“Unbelievable,” Tiffany finally said when they were out of Eugene’s earshot. Her voice still overflowed with sadness. The click clack of her heels reverberated against, on the right, empty, cream colored walls lined with gleaming suits of armour and on the left, tall windows through which rays of the summer sun came tumbling into the castle, as well as the oak panels that decorated the ceiling. Noah still followed her closely, even if Tiffany had released her wrist minutes ago.

“I’m sorry, your highness. I shouldn’t have asked,” Noah mumbled. Her head bowed.

“It’s alright. You couldn’t have known.”

Even though the princess had been forgiving to Noah, the fire inside her raged on. She kept on walking, so she had a clear goal in mind. She wasn’t running away from something; she was running towards something else.

When Noah realized this, she slowly looked up at the princess. “Where are we going?”

“My favourite spot on the estate. But you can tell No one about this. Only Lance and I know of its existence.”

“Well, my sense of direction isn’t what one would call ‘good’, so you don’t have to worry about me telling people where this spot is.”

Tiffany shot her a tearful glare.

“But I still promise you that I won’t!” Noah said with her hands raised. “You have my word, your highness.”

“Good.”

The two of them soon left the castle. Not through the grand entrance; where they were going wouldn’t have been a secret for long if they’d done that, but rather they left through one of the many doors in the castle walls Tiffany had discovered on her many explorative excursions around the castle. This door didn’t open to the pier in the moat, but rather to a particularly densely wooded area of the forest behind the castle, where every square inch of the forest floor was covered in green moss and even greener shrubbery. Some patches of golden summer sun managed to fight their way through the thick foliage far above their heads, but in the shade of the trees it was nice and cool. It was no wonder then, that at every turn they made and every step they took, they had to be careful to not accidentally tread on the foxes, badgers and deer that were lying down and relaxing, and would under no circumstances stand up or move for the girls.

However, the stunning scenery wasn’t enough to stop Tiffany from keeping up the tempo. Noah managed to steal glances at her face every now and again. She seemed to have calmed down from their little hike in the woods, and Noah briefly wondered where it would take them. Ten minutes of purposeful wandering through the woods later, they found themselves looking at a small wooden cabin by a babbling brook. The enormous water wheel on its side moved like molasses in the current of the stream, but it moved nevertheless.

Noah, as trained, went a few steps ahead of the princess and pulled at the door. Except, it didn’t open.

Tiffany only looked at her, smiling, arms folded.

Noah blushed, grabbed the doorpost with both hands and yanked at it again. It didn’t budge. “Ah, of course, it’s still locked,” she reasoned. “You’ve brought a key, right?”

“No, it just gets stuck,” said Tiffany, who took off her gloves and folded them behind her skirt. “Here, I’ll help you.” The princess placed her hands over Noah’s and set her foot against the doorframe. “One… Two… Pull!”

Under their combined strength, the door fell wide open and with a cry the girls tripped and fell backwards into the soft moss.

“I did not see that coming,” Tiffany mumbled as she attempted to get up in a manner reminiscent of a turtle that had landed on its back. “I think we may have overshot that one. When Lance does it, it always looks so easy.”

“Sir Lance can make anything look easy,” Noah said as she stood up to hoist Tiffany to her feet.

“That’s true. But please, come in. You’ll love it here, you’ll see.” The princess didn’t release the squire’s hand for a single moment as she led her inside of the cabin and closed the door behind them.

The first thing Noah noticed upon entering, was how quiet it was. It wasn’t the same awkward, oppressive quiet that reigned in the castle, fueled by whispering maids and guards, charged with an energy that could burst into a tantrum at any second. This quiet was just peaceful. It was a breath of fresh air.

The second thing she noticed, was that the cabin was, generously put, filthy. Every flat surface was covered in a thick layer of dust and the moisture that had found its way into the cabin from the stream covered the floor, walls and furniture in green algae. Legs of the wooden furniture were split here and there and grooves had long-since worn into the seats and tabletops. It was clear that the cabin had seen a lot of use, but that would have to have been ages ago.

“Do you like it?” asked Tiffany, who practically let herself flop onto the bed, sending a cloud of dust and mildew flying in the air. Her skirts were so thick, her feet couldn’t begin to reach the floor.

Noah gave the sight in front of her an amused look. The princess looked like a beautiful doll, discarded in a pile of trash. But not in a bad way. “I love it, your highness,” she said.

“Will you do me a favour and stop the ‘your higness’ing? Even if it’s just while we’re here?”

“But, your highness—”

“Noah, I give you express permission to call me Tiffany.”

“Oh, um, well. Alright,” Noah mumbled. She shyly glanced down, before fixing her gaze on Tiffany again. “I’ll try my best. But I have to say that seeing you dressed like that in a place like this,” the squire said as she gestured around the cabin, “makes it a lot easier.”

“Would you look at that, she’s kidding!” the princess laughed. “Then this ridiculous getup is good for one thing, at least.”

Noah smiled but it quickly faltered when she remembered why they were here in the first place. “Actually, are you alright?”

Tiffany looked up in surprise. “Whatever do you mean?”

“That thing with the prince. You seemed, I don’t know, upset. I mean, if you’d like to talk about it…”

Tiffany frowned, her eyes fixed firmly on the floor. The smile that had been on her face had washed away to nothingness. “Are you sure you want to talk about that?”

“I want to understand.”

“Well, you might as well take a seat,” the princess sighed. “Because it’s a long story.”

Noah grabbed one of the chairs from the table and set it down backwards by the bed. She didn’t trust the ancient seat for a second, but she sat down on it nevertheless. She leaned her elbow on the backrest and her face in the palm of her hand. “Fire away.”