The wedding dress is practically nonexistent, a tacky, cream crinoline top adorned with huge jewels. Still, it is better than the skirt, it's made of lace with an underskirt that barely covers my thighs. I feel exposed, ridiculed, exactly what the king must have intended.
"You look great," Elise says though gritted teeth.
"I look hideous," I correct her.
She smiles weakly and begins clearing up the mess of brushes and fabric.
"At least you get to stay with us," Celia comments, "it's been fun having someone to take care of."
I don't reply, turning my head to stare out the window. The knowledge of what I have to do weighs heavily on my heart.
"I won't even try to comfort you, Kamala," Faye tells me, "I just wanted to apologise."
"You don't have anything to apologise for, Faye," I whisper, "but you can help me."
She frowns. "What do you mean?"
I glance over my shoulder to where Elise and Celia are tidying. "I need you to get me a change of clothes."
"Why?"
I lower my voice even more. "I can't marry him, Faye. I'm going to escape, but I can't do it wearing this."
She looks to the ground, unable to meet my eye. "I don't know if I can be party to that," she mumbles
I put a hand on her arm. "I'm trusting you, Faye. Just something simple that I can run in, that's all. Leave them outside the church, on the west side, hidden behind a bush or something. Can you do that?"
She nods. "There's a large row of flowers on that side of the church, I'll leave them behind it."
"I knew I could count on you," I say
"Kamala… we have to go."
I take in a withering breath and tilt my chin. I'm going though the steps remembering what I have to do and hoping Maverick can come though with his end of the deal.
The church is large and imposing and, for a moment, I stumble slightly in the tall heels.
"Keep moving," the guard barks
The doors are open before us and I walk up the stone steps, mentally noting down everything I see.
We walk up more stairs until another set of doors enters my vision.
"Ready?" The guard smirks
I keep my face stony, but I can feel the anger building inside me.
From inside, a musical tune strikes up and the guard takes my arm as the doors open. There are no guests, just guards and a number of musicians. At the very end of the church stands a priest, the king, queen, and the prince. He gives me another wolfish grin and I suppress the urge to shudder.
We reach them and the guard unlocks the handcuffs. I breathe deeply, feeling the magic flowing freely through my body again.
Prince Aspen takes my hand and I flinch slightly. I can hear the minister talking, but I can't pay attention, my mind is running through all of the steps I'll have to take in order to pull this off.
"Your highness, do you accept Princess Kamala as your bride?" The minister asks
"I do," The prince replies
"Princess Kamala, do you take this man to be your husband?"
I can feel the king watching me, laser eyes burning into my back.
"I-"
The prince stares at me, expectantly.
"I- I do not!"
In that moment, I wrench my hands away from him, kicking off the heels and sprinting for the doors.
"Guards!" The king roars
I shoot them with a fiery blast, letting my anger take over.
"You cannot escape, Kamala," the king yells, "all the exits are locked."
I reach the main hall where more guards are waiting and fire at them as well.
I can see the balcony, I just have to reach it. My lungs are burning, but I refuse to slow. I have almost made it to the end of the corridor when Queen Julianne appears. I keep running towards her until we are inches apart.
Then she steps aside.
I fling open the balcony doors and jump onto the marble ledge, glancing over at the drop.
"Kamala!" The king warns, but I merely smile
"I'm afraid this is over," I tell the room
Then I fall.
The wind rushes past me as I drop to the ground, it's inches away when arms catch me.
"Perfect timing," I gasp as Maverick sets me on the ground. "But we really need to get out of here."
From above the king lets out a furious shout before disappearing.
"What are you looking for?" Maverick asks
"I asked Faye to leave me something else in the shrubs."
I can practically feel him rolling his eyes, but it doesn't matter. I spot the bundle and grab it, beginning to run for the gates.
"What happened to your shoes?" Maverick wonders
I take in a ragged breath. "They were severely impractical."
We round the corner, but are met by two guards on horseback.
"Stop!" One of them calls.
I don't think before shooting another blast at him. The guard falls off, taking Maverick to the ground at the same time.
"Are you okay?" I ask
"I'm fine," Maverick's muffled voice echos as he tries to wriggle out from underneath the guards unconscious body.
"I was talking to the floor."
Maverick gives me an exasperated look, fixing the hood of his cloak, and sighs. "Was that really necessary? Need I remind you that I saved your life."
The second guard's eyes jump between us in confusion and I glance at him.
"Get off the horse," I instruct him
"What?"
"Get off or else you'll end up like him," I threaten, gesturing to the unconscious guards.
"Fine, fine," the guard replies, getting down before taking a swing at me. I dodge his blow and Maverick strikes him on the back of the head with a sword he has acquired.
"We done?" I check, swinging into the saddle of one horse.
Maverick jumps on the other, swinging it around to face the gates. "It doesn't matter either way, if we aren't out of here in the next 30 seconds both our lives will be over."
I urge my horse on and glance back to see a fleet of guards heading towards us.
The gate is being lowered and I urge the horse into a gallop.
Maverick gets there before me, slipping under the gate. I duck my head, half sliding off the horse in order to fit, but we make it and I hear the clang as it closes completely.
"You fools!" The king exclaims. "Open it again."
I follow Maverick as he heads through the village and into the woods. We are forced to slow, but we don't stop. Not until all sounds have vanished except for the pounding of hooves and the rush of a nearby river.
"Do you think we lost them?" I ask, slowing the horse to a stop.
"I think so," He responds, leaping from his own horse.
I copy him, patting mine as we trek on.
The wedding dress has been torn and muddied, but I don't even care. My feet are scarred with blisters and I flinch over sticks and stones while we walk.
"We'll need to find somewhere to camp for the night," Maverick says
"And get water for the horses and us."
He shrugs. "As long as we're close enough to the river that shouldn't be a problem."
We keep walking, Maverick's long strides, in addition to my shoeless feet, putting him a good fifteen paces ahead of me.
"Would you hurry up?" He calls over his shoulder.
I sigh. "I'm trying to keep up, but, in my defence, I have no shoes."
He rolls his eyes. "Then put on some, I'm sure the maid remembered to pack some."
"I don't want to stop."
"Well, at this rate, they're going to catch us if you don't stop."
I sigh and set down the bag, rummaging around until coming upon a pair of worn leather boots and some socks. I sit on a fallen log to put them on and am pleasantly surprised at how comfortable they are.
"How long will it take us to reach Valeria?" I ask
Maverick frowns. "It depends, we don't have a cart and I don't think we should risk taking a boat across the channel. Maybe a week."
"A week?" I reply in disbelief, "I have to spend a whole week with only you for company."
"Believe me, Princess, the feeling is most definitely mutual. But, unfortunately for us, we need each other. Hopefully, it is only temporary."
"It better be."
Still, despite what I may think of him, I'm relieved I don't have to make the journey alone.
Later, once we have found a spot and set up camp, I disappear to change. The evening has brought a chill and I shiver as I take off the wedding dress, not that it brought me much warmth. The clothes Faye packed me are better than I expected. Soft, cotton trousers, a white shirt and a brown, leather jacket that keeps me warm. She has also packed some food, a hunting knife and a holster belt to hold it.
I send a silent thank you to her and walk back to the site where Maverick is attempting to light a fire.
"Faye gave us food," I tell him, sitting down on a log.
"Great, I'm starving," He responds as the fire sparks into life.
I pass him a bread roll from the bag and he sits opposite me.
"So, tomorrow," he begins, "we need to get moving early to stay ahead of the king."
"Well, at least we have the horses, that speeds up our travelling time," I shrug, nibbling at the bread.
"It does, but that doesn't mean we can relax, the king's still hunting for us."
I scowl. "I know that."
"Good," he says
"Good."
The conversation dies and I sit listening to the owls in the trees and the sound of howling bourba wolves.
"I managed to get a hold of some tents," Maverick reveals after a while.
"How?"
He shrugs. "It doesn't matter. The point is we have them."
I roll my eyes. "Whatever, pass me one."
He chucks it at me and I begin to connect the pieces.
"You are strangely good at that," Maverick says
"Was that a complement?" I gasp in mock-surprise.
"Don't think so," he says, "but seriously, I'm pretty sure they didn't teach that at the palace."
"They didn't," I confirm, "but my mother did. She would take me out to the woods once a year and we would join the harvest festival. My father never knew, of course, he thought we were on a decorum weekend. We would go in disguise, only a few people actually knew who we were- she was always coming up with things like that," I add
"She sounds nice," Maverick comments
I smile. "She was."
"The kingdom was better with her by your father's side, keeping him in line, she made him a better ruler. Everyone has suffered since she died."
I nod, turning my head to the sky, blinking back tears. I don't know much about father's choices for ruling, but if they are anything like how he treats me they mustn't be good.
"It's a shame you don't seem to have inherited her talents for ruling. Or anything else for that matter," he sighs.
I stare at him. "You are callous."
Maverick shrugs. "It's a gift. It would do you good to remember that, Princess. I'm not on your side."
I storm into my tent, closing the flaps and collapsing on the blanket.
I cannot wait for this to be over. I just want to get home, to see Frida, to know she's okay.
I'm tempted to leave Maverick here, but I know that would be foolish. I could never navigate these woods on my own and, once Maverick realised he would likely join the Alkardan king in hunting me down.
For now, it appears I will have to deal with his arrogant, malevolent personality in order to survive.
That might end up being the most difficult part of this journey.