A Dragon's Knight Returns To Fight Again (Post-Legend of Dragoon based/Mature)

Emily walked down the hall from her mother's rooms. The hot-headed woman was pregnant again after so long, and Emily guessed the hormones, plus the fact that her daughter would be traveling in a few weeks AND the fact that her people might have to go to war was making it too much for her. And her mother had to be the strongest person in her life. Humming a tune as she walked, she wasn't paying attention, and so she didn't see that a painting had fallen to the floor. She tripped over the mess, and got her knees a little cut up from the frame's remains. Scowling and muttering a curse under her breath, she stumbled to her feet with her hand pressed against the wall to her right. What was that? A strange sound entered her ears, and before she could react she fell through a hidden doorway that had slid open when her hand pressed against the opening mechanism.

Yelping in surprise, she fell to the floor. Seeing the door begin to close, she scrambled to her feet, but her stupid purple dress kept her from getting up soon enough, and so the door shut before she could get out. Pounding her hands against the wall, she groped around but couldn't find a way to get out. Huffing, she turned and was barely able to cross her arms over her chest. Letting her eyes adjust to the darkness, she felt her anger ebbing away, only to have curiousness replace it. This was a hidden path! She thought she had found all the secrets of the castle. Obviously not.... Walking timidly forwards, she walked down the hallway, having to turn sideways in places to be able to continue on down the thin hallway. She could barely hear the muted laughter of her own ladies as they were getting ready for the night activities. Groping through her mind as the sounds died away, she remembered that tonight would be her birthday. Eighteen years old, but she sure didn't feel like it.

Finding herself at the end of the hallway, she raised a hand and was surprised to feel cold metal at her touch. Finding the handle of the door, she turned it and pushed as hard as she could against the door, looking inside the small dusty room as it was revealed inch by inch. Once she was inside, he managed to find a loose stone to prop the door open while she looked around. It took a minute, but once her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she found herself in a small, one-person storage room. Eyes roaming, she spotted what looked like a dusty, but well-kept lance, then her eyes fell to a black lump on the small desk in the room. Walking over to it, she picked it up. Rolling it around in her hand, she found it was a dust-blackened stone. Removing the 'scarf' of the dress from its hook, she folded up the light fabric and then started to clean it.

An unknowable amount of time passed by, and finally the stone was clean. Bring the candle she managed to light closer, she stared at the stone. What looked like a black slit ran down the middle of the emerald-colored stone. She raised it high and just stared at it for a long time, feeling as if she knew where the thing had come from. Suddenly, her father's mad words from the last time she wandered around in the hidden places of the castle came to her, and she decided to try and get the hidden door open again. She was just about to put the stone down, when a sudden movement caught her eye. The black slit had widened a little, and suddenly her vision was blocked out by a bright flash of light. Some time later, she cracked open her eyes, and found herself in a forest. Confused, she didn't have much time to react as a shadow fell over her, and she passed out again.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Emily awoke some time later, to find herself tucked in a warm room, and in an even warmer bed. Blinking back the heavy sleep in her eyes, she spotted an older woman leaving the room. Confused, she sat up and took in a shaky breath as a sharp pain shot up her side. She went to rub her eyes, then stopped when she noticed she was no longer in her dress. A man's working shirt covered the top of her, and she wore a pair of loose, but comfortable pants covered her bottom half. Hearing footsteps, she ignored them and tried to stand to her feet just as she heard the doorway open. She stumbled, and fell back onto the bed with a muted curse.

(I don't mind if the villagers know that she is the princess or not. xD)