Before a Once Upon A Time

The 'Princess' and the Assassin...Er...Pea - A Series Of Agonizing Thoughts

Story 4 - The 'Princess' and the Assassin...Er...Pea 

Part 5 - A Series Of Agonizing Thoughts

“Shh. Quiet. It’s just me.” The ambassador’s voice rang out from the shadows, having recognized the soft movements and change in breathing most people wouldn’t. Even people with basic training in Rain wouldn’t. It would take someone of at least equal skill, if not better. Which made sense. Both her and the ambassador were sent on diplomatic missions to places were people didn’t always like diplomatic missions. It was dangerous and they needed the ability to protect themselves.

She relaxed and asked quietly “Why are you here?”

“I came because I realize a switch needs to occur. And soon. Quickly, before anyone can realize that you aren’t the actual princess. And I know that the princess has been following us in a carriage a few days travel behind in hopes that we would be successful. Do you remember the village you left me in?” There was no anger in his voice as he stated the fact that she had left him. After all, it was only a fact.  Marie quietly pictured the town and nodded even though it was quite dim in the room (even though it was day time) due to the curtains being drawn very strictly all the way across the windows and all lights nearby in the hallways extinguished, because she knew he would see and interpret the message better than some would words meaning the same thing. “Good. She is there, in the inn you never bothered to stay at. You will need to go and switch with her tonight. I will tell everyone that you are so relieved and tired you can not attend the ball and that you are still sleeping.” Marie almost gasped. She had been so focused on mission intel she had almost forgotten the ball. Could she have really forgotten the dance so easily? The dance that would end her life? Or, at least, the happiest part of it? She supposed so, considering it had just happened. She thought frantically, trying to come up with a way to still have it. Her last dance.

It was impossible. If she came down, even for one dance, her sleepy story would be blow. And if she came down and danced only with her fiancé’s brother, what was that saying? Would that cause problems for the princess? Most definitely. So it couldn’t happen. And that thought alone was saddening beyond normal comprehension and made her even more tired. She counted the hours she had been awake versus asleep rapidly in her head. She had slept 8 hours in the past…36 . Even for rigorous training, it was a little insane. She sighed and tried to focus on the rest of the ambassador’s message, replaying it in her head to get the full of it.

“You will have to find a way to make the guard let you out-perhaps an urgent message? You will ride into town, collect the princess, change clothes, drop the magic and escort the princess back here without a scratch on her. When you get here you will probably become a woman servant until either I or one of the royal families travels to Rain and we will then take you back with us. Do you understand?”

She nodded her wobbly head. Of course she understood. It was fairly simple. In terms of brilliant strategies it couldn’t even compare to some in the world. But it was a plan, which was better than she had had an hour ago when she went to sleep.

“I’ll leave you to prepare.”

Marie waited until he left and gathered her meager belongings- the few things she was allowed to bring with her that could pass for a princess’s that the real princess wouldn’t want. A locket. A hair pin that Laurel would view as silly-she liked her hair down. That was probably it. Those two things. Her world was defined as those two things as of right that instant. (Two things. Can most of you even fathom that?)

She had to wear a dress that the princess would actually wear which wouldn’t be too hard considering that the ambassador had at some point had servants bring in her trunk of clothing. She would have to leave her dresses with the carefully sewn pockets- she supposed the princess might benefit from some reminders of home, even if they were only hidden knives. She just hoped the princess wouldn’t hurt herself with them. They might have been trained in the same way but the princess could afford to be more clumsy in her life so she was, unlike Marie who had the luxury of experiencing a life where one tiny slip-up could send her tumbling from her high perch as royals favorite down to something around the level of a beggar on the street.

She sifted through dresses until she found a frilly pink one she thought the princess would enjoy a great deal. She laid it out to dress in later and snuggled in for some more sleep. It wouldn’t be okay to leave before the ball, the time when everyone would be distracted-if she left during the day it would be gossip before the ball and all the ambassador’s sweet talking in the world wouldn’t change anything.

She slept for probably 6 hours. It was nice and comforting to sleep in a soft bed without fear of assassins, since she had pretty much established that the castle was safe. It was nice to get 6 hours of sleep after so little for so long. It was nice to be able to relax in a way she couldn’t normally, even when or maybe especially when she was within the castle walls of the Rain’s capital.

She slept and enjoyed every second of it. How could she not have always realized how blessed she was every time she caught a moment of sleep, no matter how small? She would start to appreciate it more after this, she was sure. Life without something sure made you realize how lucky you were to ever have had it in the first place. It kind of put everything into perspective a little- made you realize how precious every moment of life is, not just the ones that we think about later and go-hey, that was cool. I sounded all deep and introspective. I should write a book. Well, another book. Oh, you know what I mean.

A couple of hours before the ball began, she got up, got dressed and began to pace. Pacing helped her. It was relaxing in a strange way. Sooth the soul by moving. It was a common philosophy but not one that actually worked for many people. It worked for Marie though. She soothed her nerves and made herself try to forget her promise to James all in one pretty little movement. Or actually, at the pace that Marie moved, it wasn’t really very pretty anymore. It was more like a hurried, frantic dance that might have involved a little too much energy. Okay, so it was to the point that it almost looked as though the dancer (a.k.a Marie) was trying to kill the audience rather than captivate them. But that’s understandable, what with her trying to forget so badly.

She paced and paced, ignoring the thoughts within her head, trying to calm her mind with nothing but pure movement, motion, energy consumption. After about an hour it started to work. She had to wait for the ball to begin to start her mission and she couldn’t venture out of room until probably an hour after it had started because if anyone saw her they would mention it to others and the ambassador’s plan wouldn’t work at all.

She sighed. She hated feeling like a caged animal. Trapped in a confined space, unable to leave the bonds of whatever it was that was holding her back. She hated this feeling with a vengeance. It was actually this feeling that had propelled her away from the ambassador and carriage the first day she had arrived because she couldn’t stand the thought of being cooped up anymore. She wanted to go on the prowl, not allow someone else to cage her, trap her, incapacitate her. She didn’t really know why she hated the feeling but it rubbed her the wrong way. Maybe it was all the fighting lessons awakening a more primal instinct to hunt instead of being hunted within her. All she knew she that waiting patiently was not her strong suit. She paced every direction the room had to offer (Except upside down. But that would have been awkward in a skirt.) and she still felt that she was trapped. In fact, now that there were no new ways to walk, maybe she felt more trapped. Either way, the walls started to feel as though they were slowly creeping towards her, conspiring against her and the princess and in fact, the whole country of Rain.

She checked the time. The ball had started. A pang in her heart. James. He was waiting for her to come down and he would be disappointed when she didn’t. But he had to be disappointed. It would ruin a lot more than one or two hearts if he wasn’t. It would ruin whole kingdoms. There was more on the line here than a silly, once in a life time crush. Even if it was once in a life time. It still couldn’t happen. It just couldn’t.

So we’re going to skip an hour of these same agonizing thoughts. And move on to the exciting part.