"Oh my gosh. This is beautiful; I have never seen this up close. We have only have seen it in the distance, but it is so pretty."

The carriage rolls to a stop at the entrance of the palace, and the doors of the carriage are opened. Alex steps out, offering me his hand.

"Come on, princess, they are anxiously waiting for you inside" his eyes are relaxed but full of excitement.

"I'm scared. What if they do not like me? What if they are mad about what happened throwing me out of here?" backing up in the seat some.

He chuckles, shaking his head slowly. "You are their daughter. They will like you; I can promise you that. Don't be nervous; they have waited a long time for this reunion."

I slowly take his hand as he helps me out of the carriage. Guiding me into the front doors of the palace, I start to tremble at the thought of meeting them. As we walk through the marble entranceway, I look around at the detailed floors, a grand single staircase that splits into two as it goes up to the top floor on either side, tons of chandeliers hanging that are lit up and polished to a bright shiny gold color. The floor is so clean; I can see my reflection in it as we walk across it. I return my focus to the stairs where a very nicely dressed man and woman are standing there holding hands. They are dressed in royal outfits.

Alex stops in front of them, taking a bow "Your Majesties, may I present after my very long searching for you, your daughter. Princess Maggie Elizabeth Stanton."

I also bow to them, but when I come up, I can see the resemblance between them and me. I have her hair color, his eyes, and a lot of their features. They stand there for a minute then embrace me while crying hard.

"Oh my God," Queen Mary sobs into my neck, "can this be real? Can this really be our daughter that we have searched for what seems like forever?"

King Tony steps back, looking at me with tears in his eyes. "My God, she looks just like us. She is alive and well. Praise the heavens."

"Her story checks out, sire" Alex has stepped away with his hands clasped behind his back, "she told me the names of the people who kidnapped her, but the family that raised her also knew them. They just never put the pieces together that she was the lost princess. She has been raised and treated very well. Her house was of a wealthy family that has provided for her keeping her up correctly."

"You did good, Alex" King Tony looks over at him. "I am so happy that she has been found. Now that emptiness in our hearts can be filled once again. We died that night when you went missing" he cups my cheek in his hand.

"You have been in this kingdom the whole time?" Queen Mary looks at me through her tears.

"Yes, your Highness," trying to remember my manners, "I was raised here with my brother and sister."

"Please do not address us like that; we are your parents. You may call us Dad and Mom," she says.

"We are comfortable with it if you are. It has been a very long time since we heard those words," Tony says as he looks at me with a kind smile.

"I will try; it may take me a short time to get used to it," trying to stop crying for a minute.

"We can live with that. Just take your time; when you feel comfortable, you may start calling us that," my dad says tenderly.

My Mom pulls back, smiling at me. "Now that you have been truly found, I want to throw a homecoming ball for you. We have been waiting a very long time to do this."

"Can I make one request at that, please?" looking at these people that have missed me so much.

"Anything you want, dear," my dad says.

"I want to invite my family to this. I want to see them letting the people that have spent their life with me know that I am doing fine," hoping they will not say no.

"We can arrange that," mom says with a nice tone.

"Let's show you to your room that we have been fixing up for you since we received the news about you," dad says as he wraps his arms around me.

"We also want to give you a tour. I think you will enjoy living here" mom pecks my cheek.

"Sire, do you need me any more right now?" Alex asks.

"No, go start the invitations for this Friday's ball. All Nobel's and Royalty will be on that list along with her family."

"Yes, sire," he bows then exits the room, but as he passes my mom, she whispers in his ear, making him nod his head.

"Now, for the tour," she looks at me with a bright smile, "I know it will take you a while to find your way around here. If you need help, please ask anyone here; they will get you where you need to go."

We walk up the grand staircase where the tour starts. We walk down a beautiful hallway that has gold floors as it leads to a royal gallery where there are pictures of all the rulers for over five hundred years. Then I am shown a sitting area for tea that my mom tells me we have every day at ten. Next is the grand dining room, living room, the hallway that goes to some of the bedrooms, a beautiful ballroom that is breathtaking. It has gold on the walls and floors, white accents around the gold trims, the floor is a beautiful polished marble, while the ceiling has blue accents in a dome that holds one of the biggest chandeliers I have ever seen. We walk down a long brown hall towards the library; then another one opened up into a huge throne room. Finally, a huge set of double doors are opened where we walk into my bedroom. It is done all in white with a ton of gold accents. The huge bed is in the center of the room with a columned fence around it. Some columns stretch from floor to ceiling that the private barrier, as they call it, is supported with. The bed is king-size with a gold comforter. My bathroom is huge with a round tub, huge walk-in shower that is done in gold/beige colors with marble columns around the tub that connect to the glass shower. I have a white double sink vanity then a spa area in the back of the bathroom with another huge walk-in shower.

"If you want to change anything, you are more than welcome to," my dad says.

"I like it just the way it is. This is beautiful," running my fingers along all the white silk curtains.

They lead me out of my room, going down another hall just a short distance from mine. We stop in front of another set of huge doors.

"This is our bedroom if you need us for anything," mom says as the doors are opened for her.

We walk into a grand room done in gold/brown colors with all kinds of royalty designs all around the room. Huge chandeliers are hanging from their ceiling also.

"Wow, this is a beautiful room," trying to take it all in.

"Thank you," mom hugs me, "we like it very much. Now let's go down the back stairs and to the gardens," as they guide me out of the room and down a huge back staircase that stops in front of huge glass doors. They are opened where we walk out into the gardens.

We walk around a ton of paths that go in all different directions. There are flowers everywhere, fountains, archways that go into other parts of the gardens, grass paths everywhere then finally we end up in a huge greenhouse.

"We like to come out here to get away from everything. It is nice just to come out here, sit and listen to the birds or other nature sounds that are so lively around this area" my mom sits down on a bench that is nestled in a nice grassy corner.

"I come out here a good bit of thinking or praying while always hopeful for your return. We never gave up on trying to find you" my dad hugs me tightly.

"When Alex said he saw someone who looked just like us, we got so excited" my mom starts to tear up again "he took off after you, but when he came back confirming it was you, we were so relieved. We both held each other and cried for a while from being so happy. Our prayers were answered after so many years of hoping and wishing for your wellness."

"Why did she take me?" tears prick at the corner of my eyes.

"We think she was going to hold you for ransom. Then when the guard caught up with them, they got scared, so you were stashed. We tried to get the information out of them, but they refused to talk. We had to uphold the law killing them. Even when we gave them one last chance, they laughed, saying good luck on finding her" my dad's voice is harsh and full of hatred as he speaks.

"We were scared for you, missed you every day but did everything we could to find you" mom's voice is now full of sadness. "Unfortunately, you disappeared where we had no leads on you at all."

"I somewhat remember a little of my life back then, but I was told it was a dream where I wished I lived here. The two that took me told stories all the time to where eventually it made me think that it was all in a fantasy that my mind had made up. I had a good life with my family that raised me. They always provided for me and gave me what I wanted or needed."

"We are thankful that you had a good upbringing, but now we are going to have to train you the way you should have been raised. We have four days to get you through a ton of classes, proper edict, and clothes for you also," dad tells me.

Mom stands up, still smiling at me. "We need to get you some clothes for the next few days; then you can order what you want to wear. Our seamstress, along with her crew, is waiting on you to take your measurements to get your clothes done."

She takes my arm as we walk back into the castle then to a huge room that has people buzzing around it with all kinds of cloth. They stop bowing as soon as we enter.

A middle-aged woman rushes up to us, "Your Highness, what can I do for you today?"

"I need clothes for my daughter. She needs the correct clothing for a princess" her voice is soft but also demanding.

"Congratulations, mam. I know you have been looking forward to this day for a long time" she looks at me and motions me to a stage-looking area. "Come, let me get your measurements."

She pulls out a measuring tape; notepad then takes all of my sizes down. When she is done, she nods, looking at my mom.

"She will have four dresses done today. I will make sure of it," nodding towards the workers.

"She will need a ball gown for her homecoming announcement on Friday also," mom adds.

"I have the perfect thing in mind for that. She will be the talk of the ball, your Highness, I promise" she scurries off then starts making people pull cloth left and right. We leave, starting towards the dining room.

"May I ask a question?" still not in my comfort zone about this.

"Of course, anything at all. Would you please not hesitate to ask whatever it is you need to know" her voice is soft and soothing?

"Am I the only child?" I see her face fall then she quickly recovers.

"You are. We tried for another one when you were about two, but I had a miscarriage and was told I needed surgery. They removed all of the parts I needed to have children with. We wanted a boy also so you would have a brother to grow up with. We never were able to do that," hearing the sadness in her voice.

I lay my hand on her arm, looking at her sadly. "I am sorry for that."

"That is why we looked for you so hard. You are the only heir to this kingdom. We could not let it fall to the next family in line. Our line has been in this castle for over five hundred years; the other family is not the nicest. You will learn about them this week."

The doors are opened for us as we walk into the dining room, taking our seats. My dad is at the head of the table while my mom sits to his right. I am helped to sit on his left.