"Princess, Princess Laina! Can you hear my voice?" a voice asked anxiously.
The young woman who seemed to be resting peacefully on the bed did not respond immediately. But beneath her eyelids, her eyes were moving.
"Are you sure you saw the princess move, Margaret? You have been taking care of her tirelessly for the last few days. Maybe your vision is-"
Before the male voice could finish his words of concern, a female voice cut in, "Nonsense! I know what I saw and I swear by it."
The female voice belonged to Margaret, Princess Laina's handmaid. The crown princess had been the victim of a failed assassination attempt. She had suffered a blow to the right side of her forehead which rendered her unconscious.
That was three days ago.
Doctor Harris looked at the sleeping princess once more. Unlike what the handmaiden had claimed, he did not notice any changes in the princess. But one thing was for certain. She was still alive and breathing.
When he was first called into the palace, Doctor Harris was quite certain that the crown princess would not live past the first night. She had a high fever that remained throughout most of the night. Margaret took care of her tirelessly.
The fever finally broke after dawn and her situation stabilized.
"Doctor Harris, you have to believe me!" Margaret begged with tears in her eyes.
She knew what she saw.
The crown princess's hand moved two hours ago when she came to change the towel on the princess's forehead. Surprised, Margaret called out to her and she could see the princess's eyes moving beneath her eyelids.
Doctor Harris sighed. Everyone knew how loyal Margaret was to the crown princess. They were like two peas in the pod. Wherever the princess went, she went too.
He slowly turned to look glance over at the princess and said, "Margaret… you must be tired. Look, her highness's eyes aren't moving. They are clo-"
Doctor Harris starred with his mouth wide open. He could not believe his eyes. Margaret, who was ready to hear the doctor's words of disappointment yet another time was surprised when he stopped mid-sentence.
She looked up to see his shocked expression with his mouth wide open.
"Doctor Harris, it is rude of you to stare like-" Margaret had turned to look at the crown princess.
Her eyes were wide open!
"Pri.... princess… Princess Laina?" Margaret's voice was quivering.
She had almost given up hope. The princess turned to look at Margaret. She blinked a few times. The princess wanted to speak but her throat was parched. She raised her hand to touch her throat, her face creased in discomfort.
"I'll… I'll bring you some water immediately, your highness!" Margaret exclaimed.
The handmaiden turned around immediately and scrambled clumsily towards the nearby desk. She quickly poured a glass of water and handed it to Princess Laina. Laina received it gratefully and gulped down the water.
Seconds later she finished the glass of water and handed it back to the handmaiden. Laina turned to look around her surroundings. She creased her eyebrows. She did not seem to recognize where she was.
Doctor Harris, finally recovered from his shock, immediately began to examine the crown princess's vitals. Everything seemed normal to him. When he realized the princess was staring at him, he felt a little uncomfortable.
But the way she looked at him sent him a clear message. She did not seem to know who he was.
"Your highness, do you remember who I am?" he asked politely while pointing to himself.
The princess shook her head.
"What about me, princess? Do you remember me?" Margaret asked.
Laina shook her head again.
"It seems the princess is suffering from amnesia," Doctor Harris declared.
He further explained that this was likely due to the head injury she had suffered during the assassination attempt. While he was explaining, Laina subconsciously lifted her hand to touch the wound on her head.
"Your highness, do you recall anything, anything at all?" he asked her.
Laina folded her arms, deep in thought. She tried her best to recall what had happened prior to her waking up. But everything was hazy and blurry. All she could remember was that an unknown force pushed her, causing her to fall and hit her head.
Blood was trickling down her forehead as her mind began to spin. Just before she loses consciousness, she vaguely recalled seeing a man in a hooded cloak. He was a little taller than she was.
She could not recall any of his features but she remembered one thing was for certain.
He had a pin in the shape of the blazing sun on the collar of his shirt.
Over the next few days, Laina slowly remembered who she was. She was Crown Princess Laina De Solara, future Queen of Kinshearth. Her parents passed away six years prior during an assassination attempt.
As per Kinshearth's tradition, Laina's coronation was only to be conducted after she turned 25. Ever since she was young, she had been trained and educated by the top scholars of Kinshearth.
Despite some of her memories returning to her, most of it remained murky. Luckily, Margaret was there to fill in the blanks for her. She patiently answered all of Laina's questions.
"You seem to know everything pretty well, Margaret," Laina chuckled as she took a sip from her cup of tea.
Surprised by the princess's sudden remark Margaret almost dropped the pot of tea in her hands. She carefully placed it down on the bedside table before letting out a nervous laugh.
"Well, I was right there by your side. So, that is why," she fumbled at her reply.
Laina did not pay too much attention to it, and Margaret was thankful that she let it go. The most recent assassination attempt on her life worried Laina. She was lucky to have survived but she wanted to recall what had happened.
But no matter how much she tried, she could not remember anything else from the night of the assassination attack. Though she remembered the man in the hooded cloak, she was not certain if that man was real, or a figment of her imagination.
After all, the assassins had been killed and accounted for. According to the reports, she had killed them both with her own two hands. If that was so, who was the mysterious hooded stranger?
Why was he there that night? Was he working together with the assassins? Or did he have another purpose?
After a few more days of bed rest. Laina was ready to get back to her royal duties. She was in her study room, looking through the documents that had piled up during her absence.
While she was recuperating, the ministers and Margaret had taken over her duties. But there were still various important matters that required her attention.
"I want a nationwide warrant for this man. Any information or clues to his whereabouts. I want everything and anything we can find. Those who provide the details will be handsomely rewarded," she declared.
"I will see to it personally, Crown Princess Laina," Grand General Tobias declared as he saluted her.
Just then, there was a knock on the door followed by the turning of the knob. A few moments later, a royal messenger entered the room with a silver tray in his hands. On it, was an invitation letter with a gold wax seal.
"Your highness, you have an invitation from the Everfree Nation for the biennial Royal Masquerade Ball," the royal messenger announced.