The inside of the castle was like nothing Gwen had ever seen before. Shining marble floors on staircases shone around her and plush rugs covered the floors throughout the hallways. She ran her hand along the beautiful tapestries that covered the walls. Gwen's eyes were huge as she took in the huge arched doorways.

The guard impatiently muttered for her to keep up as he led the way to the room she would be staying. The entire castle was luxurious, unlike anything Gwen had come across in her village. Guards stood around the castle at perfectly spaced intervals, standing straight in their pressed crimson uniforms.

It was impossible for Gwen to think straight; the twists and turns of the halls had her completely lost. Servants scurried around them carrying plates of food and hampers of clothing. None of them made eye contact as they hurried to wherever they were off to.

The guard came to an abrupt halt in front of a large door, and Gwen ran straight into his back.

"This is your room," he said, glaring at her.

Gwen wasn't sure if he was mad at her for running into him or getting him in trouble with the prince.

"If you need anything you can ring for a servant," the man finished, before turning and marching stiffly back the way they had came.

Gwen marvelled at her room. A large, four-poster bed dominated the room and beautiful artwork covered the walls. A grin spread across her face and she ran through the room, jumping onto the bed as if she was a child.

Gwen felt euphoric; for the first time in her life she didn't have a care in the world. She wasn't worrying about Kai and his scar, she wasn't worrying about her father's job at the castle, and she wasn't worried about how her mother would afford to feed them all.

Gwen paused, feeling guilty. Maybe she didn't have to worry about those things, but her family still did. Gwen had left them without even saying goodbye. Not to mention all the other people in the villages. Many of them were worse off than Gwen's family and by the looks of this castle the kingdom could easily afford to feed them all.

A knock on the door jolted Gwen out of her thoughts.

"Come in," she called.

The door pushed open slowly and a small mousy woman walked in holding a steaming plate of food.

"Th-the Prince thought you might be hungry," she stammered, hurrying to place the plate on the dresser beside Gwen.

Gwen gave the maid her friendliest smile, but it only seemed to make the poor women even more nervous.

"Thank you," she said.

The maid took this as a dismissal and practically ran out of the room, never looking back at Gwen.

As she ate her food Gwen pondered over the maid's attitude. The servants must not be allowed to interact with anyone who lives in the castle, she decided. The woman seemed almost afraid to look at her.

Gwen shuddered at the thought of serving the king. Although she had never seen him, all the rumors she had heard suggested he was not a kind man. Any type of treason was punishable by death, and there were all sorts of other punishments for thieves and other criminals. The state of his kingdom also didn't win him any points in Gwen's mind. He had so much power yet he didn't do anything to help his people.

All of the king's efforts seemed to be towards maintaining control. The ever-growing army made of young soldiers and beasts served him in all sorts of ways. One of the main tasks of the army was to contain any kind of rebellion. In any situation there were always people unhappy with those in control, and the king was dead set on keeping the threats to his power to a minimum.

There were always rumors of rebellions against the kingdom. People would try to join and maybe they would take down a couple soldiers. In the end the efforts of the rebels were futile. They were never a match for the army of the king.

Recently there had been talk about a larger, more serious resistance towards the king. They sabotaged shipments of supplies to the kingdom and killed any soldiers they can in contact with. The king was infuriated by the lapse of control, and anyone known to have anything to do with the rebellion was hung publically.

Gwen shuddered, brushing off thoughts of people she had known being hung.

After finishing her meal Gwen decided to explore the castle. She wasn't tired enough to sleep yet and the guard had never said she couldn't leave the room. She wandered around the halls. She peered into a busy kitchen and took in the smells. The scent of fresh bread overwhelmed her as she breathed in happily. She continued through the halls and soon she became hopelessly lost.

She started heading back in a direction she thought would take her to her room but she didn't recognize any of her surroundings. She came upon a door that looked familiar and pulled it open.

Gwen's mouth fell open, in awe. Lining every wall up to the roof were books. More books than Gwen had ever seen in her life. She had stumbled across the castle's library. It was extremely quiet. She didn't see anyone so she began to look around.

Gwen pulled book after book off the shelves, examining them thoroughly before carefully returning them to their spot. She was thrilled at the amount of books there were. At home Gwen always read the same ten books her family owned over and over. Anytime she had the chance to read something new she jumped on it, but books were often hard to come upon in a town full of working people.

Gwen decided on a book and took it over to the cozy looking chairs by a fire. She pulled up her legs and was immediately absorbed in the book. Gwen found herself immersed in the book immediately. She felt herself beginning to get tired, but she ignored it. She told herself she could get through one more page before she headed back to her room.

"You can't be in here," a deep, rich voice jolted Gwen awake.

She looked up, startled. The fire had gone out and the library was almost dark. She had fallen asleep reading the book. She rubbed a kink in her neck and peered up at the looming figure.

The book fell to the floor. The voice belonged to none other than Prince Rowan, who had ordered she be let into the castle. She hastily picked up the book and jumped to her feet.

"I-I'm sorry, I really didn't know, the door was open and-" Gwen stopped, looking at the Prince.

He didn't seem particularly angry. His dark hair was ruffled, looking like he had also just woken up. From the pictures of him that Gwen had seen his face seemed much more relaxed than it usually was.

He had a very serious face, Gwen noted. Between his square jaw and hard eyes he was very intimidating. There was something about him that seemed warm though, she wasn't exactly afraid of him, but she felt like she should be.

"Just stay in your room until someone fetches you in the morning for the trials," he said gruffly, not meeting her eyes. "This is the King's personal library, only the royal family can be in here."

Before she could stop herself Gwen blurted out, "All these books for five people?"

The royal family consisted of King Gabriel and Queen Genevieve, along with Prince Rowan, the oldest, and heir to the throne, the middle child, Prince Max, and the youngest, Princess Quinn.

The royal family was well known by their people. The two youngest children charmed the citizens; their blonde hair and big blue eyes irresistible to all. Although the people adored the children, their feelings weren't the same towards their parents.

Gwen was astounded by the fact that they kept all of these books to themselves, especially when half the population didn't have access to books at all.

A startled laugh came out of the Prince and she smiled at the sound. It was a nice laugh, deep and throaty and very surprised. He had the laugh of a person who wasn't used to being challenged, which he probably wasn't. He gazed down at her, their height difference was very apparent to Gwen. He had at least six inches on her, she noted.

"Would you like to take it up with the king?" he asked her. "I'm sure he would speak with you if I asked."

Gwen shook her head quickly.

"No, never mind, forget I said anything," she said, almost pleadingly.

"Alright," he said, his voice filled with humor. "Back to your room then."

Gwen dropped her gaze to the ground, embarrassed.

"I don't know the way," she mumbled. "I got lost. I'm sorry, your highness."

A low chuckle escaped the Prince.

"Rowan," he said and Gwen looked at him inquisitively. She was now on a first name basis with the Prince?

"Come on. We'll find a guard to take you back to your room."

Just outside the library stood a guard. Rowan murmured to him quietly, gesturing to Gwen. The guard nodded at her to follow him and she did so quickly, but stopped to look back.

Prince Rowan was still standing in the doorway, a wry smile on his face.

"My name's Gwen," she said quietly, before hurrying after the guard.

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I'd just like to say thanks so much to anyone who is reading this. 200 reads on this story is incredible, it's more than I ever imagined when I was writing this. So thanks for your votes and comments, they are greatly appreciated. 

xoxo Emma