I kicked my feet around and sighed, waiting for something exciting to happen. The bed I was sitting on was comfortable but I wanted to move around and this new cramped room wasn't an ideal place. I had endured a four-day carriage ride to attend this party and now I was stuck in a foreign guest chamber, alone. I had bought a new gown and even put on extra makeup in order to fit in with the party audience but then Father sent me straight to my room the minute I joined the royal crowd.

He said intruders had made their way into the ballroom. Intruders, whom I've been warned about for a year now, were always after me.

I had scanned the crowd before reluctantly trudging up the oak stairs. Everybody looked as they should. Nobody stood out and none of them looked malicious. Who were these intruders and what did they want from me? Why was I their target?

As I reached the landing, I had an urge to run back down and sneak through the crowd so my father wouldn't see me. He was probably being over protective like he always was. But then I looked at the guards around the perimeter and even they were on their toes. Not a single one of them looked stoic and poised. Their eyes frantically scanned in every direction and I took their agitation as a sign to obey my father.

So I ended up sitting on this new, gold-threaded bed with the door locked. My eyes roamed to the window across the room and suddenly my feet were taking me to the pane. A dense forest stood in the way between the castle and the big village. There must've been a festival going on since the village square was lit up despite the fact it was late evening.

I leaned my chin on my palm and wondered what it was like to be down there. Sure, there was manual labour but they could have parties and family time. They didn't have much to worry about either; the kingdom took good care of its people. I imagined workers in a line or a circle wearing rags, jumping around as they danced. It was nothing intricate like minuets or gavottes that were done by royalty but it looked fun. In a ballroom, everybody is watching and everybody is judging. But out there, people could smile and smile freely.

I pushed myself away from the window. I wouldn't fit with the villagers anyway. The adventurous side of me was only in my mind, a figment of my imagination. I could only ever imagine being out there, linking arms with others and dancing like a fool.

A sound made me turn towards my door. Soft, quick steps were approaching and I advanced towards the thin wooden door to listen in on what was happening. Maybe Father would finally relent and let me out of here.

I stopped in the middle of the room as something slammed against my door. My hand shot out to reach for the handle but I stopped myself when something pushed against my door again. I gasped and stepped back as it fell towards me. On the other side was a lean boy with a smirk on his face. My jaw dropped and I brought a hand up to cover it. Had he just kicked the door down all by himself?

When he saw me, his expression changed into one of concern. He rushed towards me and I took another step back so I was right against the wall. In the split second that he took to approach me, I remembered his face. Dark eyes, dark hair, prominent brow bones.

He cupped my face with his hands and I braced myself. His thumbs wiped my eyes and he scanned my whole face with great scrutiny. I scowled uncomfortably. What on earth was he doing?

"Your Highness," he said breathlessly. "You're not hurt, are you?"

I swatted his hands away and huffed. "Who are you and when did you get the right to pounce on my face like that?"

"I can explain all that later but first, we have to get out of here." He looked out the window at the ground, seeming to calculate the height of the jump. "Your father's orders were to get you out of here. The intruders have caught sight of you and they're planning to come up here to get you any second."

I backed away, not trusting this guy. "And why should I believe what you say?"

He rolled his eyes and pulled out a letter from this pocket before shoving it to me. "Your father wrote this and told me to give it to you. I'm one of his spies."

The paper in my hand held my father's signature and writing but I didn't have enough time to read it as another question popped into my head. "Spies? My father doesn't have any spies! And besides, you're my age. How could you be a spy?"

He chuckled arrogantly while leaning out the window. "Nobody suspects me of being a spy and therefore, I am a superb one."

I pursed my lips. "No intruders are even coming. I order you to get out of my room before I call for my father himself to you out."

Suddenly, both of us turned our heads towards the door as the noise of thumping soldiers came up the stairs.

"Done." I whipped my head to the window and saw the dark-haired boy sitting on the sill with his legs dangling out to the darkness. Before I could react, he jumped.

I ran to the edge of the window. "Hey!" I screamed but saw that he had made it to the ground safely.

"Come down, I'll catch you!" he yelled.

"Are you crazy?" I replied but then I heard the clicking of guns and turned around to find a group of men in red uniform with their weapons pointed straight at me.

 

For a second, I was relieved. These men were going to help me. But then I remember something when I was downstairs, scanning the ballroom.

This castle didn't have guards in red uniforms; they all wore black.

"Come with us, princess, and no harm will be done."

My jaw went slack. So there were intruders here.

"Jump!" the boy outside yelled again and before I knew what my body was planning, I had swung my legs over the windowsill. I looked down at the boy with his arms wide open and for that second, I put all my trust towards him.

I pushed myself off and squeezed my eyes shut as I fell. Without a warning, the boy's strong arms had caught me and in the next moment, we were running straight into the dark forest.

When I asked for something exciting, I hadn't expected this.

 

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eeeeeep all the kai feels these days