The Lost Prince.

Both girls agreed it was the worst book they'd ever read.

Em tried to swallow her laughs because they hurt. But she couldn’t completely suppress her giggles as her sister continued ranting and raving.

“First of all, the person that stupid novel was named after never showed up! We don’t even see what happened to him!”

“Uh-huh.”

Maddie pressed the pedal down harder, defying the rain splashing against her windshield.

“Second, why the freak didn’t it warn us that the story was about some insecure jerk as he spirals down into hell?”

“I’m pretty sure it’s the other characters who were in hell,” Em pointed out. “Technically, he got what he wanted in the end.”

Maddie groaned.

“Still the worst protagonist ever. I mean, you know it’s bad when you’re hoping someone would show up and wash the guy down the drain. We should’ve screwed our thumbs off instead of reading it.”

Em couldn’t help it.

She started laughing so hard that it ended in wheezes and coughs. She adjusted her too-thin body against the car door and her pillow to get comfortable. And pretending not to see Maddie’s concerned glances.

“What else?” she huffed.

“What do you mean what else?! I guess it could’ve been good. If some of the better characters at least did well in the end. Why did we read it again?!” her sister fumed. 

“Because two of the characters were–were our namesakes?”

Maddie groaned. “At least your namesake lived,” she grumbled.

“That’s true. She b-became a minor… villainess because of… of neglect and abuse. But she did live. And her position was s-secure from the moment her talent… talent came to light.”

Em had to pause and catch her breath. Her laughter had taken too much oomph out of her.

Meanwhile, Maddie snorted at the word ‘secure’ and shook her head. Then she glanced over at Em and reached for her sister's hand.

“We’re almost there. You should get some sleep.”

“I don’t want to. I don’t want to miss… anything…”

Em was also afraid she’d have nightmares involving needles, possibly waking up during surgery, and MRI tubes. Though did it matter if she dreamed about it or not? Since she was driving toward that reality?

She closed her eyes tightly against a sudden rush of tears.

“It’s going to be exhausting,” Maddie murmured. She resisted the urge to squeeze Em’s frail hand more tightly.

“I’m fine. If-if the Prince had sho-shown up, what do you think… he was…”

Despite her insistence, Em’s eyes were only closed for a few seconds before she was dozing.

In her dreams, she saw a young boy.

Silver hair. Ruby red eyes. Maybe about six.

He was in what looked like an alley. If Em turned to her right, and she did, she could see a street past the entrance. Where people were walking back and forth and no one was paying attention to what was going on in the alley.

The boy stood still. Tilting his head as he looked at the woman who knelt in front of him as she gripped his shoulders.

Her clothes were unusual. Both their clothes were, but the woman looked like some odd blend of Egyptian royalty and a nun. She was also older, painfully thin, and her garments draped off her frame as if they’d been thrown over a skeleton.

Maybe she wasn’t a princess or a priestess after all. Just an old bag lady dressed up in a costume.

Abruptly, she opened her eyes and let go of his shoulders.

“It is done, young prince. May the blessings of Felice be on you.”

“What’s done?” asked the confused little boy.

The woman smiled sadly and touched his cheek.

“Hope.”

The woman got up and ran away. Amazingly sprightly for a skeletal old woman. Em reacted with a laugh.

For an instant, the boy stood there. Fiddling with a top toy and string as he watched the woman go.

“Hope?” he said blankly.

“Emmaline!”

Em woke with a start as the car suddenly jerked. For an instant, she didn’t know what was going on. Caught between reality and her dream.

Then she saw the headlights.

Maddie had attempted driving off the road and out of the way of the headlights, turning a sharp right.

It didn’t matter.

The semi hit their now-turned back end.

For an instant, Em blacked out.

When she came to, it was because she felt the rain. It hit her face and neck… she hated it. She tried to move, tried to get out of the rain, and pain shot through from… everywhere.

“Maddie?” she whimpered.

Forcing her eyes open, she saw her sister.

Still in the next seat, though now the car off the road, mangled, and surrounded by glass. Her sister was… unconscious or… Unconscious. Definitely unconscious.

Had to be unconscious…

Please, be unconscious.

Em was used to pain, so it didn’t stop her when she wanted to move. Her whole arm shook and agony burned her, but she reached for her sister. She couldn’t force her fingers to move. Still, she put her hand over her sister’s.

And closed her eyes.

***

It was the same boy, but he was… older. She didn’t know how much older. Maybe around eleven? Or twelve?

Not that she was amazing at guessing a child’s age. Especially boys, who tended to mature more slowly than girls. Right?

And she’d never had a male friend before, so that didn’t help her guesswork.

It was nighttime. He was following a bear-like man as they raced through long, empty corridors. No, now that she was looking closer, the boy wasn’t following.

He was being dragged.

The corridor abruptly ended in a big, open… greenhouse? Was that what it was? No, not quite a greenhouse. There were plenty of shrubs and small trees scattered tastefully around, but the central area was primarily set with tea tables.

Em’s eyes were drawn to the glass walls. She could see the glow of flames and distantly she heard yells and screams.

“This is Mother’s conservatory. Why-?”

The bear-man abruptly let go of the little boy and turned toward him, grabbing him by the back of the neck.

The child screamed.

Em could feel his pain like fire running down from the back of her neck and to her tailbone.

She cried out with him and would have collapsed if she had had legs.

“What did you do?!”

The child staggered away from the bear-man, holding his neck and barely suppressing sobs. Em expected the man to attack the child. Instead, he knelt on one knee.

Tears falling into his beard.

“They’ll be coming for you, my prince. This is the only way I can hide you. If they catch you, you are a squire, not a prince. Do you understand?”

“No! No, I don’t understand! I have to go back. I have to find my brothers!”

The bear-man grabbed his arm before he could dash back the way they’d come.

“They’re dead.”

Em could feel the child’s insides growing cold. Numb and in instant denial. In this dream the child must be a projection of herself. How else could she feel so closely tied to him?

Dead brothers.

Dead Maddie?

Their bodies froze in mutual protest.

“No! No, you’re lying! You’re lying!”

He tried to yank his arm away. Desperate to go back. Bear-man did not let him go as the child twisted and cried. More tears leaked down the man’s face, further soaking his beard.

“I’m not lying. You know I’ve never lied to you.”

The man pulled the child into his arms. And while the child sobbed, the man kept himself alert. Watching for danger.

Suddenly, the bear-man pushed the child up to the wall and cast a translucent, magical shield over him.

“Remember. If they find you, you were a squire. Now, stay quiet.”

The child was given no time to react as the bear-man walked away from the shield and stood ready in the middle of the room. Tensely watching.

As Em looked around, she briefly saw someone step through the door leading outside… but then other people came rushing in from the corridor and she forgot about the lone watcher.

Soldiers.

Imperial soldiers seemed to pour into the room, though in reality, there was probably only five or six of them.

Correction, seven of them.

It was like watching an action movie. The bear-man defended the room, cutting down three of the other soldiers with ease while they knocked tables and plants about. But the other four gave him a good fight.

Strange, shadowy orbs floated above each body. Em instinctively inched away from them and stayed near the child.

Meanwhile, the boy slammed his fists into the shield.

Desperately trying to get out and help.

Bear-man felled another attacker just as one of the last three drove a sword into his back. As his protector collapsed, the shield around the boy vanished instantly. The boy stumbled forward, dropping to his knees and drawing the soldiers' attention.

Immediately, one of them pointed a sword at the child’s tear-streaked face.

“What do we have here? Looks like one of them royal brats we were sent to kill.”

The child frantically scooted backward, but he barely made it two feet before his back collided with the wall.