Twelve: The Princess in the Tower

Finding the princess’s room was easier said than done. I had to threaten two maids (both of whom ended up unconscious in a closet) before determining that Beatrice lived at the top of the third tower, not far from where I was.

Now knowing where I was going, I was unstoppable – except for the many, many guards crawling around like ants. The guards under Valentin’s command were nothing if not efficient. I couldn’t go more than a few feet without another one running past.

I was sneaky, incredibly so, and I was good at blending in, but I wouldn’t be able to move very fast the way I was now.

To make it easier for me to move around undetected, I needed a disguise.

Now, one would think the obvious choice was to find a guard, steal his clothes, and continue on my way. But I was smarter than that. I’d done that sort of thing before and while it worked for a while, in a place like the palace, it was too risky. With the guards constantly communicating with one another to coordinate a search, it would become obvious fairly quickly that I wasn’t one of them.

But you know who the guards weren’t looking for?

A maid.

Conveniently, I’d just incapacitated two maids, one of whom was even tall enough that I could steal the outer layers of her uniform and wear it.

Palace maids wore gray dresses with white pants underneath and special bonnets over their hair. This meant that though the pants were quite tight on me and revealed more of my ankles than I’d like, at a quick glance, it was hard to pick me out as a fake.

Luckily, palace maids wore many layers, so I wasn’t leaving the poor maid indecent in the closet, nor did I see anything I shouldn’t have. She’d be a little cold, but I was nothing if not considerate, and I made sure to roll her closer to the other unconscious maid for warmth before I left.

Freshly disguised and with my metal-cutting blade carefully wrapped in a handkerchief and stowed in the pocket of the maid’s dress, I exited the closet carrying a stack of towels that the other smaller maid had had when I accosted her.

I kept my head down, knowing that while my disguise would pass initial scrutiny, if anyone looked closer, they would notice that there was no long hair under this bonnet, and my features were masculine.

This wasn’t my first time impersonating a woman, but usually I had Isabel to help make me look the part. I began walking with light, quick steps, shortening my stride, partly because I wanted to look like a shy little maid and partially because these pants were too damned tight.

Guards passed me several times as I made my way to the tower, but none of them stopped me. Although, as I was rounding another corner, a guard running from the opposite direction slowed down. I lowered my head further, heart pounding.

“You don’t want to be out here right now, miss,” the young lad told me, breathing hard from his sprint. He had one hand on his ill-fitting helmet to keep it from clanking around as he ran. “There’s an intruder in the palace. Get back to the servants’ quarters for now.”

I nodded and turned toward a smaller hallway off to the right, praying that it would lead to the servants’ quarters. The guard didn’t call me out on it, and waited until I’d gone a few steps towards the hallway before running off.

I let out a breath. Damn. That was lucky. Either that hallway really did eventually lead to the servants’ quarters, or the guard didn’t know where the hell it was either.

I stopped, checked to make sure he was gone, and continued the way I’d been going, hoisting my stack of towels up higher so they covered my chin.

After another series of turns, I ended up at the base of a spiral staircase leading up to the top of the tower. I put one leg on the first step, the hem of my dress fluttering majestically.

Never fear, princess. Your charming, exceedingly handsome suitor is here.

I snickered to myself and hurried up the stairs, thanking the gods that I was already fit from running for my life all the time, or else these stairs would be a much worse problem.

Up and up, I went. Beatrice must have calves of steel if she’s lived up here her whole life. It was good that she hadn’t actually decided to kick me at any point.

The end of the stairs widened into a vestibule with a set of golden doors on the opposite side. Just outside the doors was a young girl with reddish brown hair, presumably waiting patiently for any orders from her mistress.

I squinted at her.

Aha! That’s the little demon that colluded with the prince to capture me!

Although, she appeared to be the only servant here, so maybe the princess actually had sent her in good faith, and Valentin just took advantage of the opportunity.

The girl noticed me standing there staring at her after a moment and frowned.

“The princess didn’t order any towels. What are you doing here?”

I took a few steps closer. The girl narrowed her eyes, closely examining my face.

Just as she opened her mouth to yell, I pounced, throwing my stack of towels to the side and covering her mouth. I twisted her into a chokehold and not more than a few moments later, she fainted. I lowered her to the floor – gently, because I’m not the vindictive sort – and dove into the princess’s chambers.

Typical princesses were interested in horses and tea parties and dresses – or so I assumed. Beatrice was of a different sort. The first thing I noticed was shelf upon shelf of books lining the edges of the outer chamber. Clearly, the princess was a reader. Ironically, she and the real Darren Faraman probably would have gotten along really well. A small window with a padded seat at the side of the room looked out over the palace walls into the city, and sitting on that seat was even a still-steaming cup of tea and a book lying facedown. In the center of the room was a four-sided table and chairs, and on the opposite wall was a brick fireplace. To the left was a hallway that presumably led off to the bedroom.

But I wasn’t very worried about exploring further because the princess was sitting at that table, blinking at me in bewilderment.

And in the chair next to her was a very livid prince. Those eyes were like pools of lightning, and he was tapping one finger threateningly on the table, clearly imagining every possible way to disembowel me.

Damn.

Well. Too late to back out now. I straightened and put my hands on my hips.

“Princess,” I said warmly, smiling as I approached. The princess gave me a very strange look, and I realized I was still wearing the maid’s uniform. I took off the bonnet and hid it behind my back, clearing my throat.

Beatrice glanced at her brother, then at me. “Um…who are you?”

Ah, right. Beatrice had never seen my true face. What a shame.

I pouted. “You don’t even recognize your partner in crime. How hurtful.”

The princess straightened like she’d been poked in the spine, eyes widening. She looked between me and Valentin and seemed to connect some dots.

“I thought…I didn’t…what the hell is happening?” she trailed off helplessly, and looked at her brother for an explanation. He barely glanced at her.

“I’m not stupid, Beatrice. I knew who he was a long time ago.”

Beatrice’s mouth hung open. I waited for her to slump back in her seat in shame and let Valentin re-capture me, but to my surprise, she abruptly stood up from the table, chair screeching against the polished wood floor.

She planted her hands on the table and got in her brother’s face. “You ass. Did you talk about him purposefully in front of me to get me to hire him?”

I blinked.

Huh?