#enchantedforest!verse

Jillian would have done anything to get out of a bad situation, she always had. She considered her determination to be her best feature. When she was eighteen she was determined to run away from her fathers kingdom and to do anything not to be queen and that was what she had done. She was determined to work for The Evil Queen and to hide her identity in the process and she had done that as well. But the one determination she had yet to meet was the one that mattered the most. To kill The Dark One.

When Jillian was sixteen her kingdom was in trouble, and The Dark One had agreed to help her kingdom in exchange for her older sister Belle. Belle was always one to do anything to help someone. And if giving up her life could help their entire kingdom it didn’t surprise her that her sister agreed to go with the green skinned demon in order to do just that. But in doing so she left Jillian behind with their father who obviously did not want and had no faith in Jillian. She was suddenly pushed into being groomed to be queen, something she never wanted. She wanted to be free. And free she became when she ran away. If being free meant living alone in the woods that is.

And it was there in the woods that she had been found by The Evil Queen’s huntsman. He took pitty on her and brought her to his queen’s castle. She had remembered hearing rumors about the queen’s relationship with the wicked imp and that knowledge only made her more sure she might be able to find him. To find him and kill him. So she begged the queen for a job and her natural charm landed her a job as the queens chamber maid. But in her five years there she never once saw The Dark One and only managed to become a pet to the queen, something she never wanted to be. Yes, the queen was beautiful, but Jillian had left home in hopes of freedom, not to be tied down once again. So with the help of the huntsman she once more ran away from a life that didn’t suit her and ran into town, finding shelter staying at a small inn near a pub that was often frequented by pirates.

Jillian wasn’t like other girls, she had a bit of a thing for pirates. When she was a young girl, her sister used to read her stories about pirates and she spent years dreaming that a handsome pirate would take her out to sea with him; a life of freedom, like she always wanted. So being near a pirate tavern seemed perfect to her but whenever she went the only pirates she ever saw were nothing but drunks who hadn’t been at sea in ten years.

Sleeping in the woods had become normal to Jillian, she had been there so long that it had actually become truly normal. She lost track of how long it had been since she ran away from her father’s castle. She used to use tally marks to keep track of the days using a sharp edged rock against the base of a large tree near a stream but after about a hundred days…she stopped caring and the days began to blend together, blurring in her mind like dreams that she could barely remember. 

Then her whole life changed because a huntsman was thirsty. She had been bathing in the stream that she had been since she first came here and he had come for a drink of water while hunting when she came out from under the water like a mermaid. And with that, her days of living in the woods were over. 

She had made quick friends with the hunstman, finding that he was the first kind person she had met in a long time. She had known she needed to get out of the woods and with some convincing, she talked him into taking her back to the castle of the queen he worked for. 

The castle was bigger than she thought it would be, a little bit bigger than the one she grew up in but not by much. She listened to and respected the warnings the man gave her about the queen being evil and cruel, growing a bit scared. She walked in the castle and followed him into the queens chambers. She near stopped walking at the sight of her.

She was possibly, no- for sure, the most beautiful creature to ever grace the Earth. Jillian’s mouth became dry and her heart began to race- something that had never happened before. What was happening? Was she sick? She didn’t know but this woman has captured her full attention. 

But Jillian knew better than to just stand there and stare at her. So she did what she remembered people doing to her and her family when she was back home; she got on her knees and bowed her head out of respect, and would not lift it until given permission. 

Jillian had promised herself she would never tell anyone who she was, a promise she intended to keep. She had run away from her fathers kingdom in search of a new life, hopefully one with freedom but at this point she would have done or been anything to leave that place. Ever since Belle gave herself up to The Dark One, it wasnt home anymore. It was a place where all anyone cared about was grooming her to be the next ruler for the time when her father would step down from the throne. She didnt want to be queen. And once she realized this must have been what life was like for Belle, she understood why she gave herself up so easily. Life had become nothing more than dress fittings, speech writings, lessons and meeting the people. She was never allowed to be herself or have a moment to breathe. The moment Belle left she wasnt Jillian anymore, she was Princess Jillian-something she never wanted to be.

Jillian always had a fondness for pirates, and always had a secret dream of being one; a secret she never even shared with her sister Belle. Ah Belle, she was the reason all this had started-the mess that had become Jillians complicated life. The day that Belle gave herself up to The Dark One was the day that Jillian lost, or realize she never really had, a say in how her life was run; the day she lost what little bit of freedom she had.

When Belle left, everyone decided that it was up to Jillian to become the next ruler when her father decided to step down from the throne. It wasnt something she had a say in since she was born into it; and the day she lost control of her own life, she realized why Belle so easily gave it all up.

Her life quickly became made up of dress fittings, speech givings, political lessons and many more things that she found dull and pointless. She wasnt allowed to go out, she wasnt allowed to have friends, she wasnt allowed to do anything that she hadnt been already told to do. And for a long time she thought she had no freedom, just like Belle had no freedom. But one night she realized they had freedom all along, but that Belle had been the only one to realize sometimes you have to fight and do unspeakable things to claim it. Jillian knew she couldnt live like this anymore and she had to fight for her freedom, for her life.

So that very same night she left home with only what she could carry and ran as fast and as far as she could. In her years away she had lived in the woods and been found by a Huntsman who worked for The Evil Queen, and he had taken her back with him. She had been a chamber maid to the queen and stayed until she heard rumors of a pirate ship having made port in the kingdom. The Huntsman helped her leave that night and she made her way to the pub that the crew of that very ship had found themselves in.

That night she met the captain, Katherine Jones-the most beautiful woman Jillian had ever seen. That night she had sat with the crew and drank rum, the room filling with laughter as if nothing was wrong with her life. And it was that night she ran away with Katherine and her crew. That was six months ago.

And in those six months that she had been at sea she found a side of herself that she had never known before, a side of her that she believed was her true self. She fought with swords, drank with men, sang songs of the sea and sailed to her hearts desire. she was meant to be a pirate, and she had Katherine to thank for it. 

Jillian had been ever so desperate to get away from her fathers kingdom that she would have done anything if it meant leaving. So a few weeks after sneaking out of her window and running away she was given a job as a maid in The Evil Queens castle. She hadnt expected to be a maid, especially not for another royal, but she was far too desperate to be picky. If this was her chance then she was willing to take it.

Jillian had been very careful about not letting anyone know who she was. She never gave a last name or used mannerisms a princess would. She never sang or danced, things she had been taught to do all her life, and she never spoke of home. As far as the world knew, she was nothing more than a maid. And she intended on keeping it that way if she was ever going to find Belle and start her new life. 

The young princess stood on her balcony, observing the town beneath the castle with longing. She had always dreamed of being just a normal girl, with a normal life. But instead, she was born royal, and being the only child of King Adrian and Queen Casssiopeia, great things were expected from her.

Princess Andrea, however, only longed to be free. Free from everything and be able to do what she wanted.

''Your Majesty.'' Her chamber maid greeted. ''Your fiance arrives in a bit. Your father will send for you when the time comes to meet your future huaband.''