Disclaimer: I do not own anything written by the fantastic Gail Carson Levine. The only things that are mine are anything that you do not recognise – i.e – most characters and the plot.

Summary: Sarah, Ella's daughter, is kidnapped on the night of her debutante ball. At first she does not know what her captors want from her, but when she does her life is changed forever. What follows is an adventure featuring magic, mayhem, romance, elves, balls and a prince in disguise!

A/N: Thanks for your reviews for the last few chapters.

Chapter 6:

The Truth

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The elf slowly approached the high palace gates; Fin and Sarah were trailing behind.

"What do you think he will say to us?" whispered Sarah.

"Who knows?" Fin shrugged. Sarah fell silent. Fin seemed stranger than usual. Did he know something that she did not?

"How do you think Flame is?" Sarah tried to ask again. Fin just shrugged his shoulders, "I am sure she is fine, do not worry your 'precious' head over that."

Sarah shuffled closer to the elf."Excuse me, but what is your name?" Sarah decided to ask the elf.

"How rude of me! I should have told you before. It is Manna."

"That is an interesting name." Sarah told her. Sarah sometimes wished that she had a name other than Sarah. It was so plain. She wanted to have a more exotic name. (A/N: I have nothing against the name Sarah! In fact, I think it is a pretty name and I have friends who have that name. So do not get offended or annoyed or anything. Lets just say that Sarah is delusional. ;) Anyways, on with the story…………..)

Sarah looked ahead and saw the elf trying to convince the guards to let them through. The elf must have eventually been successful because a few seconds later, the guards stepped away and the huge metal gate swung open.

Sarah walked through and looked around. The palace was enormous. They seemed to be in some sort of courtyard. There was a fountain in the centre with water coming out of the stone dolphins' mouths. The walls were a bright white, Sarah was amazed at its cleanliness and wondered about how many servants the king and queen had to employ to keep it clean. At the top of the palace were gold-plated turrets. There were flags everywhere, pictured on them was what appeared to be the royal family crest. Sarah had seen the crest before but did not know where she had seen it.

Sarah looked back down and saw that her fellow companions had already entered the palace. Sarah rushed in, hoping that she would be able to catch up to them.

A cheerful maid with red rosy cheeks greeted Sarah. She did not appear to be much older than Sarah herself.

"Uh, Hello." Sarah said nervously.

"Hello, your highness." Sarah was startled, how did the maid know that she was a princess.

As is the maid could read her mind, she said, "The King had told us that you would be coming."

"So, he must know my name and who I am." Sarah thought to herself. Sarah tried to focus on what the maid was saying next.

"My name is Lydia. I will be your maid during your stay here. Your other friends have gone on ahead to their rooms. I will show you yours."

Sarah was annoyed that they did not wait for her but she decided that she had more important things to worry about. What was going to become of her?

Sarah was grateful that they would be allowed to stay at the palace, but she also wondered why the King was doing this. Sarah could not wait till she found out, which was bound to be later that afternoon.

Sarah was led through a dark narrow corridor with soldiers in heavy metal armour lining the walls. She looked back at them. At her palace at home, they did not have such people. She supposed that this must be an old custom still kept from the old days. They turned corner after corner. After what seemed like forever, they finally stopped outside a small wooden door. Lydia rummaged around in her pocket and finally produced a small silver key. She unlocked the door and opened it.

Sarah looked inside and saw a wide double bed with hanging curtains draping onto it. There was a chest of drawers in one corner of the room, and a wardrobe in the other. There was also a huge mirror and a dressing table. Sarah was especially pleased at seeing a bath filled with steaming hot water and beside it a washstand.

"Your highness, there are clothes in the wardrobe for you to wear. You are free to use anything in the room. Do you want me to stay to help you with the bath?"

Sarah shook her head.

She turned around to thank Lydia and to tell her that she could call her Sarah, but saw that she had already left the room.

Sarah breathed a sigh of relief. "Well, at least I am safe for the moment."

Sarah removed her clothes and sank into the hot water, eager to cleanse herself of the dirt and grime that she had acquired over the past week. She saw a few scratches on her body, but she found that she did not have any bad injuries. She relaxed back into the bathtub and closed her eyes.

Sarah opened her eyes and shivered. The water was cold.

"I must have fallen asleep."

"Yes, you did." Came a familiar voice. Sarah jumped.

"Fin! What are you doing here?"

Fin was standing near the bathtub, a wide grin on his face.

Sarah sank down; she hoped that he could not see any of her private parts.

"I have been trying to wake your royal self up."

"I am awake now so you can go."

"As you wish." Fin winked at her.

"Oaf!" she yelled after him.

She leaped up out of the bath and wrapped a towel around herself. She walked over to the wardrobe and opened it. She looked at the clothes and decided to wear a pale green dress that fit snug on her body. She flicked a comb through her dark shiny hair, hoping that it would do.

She then raced out of the room and tried to run in what she thought was the way to the foyer.

Sarah was standing before the King himself. He had a kind and merry face. He had blue eyes that twinkled and his fair hair was cut short.

"I am sorry that my wife could not be here but she was called away." He told Sarah.

"That is okay, your highness." She added, sweeping into a deep curtsy.

"Now, tell me your story."

Sarah went on to describe what had happened. Fin and the elf were standing near her and they added their own comments in from time to time. Sarah's hands were sweating and she wished with all her heart that the King would believe her story.She hesitated to tell him that Fin had kidnapped her, but she knew that it would look odd to Fin if she did not. Any normal person would want to escape from their kidnappers. Sarah tried to shake any thoughts of Fin from her mind.

"He's so arrogant." she thought to herself. "Especially this afternoon when I was in the bath. I could not believe the nerve of him!"

Sarah finally finished her tale and waited for the King's response. Would he help her return to her family? Sarah hoped that he would understand her situation and would not punish Fin. Well, at least not punish him too much.

Sarah looked expectantly at the King, who was deep in thought. The King's face was stern and he attempted a weak smile.

"Your highness- " Sarah started but the King cut in before she could continue.

"I am sorry Princess Sarah, but it is now that I must confess something. I hope that you will be able to forgive me."

"Your majesty, I am sure that it is not something too bad."

Sarah peered closely at the King. If she did not know better, she could have sworn that he was sweating.

"Sarah. Do you mind if I call you Sarah?" Sarah shook her head.

"Sarah, it was I who ordered your kidnapping."

"What?!" she shrieked.

"I am very sorry but if you will just listen to me, I will be able to explain everything."

"Well you had better be able to! I did not just spend a week of hell for nothing!"

Fin's face took on an expression of pain but Sarah did not care. Fin and the King looked at each other. Sarah turned away so she did not see the shake of Fin's head at the King's questioning glance.

Sarah was too busy thinking about what a fool she had been – she had thought that she would soon be home but it now looked like this would never happen. Sarah had a sudden vision of herself being tortured. They might be really cruel and tickle her to death! Sarah was extremely ticklish and to have somebody tickle her was her greatest fear.

The King drank from his glass of water whilst Sarah angrily waited for an explanation...

"I wanted you kidnapped for a reason. I did not want to do it, but I had to. Linnarch is a land of myth. Most people do not know that it still exists and I want it to stay that way. I did not want word to spread that the kingdom is actually real. The downfall of Linnarch was because of a man from another kingdom and I would hate to think what would happen to my people if everybody else found out the truth." The King told Sarah.

"Why do you want me here then?"

The King took a deep breath. "I need to ask you something very important. I hope you will agree to it. Just promise that you will not say anything until the end."

Sarah nodded her consent.

"You have no doubt heard about the legend of Linnarch and the necklace. It was a glorious necklace that kept peace and harmony within our land. Yet an evil man, Rapat, stole the necklace and caused much chaos. It was because of this that our city decided to hide from the rest of the world. We did not have any contact with foreigners for fear of even worse damage being done. That is, until now."

The King swallowed some more water.

"The necklace has never been found. We do not have any idea where it could be. However, we do know one thing. The great prophet, Bennos, had a vision. In his vision, he saw a teenage girl with black hair and blue eyes. In her hands she was holding the necklace high above her head. She was standing in a great hall and all around her, people were cheering and celebrating.

"It has widely been accepted, that it was she who would bring the necklace back to Linnarch and restore our glorious kingdom to what it once was. The same prophet also wrote this famous poem:

She is from another land,

Yet she will bring great joy to ours.

She is young of age,

Yet she will find what nobody else has not.

She is of royal blood,

Yet she befriends those who are not.

She is lovely,

Yet she is marked.

She is of the spring,

And she was born of the black moon,

She will suffer under evil

Yet evil she will conquer."

Sarah sat down into the nearest chair, her eyes wide open. She was from another land, and if the prophecy was right, she would bring great joy to Linnarch if she found the necklace. She was young, yet she would find something, the necklace, that others have not been able to find. Sarah was of noble blood but many of her friends were not. Her own best friend, Isi, was a commoner. Sarah preferred the warmth and honesty from commoners to the deceit and stuffiness of the nobility. It was a well-known fact in her kingdom, but people had gradually become used to the idea when they saw that Sarah was not going to change her ways.

"She was lovely," Was the next line. To everybody else present, it was obvious that Sarah was a vision of loveliness. Her blue dress brought out her eyes and her face often made people stare. Sarah was also one of those annoying people that were not only pretty but were also extremely lovely on the inside. Sarah was also one of those annoying people who knew nothing of this.

"She is marked". Sarah tried to think of what this could mean. She did have a beauty spot just below her ear. It was a peculiar moon shaped mark. Could this be what they meant?

Sarah was born in spring. She was also born on a day of superstition, the black moon. She had heard it been referred to by foreigners as Halloween. It was considered to be an extremely unlucky day, hence the title it had been given.

Sarah was snapped out of her reverie by the sudden shaking of her shoulder.

"Sarah, are you alright?" It was Fin.

"Yes. I am just rather startled. But there must be many other girls with the same signs, why pick me?"

"Ah, yes. I was coming to that. I got my personal sorcerer to look in his looking glass to see if the chosen one had been born yet. Everyday, the answer was still the same - no one was worthy enough. That is, until the day you were born.

"I knew from the moment I saw you in that mirror that you were the one. I kept a close watch over you. I waited until you were older enough. I had not wanted to kidnap you until you were at least eighteen but something urgent happened."

Sarah waited for the King to expand but he did not.

"Um, what happened, your majesty?" she choked out the words.

"An old enemy has planned to attack our city. We need to find this necklace soon otherwise our kingdom is doomed forever."

Sarah gulped. She sincerely wanted this to be all a great big joke, yet the gaunt pale face of the King stopped her from thinking that this was so.

"It is now that I have to ask this enormous favour. Will you be willing, under our teaching and guidance, to help find this necklace?"

"Of course! Who would not? But could I please at least tell my parents? Surely they would understand?"

The King thought for a moment.

"Fine. You may tell them, but you must make them promise you that they will not tell anybody about your mission and above all, Linnarch. They will not be able to see you until you have completed your quest."

Sarah agreed quickly, "Yes, yes."

"You may now go to your bed chamber and get some rest. No doubt you are tired. We will send dinner up to your room for tonight."

And so Sarah spent the rest of the evening eating and sleeping.

Sarah was sitting down in front of the mirror while Lydia dressed her hair.

"You have such glorious hair, you should do something more interesting with it." Lydia suggested.

Sarah shrugged. Her appearance was not one of her greatest concerns. Sarah remembered last night and the last thing that the King had said to her, "Most importantly, do not tell anybody about your mission."

Sarah was having difficulty doing such a thing. At least she could tell her parents. She had written a letter to them and had sent it off via a messenger hawk.

"Maybe I could braid your hair." Lydia said, excited.

"Um, no thanks. I think I will just tie it back."

"Well at least let it loose. Wear it any other way than how you normally do. You just chuck it back in that elastic in such a messy manner that nobody would think that you were a princess." Lydia scolded.

"Whatever happened to 'your highness'?" Sarah muttered.

"Pardon?"

"Nothing. I was just talking to myself."

By the time Sarah managed to escape from the desperate hands of Lydia, everybody had already had breakfast. Sarah quickly managed to quickly gulp down some orange juice and took a few bites of toast.

"So sleeping beauty has finally awoken." Fin came in, as adorable as ever in black pants and a white shirt. Some of the buttons were undone, revealing the hard, dark and muscly skin beneath it. Sarah forced her gaze to return to his face.

"Yes, sir." she saluted him. Two could play at this game.

"I was wondering," Fin began.

"Yes?" Sarah asked.

"I was wondering if you would like to be shown the famous sites of Linnarch."

Sarah soon perked up and agreed to Fin's suggestion. They could at least get to know each other better and she wanted to see the kingdom that so many legends had been written about.

They both set off soon afterwards.

Sarah and Fin were running through the markets. An old fruit grocer was chasing after them. They had accidentally-on-purpose knocked over a stand of fruit. The pair had decided that he had deserved it, that particular fruit grocer had become infamous because of his tricky, sly dealings in business.

Sarah and Fin ducked into an alleyway and laughed.

"How funny was that?" Sarah was doubled over with laughter.

"Did you see his face? I thought he was going to kill us!" Fin burst out.

Sarah leant her head on his shoulder, trying to stifle her giggles. It was then that she noticed that Fin's laughter had died down. She looked up into his eyes. She had never noticed until now that his eyes were not the one green, but all different shades. Sarah stared into them intently. There was sorrow in his eyes. Sarah wondered how such sorrow came about. His eyes were deep and she felt like she could drown in them. (A/N: Original, eh?) They seemed to pull her in. The previous Fin was gone from his eyes and a new, harder one – a mask, replaced it. Fin was hiding something, something that was too painful for him to speak to her about. Sarah was frightened of this new Fin. It was so different from the one she knew. His expression was stern and menacing.

"Um, Fin. Do you think it is safe to go back out there?" Fin had shaken her.

"Yes, lets go." Fin walked out, leaving Sarah to walk after him. Fin had changed. Sarah wanted to find out why…

Fin showed her other famous destinations.

"There is the lake of Jorge. A beautiful sea-maiden was supposed to have once lived there. She had been turned into a mermaid by an evil witch, and so her and her lover (a human) were doomed to be always apart."

"That is so sad. I would not be able to bear it if I could not be with the man I loved."

"Then again, you probably change your mind about who you love every week." Fin sneered.

Sarah frowned. She was hurt but she would not let him know that. She put on a brave face and smiled. "I see you woke up on the right side of the bed today."

"Being grumpy again, are you?" it was a new voice from behind that spoke.

Sarah and Fin turned around. There was a stocky handsome man standing in front of them. He seemed to be a few years older than Sarah and Fin. He had dark eyes as well as a dark face, which was unusual considering that his hair was red. He bowed down before them.

"I take it that you are Princess Sarah. I am Tom Lastrange."

"Yes, I am Sarah."

"I have heard much about you."

"So much for my visit to Linnarch being a secret."

"Word spreads around quickly here."

Fin cleared his throat.

"I am a friend of the prince." Tom informed her.

"The prince? I never knew that the King had a son."

"What are you talking about? You are standing right next to him."

"The King?" Sarah asked, confused.

"The Prince."

Sarah looked at Fin.

And fainted.

A/N: Okay gang! You guys all know what to do! Review! I am so mean. I can't believe I wrote another cliffie. At least it keeps you guys interested. And I promise I will update soon! Just keep on reviewing. Hint Hint

Thanks for all the reviews that I have gotten – you are all incredible.