The days dragged on after the museum opening, which marked the end of my first official week at the palace. So much had happened since I'd left Hargrove that the week had seemed like an eternity. But once the days had started to follow a pattern, they each seemed to blend into the next. Tedium dominated, especially since I was rarely invited to evening events now that Ella had discovered she could lock me in the suite despite my protests. Now that she was settled in as one of the prince's favorites, she felt my usefulness extended just as far as being her glorified ladies' maid and no further.

As a result, my contact with the prince had been almost entirely eliminated, which I forced myself to accept if only to follow Georgina's advice. There were plenty more things to fill my time with at the palace that didn't involve distracting the crown prince. As such, I'd resigned myself to a summer of dressing my cousin and smiling prettily at tea, my only solace found in my clandestine excursions to the little library whenever the other ladies were attending dinners or balls.

I was still permitted to attend the daytime events, but Ella, Emily, and Rosanna watched me like a hawk whenever the prince was near. It didn't stop him from flashing me smiles, but whenever he attempted to talk to me, there was always an interruption. Georgina did her best to keep me smiling whenever we could spend time together, but I couldn't quite extinguish my jealousy that she got to waltz the evenings away while I had to sneak around service corridors.

Four days after the museum opening, Ella forbade me from attending yet another grand gathering, this one a dinner in honour of some ambassador's visit. As was usual, I would pretend to go to sleep, only to sneak downstairs to the library. I'd long since abandoned my disguise of the maid uniform now that I had mapped the service corridors in the debutantes' wing. There was a surprising abundance of hidden doors and I was certain that if ever I found myself cornered, I'd be able to hide in one of the many unused drawing rooms or studies on the main floor.

I'd taken to leaving my book on the reading desk, open to where I had last finished reading. Currently I was devouring a book of myths and legends, which was a much more enjoyable way to spend an evening than sitting on my own upstairs. Some days when I was lucky, the music from the ball would waft down the hall and I could even pretend I was attending.

I had settled in, tucking my feet below me as I lit the candelabra with the prince's matches, when my eyes fell to the book before me. Instead of being open to the page I'd last left off at, it was open to the tale of Alistair and Mysthena, a plain envelope lying on the page. I cast a wary look around before flipping it over. It was unsealed and unaddressed, but as I opened it I recognized the hand immediately.

Read this and we'll see if your imagination truly is better than art.

There was no signature and no salutation, but I knew it was the prince's hand and I knew it was for me. After all, our last conversation had been about how I much prefer books to art. I smiled to myself as I set it aside, throwing myself into the myth of the hunter and his demigoddess love.

***

The next morning, the queen had invited a soprano from the opera they were planning to see the next week to serenade us through the morning in her solar. I could feel a headache coming on before the singing had even started. I stared down at the square of embroidery I'd been working on, lost in thought, when I felt someone sit down next to me in the bay window.

"You seem dejected," Princess Anne said, looking over at my emrboidery, "And your stitches are far too large,"

"I am not at all dejected," I said, forcing a small smile onto my face, "I am simply enjoying the music,"

I didn't miss the way Ella and Rosanna were shooting me sidelong looks as I conversed with the princess, Emily even going so far as to scoot her chair closer so she could overhear us. The princess seemed to notice, staring Emily down until she leaned over to whisper in my ear.

"I would very much like to spend the afternoon with you," she said, "I think it would cheer you up,"

I smiled at her, an excuse prepared on my lips as Ella glared at me, only for the soprano to finish her song among much applause from the queen. The princess used the distraction to seize my hand, pulling me up from my chair as she curtseyed to her mother. I dropped a reverence myself, flushing red as all the eyes on my side of the room turned towards me.

"Come, she gave you the nod," the princess said, after her mother had indeed nodded at the pair of us. I didn't think twice before I followed the princess from the room, the soprano's trilling voice starting up again. I only allowed myself a grimace when Anne had closed the door behind us.

"I think you may have just spared me a migraine," I said, massaging my temples as Anne hurried down the hallway. I struggled to keep up, finally gathering my skirts and jogging after her.

"You need to hurry. Go put on riding clothes," she said, pausing at the intersection between the upper gallery outside the entrance hall and the same hall she'd taken me down to show me her personal library.

"Riding clothes?" I repeated, pulling up short. I had assumed Anne had simply wanted some company while she read for the rest of the morning.

"Yes, riding clothes. Preferably something you can ride astride," she said, turning me around and pushing me towards the entrance hall, "Go! I'll fetch you in a few minutes!"

The prospect of a ride was enough to send all my resolve to act like a lady straight out the window. I was unashamed as I lifted my skirts once again, sprinting back towards my room. I was digging through my chest for my riding leggings and dress before the door had even closed behind me. The princess was true to her word, knocking on the door a few minutes later. When I emerged, she was standing in the hallway next to an older woman similarly garbed in riding clothes.

"Good, let's go then," the princess said, looking me over, "This is my governess Miss Claridge,"

Miss Claridge nodded sharply, her pinched, stern face at odds with the riding leggings she was wearing. I would have guessed she'd be attired in a dress but instead she was dressed much like the princess in a pair of leggings with a split skirt.

We made our way out to the stables, the princess walking so quickly I had to lengthen my strides to keep up with her and the governess. When we emerged into the yard, I couldn't resist tipping my head towards the sun to savour the warm breeze. The princess made her way over to where Boy Bill was supervising some of the stablehands at work. The stablemaster shot me a glare, but nodded to the princess nonetheless and disappeared into the barn. He emerged a few minutes later leading a trio of mares, one grey, one brown, and one dun. The grey mare nuzzled the princess eagerly, while I accepted the reins to the brown mare, a bright white blaze running down her face.

The princess got a hand up from Boy Bill while her governess pulled herself up into the saddle. I watched as the older woman threw her leg astride her horse, deducing that she most certainly wasn't the type of governess I was used to. The stablemaster studiously ignored me, so I climbed up on my own, throwing my leg over to ride astride as the princess and her governess did. My horse followed the other two as we rode around the palace and out the front gates into the city and out towards the north gate to the forest.

Freedom, at last!