The princess, Selene Barron, made her way back from the stables, adjusting her outfit to look like she didn’t just change. She pulled her hair free of the tight braid she had it in for when she rode her horse and covered it with a hood.

Walking through the open front doors of the castle, she made her way up the stairs and to the throne room.

“Father, I—Oh, pardon me. I did not realize you would be having company,” she said with slight surprise as she bowed her head to the obviously dressed lord.

“Ah, my baby girl, how was your ride?” the king asked as he stood and made his way over to her to fix a few loose strands of hair. “You are just in time to meet Lord Anden. He will be attending your party.”

Selene’s eyes widened slightly and she pushed her father’s hands away. “Are you serious?! This again? Father, you know I don’t want to be married yet.”

“I know, darling, but it’s for the good of the kingdom. And for the good of you. You need to secure your future for when I’m gone and you won’t be able to do that if you don’t have a strong man by your side to rule the kingdom in my place.”

His tone was stern, however, it did not faze her as she glared up at her father. “Screw the future of this kingdom!”

“Now, Selene, you will not use that language towards me,” the king warned, looking down at her with an unwavering authority. But he could tell she did not care for his power or his status. She was angry and he was the cause of it once again.

“I’ll speak however I wish to speak, Father. And I do not care how many suitors you try to push on me, I will not allow any of them to get near me.” She growled slightly before turning to leave.

“Selene! Get back here!” the king called after her, but it was no use. Selene was already headed to her room.

Selene got to her room and slammed the door shut. Pacing back and forth, she ran a hand through her hair.

Her father wanted to marry her off. Sure, she expected it would be soon, but now? This had to be the worst possible moment for him to be trying to find a husband for her.

She rolled her eyes at that thought. A husband. She didn’t even like men let alone stuck up nobles.

Her mind continued to jump from thought to thought; emotions of anger and resentment towards her father began to swirl together as she sat down at her desk. How could he do this to her? She didn’t care if her future was secure as long as she was happy in it. Isn’t that what he should want? Shouldn’t he just want her to be happy?

She looked over to her desk at an open book and sighed heavily. Perhaps he did want her to be happy. She just wished he would realize that what he is doing is not the way to do so.

Soon enough, she felt her anger begin to die down. Selene reached for the book and skimmed it. But when her eyes passed over a name, she froze and back tracked. Sitting up a bit more, she pulled the book closer and read the name again.

“Anderson… I knew that name sounded familiar,” she said to herself as she read the coinciding sentences with the name.

“...The Anderson Family came to be one of the most peaceful and successful rulers of Grimm, putting in effort to help build their own castle and kingdom, and even establishing a guild of heroes for hire to give the townspeople hope when the royal family was too busy…”

Her eyes widened slightly as she read the pages and she couldn’t help an odd sinking feeling in her stomach as she continued reading.

“...Their malevolent rule unfortunately came to an end when the wild men of the mountains came down. Led by William Barron, these savages set upon the castle and cut the family down where they—”

She stopped reading and looked away. She had heard the story many times; how both sides lost lots of people. But she had always heard that the Anderson’s were the savage ones, and now she realized why the librarian was so tentative to give her this book.

She turned the page of the book but her eyes widened seeing that was the end of it and she read the last sentence.

“...To be continued in book two.”

Selene couldn’t help but groan as she shut the book and ran her hands over her face. She knew the librarian wouldn’t give her the second volume with how much persuasion it took for this one. So, she began to come up with a plan: she'd have to steal the second book.

She looked out of her window and watched as the sun began its descent into the afternoon and nodded as her mind began to wander to the Anderson she had saved in the woods.

Her appearance and clothing still baffled her. Not only that, she was incredibly confused by the way she had acted and how she spoke. She didn’t seem like royalty, or even a hero from the guild.

She began to think about how scared her beautiful blue eyes were. How soft her curly black hair looked no matter how messy it was. How her skin looked like chocolate, even if she seemed exhausted and confused.

Selene’s cheeks grew slightly red thinking about it and she felt butterflies begin to flutter in her stomach the longer she thought about her. The way their hips pressed together on the horse, how fascinated she was by said horse…

Selene looked up into a mirror and she gasped at her reflection. She looked as red as a sinner in church and she couldn’t help but look away and shake her head of these thoughts.

She had to stop her father before he took things too far. And as angry as she was with him, she knew not all of it was his fault. He was sick in the mind with something incurable, and she knew it was making him crazy. So she couldn’t afford to get distracted by a stranger claiming to be an Anderson.

But even if she reasoned that with herself, she couldn’t help but smile and continue to think about that confused and attractive woman.