Chapter 9 #2
Despite his sarcastic quips, the guards ignored him, focusing wholly on me as though I were a priceless artifact in danger of breaking.
It didn’t seem to bother him; I gathered that he likely knew them and they were used to his sense of humor.
It was a small relief to know that they did not view the man I’d been consorting with as a threat.
I glanced from Evander to the guards and back. Their gazes remained fixed on me, as if he didn’t exist. My pulse quickened. Were they ignoring him…or could they not see him?
“What’s going on?” I asked in a whisper. “Why are they ignoring you?”
Evander responded smoothly. “As an innocent bystander, I’m simply not their concern.” Somehow, something about his explanation seemed insufficient.
“Who are you speaking to, Your Highness?” Captain Tomas asked.
“My companion—” I gestured towards Evander from his place beside me…only for my breath to catch. He was gone, disappearing without a sound or shimmer of movement. Simply…vanished, swallowed by the morning mist without even the echo of his teasing laughter remaining.
I twisted, searching the trees, the hedge, the path behind me—but there was no trace. Almost as if…he hadn’t been there at all.
The captain’s black brows drew together. “There was no one accompanying you when we found you. Are you sure you’re well, Princess?” He took a step closer as though ready to guide me to the infirmary…or wherever a supposed royal was taken when she began ranting about nonexistent companions.
I didn’t answer, simply stared at the empty spot where Evander had stood moments before in disbelief, as if he would materialize as suddenly as he had when I’d been chasing him…
but it remained empty. I reached out a hesitant hand, feeling the space, but there was nothing, dismissing the possibility he’d simply become invisible.
“Princess?” Captain Tomas and the other guards were still staring at me, concern etched in their otherwise stoic expressions.
“That man who was here,” I said, voice trembling. “Where is he?”
The captain’s brow furrowed. “There was no one else with you.”
I stared at him, searching his expression for any shift, but his words had been given without any hint of deceit.
Had I imagined Evander? A figment of adrenaline and nerves?
But my heart still raced from his infuriating grin, while my cheeks still burned with remembered heat. He had been real. I knew it.
That left only one explanation, though I hated to entertain it—Evander wasn’t just mocking me with riddles; he was one, a puzzle that even my wit wouldn’t be able to unravel.
I didn’t have time to process his disappearance, not when every guard watched me as if awaiting instructions from their supposed princess…but none were forthcoming. My head pulsed, throbbing with the beginning of a headache at my temples.
The captain studied me a moment before leaning forward, lowering his voice. “Was there truly a man, Your Highness?” At my shaky nod, his expression transformed in an instant as a possibility occurred to him. “Is he the kidnapper who abducted you from your room?”
“No, he didn’t take me anywhere.” Except on a wild goose chase that he had frustratingly won. My jaw tightened in irritation at the annoying reminder.
But my words went unheard. The captain’s earlier concern deepened, morphing into frenzy. He rounded on the guards. “Search the grounds for the intruder who attempted to kidnap the princess.”
Captain Tomas made a few sharp motions, directing his team to divide into groups, and the guards scattered obediently. Though I had no explanation for what had happened to my irritating companion, I knew he wouldn’t be found.
I suddenly felt lightheaded. I swayed, only kept upright by the captain when he leapt forward, his firm arm around my shoulders surprisingly gentle, unlike our last encounter. I heard his frantic voice asking after me, but the words jumbled, incoherent, making a response impossible.
I vaguely heard Captain Tomas bark orders to his comrades before turning a softer tone to me, such a contrast to his gruffness the last time we’d interacted.
Darkness lapped my senses, gradually tugging me deeper.
It was the last sensation I noticed before the fog swarming my mind rose and swallowed me whole.
I found myself swimming in thick, impenetrable blackness.
Time lost all meaning, as if I was trapped in a prison of never-ending night with no hint of approaching daybreak.
But unlike the cells comprised of bars and locks, this one almost felt safe—a cocoon free from the confusion of the waking world, where I would no longer need to run.
For a fleeting moment I was tempted to linger…before resolve stirred awake to force the seducing temptation away.
No. I was a thief, and no one would steal my freedom from me.
If the world around me shifted, I would rise to the challenge and figure out a way to solve this newest riddle.
This determination propelled me upwards, pushing through the consuming darkness to break through the surface of my consciousness. With effort, my eyes fluttered open.
The first thing I noticed was the heavy exhaustion weighing my senses.
I blinked blearily up at the same violet canopy I’d woken up to on this surreal day, a prison of silk and sheets rather than chains…
but this time I wasn’t alone. The Captain along with several guards stood at attention at the door, while a healer wrung a cloth in a nearby basin. And sitting at my bedside…
My breath hitched, a sound that alerted the queen. “Mirelle?” She leaned forward, anxiously taking in my weary expression. “Thank goodness you’re awake. I’ve been so worried.”
Her hands trembled in the cocoon around mine as they held me fast, as if afraid I’d slip away the moment she let go.
I stared at her grasp—the delicate pale fingers adorned with jewels worth more than I’d stolen over my lifetime—then slowly back up at her face, before my gaze slid to the king sitting beside her.
What was happening? Why were Their Majesties at my bedside, worry etching their regality? I tried to force my mind back to the night I’d met them, replaying each of the few words they’d spoken when I was hauled before them.
“Mirelle?” The name I was rarely addressed by anymore drew my attention back to the queen, staring at me with wide, glassy eyes; fatigue shadowed her expression, as if she hadn’t slept for hours.
I wanted to wriggle my hand free from her tight grasp, but the concern filling her touch made it impossible to pull away.
“What…happened?” I managed weakly, hardly recognizing my raspy voice, laden with the same exhaustion weighing my limbs.
The queen rested an achingly gentle hand against my brow, slick with sweat. I subconsciously found myself leaning against the touch, as if the gesture could imprint the warmth of her fingers into my skin. “You fainted.” She spoke gently, as if afraid I might break.
Annoyance prickled at the insulting assumption.
Fainted, like some damsel in distress? Me?
That couldn’t be true; the very idea tarnished my otherwise impeccable reputation.
Yet I couldn’t deny the memory of the heavy darkness suddenly engulfing me, pulling me deep into the depths of unconsciousness.
I barely had a chance to wrap my mind around this uncharacteristic development when the king rested a soothing hand on the queen’s shoulder and turned to me. “When we heard, we’d feared that the curse had claimed you again.”
I blinked. “Curse? What curse?”
The queen gave my hand an anxious squeeze. “Poor dear, fainting must have caused you to forget. You’re under a sleeping curse. You’ve been asleep for months.”
“Months!?” My gaze darted towards the window.
Outside, the world was bathed in hues of approaching dusk, but I could faintly see the dark outlines of the pink, blossom-laden trees.
My breath hitched as I realized what had been bothering me when I looked out my window—autumn’s golden hues and dropping leaves had been replaced by the fresh greens and buds of spring.
Was that the explanation for why reality had rearranged itself overnight, like props in a play? Or how time seemed different, the season outside changing as if months had been contained in a single night?
Lips trembling, the queen nodded. “When you fainted, we feared the curse had once more taken you from us. We’re so relieved that you’re awake.”
I yearned for nothing more than to deny I was under a curse, yet another sign of weakness I refused to allow in my thief’s arsenal. Exhaustion—heavier than any I’d ever experienced—pressed against my senses, confirmation of her strange tale.
How could I be so tired? I’d trained my body to go days without sleep, and often performed my heists in the dead of night. Yet amid my denial was a flicker of relief for an explanation for the confusing events that had transpired, leaving me one fewer mystery to untangle.
I had so many lingering questions that needed answering, but I no idea where to start. “If I’m truly under a curse, how did it happen?” I asked.
“We’re not sure.” But their gazes quickly darted away, a tell-tale sign of deceit—a trait that fit their characters far more than this strange concern, the first hint of the world before I’d fallen asleep.
According to rumor, Their Majesties had been cloaked in suspicion ever since their son the crown prince had vanished without a trace…
but this falter in their composure vanished almost as soon as I noticed it.
“Do you remember what happened after you woke up?” Gone was the king’s former gruffness from our first meeting, replaced with a tone that sounded almost fatherly.
I cocked an eyebrow. That was a trap if I ever saw one—they were trying to cajole me into a confession, the perfect explanation for their uncharacteristic behavior.
I cycled through my collection of lies for the one that would best help me to avoid their carefully laid snare, but there was little point when the guards stationed at my door had discovered an empty room.
“I escaped through the window.”
Their eyes bulged. “Out the window?” Genuine surprise filled the queen’s exclamation, as if she’d forgotten since our last meeting that I was a thief. “Why would you do something so dangerous?”
“Slipping through windows and traipsing across rooftops is one of a thief’s greatest skills.”
They exchanged long glances, and I basked in their confusion, finally feeling as if I’d finally gained the upper hand in this strange encounter.
Admittedly, it wasn’t wise to confess—and so proudly—that I’d purposefully run from the imperial family, but I relished their delicious surprise too much to regret it.
“I’m not sure that was wise after you’ve been asleep for so long,” the queen finally said, choosing her words carefully. “Not to mention escapades aren’t befitting a princess.”
“A…princess?” That title again, but this time I couldn’t excuse it away as a mistake, not when it’d been given by the rulers of the realm.
My eyes darted about the room, noting the luxurious touches, the lack of handcuffs or any seeming precautions that would be normal for a prisoner. I couldn’t even feel any magical barriers nearby, though I had no doubt the wall still waited to repel my attempts.
A sense of foreboding prickled my skin. None of my previous carefully arranged scripts could have prepared me for a situation where the royal family doted on a common thief with such warmth rather than disdain, almost as if…I was truly their daughter.
I narrowed my eyes, studying their expressions. Over the years, I’d learned to detect deceit. Like picking a lock, lies were easy to discern once one recognized the patterns to look for. Yet their address and concern appeared genuine.
My mind whirled, scrambling to explain the impossible. Rather than the challenge thrilling me, this myriad of unsolvable riddles made me feel as if my fragile grasp over what control I had was rapidly slipping away, with no way to retain it.
As a prisoner, I’d at least maintained control over my identity, but now that I was recast as royalty, I felt like the last pieces remaining in my grip were disintegrating. The title of princess promised power, but the only power I wanted was my own name and the chance to reconvene my mission.
“There must be some misunderstanding,” I stuttered. “I can’t be the princess. What of the prince?”
Even the most skilled actor couldn’t feign the blank look of mild alarm they gave me. “Prince?” The queen’s voice was hesitant, as if wary about my sanity. “We only have one child—you, our princess and sole heir to the throne.”
I gaped in disbelief. They appeared identical to the king and queen I’d encountered in the throne room…save for the absence of the grief in their eyes that had haunted them since the prince’s mysterious disappearance, as if all memory of him had vanished while I slept in this strange, magical room.
Mingled with my horror at having my identity replaced was an unexpected twinge of longing as the queen gently squeezed my hand. I prided myself on my ability to stand on my own, to need no one. But hearing someone call me her child resonated in a way I’d never experienced before.
Besides, maybe being a princess could have its advantages.
While I might be every bit as much a prisoner now as I had been in the dungeon, I carried a weapon I’d never been able to wield before: a royal name.
Prisoner Mirelle hadn’t been able to scale the magic wall, but perhaps Princess Mirelle could walk straight through the gate… when the time came.
I no longer felt like running away. Without execution or other punishment looming over me, I had time. I wouldn’t be satisfied until I uncovered every last strange mystery piling up around me, until no puzzle remained unsolved.