It had been a month since Ana arrived at the castle, and to say she had been miserable the entire time was no sort of exaggeration.

After failing to contact her boyfriend, the princess' parents had basically banned her from using pretty much everything that used internet. It was safe to say it had been a long four weeks.

She had first tried to pass the time by visiting the town, but - because practically everything would remind her of Mason - she was almost never not crying. She finally decided that maybe it wasn't such a good idea when someone asked if she needed to go to the hospital.

She'd never seen so many panicked people in one place.

So Ana came up with the wonderful idea of learning some new hobbies, and with the help of the royal chefs, she began baking. A lot.

At this point she was regularly making at least three pastries a day, and she made sure to taste test all of them. She knew that she had gained a bit of weight from eating so much (she'd blamed it on stress anytime someone mentioned it) but she didn't have the time to care.

How could she when she was spending every waking moment of her life just trying to leave?

"That's perfect, your highness." Mary, the head chef, complemented when Ana showed her the crème brûlée she had just finished caramelizing.

Ana grinned, "Really?" She had been slightly nervous at the thought of using a blow torch to melt the sugar but it was definitely way less scary than she assumed it would be. "Here," she handed the chef a spoon, "Try it with me."

Crème brûlée was one of the princess' favorite deserts, so it would be much more convenient if she was able to make it herself.

Using the edge of her own spoon, Ana gently broke the caramelized sugar before dipping her spoon in to scoop up the custard. She lifted the piece of silverware in a cheers gesture, to which Mary chuckled softly, before placing it in her mouth.

She hummed at the taste, savoring the hint of vanilla and the texture of the sugar on her tongue. "Like I said your highness, it's perfect."

"I can't wait for Mason to try this," Ana smiled softly as she took another bite. "He's so particular about his deserts but I'm positive that he would like this. And even if he didn't I know that he would still try it for me."

"I don't mean to pry, your highness," Mary began hesitantly and Ana gave her a small nod to say that it was okay to continue. "But who exactly is Mason? You talk about him an awfully lot."

"Oh," Ana set the dish down on the steel table in front of her. "Well Mason is-," (was she allowed to tell her that they were dating?), "Mason is a very good friend of mine, although I think I might have a small crush on him." She winked, giving her a playful smile.

Mary giggled, "He must be a great man if you like him, you highness."

Ana sighed fondly, her throat constricting as she said, "He's a wonderful man."

~~~

"Jeremy," the princess called out just as she saw her older brother walk into the foyer. He turned at the sound of his name before taking a few steps in her direction.

"What is it?" He sounded impatient and Ana smiled as she realized where he was most likely going. At her silence Jeremy groaned, "Come on, I'm running out of daylight here," he joked.

She rolled her eyes good-naturedly, "If you're going where I think you're going then I have something to give you."

Jeremy's eyebrows raised and he crossed his arms over his chest as he gave her a curious look. "And this is going to a be a nice something I hope?"

"You have no faith in me, do you?"

He shrugged, "Well after you told me you put all of your roommate's furniture on the ceiling, I am a bit skeptical."

She sighed, "I never should have told you about the prank war." She shook her head softly as he laughed. "Anyways, it's in my room right now. I'll be back in just a minute."

She practically ran to her room, and three workers stopped her on the way there to ask if she needed help. She only waved them away with a laugh and she was slightly giggling to herself as she entered her bedroom.

She opened the bottom right drawer of her dresser, digging through her clothes before finally finding the the small item.

When she made it back to Jeremy he was leaning against the wall, tapping his foot and staring at the screen of his phone intently. "You should let me use that," she said to gain his attention and she gestured to the device in his hand when he looked up.

"Mother and father still haven't forgiven me for yelling at them, and I'm not exactly trying to make them hate me any more than they already do. So," he purposefully dragged out the word, "No."

Ana pouted, "Fine." She rolled her eyes as she reached out, "Give this to Seth for me." Seth was his boyfriend that her brother had apparently been secretly seeing for over a year now, or so he had told her.

Jeremy extended his own hand and she opened her fist to drop the item into his palm. "It's a key," he acknowledged with a frown.

"So it is," Ana nodded.

Jeremy sighed with clear frustration, "Well what is it for?"

"What do you think?"

Jeremy's eyes flickered between the key and Ana before his eyebrows furrowed. "No way," he muttered. "You've had it this whole time?"

"I found it in father's office a while ago - and I'm pretty sure it's only a copy - but lord knows I wasn't going to tell him I have it. And I don't have any reason to use it," (her boyfriend was in an entirely different country), "so you can give it to Seth. Tell him it's a gift from me." She still felt terrible about walking in on such a private moment, and she wanted to make amends with the man who was so obviously very important to Jeremy.

"Thank you, Anastasia," his tone was firm but full of emotion.

Because while it may have just been a key to any other person, to the royal family it was everything. That key was what opened the back garden's gate, and giving it to someone meant that they would be able to come into the castle at any point and no one could say a thing.

Even the king and queen.

It had been in their family for centuries now, and letting someone use it (or a copy of it) meant that they were to be trusted by anyone who lived in the castle.

It was a big deal, and it meant that Jeremy and Seth would be able to see each other more inside of the castle. No one would dare invade the prince's personal space by walking into his room without his permission.

Jeremy had told Ana that it was always too much of a risk to bring him through the front gate but now that Seth would have this, it wouldn't be an issue anymore at all.

"But I don't need it either," he pushed the item back into Ana's own hand and she closed her fingers around it so it wouldn't fall.

"What do you mean," her eyebrows furrowed. "Yes you do." She shook her head confusedly. "It's the only way for Seth to get in, and I'm sure you would like to see him more. Just take it." She moved to give it back to him, only to be abruptly stopped by the feel of his hands on her shoulders.

"I appreciate that you want to give it to me Anastasia; I'm more grateful than you could ever know for the offer. But I won't be needing it," he gave her a sad smile.

Her eyes widened as she realized what might be happening. "Are you going to break up with him?"

Jeremy chuckled at the question and Ana bit her lip to stop herself from pouting; her brother was really annoying sometimes. "No, no. We're not separating any time soon, I can promise you that much."

Ana rolled her eyes with sigh, "Well if you aren't doing that then what are you doing?"

It didn't make sense for Jeremy to not take it (especially when she was practically forcing him to) unless they were planning on not seeing each other for a long time.

But he had already disputed that, so what else could it be?

"We're running away."

~~~