The next day in Zalaria, inside the main hall of the castle, Elizabeth was arguing with her father. Apparently he didn't take the whole kidnapping thing in stride as much as she did.

“But Father!-”

“That’s enough, Elizabeth,” the king said, trying not to raise his voice and only sometimes succeeding. “You are my only daughter, and yesterday I nearly lost you. I cannot allow such a thing to happen again.”

“But Father, this is cruel! I’m being punished for something that wasn't even my fault! It’s not fair!”

“I said that’s enough! Until this uprising is put to rest, you are to remain within the castle walls at all times, and that is final.”

Elizabeth made a show of crossing her arms and twisting her face into an ugly pout.

“Ugh! Fine! If that’s the way you’re going to be, I’ll just go to my room, and stay there!”

She turned and stomped angrily down the hall and up a staircase. Fredrick sighed and shook his head. Elizabeth continued up the stairs to her room. She went inside and locked the door. True to her word, that's where she stayed for the rest of the day.

–

That evening, while Elizabeth sat by her window reading, a servant came and knocked on her door.

“Lady Elizabeth?” an older woman's voice called. “It's nearly time for supper.”

“Go away,” Elizabeth said, eyes still buried in the pages. “I'm not coming down for supper tonight.”

“Milady, please-”

“I'm staying right here. I'll come out when I'm good and ready, and nothing you or anyone else says will change that. You can tell my father I said so.”

“Very well, Milady.”

Despite some reasonable concern, the servant did as she was told.

“Stupid father...” Elizabeth muttered.

She continued to read in peace for most of the evening. The book was an enchanting tale about a forbidden romance between a prince and princess from two warring nations. At least, she found it enchanting. I'm pretty sure I was reading way more salacious stuff than that by the time I was her age. Becoming engrossed as she was with the story, she almost didn't hear the gentle knocking just outside her window. She did hear the voice, though.

“Psst. Hey, Princess.”

Elizabeth got up and looked out the window. To her great delight, Deejay was sitting on the window ledge smiling up at her.

“Sir Deejay! You've returned so soon.”

He grinned and tipped his hat up out of his eyes. “I just couldn't wait to see you again.”

“How is your arm?”

She couldn't see the wound through the navy blue jacket he had on, but Elizabeth noticed he didn't seem to be favoring it. She didn't think to ask how he managed to scale a hundred-or-so-foot stone wall to reach her window, but the question of his health seemed more important at the time.

“Kind of sore,” he said, stretching his shoulder, “but it'll be good as new soon enough. Like I said, you don't have to worry about me.”

“I'm glad you're well. I have been thinking of you constantly since yesterday.”

“Same here.”

Their eyes met, and a nervous smile passed between them. Elizabeth felt herself blushing slightly and found she couldn't pull her eyes away. Not that she really wanted to.

“Come on,” he said, “let's get out of here and go do something fun, just the two of us.”

“I would like to, but Father won't let me leave the castle.”

“Well, he doesn't have to know. I've got the ship right out here. Just keep your door locked and we'll sneak you out the window. I'll have you back here before he even knows you were gone.”

“But what if he finds out? He'll be furious with me, and with you especially. I don't know what he would do.”

“I'm not afraid of him. Besides, I can take you somewhere he'll never find us. Come on, forget about your dad. Let's live a little. What do you say?”

He held out his hand to her. She smiled and took it.

“I say, what are we waiting for?”