Unexpected

Diana had figured out that they were in a coach. The barrels were supplies for the castle of Thane, but then again so was she. Without so much as a word the coach stopped and Diana was cut loose. Her captures pushed her forwards towards a very large gate. Walls extended all around and Diana knew that they were at the castle. A man poked his head up so that they could see him on the wall.
"Who goes there?" he asked suspiciously.
"It's us you dope now open the gate!" The man on her right yelled angrily.
The gate opened quickly and they rushed inside. Diana was mesmerized by all of the flowers and the garden. The castle was huge and many people were rushing around the grass attending to the flowers in the garden.
"Well, well, I see you've found us a new servant!" A man said walking forwards and studying Diana. "She's quite young you must have caught her right after her ceremony."
"Indeed we did sir," the man said with respect. "She is young but she will make an adequate addition to the servants."
"Very well," the man said waving his hand. "Take her to her quarters and get her to work as soon as possible."
With that he walked away in the direction of the gates. The men pushed Diana forwards towards the castle. At first she wasn't sure that she wanted to go inside but it looked harmless enough for her to cooperate. They opened the gates and forced Diana inside. They began to push her down one of the halls when a girl stepped in front of them. The girl was around Diana's age and wore a beautiful pink and white dress. She was rather slim and had gorgeous long golden hair that flowed and waved with every step.
"Excuse me your highness but we are just taking one of the new servants to her quarters," the man on her left said bowing.
"I should think not!" The princess said angrily stomping her foot. "I have no one to play with and she is my age so you will leave her with me!"
"But Cassandra..." the man started.
"Ahem!" The princess interrupted.
The man sighed almost menacingly.
"But your highness there is much work to be done and we are low on servants as it is," he said, "So we have no one to spare!"
"You will listen to your princess if you like it or not!" Cassandra growled. "And if you don't I get my daddy to send you to the dungeon to rot!"
"Yes your highness," both men said bowing.
"Much better," The princess said smiling. "Now go away."
They backed off slowly then walked out of the front doors. Cassandra then looked at Diana and the state she was in.
"What is your name?" asked Cassandra.
"Diana Tarrow," she muttered.
"Well Diana my name is Cassandra Marray," Cassandra said smiling. "Come with me and we can get you fixed up."
Diana followed Cassandra through the halls and into a large room. The room was filled with stuffed animals and many toys. Cassandra walked briskly forwards and over to a door on the wall. She knocked five times in a little tune. Rap-a rap-a raps, a tap, tap.
The door opened quickly and a women wearing ragged clothes and holding a broom walked inside.
"What is it your highness?" she asked.
"Tara could you fix up Diana?" asked Cassandra. "She has very ratty clothing and her hair is all knotty!"
"Of course your highness," she said bowing. "Come with me Diana."
Tara held out her hand and Diana hesitantly took it. They walked into another room that was much less vibrant and colorful. This room was gray and musty with dust over everything. It was painted brown and had three doors. Diana guessed that one would lead to Cassandra's room, the other would lead to the hallway, but she wasn't sure about the third. Tara led her to the third door and opened it. Inside were a large basin and a pump along with a strange contraption Diana had never seen before.
"What is that?" she asked puzzled.
"It's a heater," the women responded. "You heat it up with fire and dump your water into the hole. The water goes through and heats up then comes out that hole and goes into your bath."
Diana smiled. Back at her house they didn't usually heat up the water before bathing. She then became sad at the thought that she might never see her mom again. She started to cry and Tara became sympathetic.
"It's alright," she said hugging Diana. "Are you worried about your family?"
"Yes," Diana sniffled. "I want my mommy!"
"Don't worry everything will be fine," Tara said reassuringly. "Lets get you fixed up first."
They heated the water and Diana had a bath. It was warm and comfortable in the warm water. Tara came in and gave her some strange stuff to put in her hair. Diana did as she was told and lathered her hair with it. She then rinsed it out and Tara brought her a towel. After Diana had dried Tara brought her a beautiful sleeping gown just her size.
"Here you can wear this," she said handing it to Diana. "We will buy you some proper clothing in the morning."
"Okay," Diana responded.
"Now you have to do her hair Tara!" Cassandra said smiling.
"Sure thing," Tara answered.
She fetched a brush and started on Diana's hair. It took her a long time to find a hairdo that suited Diana. They finally decided that she would have a braided ponytail. With that finished Diana smiled. Maybe she would enjoy life in the palace.
"Come on let's play with my stuffed animals!" Cassandra said happily. "Here you can have this one cause I have a lot."
"Thank you!" Diana said her eyes sparkling with glee.
"No problem!" Cassandra said smiling.
Cassandra and Diana got along playing toys for a long time. Right up until it was time for them to sleep. Tara tucked them in and Diana slept in Cassandra's bed for the moment. Cassandra was so happy with her new friend. It was almost like having a real sister.

Two girls the age of nine ran through the cold bushes. Their clothes clung onto them with the dew soaking their pants and shirt. Both of them were freezing and cold but at least they were safe, for the moment anyways. Their eyes desperately flitted from tree to tree in search of a large oak. The footsteps following swiftly behind them didn't help their frantic search for shelter. Finally they spotted the tree they had been looked for, a large oak towering above the others. They dove down and pressed a knot on the oak. The mechanism sprung to life and the door swung open. Diving inside they almost caught their legs as the door slammed closed. Panting they carefully made their way down a tunnel that went deep into the earth. It finally opened to a large cave. The one girl sighed happily at the thought of finally being safe. Running inside and forwards they saw the light of the opening of the cave. Smiling to themselves they emerged into the moonlight. They had finally outrun the man who had been chasing them. They took one step forwards and the one felt a sudden pain in her ankle. The world began to spin and everything went black. The other girl kneeled frantically trying to awake her. The man walked towards her grinning. He shot her with a dart also. She fell to the ground unconscious.
"Finally I caught you, you little brats!" He said angrily. "And now to arrange your ceremonies, Megan and Sara."

Diana was running, swiftly through a field. Everything around her was blurred and it scared her. She kept running, not looking back. She began to run low on breath. She couldn't slow or they would catch her. They would take her away. She couldn't let that happen. She had to escape but how? She ran even harder still loosing breath. They called to her. They called from the shadows all around her.
"Diana," they called in a hauntingly echoing voice. "Come to us!"
"No!" She yelled.
A giant black castle rose in the distance. The darkness was all around her and pressing in on her. She started to shiver as freezing air set in. Something was coming from the castle. It rode on a galloping horse. It was a creature with red eyes and large dagger teeth.
"When all turns dark and light is gone You will never see the dawn Past the black castle of fright Lay the creatures of the night You will know why I warn you Only trust a precious few The dream will end when they descend And night will be your darkest friend."
"Diana, Diana wake up," called another voice. "You're going to be late for training! Darn you Diana wake up!"
Diana's mind was thrown back into consciousness. She was breathing hard and cold sweat dripped down her forehead.
"It's about time!" Tara said angrily. "You can be so lazy sometimes!"
"Sorry," Diana apologized jumping out of bed. "I didn't mean to sleep in."
Four years had passed in the castle and a lot had changed. Diana was now fourteen and Cassandra was thirteen. Cassandra had been to her ceremony and her medallions were mage and warrior. Diana had taken classes a lot with her and they seemed to be helping fill the hole that years of despair had dug into Diana's heart. She felt almost complete and anew as if she had been given a second life or something. The room had another bed for Diana and a dresser to go along with it. All her things were kept in the drawers but she put her valuables in the secret compartment on the side. Diana had been adopted into this family and was thankful for it but also she wished to see her home again. Cassandra had changed over the years. Her hair had grown longer and shimmered like gold. She had gotten taller and more beautiful. Diana had grown taller also. Diana had large muscles and long coarse hair. Her eyes could burn with anger, pierce with suspicion, or sparkle with glee. Her mood always changed and wavered but the most of her time she was depressed. Countless nights she had spent remembering her real mother and wishing for her to be there but that was impossible for they did not allow commoners in the castle and it would be asking for too much. Most of her time had been spent in the Legends room where they kept the scrolls and parchments that told of the ancient legends, which she had a great interest in. It was her favorite room but there was nothing more for her to read in it since she had read all of the Legends. The Legend that she liked the most was the ancient battle of the Phoenix, the dragon and the Unicorn which was a very interesting tail telling of the great battle over an ancient crystal of great power. The dragon had wanted to crystal to rule the shadows so it would not have to worry about the Phoenix or the Unicorn, the Phoenix wanted to rule the volcanoes so it's home would be safe from the Unicorn and Dragon, the Unicorn, wisest of them all, wished to create a new world for the dragon, the phoenix and the Unicorn so that the world created would be divided into three. They did not agree with each other so they battle a giant war called the Battle Legends, which ended up destroying all of them for the crystal was to great a power for any of them to have. The ancient crystal had been a very intelligent crystal that was able to think for itself but would not use it's powers for good nor evil until the one chosen by fate to control took it up and resurrected the three legends to do battle against a great evil that was waiting for the right moment to strike. Diana came out of her thoughts turned around briskly then shook Cassandra gently.
"Cassandra wake up!" She called. "It's time for our test!"
Cassandra groaned and shoved Diana's hand away. Diana frowned then smiled at her.
"Cassandra is a pig and a moron," she said loudly.
"WHAT?" Cassandra yelled jumping out of bed.
"You heard me!" Diana said almost laughing.
"Why I ought to!" Cassandra yelled.
"Ought to what?" asked Diana sarcastically. "Ought to snort like a pig and oink at me?"
Diana burst out laughing as Cassandra began to chase her around the room. Finally she crashed into the bed laughing and Cassandra jumped on top of her.
"I am not a pig!" She yelled.
They giggled and fell on the floor laughing at themselves.
"You two better settle down and get ready or your going to be late!" Tara complained angrily. "I want to see you two dressed and ready in the next five minutes or it'll be a cold bath this afternoon!"
Diana and Cassandra rolled their eyes.
"Yes mother," they both replied trying to annoy Tara (she isn't really their mother they just said that to annoy her.
They began laughing again. Tara huffed angrily and turned to go back into her room.
"Your mother and father would be appalled!" she said closing her door.
"Do you think we were to harsh on Tara?" asked Diana.
"No," Cassandra replied, "Why would you think that? We do this almost everyday!"
"Oh yeah!" Diana answered, "Last one dressed is a rotten egg!"
"Your on!" Cassandra laughed smiling.
Cassandra and Diana laughed hysterically as they rushed to get dressed but kept messing up in the attempt. Finally Cassandra dressed first and stuck her tongue out at Diana.
"You lose!" She said mockingly.
"Yeah well I'll get my hair done first!" She yelled.
"Yeah right!" Cassandra exclaimed. "You have to put your hair in a braid and ponytail all I have to do it brush mine!"
"Your on!" Diana yelled grabbing a brush.
"Now girls is this any way to act?" asked their father from the doorway.
Cassandra and Diana screamed.
"You could have burst in on us while we were dressing!" Diana screamed laughingly.
"Shame on you father!" Cassandra exclaimed gleefully.
"I don't know what to do with you two!" Their father sighed. "I came in after you were finished dressing and furthermore I don't want you two rushing while brushing your hair or you'll ruin the shine!
"Yes father!" They both said rolling their eyes.
"I want both of you down at the gardens in ten minutes or you'll be late for your exams!" the king commanded. "And I want no horse play while you are doing them."
"We would never horse play!" Diana said, "Isn't that right Cassandra?"
"Of course not," Cassandra said in a serious tone. "Since when did we ever horse play?"
"Never," Diana answered, "we don't play with the horses!"
They both burst out giggling and the king sighed at their arrogance. He then walked briskly away while Diana and Cassandra did up their hair.
"Cassandra could you braid my hair?" asked Diana.
"Why you can braid your own hair," Cassandra replied.
"It take me a lot longer to braid my own hair then it does to have someone else do it," Diana said.
"Alright," Cassandra replied taking hold of Diana's hair.
She quickly braided it and tied a red ribbon at the bottom. They walked over to their full-length mirrors to take a look at themselves. Diana was wearing a beautiful blue tunic and a blue skirt. Cassandra was wearing a white and pink shirt that was almost transparent, with a white shirt underneath and a flowing skirt with the same colors. They had different tastes but they were a lot alike. Diana and Cassandra quickly rushed towards the grounds taking several shortcuts. Cassandra was getting a bit ahead when one of the knights stood in Diana's way. She looked at Cassandra then up at the knight. She knew who this knight was. It was one of the younger knights that had just been initiated. It happened to be Lord Kayoten. No one knew his full name so everyone called him Hawk. He was called that because his family crest was a golden hawk.
"Excuse me please or I will be late for my exams," Diana said dryly.
"Sorry my lady," he said bowing. "I did not mean to block your way. I wish you luck on your exams."
"Thank you," Diana replied taken aback. "Good day."
Hawk moved out of her path and she continued on down the hall. Cassandra stood waiting for her.