Morgana dropped her hands to her sides and released the branch she had been clutching onto so tightly, it fell lightly to the ground, bounced once or twice and came to a stop on the muddy ground beneath her feet. She could feel Caleb and Arthur's eyes on her, watching her every movement, like hawks watching their prey. She knew what they were thinking, after all, they had just attacked the Princess with a branch, they were probably more concerned about keeping their heads then worrying about Morgana's royal status.

Slowly, Morgana turned to face the person who had just exposed her true identity, she kept her eyes on the ground the entire time and only looked up when she believed it to be safe to do so. As soon as her eyes fell upon the purple tunic of the Knights of Veritas, Morgana knew she was in serious trouble. Her eyes scanned up the rest of the tunic, noting the two dragons that wound their way up a sword, the Devereux family crest.

When her eyes fell upon the face of her betrayer, a sigh of relief passed by Morgana's lips for it was not a Knight who was likely to go running to her father. It was a Knight whom Morgana trusted and one of the few who did not mind her breaking the rules, as long as they did not get dragged into the aftermath.

"Thank goodness it is you Sir Ewan, were it anyone else I am certain they would have gone to my father almost immediately," Morgana sighed. Sir Ewan, who had been one of her father's Knights for as long as she could remember, understood just how much trouble Morgana was to be in if her father were to find out where she had gone.

"You are lucky it is I who found you, Morgana, and not Sir Baynard for you and I both know that you would be locked in your chambers now rather than breathing in the fresh air I am assuming you risked your life for," Sir Ewan replied, tucking a strand of hair behind his ears.

Many peasants and servants alike, including Helena, found Sir Ewan to be attractive because of his hair and the way he had come to keep it. Many nights kept their hair short and neat, but Sir Ewan had let his grow out to his shoulders and had often grown accustomed to tying it back with a piece of string in order to keep it from his eyes during battle. To Morgana, it was a rather pointless endeavour, though she dare not tell him that. If Sir Ewan wanted to parade around with half of his hair tied back then that was his preference and she had no right to interfere.

"But it was not Sir Baynard who discovered me, it was you, Sir Ewan and unless you intend to tell my father where I have been, I doubt I am to be confined to my chambers upon my arrival back to the castle," Morgana said, raising an eyebrow. She had always enjoyed outsmarting Sir Ewan, but the majority of the time it would only happen when no one was around, this time, however, she had an audience. Proving herself smarter than a Knight was an easy enough task to Morgana given how most of them thought with their swords more than their brains.

"That may be so, Morgana, but you had better be careful. If you are not back at the castle by the time the supper bell rings you will be in serious trouble and after the incident at Audience, I hardly need to remind you of the mood your father is in," Sir Ewan said.

"I am well aware of his mood, Ewan and I promise to make it back in time for supper, that had been the original plan," Morgana replied.

"Good, I do not think I could deal with your father if you got into trouble for the second time today," Ewan said, smiling slightly.

"Nor could I," Morgana said.

"Well, I, for one, do not want to get on your father's bad side so I shall be returning to my post. Make sure you are back in time."

"I shall." Ewan bowed his head to Morgana and with his right hand firmly rested on the hilt of his sword, he turned and headed towards the gate that opened up into the Lower Towns. He nodded to the Knight on the door who replied with a small, but noticeable nod before opening the gate and closing it as Ewan's gate swept through.

The rules of the land stated that there needed to be a guard on either side of the door, to stop unwelcome guests from entering the Upper Town. Without the guards on lookout and turning away any who did not belong, the Upper Town would have been overrun by beggars and thieves. Morgana thought the whole thing to be useless, but the wall had stood for many a century according to her father, and keeping it guarded was a Veritas tradition.

With Ewan gone, the air around Morgana and the two young boys fell awkward. They had, after all, just played a rather brutal game with their Princess and had even greeted her as a normal child. To Morgana, it was the greatest feeling in the world, to be treated like a normal girl for once, but to the boys, it was almost as if they had spoken ill about the King himself. To not address the Princesses by their official title upon meeting was enough to land someone in the stocks, a strange but somewhat effective punishment.

Had it not been for Morgana's disloyalty, she was more than certain that they would have ended up in the stocks. Since she had been the one to deceive them with her disguise and lack of Princess mannerism, Morgana felt she had a duty to put them at ease and remind them that she was the one who did wrong and not them.

"I am sorry for deceiving you, but as you probably heard, my father would not be in the greatest of moods if word was given that I had escaped the castle unnoticed," Morgana said, her voice soft and gentle, so she did not startle the boys who already looked scared out of their wits.

"You are the Princess Morgana?" Caleb asked, his voice shaking slightly as he addressed the Princess.

"I am indeed and I can assure that harm will not come to either of you for hitting me with sticks or not addressing me by my royal title. After all, I had not told you who I was, the fault and blame rests entirely with me."

"Forgive us, My Lady," Caleb said, bowing his head like many did on first greeting with the Princess. Although she hated the bowing and the constant need for formal greetings, Morgana knew it was not like they did it by choice. The King commanded that all people will bow or curtsey to the Royal Family out of respect, failure to do so shall land them in the stocks, much like not addressed them by their royal title.

"Please, call me Morgana. Goodness knows we must know each other well enough by now. Did you, or did you not just engage in a branch fight with me?" Morgana smiled. For once, she wanted a friend who did not address her by her royal title or by another form of royal announcement.

"I suppose so," Caleb muttered. After finding out the true identity of the girl who had just beaten him in a game of war, Caleb had suddenly gone shy. Whether it was in case he said the wrong thing or the fact that he had just been beaten in combat by a girl, a royal no doubt, Morgana did not know.

They fell into yet another uncomfortable silence, one that no conversation would be able to shift. It became clear to Morgana that now her real identity had been revealed, the young men had changed their attitude entirely, like Morgana being royalty made her any different from then. This was one of the many things that Morgana disliked about being a Princess, the constant stiffness of those around her. Royalty or not, she felt like she had the right to be treated as everyone else did, but she knew that was unlikely to happen with her father still in charge.

Morgana stood facing the young men, waiting for one of them to speak, either of them, but they didn't. She wondered how long they were to stand there until someone had finally spoken, but she did not have too long for she as she was about to speak, the bell inside the castle chimed. It was noted almost instantly that Morgana needed to be back in the castle and her room as soon as she possibly could be.

"I have to go, if father notices my absence I am going to be in serious trouble and after his outburst this morning, I do not know how badly he would react to this," Morgana gestured to her clothing. "Thank you for allowing me to partake in your game, this is the first time I have ever felt like a normal person.

"You are welcome, My Lady," Caleb said, bowing his head and forgetting the request that Morgana had asked.

"I shall not chastise you for forgetting my request, but I do ask that if we meet again, you are to address me as Morgana and Morgana alone."

"Yes M-Morgana," Caleb stuttered, trying to get used to the new phrase. Arthur, on the other hand, did not say a word. Whether he was too shocked by the announcement to talk, or he had suddenly become a statue, Morgana did not know.

"Good, now I must away before I am caught."

Morgana turned away from the young men and hurried off down the street, as fast her flat sandals would carry her. She negotiated the busy marketplace, running past stall owners and various items that lay abandoned on the muddy grounds. Morgana jumped over rocks that lay sharp end up through the mud as well as small collections of stone, a reminder of the old days.

No one thought it odd to see a child running through the street so no one bothered to question her, instead, they let her pass, some even had the courage to give her a smile as she sprinted past them. The kindness of the people showed no end and Morgana wished her father could see it before he spoke so negatively of them. The King was supposed to respect all, peasant or knight, but he did not. Morgana wanted to change that.

Skidding into the stable, Morgana saw that Jack had upgraded from sweeping the floor to laying down new straw on both the ground and within the stalls themselves. She knew it was best not to disturb him so quickly diverted into his quarters to change from her peasant clothing into her gown. Morgana removed the necklace, the cloth and the comb from the pockets of her clothing and placed it onto Jack's writing table. She quickly changed into her dress, making sure it all looked to be in place before quickly placing the cloth and necklace back into her dress, so it was well hidden from prying eyes.

Knowing she would not have time to talk to Jack and personally thank him, Morgana picked up the quill from the desk and wrote the thank you on a piece of parchment. She left it flat down on the top of the writing desk with the comb beside it, a simple present for such a perilous task. Morgana made a deal with herself that she would get Jack a better gift the next time she was given the opportunity

Morgana left the gift and the note on the writing desk and slipped silently from the room, leaving the clothes Jack had given her folded up on his bed. As he was deeply involved in spreading straw through the stables, Morgana slipped from the stables unnoticed and made her way back to the chambers, as quickly and quietly as she had left.

Guards were standing at almost every entrance within the castle, they were posted at doors to rooms, stairwells and even in random stations about the corridors. This was unusual for the castle as many guards would have gone for supper before the King, for them to be standing at doors was a strange occurrence. Whatever the occurrence may have been, Morgana did not have time to worry, she needed to make it to her chambers before she was summoned.