As Morgana slept, the pale morning sun streamed in through the curtains, basking the room in a light purple glow. Morgana groaned and rolled over, burying herself beneath the mountain of pillows in an attempt to hide from the early morning sun. She pulled her blankets up over her head, and snuggled further down into the warmth of her bed, determined not to leave it for the early morning chill.

With her head buried so deeply under the pillows, Morgana did not hear the silent footsteps of Helena as she entered the room with a silver tray. Nor did she hear the tray as it was gently placed on the table, a loud clang echoing through the room. "My Lady? Time to wake up," Helena said, her voice just loud enough to penetrate through the mountain of bedding. Morgana groaned in protest and tried to move further underneath the pillows, ignoring Helena as she tugged at the blankets to try and wake Morgana up.

"Can I not sleep? Just for a little longer," Morgana said, her voice muffled by the pillows. Her voice was croaky and groggy from sleep, and, despite the sunlight streaming through the window, she was struggling to keep her eyes open. The mornings certainly did not agree with her.

Morgana pulled her head out from under her pillows and sat up, running a hand through her dark tangled hair, tugging it slightly when it became stuck. Her hair was knotted and tangled in a whole manner of ways and both Morgana and Helena knew that it was going to be a nightmare to brush.

"I am afraid not, My Lady, you know what your father is like," Helena said, removing a silver plate from the tray and placing it onto Morgana's lap. Morgana yawned as she began to slowly eat her breakfast, delaying moving from her bed for as long as possible.

"He expects me to be presentable, and that takes time," Morgana said, shaking her head as she finished her breakfast, handing Helena back the plate.

As Helena busied herself with making the bed and tidying up the tray, Morgana slipped behind a screen to change from her nightdress. She replaced the piece of thin, white cotton with a pale blue dress made from Chiffon.

The dress had a pale blue body with silver trimming around the hems,with sleeves of white silk which reached down to the tips of her fingers and floated around her. Around the middle was a strip of white silk that wrapped around her waist and formed a sort of belt, though it hung low and loose against her, rather than tight and restricting, like other dresses. The dress itself reached down to her feet, but did not touch the floor and was laced with silver stitches that flowed up from the bottom of the dress and formed decorative flowers along the skirt. Morgana had also been given a pair of small, silver pumps rather than the heels she was so used to.

Due to the simplicity of the dress and the basic shoes, Morgana knew that she was unlikely to be staying within the castle walls. Were she to remain in the castle, she would have been given a pair of heels and a dress of a more complex design as it was unlikely to get dirty on the stone flooring. Instead, the dress she had been given did not touch the floor and was less extravaganza then she had expected, which for Morgana was a good thing.

Once dressed, Morgana headed out from the screen and Helena gestured to the writing table with the hairbrush. This was always the second worst thing about the mornings. The first was obviously waking up whilst the second was having her hair brushed after a long nights sleep. It was always knotted and tangled and resembled nothing less than a birds nest, getting a brush through it was both painful and time-consuming.

Sitting in the hard, oak chair, Morgana caught sight of herself for the first time that morning in the tall mirror that hung on the wall in front of the desk. Normally, she tried to avoid looking at herself in the morning unless it was absolutely imperative and for some reason, having her hair brushed was a good enough reason.

As Helena ran the brush through Morgana's black hair, trying to untangle the mess that had formed during the long night, Morgana focused on her reflection. Her face was pale from sleep and her hair an obvious mess, but the rest of her was the same as it always was. The bright, emerald green eyes, the freckles that littered her short, stubby nose and the birthmark that lay upon her jaw line. The mark itself was faint and almost unnoticeable, unless you were looking for it, but Morgana knew it was there, as did her father and he always saw it and her freckles as nothing more than imperfections. He considered them to be things that should not touch a Princesses face, which was the case with her sister, but certainly not her.

"You appear to be deep in thought for the morning, My Lady," Helena said as she tugged at a rather difficult knot at the back of Morgana's head.

"I am fine," Morgana said, wincing slightly as the brush tore through the knot.

"Sorry, your hair is a nightmare this morning," Helena smiled, trying to run the brush smoothly through the rest of the knots. Morgana was glad she did not try and address the matter further and simply changed the topic. Helena was known to change the conversation if she felt it to be something Morgana did not want to discuss at that specific moment in time.

"What is the plan for today?" Morgana asked.

"Sir Ewan spoke to your father early this morning and suggested that a visit into the town may help cool your temper," Helena smiled, smoothing Morgana's hair with the brush.

"Really? And father agreed to this ludicrous plan?"

"Indeed he did. It seems he agreed with Sir Ewan and decided it would be better for you to get out of the castle for a while."

"He knows so little about me," Morgana muttered, a small smile tugging on her lips.

Morgana's mood instantly lifted at the prospect of leaving the castle. This time, she would be able to spend more time looking around, talking to people and trying to act as normal as her royal status would allow her. Of course, people would be addressing her as Princess rather than just Morgana, but given the law, Morgana decided that was a small thing to have to deal with given her freedom.

She watched Helena quickly plait four French plaits, two of either side of her head and join them all in the centre, creating and almost spider web effect on top of her hair. The rest of it hung loosely around her shoulders and neck, acting almost like a curtain, hiding them from sight.

Once her hair was secured and pulled away from her face, Helena grabbed the necklace Morgana had purchased the day before, placed it around her neck and secured the clasp, pulling Morgana's hair from underneath and draping it over the back of the necklace. She followed it with a simple pair of small, silver earrings, and a silver clip that was decorated with a series of intricate flower patterns covering it. It appeared that the theme for the outfit was simple and silver, something Morgana highly liked as a combination. The fancy jewellery, hair and clothes were always too excessive for her liking and the simple things were always the best.

"There, you're finished," Helena said, taking a step back to admire her handiwork in the mirror.

"Thank you, Helena, you did an amazing job, as always," Morgana smiled, turning her head to face her maid. Helena accepted the smile with a small nod and placed the brush onto the desk, making sure it was neat in case the chambers were to be inspected whilst they were gone.

Now fully dressed and ready for the day ahead, Morgana stood up from the seat and stretched her arms out behind her back, releasing them of the cramp that was starting to set in. The problem with having her hair and appearance made up for her meant sitting for long periods of time in a chair that was far from comfortable. Morgana was always asking her father for a chair that had a pad, but her request was never accepted so she had to deal with the wooden chair until Helena could come up with something else. It was possible for them to use a pillow, but if someone were to come in and see the bed in disarray, Morgana knew Helena would be in trouble for not keeping the chambers clean like she was supposed to.

Helena busied herself with straightening up the room, tugging on the bed clothes, smoothing folded clothes that lay abandoned on top of wooden chests. Morgana always wished she could help, to lighten the load Helena faced each morning, but whenever she tried, she was told to sit down, that it wasn't her place. All she wanted was to help, to be less of a hindrance and lend a helping hand whenever she believed it to be necessary but she was never given the chance. Yet another negative thing about being royal.

"You do not have to do all that, you know," Morgana said, standing up from the chair and gently tucking it underneath the desk.

"It is my job, My Lady. You know that," Helena replied, securing the light purple curtains to the wall with a strip of silver fabric.

"I understand that, Helena, but you spend so much time worrying about me and my room and my things when you should be worrying just as much about yourself. Also, I have told you to call me Morgana, we are friends, Helena, nor mistress and servant," Morgana told her.

"If your father were to find out I have neglected my duties he would banish me on the spot, Morgana." Helena smiled at the use of this new name.

"You let me deal with my father. Now, I wish for you to accompany myself and Ewan on our trip into town today. Consider it your day off."

"Thank you, Morgana."

Looking back, Morgana had never really given Helena a day off, she knew her father would replace her in an instant for neglecting the duties she was required to complete. Offering her the chance to accompany her into town was one of the few chances they were going to get where they could be together as friends. Helena had gone into the towns on her own plenty of times in the past, she had spoken to other townspeople but she had never had the chance to spend time with Morgana in such a close way outside of the castle. Especially as Morgana was always under close observation from countless guards. This time, it would be the three of them only.

Despite Helena's protests, Morgana spent some of her time assisting her in the clean up of her room. From folding clothes to dusting off the wooden shelves she tried to do it all, to assist her maid in maintaining a clean room. By the time Ewan came to collect them, the room was spotless and it looked as though no one had slept or been in there for a prolonged period of time.

"Are you ready to go, Morgana?" Ewan asked, pushing open the door and making a grand entrance into her chambers. He had never been one to knock before but his timing always appeared to be impeccable and he would turn up when everyone was ready to go.

"Yes, Helena is to join us on our adventure per my request," Morgana said, smiling at Helena who simply nodded in reply.

"That is fine, I shall love to escort you both into the towns and this time, your father will know your whereabouts."

Ewan held the door open for the two ladies before they begun their walk through the castle and towards the town. Morgana was glad she did not have to hide behind walls as guards passed and made their way to their posts for the day. Instead, she walked the hallways with her head held high, two friends by her side and a smile that did not appear to want to leave her face.

On their way to the town, they passed Jack, his hair was neatly combed and parted to one side, Morgana was glad her gift was being put to good use. He smiled at her as they passed and muttered a little 'thank you' as they did so, a way of letting her know he liked the gift, without having to broadcast it to the entire castle. Morgana nodded back, the smile on her face only getting bigger at the realisation she had made someone's day with such a small gift.