It was official. This was the worst day of her whole life. The humiliation she felt flaunting around in a slightly revealing dress to a man she had never met before. The man was more interested in the cupcakes than her. She irritatedly growled and excused herself from the banquet, before she had to see him gorging on another one.

“My father expects me to entertain that!” she shouted, once safely inside her room. Helen rushed into the room, startled by her shout. “He’s a pig, Helen, a pig!” she fumed, and paced the room, as the old lady tried to undo her hair.

“Stand still for a moment,” Helen ordered, fumbling with the strings to the dress. Eris ignored her and continued her rant. The old maid then gave up and let her finish, and calm down, before attempting to remove the dress again.

Eris flopped onto the bed, and Helen finished untying the dress. “If my father thinks I will let him use me like this, he’s got another thing coming!” She sobbed into a pillow. Helen finished undoing the dress and folded it neatly back up.

When she returned, she found Eris staring out the window.

“What are you doing?” she asked, not wanting to know nor get involved.

“Seeing if I offended him,” Eris devilishly replied with a wicked smile. She was like a cat, watching its prey, plotting its next move to attack. Helen looked out the window and was met by pitch black darkness. She looked back at the girl, who searched excitedly out into the night.

"Yes! He's leaving, muttering to himself while getting into the carriage. Oh, he's stuck. That's a nice touch. And away he goes." Eris turned around, and faced the door with a smug smile. "Five, four, three, two... one."

The door opened and the king stormed in, as she had known he would. His black hair speckled with gray was slicked back under his crown. He had even trimmed his beard to impress the royal guest. His face was red with anger and embarrassment. Eris knew she was in deep trouble, but she didn't care at all. Offending any and all royalty members was worth it.

"I send for knights, dukes, high ranking nobles, and princes. Does no one satisfy you enough to at least sit next to? I spend the next day explaining and apologizing for your rude behavior. Some demand something in return for the embarrassment you cause them. Others I must persuade not to declare war on us." The king heaved a heavy sigh and sat down in the chair by the make-up table. Eris stared at him curiously and knelt down beside him.

She gestured to the room around her. "Father, I know I'm not right for... this. I'm lavished in luxury and I hate it." Her father gave her a queer look of disbelief.

"Just a phase, my dear Eris. There was even a day that I didn't want the crown, but like all things it will pass in time. It's nothing to be ashamed of. It's just you don't completely understand that we have a responsibility that surpasses all desire." He smiled and patted her scowling head. She shrugged away from his hand in anger. He didn't understand what she had said. She stomped to the door and held it open.

"Good night, Father," she coldly replied. The king frowned, displeased by her behavior. He got up and marched to the door and snapped for the guards to hold it open.

"A princess never holds a door open. That is what servants are for." He left her and she smirked in triumph. It didn't matter if he didn't listen now. Just as long as she kept insulting everyone innocently they would get the gist eventually. She ran and jumped into her bed smiling triumphantly.

Helen examined the girl for a moment, suspicious of how she could see fine on a dark cloudy night like tonight, then knew when the king was to barge in on them. Several heartbeats later she dropped it, knowing she was too old to go prodding around a girl she already knew. What was one abnormal thing, out of many, that makes her remotely surprised anymore.

Eris curled up like a cat and cuddled the blankets around herself for warmth. She sighed happily, drifting off to sleep as Helen crept out of the room.

Eris opened her eyes so see it was bright out. Disdainfully she walked to the window to open the curtains but, to her surprise, a large full moon stared into her face instead of the usual morning sun. She stepped back in shock and smiled at the unusual delight. She glided to her makeup stand and began to brush the knots out of her hair. She whistled the tune of Danse Macabre, letting the dark eerie music fill the room. She turned her attention to the mirror and saw a man staring back from it. She dropped the brush in fright.

The man held up his hands to calm her. "Don't be afraid, I'm not going to hurt you!" She turned away from the mirror, breathing heavily.

"There's a man in my mirror. A cute man, but still a man nonetheless." She huffed and turned back around to face him. She put on the best facade she could muster, a poker face smile that could fool the most distrusting of men. "I apologize. My name is Eris. Now, could you get out of my mirror?" she told him bluntly.

"I'm sorry?" He glanced at her confused. "I don't mean to be in your mirror." She glared at him with disapproval. "I'm William," he introduced himself formally. Her glare didn't lighten up.

"Whatever," she coldly replied and looked at him closely. She thought, "an angelic, handsome face. Well groomed and quite strong looking. Must be my knight in shining armor... To bad this is only a dream." William studied the girl closely. Judging by the room, he already ranked her as a nobleman's daughter, but something was off. He couldn't get a clear look at her eyes.

The more he tried to focus on her eyes the darker her surroundings became. She didn't seem to notice, so he didn't bring it to her attention. "Could you look up for me?" he asked randomly. Eris shot her head up thinking the request strange. She stared directly into his eyes, but he was focused on what was behind her.

He stared into the eyes of a shadow beast, one of the likes of which he had never seen before. It was right behind Eris, yet she had no clue it was there. It glared at the man with a degree of loathing. In his head he heard a deep gravelly voice say, "Not yours."

Eris looked around to see what he was staring at and found nothing. She turned back around to ask him what was he looking at, but he had disappeared. The mirror surface was empty and showed no signs of anything had even occupied the space. She saw the disturbed, haunted look of her eyes in her reflection. She went back to the window, the moon shining brighter than before. She closed her eyes, embracing the pale light. The moon then increased in brightness and engulfed the room.

"Wake up, princess. It's another exciting day," Helen said apathetically. She pulled the curtains open, revealing the dawning sun. Helen turned to the girl when she heard no sarcastic reply. "Is something wrong?"

"I had the most peculiar dream. There was a man in my mirror and we had a delightful conversation," Eris told her in a daze.

"I would like to know what he thought of the conversation," Helen snorted, knowing Eris's definition of delightful and the rest of society's were two different things. Eris cracked a smile, a rare sight for Helen in the morning.

Helen went into the jewelry box, located next to the make-up table, and went to put out the day’s gems. She paused and looked in deeper.

“That’s funny, I remember seeing a ruby brooch in here.” She glanced at Eris, who shrugged in response.

Eris got up and stretched. Yawning, she informed Helen, “I’m going to skip my lessons today.” She got dressed and bolted out the door before the old lady had a chance to argue.

“Nice to know I don’t have to dress anyone today," she said, dumbstruck.