The Princess's Sister

Chapter 12 - Maradova

It went from sunny in England to snowy in Maradova gradually, Hannah noticed.
She sat on a window seat in the private plane, alone. Ellie was doing her puzzle that Binah gave her, Lottie was helping her, and Jamie, remaining unreadable as always, was looking out of the window. She thought Jamie would prefer if nobody talked to him.
Hannah ended up falling asleep whilst looking outside. Everything was quite peaceful.
When she woke up, she found herself in a room with.. Adrien? They were tied to a chair with barefeet. The only light source was the one window that wasn't tall enough to climb through.
"Ah. You're awake!"
Hannah was horrified from who had walked through the door.
"Saskia?!"
"It is I," Saskia said calmly, which infuriated Hannah.
"Why are we here?" Adrien asked, his tone as casual as Saskia's.
Was it a Partizan thing to be so calm in these situations?
"Saskia!" A voice called from somewhere else in the unknown building.
"I'll be back!" Saskia said smugly whilst smirking.
They were both struggling in their chairs when Hannah got an idea.
"Try getting back-to-back with me and we can try to untie each other."
It was a struggle but they managed to do it in the end.
They ran out, desperate to find the exit. It was like they were in an endless maze. They ran left and right, then, when they were escaping,  Adrien disappeared.
He's a Partizan, he can take care of himself, Hannah thought.
She kept running and she finally found the exit when she felt something tug her leg.
"Thought you could get away that easily? Sorry honey, you thought wrong."
Everything went black and when she opened her eyes, she was in the plane again. She found herself panting. Everything was left where it was. Lottie and Ellie were still doing the puzzle and Jamie was still looking out of the window.
A nightmare, of course.
Still out of breath, she found her purple bottle from her bag. It felt refreshing.
"Are you OK, Hannah?" Lottie asked.
"Yeah, thanks. It was just a bad dream."
They arrived at 7 pm in Maradova. It was cold compared to the normal warm weather of England.
The Palace was cavernous and extravagant. If they thought Rosewood was lavish, the Palace was otherworldly. It was beautifully decorated with flower pots and paintings and tapestries.
They were greeted by someone called Midori that the trial would take place the day after.
Both Hannah and Lottie had no idea what kind of 'trial' they were talking about.
They all had their own rooms they'd be staying in for a few nights and Hannah was next to Lottie's. She loved her room and the bed felt as soft as silk; Probably because it was silk. Normally, you'd hate to sleep in a bed different than yours but it was the opposite case for Lottie and Hannah.
They had dinner alone before getting a good night's sleep for the trial.
After leaving the room, Jamie warned, "At the trial tomorrow, be on your best behaviour. All three of you. Especially Lottie and Hannah."
Hannah couldn't sleep well. She didn't know if it was the nightmare or the trial or something else because she knew it wasn't the room.
The same nightmare haunted Hannah again in her sleep. She woke up at 2am and couldn't get back to sleep. As she got up from her bed, she tried to be quiet just to wander around the Palace for a bit.
Bitter air filled her lungs as she stepped onto the balcony. Through a window she saw... Saskia? Nope. Just a hanger with a coat.
"What are you doing here?"
Hannah turned around, startled to find Jamie there.
"Just wanted some fresh air. Why are you here?" Hannah replied.
"I heard you," Jamie said matter-of-factly.
"Sorry... I couldn't get back to sleep."
"It's fine. I was already awake. Why were you awake?"
"I..." Hannah wondered if she should tell him, "I know it sounds childish but I had a nightmare.
"It's not childish, everyone gets scared of some things. What was your nightmare about?"
"It was the same one I had on the plane here," Hannah started, "I wake up in a dark room, tied to a chair with Adrien-"
"Who's Adrien?"
"A Partizan in my year that went missing a while ago. Then Saskia comes into the room. She goes out of the room and we manage to escape but then as we're running, Adrien disappears. I see the exit then Saskia pulls my leg and hauls me further into the building. Then I wake up."
The frigid breeze blew Hannah's hair in front of her face.
"You should rest for the trial tomorrow. We need all of you on your best behaviour - it will be the King and Queen's first impression of you," Jamie said sternly
"Goodnight," Hannah said.
She finally managed to go to sleep though she only slept for three hours. Exhaustion overtook her mind and she wasn't focused no matter how much she tried. Hopefully, everything goes well.

Hopefully.