My heart stops mid-beat. My sweaty palms become as cold as ice. Blood rushes to my feet as it drops, leaving my face the color of porcelain. My... father? I look at Vicky with a blank expression, as hers has a curve on her lips.

"Father? I... have a father?" I ask in pure shock, my voice barely wheezing its way out.

"Of course, you do" She says with a glad expression.

"His name is Sir Mark, and your mother is named Lady Emily."

Mark....

Emily....

They are my... parents?

"Why have I never been told this?" I question.

"Because Queen Madia ordered me to never mention your biological parents. But, they told me when the time was right, that I could tell you."

"Wait, you knew them? You actually spoke with them?"

I cannot believe that Vicky knew my parents!

"Yes, I was Queen Madia's personal maid. I've known your parents, Queen Madia, and King William for a very long time. They used to be the best of friends."

"They were?" I exclaim, not believing that Queen Madia was actually friends with my biological parents, nonetheless best friends!

"Yes, were."

She took in a long sigh before speaking once more.

"They were all joined at the hip since childhood. Since I was Madia's personal maid, I would go out with her and the group all the time. Madia and Emily were always with each other. They met because their families were friends. Though your parents were not royal, they were very wealthy. But, they never were snobbish about their money. Everyone loved Emily and Mark. Your mother was the sweetest person I have ever met. She would always help people however she could, and many noticed. She was considered the most beautiful woman to have ever existed, with her golden blonde hair and gorgeous purple and blue eyes. She loved gardens, which is why she named you Lily! Lilies were her favorite flowers. But what really shone beautiful was her heart. Your father was very much in love with her, he always had been, even from childhood. One of his hobbies was wood work, which is why you saw carvings of a woman. That woman is your mother. He and William would be in his wood shed all the time, which is also why you probably saw carvings of the Scadian flag."

"What happened? Why aren't they friends anymore? Why haven't I seen them in twenty-two years?"

"Well, Madia's always had jealous tendencies. She would never treat people with respect, and she'd always snobbishly remind everyone that she was the Princess of Scadia. Emily would always be the one to correct her when she would do that, which greatly disturbed Madia. She was jealous of your mother. She wanted to be seen the way everyone would see Emily. When Lady Emily got married first, Madia quickly got married to William. But between you and me, I think she forced him to."

"Everyone was overjoyed when Emily became pregnant, and Madia wanted none of that. When she was pregnant with Fredrick a year before, everyone wasn't as happy as with Emily. So, after Emily gave birth to you, she invited them to the castle one night... I was commanded to stand outside the door as she had some private business to discuss with Lady Emily and Sir Mark. I remember the piercing sound of screaming coming from that room... She took the one thing that gave them happiness... you. She walked out of the room with you in her arms and gave you to me. She called the royal guards to escort your parents away. Your mother cried, "Take care of our baby, Vicky!" As they passed me, Emily whispered, "Tell her when the time is right." Madia kept you because she wanted to hurt and destroy the thing that took all the attention off of her. She disgustingly finds great joy in torturing you, which is why I've stood up for you many times. Because you've never deserved what she's done to you."

"And now you know."

"Why did they keep the wood work?"

"I believe King William kept those. He's always been very shy, and a door mat at that. I don't think he ever wanted any of this to happen. But, he had to go with whatever Madia said."

"So, where are my parents now? What did she do to them?!" I ask with frustration seeping through my words.

I can't believe that heartless jerk would do such a thing! I knew she was low... but not THIS low.

"I wish I could tell you Lily, but I have no idea what happened to them after that. I'm guessing that she banned them into the dungeon."

"They could still be alive?" I exclaim, squeezing my dress with my fingers in nervousness.

"Possibly, yes." Vicky says, biting a part of her lip as she thinks of the theory.

They could still be alive...

That's all that repeats in my head.

"Thank you, Vicky, for taking care of me all these years. And for telling me this information."

"You do what you need to do now." She says as she places her hands on my shoulders.

"What do you-?"

She cuts me off as she embraces me in one of her comforting hugs that makes me think she has some super power that makes me feel instantly better. She explains that she needs to finish a cream filling for one of the desserts before she can go to bed, so she gives me a piece of paper and one last hug before going up the creaking steps to finish her cream.

Once she's gone, I unroll my little mat. I need to lie down. This is all too much, too fast. I feel a wave of emotions push me further and further down the rabbit hole that is my thoughts. I feel disgusted at the fact that that witch would do such a horrid thing to my mother and father. I feel like I need to mourn over the loss of my parents, until I remember that they could still be alive.

I unfold the paper to find a faint picture of a short woman and tall man. My eyes widen to the size of saucers as I am mesmerized by the photo. The woman is dressed in a lovely pastel floral dress with it being tight at the top and flares as it flows to the bottom. Her flowy golden blonde hair is in a half-up do with a little flower poking out of the top of her ear. The man's attire is a button up white shirt with dress pants. Their smiles could brighten a whole room. Just by looking at them, I can tell that they're my mother and father. I get a lot of my features from my mother, but I got my dirty blonde hair from my father. Except mine has more streaks of different colors.

I spent the whole night looking at the small picture, feeling as if I've known them my whole life. The way my father looks at his wife is absolutely beautiful. The town that they're in has to be Scadia, because the houses look very similar. I then open the little red box to find the blush pink rose that'd been given to me by Fredrick. My emotions then shift to love as I look at the delicate flower, then back to the picture in my hand.

What if.....

They're still alive?