THIS STORY IS MY OWN CREATION! ANY KIND OF COPYING OR PLAGIARISM OF MY STORIES WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED IN ANY FORM OR FASHION. I OWN THE COPYWRITE OF THIS STORY!

"Mom, Abby, and I are going to town for a while. I need to pick up some new items that have been requested at the cloth vendor," trying to slide out of the house quickly.

"Be careful as usual, please," my mom's voice rings down the grand staircase from her sewing room.

"We will," Abby pipes in cheerfully. "I want to see the new dance they are going to do for the lost princess. You know her birthday was yesterday?" she looks at me with her eyes brightly shining.

I hear the sewing machine stop where mom walks out with a frown on her face. Then whatever was there is gone in a flash.

"What happened to her? I have never heard the story much. A little here and there, but you know how rumors are. Did she die or run away?" my sister's face is sad at this question.

"I heard she was kidnapped nineteen years ago then disappeared. The king and queen have been looking for her ever since but have never found her. They are not giving up hope like a lot of people do, most of the kingdom have told them to stop looking, but they refuse to accept she is dead. They want her back so she can marry Prince William since they were betrothed when she was born. According to the news, they did that so they could unite the two kingdoms together, having a bigger and better ruling with both kingdoms under their rule," my brother says in a flat voice.

"How do you know so much about that son?" dad has just walked out of his office into the room.

"David, my best friend. His parents have worked at the palace for years, so he has heard all kinds of hearsay about what happened," he answers.

"You can not always believe what you hear, son," my dad calmly says.

"I know, but that story came from the king and queen themselves to their head security. He is still roaming the countryside looking for her with the hope that she can be found," crossing his arms.

"Matt," my mom looks a little nervous now, "Go with them, please. To keep them safe."

"No, mom, please! They are going to spend hours shopping and looking around. I hate that," clenching his fist.

I lean forward, whispering in his ear, "You can leave us along once we arrive going see your friends."

He turns to me, grinning while nodding his head. We all head out to walk down the long dirt road that leads to town. Once we get there, he breaks off going to find his friends that are somewhere talking or looking at girls. He loves to hang out with them.

"Ooooh!" Abby points at him as he leaves "he is going to be in trouble."

"No, I told him once he got us here, he could leave. They just said to come with us to keep us safe, not that he had to stay with us the entire time. He will be back here in two hours to walk us back home. There is nothing bad that will happen to us while we are here," giving her a hard look.

"I won't say anything. He did do what our parents told him to by escorting us here safely."

We walk around the market for a short time, looking at all the new items that were not here last week seeing if there is anything new that we would like to have. All of a sudden, we hear shouts and cheers along the streets. Hoofbeats are heard as a huge group of men dressed in the kingdom colors approach, heading towards the castle. That must mean that the Head of Security is back with his army. Rushing to an opening that we see squeezing in, watching as the huge line of men and horses approach us. Suddenly, one man in the front looks over at me, stopping his horse immediately. He gives me a very long hard look before he continues down the street.

"I wonder what that was all about?" Abby scratches her head "why did he stare at you like that? It was almost like he knew you or something."

"I do not think so. He might have been looking at me because we are never here in town when they come through or might have thought that we were newcomers," watching as they disappear around the corner of the road.

"I don't know; he had a weird look on his face to me," strangely looking at me.

"It's nothing. Come on; we have to grab the last little bit of stuff we need, then meet Matt in thirty minutes to go back home," dragging her back to the market.

We go to the vendors that I need to see getting the items we ordered or told them I would purchase the next time we came back into the marketplace. We meet up with Matt to start heading back down the road towards the house. The sound of rapid approaching hoofbeats is coming from behind us, so we move over into a single file on the edge of the road to let the rider pass, but the horse is pulled to a halt behind us.

"Excuse me, miss?" a very handsome man on a huge black steed has come up behind us "can I have a quick word with you?"

"Who me?" looking at the man that was staring me down earlier.

"Yes, miss, please just for a minute" his eyes are soft but begging for me to talk to him.

Looking at Matt and Abby, I walk off towards him as he jumps off his horse. We walk a small distance away from my siblings when he says, "I have a few questions for you, please."

"What can I help you with, sir" remembering he is from the palace.

"What is your name" as he slowly looks over my facial features.

"Maggie Callaway, sir," fiddling with my finger a little.

"How old are you?" looking at my curly blonde hair.

"Just turned twenty-one yesterday; why?" trying to figure out where he is going with these questions about my personal life.

"Have you live here your whole life?" he looks at me with a hint of tiredness on his face.

"Yes, sir," I nod, "my parents were killed in a flood when I was two years old, so I live with now the people who took me in then eventually adopted me."

"Who were you real parents?" his eyes have gotten a spark in them now.

"Scott and Donna Murray were my real parents. After they died, my parents kept me raising me as their own. I live with Chris and Peggy Callaway now."

He takes a deep, sharp breath while a wave of relief washes over his face. "You live here in the kingdom, correct?"

"Yes, sir, on the outskirts of our parent's house," pointing in the direction we were going.

"Thank you so much. I am sorry for inconveniencing you. Please, continue on your way" he turns towards his horse, mounting it very quickly.

He gives us all a nod then spurs his horse, taking off towards the palace rapidly. I walk back over where they look at me with questions on their faces.

"He just wanted to know who my real parents were and if I have lived here my whole life. He then apologized for bothering me" as we start back down the road.

"That's weird" Matt looks at me in a sideways glance. "I wonder why he wanted to talk to you?"

"Maybe he likes her," Abby says in a chipper voice. Her mind is always on boys.

We laugh as we walk back to the house. When we get home, of course, Abby spills everything that happened to our parents.

"Did you tell him our names?" dad looks a little nervous now.

"I told them I lived with you now, but he wanted to know my biological parent's names," sitting down on the couch slowly.

"And you told him?" now mom's voice is very nervous.

"Well, yes, he is from the palace. Why was that wrong to do?" seeing something is now very wrong with both of them.

They look at each other with a look that I can not quite understand.

"What's wrong?" now Matt has concerned in his voice, "you have that look like something is wrong with what she said."

"We need to really talk to you, Maggie. I mean, really talk to you about something" my dad is rubbing his hand on the back of his neck.

"To the dining room then," Abby bounces towards it.

"Alone!" my mother burst it out too quickly.

"No," Matt comes and stands beside me, "something is off about this, so we all need to know what is going on here."

"Not now. this is very important" my dad's voice is sharp as a knife.

All of a sudden, there are hard knocks on the front door. "I got it" Abby rushes at the door."

"Abby, don't," my mom's voice breaks almost into a sob.

She is at the door before we know opening it—the man from the road steps in with an army of men behind him. Abby backs away very quickly.

"Hello, Maggie. I am so glad I finally found you. My name is Alex," he bows when he gets in front of me.

"Um, you met me earlier when you talked to me asking me those questions," looking at my parents, who are now about to cry.

He stands up straight, looking me in the eyes with much excitement.

"You are Princess Maggie Elizabeth Stanton. I have been looking for you for nineteen years" as he stares down my parents.

"What are you talking about?" Matt comes to my side "she is our sister, not a princess."

"Yes, she is," his gaze had now shifted to my brother, "when she told me who her so-called biological parents were, they are the ones who kidnapped her when she was two years old from her real parents."

"What?" stumbling backward a few steps, "are you sure?"

"Can we sit down talking for a minute? Obviously, your parents never told you the truth" he spears them with the most murderous look.

We walk into the dining room, where my parents sink into their chairs. Alex takes a seat beside me after pulling my chair out.