Alanna gave a tired sigh. “Are you very far away?” she asked, even though she already knew the answer. This was the same conversation she’d had with her invisible friend many times before. “I’ll never be able to find you. You’re invisible.”

“You will.” The wind promised. “You will find me when the time is right. All princesses have to wait for their princes.”

“Are you a prince?”

“No, but I know who your prince is, and he’s waiting for you, too.”

“He is? What’s he waiting for?” Alanna hurriedly asked, hearing Mrs. Fields and her caseworker opening the back door.

“What do you want me to tell her?”

Matthew stared at Silas as his brother talked to the girl who was destined for him, trying to come up with an answer that wouldn’t change the path set ahead for them.

“For you to call out my name.”

“How am I supposed to know his name?” Silas repeated what the young girl had said.

“You will know without me ever having to tell you.”

“What am I supposed to do until then?”

Matthew stared at Silas in agony, not wanting to give the answer he had no choice to give.

His brother stared back at him in understanding, well aware of the turmoil he was going through.

“We wait.”

Chapter 1

Chapter One

Alanna was jerked awake by the light being turned on in the corridor outside of her jail cell. Groggily raising herself up onto an elbow, she looked to see why the lights had been turned on in the middle of the night. If the deputy who was usually on duty had come to annoy her in the middle of the night, she was going to file a formal complaint for cruel and unusual punishment.

Blinking to clear the sleep out of her eyes, she saw two deputies maneuvering a large man inside the opposite cell. At least, she thought the person was a male. From her viewpoint, she couldn’t really tell. All she could discern was, whoever it was, they were large enough that the deputies were having trouble carrying him, and a hoodie hid the back of his head from her.

Tossing the person onto the bunk, the deputies exited the cell, slamming the door closed behind them.

Seeing she was observing them, the deputy who was too young to have such shockingly white hair spoke to the other deputy, whom she had only seen a few times before. “You go on, Larry. I’ll be there in a minute.”

Walking closer to her cell door, Deputy Porter gave a backward nod of his head. “He won’t be bothering you none. Had too good of a time at the fair tonight. You need anything before I turn the lights off?”

“No, I don’t need anything, but I’d feel more comfortable if you put him in the other cell and leave the lights on.”