The next five months went by in a blur for the girl formally know as Princess Arianna. Now she was Anna, a poor girl slaving away in the kitchens of Lord Cameron's castle. Every day, she woke up in the tiny room she shared with one of the cooks, put on her servant's dress and apron, ran water through her cropped hair (a guard had cut it off after she accidentally set it on fire by standing too close to a lit torch), and prepared to help cook, dress, and serve meals to the lord and his family. At first, she hated her position, having to carry heavy platters of succulent food she couldn't touch back and forth, then stand next to the table with a jug of wine or water for hours waiting for someone to call for their cup to be refilled. It was beneath her. But eventually, she accepted that this was her life now. She began to forget that she had ever been a noble, laughing along with the other servants when they quietly cracked jokes about their pampered masters, passing them bits and crumbs of bread and meat the cooks secretly set aside, and telling everyone she met a fake story about her growing up in some dirt-poor village she remembered from a map her father kept in his study.
Then, one day she was summoned by Lord Cameron after serving him his dinner. She made her way to his chambers, unsure of why she, a lowly server, had been called.
Inside, she was met by a woman she understood to be Lord Cameron's new wife--not Alina's mother. She was clothed in a great dress of purple and white, with pale skin and red lips and her hair wrapped up in a head covering that fashionable aristocratic women wore. Her eyes, lined with dark makeup, shimmered with a faint hint of gold.
"Where is milord?"
"He is out training with the knights. It was I who summoned you."
"Why, milady?"
"Fall to your knees."
"What?"
"Kneel."
Anna felt herself kneel before the woman as though an invisible force had pushed her down. Suddenly, she felt a chill as the room became dark and the door slowly closed and locked itself.
Lord Cameron's wife seated herself and started rubbing the red paint off her lips, staining her gloves with red and white as her makeup smeared, revealing tan flesh underneath. She undid her covering and slipped it off to reveal pointed ears and white hair colored with streaks of white.
Kyrena, the bandit queen.
Anna jumped to her feet. "What have you done with milady, witch?!"
"Calm yourself, girl. The good lord remains a bachelor still. Now, let me clear your head."
She snapped her fingers, and suddenly every memory Anna had forgotten came flooding back. She remembered who she was: not a dirty peasant girl named Anna, but Arianna, princess of the realm and first of her blood.
"Wha-"
"You seem to be quite content, Your Highness, with the life I gave you. A chance to see how we commoners live. True, I had to enchant you so you would forget who were and become a good servant girl, but you did the rest. And now I'm here to check on your progress."
"Progress?"
"Yes. I want to offer you a choice, Princess. With just a wave of my hand, I could give you back everything. Your fine clothes, your life of luxury. I would even restore your lovely hair. Or with one snap, I could do the opposite. You'd forget your old life, this time for good. And you would spend the rest of your days here, as a kitchen wench. All I need is for you to choose."
"Is this some kind of trick? One of your illusions?"
"No illusions. Or tricks. Whatever you may believe, Princess, I pity you. You didn't choose this life, or the one you had before. So now, I'll let you decide which world you want to live in."
Arianna thought it over. She decided...