Wow guys, sorry it took me so long to get another chapter up! Sheesh, life has been so busy... Thanks for being patient and for reading ;) Oh, and Happy Holidays!

I opened my eyes again, seconds later, with a start of shock, flinging myself to my feet hurriedly. Where was I? I definitely wasn't in my room anymore. I was in what appeared to be a girl's bedroom, a huge one, with expensive, medieval-looking furnishings hovering all about….and where was Gilbert? I looked around, but he was nowhere to be seen. Anxiously, I paced to the window, to look out and see if there was any possible chance I could ever figure out where this place was and why I was here. What I saw had me gaping in disbelief.

There was a… a HUGE courtyard filled with men dressed as soldiers, the highest ranking one screaming out orders in a loud, booming voice that had me cringing, frightened. In the far distance, I could see a wall, surrounding everything, reminding me of a cage, a prison. I shuttered lightly and backed away, already aware that it had in no way changed my knowledge of my position. Except two things. One, I was inside a castle and two, this was a very vast kingdom. And since, where I lived anyway, no one HAD kingdoms anymore, it felt as if I had been sucked into the past.

Anxiously, I walked around the room, checking out everything. All the items clinging to the walls supported my theory that I had somehow been teleported back to medieval times. As I scanned them, I walked by a mirror, precariously hung from the wall and decorated around the rim with beautiful gold patterns, inlaid with precious stones. I reached out to stroke the trim and froze, realizing with a rising panic that this hand was not my own. My heart racing in my chest, I looked into the mirror for the first time and had to work to keep myself from crying out in surprise.

Staring back at me was the beautiful face of a girl, not older than me, with thick, wheat blonde hair that fell around her shoulders in curling locks, hanging loosely and unburdened by any bows or ties. Her eyes were wide and blue as the sky, rimmed with perfect, dark lashes and, surprisingly, glasses. Her lips, though they were a pretty pink and perfectly shaped, were bent into a shocked frown, like she wasn't pleased to be looking at what she was. She wore a thin, pink dress, one that fell off her shoulders gracefully and accented her curvy figure.

Just as I was about to shriek…maybe faint… in disbelief, a knock sounded at the door, and a motherly voice reached in to the room, saying, "Princess Maddie, please open the door, sweetheart. A letter from Prince Francis has just arrived and he's asked for your hand! We must prepare you immediately for his arrival from the faraway kingdom of Francois!"

I bit my lip in distress and watched the princess across from me do the same. "You may come in," I finally told her, trying to sound formal.

The door squeaked open and a small, round woman entered hesitantly, carrying underneath her arm something that looked way too poofy and lacy to be anything I would ever be interested in wearing. "My Lady, would you come with me so that you may bathe?" she asked, curtsying.

I flushed noticeably. Even if I was mysteriously a GIRL now… I didn't think I could handle… well it'd be extremely…. I didn't really want to… the fact that I would have to take a bath… it was definitely something I could do without. Besides, my hair looked clean enough. I turned toward the mysterious woman, who looked concerned for my mental health and was gesturing out the door, maybe even a little impatiently.

"Um… no, thank you. I'm clean enough, I believe." My thin, shockingly high voice wavered slightly as I brushed off her suggestion.

Her brow furrowed and she protested, "But Princess, surely you don't want to meet a suitor without being as clean as possible? It could make the kingdom of Canada look, well…"

I shook my head and she trailed off, her brown eyes pleading with me to make a different decision. "If this man truly loves me, then it won't matter how I'm dressed or even if I smell a bit."

"While it would be nice if love were involved, dear, this is not about that. My Lady, though you haven't seen him since you were both very young, surely you remember at least the name of your betrothed?"

I started in shock, suddenly frighteningly reminded of the friend of Alfred's, named… Francis… who had been looking at me the way he had. Could this be…? There was no way. I nodded to her, not even bothering to actually act like I DID remember, but just to assure her that I was still listening. She said nothing else, just placed the dress down on my bed and headed for the door, glancing back at where I stood, completely stunned, in the middle of the room.

"Please do get dressed. He'll be here any minute!"

Then she left me to get dressed… alone. Curiously, I made my way over to the mountain of shiny fabric and began digging for any kind of hole that would indicate a limb was supposed to be out through it. After about a frustrating minute full of annoyed muttering, I found what I desperately hoped was the head hole and unzipped the back, yanking the dress on and tripping over the excess that spilled around my feet. When both my arms had gone through some kind of openings and it seemed to be on right, I reached around to pull up the zipper. I found it was lying just out of reach of my fingers, and I angrily pushed my arms back as far as they would go, gasping in pain as one finger finally brushed against the metal. Taking the opportunity, I hurriedly jerked up on it and felt relief flow through my body when I felt it go up easily. With a huge gulp of air, I sat down on the bed, suddenly exhausted.

How did girls DO these things?

When I had caught my breath again, I carefully made my way over to the mirror and stared in awe at what I saw. I had managed to somehow get it on the right way and now, I was staring at a waterfall of thick, shining dark blue satin that fell gracefully from my body as if it were actually water, constantly flowing in motion. It had frills and lace, and was, yeah, a little poofy, but it hugged everything it needed to to emphasize the things it was made for. I was stunned at how large and dark it made my eyes seem, how much like porcelain my skin seemed to be. As I was marveling, the woman came in again, looking pleased that I had at least dressed nice and brushed my hair quickly, tying in a bow as I was dragged down a long, spiraling staircase.

"He's here!" she whispered. "And you look beautiful! Now go make your father proud, sweetie!"

And with that I was forced to walk the rest of the way down the stairs in high heels that had been squished on my feet while trying to avoid stepping on any edges of my dress that might be hanging out dangerously. I clung to the railing unceremoniously, terror outweighing any feeling that I could possibly be forced to develop with this random guy. As I made the way to the bottom, instead of helping me down the rest of the way, he swept a large bow, one hand going underneath him as he said, ina heavy French accent, "My Princess."

I clunked my way to the floor, glad when my feet were finally on solid ground. Breathing a sigh of relief, I shuffled over to where the man was still bowing, trying not cross my arms and demand why he hadn't at least helped me a little. After staring a little while, it occurred to me that I should probably curtsy to him or something like that. I did and he stood up straight, his smile dashing and his long blond hair tied behind him in a ponytail. There was a grin in his blue eyes too when he looked me up slowly, and back down. Then, jerkily, he got down on one knee and took my hand in his, kissed it, and looked up into my eyes. Or at least I HOPED it was my eyes he was looking at.

"Beautiful Maddie, sweet angel, I am Prince Francis of the kingdom Francois, and I come here to ask your delicate hand in marriage. Please," he said, pulling out of his pocket a ring that shone as brightly in the light as the moon, "Will you be my wife?"

I stared at him hard. I didn't even know this guy. Well, I HAD met him, but that had seemingly been in… a future life… so this guy I didn't know in the slightest, yet here he was asking to marry me. It didn't take a genius to figure out this was totally wrong. I took a step away from him, shaking my head slowly back and forth, putting my hands up. "I…" I started.

But I never got to finish, because right then a frantic-looking guard made his way through the massive front doors of the castle shouting in an accented voice, "We're under attack! Fetch the King and Queen, tell them they have come! The Prussians!" And then, just as suddenly as he had come, he was gone.

At first I had believed he was talking to me, telling me to go fetch my parents, but just then a few more guards detached themselves from places where they had been hiding and took off up the staircase. I must have looked terrified, because Francis came and took my arm, now helping me back up from where I had come from, practically pushing me up the steps. We reached the top and he took my hand, his face set in determination.

"You must hide in your room, Princess, before the Prussians get too close. I will protect you with my life!"

Then, just like all the others, he slipped away, running down the steps agilely.

Doing as I was told, I went back to my bedroom, terror striking me and making my blood cold, though this wasn't really happening, It was just the dream that Gilbert was showing me. I kept repeating that to myself over and over as I sat on the bed of the Princess, trying not to dwell on what was happening outside. With every shriek of pain and death, my heart pounded throbbed in dangerous curiosity. I wanted to know… Before I could change my mind, I shot over to the window and looked down onto a bloodbath that could have easily mirrored Hell itself. There were bodies everywhere, men on horses trampling all around and on their fallen warriors as they headed determinedly towards another group of men, ones riding horses coated in dark-colored armor. They were flying the flag of their kingdom high, for everyone to see.

And there, in the front, holding high a sword that shimmered in the fire, the only one wrapped tightly in white armor, was a gray haired boy with burning red eyes that I could see from where I was, brought out by the blood and flame. His smile was broad and vicious, almost a wolf-like, feral snarl as he led his kingdom into battle. Into war. Gilbert.