The next morning, the princess arrived on time for breakfast. Her hair and clothes were proper as she walked in with her own two feet between the guards. She must really love those scones. 

Without one word or look towards me, she sat and ate in her usual messiness. 

“If you are going to accept that you are a princess then you need to eat like one.”

Her eyes finally went to me in their old annoyance. “If I’m a princess then I should be able to eat how I like. And also to not be locked in my own room. I’m still just a prisoner.”

Perhaps it would be fine if she wasn’t locked up. The guards at the doors would keep her from escaping so surely she couldn’t find a way out. 

“Very well. The locks on your doors will be removed. But you still must be at meals on time and also attend etiquette classes.” 

She stuck her tongue out at me again. I gripped my fork furiously. That was the first habit that had to go. But how would she be able to stop acting so childish when she herself was actually only a child? 

When finished eating, she casually got up and headed out. 

I started to follow her. “Where do you think you're going?”

“You gave me my partial freedom, so I’m going to explore the castle.”

“You just can’t wander wherever you like.”

She kept walking anyway. “Why not?” 

“You will get lost.”

“Ha! Never me. I’m the master at not getting lost. Do you know how big the gnome forest is and how much of it looks the same? But I’ve never been lost in my life. I would go mushroom hunting with the gnomes every week, and sometimes we would go quite far. Miles and miles and days sometimes. Gnomes have a very good sense of direction. One time this one gnome—”

“Whatever, I’ll escort you,” I quickly interrupted, not wanting to hear more about gnomes. First, I showed her the library. “If you ever get bored, there is plenty to read here.”

She picked up a book and made an instant face of confusion. “Broom shrooms! What is this? I can’t read this!”

“You can’t read?”

“Of course I can! I can read gnomic, but this is some gibberish, squiggle monstrosity.” 

Walking up to her, I took the book. “No, this is plain and proper writing. The same language we are speaking. And you will learn to read it.”

I braced myself, waiting for her tongue of wrath, but it never came. 

“You really don’t have any books written in gnomic?”

“No, of course not.”

“Then you will have to read to me.”

“I said you will have to learn yourself.”

And there was her tongue sticking out at me again. I sighed and looked out the window to distract myself. 

Patience…I somehow had to have patience. 

“Let’s move on,” I ordered. 

This time, instead of me leading, she charged ahead. 

“Not that way,” I warned.

But she didn’t listen, so I reluctantly followed until we reached the hall of paintings. It was yet another place I hadn’t been in forever. I paused at the painting of my parents. Though the talented painter had captured the joyful gleam of my mother’s eyes, it was hard to feel the same. My father, of course, looked as stern as he always had. If he could see me now, would he still be scolding me? Surely he would have seen the man I have become. 

It strangely hadn’t occurred to me before that if it hadn’t been for the princess, I would have died that day with my parents. She was the reason we left for the gardens. 

Turning to look at her, I was taken off guard to see her giving me that same deep, pondering look again. 

She pointed to the painting. “Your parents?”

Without answer, I folded my arms behind my back. “Let’s move on.”    

~*~

“The princess is missing, Sir.” The guard almost looked scared to tell me. 

My knuckles dug into my desk. I knew it was a bad idea letting her loose. 

“I told you that an eye was to be kept on her at all times!”

“Ye…yes, Sir…I know…but somehow she slipped past us.”

I charged to her room. Maybe a maid would know something. But when I arrived there was no one there. Did all the workers in this castle think they could slack off!?

About to leave, a piece of paper on her bed caught my notice.

“What is this nonsense?!” My angered voice raged back at the paper with writing I could not read. It must have been gnomic. Why would she bother leaving a letter no one could read? But surely someone in the castle had to. The elders were supposed to know all the languages. Though gnomic was the least common, seeing how only the gnomes used it, and they kept to themselves. 

So once again, I charged back through the halls to the meeting room and slammed the paper on the table. 

One of the elders jumped back. “What’s the meaning of this?”

“Can any of you read gnomic?” 

The oldest one stood and picked it up. “It says, find me in the west wing.”  

Snatching the paper back, I ripped it up. “She’s playing some childish hiding game!? Do you see what I’m having to deal with here?”

“Patience, Your Majesty. It’s important you keep trying to tame her. Relkom keeps insisting to see her, and we can only put it off for so long.”

I paced the room. “She is mountains far from ever acting like a princess. Though she has physically grown, she is no lady, only a wild child.”

“It matters not, My King. The only thing she needs to be for us is a tool. If we can fool the Relkom elders that’s all that matters.”

“Perhaps, but if she goes and complains to them about us taking her hostage, everything will be ruined.”

“Then I suggest you keep her happy.” 

I sighed deeply. Did the future of our kingdom truly rely on a child growing up? 

“Guards, find her. I don’t have time for this.” Though, I knew that wasn’t actually true. But I wasn’t about to play into her silly games.  

It was hours later when the guards finally drug her back to me. 

I stared at her from the breakfast table, though the meal had been finished long ago. “You were supposed to be at meals on time.”

Her glare met mine just as harshly. “I would have been if you had come and found me.”

“You have been found. Are you satisfied now?”

She yanked her arm free from the guard. “No. You find me.”

I stood up in annoyance. “You won’t be getting any breakfast today.”

“I wasn’t hungry anyway.”

“Bring her back to her room until supper.” I waved the guards away and thudded to my room. 

This child couldn’t be the one to make the rules. And the sooner she knew her place, the better. 

But time proved once again that she could not be shaped by stricter actions. When supper came by, a guard entered and placed a paper in my hands. 

“I’m sorry, Sir, but she has managed to slip away once again and left this note.”

For a moment, I wanted to rip it up as I had the first. It quickly became crumpled in my fist. After a few moments of deep breathing, I opened it up to see gnomic writing again. The words “find me” I recognized from before, but this time there was another three letter word in front that had been underlined three times. 

My mind went back to her words from this morning. You find me. That had to have been what it said. 

It was tempting to just leave her there till she starved and crawled back out pitifully. But then I remembered a trip I once took with my parents long ago. We were by the sea, which my mother loved. She had begged my father that we stay longer. He harshly forbade it which crumpled her spirit. But later that day, he changed his mind. My mother had looked upon him with such care and respect after that. 

I then remembered the words of the elder: “Then you better keep her happy.” 

Was my pride really about to potentially get in the way of making progress with the princess? I was king and that meant doing what was best for the kingdom even if that meant playing her childish games. Maybe this once, being a true man meant acting like a boy once again. 

I set the paper in my pocket. “Alright, Princess. Ready or not, here I come.”

The castle was huge, and I had no idea where to start. Before she had said she was in the west. Perhaps I should start there. 

Many times I wanted to give up as the searching seemed endless. Many maids and workers gave me strange looks as I wandered about. The princess better be very happy after all I have had to endure. Gritting my teeth, I kept on. 

I noticed a door slightly open and entered. After scanning the area, I saw a wardrobe’s door also ajar. 

My weary hands swung the doors open. And there she was curled on the bottom. A sleepy looking princess, who appeared she had just been woken up from a nap, sat up. 

When her eyes met mine, I didn’t expect what came next. 

She smiled brightly. “Kalin, you found me.”

I wasn’t sure what surprised me more, that she spoke my name so informally or that she knew my name at all. Thinking back, I didn’t recall ever saying it. Had she heard it from one of the castle workers? 

And that smile… All I could do was stare back blankly. It had been the first time she had smiled. How could something so simple make her so happy?  

Old memories flooded me of our childhood days when we played together. When we laughed together. And when I was happy to make her happy. Could it ever be like that again?