Lies Hiding Behind Truth

Right then and there I stared at my ex-best friend and my shocked face turned to anger.

"What are you doing here, Fields?!" I yelled angrily. My ex-bestie kept her cool.

"Could say the same to you, Schwartz." She folded her arms.

"Alicia! Answer my question!" I shouted back at her. "What. Are. You. Doing. Here?!!" Alicia smirked.

"I am-" Alicia was cut off by Stefan.

"She is betrothed to me." He said. My mouth gaped open in horror. For some strange reason, I felt my heart tear in two. I then felt nothing except anger.

"How?! I couldn't care less who you're betrothed to, but her?! Why Alicia Fields, Stefan? Tell me why!!" Hot tears streamed down my face and before I could let him answer, I stormed out of the Throne Room and stomped up the stairs. At that moment I didn't care if I would get out of breath, my anger fueling me to my room. I opened the door and slammed it behind me. I locked the door and slumped to the floor, tears falling down my face, dropping onto my clothes.

"No." I said. I stood up. "I will not cry over something in my past." I decided to take a nice, cold shower and wash my hair. Now, I felt as if the water was the only one that accepted me.. After a nice, long, shower, I turned off the water and draped my bath towel around my body. I walked out of the ensuite and into the bedroom, to see Stefan waiting just at the door.

Holy shit. I heard him think. I went red with embarrassment.

"Get out you perv!" I shouted at Stefan, hugging the towel closer to my body, while covering my upper arm. He didn't move for a second, then I pushed him out myself. He finally began walking out himself and I shut the door behind him. Just in time, my towel slipped off, and I put new clothes on. Suddenly, I had a sneaky idea. I decided to wear extra-revealing clothes, just to tease Stefan. I picked out an extremely short skirt, and a v-cut crop top. I remembered to put something on the brandish on my upper arm. I dried my hair as much as I could with a towel and pulled it up into a high ponytail. I exited the room and put on a sassy voice. I opened the door and folded my arms across my chest.

"What do you want Stefan?" I asked. Stefan took one look at me and bit his lip to try and stop his face from flushing red. I knew he was checking me out. I could also hear him swearing in his head, but in a good way, I guess? I walked closer to him, and he slowly creeped back. I suddenly burst out laughing, and Stefan looked at me confused. After a while, I calmed down and told Stefan to wait outside for a few moments. I walked back inside to get it of these horrifying clothes to change into something more comfortable. Sure, it brought Stefan to his knees, but I wasn't going to torture him. At least not for long anyways. I pulled on a light singlet and shorts and walked back outside.

"Much better." I said relieved. "Well then, Stefan, what did you want to tell me earlier before, I um, ran off?"

"Um, I…" Stefan exhaled, then spoke in a calm voice. "Princess Demetria of Fields, or to you, Alicia Fields, is betrothed to me."

"I already know that she's supposed to marry you. Wait, she's a princess?" I exclaimed.

"Yes." Stefan leaned closer and whispered in my ear. "But, just between you and me, she's like really spoiled one though.." I stifled a laugh.

"I know that! She was always like that ever since she ditched me!" My face soon turned cold. "Why am I telling you this?" I glared at Stefan.

Because I may or may not have put a temporary truth curse on you? I heard Stefan think. I glared at him again, calmed myself and invited him into my room. I walked into my room and just before he walked inside, I slammed the door on his face and cackled. I laughed so hard I thought I was going to pee my pants.

"Hey! That's not funny, Lillian!" Then Stefan went suddenly quiet.

"Yes it is!" I laughed again.

Hang on. I thought. My name isn't Lillian. I opened the door and Stefan's face was white, as if he had seen a ghost. "Why did you call me Lillian? My name is Arrabella." I said cautiously. "Why did you call me Lillian?" I repeated. Stefan still wouldn't talk. "Why did you call me Lillian?!!" I yelled. Stefan looked scared now, and I had no idea why. I then felt really hot on my arm where my brandish was. I touched the bandage covering the tattoo and it turned to ashes, revealing my permanent sceptre illustration. Just when I thought Stefan's face couldn't get any paler, it did, and he turned away and disappeared. A wave of realisation hit me with full force. The brandish. I can't believe I didn't realise it earlier. But why? Why did Stefan look so scared and pale, even with the bandage covering the beautiful illustration of my sceptre. Suddenly, all the sources of light blew out. Candles, fireplaces, torches, artificial lights in general, all out. I was surrounded by darkness. I felt hands grab my wrists and another pair placed duct tape on my mouth. I muffled a scream, and did any weird lip movements with my mouth to try and loosen the duct tape. One side of the tape managed to fall off, but the hands that taped my mouth put it back on again, with another layer. I mean, come on! The hands that grabbed my wrists started pulling me towards them. I slumped and began pushing myself to the ground in an attempt to slow them down. Unfortunately, that didn't help. Instead, the figure threw me over their shoulder and then walked. I thumped my fists into the person's back, but they didn't stop. I kept on trying to use different methods to make the team of beings release me, none of them being a successful attempt. After a while, I gave up, and soon got tossed into a container. I felt the hard plastic all around me, and then a lid was placed on top. I heard a lock click, meaning that I wouldn't be able to escape, no matter how hard I tried to push the lid off. But, I still tried. Eventually, I stopped and suddenly, I heard a gunshot. The one carrying the container stopped and dropped me onto the floor below. I started panicking. I heard another gunshot, and then a click above me, signalling either the gunman either cocked their gun, and are above my container, or they just unlocked the lock keeping the crate closed. I really hoped it was the second option. I heard yet another click, and I was pretty sure that was the one to open the lock. The lock fell to the floor with a small thump. The lid of the crate came off easily, and someone with a black mask helped me out of the crate.

"Follow me." They said. The voice sounded familiar. I obeyed, not knowing what to do otherwise. I could barely see the figure in the blackness of the area surrounding me. I suddenly thought of an idea. I followed the black masked-being outside the palace, and when I thought they were vulnerable, I tackled the figure to the ground and yanked off the mask.

"Alicia?!" I cried out. "What are you doing here?"