The Hidden Luna Queen 2

She held her hands over her heart. "Good luck, Miss Maeve."

Another guard led me through the main hall of the Royal Palace, and as we walked, I was awestruck by how grand everything was. It was something out of a dream... or maybe a glimpse of what lay beyond the gates of heaven. Everything was gold or marble-touched more expensive and expansive than anything I could even begin to fathom.

I was truly in the Royal Palace.

My heart began to pound... I grew dizzy...

Oh my God-I'm in the Royal Palace.

Suddenly, I felt the urge to vomit. Frantically, I asked the guard to direct me to the nearest bathroom and he did so with haste.

As the guard waited outside the bathroom, I sat down and took a moment to catch my breath. Slowly but surely, my impending nausea went away and I felt somewhat human again. I just needed to remind myself of one simple thing: I was only meeting his family. His family was just like any other... except with much more wealth and power.

I sighed. There was no point in putting this off any longer-I was only delaying the inevitable. I heaved myself back up onto my feet and went to wash my hands.

"You there. Turn around."

Startled, I spun around and came face to face with a young, pretty

woman, no older than her early twenties and wearing a royal blue, pleated dress.

"Wow..." she murmured, "I couldn't have been sure with all the vague rumors, but I was right. It really is you, Maeve."

My skin crawled with unease. I remembered this girl. For as long as I could remember, her Alpha father, Kenneth, had been an acquaintance of my father and would occasionally visit Moonstone. She had only ever accompanied him once or twice in all the years I'd seen him, but she always carried herself with reserve, as if she felt she deserved better than anyone... at least around me.

I also remembered the day her father visited with the news that she was set to marry the firstborn of the Alpha King, Prince Henry.

Considering she got everything she wanted, she did not seem pleased to see me... so why was she here?

I forced myself to smile politely. "H-Hello, Isabelle."

"I didn't think you ever left Moonstone," she said, straightforward and to the point. "Not to mention, your own house. So, tell me, how on earth did you ever manage to catch the eye of our roguish Prince Xaden?"

I gnawed at the inside of my cheek, squirming uncomfortably where I stood. That was all people seemed to care about nowadays. But I did not feel that I owed her any sort of explanation, even if she was married to his brother.

"I'm... still not sure, myself, if I'm being honest," I said.

"Well, it certainly was not thanks to your looks," she sneered, looking me up and down. "I don't recall you ever wearing something other than servant attire. You did not steal that dress, did you?"

My face flushed, offended by her accusation. "N-No, I didn't."

She looked unconvinced. "What do you want with him?" she asked, point blank, like an interrogation, as if I had ulterior motives that she had a responsibility to uncover. "Do you hope to gain something from him?"

I straightened myself up. "No. He wants me to be his Luna."

Her eyes widened, illuminated with rage. And, without warning, she stomped her dainty, gold-embellished, high-heeled shoe onto the skirt of my white dress, smearing dust and dirt all over the skirt. I gasped, startled by the sudden assault, and tried to pull away in a feeble attempt to prevent any damage.

But it was too late.

The dust and dirt left a very obvious mark against the white fabric. Even if I tried to clean it off using hand soap and water, some semblance of a stain would remain.

The dress was ruined.

"Good luck impressing His Majesty looking like that, you fraud," Isabelle spat as the fire in her eyes morphed into loathsome disdain. "I'm telling you once-leave now and don't ever come back. I will not share the palace with the likes of you." And with that, she spun on her heel and stormed out of the bathroom.

I was left alone with the dress she deliberately ruined. Panicking, I soaked and scrubbed at the dirtied section of the dress with as much soap and water as I could, hoping that, by some miracle, I might be able to salvage it. But while I managed to get the worst of it off, it still stuck out like an eyesore.

I was almost out of time! How was I supposed to meet the royal family like this?!

All of a sudden, the bathroom door flew open, startling me with a jolt. I quickly snapped my gaze towards the door to face whoever this intruder was.

"Maeve?" a soft, out-of-breath voice questioned.