I slowly blinked my eyes open, confused.

Where am I?

Then I remembered, I had just been potentially kidnapped! I sat up in an instant, cursing myself for agreeing to just ‘stay the night’. What was I? Stupid?

Turning my head to survey the room, I noticed that it was extremely well furnished. Throughout my time in the duke’s mansion, I had been under the impression that I had gotten used to luxurious rooms. It seemed that I was mistaken. The four poster bed which I was currently sitting in was elaborately decorated with carvings and patterns. One of which seemed to be on all of the furniture, the royal insignia.

This was when I realized that he had offered to sort things out with his parents. If he was to be believed, and was actually a prince, then…

I didn’t even want to think about it. Swinging my legs over the side of the plush, four poster bed, I stood up. The furnishings in this room were obviously of high quality, even I knew that much. The creep… ahem… prince, had been going on about me being a royal, if he really was one, then it was possible that he really wasn’t lying.

Even with this logic, I still found myself doubting him. I mean, how could I be a royal? I was an orphan, a pretend daughter of the duke. My mother was unknown, but if she was a royal… then this might make sense. The only issue with my explanation, is that a member of the royal family would rarely have business in such a small duchy like a Lambourg, let alone for two entire years.

I just don’t get it.

I put these theories to rest for now, I had more important matters to attend to. Such as figuring out what I was supposed to do now, it was already morning, or at least it seemed like it. I walked over to the window, and spread the curtains. I admit, it wasn’t as easy as I made it sound. I had to stand on my tippy toes before reaching the small strings on either side of the curtains before pulling them while maintaining my balance. Let me tell you, an eight year old's body, is not coordinated.

Once I had opened the curtains, I could see beautiful gardens below me. Then a bit further away, I could see knights, training in the art of the sword. They seemed to be having mock battles, one seemed especially skilled, I squinted my eyes, trying to get a better look. It was the prince!

Such a clique story, a prince who’s great at swordsmanship, who would’ve guessed. It seems I really have started to believe what he said about being a prince, I mean, how could I not after seeing proof everywhere I look?

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After watching the practice for a little longer, I came to a conclusion.

If there’s a swordsman prince, then there’s definitely a smart stuck-up prince.

The story hadn’t really gone into any information about the Imperial Lands, it had just stuck with the skin deep, predictable ‘discoveries’. To be honest, I hadn’t really liked that aspect of the book, that’s why I dropped it, it was a really disliked book, I had only picked it up in the first place so that I could understand why everybody else hated it. In the end, even without finishing it, I definitely understood.

While I had some free time, I decided to explore the palace a bit, I doubted that anyone would mind. Besides, the ‘prince’ had pretty much kidnapped me before abandoning me! I opened the huge doors, still dressed in my clothes from the day, and quickly smoothed out my hair. I began to walk through the enormous corridors, before bumping into somebody unknown.

He looked down at me before asking a question. “Are you alright young lady?” I quickly nodded, embarrassed. The palace was just so huge, I could help but stare, in pretty much any direction except for forwards. He then proceeded to ask, “are you lost? I’d be happy to help, I know my way around quite well”. Before answering, I looked around realizing that I hadn’t been paying any attention to where I was going, I was indeed lost.

I nodded once again, before quickly introducing myself, as was appropriate in noble culture. “That would be greatly appreciated,” I said. “My name is Aretta, I appreciate running into you here, it seems that the God Ermes is watching over me on this fine day.” In the Imperial Lands, unless you are speaking to a member of the royal family, you may choose to use whichever greeting is most appropriate for the situation. I opted to use the greeting for nobles in Lambourg, as that is what I was most familiar with. Luckily, I had read a book which contained the appropriate greeting for this situation.

There were so many greetings to remember, in my old life, I would’ve never managed to memorise them all. I respect the nobles here who have to learn all of this without a perfect memory.

The man, who had introduced himself to me as Augustus using the Duchy of Windred’s greeting, began to lead me towards the guest quarters as I wasn’t exactly sure where my room had been. As we walked, Lord Augustus asked me a few questions about why I was in the palace. While if these questions had come from somebody else, using a different tone, I might have doubted them, not wanting to say. However, Lord Augustus seemed genuinely curious, something I hadn’t expected to see from a noble. Nobles, were expected to mask their emotions, not allowing others to know what they were thinking, but he seemed… different. He seemed kind. I answered, semi truthfully, telling him that the second prince had brought me here. I also told him that I wasn’t exactly sure why he had brought me here.

Lord Augustus simply replied that he probably had a good reason, but to that I didn’t reply. I didn’t know the prince, he seemed nice, but I wasn’t sure. I mean, at first, I was under the impression that he was a creep, then a kidnapper, and now, he was just an unknown variable.

Once we had arrived in the guest quarters, the man asked me about whether I recognised which room was mine. I thanked him profusely before returning to the recognisable room. I had seen a bit of the palace, and I was happy about that, but I knew that it hadn’t been a good idea. I shouldn’t have gone exploring for no good reason, this place was big, too big for me to recognise every turn.

The issue had not been about remembering everything, it was more about being unsure of whether I was going the right way, about doubting myself. I probably could have gotten back on my own, but it would’ve taken longer, with my needing to think back to whether was making the right turn. Pairing that with my lack of direction, despite my good memory, and I probably would’ve taken multiple attempts to make it back.

I really shouldn’t wander off anymore.