"She's...she's in the...in the forest...in the Forbidden Forest." Adriana panted as she sprinted to her parents, James hot on her heels. David and Lisabeth stood to greet their daughter but quickly saw that she was not in the mood for formalities.

        "Dawn?" David asked, gripping his wife's hand.

        Adriana nodded quickly, trying to catch her breath. 

        "Is she alright?" Lisabeth asked, "Did you speak with her?"

        "I didn't speak to her...I didn't even see her." Adriana confessed guiltily. "We saw a dark tower spiraling up from above the trees, with a flag on top, and the tower was black---"

        "Slow down, dear." Lisabeth soothed, letting go of her husband's hand and stepping off the throne to stand at her daughter's side. "Describe the scene to us. And breathe."

        Adriana took a deep breath before starting over.

        "We got to the Forbidden Forest and there was an invisible barrier around the whole thing. We couldn't get past it. While we were standing there trying to figure out what to do about the barrier, we saw a black turret appear out of nowhere, spiraling up towards the sky. There was one window at the top of it, and a red flag. On the flag was a picture of a shattered mirror. I don't know how, but I just know that it was Dawn."

        "Fair enough." Lisabeth murmured, motioning for David to join her at Adriana's side. "I think we all know what has to be done."

        "You're right. I'll go back and try to take down the barrier with my magic---"

        The king and queen looked at Adriana like she had just suggested jumping off of a cliff. 

        "No, darling." Lisabeth whispered, "We're not going back there. Obviously your sister is immensely powerful and dangerous right now. We have to put up defenses against her, to keep her out of the kingdom."

        "Are you mad?" Adriana cried out, "Then we would never be able to get her back! We'll never be able to convince her to come back home, to be her old self again, to be with us..."

        "Adriana," David tried to console his daughter, "We can't risk the lives of our subjects on the hope that Dawn will change her mind. She is Dark now and forever, and she doesn't have good judgement. She doesn't know what she's doing and she doesn't know how to act. She's hurt, lonely, and afraid. We can't bet on her coming around while we have a kingdom to protect and look after."

        "Shouldn't your daughter come first?" Adriana fired back, "Shouldn't she be the one we're trying to protect? Like you said, she's lonely and afraid! She needs love and support right now, not rejection from the people who love her!"

        "You loved the old Dawn, Adriana." Lisabeth replied, her face growing tired and pitiful, "You don't understand what this kind of betrayal does to people. The girl hiding out in that tower is not the same sister you grew up with. She'd sooner slit your throat than watch anything pleasent happen to you."

        Adriana felt tears forming in her eyes. She knew Dawn. She knew her sister. She knew that she could help her see the truth.

        "You're all wrong!" Adriana yelled, backing away from her parents and James, who had remained silent throughout the entire exchange, "You don't know her like I do! And you need my magic to put up the barriers! Until we actually try to get her back, I won't do it! I won't!"

***

        "Bring me the Banished." Dawn whispered into her palm, watching as a black cloud popped up out of nothingness and floated away, "Bring them to me. I need an following...I need an army."

        She watched as the cloud drifted out of the window next to her and into the air, growing larger as it sensed the Banished people all around the forest.

        Dawn turned away from the window and examined her handywork. The castle was vast and luxurious, with rooms that she hadn't even thought of creating but had appeared when the castle went up. The walls in every room were a deep scarlet color, the marble floor like ice on her bare feet. She was standing in the master bedroom at the moment, the room contained inside the lone tower she had so carefully ensured the existence of. The room was magically enhanced to be bigger on the inside than what looked possible on the outside, so that she was comfortable and yet was at the highest point in her castle, the ruler of this forbidden land. 

        And soon, she would be ruler of the people as well, and they would help her on her quest to get rid of the only kingdom that rivaled her dominance: Gregoria.

        A loud knock sounded on the front door of the castle, resounding throughout the entire building. Dawn rushed out of her bedroom and started running down the stairs before remembering her magic.

        With a quick snap of her fingers, she was in the foyer of the grand castle, draped in a plum-colored velvet dress and high gold heels whose sound was dampened by the thick red carpet. She walked to the front door and opened it manually, deciding to appear as normal as possible to whoever was outside.

        It was a young woman, about 5'5" tall, with raven-black hair and bright blue eyes that seemed to see right past you and not even take in your presence at all.

        "I recieved a message that a newcomer wanted to see the Banished people. Are you she?"

        "I am." Dawn replied, holding herself up a little taller. This girl had the obvious air of someone who was used to leading, and Dawn needed to assert her superiority. "Won't you come in?"

        "I'd love to." the girl replied, stepping into the castle gingerly and following Dawn to a small living area with glass tables already laden with different delecacies.

        "Help yourself to whatever you see." Dawn offered, and she could see the look of hunger behind the girl's eyes; however regal she was, she was Banished, and no one ate very well out here without a bit of magic.

        "Thank you. You're too kind." the girl said, sitting down in a sofa that matched Dawn's dress and taking a bite out of an apple tart. "I'm Brenda, by the way. I've become a sort of leader of the Banished people, if you could even call me that. When we recieved word of your desires to see us, I was sent to discover what you would like."

        Dawn thought for a second.

        "So you're their leader?" she asked, watching Brenda closely, "And do you enjoy this role of yours?"

        "In a way." Brenda replied, delving into a chocolate pastry. "I'd rather be second-in-command, to be honest. Being a leader requires far too much skill and planning for me. If I could have one person above me and everyone else looking up to me, I would be quite satisfied."

        "Well, then I think you may be interested in what I have to offer you." Dawn started, "You see I used to be the Light Princess of Gregoria. My name is Dawn. My sister, Adriana, are the seventh in the royal line and therefore we recieved powers on our sixteenth birthday to---"

        "I know who you are, Dawn." Brenda inturrupted. "I was banished shortly after your Powers Ceremony. In fact, I was banished the very next day."

        "By who?"

        "Rissa, your aunt." Brenda shrugged. "She caught me trying to weasel some information out of a Fairling in a not-so-nice way, and she became angry. After talking to me and telling me why what I did was wrong, I became angry with her and tried to attack her. I failed, naturally, and she banished me. I guess it was just a quick fix to her little problem."

        "That's quite unfortunate." Dawn replied, not sure of exactly what to say, "But now you're here, and I am now the Dark Princess. I ran away from the castle and set up a barrier around the Forbidden Forest to keep anyone from entering. I didn't want anyone following me, and I got my way. But now I want to take from the citizens of Gregoria what was taken from me: happiness. I want to rid them of love and happiness, especially my brat of a sister. No one deserves to have what I cannot. The only question is...will you help me? Will your Banished be my army?"

        Brenda smiled slightly, a fire lighting up in her eyes.

        "We'd love to."

-----

A/N: Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! For the most part I will try to update Shattered once a week! Make sure to check out my website www.katherinepowellbooks.weebly.com for updates on Spiral, Shattered, and my other writing endeavours! 

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-Katherine