The Princess' Second Chance

CHAPTER 4

Mary woke me up early in the morning, dressing me in a simple dress and braiding my hair back. I strapped a small knife on my arm, hiding it with my sleeves. You could never be too careful. Simon had informed me to pack as lightly as possible—everything else would be left behind. I took the essentials and left Mercy with instructions to secretly send me some of my possessions later on.

“Miss, are you ready?” Mary asked as she came back to my room with a cloak on already. She was excited to see the capital for the first time. At least one of us was excited. Nodding my head, I turned to look at my room for possibly the last time. In my past life, I was never able to come back to the castle—hopefully, it will be different this time.

Simon and everyone were ready by the time I got outside. It seemed like they were in a rush to get back. I had yet to find out why I was being sent back this early. And from the way Simon was acting; it could not be good.

Soon after Mary and I got into our carriage we were off. It took roughly two days by carriage to arrive at the capital. I was assuming Simon had planned for us to stop at a town later tonight; until then I had nothing to do but to read.

By nightfall, we were pulling up at an inn in a nearby town. Simon bid me goodnight as Mary walked me to my room. It was odd—it was almost as if Simon was avoiding me. I could feel him and his men watching me occasionally, but they all kept their distance. I was becoming more restless the closer we got to the capital. Everything in me kept telling me that something was not right.

“Mary, have you noticed anything out of the ordinary?” I whispered to Mary when we got into my room.

“All the servants that the butler brought have been avoiding me Miss. I can not find anything out.” Mary whispered back as she helped me change into my nightgown.

“Keep an eye out, and make sure you stay safe.” I told Mary as I dismissed her. Sliding my knife under my pillow, I crawled into bed and tried to relax my body.   

Hearing noises outside my door I grabbed my knife and kept my eyes closed. It had only been perhaps two hours since Mary had left my room and now someone was trying to sneak in—this could not be coincidental.

My door creaked the slightest bit; if I were not trained, I would not have even noticed the sound in my sleep. I made sure to keep my breathing steady and I listened to the person creep up towards me quietly. They were well trained—perhaps an assassin.

Tightening my grip on my knife, I waited to hear his sword go up. The moment I heard the whistle of his sword I sprung up and lodged my knife where his heart was, killing him instantly. Pushing his body off me, I got out of bed and pulled my embedded knife out of his body. If he were trained, which I am assuming he was, it would have been pointless to try to question him. Someone was clearly trying to get rid of me, and right now I could not trust Simon or any of his men.

Throwing on a cloak, I covered my hair and sneaked out of my room. I needed to get rid of the body without anyone knowing; and to do that I needed Mary’s help. Not wanting to make any unnecessary noise, I sneaked into Mary’s room without knocking.

“Mary” I whispered, alerting her that it was just me.

“Miss?” She whispered back, breathing out a sigh. “You should not sneak into someone’s room like that!” Mary reprimanded me as she got out of bed, finally taking in my appearance. I knew she could see the blood splattered on my face and covering my hands.

“Dear God, what happened?” She rushed to my side looking for any injuries.

“Mary—” I pushed her hands away grabbing her cloak and handing it to her. “—there was an assassin. I need you to help me get rid of the body.” I whispered pulling her to the door. Signaling for her to be quiet we snuck back into my room.

“The inn is too busy. We must find another way to get him outside.” Mary said as she looked out the window in the corner of my room. We were three stories up, but the window was facing the side of the building—we had to throw him out the window.

“Grab his feet.” Mary instructed as she pulled the man by his arms. I couldn’t help but be thankful that I had Mary train in martial arts in this life. No matter how skilled I was; I was still too weak with this body.

We waited a minute after hearing the thud; just in case by some chance the drunken crowd downstairs went to investigate. But no one paid the sound any attention. It was not hard sneaking out without anyone noticing. Once we made it out to where the body was, we carried him to the lake near the inn and threw the body into a small paddle boat that was tied at the side of the lake. We had to make sure his body would not be discovered. Tying his feet to the heaviest rock I could find, we set out and paddled to the middle of the lake— where we dropped his body.

Mary and I had spent too much time out there; and we were too exposed out in the lake. The darkness of the night could only hide so much. By the time we had made it back to my room; Mary and I were both exhausted. Cleaning up the blood on my floor and bed we changed out of our bloodied dirty clothes and threw them into the firepit—getting rid of any evidence.

“We should get some sleep.” Mary said as she rubbed her eyes. Nodding my head, I crawled back into my freshly cleaned bed.

“Goodnight Mary.” I whispered.

“Goodnight Miss.”

It was not until I heard the soft click of my door shutting did I allow myself to cry. I was not naïve to the world; I knew more than anyone the cruelty of people’s nature—the cruelty of my own nature. And that is why I cried. I cried knowing that this would not be the last time I had to kill for my own survival. I cried knowing that this was only just the beginning.