I can't go back to my room, not after the stunt I pulled. I need to go somewhere my mother would never go and luckily I know just the place. I grin wickedly, remembering my mother's horse allergy. I walk down to the stables, my white and floral dress still on, making me stand out like a sore thumb. I let down my hair, the bun my maids had put in my hair making it curly. When I get in the stables,

I find a stack of hay and take off my heels before I lay down, finally a moment of peace. I close my eyes, I'm going to be here for a while, might as well get some rest.

Suddenly a loud noise jolts me out of my peaceful state, "Hey! G- Get out of here! Seriously! Shoo!" I open my eyes and see an Asian boy holding a broomstick, shooing me.

"Hey! Stop that!" I cry, jumping up out of my seat, dodging the broom. "Are you crazy?!"

"Homeless people aren't allowed to sleep here, find somewhere else to crash!"

"Excuse me?!" I exclaim, my anger rising, I've dealt with enough entitled men for one day. "Who do you think you are?!"

"Get out of here lady!" He shoos me with the broom again.

I scoff, reaching for the broom and grabbing it out of his hands, "Cut it out!"

The boy crosses his arms, "You need to leave! There is a homeless shelter downtown, you can sleep there."

"I'm not homeless." He looks down at my feet and then back up at my messy hair. "Do you know who I am?"

"A homeless lady sleeping on my horses hey?" He asks, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

I roll my eyes, "I'm not homeless, I'm hiding."

He nods, "Okay..."

I sigh, giving him back his broom, "I've had a really bad day and if I go back it's just going to get worse, please let me stay," I hate how weak my voice sounds.

He looks at me, his chocolate brown eyes focused. I look at his eyes, watching as they change ever so slightly every few seconds, I could pinpoint the second he decided to get me to stay, he should never play poker because he has a terrible poker face, "You can stay but this," he points his broom at me, "Never happened."

I nod, "Of course."

The boy goes back to work, doing whatever I guess a stable boy does. I lay back down, closing my eyes. I lay there for a minute before realising there was no way I was going to fall asleep. I groan, rolling over. "Do you mind? I'm trying to work."

"Sorry," I roll my eyes, "I didn't realise being a horse's servant was such a hard job," I say sarcastically as I watch the boy work. He shakes his head, ignoring me as he continues sweeping the stables. "What's your name?" He ignores me again, "Hey!"

"It's Arden, now can you leave me alone?!"

Arden, I grin, that's a nice name, unique but then again my brother's name is Clarkson. "I'm—" I pause for a second, whoever this boy is, he somehow doesn't know that I'm a princess, why spoil the fun and tell him, "Eurydice."

He nods, "Cool."

"Are you always su—"

"I really can't talk right now!" Arden blurts out, "I'm behind in my jobs and if the King finds out I can get fired, so please, shut up."

"Um—" I stare at him. It's been a while since someone has been so honest with me, apart from, of course, Mikhail but everything that man tells me sounds like nails on a chalkboard. "Let me help."

He shakes his head, "I can't pay you."

I roll my eyes and stand up, brushing the hay off of my dress, "Do you want my help or not?"

"Fine but not—"

"A word, I know. Now, give me that broom."

— • —

I don't want to see Kai right now, after a long day I doubt I'll be able to keep my hands to myself. I just want to go to sleep, so I decided to go to Cora's room instead. When I get to her door, I smile at her guard, Dan, causing him to roll his eyes and scoff, not my biggest fan.

I knock on Cora's door and wait for her to answer, "Who is it?" She asks, her voice trembling.

"It's me—" I wait a moment, "Cait... Let me in."

"Where were you?" She demanded as she let me inside her room.

"The stables," I grin, thinking about my time in the stables with Arden. It was nice being around someone who didn't know who I was. "I was hiding from Mother. What are you doing?"

"Avoiding Clarkson!" Cora crossed her arms over her chest, "He's such a bully!"

I tilt my head, "Yeah, I know, he's always been one though, what happened?"

Cora's posture softened, her eyes dropping to the floor, my heart broke as she choked back a sob, "I think he's screwing my maid," She confessed, "I know Mei, she's my best friend! She wants to get married and have kids, Clarkson's going to break her heart!"

I gasp, my blood boiling, I'm nowhere near as close as Cora is to Mei but I know a bit about the girl and I know my brother, "That pig!"

I've slept with staff before, guards and butlers, all guys around my age but look at me like I'm something to eat but I've never promised them anything other than sex.

"Exactly!" She cries.

"Have you asked her about it?"

Cora shook my head. "She's afraid to tell me but I know without a doubt! Clarkson asked me about her whereabouts after the interview. I yelled at him, that's why father banished me to my room."

Guilt rose in my stomach mixing with my hunger from skipping dinner, I hadn't even noticed Cora was banished to her room, I spent the entire evening in the stables and hadn't even thought about her once. I sigh, pushing my hair behind my ear. "You weren't kidding when you said you went to the stables?" She chuckled lightly, her mood slowly rising. I giggled, grabbing a piece of hay that was still in my hair. Cora shakes her head.

"I found a solution for our problems! The stables, tomorrow during my date with Mikhail," I faked a gag, the thought of my date almost enough to make me sick, "I'm going there, you should come to."

"I can't, I'm seeing Fredrik tomorrow, but maybe afterwards if the date miraculously ends early."

I frown, "Why couldn't I be marrying Fredrik," I mutter, "At least he's tolerable."

"I'm not marrying him, Cait! He's just a friend, I think? I'm sorry you're stuck with that pervert."

"I know, I know, I wasn't saying you were marrying him," I grin, of course Cora isn't marrying Fredrik, not if my plan works at least. "I'm just saying I wouldn't have hated this all so much if I was arranged with someone like Fredrik. Someone bright and funny..." An image of Arden comes to my mind, I shake the thought away, he's not my type. "Someone nothing like Mikhail."

"Fredrik is okay for a guy..." She shrugs, her eyes looking away. I know what she means, Cora's type is more like Xoie, bitchy, honestly I don't know what Cora ever saw in Xoie. Even when she was my lady-in-waiting, it wasn't by choice, my mother had picked her out for me.

Cora grabs my hand, holding it tightly, "Just keep up whatever you are doing to scare him off? I wouldn't want to be shackled with someone like Mikhail either."

I look into her bright blue eyes, Cora is a perfect mix of my parents, she has my father's eyes and my mother's soft brown hair. Looking into her eyes, I feel myself wanting to go back in time, to when everything was easier and less complicated. To when my father was at his castle in Kent, with his mistresses and bastards, to when my mother was so drunk that she spelt through the days. I used to hate my parents never being around but now I want it more than anything.

"Can I sleep with you tonight?" I ask, wanting to replicate the sleepovers we would have when we were younger.

"Sure!" Cora rests her head on my shoulder. "I don't want you to leave."

I sigh, closing my eyes, "Trust me, I would rather die than leave with a man like Mikhail."

"If only I was strong enough to do that."

I shake my head, Cora is always so quick to put herself down, "Don't worry, I'm strong enough for the both of us," I kiss her forehead, "Good night," I say as I feel my eyes go heavy, tomorrow will be a better day, I remind myself before drifting off into unconscious.

— • —

I wake when the sun is still down, I take a look at the clock and see that I only have about an hour before the Palace is roaring with staff and my family. I leave my heels off as I quietly walk through the Palace halls, trying my hardest not to wake a soul. There is something surreal about seeing the Palace so empty, a place that I usually can never have a moment to myself is now empty with nothing by the stray guard here and there.

When I get to my room, I see my morning guard, Mallory, stationed. "Where were you last night, Princess?"

"My sister's room, you can even ask Dan."

I know he isn't going to, the guards just need to be able to tick a box every morning and night so that my parents know I hadn't run away or snuck out during the night, he couldn't care less about where I was. He nods before letting me enter my room. Mallory isn't attracted to women, I hit on him once, it was a very awkward and uncomfortable encounter which ended with me finding out that his 'roommate' Apollo is actually a bit more than that. Mallory closed the door, leaving me alone in the privacy of my.

I throw off my dress from the day before and walk over to my wardrobe. I look through it, running my hand along dozens of fancy dresses most of which were handsewn by my maids. I shake my head as I realise that I have nothing similar to wear, no jeans or t-shirts. If I'm going to be hiding out in the stables all day, there is no way I'm going to be wearing one of my dresses.

"Mallory!" I call as my guard opens my door.

"Yes?"

"Can you come here?"

"Princess, you know I can't—"

I roll my eyes and walk up to him, closing the door behind him, "Do you know where Iris lives?"

He tilts his head to the side, "Yeah but—"

"Perfect! I need you to get her and tell her to bring an extra set of clothes!"

"I can't leave—"

I roll my eyes, "I'll pay you, double the hour my father pays for you to sit around and guard."

Mallory sighs, "Okay."

Mallory took longer than I would have liked, most of the hour had already gone by. I let out a sigh of relief as Iris knocks on my door, "Caitlyn?"

"Come in!"

Iris opens my door and walks in, I notice the pair of ripped jeans and a plain white hung over her arm, "That's the closet?" I ask as she nods. "Perfect," I grab the outfit and chuck it on. "How do I look?"

"You look... normal."

I grin as I turn to my mirror, my hair is thrown into a messy bun as the clothes make me look like a normal person. "Can I borrow your coat?"

Iris shakes her head, "Why? Your coat is fine," she says as she pulls out my elaborate coat.

"My coat draws too much attention, but yours— No one will even look my way."

My words come out a lot meaner than I had intended, Iris' coat is a blank grey coat with spots where the fabric had been sown over holes. Her usual joyful expression flutters for just a moment before she nods, taking off her coat and giving it to me. I considered apologising but I wouldn't know what for, it's a fact that her coat is basic, half of the maids have coats familiar to hers but I decide apologising is the right thing, "Sorry," I say simply, hoping that it will be enough.

Iris smiles weakly, shaking her head, "Don't be silly."

I grin, "Hetty and Stephanie should be here soon, then Mikhail, when they arrive, just tell them that I was already gone when you got here, okay? I don't want you getting in trouble because of me."

"Okay, good luck!"

"Thanks.