Trigger Warning: Child abduction within their own home, thwarted assault.

All the court treated Laszlo very respectfully, as was proper for King Andrej's heir. In contrast, all who saw Leena worshiped her.

Nadia protested the fawning as she suspected that people did it to gain the King's favor. Andrej just laughed as the only love that rivaled his affection for the Princess was the Queen's. And they were as different as night and day.

He couldn't believe that servants and vassals faked joy for Leena. It was the same way he felt, the first time he held his daughter. In part, they behaved due to no one trying to replace Leena, as the child would one day be a bargaining chip between kingdoms, not important to rulership.

What he held for his wife he was unwilling to share with another. So often men who praised Nadia in order to gain his aid would annoy him. The false praise made a mockery of his feelings. Genuine respect he dutifully honored. But consorts and a spare heir still graced everyone's lips. These men would jeopardize Nadia and Laszlo, for their own gain. Fulsome praise and backstabbing tested the King, pushing him to be his father's son. He understood Boris' desire to not share power with the wicked.

Laszlo held up under the demand for an additional rival would give him a wicked grin, even at his young age. Mother explained that they wanted to make him a brother and enemy, all in one. The idea of giving him a child he could fight with without a lecture almost caused him to add to his father's petitions. Being very young, he couldn't understand everything about it.

He also had an edge of security from parents that wouldn't let anyone weaken his position. They made him very aware of his lineage before he weaned from nursing.

Leena had many of the same lectures, but from a different facet. She didn't have to worry about the throne. People owed their loyalty to her, but couldn't gain favors from her as she had no right to rule. It appeared to be as careful a life as Nadia lived, but much younger. The only odd thing, to all the council was she would learn in the same classes as her brother. She excelled in academics, without the pressure he would be under until the day he died.

That freedom leads to a happier and healthier child. Hence why she was genuinely adored by many and pawed over by those left out.

Early on their 5th birthday, they started with a parade so that the little prince and princess could wave at the crowds. The ever-bored mage sat behind them in their little whimsical white carriage. It was made to look like the great gourd. The shape jabbed at those who had made a tale of the twins being found in the fields close to Ivan's stronghold.

How had the nation come up with something so close but even more fantastical than the truth?

No one had broken the silence on who the true parents of the children were. Not even Milena's mother, when she received the body of her daughter. The king buried the old soldier with full honors, though her mother prepared her for burial and was a midwife herself. There wasn't a way to bring her in as an employee, so she never saw the children, save from a distance on their birthday. Still she remained silent in her grief, protecting their status.

But that didn't mean everyone was happy in their kingdom. Famines had a way of toppling monarchs. Blackrot traveled from the north, cutting off trade routes into the kingdom. Something was very wrong with the world, and no one knew how to counter it.

Not even the mages as magic's hold on the world began to lose its grip 6 centuries before.

But it was still far from the capital.

Shock rippled through the crowd when the dark, foul fruit burst against the tiny carriage. Not because someone attacked children who hadn't a thing to do with it. The mage's ward held, although it left him shaken and strained. If it had been an arrow, he'd have held it off without an ounce of sweat. This disease was a wyrdling, beyond magic wielders to prevent.

Soldiers surrounded the fool of a farmer, quickly. They escorted him away before a second throw collapsed the mage. No one wanted a potential tool to wield against the King and his family to be well known.

And that would be the end of the drama, if the Queen hadn't witnessed it. She hysterically tried to throw herself from her own seat to hold her babies.

She proved she could be lured away from safety to protect her babies. Not that it would have taken a genius to figure out that the Queen loved the twins dearly. Any way to force the kingdom into giving concessions concerned the king. Nations had made a habit of stealing children to hold over a ruler's head. And the king had already exposed his love for his wife by how few women he took in as her competition. These were not things they wanted the masses dwelling on.

The parade eventually settled back down and the Queen and mage were both bolstered. The King abandoned his mount to ride beside his wife, once cleared. A young guardswoman propped up the mage on the high seat from the footman's rest. Only the people at the 3rd square would know of what happened, directly. Further on the parade was so mundane that for the next year fights would break out in pubs over whether or not anything exciting happened at all.

~~~

In the palace, the children received gifts from lords and kingdoms, a few notable merchants, and an odd token from the heads of various guilds. Then came dinner and a ball. The little prince and princess had their first dance with their parents after the gifts were opened. They left for bed, rubbing their tired eyes and swaying on their feet.

The little royals fell asleep even as their attendants dressed them for bed and they snuggled into their cradle rooms. The children had an open nursery set-up that allowed them to be near each other each morning.

And the world would hum on, quietly celebrating life, even as death clawed at the fringes of high society.

~~

Leena woke late that night to a room without a night maid. Someone should be there, and even Laszlo's gentle snores didn't mask the dark stillness.

But the little Princess wasn't scared, any more than she noticed the fruit earlier in the day.

She stepped down and padded out the room in her little night gown, hair half streaming loose behind her. Chubby feet softly padded on carpet and marble alike.

The little girl struggled with opening the door to their room. No one stood outside. Leena wandered on through the lengthy halls, taking the turns she thought lead to Queen Mama's room.

Until she faced an open door to a hall that wasn't lit.

A servant she had never seen before leaned against the archway. He stood nearly tall enough to brush the top of the frame; his uniform was crumpled like it had been slept in. In his white gloves he held a twist of strawfire. The mysterious way men would hand roll various dried plants for smoking lulled the child.

When lit, the cloyingly sweet aroma reminded the girl of a child's tea after a mass. The jams would taste lovely. Incense clung to clothes so deeply that having the treat inside would make her sneeze.

The brave little girl still knew nothing of fear. But there was something she didn't understand about the man. For one, he didn't immediately bow, nor did he smile at her. Leena's voice piped up, shrewdly, "Who are you?"

The man hadn't even looked at her as she passed. He now startled and knelt down, looking her fully in the face. "My you've grown so much. You shouldn't be out of bed little girl."

"I'm a Princess." She pouted a little, innocent, spoiled, at that age it made no difference in her character. "You're not 'sposed to call me baby things."

"Are you? I've been the head of the Consort's hall for the King's whole reign." His smile grew wickedly sharp, the straw bouncing precariously on his lip. "You're no Princess, girl, you're a bastard."

The child took a step back and breathed deeply, to yell at this now scary man. He whipped his hand against her mouth and pulled her up into his arms before scuttling back into the darkness.

She didn't even settle on what she felt.

Scared. Angry. Terrified. Shaky.

Leena began screaming and kicking, biting the hand that covered her mouth. The man cursed and drove his palm in harder. His pace picked up, footsteps echoing faster and faster like a sluggish heartbeat straining for a heart attack.

They ran into an unlatched door. It bounced off a wall as the man slowed down to bump it shut before tossing Leena on a couch covered in a sheet. Dust raised around her like a halo.

The curtains stood wide open, and at first the child thought the moon provided the room's light. No, an ancient candelabra blazed with a dozen candles on the mantle. A life-size statue stood in the corner, mocking the way the man had stood in the doorway.

"Quit ignoring me, kid."

Leena turned back to the man who had grabbed her as he snubbed his straw on the tip of a dresser. It was lined with things the child couldn't describe. They didn't look pleasant, whatever they were. The man slowly slipped out of his gloves, unbuttoned and took off his jacket while looking the items over. "You know what these things are, kid?"

Leena had no voice, stolen by something menacing in his stance. She did shake her head, which he caught when he glanced her way. "This is the consort's wing, the place they stuffed your mama in before they hid her and she died. And these are things that made a Consort's life bearable. But I don't need that. You won't live long enough to..."

Up Leena shot and ran around the room to get further away from the man. She had no clue what he meant by his words. Despite that, the child was precocious enough. She didn't sit there and wait to find out.

The servant tripped over poorly tucked away cloth and small pieces of furniture. He had to leap over the bed when she crawled under. The wash stand toppled over and the porcelain jug shattered upon impact. The whole while, Leena screamed at the top of her lungs, and the madman behind her kept laughing. "Yell harder, no one can hear you!"

All good ideas come to an end, and soon she ran into the statue, and latched onto its leg with both her little arms, sobbing, "Go away!"

The man gripped her shoulder and started to forcefully pry her off the marble. Leena looked up into the face of stone, taking in the dark horns and even darker hair. She swore it blinked at her.

With all the strength in her exhausted little body, she clung harder to the statue's thigh. Leena looked up into those eyes and said one pitiful little word, "Please!"

It slowly nodded and stood, placing a hand over her head to bury that little face closer to his leg. The man who scared her screamed louder and louder, until he lost his grip on the girl. Then there was silence, save for the sound of water falling to the floor, like a ripe watermelon bursting.

The statue laughed lightly, and picked up Leena. It enveloped them in a world of feathers before reaching down to pick up the little Princess. It brought her in for a reassuring hug, brushing his cheek against hers. It had stubble, like daddy, which helped her feel like she was at home and missing all at once.

Unlike the feeling of danger, these thoughts were too mature for her to sort out. She sobbed her little heart out on feelings too big for the little body to handle.

~~~

Leena was found in the main halls curled around a bloody gold chalice made of a skull and wormy branches, sleeping innocently. King Andrej had it put away, and ordered the servants to not bring the vessel up in conversations, under the threat of death.

As for the scary man? After a week, the servant was declared missing. Others went to survey the empty halls he had dominion over. The largest consort's suite housed a collection of questionable toys and a complete skeleton scattered throughout. They draped over the walls much like the stars in the children's room.