The Rise of the Stolen Queen

The In-Between: 180 years ago

A dark shadow passed across the nursery wall, the figure it belonged to stopping in front of the bassinet, peering at the newborn inside.

"Well, look at you, aren't you just precious?" He sneered, reaching down to run his finger down the little girl's cheek gently. He may be here to do a horrible task, but that didn't mean he was going to be cruel to an innocent baby. He raised his hand, and everything lining the shelves across the room crashed to the floor. The infant starts crying at the noisy intrusion to her peaceful slumber, and an older lady comes rushing inside, gasping and covering her mouth with her hand at the sight of the eerie figure. The man growls at her and takes a step closer. He eyes her up and down in disappointment. She takes a step back, taking in the tall figure cloaked in darkness.

"Y..you can't be in here, sir." She stammers. He chuckles at her, and she shivers in fear.

"And you're not who I expected to come running. Where might the dear queen be this evening, hmm? Already shirking her motherly duties? King Stefan sure did fall for a wonderful bride." He mocks with disgust. She could tell from the disdain dripping from his voice that he held no love for Queen Amanda. The old maid feared for her life if she didn't tell this man where she was, but she also knew that if she did, her Queen wouldn't survive the encounter. The stranger was growing angrier and angrier the longer she took to answer. Finally, his patience wore out, and he held up his hand, and she began to rise off the ground. She began to choke and grasp at her throat, feeling a strong force crushing her throat.

"You can tell me where she is, or you can be a needless casualty. Just because you're a servant here doesn't mean you deserve to die for your Queen." He said with a bored drawl, as if slowly squeezing the life from a person was a mundane daily chore. Her eyes widened as the gravity of her situation finally sank in. Her eyes doubled in size, and she nodded her head, trying to signal she would tell him. With a smirk, he dropped her and gave her a few moments while she gasped for air into her lungs painfully.

"She's in the birthing room still, sir. There were complications, and the midwife had to stitch her up, so she is resting." She said, silent tears streaming down her face at her betrayal. He walked over and set his hand on top of her head gently.

"I can see it pained you to tell me this, but I do thank you. I must complete my task, but you need not worry about what is going to be done." His hand began to glow a bright blue, and the old woman's hair began to ripple. "You won't have to bear the pain of this betrayal; you won't even remember you saw me tonight." With that, she blacked out, and he made sure she lay safely on the ground. He ran his hand to her forehead as the light began to flicker through different shades of blue and grey before dimming back to nothingness. He walked back over to the crib and stared at the newborn, who had fallen back to sleep. He smiled as he took in her raven black hair. He looked at the old woman and concentrated. Soon, the bottoms of her shoes began to glow, and a shimmery fog began to flow across the floor, illuminating the woman's path into the room. It soon began to flow through the door and into the corridor. The man gently picked up the princess, cloaked her in a protection spell, and tucked her snuggly inside her cloak. He disappeared down the hall, following the glowing trail to a large doorway. Putting his hand on the door, he felt for energies inside the room and could sense only one. Entering the room, he saw the queen lying in the bed, appearing to be sound asleep. He approached the bed and looked down at the pale woman lying before him.