. She knew it would be hard, but this was ridiculous. How can everyone in here be so self-centered or uninterested in the things she loved the most?

If Alison would have been here they would have joked about that, of people's outfits, or something they overheard. She missed her friend so much.

Her father tapped her on the shoulder. "Aria, I'd like to introduce you to Lord Kahn's son; Noel."

Aria turned and faced this Noel. He was handsome, indeed, with his thick dark hair and gorgeous smile.

"Pleasure."

"Could I have the honor?" Noel said and gave Aria his hand. They walked to the middle of the floor and begun dancing.

"I hear you're searching for a husband," he said with a smirk. Aria didn't have anything against Noel – yet – but she felt this kind of tension. Aria summoned her voice to speak.

"I guess I am," she answered, "it's time, I guess."

"Probably." Noel gave her a dazzling smile. "Considering what a beautiful princess you are." Aria's cheeks turned a light shade of pink and her eyes darted to the floor.

Aria continued dancing with Noel and then she excused herself to the bathroom. Only she didn't go to the bathroom. She just needed an excuse to get away from all the craziness they called fun. This was actually the first of the annual balls she'd attended since Alison's disappearance. She had dodged the winter ball, the spring ball and the summer ball by pretending to be sick. But she couldn't escape the autumn ball. Her parents would drag her to this ball whether she was sick or not.

She collapsed onto her bed and looked up at the ceiling where yellow stars were painted. She had to go back soon, she knew that. But she really, really, didn't want to. Without thinking she glanced over at the window. Even though it was dark she could still make out the high towers in the distance. What if she would go there?Was it insane to even think that? But what if?

Life is what you make it to, not what anyone else tells you it is! Aria stumbled off her bed and snuck out of her room. Everyone was in the ballroom, so she shouldn't worry about anyone seeing her. But she couldn't be too careful. Her parents would come looking for her when they notice that she has been gone for too long. And they would get worried when they wouldn't be able to find her in the castle. But that was something for her to worry about at dawn, because that's when she expected to be home again, safe and sound in her room.

Aria managed to exit the castle without anyone noticing. She had completely forgotten to change clothes and was still wearing the yellow dress from the ball and heels that where meant for dancing, not walking around in the woods in the middle of the night.

The forest might be deep and dark with who knows what kind of animals living in it, but Aria was not at all afraid. She was not the little girl that got scared – well, she was little, but definitely not scared – and her curiosity was growing with each step she took.

Aria fell a couple of times, tore her dress and bruised her chin. But soon enough she emerged to the castle. It had not been easy to find it behind the thick wall of fog. The old Eastern castle was even bigger now that Aria was standing so close.

Without hesitation she carefully opened the creaking door. It was dark inside the castle and she couldn't see anything. Then the door closed behind her with a loud bang that made Aria jump ten feet.

Then she saw something else. Someone was watching her from the shadows.

To be continued…

(In the next chapter we will meet Hanna)