[Maeve steps into the palace, and it is just as she remembers from all those years ago, when she would visit with her brother.] 

[Maeve walks into the throne room. The ceilings are tall, and there is a lengthy walk to the throne. In front stands the King and Queen, the parents of the Prince and the three brothers.]

Queen: Hello, boys. Welcome back, Maeve. It has been a long time since I last saw you. 

Maeve: Yes. Where am I sleeping? 

King: You must be exhausted from the drive. We can show you to your room. 

~~~

[Maeve spends most of the day in thought. She wants to cry, but she can’t force her tears out.]

[She drags herself to dinner. All of the human royal family is already seated.]

[The three younger brothers are chattering avidly about some kind of sleepover.]

Oliver: Can we go? Please! We haven’t seen our friends in ages! 

August: Yeah! We never get to see them! 

[Ethan is sitting cross armed, smiling.]

[The king considers for a moment, and then looks at Maeve.]

King: What about Maeve? And are you going, son? 

[The king looks at The Prince and then at Maeve.]

Maeve: I could use a break. 

Prince: Yes. Instead, Maeve and I will watch a movie. 

Oliver: Sounds fine to me! Can we go? Please! Please! Please! 

King: Fine.

[Oliver does an exaggerated celebration, and the younger brothers excuse themselves to pack.]

[The rest of the royal family and Maeve continue to eat dinner. They engage in small talk, mostly attempting to catch up with Maeve.]

[Maeve and the Prince excuse themselves to watch their movie. They place a popcorn bag in the microwave and The Prince stares at it.]

Maeve: Fun fact about popcorn…

Prince: Yeah? 

Maeve: If you stare at it, it cooks faster 

Prince: Oh, come on! It’s fun! Don’t act like you’ve never watched it pop- 

[Maeve stares blankly at Prince] 

Maeve: I’ve never had popcorn. 

Prince: What? 

Maeve: You know how my mother is. She finds it improper. 

Prince: Okay, that’s ridiculous. What do you eat when you watch movies? 

Maeve: We don’t watch movies. The castle’s big enough for us to avoid each other. 

Prince: Wait, have you been alone since we stopped visiting you? 

[Maeve averts her gaze] 

Maeve: I mean… yeah… but I snuck people in. 

Prince: Ooh, what’s his name? 

Maeve: She wasn’t a guy. I’m a lesbian. 

Prince: Oh. 

Maeve: Yep, then my mom found out, she didn’t like it, and she punished me by sending me away. Wasn’t really a good punishment, though. 

Prince: Is that why-

Maeve: She took away the throne from me? Yeah. Probably. But she won’t be able to find a justifiable replacement. My brother’s been missing for years. 

Prince: Are you sure? 

Maeve: Yep, the popcorn is ready. 

[Maeve pulls the popcorn out of the microwave, and they go into the surprisingly casual living room to watch a movie] 

[Prince grabs the remote] 

Prince: What would you like to watch? 

Maeve: I don’t mind. You pick. 

[The Prince finds a cheesy horror movie. They make fun of it, but some of the scares actually terrify them.]

[By the time the movie finishes, Maeve is too tired to watch anything else.]

Maeve: I’ll go to bed now. Goodnight- 

Prince: Wait, Maeve? 

Maeve: Yes? 

Prince: I’m sorry about how I’ve been treating you… it’s been so long since we’ve seen each other and- I don’t know how to be normal, really. 

Maeve: You were really… judgmental when I saw you… 

Prince: I’m sorry… my intentions were to protect you… but I just pushed you away. I really am sorry… I shouldn’t be making your life difficult. 

[Maeve gives the Prince a hug] 

Maeve: Thank you for caring about me. I also started pushing you away, which probably didn’t help. 

Prince: Yeah… also I wanted to say that I love your wings, for the record. They look awesome. 

Maeve: Thanks. 

[Maeve heads off to her room.] 

[Prince continues his binge of a certain tv series]

[Maeve lays her head down to rest. Although this isn’t her home, she realizes that this is probably the best place for her to be right at this moment.]

[She pulls Prince’s blanket that she “borrowed” closer to herself. Her eyes close]

~~~

[The Prince of the Human Region is tired. He realizes that Maeve has stolen his blanket, and although he could fetch another one somewhere in the palace, that blanket is the most comfortable and his favorite.]

[He felt like giving her the blanket brought them closer together in a way]

[He doesn’t agree with Maeve’s mother at all. In fact, he is constantly horrified at her actions.]

[He reaches the Princess’s room, and carefully opens the door. He sees Maeve, still curled up with the blanket, and he smiles] 

~~~

[The next day, the three younger brothers are recovering from their wild sleepover, all splayed out on separate couches.]

[Maeve sits, curled up in a recliner, on her phone] 

[August curiously looks over to see what she is looking at. It seems to be some sort of online forum] 

August: Maeve. What are you reading?

Maeve: Royal family conspiracy theories. They’re kinda funny. 

August: How do you even stand that stuff? Doesn’t it make you nervous? 

Maeve: Nah. Here listen to this one, “Princess Maeve murdered the Prince of the human kingdom in order to run off with the secret fifth royal human brother” 

August: What!?!

[The group bursts out into laughter] 

Maeve: I told you, they’re stupid. “Second oldest human brother wears fake wings” 

Ethan: Oh my gosh, why don’t I get a name? 

Maeve: Yeah, they don’t seem to care about your names. Oh, they have my secret skincare routine on here. I didn’t know I had one! 

[The group laughs again, then settles down. August suddenly turns to face Maeve.] 

August: Maeve, do you want to come to a get together thing with us?

Maeve: Uh… what kind of get together? 

Ethan: Just something casual, with a lot of friends. 

Maeve: A party? 

Oliver: Yep- but we’re gonna sell it to dad as a casual get together to celebrate the holidays. 

Maeve: Sounds like fun. I’m in. 

[August and Oliver head off to go find their dad. In the meantime, Prince walks in.] 

Prince: So… where are they off to? 

Ethan: They’re getting dad to convince him to let us go to a party. 

[Ethan smiles at The Prince]

Ethan: Wanna come? 

Prince: No thanks. I have a lot of stuff to do. 

Maeve: Stuff? 

Prince: Boring Prince publicity photo shoot stuff… 

Maeve: Ah. I guess I wouldn’t know. I wonder if they have photoshoots for dethroned royals… 

[Maeve smiles] 

Prince: Was that a rare Maeve joke? 

[Just then, the King of the Human Region  walks in with his two sons. He is extremely tall] 

Oliver: -so like I was saying we will be very safe, no drugs, no alcohol, we will hold ourselves to the highest standards. 

King: Son, you know how unsafe it is! I can’t let you go run all willy nilly at some party. 

August: It’s a get together! 

King: I know your code words. It’s a party. 

Maeve: If I may… 

[The king adjusts his stance and looks at Maeve.] 

Maeve: We promise that we will stay together the whole party. We promise that we won’t drink. We will all arrive and leave together, and it’s just our friends, we trust them. 

King: Ugh, you are all killing me! Fine, you can go. But if anything happens- 

Ethan: We will call you, dad. It’s okay. 

~~~ 

[Ethan is driving. He pulls up to a huge mansion with lots of lights and music.] 

Maeve: This is your “small get together?” This place is huge! 

Oliver: Nah, it’s smaller on the inside. 

[Maeve stretches her wings. She is wearing a nice sweater and glittery pants.] 

[Ethan is wearing a sequined bodysuit and pants, while Oliver is wearing a nice flannel and jeans. August is wearing a loose top with black jeans] 

[They all get out of the car and head into the party. Inside, the music is extremely loud, but the lights are dim.]

Maeve: Ok, let’s stay toget- 

[Ethan spots an interesting guy and girl. Some of Oliver’s friends grab him and drag him off.]

Ethan: I’ll be right back- I just have to go… talk- 

Maeve: Ethan, Oli! We promised! 

Ethan: I know! Five minutes! 

Oliver: Yeah, what he said! 

[August shrugs at Maeve.] 

August: Wanna go get a soda? 

Maeve: Yeah… sure. 

[They walk over to the bar, and order a soda each, like nerds, but August gets caught up in talking with a friend pal buddy] 

[Maeve takes a sip of her drink, and notices a distinct burning and stinging. She wonders if August grabbed something alcoholic, but she gives in to irresponsibility and continues drinking.]

[She wanders aimlessly around the mansion, looking at all of the decorations, maybe even looking for a familiar demon boy.] 

[She reaches a balcony, looking out to the endless ocean.]

[She starts to cough, at first it’s normal, but eventually she is coughing more than she is breathing.] 

[For some reason, this sensation reminds her of when she was stabbed.]

[She collapses to the ground, unconscious.] 

~~~

[When Maeve regains her consciousness, she feels an odd sharpness in her throat.]

[The sharpness turns into a pain, and she realizes she is no longer horizontal, but being held up by someone.]

[When she opens her eyes, she sees in  a nearby mirror that someone is standing behind her holding a dagger to her throat.] 

[The person holds the dagger tighter, drawing blood. Once he realizes Maeve is awake, he kicks her to the ground. He pulls out a vile of gray liquid and forces it down Maeve’s throat.]

[She gags and coughs, and feels that familiar sensation as to when she was stabbed.]

[Her tired eyes close once again.]

~~~

[Once Maeve opens her eyes, she is finally home.]

[She is in a dining room in her palace. She sits upon a chair that had been pulled away from the table.]

[As she looks up, she sees her mother and a man with demon wings. She also sees the man who made her drink poison leaning against the doorway.]

[She coughs violently.]

Mother: Princess Maeve. I assume you’ve seen your brother, Felix. 

[Maeve’s coughing slows, and she speaks, her voice raspy and throat sore.]

Maeve: Felix? 

[She looks up at him, memories from all those years ago flooding back into her head.]

[However, her current situation snaps her out of the nostalgia.]

Maeve: He was going to kill me! 

Mother: Yes. In order for him to take the throne, he must kill you first. 

Maeve: WHAT? You want to kill me?!?

[Maeve’s mother looks away.]

Mother: He is powerful. Unlike you. You are completely useless. Nobody will remember you. You are insignificant. 

Maeve: You can’t just kick me out! I’m your daughter- 

Mother: And Felix is my son. Maeve, this is your father. Of course, you remember your twin brother, Felix. 

Maeve: You blamed me, all those years, when you knew exactly where they were. 

Mother: Of course I did. Now, we will unite the demon and angel regions under one crown, and your brother has as much right to the throne, if not, more. 

Maeve: We are twins! 

[Maeve’s mother starts to pace, her posture straight and steady.]

Mother: When I caught you in the gardens, flirting with some girl, I was shocked. Can you imagine how disappointed I was when you told me you wouldn’t continue our bloodline? How was I supposed to accept that? 

Maeve: That’s not what I said at all… I just wanted love. 

[She holds Felix’s shoulder.]

Mother: But your twin, he is ahead in every subject. He is powerful, capable, and most of all, willing to marry a girl to continue our strong bloodline. You are faulty and a mistake. You should have never been born.

Maeve: I thought you loved me.  

Mother: Hahah, loved you? Are you kidding me? Who could ever love something as awful as you? Felix, take her to her room, and let the poison do its job. I’m disappointed you couldn’t kill her. That would have sorted things out quicker.

[Felix roughly grabs Maeve, avoiding eye contact. He drags her to her room. She falls to the floor, phone clattering out of her pocket] 

[Felix picks up the phone.] 

Maeve:…leave it… please. 

[Felix hesitates for a moment, then lets the phone clatter to the floor, a foot away from Maeve’s outstretched palm.] 

[Felix locks the doors and windows, trapping Maeve.]

[Maeve, still weak from the poison meant to target both angels and demons, stretches her fingers to reach the phone.]

~~~