Whispers of the missing

Annie stood like a guard by the tall window in her room. The moon in the sky looked like a shiny silver coin. Its pale light made her face look bright and dark in places, showing how smart she was, now that her eyes were squinted as she thought. She hadn't been able to sleep well since Isla and Prince Caius came back. The prince was polite but in a way that hid something Annie felt was very wrong. Isla's eyes were puffy and red from crying. Annie knew something bad had happened when they were out.

Her eyes went down to the big dark garden. She had gone there to feel the cool night air, hoping to calm the worried feeling in her mind. That's when she saw it – a shadow that moved quickly and strangely across the neat grass. It was big and not easy to see clearly. It moved with a scary speed and like it was flowing. It was close to the ground, much lower than a person, and it moved with a wild, like-a-hunter grace. A shiver, not just from being cold, went down her back. She couldn't really say what she had seen, but it made her feel uneasy.

The next morning, the palace felt heavy with quiet worry. The news that Princess Isla was gone spread like a cold wind through the hallways that echoed. Her room, which used to be a safe place with soft cloth and light, now showed something strange had happened – the strong frame of the door was broken and pulled apart, and the heavy wooden door was lying sideways on the floor. People whispered quietly, looking scared. The guards didn't know how a princess, locked safely in her room, could just disappear.

Annie walked through the confused scene looking like she was worried. She said soft, comforting words to a crying helper, putting her hand gently on her shaking shoulder. She talked quietly and kindly to groups of confused people from the court, her face showing what looked like real sadness.

"It's just terrible," she said softly to Lady Beatrice, her voice loud enough for a few people nearby to hear. "Poor Isla. To think she was carrying such a heavy problem... Maybe that bad thing at the market showed something much worse than we first thought." She let out a soft breath, looking at the broken door of Isla's room, as if asking a silent question.

She made sure she was near the King and Queen a lot, but not in the way. She was there to quietly support them. King Theron walked back and forth, his face showing worry and confusion. Queen Isolde sat very straight on her high chair, her hands held tightly together, her eyes wide with not believing what happened and a growing fear.

"It doesn't make any sense," King Theron said loudly, running a tired hand through his hair that was usually perfect. "Locked in her room... Captain Liam himself said it was secure. How could she just vanish? It's like she... just disappeared."

Annie stepped forward, her voice soft but with a feeling of what sounded like smart worry. "Papa, Mama," she started, looking at both her parents, "maybe... maybe Isla wasn't really herself. The way she acted at the market, so different from how she usually is... and then she was sad when she came back with Prince Caius... maybe she was fighting something we didn't understand." Her eyes looked just right, like she was really thinking about it with worry.

Queen Isolde looked sharply at Annie, her fear for a moment covered by a flash of not trusting her. "What exactly are you trying to say, Annie?"

"Only that something was clearly making Isla troubled," Annie said smoothly, her voice very careful. "Maybe she felt too much pressure about getting married soon, what everyone expected... the bad things people said. Maybe she felt she needed to... get away." She let her voice fade softly, letting the scary ideas sink into their already worried minds.

Later that day, Annie looked for Captain Liam, the serious leader of the Royal Guard. She found him in the busy palace yard, his tall, strong figure watching over the guards who were starting to look for Isla. His face looked serious, and the calm way he usually acted was gone, replaced by real worry and a hint of something else... something Annie's sharp eyes couldn't quite figure out.

"Captain Liam," she said, her voice sounding like a royal but also like she was truly worried.

He turned to her, standing very straight. "Princess Anne."

"This is a truly bad thing that has happened, Captain," Annie said, making her eyebrows go down like she was very worried. "Isla... just to disappear like this. Do you have any idea, any small thought, about what might have happened?"

Liam looked right at her, his eyes steady. "We are trying hard to find out, Princess. Her room... it wasn't just opened. It was... broken. In a strong way. Like something with a lot of power forced its way out." He stopped for a second, a quick shadow of something she couldn't read – maybe confusion, maybe even fear – crossed his face that usually didn't show much.

Annie's mind worked fast, putting together the pieces: the dark shape in the garden, the broken door. Something strong... A scary thought, one she didn't want and didn't expect, flickered for a moment, but she quickly pushed it away. "Could it have been... an animal, Captain?" she asked, her voice sounding just like she was asking a normal question, pretending to be thinking logically. "Maybe some wild animal got into the palace grounds?"

Liam shook his head slowly, his face looking troubled. "The way it was broken, Princess... it doesn't look like a normal animal did it. It was too... powerful. And as you know, Princess Isla's room was locked from the inside."

Annie pressed her lips together, acting like she was thinking hard with worry. "This is all so deeply scary. I can only hope Isla will come back safe and soon." She waited a moment, then leaned a little closer to the Captain, talking quietly like she was telling a secret. "You know, Captain, some of the servants... they've been talking quietly to each other. About Princess Isla acting strange lately. The stealing... the way she looked at Prince Caius... almost... wild. Did you see anything strange yourself, Captain?" She let that word hang in the air between them, like a small but strong seed of doubt planted in good soil.

Liam's eyes got a little smaller, almost like he was squinting a bit. His face didn't show what he was thinking. He just nodded quickly, his answer not clear, and turned back to the serious job of telling the guards what to do to search.

Annie watched him go. A small smile that was hard to see started on her face. People were starting to wonder about Isla. Her strange actions and now her going away... it would make people think bad things. And if people were afraid of Isla, maybe they would want someone else to be in charge, someone who looked strong and could keep them safe. Annie knew how to look like that person. She just had to wait and let the fear grow. The picture of the dark thing in the garden came back into her mind for a quick moment, but she pushed it away. She had a plan, and it was starting to work.