Senna Aldorban

After the tenth time of Kace slamming the door in my face, I've determined a few things.

Firstly, Kace adored me. Whenever he called me a nuisance to society, it made my womanly heart melt. Maybe it was because of the pent of fury I felt, but that couldn't possibly be it.

Secondly, the media seemed to have a growing interest in me. After last month, when the world found out he got married to Odaya de Mertaire, they wanted to know why the infamous party boy Kace Holland was spending time with my wonderful company. When I went to explain my complicated situation, Kace laughed and shoved me behind a barrel of potent beer. I think it had something to do with the fact he was drunk, but who knew?

Thirdly, Kace Holland was a sneaky little roach. Did he honestly think I didn't notice the increased papers on his desk? Every time I coincidentally ended up in his room for stirring trouble, I'd note down the tiny changes. A specific paper, in particular.

Lord Idrice Astley. Known for his pitiful ruling over the southend of Entorre, but also known to be good at winning support. Charismatic and faker than the rumors of Nicholyn Holland being alive.

Unfortunately, he was also good at hiding his worldwide weaponry circle. He'd sold over forty million weapons in the past five years to countries that I didn't even know existed. Our treasurer had compiled a complete report on Idrice and his son, Rafe Astley. Nothing came up for the son as far as we knew.

If Lord Idrice Astley was able to hide a global exchange of weaponry, what else could he be illegally selling around? That I planned to find out. If it meant taking down Entorre's government in the process, then so be it.

Packing my bags, I shoved aside my dignity and got ready to go to Kace. He'd probably be in the library or talking with the secretary of economics, so I'd start there.

Or rather him to come to me.

"Princess Senna!" a loud voice yelled from beyond my door. "Open it right now!"

"Coming!"

"Right now!"

Shoving my bag under my bed, I hopped to the door and swung it open. From head to toe, Kace was dripping. "Oh my. Whatever happened to you?"

"My guards... You know what, never mind. I'm not dealing with you today." He spun on his heel, then spun back around. "This is why—"

"—women stay home. Whatever. So when are we going to the southend?"

"In an hour—Wait, no, you're not coming. Don't make me lock the door again." He stormed away, and I pranced behind him like a drunk cheetah. "Be a good girl and go away."

"Just because you locked the door doesn't mean I couldn't get out. Remember?" I cooed, riling him up.

He didn't stop marching. "I'll make sure to bolt the windows and place extra guards." He shuddered just remembering what I had done that time.

"You do that."

Kace paused, jerked his head back, and muttered, "What are you planning to do this time?"

"A lady never tells her secrets."

"You are no lady."

"Are you asking for proof? I don't think a gentleman such as yourself would stoop so low, Kace," I said, concealing my grin.

With a sharp exhale, he said his infamous quote, "It's Prince Kace. And no, I don't need proof. Just stay out of my way just this once."

"I could help you with whatever you need. Why don't you want me with you?"

"Because you're annoying and you don't need to know the business of our government. Besides, I'm taking a stop along the way, so it'll be a long trip."

"I'm glad you're explaining this to me, then. I'll figure out exactly what you're doing."

Kace leaned his neck down, a brow slightly lifting. "You have no idea what I'm doing, Princess Senna. Get in my way and I will personally get rid of you from the face of the planet."

A part of me wanted to get on my tip toes to seem bigger, but another part was aware of his threat, of his promise. The whispers on the streets of Kandose of the amount of people he had shipped off rang in my head.

When Kace was about to turn the corner out of the corridor, I yelled out, "My name is Senna, by the way!"

He ignored.

Muscles tightening, I rushed back to my room and pulled out my bag. A few essentials were packed in, along with a change of clothes, pants—Kace would hang me by my earlobes if he saw that—another dress; my Dimala, a religious text that I was rereading; and a compact prayer mat.

I was set to go.

*~⚜️~*

From my locked window, Kace was yelling at his stampede of guards. He was angrier than usual—not that it meant much. His poor guards were petrified when Kace threw a book down the foyer.

Glancing around, I spotted only one carriage; he learned his lesson after the first few times.

Very well, then. I supposed I needed to find aternative methods. Luckily, my mind was wonderfully creative.

I slipped out my gown and into comfortable pants and top. For my plan to work, Kace and his goons would be departed so I could deal with the guards stationed below my window.

Yanking open my drawer, I took out a few drascus coins, the old currency of Entorre. Now they were worth thousands in the current drascus. Nicholyn Holland, God bless him, had issued them amongst the southend years ago to catch perpetrators involved within the weaponry circle.

Nicholyn ordered them to be killed. Surely it wasn't just illegal weapons. Something else was being issued there, but Nicholyn didn't have enough time to figure out what.

Two coins went into my bag, and the other few went into a satchel.

No way I was going to do this. No way. I was legally insane. Literally. After the stunt I was about to pull, they might as well throw me onto the next killing boat.

Oh, well.

I picked up a paperweight and hurled it at my window, shattering it into a million pieces. Shouting echoed up to my room, but I worked quickly and lifted myself out the window and up to the rooftop.

"What the hell—"

"I'm sorry!" I tossed down the satchel of coins at the dumbstruck guards. "Use that to pay for the window! The rest is yours!"

"Are you bribing us?" the guard yelled back.

"Yes! Now take the coins and don't tell Kace!" Not wanting to hear their protests, I leapt onto the next rooftop and scaled my way into the garden.

"Where is she?" I heard a nearby guard scream.

Ducking behind a thorn bush, I crawled to a redwood tree and paused to listen again.

"Prince Kace is going to kill us," a guard whimpered. "Saints, I can't handle this crazy woman."

"Maybe we shouldn't tell Prince Kace. I'll take my chances with King Lius."

God, please no. These guards were missing their brains.

"No, let's stay quiet and issue an order to find her. The sooner we do, the less chances of Prince Kace or the King of finding out she's gone again."

Ah, there we go. I sped walk to the next tree, and the next. Their conversation died out into the wind. Finally, I charged out the garden exit and through the winding trails of the evergreen trees laced with snow. Early January winter was not a season I enjoyed.

Footsteps were behind me, but I doubt they knew I was hear. They were just searching for me, not on my trail, so I'd be fine if I ran out the civilian passage.

And that was what I did. When I arrived to the bustling street, I braved through the crowd, pulling down my hat to shadow my features. Left and right people bumped. whilst I accidentally knocked into a few. Apologizing my way through, I tightened my grip on my hat and wiggled onward.

No way I was doing that. No way, no way, no way—

I was doing that. I was now legally crazy. Oh God.

Peering to the main road, I caught the bustling from the oncoming carriages. They all emerged from the same building. Carefully, I crossed the street and briskly into the building.

I had to stay low. Getting caught now would end me up in shackles forever.

"May I help you?" someone asked from behind.

I spun around with a nervous smile. "Yes, please. Could I please get a carriage to the southend?"

"The ports of the southend?"

"Yes, sir," I specified, holding my breath and keeping my eyes averted to the ground. Now was not the time for eye contact and staring contests.

The man's shoes went out of my sight. Glancing up, I followed him to the side of the building, where carriages were lined up and ready for use. "Is anyone else traveling with you?"

"Just me," I said, slipping my hands into my pockets. "And I would like the quickest and cheapest, please."

The man stopped in his tracks and looked at me. "Trips to the southend have nearly tripled this week. I'm afraid you won't get anything cheap."

Furrowing my brows, I asked, "Why have prices gone up?"

"Our manager informed us Prince Kace will be there. Naturally, many people would want to start traveling there to see him. Even media members have bombarded us. Might as well profit."

Clenching my hand, I stood firmly and met gazes. "How much is it?"

"Eight hundred drascus."

A price like that would've drove media members to rob banks. No one in their right mind would be carrying that much money with them, especially not a runaway princess.

Perhaps there was another way. Grinning, I took out a folded paper and handed it to the man.

His face dropped, then he lifted a brow and glanced up at me from the paper. "You know him?"

"Of course I know Prince Kace. I'm on a first-name basis, too," I said proudly.

The man could've dropped dead right there. "How do I know you're serious?"

I handed him another government document with Kace's signature. And another. None of them were important, but they were enough to be considered 'proof of relationship'. I'd usually hand those to the media so they wouldn't question me too much.

"Saints, so you are going there to see Prince Kace?" he whispered.

Not exactly... "Yes, exactly."

"Pay for half and you can compensate the other half by getting Prince Kace an interview with my brother."

"I don't know if I can do that," I said truthfully.

"Then full price."

God, Kace was not just going to ship me off—he was going to shove a palm tree down my throat. Mustering up my courage, I said, "Fine. But only after I finish my business there."

"I'll send a letter to the palace in a month's time. It'll be addressed by my brother's newspapers name."

"All right, fine."

I was a dead woman.