Princess Yasmin

A throbbing pain consumed me. It felt like my head was split into two. And it was cold. Why was it so cold? And why were my hands tied?

''I told you not to hurt her.''

A low voice that I vaguely recognized. Who was this man?

''She kept kicking and screaming. I had to shut her up or we would have been caught. Or she would have hurt me, the girl scratched my face.'' Another voice, also male.

''You deserved it. You were not supposed to hurt her and now she's bleeding.'' The man was clearly in a position of power over the other one, who I had apparently scratched.

Wait, I was bleeding?

I groaned as I slowly opened my eyes. I was in a dimly lit room, with no furniture except for the chair I was on. A tall, broad man was talking to an equally tall, but less broad male by the door.

The broad man looked up, and I recognized him as the rebel who had hauled me out of the closet I was hiding in. I couldn't help a little smile as I saw the three long, ruby lines on his cheek. Well done, Yas.

A sudden realization hit me as I realized what had actually happened. The rebels had come into the room Tristan and I were hiding in, and knocked him out before taking me with them.

Tristan. I prayed that he was okay, and that he wasn't seriously hurt.

After a nod from the other, the broad rebel left the room, leaving me and the brown haired man alone. He seemed so familiar, but I couldn't remember where I knew him from.

He came closer, a box of medical supplies in his hand as he kneeled in front of me. I squinted my eyes, ''Who are you? I recognize you from somewhere.''

The man seemed surprised, his aquamarine eyes slightly widening as he looked up at me. ''I used to work at the Palace four years ago. I was the stableman. My name is Sam.''

He took out a cloth, wetting it with a bottle of water before reaching his hand towards my face. I jerked backwards, ''Don't touch me.''

''You're bleeding. I need to take care of your wound.''

''Bleeding because of you and your rebels. What's the use of dressing my wound if you're going to kill me anyway?''

''I'm not going to kill you,'' Sam mumbled as he pressed the cloth to my temple.

I hissed in pain, but allowed him to continue. ''Why aren't you going to kill me? Isn't that what you rebels want? Kill all the Royals?''

''You're confusing us with The Forsaken. We are The Idealists, and we don't kill like they do. Our goal is not to decimate the monarchy. We just don't agree with everything. We want change.''

I scoffed, ''So you're saying you're the peaceful group? You still hurt me. And my guard.''

''We try to use as little violence as we can. Sometimes there is no other way. But we never kill.''

''What do you want with me, then? If it's change you're looking for, you got the wrong Royal. I'm merely for show, and to marry off.''

He scratched his beard before putting the final bandage on my head wound. ''Has your brother ever told you about me?''

I shook my head no. What was Killian supposed to tell me about a stableman?

''I'm going to untie your hands now, but you have to promise me not to do anything rash or run away. I have men guarded outside, so it won't be of any use. Understand?''

I nodded, eager to get the painful constraints of my wrists.

He cut the rope and I breathed a sigh of relief, rubbing my swollen wrists. ''Well? Are you going to tell me what this is all about?''

He cleared his throat, bracing himself for what he was about to tell me. ''I'm just going to cut to the chase. Your mother and I had an affair while I worked at the Palace. A pretty long one actually, until your brother found out four years ago and got me fired. Getting fired from working for the Royals is a guarantee to become an Eight. No one would employ me. That's when I came across The Idealists. But that's not what I'm trying to tell you. When your mother and I were together.. she became pregnant with you. We had a test done which her maid helped keep secret. Yasmin, I'm your father.''

And then the whole world came crashing down around me.

Prince Killian

''Killian, calm down. They will find her.'' Mom grabbed my arm as we left the safe room, the damages done to the Palace surprisingly small. ''I'm sure she's in another safe room.''

Someone cleared his throat beside us, and we looked up to see Officer Adkins with a solemn look on his face. ''Your Majesty, Your Highness. We have information about the Princess.''

''Well, where is she?'' I asked, growing more impatient by the minute.

''She was taken by the rebels.''

I felt Mom's hand on my arm tighten as she held onto me. ''Taken?''

''She and Officer Bates were hiding in a regular room when the rebels blew up the door and knocked out Officer Bates. They seemed to have been targeting her. When we found him, the Princess was gone. We searched the entire Palace but she's nowhere to be found. We suspect that the rebels have abducted her.''

Abducted. Taken. My little sister, the Princess with a heart of gold, was gone. Taken from her home, where she should have been protected.

Tristan came around the corner, leaning on a fellow guard. He was limping, and the left leg of his pants was caked in blood. He had a similar wound on his head, and his eyes were clouded in sorrow as he looked at me.

He was supposed to protect her, protect us.

I brushed off Mom's hand, leaving her to cry in the arms of my father, and bounded over to Tristan. I saw red as I felt the anger rushing through my veins, all of it directed at my best friend in front of me. I could barely comprehend what I was doing as my fist came in contact with his jaw. He almost went down from the impact, but before he could fall, I grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and slammed him into the wall.

''This is all your fault.''

''Killian..'' he started, pain evident on his face. But I didn't care. I couldn't think straight. All I could think about was Yasmin, and what those rebels were going to do to her.

''You were supposed to protect her! That's your job. But instead, you let them take her!''

Officer Adkins stepped up to us, putting his hand on my arm. ''Your Highness, he was outnumbered. They used smoke to -''

''I don't care!" I yelled, forcing Officer Adkins to step back as he saw the rage on my face. I turned back to Tristan. ''If anything happens to her, it will be on you.''

I released my grip on him, turned around and rushed out of the hallway. I ignored the Selected who were all looking at me with shocked faces, my mother who was silently crying and worst of all, my father, whose disappointment in me was evident in his green eyes.

I threw open the door to my room, ignoring all the stares that I got as I bolted through the hallways.

I tore off the armor of my Poseidon costume and threw it at the wall. Yasmin was gone. I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror, and I looked like a madman. Knuckles red, hair unruly from the amount of times I raked my hand through it, and my green eyes wide and furious. One of the cuffs was still on my wrist, and I took it off and hurled it at the mirror. As the glass shattered, I let myself sink to the floor as well. She was gone.

…

I looked at the night sky, one of Yasmin's tiaras on my lap. I had taken it out of her room as I made my way outside, wanting a piece of her close to me.

I had changed into a sweatshirt and sweats, not caring how I looked. If Yasmin were here, she would make a comment about it, asking me if I was sick. I only ever wore sweats when I didn't feel well, so now was the perfect time.

''They'll find her.''

A voice croaked beside me, and I looked up to see Aenwyn staring at me with her turquoise eyes.

I averted my gaze, turning it back to the stars. ''Or she's already dead.''

The redhead sat beside me on the stone bench, close enough for me to smell her pomegranate perfume, but far enough for our knees not to touch.

''You can't think like that. Everyone is looking for her. She's a Princess, and important people are always found. People actually care about what happens to them.''

''What's that supposed to mean?''

''You know what I mean. If it was someone like me who had gone missing, no one would care,'' she stated.

''I would care.''

We sat in silence for a few moments as Aenwyn shifted in her spot.

''She's really sweet,'' she finally said.

''Who?''

''Yasmin. Most girls in the orphanage thought she would be stuck-up, but she's the complete opposite. She's friendly to all of us, no matter what caste. And she actually tries to get to know us. Her enthusiasm is a bit intimidating at times, but it's admirable.''

I smiled. ''That's Yas.''

She started twirling her red curls, her gaze fixed at the plants in front of us. ''I wish girls in the orphanage were more like her.''

I finally looked away from the twinkling stars above us, my eyes set on the girl beside me. ''Did they do something to you?''

''They mistreated me. Kids can be cruel.'' She kept studying the flowers, carefully avoiding my gaze, which told me enough. She didn't want to elaborate.

''I'm sorry. I hope that's not happening to you in the Palace. No one deserves to be mistreated.''

Her shoulders tensed, but she shook her head and managed a small smile. ''All the girls are kind.''

I felt a wave of relief wash over me. The Selected fighting and mistreating each other was something I definitely didn't want to be dealing with right now.

I looked back at the tiara in my lap. I remembered Yasmin's reaction when my father gave this to her. It had belonged to his sister, our aunt, who had passed away a couple of years ago. According to my father, it had been passed down from mother to daughter for centuries. My aunt was infertile and never had any children, so Yasmin was like the daughter she never had. She made my father promise her that her belongings would be passed down to Yasmin when she died, and so they did.

It was composed of a series of diamond graduating flowerhead clusters, interspersed by cusp motifs of ribbon scroll design, raised on an undulating diamond line frame, mounted in silver and gold. It was one of Yasmin's favorites, and she was so careful with it that she only wore it to special events, preferring to keep it safe in her room.

She would probably kill me if she knew I had taken it from her room, and I chuckled, imagining her reaction. Aenwyn looked at me in surprise, probably thinking that I was going mad again. ''I was just thinking about Yasmin.''

The redhead nodded, looking down at the tiara. ''She certainly has an affinity for tiaras.''

I grinned, ''Yep. You should see her room, she has a lot more.''

''She came into the Women's Room once, and had all of us try on her tiara. It was sweet.''

I turned my eyes back to Aenwyn, eager to hear more about Yasmin's time with them. ''Tell me more.''

And so the orphan continued talking, probably not used to speaking so much, as I still remembered her hoarse voice from when she first came to the Palace. But she continued anyway, taking my mind of the horrors I was imagining happening to Yasmin. If only for a few moments.

I loved your reactions to Yasmin's abduction, it means you actually really care about her! I know she's a very loved character which makes me very happy, that means I'm doing something right. Sorry for continueing the torture, as Yasmin's not ok, Tristan is definitely not ok and Killian is all kinds of messed up too.

Hope you liked the plot twist of Yasmin's parentage and Sam being a rebel leader regardless. Until next time!

Thanks for reading and keep reviewing!

Oh and I want to give a special thanks to Hailey (more. than. just. a. story) who I met on this site and I now talk to every day and see as my little sister, for helping me come up with the names of the two rebel groups and all her other input and support.

~Wolf