Group lessons went a little bit better in the weeks after that. I didn’t exactly make friends with Arden or Leo, but we all got along. At least, no one tried to punch me, and Leo stopped crying.

I was upset about having to continue the lessons, not because I didn’t want to learn in a group, but because I couldn’t continue the one-on-one training as well. Captain Alea was insistent that any additional training would be bad for me because I was too young. So instead, I decided to train alone at night, in secret.

Accomplishing this was tricky. Ever since my birthday, security around me had been very tight. Not only that, but the training grounds were locked at night, and they were on the other side of the palace from my room. In order to make it there, I would need to slip past the guards in the hallway, sneak through the east wing and towards the central palace, then somehow get into the locked training yard past the gate’s night watch. If I got caught even once, there would be almost no chance of success on the second try, as I knew Captain Alea and my parents would then ensure there were guards in the training yards themselves. For now, though, there was a very low but non-zero probability that I could succeed.

I didn’t spend too much time wondering how I ended up proficient at infiltration planning and threat assessment. It was just there in my brain, like all the combat skills. Why would I waste time wondering about it?

In the end, my plan turned out to be pretty simple. I was confident in my climbing and stealth abilities. So, I decided I would use my bedsheets to climb down, escaping-from-a-tower-like-a-princess-in-a-fairytale-style, from my fourth-floor window to the ledge of the third-floor window, and from there jump to the left down onto the small balcony on the second floor. From there, I could climb down the nice and hefty wooden trellis – which was currently covered with passion flowers and really very beautiful, and I’d need to be gentle so as not to harm the plants – until the ground, landing behind the shallow hedge alongside the main path. I was small enough to sneak past the guards by staying behind the hedge, although there were times I’d need to dash between paths. For that, I would just need to time it correctly.

That just left the biggest barrier: the locked training yard. What I needed was the key. Stealing it outright was not an option; if I did, they would change the lock. I either needed to get into the training yard by climbing over the gate, or I would need to make a copy of the existing key.

This was not a simple task, and as good as I was at tabulating my options, I knew my wisdom was limited. It was very possible I'd end up choosing a reckless plan. I needed help to make my plotting successful. So I turned to a strategy I had employed many times before in my various plotting sessions over the years: I summoned my council of advisors.

“Advisor Owl. Please state your case for the climbing-over-the-fence option,” I commanded. My stuffed toy owl looked back at me blankly, motionless. You know, because it was an inanimate stuffed toy. 

I nodded seriously.

“You are right to point out the resource issue. As a small child, I don’t have access to key-copying equipment. We would need to find tools to make that option work.” I turned to my stuffed bear. “Advisor Bear. Make your suggestions for the key-copying problem, please.”

The black button eyes shone in the light of the chandelier in my bedroom. Seconds ticked by as I nodded along to Advisor Bear’s imaginary proposals and she stared silently at me.

“Interesting, but impractical. While it might be possible to steal a knife from the kitchen, it is not likely that I will have enough whittling skill to craft a good key. Especially given that if I steal the key from Charlie right after the gate is locked, I’ll need to return it to him before the dawn shift, giving me just six hours at most.” I smiled indulgently at Advisor Bear. “However, an admirable suggestion given our limited resources.”

“Now, Advisor Lion. Do you have anything to add before I make my final decision as the ruler of this council?”

Advisor Lion said nothing. I nodded thoughtfully.

“So you are suggesting we take advantage of the human element? Bribery?” It was an interesting proposal. There were weak links among the guards, and I was adorable. I could try to win them over with comparably adorable gifts, like hand-made cookies.

“That is a very high risk plan, though. We would be admitting to our plan, and if it fails, we have no recourse.” I thought harder. “Also, it’s not clear if my adorableness will defeat their loyalty to my parents or to Captain Alea.”

With that, I sighed heavily. Of the three options, there was a clear winner, but it was not going to be easy.

“My dear friends, it looks like we will be going with plan ‘climb over the gate’.” Looking proudly at them all, I led a brief round of applause. They did nothing. Again, because they were toys.

At that moment, my nanny came in. Her name was Anne, and she was a short but intimidating woman with the commanding presence of a general on the battlefield. She had replaced my previous nanny, who was the fifth nanny to quit by my third birthday. All those nannies had had to quit because I was apparently too much of a challenge. Or at least, that’s how my father put it to me when he was trying to explain where she went to me. I think he was trying to say I was too much trouble but without being unkind. At least, my mother had looked at him very angrily when he said that. I did not mind it much. I was smart enough to know I was trouble.  

“Princess, are you playing with your toys? That’s wonderful!” She really did look overjoyed to find me acting so normal.

I shook my head. “No, Anne. I’m working on something very serious.” I didn’t want her to have the wrong impression. If she thought I liked childish make-believe now, she might try and get me to socialize with other children my age more. I didn’t need any more of that in my life now that group training lessons were a thing I had to deal with.

She only looked happier. “Yes, yes, of course you are. That’s wonderful, just wonderful.”

Anne was always grasping at straws when it came to my behavior, looking desperately for signs of normalcy. I rolled my eyes at her. I’d never exactly been good at manners.

“Princess! You know better than that,” Anne was indignant, but she was clearly still so happy to find me acting like a normal child that her scolding tone was a bit milder than usual. “It’s very impolite to roll your eyes at people. They will think that you don’t respect them. Is that how you feel? Do you not respect me?”

Feeling a bit bad now, I shook my head. “I think you are very impressive, Anne. I just don’t respect what you said.”

Anne looked at me with an expression I was used to seeing her make but which I still hadn’t quite worked out the meaning of. I thought it might be amusement, or maybe misery. Who’s to say, really.

In the end, she just moved on, which is what she normally did after making that face.

“Princess, it’s time to go to dinner. Are you ready?”

I nodded, standing up. “Please may I put my toys away first?”

My nanny nodded, smiling now. You might find it odd for me to be so polite to a nanny given that I'm royalty, but that's how it worked here, on the orders of my parents, and with the tacit approval of my grandmother. I was only just realizing that my parents were raising me a bit differently from how other aristocrats raised their children. I didn't really interact with enough other children to have noticed it, but when things happened like with Leo and Arden at the training lesson, it was clear to me that there was something different about our perspectives.

Anyway, enough time for musing on that later. Right now, there was the much more pressing issue of operation-infiltrate. 

I methodically gathered my stuffed animals and placed them carefully in order on the shelf above my toy chest. Owl, Lion, Bear, Whale, from left to right. Once they were all straightened out, I brushed off my hands like I’d seen Captain Alea do after accomplishing something important.

“We will reconvene this evening, my dear advisors,” I whispered conspiratorially.

With that, I headed down to dinner, still trying to calculate how best to get over the gate into the training yard.