Moving as fast as her dress would allow her, Morgana negotiated the halls of the castle, watching out for any guards who may lock her in the dungeons for escaping her chambers. No one knew the castle better than Morgana so she had the best places to hide whenever she was at risk of being caught by one of her father's men.

The stables were as she remembered them when she was younger. A huge wooden structure built to withstand any weather types. Straw littered the floor from one corner of the room to the other, scattered along the walkway and inside each stall as per instructions. The horses were to stand in the walkway whilst they were being tacked up for the guards and the King, were they to do anything onto the ground the King would be livid. It may have been a stable, but it was still part of the castle and the King expected nothing but the best for the entire castle, stable and all.

Inside the stable was Jack, brush in on hand, carrot in the other, eating as he swept the floor to replace the straw. His blonde hair was covered with flecks of mud and, well, Morgana could only guess what else. He seemed extremely absorbed with his work and she hated to interrupt him, but Morgana knew that needs ,must and she needed him if she were to escape and blend in with the people beyond on the castle walls.

"I assume you are Jack?" Morgana asked, frightening the boy so much, he dropped both the brush and the carrot. The carrot fell silently to the ground, whereas the brush clattered onto the straw with a loud bang, enough to alert anyone of any wrongdoings within. Jack spun on his heels and looked the Princess in the eye. Seconds later, he bowed as many did when they met her.

"Yes, My Lady," Jack said, his head still bowed low, his words being said to the floor.

"Stand up straight, I require your help with something," Morgana said, stepping carefully around the fallen brush. She would only have a small window to get to the town, have a look around and gets back before anyone noticed her absence.

"Anything, My Lady," Jack replied, straightening himself up, but not before grabbing the brush and the now soiled carrot off the ground.

"I wish to go into the Upper Town, but will require some clothes, may you be able to acquire some for me?"

"Of course, My Lady, I shall be right back!" Jack propped the brush up against the stable wall and dropped the carrot into a horse stall, so they could enjoy it since he no longer could. Quickly, and without a second glance, Jack left the stables in search for some decent clothing for the Princess, leaving Morgana to stand in the stable unattended, like a normal person.

Despite living in the castle and the stable being nothing more than an extension, Morgana had never been allowed to visit on her own grounds. Either she had a guard present, or her horse was brought out to her, tacked and ready to go. This was the first time she had ever had to explore the stables on her own grounds, and, actually speak to her horse for once.

Morgana, holding her skirts off the ground, walked towards her horse, Storm who was stood in his stable watching her, She had been riding Storm since she was a little girl, she trusted him and he, her. Horses were always better than people, they could not argue back or tell her what she could and could not do, and that was fine with Morgana.

"Hello, Storm," Morgana whispered, stroking her horse's muzzle and forehand with her right hand, whilst her left hand held up her skirts. His dark colour was striking against, not only the pale colouring off the stall but against Morgana's pale hand. Storm was a fine stallion if ever there was one, black of colour, calm in temperament and the greatest friend Morgana could hope to have. After all, it was not always possible for Helena to accompany her on trips beyond the wall and into the lower parts of Veritas so she was always thankful for her horse, even if he did not make for good conversation.

"I have your clothes, My Lady," Jack said, skidding into the stable with a sack of clothes in his hand. Morgana removed her hand from her horse and approached Jack, skirt still clutched in her hand. If she were to convince her father that she had been sleeping all afternoon, she had to avoid getting her dress dirty.

"Thank you, Jack. Please call me Morgana. My Lady makes me sound more formal than I truly am," Morgana told him, accepting the sack of clothes he had to offer.

"I could not do that, My Lady, even by your request. If you wish to change, I can offer you my bed chamber which is just through the door," Jack replied, gesturing to the small wooden door at the far end of the stable.

Morgana nodded at the stable boy and took refuge in the side chamber to switch her dress to the clothed tunic, trousers and belt. The tunic was dark grey in colour and made of a rather irritating fabric, but Morgana had to look past that and focus on the possibility of going into the town and exploring on her own terms. To accompany the tunic was a dark brown belt that buckled at the front with a simple fastening clip. The most basic part of the outfit were the trousers which were made of a light grey fabric.

Once fully dressed and ready to go out into the world, Morgana exchanged her high heeled shoes for the flat bottomed sandals that had been given to her before leaving the chamber to join Jack in the main stable. "Is it okay for me to leave my clothes in there? Until I come back?" Morgana asked, brushing her hair off her shoulders.

"Yes, My Lady, I shall leave them untouched until you return." Jack bowed his head for the second time, but quickly put it back up to rights.

"Thank you, I will not forget about this, Jack," Morgana said, bowing her head slightly and leaving Jack alone in the stable. She wished he could have accompanied her, but were anyone to turn up at the stables and find him gone, alarm bells would ring and Morgana would be exposed. She knew she would have to find her own way around the town, and having been there before with others, she was certain she could do it again, on her own.

With her newly fashioned clothes and hair style, Morgana set out into the Upper town, merging almost immediately with the crowds of peasants selling things and going about their daily business. The noise and chaos of the market were enough to put Morgana in a good mood. She had been cooped up the castle for so long that it felt nice to finally go out and about without the guidance of others.

Morgana inspected stalls and looked at items that people were selling. She had been clever enough to hide some coins in the cloth of her dress which she had transferred to the tunic when she had changed. If this was going to be her only chance to be normal, she wanted to remember it. Of course, she had to be careful with what she purchased, it had to be concealed and easily taken back to the castle if her secret was to remain that.

On her travels, Morgana spotted a beaded necklace built on a string and threaded with beads of clay and glass, coloured by berries and other such materials. Morgana had never seen anything like it before, not amongst her collection of jewellery, and certainly not upon her sister. "Excuse me, is this for sale?" Morgana asked.

"Certainly, young lady, have you taken an interest?" an elderly woman replied. It felt nice for someone to address her by something other than Princess, or My Lady.

"Yes, how much are you selling it for?"

"For you, a singular coin." The lady smiled at Morgana as she fished around her tunic for one of the coins. She grabbed one and pressed it into the woman's hand smiling as the lady wrapped up the necklace in a piece of cloth and handed it over to Morgana, nodding her head slightly as she did so. Morgana responded with a nod of the head and stuffed the clothed necklace with her coins before she continued her inspections of the other stalls.

The stalls were littered with strips of fabric and cloth, jewellery, pots, food and even perfume, things Morgana owned but had never seen in the marketplace or purchased herself. Almost everything she owned had been brought for her, even Helena had purchased some cloth to make herself a dress. Having the opportunity to buy things for herself was a moment Morgana was likely to forget and she was going to embrace this new found freedom for all it was worth.

Morgana purchased several strips of silk that she planned to gift to Helena, for all she had done not only as a maid but as a friend. She even purchased a wooden comb to gift to Jack, since the adventure would not have been possible were it not for him. A comb was a measly gift compared to his help, but it was all she could do if she wanted to secretive when returning to the castle. It was going to be hard enough to get the cloth to her room without being spotted.

After exploring the various stalls, Morgana proceeded to explore closer to the wall, to where the children played and practised sword fights with wooden sticks. She had seen the chaos and joy that occurred close to the wall and now had the chance to join in with them if they allowed her to of course. From her experience of watching from the castle, Morgana knew they did not care for gender, only if they could beat up whoever they pleased.

Several of the children were battling each other with branches collected from fallen trees, the branches sounding like the wooden batons the Knights had used for practice. Others were lurking around the base of the wall, appearing to be examining the bricks one by one. It was not until someone placed their hand between two of the bricks that Morgana caught onto what they were doing. They were going to climb the wall.

"You know, the King would have your head if you were caught," Morgana said to one of the boys as he watched his friend scamper up the wall like a squirrel.

"Only if he finds out," the boy replied, turning his head slightly to look at the disguised Princess.

"There are guards posted all over the city, he is going to find out and anyone caught assisting will be equally punished for the crime," Morgana said. Her father had explained the wall to her before and he had repeated what would happen to those caught trying to climb it several times.

"She's right, Caleb, I suggest you and your friends go back to play fighting. I prefer my son with his head," a woman butted in as she violently shook out a blanket to eliminate any dust.

"Yes, mama," the boy said, a defeated look on his face. The boy, Caleb, made a gesture to his friend who quickly scurried back down the wall. As soon as he reached the floor, a guard walked past them and Morgana had to quickly drop her head to avoid being seen by them. She knew her disguise was pretty much perfect and the guards would not know it was her unless they were looking for her, but it made her feel safer to know they could not see her face and expose her identity.

"Do you want to join in?" Caleb asked as he picked up two abandoned branches off the ground.

"Yes, okay," Morgana replied with a smile. Graciously, she accepted the branch he handed to her and prepared herself for her first ever play fight. Of course, she had seen others do it and had watched the guards practice, but there is only so much someone can learn from just watching. Now she was going to have the chance to have a go, and Morgana could not contain her excitement.

"The rules are simple. First one to touch the other person with the branch wins. Ready?" Caleb asked, placing his feet hip-width apart and bending his knees.

"Ready," Morgana replied, copying his actions.

Within seconds, Morgana was caught up in the flurry of branches and sticks as they collided in the air, everyone trying their hardest not to get by the opponents branch. It sounded easy in practice, but when there were five branches of varying sizes all being smashed together, it is almost impossible to avoid being hit. The melee was an interesting new experience for Morgana and she was thoroughly enjoying it.

After several minutes, there did not seem to be any end in sight for their play fighting game and Morgana knew she would have to back at the castle soon. With that thought in mind, she put all of her strength into negotiating through the branches to tap Caleb lightly on the chest with the side of her stick. Winning her first ever fake fight was rather exhilarating to Morgana and she hoped it would be the first of many fights. Although she had to be careful they didn't leave a mark, or her father would be asking questions.

"Nicely done, for a first timer," Caleb smirked, rubbing a hand through his dark brown hair, causing it to stick up in all manner of different directions. Morgana scoffed and poked Caleb in the chest with her branch for the second time. She did not know why she did it, but the look on his face was priceless.

"This first timer just beat you," Morgana replied, the branch still clutched in her hand.

"She has a point, Caleb," the boy who climbed the wall said.

"Be quiet, Arthur. What is your name anyway, you know mine, but I do not know yours" Caleb said.

"Princess Morgana, what are you doing outside of the castle on your own?"