Queen Odette lay in her bed, surrounded by pillows and blankets. She hadn’t slept well, too caught up in her own thoughts about the upcoming day and it’s preparations; it was her daughter’s wedding in a month, and she had meeting after meeting to attend to plan for it.

She had to meet with the cook about the food and if the kitchen would need extra help; she had to meet with the gardeners about flowers and other such decorations for the day; she had to plan the seating arrangements and where everything would be placed; all in all, she was driving herself half mad thinking about it all.

With a sigh, she pushed herself up and threw her covers off. Standing, she rang the bell for her handmaids. It was about time she got up, she decided. It would be best to start her day early at this rate. Even if she had a month to prepare, it just didn’t seem like long enough.

She remembered when she had gotten married. It seemed so long ago now, but she remembered her anticipation clearly. Being married to the prince was a huge honor, but she had been scared out of her mind about it. She smiled at the memory.

She had been the daughter of one of the wealthier men in Lucerne, and when the prince was looking for a wife, her father had put in a word about her. She never thought she would be chosen to marry the prince. She had been shocked when she discovered the arrangement.

Despite it being an arranged marriage, she had taken quite a liking to her new husband. He was kind and gentle, a very understanding man. In time, they had fallen in love.

She sighed; she could only hope that Mirabel would be so fortunate. It wasn’t entirely common for an arranged marriage to work out so well. From what she knew of Prince Adrien, however, she had hopes that they would be happy together.

That was another thing she had to do. She would need to have a talk with Mirabel about it, what she could expect from an arranged marriage of this sort. She was sure Mirabel was just as scared as she had been about her own marriage. Marriage was, after all, a scary thought for a young girl.

Her handmaids entered then, curtseying before they began the process of getting her dressed for the day. It would be a longer process than usual today, considering the important meetings she had. There were people from outside of the palace to meet with as well. The handmaids brought out a long satin dress, and so her day began.

About an hour later, Queen Odette sat in front of a beautiful vanity, looking at her reflection as her handmaids put the finishing touches on her hair. Arranged in intricate braids spiraling around her head and wrapping into a bun at the back of her head, it had taken a while to do. One of the handmaids began weaving pearls into the bun as a finishing touch.

    A few short minutes later, her hair was done, and the queen stood, running her hands down her satin dress. It was smooth, shining in the light from the chandelier overhead. Satisfied, she turned and smiled at her handmaids.

    “Thank you. You may be dismissed.” The handmaids curtseyed and filed out of the room. As they were leaving, two other handmaids walked in and did a quick curtsey before approaching her.

    “Your Majesty,” one began, the older of the two. “Mirabel is not in her room. Again.” At this, the queen sighed and took a seat on the chair she had vacated only a few moments before. This was not by far the first time her daughter had performed an inadvertent disappearing act.

“And have you checked the gardens?” she asked. Mirabel could almost always be found sitting in the royal gardens when she couldn’t sleep. It had caused troubles more than once, and drove her handmaids insane when they couldn’t find her.

The handmaids exchanged a glance. “Well, no, not yet, ma’am. We were hoping that perhaps you would go speak with her about this problem of hers.”

The queen ran a hand down one side of her face and stood. “Of course. You two go and get everything prepared. I’ll find her and talk to her. You are both dismissed.”

The handmaids both curtseyed and took their leave. The queen closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Hopefully the rest of her day would go better than the morning so far had.

    After composing herself, she left her room behind and began walking swiftly towards the gardens. Of all days for Mirabel to decide to disappear, of course it was today. Hopefully she was beside the large rosebush where she normally sat, otherwise it would take forever to find her. The gardens were huge, and she didn’t have all day. She had people to meet with and other meetings to be arranged.

    Reaching the gardens, she headed down the path past the marble fountain towards Mirabel’s favorite bench. The queen didn’t blame her for coming here when she couldn’t sleep; it was beautiful, after all. Flowers of every kind lined the stone pathways, and wherever you were you could almost always hear the sound of one of the fountains. Decorative trees and bushes were placed strategically between flower beds, adding to the scenery.

    After another minute, she came within sight of the rosebush. It was a large bush, the buds just barely beginning to bloom, but it blocked sight of the bench. She picked up her pace a bit as she rounded the corner to see the bench.

    It was empty. The queen suppressed a sigh of frustration at the sight. When she found her, she was going to-

    Her thoughts were cut off as she caught sight of something laying in the grass. Stepping closer, she knelt down and picked it up, her eyes widening in recognition. It was a slate. Mirabel’s slate. One hand went to her mouth as she looked around once again for her daughter.

    “Mirabel?” she called out, hoping. She waited for a tense moment, but when her daughter did not appear, her face fell. Mirabel never went anywhere without her slate. She couldn’t.

    Holding the slate close and hitching up her dress, she began to run down the stone path back into the palace as fast as she could. Something was seriously wrong if Mirabel had gone somewhere without her slate.She had been born mute, unable to speak. Her slate was her only way of communicating.

The queen rushed down the hall to the king’s chambers, still clutching the slate in one arm. Rounding the corner, she saw the king coming down the hall, having just exited his chambers. Beside him was his steward, deep in discussion with the king, most likely about his schedule for the day. Her news was more important, however.

    “Lionel!” she said, somewhat breathlessly, coming to a stop just in front of him and grabbing his attention. “Look.” She handed him the slate.

    He took it and glanced at it. “This is Mirabel’s slate,” he said questioningly, looking up. “Why-”

    “I found it out in the garden by her rosebush,” she said, cutting him off. “Mirabel is nowhere to be found.”

    The king’s jaw tensed. “Are you sure?” She nodded, and he turned to his steward. “Bring me the Captain of the Guard. Everything else is on hold until we find her. Got that?”

    The steward nodded, unquestioning, and hurried off down the hall. The king sighed and looked down at the slate, turning it over in his hands. The queen clasped her hands together, choosing to say nothing.

    After a moment, the king looked up again. “This is it? The only trace?”

    “All that I found, but I’m afraid I am no expert in these things,” she replied. “I’m sure the guards will be able to find something, though,” she added hopefully. The king nodded.

    “Of course they will,” he said, though he seemed to be trying to reassure himself more than anyone.

After that, the queen left and headed down to the kitchens. It was early enough that Mirabel’s disappearance had occurred before the royal family could have their breakfast, and so the queen had decided it would be best to get something to eat before doing anything else.

    Since the kitchen was far from involved in the search for the princess, the queen found it to be a comforting place. Busy and loud though it may have been, it gave a small sense of normalcy to her day. Something that, sadly, her day lacked entirely.

    Preparations for the wedding were meant to have started that day, but unfortunately, now that Mirabel had gone missing, those preparations would have to be put on hold. At the thought, the queen rubbed a hand across her forehead. She hoped Mirabel was alright and would show up soon. If something really had happened to her… She cut off her own thoughts. Mirabel had to be okay. Of course she was okay.

    Taking a bite of the pastry she had been given as a substitute for her breakfast, she attempted to distract herself with other thoughts. Almost as an afterthought, she grabbed another pastry to bring to her husband. He was doubtless as hungry as she was.

    Telling the servants to set something out to nibble on throughout the day, as she doubted they would have the time to sit down to a proper meal, she headed off to see if the guards had discovered anything yet. If she had missed anything in the garden, as she was sure she had, surely they would’ve have found it by now.

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A/N New POV here xD It won't be the last POV change in the story. Anyway, hope you enjoyed, and if you did (or even if you didn't) leave me a comment, pretty please? Or if you don't have the time, a vote would be much appreciated. Love you all! xx