"Pack my bags," I ordered, striding into my bedroom. Handmaiden-for-Alexia jumped up from where she was stoking the fire and cocked her head at me, confused. I raised my eyebrows and gestured impatiently to the closet. She hurried inside and I followed her, leaning against the doorway and crossing my arms as I watched her.

"We leave tonight," I said.

"Where, mi'lady?" Handmaiden-for-Alexia asked, thoroughly confused.

"Why, the rebellion headquarters, of course."

Handmaiden-for-Alexia dropped the dress she was holding. "Wha...what?"

"It's that or your death," I said coldly, feeling awful for threatening her as I turned my back on the closet and headed to the fire. Settling myself in front of it, I tried to think of a plan.

Handmaiden-for-Alexia can carry my bag. We could exit through the kitchens...but then how would we get over the wall? Perhaps whoever smuggles her letters in and out would be willing to help us escape...

Handmaiden-for-Alexia nervously cleared her throat from the closet doorway. "What?" I snapped, annoyed at having my train of thought interrupted.

"We shouldn't pack anything," she explained hesitantly. "There's only one way to sneak out of the palace and we can't take anything with us."

I groaned. Of course this just had to be the case. "How long will we be gone, do you think?"

Handmaiden-for-Alexia shrugged and I rose, sighing and stretching my arms above my head. "Oh, well. I'm sure the Phoenix People will supply me with everything that I need." It would be illegal not to, after all.

Handmaiden-for-Alexia got a strange, pinched look about her face that I ignored. "So," I said briskly, "how do we get out?"

"The way is not...suitable for a princess," Handmaiden-for-Alexia said after a pause.

"Right now, I have to set my title aside and do what I must for my kingdom. What is the way?"

"I have not left the palace grounds in the five years that I have been serving you, mi'lady. But...I know where I leave my letters."

I waited.

"Follow me."

*

The hallways of the castle were dark and terrifying in our current situation. Every shadow was a soldier, every tapestry an open doorway. I expected to feel the bite of steel in my back at any moment, despite the fact that nobody knew what we were doing or that it was wrong.

Unwanted, my mind began to dig up gruesome lessons from my tutoring sessions involving crimes and their resulting punishments. Spying...torture to extract information, followed by beheading. Unnecessary race mixing....three months of jail for males and house arrest for females, while the person who enacted the mixing is killed. Traitorous acts...torture for information, followed by public execution. Rebellion...extreme torture to no ends unless there is information to be extracted, followed by prolonged public execution. We were breaking not one but four enormous laws, all of which would certainly end in death for Handmaiden-for-Alexia and very likely for me as well. Knowing who Audric truly was now, there would also likely be excessive torturing.

I told myself to shut up and hitched up my skirts slightly so as to walk faster.

Handmaiden-for-Alexia was walking in a very odd fashion for a Lowborn. Her arms were dangling carelessly at her sides and she strode with a sense of purpose in her step. At least she kept her head down. I felt awkward enough, having her lead me so confidently.

We turned down a hallway that smelled of a variety of foods and slight body odor. I wrinkled my nose. The servants' quarters?

At least it wasn't the slaves' quarters. They were all Lowborns who had committed crimes not quite bad enough to be murdered, and were also nasty gossipers. Just the other week, Audric had had a slave executed because the man had started a rumor that Audric had an illegitimate half-breed child.

I found it cruelly ironic that Audric had no qualms about forcing Lowborn women and Highborn men together, but found the idea for himself disgusting.

Handmaiden-for-Alexia turned left and opened a heavyset door. We stepped inside and immediately, my sense of smell was assaulted by many delectable scents. I stopped and breathed deeply. It was almost overpowering, but still strangely soothing.

Handmaiden-for-Alexia cast about the kitchen, looking for something. I watched her dark form move about the shadowy area, my over-reactive imagination returning to cook up more monsters from the shadows and dark recesses under tabletops.

Finally, Handmaiden-for-Alexia clucked in satisfaction. She turned, brandishing a piece of paper triumphantly.

I squinted at it in the dim moonlight filtering in through a nearby grimy window. "Those are nothing but nonsense squiggles."

The woman shook her head patiently. "You know that Lowborns aren't allowed to learn to read or write. The castle cooks are exceptions. They have their own writing language so they can remember shopping lists and errands they need to run."

"You're no cook. How do you know this?"

Handmaiden-for-Alexia smiled cheekily and tapped the side of her nose with one delicate pointer finger. She was growing much too familiar with me - it wasn't right.

Silently, I reminded myself that I was about to betray my kingdom - I couldn't act the part of a Highborn princess any longer. I was sure that I would have to act familiar with more than one Lowborn during all of this.

"The note says that the laundry carts are to be taken out at three this morning. Oh, this is too easy." Handmaiden-for-Alexia grinned and swept out of the room, exuding excitement and confidence, two emotions that I had completely disassociated with the woman over her years of service.

"So...how did you get involved with the...you know?" I asked curiously, following her closely.

"Tell you later. Focus now." She led me down the hallway, hooked a right, and headed for the door at the end of this hallway. Opening it, she gestured inside and closed the door behind us.

"What time is it?" she hissed, feeling her way about the room for the carts, her path again lit only by weak moonlight from one tiny window.

I closed my eyes and concentrated - time-telling spells were simple. "It's midnight. Well, nearly."

"We have a few hours, then. Let me explain some things to you. Firstly, in our headquarters, you are not a princess. You are nobody special and no one will treat you as such. In fact, many will likely hate you."

I sputtered indignantly. "Why? I haven't done anything!"

"I know you're a clueless child, but many people think you sit quietly and knowingly while your brother abuses our people." Her voice was cold and cruel, holding nothing of the meek servant girl I had known mere hours ago.

"Will you help me?" I asked quietly.

"Before that, I need to know your intentions, Princess. What is it that you are hoping to accomplish through all of this?"

"Informing the Lowborns of my brother's sinful acts, stopping his plans, and showing the Lowborns that I am nothing like him," I answered promptly.

Handmaiden-for-Alexia snorted. "And how exactly do you plan to do all of that?"

I was confused. "By...by showing the rebellion my good favor in sharing information with them. I thought...that they could help me from there."

"Not all of the People will be convinced by simply hearing information from you. In fact, several may think that you are feeding us actively incorrect information."

We both fell silent. What was she implying? That my mission was doomed to failure?

"Here we are, then," Handmaiden-for-Alexia suddenly said triumphantly, having found the laundry carts. "Oh, good. They're nice and full."

I maneuvered my way carefully over to her. Looking into the carts, I realized that this batch of laundry was purely Lowborn clothing.

"This isn't safe," I whispered.

Handmaiden-for-Alexia shot me an incredulous look. "We're sneaking out of the castle in the dead of night to go find the Lowborn rebellion. Of course, it's not safe."

"No, I mean, I'm a Highborn. I can't hide among Lowborn clothes!"

Handmaiden-for-Alexia blew out an exasperated breath. "Why not?"

"Disease," I said, wondering if she was stupid. "I'll catch a Lowborn disease."

"Lowborn diseases are the exact same as Highborn diseases, Princess Alexia."

"No, they're not!"

"Princess, racist talk like that will get you killed in the Phoenix People. You're seventeen. You should know better than to believe such tall tales."

My cheeks burned. Did she speak the truth? Combined with everything else I had learned that day, it wouldn't surprise me. Hesitantly, I dug a cavity in the clothes and waited for Handmaiden-for-Alexia to make the first move.

"Are you sure you want to do this, Princess? We could turn back now - no one would ever know..."

"This isn't a rich girl's whim," I snapped. "I can't just sit back while my brother wipes out an entire species. Besides," I added with a smile as I heaved myself into the laundry cart, "I'm seventeen. It's high time I had an adventure."