Disclaimer: I don't own anything.
Author's Note: Sorry it has been so long since my last update. Things got hectic with the holidays and then I got bronchitis. Now that I'm better I'm hoping that I can get back to updating much more frequently than I have been.

It Begins

Juneston woke up to his name being called. Slowly he got up and dressed and stepped out of his tent. One of his men was standing before him staring at the ground.

"What is it?"

"Your lordship it's about the Princess."

He stepped forward, "What about her?"

"She…" The soldier glanced back to the area that she was being kept at, "She's gone."

"What do you mean she's gone? She was tied up. She's a dumb little girl, she couldn't have figured her way out of that."

"We did a search and we found some of the other men…they were beaten and knocked out."

"She couldn't do all that. She's a small little girl."

Juneston shoved the man aside and strode over to the area that he had left Sydney. She was gone. There was the rope. She was gone and someone had untied her. He thought back through everything that had happened the past few weeks and then the answer came into his head.

Elizabeth.

Her sister. She had been the one to first come after Sydney and try to take her. She had followed them after they had taken back Sydney. He kicked the tent closest to him causing in to fall. This was ridiculous, how was his plan supposed to work if the Princesses both made it back to their stupid Father?

His entire plan was going up in smoke right in front of his eyes. How could this happen? He needed the Princess in order to rule the Kingdom. If he were to kill King Westerly people would continually try to take the Kingdom back from him. However if he were to marry into it he would be set for life.

Now thanks to those pathetic Princesses he would not be able to bring Sydney back and show the King how wonderful and trustworthy he was.

They couldn't have gone far, he knew that. It would be hard to travel on foot and besides Sydney had ended up hurting her ankle, so she wouldn't be so fast. Finding them and taking her back shouldn't be so hard.

He didn't need Elizabeth, so perhaps even if he found her something could happen to her. It was very likely. He smiled getting rid of Elizabeth would be perfect. He would just ensure that she would never find her way home again. Perhaps somewhere like the Dying Woods. No one ever survived it on their own without a horse or weapon. He could just tell King Westerly that when he had finally found her, however it was too late to save her. It would be a a sad day, but a happy one for Juneston because he would finally get rid of the annoying sister,

Turning back to the camp he called out to his men, "Pack up. We're leaving. Be ready in five minutes."

He stormed away from the empty spot and shoved a couple of other men aside as he went back to his tent. He should have kept the Princess in his tent. Although if he had it might be hard to not do anything, so that perhaps wasn't the best idea. Shaking his head he refocused his thoughts. He realized that they couldn't have gotten far. It shouldn't take that long to catch up to them.

Besides they were bratty princesses, how much could they actually do?

King Westerly stood in front of a map of his Kingdom. He was waiting for General Ott to arrive with good news about his daughters. He had been so worried that he hadn't slept much or even eaten much. He just wanted them home safe with him. The King wasn't sure what exactly had caused the two to run away but it would definitely be something that he would want to talk to them about when they got back.

If they got back.

A pain entered his heart as he once more thought of never seeing his beloved daughters again. He loved them so much. He had already lost their mother, losing them…he just wasn't sure how he would be able to cope with it.

He heard footsteps coming in behind him and he turned around to see who was coming his way. General Ott had finally returned, though from the look on his face that wasn't necessarily a good thing.

"General, have you news?"

"I do indeed have news."

"Then please allow me in on it."

The General pointed to four places on the map, "I do not believe the Princesses are in any of those locations."

"Believe?"

"Forgive me your highness. We have searched for your daughters in those locations, however there was no trace found. Now, that does not mean they will not end up there or have not passed through there, which is why I have a couple of guards in each of those areas."

King Westerly shook his head, "I will never see my daughters again."

"Do not give up hope yet your Majesty. There is still much, much moreto search through. Just because we have not found them yet does not mean we will not find them."

"I just…I worry about them."

General Ott placed a hand on the King's shoulder, "I will not stop until your daughters are safely in this palace."

The older King smiled at his General, "Thank you."

"I must leave again. We have a few more areas to try before daylight is gone."

And with that General Ott was gone. King Westerly didn't know what he would do if he didn't have the General helping out. He knew that he could trust General Ott completely, and he knew that General Ott took his job quite seriously.

If only his daughters would come back to him. He missed them terribly. He wanted to have them back with him. If he could he would never let them out of his sight again.

Sky finished scouting the area. They had traveled almost the whole day with minimal stops. He hadn't been able to talk to Bridge much because Z and Syd stayed close to both Bridge and himself. He still wasn't sure what he was going to find out from Bridge, but he still didn't know where he fit into everything, except that it was obviously that he and Syd liked each other. He internally rolled his eyes, he didn't need to deal with a crush at this point in time.

He moved back to the campsite and just behind a tree he saw Bridge standing on his hands.

"What are you doing?"

The younger man flipped over and stood in front of Sky adjusting his shirt, "I was thinking."

"You can't think standing upright?"

"I can, it's just…for faster and much more efficient thinking, it's better to do it that way."

"I see."

"Why don't you try it?"

"I think I'll pass."

"Suit yourself."

Sky looked towards the area where Z and Syd would be, after he didn't hear anything he turned back to Bridge, "Where do you fit into it all? Are you their servant?"

"Me? No. I'm…I'm the son of a blacksmith. Although I suppose in some ways I could be considered that since we all work under the King. I mean I work under my Father, but still under the King, which is an interesting thing to think about on it's own. Although I suppose—"

"Bridge!"

He looked at Sky in surprise, "What?"

"I understand that you work with your Father, continue."

"Right. Syd and I met in the woods by accident; I then heard she had been taken, so I went after her."

"I see. So, who is coming after them?"

Another voice spoke up before Bridge could answer, "Bridge."

Both men looked to Z who was standing there with her arms folded, "Syd wishes to speak with you."

"Right. I'm going." And he quickly left leaving Z with Sky.

"What do you think you're doing?"

"I was trying to obtain information so I could understand what's going on."

The brunette stepped closer, "What's going on? I'll tell you what's going on, you're in our business, and I don't like that."

Sky took a step closer to her, "I was trying to find out what was going on to make sure that I could keep you and your sister safe."

He waited to see how that thought would register on her face, and in a few seconds he saw a frightened look pass over her face, "We have her back. We're fine."

"You forgot that we were fine and then out of nowhere she was taken. Who took her?" Z remained with her mouth closed staring at a point over Sky's shoulder. "Very well. I'll simply ask Bridge, I have a feeling he'll tell me everything."

He turned but was then stopped by her grabbing his arm, he glanced around and then at Z who finally spoke up, "It's one of the lords in the court. From what Syd has said and I've seen and heard, he wants to marry her and be in control of the Kingdom. She was kidnapped in the palace. I found her and then we escaped up to the Dying Woods."

"Where I found you."

"Yes. After I saved you—"

"After I saved you first."

Z glared at him, "We were trying to get away."

"From this lord?"

"Yes."

"Going back to your Father with two other witnesses will help your creditability."

"I'm not telling you because I need you."

"You and your sister need to get back to your Father, I will get you there."

In that moment something changed, he wasn't sure what it was, but there was something different. He couldn't put his finger on it but he stepped back from her and nodded towards the campsite, "I think we should go back."

She nodded and the two quietly moved back to the campsite.