The Queen of the Rogues

Waking up

Amanda opened her eyes. Her head was pounding. She darted her eyes around her surroundings. She was in the forest, she wasn’t sure where. It was very dark, the only light was the moon, way above the trees.

She felt a lot of confusion. She couldn’t remember her name. Or who she was. Or how she got there.

She looked down at her silver ball dress. It was shimmery and sparkly and beautiful. It shimmered under the moonlight. “So pretty” she thought to herself. “But not really practical for the woods.”

She started walking, unsure of her the direction she was heading. She heard something rustling behind her. Turning quickly, she couldn’t see anything.

Looking at her feet she realized the discomfort was coming from the ridiculous shoes she was wearing. Kicking them off her feet, discarding them in the woods, she kept walking.

Another sound came from her left. She quickly turned only to see the leaves moving. She stayed very still. When suddenly, everything went pitch black as she felt something being tossed over her head.

“Tell the boss we got her,” she heard a man’s voice, then, the darkness around her consumed her and she fell into a deep sleep.

***

Amanda opened her eyes again. Blinking several times, she found light around her. Her head was still pounding. She felt alarmed. Not knowing who she was or where she was. She was indoors. There was no longer woods around her. She let her eyes adjust to the light and was faintly aware of voices around her.

“I must be in a hospital,” she thought to herself.

She could hear some voices in the background.

“She suffered some severe head trauma but she should be ok otherwise. She’s healing quickly,” she heard a females voice.

“That must be the doctor,” she thought to herself.

Suddenly, there were people standing over her. A woman and 2 men.

“Oh you’re awake Princess!” The one man exclaimed

She opened her mouth to speak but her throat was incredibly dry, and no words came out.

One of the men rushed to get her some water, while the doctor lady and the other man sat her up carefully.

“Here, drink this,” the man had returned with a glass of water. He looked at the other man and gave him a slight nod.

Amanda drank the water eagerly. She cleared her throat a few times then blushed sheepishly.

“Hi. Thank you for finding me. I was lost!” She explained. Her voice sounded sweet to her and made her smile. She couldn’t remember what she looked like. She was no longer wearing the sparkly gown, but instead a hospital type gown.

“What do you remember?” The one man asked her. He had kind dark brown eyes and brown hair tied in a ponytail.

Amanda blushed. “I don’t remember a lot. I remember waking up in the woods. I don’t know how the heck I got there. I was in a beautiful but impractical dress and the shoes. They were awful. So I kicked them off. Then darkness consumed me and you rescued me!” She exclaimed. “I just don’t know my name,” she pouted sadly. “Do you know my name?” She asked them hopefully.

The men continued to stare at her. They seemed to have a brief conversation with their eyes.

“You guys can communicate by looking at each other?” She gasped. “That’s so cool!” She smiled sweetly at them.

“We know you as Princess,” the one man told her kindly, his brown eyes were so friendly and warm. And he had big muscles. “So we would like to call you that, if that’s ok with you?” He stroked her cheek gently, but the pain caused her to wince.

“Have I been here long?” She asked the nice man. The other man was quiet. He had spiky hair and an earring. He was wearing a leather coat and looked tough.

“You’ve been asleep for 2 weeks,” he smiled nicely at her. She liked him. He was handsome.

“That’s a long time,” she sighed. “What do I look like?” She suddenly asked.

“You are stunning Princess.” He kissed her forehead. “Right now you have some nasty bruises but they’re healing and you’ll be your beautiful self again in no time,”.

“You know me!” She gasped smiling. “Can I see my face please?” She asked sweetly.

The man with the spikes handed her a mirror.

Amanda gasped when she saw her face. The left side was bruised and cut up. There was a bandage covering most of the right side. Her too lip was split open. Her brown hair had been brushed and washed. It was so long. She liked that part. Her eyes were a sparkling brown. The one was swollen. But over all she knew it would heal.

She sighed. “I look like a mess! What on earth happened to me?” She asked the nice man.

“We aren’t really sure, Princess,” he made a sad face. “But I’m glad we found you when we did. We were worried about you,” he told her, his brown eyes searching hers.

“Why am I known as ‘Princess’?” She asked, making a confused face. “Am i your Princess?” She asked.

“You are all of our Princess. And I’m a few months, you’ll be our Queen! And it will make us powerful against anyone wanting to hurt us,” he stroked her forehead. “We have waited 150 years for you beautiful,” he smiled at her.

“Beautiful. Someone else used to call me beautiful,” she thought to herself.

Amanda yawned. “Oops!” She smiled sheepishly.

“Rest well Princess. We will come back later. The doctor will take care of you,” he kissed her cheek tenderly.

“Wait,” Amanda murmured as they laid her back down. “What’s your name?” She asked, her brown eyes fluttering closed.

Before he could respond, it went dark around her and she fell back into a deep sleep.