THE HIDDEN PRINCESS

CHAPTER 3

7 YEARS LATER...

CLANG!

The metallic ring of swords clashing can be heard echoing throughout the courtyard as two people, a man and a woman, stand face to face in a sparring session. Both their swords are locked together and they both smirk at one another, daring the other to make a move.

The man is the first to move, pushing the woman back before jumping back himself. They then circle around one another, the man keeps a smirk on his face as he lightly swings his sword around and gets into a fighting stance while keeping his eyes locked on the woman before him. The woman mirrors his movements, but instead of swinging her sword, she raises it up and rests the flat part of her weapon against the top of her arm as she spreads her feet apart slightly and waits. Both of them don't move as their eyes remain locked on one another, calculating each other movements before they even begin.

And then, within the blink of an eye, they both dash towards one another. The faint sound of metal scraping against metal can be heard, and soon they are both where the other was standing. The woman has her sword held out straight at arms length while in a slight crouch position, and the mans sword is held out at his side as he stands straight. As the woman stands and turns, piercing her sword down into the earth, the man drops his sword and turns while gripping his side. He looks at the woman with a smile full of pride and admiration.

"You bested me, Lilly." Prince Lucian states in a calm and loving voice.

Lilly smiles and flips her long silver hair hanging over her shoulder behind her back.

"Well, I had a good teacher." She says as she walks up to him and places a hand on his shoulder.

Lucian returns the gesture and places his free hand on her shoulder with a gentle squeeze. Ever since his sister was old enough to hold a sword, she had begged and begged for him to bring her along to his sword training. And no matter how many times he turned her down for fear she could get seriously hurt, that didn't stop her and she continued to beg him. Finally he caved, and for the past 5 years he has helped her train in secret. Now, he was so proud how far she had come with her training. Not only could she best their strongest warriors with a sword, but also their most powerful mages with her magic. Ever since she informer the mages of the incident within her room, which caused more than a few things to catch fire, they agreed to assist her in controlling her powers. Better to help than to let it go unchecked and cause more harm than good.

So now here they stand, with Lilly healing the few bruised ribs her brother no doubt had from their sparring session Even though she knew his werewolf abilities would hve him healing in a short while, she still wanted to help him. Lucian and Lilly had both grown to be stunning young adults, with Lucian standing about 6'1, his light blonde hair hanging just below his temples, piercing blue eyes, a chiseled jawline that accentuated his perfectly sculpted face and slightly full lips. His body was muscular and firmly toned with sun kissed skin, making all the girls swoon at the sight of him. He practically screamed royalty.

Where as, Lilly stood about 5'7 with long flowing silver hair that went to her butt, she currently wore it with the top half pulled back in a ponytail while a few curled strands frame her soft heart shaped face. Accentuating her almond shaped violet eyes, full pouting pink lips, and slender nose. Her body was slender and athletic, but with curves in all the right places, and her skin was a flawless cream color. She wore a white tunic underneath a tight fitting brown corset which perked up her full breasts, brown leather bracers and knee high brown boots over a pair of black tights. Her brother on the other hand opted to wear a black tunic with tan tights and black leather boots. Sometimes, Lilly wondered why men's clothes were so much simpler than women's, but she always shrugged it off.

Once she finishes healing her brothers side, she takes a step back so her brother can stretch and move to see how it feels. When they're both satisfied that he's good to go, they pick up their weapons and place them back into the weapons rack.

"So, did you hear about the tournament father and mother will be holding soon? Supposedly they'll be inviting the other royal families to attend." Lucian asks, and this causes Lilly to look at him with a raised brow. This news has certainly peaked her interest.

"Oh? Why are they holding it?"

"According to father, it's not only a way for our alliances to remain strong, but he also wants to find suitable suitors for both, Maridia and I." Lucian says with a sigh. He's already 22 and still hasn't found his mate.

Most werewolves find their mates at the age of 16, but both him and his sister haven't found theirs yet. Lilly would be old enough to find hers within a few more weeks, and Lucian hoped that whoever it was, would treat his sister like the treasure that she is. But Maridia, even though she's 21 and still hasn't found her mate, it hasn't stopped her from fooling around with every man she comes into contact with. She is the object of every unmated males dreams, with a slender waist, curves any woman would kill to have, full perky breasts, sun kissed skin that seems to shine gold in the light, long brunette hair that falls to the middle of her back, full red lips, flawless skin with a mature oval face and green hazel eyes. She's the spitting image of the queen, where as Lucian looks like his father.

Lilly sighs as she walks beside her brother. "Seriously? I mean, you are the heir to the throne and future leader of our pack, but still. You'll find your mate in due time, there's no need to rush." She says with a pout.

In all honesty, she'd be overjoyed if her brother finally found his destined love. But if that happened, then he wouldn't have time for her anymore. And that would make her sad, especially since he's the only family that comes to see her. Her sister stopped coming to see her when she just started to mature, and her parents were constantly busy with alliance meetings, internal affairs, and trying to keep her sisters escapades under wraps so it wouldn't start a scandal.

Seeing his sisters downcast look, Lucian smiles softly and gently nudges her with his elbow.

"Hey, don't worry. I'd still make time for you, and bring along your future sister." As he said this, he wiggled his brows suggestively which earned him a snort and a small smile from his sister before she pushed him slightly.

He chuckled and wrapped an arm around his sisters shoulders as they headed back into the palace. Unknown to them however, is that this upcoming tournament would be the start of something new, and the end of everything they held dear.