Chapter 2:

Sam POV-

I trailed my fingers over the faux wood of my desk, tracing invisible swirling patterns over the imitation grain while our teacher rambled about politics and current events.

I know I probably should be interested in current events, especially considering that one day I will have to run a country and be a part of the current events and politics.

But Mr. Morris is one of the most boring teachers in the history of the forever. He's older than dirt, spoke directly from his pre-planned power points, and he speaks in the most drawling monotone it makes our entire class want to fall asleep.

Danny and Tucker already were and I was certainly headed in that direction.

Just as my eyes began to droop I heard "…King Richard Prevot the fourth…"

He pronounced my last name wrong, but it certainly got my attention. I hadn't heard mention of my family or my country in the news since we were invaded, so if they're being mentioned now it means something happened. Now whether that something was good or bad I didn't know, but at least now I was paying attention. I perked up and studied the portly, bearded, man in the front of the room.

"Now you children probably do not know much about Amour Ville, it's a really small island nation off of the coast of Spain. It was taken over many years ago by another island nation and the rule went to the ruler of another island country, Anglecia, and the king and queen of Amour Ville were captured. What many Americans also don't know is that the king and queen asked for help from the UN before they were invaded, but they were denied," he told us.

That wasn't true, actually. My parents were not the kind of people who went begging for help from stronger nations. The only reason, and I do mean the only reason my parents contacted the UN at all was so that they could put me in the Princess Protection Program.

"Their only daughter, and heir to the Amour Ville throne, was seven years old when the country was invaded eight years ago, which puts her at about your age. She went missing and many people think that the king and queen had her sent away. However, Jacque Le'qua, the ruler of Anglecia, has begun to think that their daughter will return to claim her throne, perhaps with an army and he has gotten desperate."

I swallowed, figuring that there would be no good news.

Mr. Morris pressed a button on his clicker and a video of my parents bound and gagged flashed on the screen. The video was of a reporter's voice speaking in Spanish but I understood it perfectly, even without the subtitles (after all, I speak twelve languages). Then Jacque spoke. His voice had the cunningly charming voice that comes with being an evil dictator, like a snake; and he looked like one too. He had slicked back black hair and beady, black, piercing eyes, even his canine teeth descended a little farther than most people's and reminded me of fangs. I let out a stifled gasp which went unnoticed to everyone except Danny who arched an eyebrow at me.

I ignored him and studied the image of my parents. They looked almost the same as I remembered them except my dad had grown much grayer around his temples and my mom's long blonde hair was matted and tangled and caked with dirt. They were both underfed, but not starving.

And still, despite their circumstances, I recognized the defiant expressions on their faces. They didn't intend to back down quietly.

It pained me to see them like this, but, at least for the first time in eight years, I knew that they were alive and fighting.

My dad was pretty banged up but my mom was untouched. But I knew him well enough to know, that he had protected her, he had taken the blows in her place. In several ways, my dad reminded me of Danny: loyal, protective, and willing to give anyone the shirt off of his back if they needed it. That's what always made my father such a wonderful king.

Seeing them again, even like this, made me miss my parents all the more. And even though I knew that Jacque Le'qua was baiting me—he wanted me to come out of hiding, to come to my parents' rescue—just so he could have me exactly where he wants me. I can't do that. I will not play right into his hands, not after the sacrifice my parents went through to keep me safe.

But I can't just sit here and do nothing either.

The bell rang and we were released to our next class.

"It's kind of crazy, huh?" Tucker mused out loud.

"Hmm?" I wondered in a distracted way, still coming up with a plan for what I would do to save my parents and my country.

"You know, that there's some girl our age who's a princess and her country was taken over and her parents are being held hostage. I mean, that must suck," Tucker remarked.

'You have no idea,' I thought to myself.

Meanwhile, Danny hadn't stopped watching me suspiciously.

"Yeah," Danny said.

"I wonder if she's hot," Tucker thought.

"What?" I asked, taken aback.

"You know, the lost princess chick. I wonder if she's hot," he shrugged.

"Geez Tucker, is that all you think about?" I resisted the urge to laugh out loud. I wonder what he would be thinking if you knew.

"Yeah dude, c'mon. Some girl's in hiding and her parents are hostages and you want to date her?" Danny laughed.

Tucker shrugged again, "She's traumatized and I'll bet she needs a shoulder to cry on, well, perfect shoulder right here."

Danny and I rolled our eyes, but Danny must have sensed that I was still a little distraught because he looked at me again, his eyes full of concern.

"Sam, are you okay?" he wondered.

"What? Oh yeah, I'm fine," I told him with a somewhat forced smile. He looked like he wanted to comment but his ghost sense went off.

Danny huffed in annoyance, "I'll see you guys at lunch," he told us before running off to go transform.

… … … … … … … … … … …

Well, I was watching PPP on Disney Channel and I got a little bit of inspiration. I wouldn't expect too much more from me tonight, but who knows. Those of you who know me know how I am when I get on my kicks.