The Royal Quest

CHAPTER 9. Out of the Palace

Meanwhile, the mischievous yet brave Princess Dahlia had successfully escaped the palace before everyone received the King's order.

Dahlia tried to cover up her identity though she doubted it a bit since she couldn’t change her face. At least she could cheat everyone by her clothing. She wore her servant's non-expensive cloak with a hood covering her leather vest paired with long sleeve tunic and close-fitting trousers covering her legs and leather boots, together with the silver sword slings on her back and the small revolver inside her pouch loaded with bullets. She brought the fatal weapons and the harmless ones, a ring of garlic, holy water, and the necklace with a blessed silver crucifix pendant that her mother gave her during the outbreak of fearful nights. Lastly, a canvas pouch full of food. Such as fruits and a loaf of bread could help her survive for days and a flask filled with water.

The Princess was smiling while the excitement overwhelmed her heart as it was her first adventure wherein she could do whatever she wanted with no limitations, no rules.

"Oh, God. This is life." She muttered, lifting her head to the sky as she also dramatically shut her eyes, savoring her independence. Then suddenly, her thought was cut off by a peasant man pushing a cart with barrels on it in haste behind her.

"Hey! Stop daydreaming in the center of the plaza! Everyone is busy here!"

Princess Dahlia quickly moved aside, but when she did, she bumped into another person carrying some fabric pile.

"Oh my God! I'm so sorry, Mister." She apologized as she abruptly caught the one fabric before it landed on the dirty ground and put it back on the pile in his hands. While the man only shook his head unbelievably at her.

Sadness woke up in her system as she seemed to upset her people. She heaved a deep sigh and continued her pace with her head bent down while walking along in the crowd as she felt disappointed by her own clumsiness.

*****

“I can’t believe that no one of you has noticed that the Princess passed through the gate!” Baron was furiously scolding the assigned guards in the exit after searching the entire palace and got no sign of the royal daughter and was confident that Dahlia successfully made it out of the palace.

“Why don’t you get mad at yourself, Baron? And stop scolding your fellow guards? ” suddenly Lord Duncan interrupted from behind.

The man did not like the tone of his voice and the words that came from his mouth against him. Still, he turned and showed respect to him as he bowed his head.

“You were assigned to be with the Princess wherever she goes, to protect her. Now you are blaming others for your irresponsibility?” Duncan continues to mock the soldier.

Baron fisted his right hand as he felt insulted by the man but tried hard to manage his anger and not make a scene as he knew he had no power over Wick.

Thankfully, before any of them burst fire, the Queen has arrived with her servants and guards. Everyone kneeled and bowed their heads.

“Greetings, Your Majesty.” Lord Duncan utter.

“Any news regarding my daughter?” She asked worriedly.

“I’m afraid there is none, Your Majesty. All of the palace guards have been searching for the Princess for hours, but they still got no sign of her.” Duncan quickly reported.

“We assumed that the Princess made it out of the Palace already.” He added with a sigh as he showed his disappointed expression.

The Queen took a deep breath to keep herself calm and turned to Baron.

“Have you also started a search out of the palace?” She inquired.

“Yes, Your Highness. I have sent three groups of soldiers to explore and search for the Princess.” He announced, still with his head down.

“And what made you think that three troops are enough to find the Princess?” suddenly Duncan interrupted with unpleasant voice facing the man and turned to the Queen quickly.

“I apologized about my tone, Your Majesty.” He said.

“It’s alright, and I understand that all of us are worried for the Princess.” The Queen responded.

“However, I agree with Lord Duncan. Baron, I think you should add more soldiers for the search. We need to find Dahlia before the night comes.” She added worriedly.

“I, myself, will also go out and look for the Princess, Your Highness.” Duncan proposed.

“Thank you so much, Duncan. I know I can count on you.” She said with a smile.

“If only my daughter could see how worthy you are for her, she would never do such a thing. I hope you could be more patient of her until she is ready.” She added while Baron’s chest tightened as he heard how the Queen favored Duncan for the Princess.

“I will never get tired of waiting, Your Highness,” Duncan responded as he felt even more confident about reaching the Princess’s hand.

*****

Meanwhile, the Princess continues her journey out of the palace, strolling along the street while munching an apple she brought with her. She enjoys her surroundings watching her people’s daily lives while ensuring that her face is hidden under the hood. However, her enjoyment suddenly faded when she saw a group of palace soldiers with their iron armor lurking around and was certain that she was the one they were looking for.

She immediately avoided their direction and skipped into a narrow way in between two high-story walls of taverns. She strode fast as she could in the muddy ground until she reached the other side. But she still couldn’t smell the success of escaping when she saw Baron with three other guards talking to some bystander. Dahlia stayed still in her spot, hidden in the shade of the building quietly while waiting for the perfect time to hop away.

‘Oh please, God. Help me hide very well. I have barely started my journey yet. I don’t want to go back without proving myself that I’m worthy to rule. I’m sure everyone will only make fun of me even more.’ She muttered to herself, feeling anxious about her current situation as she knew that everyone had no plan to stop searching for her.

The brave princess is completely determined to finish what she has started. She curled her body as much as she could behind a fruit stand beside a large barrel while watching the ironed men. Later, she heard a familiar voice suddenly come closer to the guard.

“Got any hint?” It was Baron and the other soldier who just shook his head negatively.

“None of the horses are missing. I’m sure she is still in town. We just have to keep our senses up.” He told them.

‘Oh, Baron. I don’t want to hate you too. Please, just let me be.’ Dahlia muttered and leaned her back on the wall, heaving a deep sigh.

“Excuse me, madam.” Suddenly Dahlia heard Baron’s voice in a closer distance.

“Yes, Young soldier? How may I help you?” The lady vendor asked with a lovely grin on her face.

“I am looking for a young lady this tall.” measuring his shoulder length.

“With brunette hair and wearing a moss green cloak.” He added that not all of the people of Haru had been given a chance to see the princess in person, but barely one.

‘Tala must have figured out about her missing clothes.’ Dahlia muttered silently while listening to the conversation.

“Come on. There’s a lot of ladies around here with brunette hair.” The lady unbelievably responded.

“Tell me, who exactly are you looking for? Is it true that the princess ran away and is now missing?” She maliciously remarks.

“Uh, no. That’s not true.” He denied.

“I doubt that.” She whispered and winked as she continued arranging her products on the stand.

“Then why there is a lot of palace guards scattering all around the town? Some are certain that it was the princess who ran away after knowing her marriage arrangement.” She added playfully.

“Well, that lady stole an important artifact in the palace, and that's a serious crime. Same as spreading fake news about the royal princess.” Baron retorted while the lady only rolled her eyes playfully and shook her head negatively.

‘But that wasn’t a lie.’ Dahlia reacted as well.

“Here! Check every corner. Don’t leave anything untouched!” The guard from the other end where Dahlia came from shouted and went in her direction.

‘I can’t stay here!’ The Princess starts to panicked. However, she couldn’t just walk out from her spot since Baron was also in the way.

‘It’s now or never, Princess Dahlia! You can do this!’ She cheered herself up and stood up firmly, fixing her hood to conceal her identity.

She glanced in Baron's direction, who was now facing his back before stepping out of the shadow. With her rapid movements, she made it out of the spot but accidentally hit the basket of apples placed near Baron. Her breathing skips, and her body suddenly just halts.

“Hey!” The vendor cried angrily, making Dahlia shiver in fear.

“Apologies, Madam.” She said and kneeled to pick up the fruits from the ground with her shaky hands as she bent her head to avoid anyone seeing her face.

“What happened?” Suddenly Baron turned again and inquired.

“Well, this clumsy lass over here dropped my goods.”

“It’s alright. I believe it was just an accident. Here, let me help.” Baron offered and took down on one knee to get the remaining fruits on the ground. While Dahlia can already feel her doom as the other guards are also getting closer.

“I’m truly sorry.” She apologized again and turned back as she ran away from Baron as fast as possible. She was leaving the madwoman and the helpful soldier.

Baron was stunned by the lady’s strange behavior as he watched her getting away.

“Rude!” The woman cried.

“Don’t worry, Madam. I’ll take the responsibility and pay for the damages.” Baron offered to cool her down.

“Good.” The woman responded as she heaved a deep breath.

Breathing heavily, Dahlia kept her pace rapidly as she could just to get away from the chasing guards. Until she reached her limit and stopped in an abandoned hut, she found it near the Haru river as she made it out of the town. The door is made up of a piece of wood that makes a creaking sound the moment she pushes it to open. The shelter is made up of rotten wood that also has small holes in the wall. There is a dusty elevated platform in the middle where she dropped herself carelessly, not minding all the dirt around her. She laid and closed her eyes, feeling exhausted from running away.

After resting a bit, she suddenly realized how messy her look is. A and her skin feels sticky too due to the sweat and dirt that sticks on her skin. She heaved a deep sigh and finally got curious about the place. She opened her eyes and darted a few rays of sunlight pierced through the holes in the ceiling that also gave enough light inside. It also reveals the spider webs scattered around the place and dry leaves on the stony ground. However, instead of being fastidious, she smiled.