~ Chapter 1 ~

The high arching windows that adorned the Queen's quarters overlooked the riverside kingdom below. Pam Fields often stood in front of the center window and gazed down at the community and its people when she had to make difficult decisions. It kept her focus on exactly what was at stake, and she was prepared to make one of the riskiest decision of her reign.

"As you're probably well aware, next week marks the four year anniversary of our daughter's kidnapping. The King and I, well, we were so busy sending our troops into the northern territories to help our allies that we neglected her own safety. We never realized her guard was working for the Red Army. We didn't have the foresight to guess that the Red Queen may have infiltrated our ranks, and I live with that burden...that guilt every single day," the older woman spoke softly. Her back was to the knight who was listening quietly several feet behind her. She had deliberately positioned herself that way. Pam couldn't have her strongest warrior see the few tears that she hadn't been able to blink back. Her knight had to have full confidence in her for this mission to be successful. They both had to be unbreakable. The Queen wiped her sweaty palms on the silky purple fabric of her dress before continuing, "We have been able to rebuild in the last four years. With the help of the other royal families - the Marins, the Hastings, and the Montgomerys - we've been able to amass an army large enough and, more importantly, strong and courageous enough to defeat anything the Red Queen may send our way. The time has come to rescue my daughter."

The Queen glanced at the vast forest on the other side of the lake before turning to face her soldier. Her face was austere as she made eye contact with the knight. "And I need you to do it."


Miles within the forest that bordered the Long Lake stood a tower. Thick ivy covered its outer walls, giving it an appearance that would suggest to any outsider (assuming anyone would even be either brave enough or foolish enough to venture that far into the forest) that it had long since been abandoned. But the tower was far from vacant. Inside the highest room, a girl was fast asleep in her bed. As a weak ray of light filtered in through the room's lone window and settled on the girl's face, she began to stir. She pulled her tattered and dirty blanket closer to her body and buried her face in the pillow.

"Paige, are you up already?" She asked, patting the space next to her. "Paige?" She asked again, turning slightly to the side to make herself louder. Receiving no response, she opened her eyes to investigate. They darted from the dirt floor to the cold, grey brick walls to the window several feet above her head. This was not Emily Fields' bedroom.

Emily leapt out of bed and panic began to flood her body. Her feet found their way to the door. "HELP! Someone, help me!" She pounded her fists against the heavy steel. "Please! Someone!"

Footsteps echoed off the walls outside the room. A panel on the door slid to the side and was replaced by a pair of bright blue eyes.

"Emily, what are you doing?" A familiar male voice whispered. "The guards might have heard you!"

"Toby?" Uneasy relief hit her senses. "Toby, where am I? Where is Paige?"

"Oh, no," the boy sighed. "How badly did they hurt you? At least you can remember my name this time. You're in the Red Queen's tower," Toby responded patiently. "You've been here for almost four years. The Black Duchess betrayed your family and abducted you."

"Red Queen? Black Duchess? Toby, what are you talking about?" Emily asked, a mixture of confusion and fear etched on her face.

His brow furrowed in concern. "Duchess Vanderwaal used to be your guard, but she was working as a spy for the Red Queen. They've been keeping you prisoner. Are you ok? Do you want me to see if I can sneak you some herbs or something to help?"

"Herbs? Why herbs? No aspirin at least?" Her head was swirling with questions. "Duchess Vanderwaal? Are you talking about Mona?" The mention of Mona's name made her frantic. "Where is Paige? Toby, what did Mona do with her?"

"Who is Paige?"


"She was climbing out of her bedroom window, and she just fell." Paige explained to the nurse in front of her, her mechanical tone reflecting her state of shock. "She just...the tree branch snapped...and she just fell."

"Where were you when this happened?" The nurse asked.

"I offered to go first." Paige ran her fingers through her hair and stopped as they reached the back of her head. Tears began to blur her vision as the nurse's words cut through her shock. "I've climbed that tree so many times. I don't think Emily ever has. I should have gone first. I could've caught her. I could've broken her fall." She sat down, cradling her head in her hands.

"Paige!" Caleb exited the elevator and jogged over to the girl. "Paige, Hanna asked me to keep you company while she went to get Spencer and Aria. Are Emily's parents here?"

"They're with the doctors," she managed to reply through the tears that were now pouring down her face. "This is all my fault. I never should've suggested we sneak out."

Caleb placed his arm around her shoulders. "It's going to be ok."

"But what if it's not?" Paige shot back. "She could be paralyzed or...or lose brain functioning. This is all my fault. I'm supposed to protect her. She trusted me to keep her safe, and...I didn't."

Caleb pulled her closer. "Hey, Emily's a fighter. You know that. She'll be ok, and this was an accident. It's no one's fault."

Paige didn't respond. She just prayed that Caleb was right.

"You've spent four years training for this, and that's all you have to offer? Put some muscle into it!"

Paige tried to ignore the rather intense woman standing above her, but Spencer Hastings was her coach for a reason.

"I mastered archery by the age of eight and swordsmanship by the age of ten! You're exhibiting weakness, McCullers!"

"And your mother was also part dragon," the auburn-haired girl shot back, dodging her opponent's stabbing motion.

"She was an amazon, and only partially responsible for my speed and strength. The rest came from hours of training," Spencer yelled defensively.

Paige blocked an aim at her chest with her blade. "I was referring to your temperament, your majesty." Whatever abuse her mentor was throwing at her was canceled out by the clanking sound of her rival's weapon dropping to the floor. She had successfully disarmed him without sustaining any injuries herself. Not that this was a new occurrence. Paige had been doing this numerous times a day for over a year now, but this never seemed to have an effect on Princess Spencer's attitude. She wanted each decision, each motion of her body to be perfect, but she failed to see perfection even when Paige gave it to her.

"Thank you, Wren. You're dismissed," Spencer said to the other swordsman with a lazy wave of her hand. "Dame McCullers, Princess Hanna needs to see you about your armor. Don't forget you're practicing hand-to-hand combat with Caleb when you're finished." Paige removed her helmet and looked up to see that her coach was giving her a scathing look. "And I do hope you've worked on your patience. Your hotheadedness costs you dearly each fight." Spencer turned on her heel and moved away from the rail of the balcony.


Emily sat on the floor of the room with her head against the door. Toby had left her after being summoned by the Duchess but promised to return later. "The Duchess," yeah, right. There was no Black Duchess. There was no way Mona and whoever she was working for had amassed an army large enough to take over lands ruled by her friends. There was no way her friends were rulers of anything. She was not a princess. She was Emily Fields, senior at Rosewood High. None of this was plausible.

"This is just a dream," she muttered to herself. "Paige will wake you up, like she always does, and then sneak outside to knock on the door and smile at your parents as if she hadn't just spent the night with her limbs entangled with their daughter's. This will be over soon."

The bang of the bolted door being unlocked caused her to jump. She crawled back just in time for it to swing open and reveal two guards. They were dressed in deep red jackets with gold fastenings, black pants, and shiny black boots. The most striking feature of their uniforms, however, was the gold cap with a large red A embroidered on the right side resting on their heads.

"Your majesty," the guard with short dark hair and a manic glint in his eye offered an exaggerated bow.

"The Duchess heard about your little tantrum this morning," the guard with the cascading blonde hair sneered. "She asked us to see to you."

Emily tried to move back as they slowly advanced toward her, but they had her cornered.

"Aw, look at that. She's frightened. Maybe she has forgotten what life is like in the tower," the blonde guard laughed.

"Allow us to remind you, princess," the second guard said in a sickeningly sweet tone as he bent down and grabbed her by the wrists. Forcing Emily to her feet, he positioned her in front of him with her hands behind her back. Before she knew what was happening, the blonde guard offered blow after blow to any place on Emily's body that her fist could reach. She cried out in pain, asked them to stop, but it was no use. The blonde's attacks were relentless.
The male guard let go of her and watched as she dropped to the floor.

"Hopefully we were able to jog your memory, your majesty," he said, gleefully.

"Remember, a princess always keeps her mouth shut," the second added and closed the door.

Emily was left in the corner, clutching her stomach in an attempt to relieve the pain. She tried to sit up, but it only made her feel dizzy. Moving her hand to her forehead, she felt something wet and sticky. Her fingers were coated with blood. The guards had done more damage than she thought. Black dots started to cloud her vision, so she lay back down.

"Paige, please, I need to wake up."


"Mrs. Fields!" Caleb removed his arm from Paige's shoulder and stood up. Paige remained seated on the bench, her head still in her hands. She couldn't face Emily's mom.

"How is she?"

"She's, uh," Pam's voice was shaky. "The doctor's say she has to be unconscious for two more hours before they can label it, but...they...they think she's in a coma."

A fresh wave of tears streamed down the auburn-haired girl's face and dripped onto the white tiles under her feet. "I'm sorry, Em. So...sorry."