The Lord raised an eyebrow, dropping his hands off of me. “Of course, Your Highness.”
I accepted his outstretched arm and allowed him to escort me. I sat down on a cushioned chair and smiled at the Lord in thanks. He bowed his head, looking disappointed and left to find another young lady to torment. Joseph slowly started inching towards me.
“Milly,” he whispered. He kept his eyes on the dancers.
“Are you not allowed to be dancing?” I asked.
“I’m on duty,” he replied. “But you should be dancing, not talking with me. People will get suspicious if you’re just sitting chatting with a guard all night.”
“Humph,” I said. “That Lord Chamberlain was a snake.”
Joseph looked disgusted. “I know.”
“Am I interrupting something?” A young nobleman stepped to us, looking at Joseph curiously.
“No, sir,” Joseph replied, standing at attention. “Her Highness was not feeling well. I was asking if I could be of assistance.”
“Oh?” the young man said. “I was coming to ask the Princess for a dance. If she is feeling unwell—”
“No, my lord. I am fine to dance. I just needed to sit a spell.”
“In that case.” He offered his arm. I shot Joseph an apologetic look, but he kept his eyes on the party.
I must have danced with twenty men that night, all with varying, yet extreme, personalities. Most of these noblemen, as far as I could tell, had one thing in common: they loved hearing themselves talk. The noblewomen weren’t much better. Most of them conversed with me only out of obligation, but it didn’t stop them from turning their noses up at me and whispering behind my back.
I finally found a seat and tried to rest my legs when the King approached me and bowed his head.
“Daughter,” he said, “may I have the last dance of the evening?”
My mouth went dry, but I somehow found the words, “Yes, Sire.”
His arm was stiff when I took it, and he escorted me to the center of the floor. Everyone watched us in interest. They would probably just say they were happy to see the King dance with his daughter, but I couldn’t help but think it was more like excited to see the King dance with his new daughter.
“You dance very well,” the King said as we stepped to the music.
“Thank you, Sire,” I said, though I felt like I was shaking too much to dance as well as I was normally capable.
“The arrangement with the Kingdom of Polart is a very good one, Amelia.”
I merely nodded. The King could kill me at any minute if I said the wrong thing.
“I’m sure you’re excited to meet your future husband.”
I searched the King’s eyes, but still found nothing. He was very good at hiding his thoughts.
“Of course, Your Majesty.”
We danced in silence for about a minute. No one else was dancing, they were just watching. It was as if everyone around us were holding their breath. I knew I was. It took that minute for me to muster up the courage to continue the conversation.
“Sire,” I said, “when will I meet the Prince?”
“Two days time,” he said without hesitation.
I choked. “So soon?”
King Leopold raised an eyebrow at me. “The sooner the better.”
The song ended, and he bowed. I curtsied in turn and watched as he briskly left the floor. I felt sick to my stomach. Things were happening so fast. I stumbled, but Lady Minerva caught me quickly. I hadn’t even noticed her at the party all night. I was so caught up in everything else.
“Is she alright?” I heard a few voices shout out in the crowd.
“Just fatigued,” Minerva called out, assuring all the worried nobles. “She has been dancing all night. Am I correct in saying so, Princess?” She gave me a look that dared me to say otherwise.
“She is right,” I said. “I would very much like to retire.”
The crowd parted to make a pathway for Lady Minerva and me. I nodded politely to all I passed. A few gave me sympathetic glances, but most were just curious as they tried to get a good look at me.
After making it out of the dining hall, I pulled away from Minerva’s grip.
“I think I can manage on my own,” I said to her.
“Fine,” she said, “but I’ll walk you to your room.”
Just as we were about to head for my bedchamber, Joseph stepped out of the dining hall.
“Oh, good,” Minerva said. “Your guard is here. Will you escort the Princess back to her chambers? I would like to rejoin the party.”
“Yes, my Lady,” Joseph said.
Minerva left quickly. I had never seen her so excited. She must really like parties.
“What luck,” I said, smiling at him. He smiled back, but he looked a little tense.
“Let’s start walking,” he said. “We have to be careful what we say. There are a lot of people around.”
I nodded.
“Milly,” he whispered, walking close to me, “I didn’t know about the engagement. I would’ve warned you.”
“I know,” I whispered back. “It’s not your fault.”
He clenched his jaw. “Why would the King make you do this? He’s got to have a selfish reason.”
I thought for a moment. “I do know that our kingdom and theirs don’t always get along... And the Polart Kingdom is very wealthy. Are we having any financial issues?”
Joseph shrugged. “If we were, there is no way I’d know about it.”
We made it to my room, and Joseph opened the door for me.
“We can’t talk anymore right now with the party still happening,” he whispered to me. “I’ll talk to you later tonight, though. I think I have an idea.”
“Really? What idea could you possibly have?”
Joseph held his finger to his lips. “I hear someone coming. I’ll talk to you soon.” He shut the door after me.
“Your Highness?”
I whirled around to see the maid Patty standing right behind me with a feather duster.
“Is everything alright?” she asked.
I grabbed my chest. “You startled me!”
Patty shifted her blue eyes to the floor. “Sorry, Your Highness.”
I put my hand on her shoulder. “It’s alright. Can you please leave me alone, though? I have had a long day.”
She curtsied, gathered her skirts, and slipped out the door. I saw Joseph give me a concerned look before the door shut again. I was thinking the same thing. I really hoped she didn’t hear any of what we had said.
Having left the loud party early, King Leopold lounged peacefully in his chair, satisfied with the events of the day. His plan was underway, and the new Princess wasn’t causing any problems as of yet. She was doing a lot better than he anticipated, and she looked the part rather decently. Overall, it was like Amelia had never left. He could care less about where his actual daughter was, or what she was doing.
Leopold picked up a book he was in the middle of and contentedly started reading. He suddenly heard a knock on his study door. What now? he thought, setting his book down.
“Enter,” he sighed.
A guard poked his large, square head around the door. “Sire?”
“What is it?”
“The Princess’s maid has requested an audience with you. She says it is urgent.”
“Really?” Curious, King Leopold sat up straighter in his chair. “Let her come in.”
A larger young woman shuffled into the room, not much older than sixteen. She curtsied.
“Forgive me, Sire, for disturbing your privacy.”
He lifted his hand to silence her. “Please get to the point quickly.”
The girl gulped, wringing her hands together to control her shaking. “I wanted to come straight to you. I think the Princess and her, um… guard are getting a little friendly.”
“Oh?” the King said, rising from his chair. “What is your name, child?”
“Patty, Your Majesty.”
> He stepped closer to the young woman. “I assume you must know what happened to the last maid that served the Princess Amelia.”
She nodded quickly, paling. “Of course, Sire. That’s why I came right to you.”
He smiled at her. “I’m very glad the woman’s fate inspired you.” He stood directly in front of the maid, hands behind his back. “Now, please elaborate on the situation.”
“I’ve only just seen looks, Sire. And not half an hour ago, I heard him say he had an idea.”
The King rubbed his beard. “An idea for what?”
Patty looked at her feet. “I don’t know, my Lord.”
King Leopold slowly walked back to his desk. “My dear, that is hardly evidence for anything.”
The girl shuffled her feet. “I’m sorry, Sire.”
He sat down. “Don’t be. It is good to be cautious. And now I have a job for you.” He gestured for her to come closer and lowering his voice said, “I need you to spy on them for me, just to be safe.”
The girl winced, seemingly reluctant.
Leopold sighed. “You will be greatly rewarded.”
She perked up and nodded. “Yes, Sire. Thank you, Sire”
“Who is the guard?” the King asked, mindlessly drawing circles on the desk with his finger.
“Joseph, my Lord.”
Leopold chuckled. “Ah, Lionel’s son,” he said, thinking of the guard he killed all those years ago. Such a good soldier… What a waste. “Does he guard her at night?”
“Yes.”
“Go now,” he said. “I wonder if they talk to each other when everyone’s asleep.”
The maid curtsied and hustled out of the room at his dismissal.
King Leopold picked up his book again, smiling. He wasn’t going to let anything get past him this time.
Chapter 15
I recognized Joseph’s knock anywhere. I eagerly cracked the door open and let him slide in. He pulled me into a tight embrace, and I found myself melting into his arms.
“Milly,” he said after we pulled apart, “we’re going to get out of here.”
“What?” I cried. Joseph threw his hand over my mouth. He had said the words I had been dreaming to hear for the last two weeks, but how was it even possible?
“That’s our only option,” he whispered, slowly taking his hand away.
I shook my head. “How?”
Joseph quickly looked through the crack in the door to make sure no one was coming.
“There’s got to be a way,” he said. “The Princess did it. The chamber I sleep in is close to the ground. I bet we could crawl through the window and get out of here.”
“You sleep?” I chuckled.
He playfully nudged me. “Usually during the day. I’m always on duty at night, as you know. Anyway, no one would expect the Princess to be in that area of the castle.”
I shook my head. “It sounds too easy.”
“We’ll give you a servant’s disguise,” he said, getting excited. “If anyone sees us, it’ll just look like a guard sneaking around with a maid, which isn’t unheard of in this castle.”
I was getting excited, too. The idea of getting out of this situation was very appealing. “Do you really think this will work?”
“I do,” he said. “But we’ll need to get provisions and means of travel outside of town.”
“I actually don’t think we need to worry about that. We can travel to my home in Marviton— my sister can probably help us.”
He grinned and proceeded to bounce up and down a little. I laughed at his enthusiasm.
“I’ll need time to find a maid’s dress for you, and then we can leave tomorrow night,” he said.
We heard a rustling outside the door, and we both started. Joseph went back into position, and I shut the door.
I listened nervously and heard Joseph talking with someone. My door opened, and I leapt back, shocked. It was Patty.
“Your Highness, I just wanted to check on you. I was coming this way, and I heard talking.”
I tried to think quickly on my feet. “Um… well, the guard…”
Joseph stepped into the room, too. “I heard the Princess screaming, and I burst into the room to make sure she was alright. Turned out she was just having a nightmare.”
Patty nodded. “Of course. That makes sense. I’m sorry to bother you, Princess.”
I shot Joseph a grateful glance. “It’s quite alright, Patty. Thank you for your concern.”
She curtsied. “If that’ll be all, Princess?”
I dismissed her, and she left.
“That was close,” I breathed out, relieved.
Joseph squinted his eyes in suspicion. “I’m not entirely sure she was just ‘walking by this way,’ Milly.”
“What do you mean?”
“When I came out of the room, she jumped away from me as if she was listening at the door.”
“What?” I said, not wanting to believe it.
“We need to move,” Joseph said. “Now.”
“Should we get her?” I asked, suddenly terrified. I grabbed at my heart, chest tightening.
“No,” Joseph said, grabbing my arm. “She’ll just scream. We need to get out of here quickly. I give it five minutes before she alerts the King.”
I let Joseph drag me out of the room, and we ran down the hall together. My breathing was hard, and I tried not to shout out from his pulling my arm so hard.
“My bedchamber is one flight down,” he said to me. “We can make it before she gets to the King. If we’re lucky, she’s taking her time. She might think that we don’t know she was listening.”
The stone stairs were cold on my bare feet as we hurried down them. Joseph constantly looked behind his shoulder, each time running a bit faster.
Miraculously, we ran into no one as we made our way into Joseph’s bedchamber. It was much smaller than mine with just a tiny bed and a chamber pot. The wallpaper was a boring gray, and the floor was stone instead of carpet, but that made sense, considering our ranks were so far apart. Joseph let go of my arm and pried open the window next to his bed. I watched, trembling as the cold air from outside hit me.
“Joseph,” I said, “I’m only in a nightgown.”
He turned to me, frowning. “I didn’t even think about that. Quickly, go to my closet and try to put on some of my clothes. Put on some socks, too. It’s better than nothing.”
I nodded, rushing over to the closet and throwing on a thick, red tunic over my satin nightgown. I wasn’t even going to try to put on some pants— they’d slide right off of me.
“Milly, it’s a little bit of a jump. Let me go first, then I’ll try to help you out next.”
I moved over to the window and watched as Joseph threw both legs over the sill and leapt out. His feet landed with a thud.
“Come on, Milly,” he said to me, sweat dripping on his face. “It’s your turn.”
The way to the ground was maybe ten feet. It wasn’t too bad, but it still made me a little nervous.
“Hurry!” Joseph called, desperate. “They’ll be after us any minute now.”
I flipped my right leg over then followed with my left. “You’d better catch me,” I said.
I jumped, and he caught me with ease.
“Run!” he said, grabbing my hand.
And run I did. The dew from the grass soaked the socks on my feet, causing my toes to go numb, but I didn’t care. We were getting out of there.
King Leopold watched out his study window as his new Princess and that young guard ran off the grounds. He ran his fingers through his hair, contemplating his next steps.
“Are you sure you don’t want us to go after them?” a guard with the name of Borge asked.
The King looked over to Borge, grinning. “I want them followed, but not too far. Don’t catch them just yet. This maid tells me they’re headed for the sister.” He nodded towards Patty huddled in the corner of the room. She bowed her head, avoiding eye contact.
Borge s
aluted. “Yes, Sire.”
“Report back to me as soon as you find out which direction they are headed. Then I will give further instruction,” the King said as he casually moved to sit back in his chair.
Borge grunted in agreement and left the room.
King Leopold clasped his hands atop his desk. “Thank you, maid. You were very helpful tonight.”
A tear dropped off the young woman’s nose and onto the carpet.
“Why are you crying?” King Leopold said, irritated. “You did the right thing.”
“What will happen to them?” Patty whispered.
He raised an eyebrow at her. “If I were you, I wouldn’t be asking any insufferable questions.”
She nodded, lip trembling.
“Now leave me.”
Patty curtsied and shuffled out as quickly as she could.
King Leopold sighed in relief. “Alone at last,” he muttered, pulling his book out again.
Chapter 16
“Joseph,” I said.
Joseph stopped for a moment to look at me. “Are you okay?”
My legs began to wobble as I stood still. “No,” I said. “My feet.”
His eyes shifted to my cold feet, only covered with the thin, wool socks I had thrown on before we left.
“The rocks on the road… they’re digging into my feet.” I said, shaking. The cold was piercing my skin like little daggers.
He nodded. “It’s gotta be uncomfortable.”
I chuckled, despite myself. “That’s an understatement.”
“We need to find a horse, anyway. We can’t make it all the way to your sister’s without one— not before they catch up to us.” Joseph warily looked around. We were at the very north edge of Capthar, about a mile away from the castle. Just a few houses surrounded us, having not entered the main city yet. “Actually, I’m surprised they haven’t caught up to us.”
“Joseph!” I said, suddenly remembering. “There’s an inn in town, not far from the square. I left my horse there before I was brought to the castle!”
He grimaced. “That’s dangerous,” he said. “We really should stay on the back roads.”
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