"Ad, wake up!" Dawn ran into Adriana's room, her voice high-pitched with excitement. "Ad, wake up!"

        Adriana blinked her eyes open. She didn't remember going to bed the night before, only spending the day talking to Skylar and trying not to think about her mother.

        "What?"

        "It's Mother. She's awake!"

        "Really?!" Adriana cried, jumping out of bed and sprinting out the door, leaving Dawn behind her. She reached the king and queen's room in record time and crashed through the door.

        "Adriana, hush." David admonished as she skidded to a stop at her mother's bedside. Lisabeth was blinking slowly, her head turning from side to side as thought she wasn't sure if she was awake or not. Her eyes rested on Adriana just as Dawn came running through the door, panting.

        "My darling girl..." Lisabeth whispered, reaching out to touch her daughter's face, "Is it really you?"

        "Yes, Mother. Yes, it's me." Adriana whispered, her eyes filling wtih tears of joy as she took her mother's hand in her own. "I thought I lost you."

        "And I thought I would never see you again." Lisabeth replied softly, her eyes full of love. Dawn came up from behind Adriana. 

        "Mother..."

        "Oh, my sweet Dawn." Lisabeth took her hand away from Adriana's face and took Dawn's hand, "Thank you for saving me. Thank you."

        "How did you know it was me?"

        "The entire time I was unconcious, I was fighting. I was outside of my body, watching everything that happened in the room. I was fighting to live, for you two, and for David. I was fighting to stay alive for you, so I could hold you both in my arms again. I saw your power going through my body. I saw you collapse Adriana, and I wanted nothing more than to help you, to thank you for doing so much for me. And now I can. I won the fight."

***

        "She wouldn't have survived if it weren't for the other one helping! If only the Dark one was trying to save her and she failed, it would have broken her! Broken her! But the queen survived! Did you not even put in the right amount of poison?" The man was practically hopping with anger.

        "I did!" the child replied fearfully, hoping against hope that they had indeed put in enough. "I put in the exact amount that you told me to when the servant wasn't looking. I even put in a little extra! I think we underestimated the power of the other one."

        "Obviously." the man snapped, pacing around the dark room and rubbing his temples in stress. "No matter. That part didn't work as well as I had hoped. The queen dying would have been much more traumatic, but having her on the verge of death was the best we could do. We just have to step it up a notch. I need to have eyes on the girl at all times so I know what we're doing and I know what we're up against. I will need to figure out her worst fears and use them to my advantage. I need...I know!" he ran to the back of the room and fished something out from behind a desk drawer. 

        "Here." he said, giving it to the child, "Give this to her. It will help me track her whereabouts at all times. I'll be able to see what she enjoys, what she hates, what she fears. Soon, we will have enough to tip her over the edge. Nothing will be able to stop us. The Dark will be ours."

***

        David decided to throw a grand dinner party to celebrate his wife's recovery. He invited many of the more well-off subjects of Gregoria, while allowing the twins to each invite one friend.

        "We can't have a madhouse in here, but I do want you two to enjoy yourselves." he had said.

        Both twins quickly went off to ask their respective invites if they wished to come. Kabos accepted quickly when Dawn asked, and promised her a surprise that he had been planning. Excited and slightly nervous, Dawn returned to the castle to pick out her best dress, her heart hammering in anticipation for that night.

        It took some convincing to get Skylar to come to the dinner party, and Adriana was starting to get frustrated.

        "Look, it's not like Rissa is going to be able to kick you out in front of my parents without having to tell them the prophecy, which she won't do in front of a bunch of people. Trust me Skylar, it'll be fun. Plus, Dawn's boy toy will be there and we can make fun of them."

        Skylar shook her head, hugging her knees to her chest.

        "That aunt of yours scares the crap out of me. How am I supposed to be normal and non-suspicious looking if I'm terrified of being yelled at the whole time?"

        "Fine. If Rissa does anything, I can put a spell on her. It'll be nighttime and I'm sure I can figure something out. Remember, she can't do anything to you that's super awful in a room full of people. And I'll make sure she's as far away from you as possible at the dinner table."

        "You swear?" Skylar asked.

        "I swear."

***

         "Welcome everyone!" David called as he ushered the crowd to the massive dining table in the center of the room. "Please take your seats! Your name is on a placecard. If you can't find your name, you're not supposed to be here." there were far too many people here to fit at the table, and Skylar noticed that at least half of them trailed out of the door sheepishly once they couldn't find their names.

        Skylar had never been to a party like this before. She hadn't really been to any party before, frankly. Her eyes scanned the rest of the table's occupants as she took her seat, where a paper placecard with the name Skylar inscribed in elegant script dictated it as her place.

        "That's Dawn's "friend", Kabos." Adrianna whispered from Skylar's left, nodding towards the boy sitting directly to Skylar's right. He was one of the most handsome boys that Skylar had ever seen, his deep green eyes staring at Adriana's gorgeous twin sister as Dawn told him a story.

        "That's him? Wow, when you said he was hot, you weren't kidding."

        Adriana laughed.

        "Yeah. No wonder he went for Dawn. No one else could possibly date him without being cast into a shadow."

        "Wait, they're dating?"

        "Dawn won't call it official, but you can tell that she's head over heels for him. And he doesn't exactly look like he hates her."        

        Skylar laughed as the king began to speak.

        "Friends, family, and loved ones, I have thrown this impromptu celebration to honor my beautiful wife, Queen Lisabeth. As some of you may know, she fell ill yesterday and was on the verge of leaving us forever. But, thanks to my beautiful and talented daughters, she was able to be revived and is now as healthy as ever. Feel free to eat as much as you please!"

        That was the cue for the servants to come out, bearing platters heaping with meats, cheeses, and breads. Skylar found herself eating like a ravenging beast, not having realized how hungry she was...or how delicious food could be. 

        And strangley enough, her head wasn't echoing with the thoughts of anyone at all. No one was thinking negatively today, at this feast thrown to honor the queen's health. It was somewhat of a relief to Skylar, not having to listen to the horror stories that others thought.

        I can't believe she made it.

        Suddenly a single negative thought echoed through her head. The voice of the thinker was male, since all thoughts were repeated in the voice of the person thinking them. That was how Skylar managed to decipher who was thinking what thought. She stopped eating, not sure if she had heard correctly.

        I know I couldn't have gotten the recipe wrong. I put the right amount of poison in the drink. There's no way that the so-called "powers" of the two princesses could save her.

        Skylar could feel her heart start to beat irrationally fast as she realized that she was hearing the thoughts of the person who tried to poison the queen. They were in the room.

        She looked around, scanning the crowd with new-found suspicion. She passed over the people who were talking to their neighbor happily, as they surely weren't having the thoughts. But many people weren't talking, just eating. No one looked unhappy, and certainly no one looked as though they would poison the queen.

        Now it's going to be so much harder to Darken her. She's not going to be as broken. Although the necklace should fix that.

        "Oh, I just love this steak."

        Skylar could almost feel her eyes popping out of her head. The voice that had just spoken was the exact same voice that had been thinking the negative thoughts. And suddenly she couldn't breathe.

        "Ad, can I talk to you in the hall?"

        "What?"

        "Just come on." Skylar dragged Adriana out of her chair and excused them both. Once they had reached the hall, Skylar made sure no one was around before turning to look at Adriana.

        "I know who the traitor is."

        Adriana's eyes widened.

        "Really? Who?"

        Skylar couldn't believe the name that was coming out of her own mouth.

        "It's Kabos."