TIARA THORNELLS I’d been restlessly pacing around my room for a while now. Before coming back inside, we had gone out to take the last of the castle’s trash to the disposal area. It was then that I overheard two royal guards talking and what I heard made my heart race. Prince Zatan had returned. But what alarmed me more was what they said next... he was bleeding. Panic settled deep within me. I couldn’t help but worry, the thought of him injured pulling at my chest like a tight cord. I immediately asked if I could be the one to assist him. I begged and the guard allowed it. Now here I am, anxiously waiting in my room, counting every second. What could have happened in the battle? Even while I was working earlier, my thoughts were far from the present. My mind kept drifting to the

