"Why do you have to marry him..." A delicate voice echoed in Marina's mind. Marina opened her eyes, finding herself that ginormous bed, in her room of the pace, lying on her side... facing Jamie. Jamie's brown-eyed gaze was somber as they both melted into the silken pillows like two dying candles. Marina sighed and reached over, brushing some of her blonde hair away from the girl's face.

  "It's my duty... what I'm destined for... what I've lived and breathed and existed to do for these past 18 years..." Marina's voice was soft, yet her tone conditioned to be distant from her feelings.

  "19..." Jamie corrected. Marina smiled.

  "Right... 19..." Marina echoed. "Father says I can't stall anymore... The Camaros grow more and more impatient each day, and we can't afford to be on their bad side. This is our shot at settling peace... I'm the answer to all this foolish tension." Marina rolled over onto her back, staring up at the ceiling. Jamie's brow furrowed.

  "This shouldn't be your burden to bear... especially with the Prince... I see the way he talks to you-" Jamie reached over to touch her hand. Marina pulled hers away.

  "Please don't speak of him..." Marina's voice firmed. Jamie watched her for a moment, then pulled back.

  "...I'm sorry..."

  A long sorrowful silence stretched over them like a weighted bnket, holding them down...

  The act of inacting.

  Marina sighed and turned to her, pnting a smile on her face.

  "I've requested you as my personal handmaid... if you'll come with me." Jamie's eyes widened at the princess's words.

  "To Furlinver...?" She whispered. Marina's smile grew and she nodded.

  "We can still be together... I doubt I'll hold Prince Camaro's attention for long... He'll get bored and grow busy in his duties as King... and you can have me..." Marina reached over, tracing Jamie's palm with her fingertips. Jamie blushed and smiled at the thought, though it slowly faded into mencholy once more.

  "But I can't... not in the way I want you." Her gaze cast downward. Marina's smile faltered. "And you'll be busy being a wife... a queen... and then a mother..." Marina felt her stomach sink into a vacant hole at her words. The sole thought of being the bearer of that horrid man's children made her dizzy. She had to swallow down her agony as she forced her smile and reached over, tilting Jamie's chin up to meet her eyes.

  "Well... you can help me raise them. I'll be horrible with kids and you know it." Marina jested, envoking a small ugh out of Jamie. Marina reveled in the sight of her smile, but it never sted long as Jamie's lips sunk again, Marina's following.

  "It'll tear apart every heartstring I have to see you like that... But... I will accompany you." Jamie pulled the princess's hand to her lips and kissed her fingers softly. Marina wasn't sure whether to frown or smile at her words, but her selfishness eventually made its home, and her lips curled upward.

  "I promise... We'll make things work somehow." Marina squeezed her hand assuringly. Jamie only hummed quietly in response. "Now... will you come here and kiss the birthday girl already...? My Dove?" Jamie smiled and rolled her eyes at the nickname, but obliged, scooting closer. Marina pulled her in by her arms until they were chest to chest, faces inches away. The way Marina gazed at her... she felt her breath stop and like she would melt into the sheets.

  Jamie closed the gap and pressed her lips to hers, her eyes fluttering shut. Marina smiled into the kiss, soaking in the comfort it brought to her storm of a life... of an existence... and she pulled her closer. Jamie hummed softly against her mouth, cupping the princess's cheek. She never wanted it to end, but she felt it escaping her as always as Marina pulled back.

  "My little Love Dove." She cooed. Jamie blushed and snuggled into her.

  "I love you..." Jamie whispered. Marina hummed softly in response and closed her eyes.

  ...

  When she opened them it was like she was sent through another dimension... and perhaps it wouldn't feel as bad if she woke up in a different body.

  But she hadn't. And worse, it was far from a calm autumn morning as Remora shook her shoulder.

  "Marina. MARINA!" She whispered anxiously, her head swiveling to look out the window. Marina groaned and blinked her eyes, her vision fixing on the frightened girl before her. Her heartrate began to accelerated as she noticed by the girl's expression something was wrong and scrambled to sit up.

  "What? What?!" She trembled, the familiar fight-or-flight sensation from the day before kicking into high gear.

  "There are guards outside looking for you, they're searching houses. We need to hide you... NOW!" Remora grabbed her by the arm, and Marina practically threw herself off the bed, her legs almost colpsing from shaking.

  "Guards? Here?! Oh Gods... no no no no..." Marina shook her head with terror, her hands flying up to cover her head. She just wanted to wake up from this bad dream as her knees began to give out from underneath her. Remora was quick to steady her, giving her a gentle shake.

  "Hey, hey...! Listen to me, it'll be okay, I promise... But you have to hide... They aren't going to find you I promise." She took Marina's face in between her hands, forcing her to look into her eyes for assurance. "Now come on." Her hand slid down into Marina's, pulling her towards her bathroom. Marina was led by her to the girl's closet. She flung it open and turned to her, coaxing her inside. Marina was too frightened to think, her body simply moving on its own as she stepped into the wardrobe, pushing apart the hung dresses and trying to blend herself amongst the clothes. Remora stared her down with a serious gre in her eye as she pced her hand on the closet door.

  "Don't move, don't make a sound... Babcia and I will handle it but if they do a search you have to stay RIGHT here. Okay?" Remora quickly adjusted the dresses to hide her more as Marina nodded and whimpered. They both flinched as they heard a loud pounding on the door. Remora gave Marina one st look before she shut the door and hurried downstairs.

  Babcia was already up and making breakfast, stirring a pot of fresh oatmeal when she was startled at the sudden rapping upon her front door.

  "Now who could that be?" She murmured to herself as she wiped off her hands on her apron and went to the door. She checked through the peephole and gasped at the sight of two guards waiting anxiously outside. She didn't hesitate to unlock the door with a click and opened it.

  "Good day, madam." The guards nodded at her stiffly.

  "Uhhh... Good day, officers... can I help you with something?" Babcia replied politely, putting on her best innocent old dy act. "Dammit." She thought to herself "They must've found out about that time I accidentally stole that cookbook from the library..." She smiled a wider smile as she buried those thoughts away.

  "Madam, we are experiencing an emergency currently and need to ask you some questions..." Babcia's eyes widened as she turned to the speaking guard, noticing by his badges and uniform that he was a commander.

  "An emergency?" She covered her mouth. "Whatever has happened?"

  "As of 7:12 pm st night, Princess Marina Amon has gone missing. She was st seen running towards the western sector of town. Do you have any information regarding this disappearance or notice anything suspicious st night?" Babcia's wrinkled eyes widened in shock. It was then Remora turned the corner to the stairs and walked to the front door.

  "Babcia, what's going on?" Remora approached them. She was hoping the worry on her face looked completely natural and not the fact she was hiding a princess in her closet right now. She then caught the eyes of the commander and felt her heart drop. He was the commander she met st night that came into the tavern, telling off the lower ranking guards. He met her eyes and he smiled with recognition. Babcia turned to Remora with wide worried eyes.

  "Oh, Remora, it's terrible. This young man has just informed me our Princess has gone missing... How dreadful..." Babcia pced a hand on her granddaughter's arm.

  "Yes... may I ask how many residents are here at the moment?" The commander peered in, looking for any signs that might draw suspicion.

  "Yes, well, it's just me and my granddaughter here, although of course we've had a newer resident-" Babcia began to expin before Remora sharply put her hands down on her grandmother's shoulders.

  "A cat...! I've named him..." She gnced around until her eyes nded on the pot on the stove. "Oatmeal... Come now, Babcia, these kind gentlemen don't want to hear about a stray cat moving in..." Babcia turned and cocked an eyebrow at her, and Remora simply smiled, squeezing her shoulders a bit tightly, praying she'd get the message. Babcia hummed and turned back to the guards.

  "...Yes... well, a cute thing he is!" Babcia chimed in, smiling at them. Remora smiled and nodded. The commander sighed.

  "Of course... another cat..." He turned to his buddy. "This is the forth house on this street with a cat... My allergies are driving me up the wall." He muttered, pinching his nose as his buddy shrugged.

  "Can always skip this one, boss..." The commander shook his head in return.

  "Just a quick search. May we come inside, dies?" Remora gulped, and Babcia was beginning to catch on as her eyes drifted to her granddaughter. They both smiled and nodded, gesturing for them to enter.

  The guards walked inside and around, beginning to carefully search the premises, looking in the pantry, under tables, and behind doors.

  "Lovely pce you have here... miss...?" The commander turned to Babcia with a raised eyebrow.

  "Monagrail... Sherrie Monagrail." Babcia answered with a nod. He smiled and turned to the young woman.

  "And you are...?"

  "Remora. Remora Monagrail. Her granddaughter." He nodded in recognition.

  "You work at the tavern... second time we've searched you I fear... Apologies for the intrusion." He reached over and took her hand.

  "Everyone seems to be very distraught right now... But I promise we'll be out of your hair soon. If I may?" He ascended her hand in his, kissing her knuckle softly. Remora blinked and let out a soft "oh..." at the sensation of his lips on her skin. "A lovely home you have... we won't be tearing it up if that's what you're afraid of... and a lovely granddaughter of yours, Miss Monagrail." He appraoched Babcia to kiss her hand, and she smiled brightly at him. Her eyes then trailed to the commander's buddy who rolled his eyes and went towards the stairs, causing her heart to leap into her throat. The commander turned and followed him up the stairs.

  Babcia turned to Remora as the guard's backs were turned, mouthing to her: "Remora what the hell is going on?!" To which Remora mouthed back: "I don't know...!!!" They quickly returned to their feigned innocent postures as the commander shot them a gnce.

  "It's protocol... I need to search your room." He expined. Remora nodded and sent her grandmother a nervous gnce before leading them upstairs, Babcia following close behind.

  Remora opened the door to her room and let them inside. Her eyes kept gncing to her closet and it took all her willpower to keep her breath steady as they began to look around. She noticed the commander admiring her room, looking more at the paintings at the trinkets decorated around than hiding spots. His friend however, was getting too close as he inched towards the closet. Remora grabbed the sleeve of Babcia's dress and tugged it. Babcia understood.

  "Oh! I just saw the cat run by!" Babcia excimed, pointing in the general area of their hallway outside the room. The commander and his friend turned, looking for it, finding nothing.

  "Oh boy... I'm going to start sneezing... That's it, let's depart, lieutenant." He motioned to the door with his head as he gnced at his buddy. The guard nodded and made their way down the stairs and to the door.

  "Again, sorry for the troubles, we'll try to stay out of your hair in the future." He winked at Remora who felt her face grow hot... Babcia smiled and took his hand, patting it.

  "We wish you luck in your search." The commander smiled and tipped his hat as Babcia shut the door. Remora let out a sigh of relief, but she knew her troubles were far from over as Babcia turned to her with a gre of a thousand daggers.

  "Babcia... I can expin..." Remora raised her hands. Babcia huffed and crossed her arms, staring her down like a deadly bull.

  "Remora Lee Monagrail... I did not realize we had a cat... Nor did I realize exactly what it dragged in and is living right upstairs..." Her eyes were that of the terror of parental figures all over the globe, causing a shiver to run up Remora's spine. Remora nodded to try and ease her wrath.

  "Yes, yes... I know... I know... And I will expin everything, I just need to go check on her..." She whizzed past her and hurried up the stairs as Babcia protested after her.

  "Remora. REMORA!" Babcia stood at the bottom of the stairs as she heard her granddaughter's door shut. She sighed and leaned back against the wall, covering the lower half of her face with her hand... She just lied to the royal guard... and so did her granddaughter... and the person upstairs is... Oh Gods...

  Remora hurried into her room and went to the closet, flinging open the doors without warning. Marina, who was curled up in a ball inside, gasped and raised her hands to protect herself. Remora knelt down immediately, putting a hand on her arm.

  "It's me, it's me. They're gone now... You're safe." Remora reassured her, smiling with a soft gaze. Marina lowered her arms and softened at the sight of Remora, and before she could stop herself, she flung her body into Remora, wrapping her arms around her tightly. Remora staggered back from the sudden embrace but quickly returned it, holding her tightly.

  "You're safe..."

  Authors Note:Wow... uhh.... sorry for the doomed yuri... I hate to say it but it gets much much worse....

  Much love!!! <333

  ...hahahaha..........