It had been going on nearly two decades since the fall. The fall that had brought nothing but darkness and decay upon the whole land. It had all started back when the last queen had given birth to her first, and only daughter. The princess had been a gift to the kingdom, a prayer answered by the gods, and a hope for the people. But, it wasn't safe for the infant to remain there. The queen's brother, angry at not having been offered the throne himself had held this against his sister since her reign began, silently hoping a child would never come. And for a long time, it didn't. The princess' birth had thrown a wrench into the plans, and thus had to be taken care of.<br/><br/>With the king gone, having fallen in battle not long before his daughter was born, the queen was the only one who stood in the way. Of course, gossip spreads like wildfire and soon half of the castle was fearing for the lives of their royals. I small group of those closest to the queen gathered the night of the alleged murder to come up with a plan. If anything were to happen to the queen, the princess would need to be protected at all costs. So while the royal guard doubled their posts, a few took the princess in secret while the queen's handmaiden informed her majesty of what was going down.<br/><br/>Under cover of darkness the faun was quick to get the infant away, thankfully while she continued to sleep. He had been given brief instructions as to what to do, and so it was on the eve of the last queen's murder that the princess was found missing, and a new king was elected.<br/><br/>It had been pouring rain when the faun arrived at the agreed upon location. Ringing the doorbell, he stood on the steps waiting for an answer. His hooves clicked on the stone, hidden from view of anyone who passed with a simple illusion. The infant in the basket began to cry, and the faun knocked on the door hoping for an answer. When the door did swing open the faun practically shoved the basket at the woman.<br/><br/>"Keep her safe and my the gods above do<span style="font-style: italic">not</span>allow her to know her true heritage." The faun warned the pair, taking one last look at the infant. "I will be back."<br/><br/>----------<br/><br/>Seventeen years ago and that memory was still burned into the faun's memory as he stood across the street from those same steps. Seventeen years and it was time for the princess to return as a queen. Knocking on that door was like a flashback, except this time there was no rain, and there was no child.