Chapter 1: the masquerade ball

It was the man from the masquerade ball that I had met earlier that day. He was chasing me out of my fortress and towards the forbidden waters of Alcori. He was catching up speed and by no means was I a track star, especially in my sky high blue pumps. However, I was running fast, faster than the acceleration of a bullet, because there was no way I was letting anyone ruin my eighteenth birthday. And if nothing had knocked me off my feet and unconscious I would have completely escaped, but my luck had just run out.  
                     Tonight was going to be the best night of my life! Finally, I was going to be eighteen at the stroke of midnight. My mom, Queen Elise, and my dad, King Charles, were throwing me a masquerade ball and Prince Jonas, from a few kingdoms down, was joining us.
                     "Isabel! Guess who's arrived early for your celebration!" My best friend, Victoria, shouted from across the room, pointing towards the gate. I immediately looked outside my window and saw an extravagant painted horse with a very handsome man riding atop. I thanked my mom for having us get dressed early; me in a long, white, silk gown, and Victoria in a short fuschia gown, and had her craftsman create original looking masks.
                     We raced down our beautiful marble steps into the living area. By the time the prince had gotten to the door, our shoes were on and and we made ourselves as presentable as possible. It was almost perfect, until my father walked in the room in his underpants and bread crumbs in his beard.
         "Leave daddy," I exclaimed, barely getting the words out of my mouth over my laughter. "You havent walked out of that room in years undressed and unprofessional," I said. By the time the words had left my lips, i regretted it, especially when i saw the sadness take over his facial expression.
         "Your brother never minded the fact that I actually do have a goofy and fun side..." he said sadly as he walked towards his chambers.
         It had been almost a year since my twin brother, Charlie - who was named after my father, had disappeared from our last birthday celebration. No one, not even the highest and most official officers, were able to find him. Today he would have turned eighteen, he would have loved what we had planned. The thought of him made tears spring to my eyes, but I wiped them away before anyone had a chance to see them. Now it was time to focus on my future; Jonas.
         "Hello, ladies," Jonas announced, after the awkward silence had ended. "How's your day been going?" he finished while winking at me. At this, I could feel the heat rising in my cheeks and the butterflies stirring in my stomach.
         All of the sudden, my heart dropped, wiping the smile clean off my face. A man in a dark blue guards uniform with dark brown hair similar to mine and yellow eyes that could stare a hole right through you entered the room.. As he scurried inside to tell Prince Jonas something, I noticed a faint scar the ran from the left half of his nose to the end of his chin that looked to be left by some sort sharp nails.
         I almost screamed at the sight of his figure inside of my castle again. I knew, with all of my heart, that he was responsible for my brother's absence. He and my brother standing next to the gate having, what seemed like an intense conversation, was the last time I remembered seeing Charlie. It was the last time I saw either one of them, until now.
         Unable to keep it bottled up inside, I stood up and thrust myself towards the stranger,
"Where is he? What did you do to my brother? Remember him? The boy you stole from us?"  I screamed at the top of my lungs. When I tried to attack him, two of Jonas's other guards restrained me, which just made me even more angry. I thrashed around until I was too tired and upset to try to do anything, but I managed to slap the stranger so hard that he hit the ground with a loud slam.
         "Isabel! Why would you do such a thing to that innocent man?" My mom questioned as he was helped to his feet.
         "Why would you attack Jeffrey like that?" Jonas added on.
         My heart was beating out of my chest and my eyes stung with tears of irritation and sorrow. "Mom! You of all people should recognize that horrid man standing in our living room!" I was gasping for air through all of the words and tears that were coming out of me. "You saw him that night, with Charlie, and you know it." This was the calmest thing I've said since I set eyes on that awful man. Even so, my mother just shook her head disappointedly. I dropped my head into my hand and said, in a muffled tone, "Why won't anyone believe me?"
         And for a split second, through the cracks of my fingers, I could swear I saw him grin. After what seemed like a millennium, I lifted my head as he said, "Isn't your ball starting soon?"