Yawning, Winter woke up from a fitful sleep, noticing her royal sister was still asleep. Her stomach growled, and suddenly she realized how hungry she was. Stretching, she laid back in her bed and recalled all that had happened to get them here. First, in the forest behind their castle, she and Arianna had been getting ready to have a picnic. "Ooooh, this will be so much fun! Just the two of us; we can make all the noises we want, disobey any and all eating rules, it will be great!" Winter recalled herself saying in excitement. Chuckling, Arianna just shook her head as they had approached the clearing.

The step sisters laughed and talked as they set up the blanket and food they were about to use. In between talking about how silly the Duchess of Maidenwather dressed, Winter had thought she'd detected a noise. "Shh for a sec Ari," Winter remembered whispering. Together, they stopped a moment and listened. Up until this point, the birds had been chirping, the breeze had been blowing, and the insect buzzing. But now, towards the back of their clearing, the birds had suddenly gone silent, the breeze slowly stopped, and the insect ceased their buzzing.

Curious as ever, Winter had started walking towards the back of the clearing. Arianna had followed to a point, they murmured, "Win, I don't like this. Maybe you should get back h –" Her words of caution were cut off as two black as could be ninjas leapt from their hiding spot among the bushes. Before the girls could register what was happening, there had been a sharp pain in their neck; then all had gone black.

Back in their cell, Winter sighed in frustration. "If only I could get my hands on the ninja twins, I could at least have some joy in this place!" At that moment, she heard a key turning in their door; then it swung wide open. Winter had a moment of déjà vu; she was in a jail, and the doors opened. She shook her head. 'Weird dream' she thought, knowing she had never been in jail before. Hearing the creaking of the heavy door, Arianna finally woke up. Winter watched her royal sister stretch, then look towards their prison door with that oblivious face of hers she has when she first wakes up. The prison guards, along with an amused Winter, watched as recognition, then fear, then anger, then resignation crossed her face in a matter of moments. Yawning, she called out, "Morning men. Morning sis." Winter thought for a moment, then said, "Well, since I don't know what time it is, I can't say good morning, so I think I'll just say, ' Happy Wake Up Time' to you to." That made everyone smile, and Arianna laughed. Then the guards suddenly seemed to remember why they were sent here in the first place. "Ma'am," they said, pointing to Arianna, "You are to come with us. No talking." "No!" Winter violently rejected. "Not alone!" The guard smirked. "Yes. Alone. She'll be back. Although boss didn't say in how many pieces!" The guards laughed as a horror stricken Winter just stared at them. "How..." was the most she could make out. She watched Arianna get up and walk out the door slowly. She waved to Winter, but received no reply. As the guard were closing the door, the last thing she saw was Winter passing out on her bed.

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Arianna watched as they locked the door on her sister. "Follow me Miss Blossom." Commanded one of the guards. Arianna decided to have a little fun."If you have finally decided to show some formal respect to my title, then the minim I will allow you to call me is Princess Arianna Blossom of Armarlda, daughter of King Joscket, first in line for the throne." The guards just stared at her. Arianna felt a moment of glowing satisfaction. Quickly shaking his head, the guard yelled at her. "I said no talking!" "Ok, bad breath, sheesh –" she started. "Enough!" She meekly nodded. "Just, follow me." The guard finished, the confusion of her earlier statements still running around in his head. Grinning, Arianna fell in line in between the two guards, still glowing from her minor victory.

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After walking down too any of the same colored gray/brown halls, the guards announced that they had arrived at an old black door. She sneaked a look around, noticing this hall was slightly cleaner than the others. It also had more lights that were brighter than the others she'd encountered here. 'Ok, so this must be the boss man they mentioned earlier.' She thought. With no more time to ponder who he was, she was escorted into the darkest room she had ever seen. The guards immediately left, leaving her alone in this dreadfulness. There were no lights, no noise, and no apparent life. It was very unnerving. Having been born into royalty 24 years ago and living her entire life in a bright, cheerful, castle, she found this thick, suffocating black terrifying. Arianna pondered moving, trying to find a chair to sit in, but ended up not moving an inch. After a few minutes of nothing, she was starting to get very nervous. Her breathing came faster, and her heart rate went up. She started perspiring. 20 minute later, when she thought she could take no more, she heard a voice; "Boo." Screaming louder than royalty would have let her, she turned and ran the few feet towards were she had come in. Banging on the door, she fervently hopped someone would let her out of this terror room. Before she could go mentally crazy, she heard, "Shh, shh, my lady, sweet Arianna, shh, please, come sit, come sit. Have some tea. It would certainly lighten, the mood, no?" Slowly turning, still terrified, she saw a slight glow that grew a little brighter as she completed her turn. Peering towards the beautiful but still low light, she could see it was a lantern on a desk. The desk also held a tea pot and two teacups. Behind the desk, she made out a large chair with someone in all black sitting on it.

"Come, my lady, sit, please. You look so unsteady." The voice continued its soothing call. Gulping, she swallowed her fear, well, some of it anyway, and noticed for the first time a chair in front of the desk, waiting invitingly for her. She sat at the edge of her chair, ready to flee at any given moment. The man slowly went forward and laid his elbows on the desk, allowing her to get a glimpse of his bust. His face was behind a mask, and the mask was form fitted to his face. Completely black, (seemed to be a favorite color around here, she thought) with only holes for his b-e-a-u-t-i-f-u-l green eyes. They were greener than the greenest emerald she had ever seen. 'If only he wasn't bad...' she thought to herself.

She was snapped back into horrifying reality with his simple question. "I will get right to the point, my dear," he murmured lovingly, holding her hands in his. "Where are the three rings?"