Forgotten

Ariyan is an orphan girl who knows that her brother died the night that she was left on the steps of what she calls home, not knowing that she is a lost member of the royal family.

 My best friend watches as I open the letter from the palace with shaky hands. "'To Ms. Wilreh. You have been asked to come to the palace tomorrow by order of the King. Come an hour past noon. The King of Mgentiasna'. I can't do this." I groan and sit down on the small cot, letter in hand as I look at it again. "Night Morgan." I say before blowing the candle out as the other girls in our orphanage fall asleep.

 The next day I walk timidly down the roads with the letter in hand toward the palace near the back of the city. I'm almost half way there when the city bells chime twelve fifty-five. I gasp and take off through the streets, dodging people and leaping over carts and their owners, my feet barely touching the ground as I sprint hard and fast toward the castle. I'm panting slightly, but that's the only bit of any proof that I ran.

 I hand the letter to one of the guards standing at the gate and they let me in without saying a word. A man in full armor, a knight I think, waits for me a ways behind the gates and he leads me through the palace halls and into the throne room. I curtsy in front of the king as he sits on his throne.

 The knight rises from his knees and I from my curtsy, I follow Morgan's instructions and look at the King's hands, avoiding his face as every person below the royalty ranks are supposed to. "Look me in the eye, girl." Its a command, but its said so softly and gentle that I'm taken by surprise and look at his eyes they seem familiar and I try to remember but nothing comes to mind.

 The room is quiet and I hear the King suck in a breath as he looks at my face. "Luke, you are dismissed." The knight, Luke, bows and walks out of the room, closing the door behind him.

 "I don't understand, why was I ordered to come here? I've done nothing wrong." The King stands up and I watch him carefully as he stands in front of me. "I thought that I'd lost you forever, Ariyan."

 "How do you know my real name?" I ask, willing my voice to not shake. The King looks at my eyes. "How do you know my name?" I repeat. "I only had one brother and he died in an fire, along with my parents, a long time ago. I'm the only one who knows that."

 "Or so you thought." The King turns his back to me and reveals flamed scars under his deep blue shirt. "Jordan?" He nods, tears in his eyes. I look at him and I suddenly recognize him, the King, my brother who carried me to the doors of the orphanage while the small palace raged in flames, made his hair glow with a red halo.

 I take a step back and look at him. "How did I not remember, why didn't you come back? I made you promise, but then they told me that you had died in the fire. Why did you let them lie to me all these years? Why didn't you come back?"

 Jordan looks at me and I can see his pain clearly. "I tried to keep you safe, but." He stops. "You know the kingdom, Barrett, and its King?" I nod. "Yes. They've been trying to attack us for the past three years." He looks at me. "What? I may have been left in a orphanage, but that doesn't mean I haven't heard about anything outside the city walls."

 "How exactly did you learn about the kingdom?"

 "I worked in the stables at the Widow Inn, you hear everything there." Jordan smiles, but its soon wiped off his face. "Jordan why, after all these years, did you bring me here?"

 "The King of Barrett, King Conort, discovered that I have a little sister and if I hadn't, he would have gotten you tonight." I shiver at the thought and Jordan looks at my clothes as if, for the first time, noticing the worn and stitched dress and apron. I flush and he laughs before clapping his hands twice.

 A woman in her late forties or early fifties walks in and bows to the King. "Morinda. Have the things I ordered come yet?"

 "Just came in a few minutes ago, Your Majesty."

 "Great, please escort the Princess to her new rooms in the High wing." The woman bows to the King and then to me before guiding me out of the room, up a long flight of stairs and through a large pair of doors. "Right this way, Your Highness."

 The woman, Morinda, opens the door for me and I step into my new rooms. There's a small but lavish sitting room on the left and an office/study/small library to the right. Walking in further, I find the bedroom with a large bed neatly made with a balcony over looking the city and the ocean and mountains beyond. To the right of the bedroom is a bathing chamber, the bath already prepared and steaming.

 Morinda helps me undress and I sink into the very warm water while she re braids my wet hair in a crown braid after scrubbing it clean so its soft and silky. "How long has His Majesty been looking for me?"

 "That depends."

 "On what?"

 "What you mean, if you mean how long has the King been searching, as in protecting, you; then since you went to the orphanage all those years ago. If you mean how long has he been missing you from trying to keep you safe; then for the past three years."

 "Oh." Morinda has me dry off before helping me into a beautiful light sage green dress with a pale gold belt, bracelets, and a ring with the King's insignia on it.  I never realized how dark my skin had gotten during the dry season, the green, I guess, makes it stand out. Morinda brushes my hair gently before braiding it into small little braids with thin, pale gold chains and small emerald beads.

 She outlines my eyes with kohl and puts gold powder on my eyelids. I look at myself in the mirror and gasp. Without the stitched and patched dress and the smudges of dirt and ash on my face, I stare at the girl in the mirror, not wanting to believe that its me. "Come, come. His Majesty wants to meet you in the library." Luke is waiting in the hall for me as Morinda shoos me out the door. "You look amazing." He says, my cheeks roar and he escorts me to the huge library.

 Jordan is standing hunched over a book and a map spread over a table. He straightens up when he hears me. "Ah, I see that the new dresses fit you perfectly. How does it feel?"

 "Like I was meant to wear it."

 "Good, good. I'm glad to have you now living where you should be." I look at the books and sigh as we walk through them to a small alcove with a stack of maps and scrolls. "What is this?"

 "I thought that it'd be best if you studied the maps of the city and surrounding towns, in case of an attack or raid. You would need to know your city well so as to not let it become your prison." I nod and sit down, quickly memorizing the street names and landmarks before moving on to routes, passages, and old and forgotten tunnels.

Author's Note

This is a twisted version of a Cinderella, instead of her falling in love with her Prince Charming, she finds who she is and what she stands for.