PhantasyDreamer: Hey finally back with another chapter. Thanks to everyone for all the reviews. I appreciate it. Well, this chapter is pretty long, a whole 10 pages. I got a little carried away. Please tell me what you think and I hope you like it.
The Forgotten Princess
Chapter 9: The truth about Princess Serena
Last time: On The Forgotten Princess
He sighed as he put it back into the box getting ready to head back in his room. He left the bigger necklace on the table still gazing at it. "Dad what are you doing and what's with the necklace?" Sammy asked scaring him as he gasped. "I-I-…" he started looking at his son with fear.
The story continues...
"Sammy," he smiled looking at his 12 year old son who stared at him curiously, "It's a gift for your mother,"
"Cool, Dad," he grinned broadly coming closer, "Can I see it?"
"NO!" Ken yelled putting the necklace back into the box, "Sammy please go to bed,"
"Okay," he sighed sadly heading back to his room.
SELENA'S ROOM
Selena and the girls went to bed early after talking for some while. Selena still did not remember that she was supposed to be at the palace by now, so she went to sleep on her regular bed as Raye and Lita slumbered on the floor with pillows and sheets. Selena rolled in her bed as she had a horrible nightmare.
"Serena, please hold on," a young boy screamed out.
"I can't!" she cried tears falling down her swollen cheek, "I'm sorry, Darien I just can't,"
"Please Serena!" he couldn't help but cry as he saw that his effort were all in vain.
"Darien!" she screamed, as that was all that could be heard as she fell.
"Serena, No!"
She plunged into the icy cold water below. Her body traveled deeper and deeper under the currents of the waves. Serena pulled herself up to the surface so she could breathe. But to her great surprise she was heading straight towards a waterfall. Serena struggled to swim back but the currents pulled her towards the waterfall.
"Help!" she screamed as she looked up to see Darien enclosed in an icebox.
'No, not Darien too,' she thought sadly as her body got pulled under water.
She engulfed some of it as she pulled herself back up. She quickly spit it out so that she could take in air. She was soon at the tip of the waterfall when she saw a large twig hanging out. Serena desperately grabbed for it as her body was thrown over the waterfall. She held onto the twig tightly trying to pull herself up but failed as it ripped away making her fall.
'Oh, no!' she thought as her mid-back blond hair flew up in her face and her body drifted down to the water below.
A few feet below her right hand gripped a piece of gravel. She clutched the gravel tightly as she looked down to see the icy cold water only a few feet below her. She tried to move upwards gripping the gravel tightly with one hand. She was making progress as she moved to get her other hand up but as she got up a large piece of gravel stone fell from above and hit her hard on the back of her head. The impact knocked her out causing her body to plunge into the water.
Her body sank deeply as she opened her eyes slowly to feel her body being pulled from beneath the small riverbed. Slowly her body floated to the surface as she turned a little to see a big brown dog in front of her. He ran to the snowy shore and sat on the ground as he wagged his tail at her panting loudly. She blinked and in an instant the dog disappeared.
She struggled to get up on her feet successfully. Slowly she managed to stand on her feet that were shaking violently but when she tried to walk she fell back in the shallow river.
'Will no one help me?' she thought as her body continued to float on the shallow water.
'Da…Darien I'm sorry, I won't be able to see you again,' she thought sadly as a tear fell from her eyes unto the water and she fell unconscious, 'Darien.'
"Darien, DARIEN!" Selena screamed as she rolled off of her bed.
The girls woke up frightened by Selena's outburst. She got up from the floor in her pink pajamas.
"Selena, are you okay?" Lita asked as she stood in front of her with a sicken look on her face, "Selena say something!" Lita yelled shaking her.
"SELENA!" Raye yelled getting up.
Selena passed by Lita without even seeing or uttering a word to her. Her eyes were dim and her skin was turning pale again. She looked like she had seen a ghost. She headed to her bedroom door which was open. Turning around she stood still with tears running down her face while staggering a little to help keep her balance. Breathing heavily she pushed herself off of the door frame which she leaned on for a while. She looked at Lita and Raye who were shocked by what they were seeing.
"Darien!" she replied as she fell to the floor with a loud thump.
"Selena!" Raye and Lita screamed rushing to her.
Her face and skin were pale as her short hair stretched out on the floor.
"Ahhhhh!" Raye screamed as she realized that Selena wasn't moving.
Immediately Ken ran to Selena's room to see his daughter's body lingering on the floor.
"Selena!" he yelled picking up his child, "What happened?"
He looked questionably at the two young girls who had a worried look on their faces. They shrugged not knowing what to say.
2 DAYS LATER
"Is she alright?" Selena heard a whisper.
She opened her eyes to see her mother smiling over her and Sammy standing next to her. Her mother had a white cloth soaked in heated water which was placed on her forehead.
"Selena, dear I'm so happy to see you awake," Ilene replied touching her face.
"Mom, what happened?" she asked confused as her mother smiled back, "And why aren't I at the palace?"
"Selena you've been sick," she started getting up, "you've been slipping in and out of consciousness for the past 2 days. The doctor says that you might have hit your head hard or something,"
"WHAT!" she screamed sitting up and taking the cloth off of her head.
"I'll get your friends," her mother whispered leaving the room.
'Hit my head?' she thought looking at her brother.
"Here, take this," Sammy smiled giving Selena a rose.
She looked at him skeptically wondering where he had gotten the rose from. She smiled back as she took it from him, intoxicating the sweet aroma from it. Could she have gotten hit hard and not know of it?
"Where did you-?" she started.
"Mom, sent Dad and me to the palace to tell the prince that you were sick," he replied sitting on the bed beside her, "he was shocked and worried, Selena. I think he may like you. Anyway, I saw the beautiful garden the prince had. So I sneaked away from Dad and stole one rose from it just for you. Isn't it beautiful?"
He smiled happily at her. She couldn't help but smiled back but instantly her smile turn into a frown.
"Sammy, are you crazy?" she asked him looking him straight in the eye, "It's sweet but you're not suppose to steal from royalty, you could get killed!"
"I'm sorry; I won't do it again," he replied feeling deeply sorry.
"Promise?"
"Promise," he replied getting up to leave as Raye and Lita walked into the room.
She placed the rose in a small vase on the table next to her bed. They smiled as they looked at Selena whose face was still slightly pale. Her hair had grown a little and it now reached the tip of her shoulders. Her blue eyes were slowly turning to their regular bright blue again. She even looked a little thinner than usual since she had lost a little weight.
"Selena, how are you feeling?" Lita asked looking at her friend.
"I'm fine, but I keep having nightmares and I think they are affecting me in a bad way," she replied solemnly touching her forehead, "I guess that's what caused me to be sick."
"You'll be fine," Raye replied touching her shoulder, "we didn't go back to the palace since you've been sick and we heard that the queen is furious and so is the prince,"
"Oh, no!" Selena exclaimed, "What will we do?"
"Sammy told us that Prince Darien will be stopping by for us later today," Lita smiled getting up, "Get some more rest, Selena everything will be alright."
"Thanks you guys," Selena smiled putting her head back on her pillow.
'Why can't I stop getting these nightmares?' she thought plopping her head back on her pillow, 'I wish I knew how to stop,'
AT THE PALACE
Darien rushed out of the palace as he waved to his mother who was heading to town in her carriage. He hurried as he rushed into his carriage while his father was still in the palace as he left. He sighed as he was heading to Selena's house.
'I have to get Selena back to the palace before my mother returns home,' he sighed thinking how his mother would react if Selena was not home when she return.
A few minutes passed by and he finally made it to Selena's house. He issued for his guards to stop in front of the house. He slid off of the dark black horse as he walked with striding steps towards Selena's household. Knocking on the door he sighed deeply.
"Hello?" Ilene asked coming to the door, when she realized who it was she quickly knelt to the ground, "your highness, Selena is inside,"
She got up and led him into the house. Darien smirked at how small the house was. He imagined himself growing up in a house like that, like a normal kid. But he knew that could only be a dream. If he was normal then he could live his own life and not be force into an arranged marriage. He sighed as he realized that as a prince he never really got what he wanted.
"Your highness, we are so sorry, that we did not return to the palace on time but Selena was sick and we couldn't…" Raye replied bowing before him.
"It is okay, where is she now?" he asked interrupting her and scanning the house.
"In her room," Sammy replied leading the way.
He rushed up to her room without waiting for another word. He opened the door immediately without even knocking. Selena was still lying on her bed with her eyes open staring at the ceiling. She was still wondering some more about this Princess Serena.
"Selena!" he yelled surprising her.
"Your highness!" she yelled falling off of her bed.
Getting up she walked towards him and tripped over her blanket.
"Oof!" she muffled getting up.
Darien stood still looking at Selena who covered her pink pajamas with her blanket. She slowly put it down on her bed smiling and sat down on it. He tried to hold his laugh in when he saw the look on her face when he burst into the room.
"I'm feeling a lot better your highness," she smiled making him smirk.
"That's good," he started clearing his throat, "I'll give you ten minutes to get ready so that we can return to the palace."
He quickly left the room not getting a response from Selena, she sighed to herself.
'Again, I say why me?' she thought smiling slightly.
Raye and Lita soon entered the room to get their stuff ready. The girls wore the same outfits they wore when they first arrived, a jeans pant and a regular t-shirt. Ilene had washed their clothes for them during the time Selena was sick.
Several minutes had passed by and the girls and Selena finally came out of the room. They all walked outside while Prince Darien walked hastily up to the carriage tapping his foot rapidly. He was a little furious because he didn't want his mother to arrive before him. Selena waved to her parents as she exited her house.
"Take care!" Lita replied waving as she walked away.
"We hope to see you again," Raye smiled holding her bag tightly.
"Bye, Mom, Dad and annoying Sammy," Selena smirk making Sammy laugh.
She hugged them and walked away slowly but before she went too far her father said something that puzzled her.
"Selena, take care of yourself," he smiled as she looked at him, "I'm sure you'll be much better at the palace,"
"Thanks," she looked at him wondering what he meant.
She turned around and smiled, Lita and Raye were already on their horses waiting and Lita hooked Selena's horse to the front of the carriage. Selena looked back at her house. For some odd reason she felt that there were questions to her dreams and nightmares and many of the answers were hidden somewhere deep in her house.
A light breeze blew spraying green leaves around her. She stood still as if in a trance, blinking she waved once more to her parents and brother and started to walk away very slow. Darien on the other hand was getting really impatient of waiting on her so he quickly walked up to Selena who looked up at him with surprise.
"I hope this doesn't undermine my position as your master but you're taking too long," he replied in a calm yet stern way, "forgive me,"
Selena looked at the prince weirdly. 'Forgive me?' she thought. Prince Darien immediately proceeded to lift her over his shoulders without warning as he walked rapidly to his carriage. The other girls looked at the prince as if he was a crazy man. Selena started to scream ushering the prince to put her down but he ignored her anyway.
"Your highness please put me down!" she yelled once more as he placed her in front of the carriage.
He smiled pointing at the carriage in an attempt to get her into it. She sighed as she walked in with him following behind. The girls smiled at the two of them.
"They look like an item," Raye smiled.
"Yeah, it looks like the prince might have a thing for Selena," Lita smirked, "Like that could happen huh?"
Raye smiled shrugging, "You never know,"
They started to ride away as Selena poked her head through the window of the carriage waving once again to her parents and brother. They turned to head back into the house. Selena smiled as she sat silently in the carriage on the other side of where Darien was sitting. He was sitting there looking at her intently. She looked at him wondering what he was thinking.
She frowned as she turned her head back out the window to contemplate on the dreams she was having.
'Why are my dreams affecting me so?' she thought biting her lip.
"Selena, are you sure you're alright?" he asked still staring at her.
"I'm fine," she smiled a little looking at him strangely.
'Why does he care? I mean I'm only a servant,' she thought grimly, 'Is he playing with my head?'
"That's good," he replied crossing his hands behind his head, "you know Trista and I have gotten a lot closer since you've left the palace, I mean she's really nice,"
Selena looked at the prince. He confused her so much with his actions. First, he assume she was someone else, then he hated her, then he wanted to be her friend and then he treated her as if she was royalty like him and then other times he would treat her like a servant. She didn't know what to think. The prince was acting so strange especially now that she wasn't feeling well.
"That's nice," she whispered looking out the window once again.
"I'm pretty excited that Trista and I are getting married now," he smiled vibrantly as Selena looked at him.
"Great," she replied melancholy.
"My father made me arrange a small picnic with her today," he smirked mysteriously, "He says I have to be romantic,"
Selena giggled a little at his comment.
'Romantic?' she smirked at him and then thought deeply about her dreams again.
She remained silent looking at him and he looked back at her with a look of concern. Selena breathe in deeply, it was either now or never to ask the prince about Princess Serena again. She sighed hoping he would not insult her.
"Your highness can you tell me anything else about Princess Serena?" she asked surprising him.
He looked at her with a mixture of shock and confusion. His expression quickly changed to a frown.
'What does she want to know about my best friend?'he asked himself gazing up at her.
"Listen Selena," he started clearing his throat, "whatever I told you about Princess Serena is forgotten so please forget about it; she is of no concern to you. Is that understood?" he replied making Selena very nervous.
"Yes, your highness," she whispered silently bowing her head.
As quickly as she sighed the carriage came to an abrupt stop. They both exited the carriage while Lita and Raye got off of their horses.
"Lita, Raye get back to your duties and Selena follow me," he ordered walking up the palace entrance stairs.
The girls obeyed and headed quickly to their stations but not before saying goodbye to Selena.
Once inside Selena headed to her room to change and get ready for the picnic. She took a quick bath in her own bathroom and put on her maid clothes. She wore a black and white shirt and skirt with a big white apron with frills on the ends. The apron came over her neck and the lace or strap was tied around her lower back. She quickly slipped out of her room and headed to her duties, to prepare for the picnic.
IN THE LIVING ROOM
Darien waited patiently in the living room for Princess Trista to arrive. He wore a black pants and light brown short sleeve shirt. Selena stood by him as he sat in a chair. Few minutes passed by and his father entered the room.
"So, Darien are you ready to be romantic?" he asked making Darien blush.
"Um…I guess," he replied running his hand nervously through his hair.
"You'll do fine son," he stated touching his shoulders as he looked at him, "just be yourself."
Selena smiled a little. For some reason she had grown to like the king as a father figure. He was so kind and yet serious. Raye was right the king was nice and she had to admit that it was true. She was still shocked that the first day he met her he was so nice to her even though she was a servant.
Darien smiled as he saw Princess Trista made her way into the room. She wore a dark blue flowered summer dress that extended to her knees and had frizzles. The dress was short sleeve and it had a slit between it.
The couple walked out through the door in the back of the palace that led to the rose garden. Silently the guards shut the doors behind them. Selena followed quietly behind trying her best not to get jealous. She quickly opened the white umbrella that was given to her by another maid and went to shield Princess Trista from the hot sun.
They all walked slowly to the area on a small slope that overlooked the town. It was very beautiful and Selena sighed at the sight of it. She stood still holding the umbrella over Princess Trista's head. Quietly closing it she moved to place a large checkered blanket on the grassy ground. Darien and Trista sat on it as Selena took out the food that was prepared for them out of the large basket she was holding earlier.
'This is so boring,' she thought placing the food on the blanket, 'I can't believe I have to stay here and listen to these two lovebirds all day'
Rolling her eyes she placed another blanket for her to sit on a few feet away from them. Darien looked at her and smiled, she smiled a little and then he turned his attention back to Trista.
"So, Trista what are your plans for life when you become queen?" he asked as he looked at Selena was making a gagging sound.
She opened her mouth and pointed her finger towards it trying to signal to the prince that he was boring her. He chuckle a little making Trista stare at him.
'Okay, I'll change the subject,' he thought smiling.
"You know Darien, I was really angry when my mother told me I was going to have an arrange marriage," she smiled staring at his midnight blue eyes, "but I'm glad now that your not as bad as I thought you would be,"
"Thanks," he sighed, "I was mad too. I guess I thought I would erase the memories of Serena,"
Immediately Selena's eyes shoot wide open. She was dozing off since she thought that the conversation was getting rather boring. But the minute Prince Darien mentioned Serena's name she quickly woke up. Darien saw this and wondered what was going on with her.
"Uh, Selena please get Trista and I some more refreshments," he replied smiling at her.
"Yes, your highness," she replied getting up and running towards the palace.
Darien sighed; he didn't want to talk about Serena in front of Selena anymore. He quickly realized that she would act strange whenever he mentioned her name and he thought it would be better not to do so when she was around.
"I'm really glad that my mother arranged for me to be wedded to you," she smiled brightly making Darien smirk, "you're really nice,"
She looked up at his face and saw that he was staring at her. She quickly turned away blushing.
"Your highness, I believe you're staring," she blushed moving a few strands of hair out of her face.
"With such beauty as yours I could do nothing but stare," he smirked looking at her reddish brown eyes.
'What am I doing?' she asked herself getting trapped in his eyes, 'I mean he's really nice but what about William?'
The two were sitting closer to each other. Darien leaned in closer towards her face slowly closing the gap between them. He couldn't help himself, she was indeed beautiful and to him she would make a very trustworthy queen. Trista smiled slowly closing her eyes. They were just inches apart when….
CRASH
Darien looked up to see Selena kneeling with the tray that she once held which contained the refreshments she was suppose to bring for them. They were all broken. Darien stared at Selena who had a look of shock and betrayal in her eyes. She stumbled as if on the verge of crying.
"Your-H-Highness, I'm..." she started getting up and quickly running off in the direction of the palace.
"Selena! Selena wait!" he yelled getting up to go after her.
Trista just stared at the two.
'What is going on?' she thought getting up, 'I guess I should follow,'
Selena sped off passing the garden and heading to the front of the palace. Darien ran after her as well keeping her in his sight. He stopped for a minute to look for Trista and saw her walking towards him slowly. He decided to go after Selena but when he looked up she was gone.
'What is going on here?' he thought as he continued to run after Selena, 'Why I'm I running after Selena and why do I feel like I betrayed her somehow?'
Selena sighed running as fast as she could. She wondered why she felt like her heart had been shredded in two. He was the prince and she was the servant, she shouldn't care after all Trista was his fiancée.
'Why do I care if he likes her?' she thought covering her eyes with her hands that let loose tears freely, 'I just feel like Darien and I are suppose to be together,'
She kept running and tripped over a large shrub that lay on the grassy ground in front of the palace. She fell hard on the concrete where the carriages would ride frequently across to enter the palace grounds. She knelt down wiping away the long trails of tears that had stained her face.
'I wish I never came to this palace,' she thought grimly, 'it has only caused me grief,'
She stood in her kneeling position as she heard a rumbling sound.
'Rumble?' she thought looking up to see a carriage coming full speed in her direction, 'Oh, no!"
So what do you think? Sorry for the long chapter. I just had to put in all of this information. Well you know what to do, please review! I love reviews. Really I do!
Chao!
PhantasyDreamer