The castle was never completely occupied, but today it was filled to the brim. This would be the only day that the king opened his gates for his people. Everyone was there to celebrate the engagement of Prince Charles and the Lady in Waiting, Elle.

Every citizen attended this event because it was the only time the peasants could show the King their talents and skills. Will Cross was among this group of talents. Will was a singer, and desperately wanted to get into the royal choir. Like every other citizen he would be performing for the king.

Elle had been a Lady in Waiting since she was 14. She was now engaged to the prince, and made sure that everyone in the castle knew about it. She and Charles (whom she called Char) had secretly been courting for four years, and now they were able to share their love with the whole kingdom. Elle had made sure to look her very best to make sure she impressed the people.

And impress the people she did. As soon as Will saw her, he was blown away by her beauty. He knew that he would have to do his very best in his performance if he wanted to make a positive impression. He began to sing, “My love tis thee. Greater than any sea -” but Will was never able to finish his song. “Fire! The castle is on fire” Someone yelled across the room. Will looked up. The roof was completely covered in a vibrant orange icing. Black clouds of smoke slithered like snakes into the noses of the terrified citizens. Will knew he had to get out of there.

Elle had been caught up in one of her many daydreams when the fire was announced. She looked at the performer who was staring at the flaming ceiling in disbelief. She knew she had to escape, so she stood up from her throne, but was immediately knocked down by a force stronger than an earthquake. “Think you can run away from me?!” A deep loud voice grumbled “I’m the rightful leader of this kingdom!”

Another shake of the floor caused Elle to fall down again, this time hitting her head on the hard stone floor.
Elle woke up slowly. Her head hurt severly causing her eyes pain when she opened them. Expecting to be in her room, she was surprised to find that she was in the middle of a forest. “Hello?” she murmured. To her surprise, she got a response.

Will had seen Elle hit her head, but assumed that she would be taken care of. But, after several minutes of trying to find a way out he found Elle still on the castle floor. So, he picked up the limp girl, and blindly tried to find a way to escape.

“So, then I found a small trap door in the back of the castle. We managed to escape, and I took you straight to the woods… It was Saeva who attacked the castle.” Will finished. Elle blinked, and simply muttered, “Where’s Char?” Will flinched. “That’s the other thing… we were the only ones who were able to escape. I’m afraid that he’s dead.” Elle blinked again, and went into a trance so deep, it would take Will two weeks to “wake” her up.

Elle and Will camped out in the woods for three weeks before they decided it was time to go back to the castle. The survival part was easy for Will, but Elle had never been in any situation like this before. If she hadn’t been so upset, this may have bothered her, but she felt nothing.

It was a different story for Will. Each day they were together, he fell for her beauty even more. He loved how her dirty blonde curls fell at her waist naturally, and how her green eyes gleamed in the sunlight.

After the third week, the two hiked back to the castle. Or what was left of it. Hundreds of bones surrounded the crumbling building. Each bone made a sharp crack when stepped on, and this was the reason that the two got caught by Saeva’s henchmen.

The two were tied up and seperated. Elle was forced to change into a thin cotton dress, put in handcuffs, and dragged to Saeva. He took a chain and connected it to her handcuffs. That way her beauty was always near him.

Will was tied up by several ropes and was thrown into the kitchen. He would spend the next three days being injected with sauces and spices to be prepared for Saeva’s weekly dinner. On the fourth day, Will was tied up and placed into a large pan. He was then slowly lowered into a pit of fire to be cooked. As he grew closer to the flames, he began to scream in agony. The pain was nothing he had ever felt before.

While Will had been getting prepared for dinner, Elle had successfully seduced the guard who held the keys to her cuffs. After hearing Will’s screams, she knew that she had to hurry. So during the afternoon nap, she convinced the guard to sleep next to her. Once he was asleep, she was able to free herself from the chains, and go rescue Will.

She made it just on time. The pan was nearly engulfed in the flames, and Will had clearly been passed out for the last several minutes. Elle was able to pull the rope holding the pan up, and pulled out Will’s limp body. “Come on Will! Please hang in there… I need you!” she cried. With a final pull, she had all of his body out of the oven, and she rushed out of the kitchen doors.

The two managed to make it to the forest before falling to the floor with exhaustion. Then, the world went blank.

Hours later Elle was woken up by one of Saeva’s guards. To her horror, Will lay next to her. His body was covered in blood. Elle’s brain immediately shut down, and from that moment on, she was never the same.
She was forced to return to the castle, and became Saeva’s slave. She lived this horrible life for four years, until she was found dead with two items. A bloody knife, and a letter in her hand. The letter read, “To my dearest Elle, I have just received word that you’re still alive! I never thought you would have lived through the fire. Please come to my new kingdom and visit my wife and I. Love always, Char”