Natalia

“What are you talking about?” I exclaim, shaking Ashlyn by the shoulders. “We were literally kidnapped!”

“Don’t be so dramatic,” she says, prying my hands off her. “Kidnapping is, like, dirty and gross. We aren’t tied up in the back of some sleazy dude’s van. I mean, look at this place! It’s gorgeous, and—oh, Nat. The clothes.”

I can’t be bothered to pay attention to the dress she’s wearing. I’m completely blown away by her response to all of this. “Has it occurred to you that we just completely vanished from our friends in the middle of a party? You don’t think they’re out there looking for us right now?”

“Okay,” Ashlyn resigns. “We’ll ask if we can get a message out to them or something. And when we get back and they see we’re all right, they’ll totally understand.”

“Understand?” I cry. “Understand? Ashlyn, I don’t even understand what’s happening right now. You might be fine with this whole vanishing act, but my parents need me. Are you forgetting? I have to be there to take care of them. They’re going to freak out when I don’t come home!”

A woman buzzes by with a teal dress. She’s got a needle and thread between her lips, and she plucks it out to smile at me. “I saw this and thought it would be perfect on you. It matches your hair.”

I squint at her and wave her off. The woman seems confused—obviously only trying to do her job, but she vanishes into the crowd nonetheless. I cross my arms and glare at Ashlyn. “I can’t believe you.”

“Oh, just lighten up,” Ash says. “Go with it. At least until we know what’s going on.”

I don’t like her tone. She’s too careless, too cool. Too accepting of being dragged into an entirely new world and torn away from everything we know. What’s wrong with her? Has she been drugged?

If it had just been me pulled into this place, and Ash was still back at home, she’d be losing her mind over my disappearance right about now. We need to find a way out of here. Right this very second.

I take in the room with my eyes, searching for an exit. Trying to analyze any possible escape route. Until I find one, I’m not leaving Ash’s side.

Then, a low, vibrating buzz begins to rumble through the room. The women who are styling some of the other captives begin moving faster, pinning things into places and sprinkling on the last of their makeup. The rumbling grows louder. The heavy, lumbering footsteps of someone approaching.

Then the door swings open.

All the tall, beautiful women in the room begin to bow. All the well-dressed human girls stand, confused.

Two men enter, capes trailing at their backs. One I decipher as the man I met in the hallway—Prince Kallen. The man beside him looks eerily similar, but wears much more superiority on his shoulders. A slanted crown sits atop his head, long auburn hair laying perfectly at his shoulders. Is this is the brother king the nurse had mentioned?

The two royal men and their entourage stride into the room, the king with his arms tossed out wide. “Welcome, my very special guests!” he announces. “It seems our seamstresses have done a lovely job selecting your gowns for the evening.”

My heart beats in my ears. If this is the man in charge, I need to speak to him. I need to know why he’s brought us all here. But a crowd has gathered around him, and I can only make out the top of his head.

I start to shove my way to the front to get a good look at him. If anyone is getting an explanation here tonight, it’s me. I manage to squeeze my way through the sea of gowns and glittering jewels until I find myself feet in front of him. The king pauses, mid-speech, to look at me. He seems confused and almost startled by my attire.

I’m not surprised as to why. The rest of the girls are dressed so elegantly, and I’m still in my stained, ragged clothes. Certainly, I stick out like a sore thumb.

The king looks me up and down and blinks his eyes, but before he says a word, I force myself into an awkward bow and glance up at him. “Your Majesty,” I say, straightening up to look him in the eye. My words are more of a demand than a question: “With all due respect, what the hell are we doing here?”