"I cannot believe you Narcissa. Disgracing the Kingdom of Black like that. I will not stand for this!"
I flinched as the King angrily let his fist fall onto the desk in front of us, causing the papers and trinkets to jump with the force of the hit. He was absolutely furious, face turning red as his eyes blazed, and I had the good sense to stay silent as I sat beside the princess on the large ottoman.
After the ball had ended we had all been ushered into an office space in the main part of the palace, finally out of the eye of the public. I knew just by the King's body language that we were in for a long night of arguing.
Flashback to the end of the ball:
"Well, there you have it. The new princess of the Black Kingdom. Y/n y/l/n." The king was obviously mortified and would surely have much to say to us in private later. But for right now I reached over and intertwined my fingers with Narcissa's, offering her a small smile of reassurance and she did the same.
For right now, I had my princess.
The minstrels hesitantly started up the next song, afraid of angering the King further but knowing it was their job to start up the music again. The crowd parted down the middle as the two older princesses took the hands of their husband's and followed them out onto the dance floor.
Narcissa and I followed, side by side, until we were in the dead center of the ballroom surrounded by curious eyes. As all 6 of us began dancing the crowd joined in, albeit hesitantly, unsure by this turn of events.
As for myself I had decided to just embrace my current circumstances and enjoy the time I had with the beautiful young woman. Our bodies moved as one, our souls merging together as we flowed across the dance floor as gracefully as if we had been partners for an eternity.
All I could see out of my peripheral vision was a blur of color and movement, my gaze fixed to Narcissa's eyes and occasionally flitting down to her full, red lips as I became increasingly more nervous around her. I was falling fast for this enchanting girl but I knew I shouldn't get too attached, surely her father would end this the second the ball had ended.
A few more songs were played, and a few more dances were shared before the night came to an end around 4 in the morning. Everyone had become tired and intoxicated, slowly filing out of the palace with their respective partners to continue their fun in their own homes.
As soon as the ballroom doors had closed once more the King and Queen ushered their family and me through a door in the side of the room leading into the main hallway. The King silently led our little group through the castle until we found ourselves in a secluded office space, ready to take on the man's anger.
End Flashback
"Narcissa I do not know what game you are playing at but you have put us all in quite the predicament. Those prince's are going to return to their own kingdoms and tell their father's what has happened. They will try and take over this Kingdom in rebellion and we will be shunned for such blasphemous activity. I hope you're happy with this commoner Narcissa because as I see it, you are no longer my daughter."
I heard Narcissa's sharp inhale as her father's words sunk in, tears appearing in her big brown eyes.
"Father.." she started, trying to think of some way to reconcile with the man.
"No. You had your chance Narcissa. You failed. You will leave this Kingdom tonight. With her." My gaze darted back and forth between the King and the princess. I was getting kicked out of my home as well?
"No she didn't do anything. Let her stay. I'll go just let her stay." Narcissa pleaded and I hoped the King would take pity on me. As much as I liked the girl this was my home, and my father was still here. I couldn't leave.
"Father.. I encouraged her to do this. It's my fault." Andromeda spoke up, eyes begging her father to reconsider.
"My decision is final. The both of you will be gone by tonight." I couldn't hold my tongue any longer.
"Sir.. please. I have my aging father to care for. There is no one else." The man's hardened eyes never so much as twitched, uncaring about someone as poor as me.
"You should have thought about that before enticing my daughter then. Leave. Both of you." And with that, he and the Queen made their exit. At least the Queen had the decency to flash her daughter a look of remorse as she wiped a single tear and turned her back on us to follow her husband out of the room.
Silence fell around us as Narcissa fought her emotions and the elder princesses thought about what to say in order to comfort their youngest sister.
"Cissy.." Andromeda started but Narcissa fled the room, running in a seemingly random direction and leaving me alone in their large home.
I swallowed nervously, keeping my head down and waiting on someone else to speak.
"Try and take care of her y/n.. please." Andromeda was nearly in tears, eyes begging me to make sure her baby sister made it out there in the real world.
"I will. I promise." Bellatrix was obviously trying to remain stoic but I could see the clenched jaw and tightening of her facial muscles as she fought her own emotions about losing her sister.
I talked with Andromeda for a bit as she walked me to the front doors, Bellatrix going up to find Narcissa.
"She's never been outside these walls. She doesn't know a thing about keeping herself alive and hasn't done a thing for herself since she was born. She was always the favorite being the youngest, and mother and father doted on her. I believe that's why father reacted as harshly as he did. His perfect little princess finally did something for herself." She trailed off and I could see it in her eyes that she was becoming lost in thought, reminiscing about the good days.
Narcissa and Bellatrix appeared from the stairwell a short time later, Narcissa with a small bag of her belongings slung over her shoulder. She had obviously been crying but Bellatrix had managed to get her smiling again, the other girl giving me a nervous little side smile as we locked eyes.
"Come here baby sis." Andromeda pulled her in for a tight hug, whispering apologies into her ear which Narcissa just brushed off.
"I'm glad I did it. And I'm glad you helped me realize I needed to do it Andromeda. We'll be ok." The three shared one last family hug before I took the princess's hand in mine and gently pulled her out the front doors.
I couldn't help but notice the Queen watching us from around the corner as we left, tears falling down her face as she watched her last daughter leave the palace and realize she would most likely never see the young girl again.
✨✨✨
It was still very early in the morning and the village was eerily silent as we walked the cobblestone streets towards my cottage. The trek was silent, the only sounds our footsteps on the rocky road or the occasional sound of an animal in the distance.
I was struggling to wrap my brain around the fact that this would most likely be the last time I ever saw my father. What was I even supposed to tell him once we arrived? How could my life have completely turned upside down in a matter of a few measly hours?
The former princess and I finally made it to the front door of my small cottage home, the only home I'd ever known. She followed me inside as my eyes roamed around trying to memorize every inch of the house, my sense of smell trying it's best to implant the smell of home in my brain.
"Ah y/n. I wondered when you would be back my dear. I waited up to make sure you returned safely and—" he paused, suddenly taking notice of the young woman behind me.
"Your majesty." My father bowed to Narcissa and she simply nodded her head towards him out of habit.
"Father.." tears sprung to my eyes as I finally laid my gaze on the man who had raised me these last 19 years. I ran to him and embraced him, my tears soaking his shirt as I reveled in the comforting arms wrapped around my back.
"Y/n! Whatever is the matter my dear? What happened last night?" I held onto him tighter, unable to admit that I had been kicked out of the kingdom alongside one of the King's own daughters.
"Y/n.." Narcissa whispered my name, reminding me what we didn't have much time. It was a long way out of the kingdom and we only had until nightfall before the King's guards would come looking for us to make sure we really had left.
"Yeah, yeah." I pulled back sniffling and wiping my eyes of the tears.
"Father.. you're going to want to sit down for this.."
As Narcissa and I recounted the events of the evening my father's expression grew more and more concerned. Once I had finally explained the consequences of our actions I was afraid the man was going to faint, the color draining from his normally sun tanned face.
"No.. no this can't be. They can't do that. Y/n I'll go with you. I'm not letting the two of you go out there alone." I shook my head as my lip began to quiver.
"You know you can't do that father. It's far too dangerous outside the walls of the Kingdom and you are not as strong as you'd like to believe. This is the best place for you."
"I can't lose you y/n. You're all I have left since your mother left us."
"I'm so sorry father. This was not my intention at all. But, we have to go."
The dark woods surrounding our kingdom were full of ghastly horrors and I would not watch my father die or allow him to see myself die either. He was better off staying here and we all knew it.
"I need to grab a bag of my things and we are off. I love you father. Please, never forget that."
The man was crying as I grabbed a bag of essentials, packing a bit of food in a basket as well. Once we were in the forest we could hunt and forage but until we had our wits about us we would need our strength.
Finally, it was time to set off. I held onto my father tightly as we both sobbed, memorizing the comforting, earthy scent emanating from his clothing. It was just so hard to let go..
Narcissa eventually had to take my hand and lead me out onto the streets, my teary gaze unable to be torn from my father's matching one until he was out of sight as we started the trek towards the edge of town.
✨✨✨
After leaving the hustle and bustle of the village we were met with an endless dirt path leading down the mountain and towards the forest. It was a very long walk, several hours, but we made surprisingly good time and even had a bit of daylight left to traverse the dangerous woods in search of shelter for the night.
As we walked the remainder of the way towards the gates that would allow us out, Narcissa finally decided to speak to me. Up until this point we had remained mostly silent, each thinking about what the future had in store for us.
"Y/n.. I know it doesn't fix anything but I am truly sorry I pulled you into this. I should have followed my father's orders and you would still have a home as would I. I deeply apologize for my selfish decision."
As much as I wanted to be mad at the girl for all of this, I really wasn't. She had stood up for what she wanted and it wasn't her fault how the King had reacted.
"I'm not thrilled about this but I don't hold it against you Narcissa. You had no idea your father would do this. It just is what it is." I sighed that last sentence, keeping my gaze focused on the large gate in front of us, the two guards awaiting our arrival. There wasn't anything either of us could do about it now so we may as well make the best of a bad situation.
The guards shared a look upon our arrival, obviously having been alerted to the situation as they opened the doors without a word.
I took a deep, shuddering breath as I looked out into the dense forest, light hardly penetrating the thick tree tops and giving the place a very uneasy feel. As a child my father had told me scary stories about the woods, most of which involved man eating monsters, to keep me from venturing towards the gates, and they had worked. I had never wanted to have a reason to go outside these walls.
Nevertheless, here we were. I interlocked my fingers with Narcissa's, took one last deep breath, and stepped across the threshold. The gates were slammed shut behind us as soon as we were clear, leaving the two of us alone with the sound of wind creeping through the branches of the trees, and unidentifiable animals in the distance to keep us company.
Narcissa instinctively stepped closer to me, lightly holding onto my upper arm with the hand not gripping my own as we both procrastinated the inevitable. These woods were far too large to go around, we had no choice but to go through.
I squeezed the other girl's hand in comfort. However, I had no clue if it was more for her sake or for mine. Nevertheless, I found a single shred of bravery within myself and stepped past the tree line, pulling the former princess along behind me.
Judging by the way the sun sat in the sky it was probably nearing 6pm, but the thick shrubbery over our heads made the forest appear quite dark and foreboding. Every crunch of leaves that wasn't our own made us jump, eyes darting out all around us to find the source.
"I don't like this. It was drilled into us as children that we should never go near these woods unless we wanted to die a most horrible death. Bella liked to tell Andy and me fictional stories about hordes of soldiers that had died out here and were never seen again. Her favorite one was about a lonely little princess who wandered too far from home. That one gave me nightmares for the majority of my childhood." I could tell Narcissa was trying to keep herself calm by talking and I was grateful for the distraction even if it was making my fears worse.
"My father told me similar stories. His usually involved man eating beasts finding lonely travelers." We both gulped at the same time, realizing this probably was not the time for such thoughts.
"My father did know a few people who ventured into the forest for various reasons. They talked of a small stream about a mile in. If we can get there before it gets too dark we can set up camp near a water source for the night and worry about crossing it in the morning." Narcissa simply nodded and followed right along behind me, always as close as she could get without becoming a human backpack.
The darkness settled around us quickly, and I was becoming more afraid by the minuet that father had been wrong. However, the sound of rushing water finally filled my ears and I picked up my pace, spotting a little bit of light from in between the trees up ahead.
We stepped out from the forest to see a fast moving stream, not very wide but enough to part the trees and allow us to see the sky again.
"Alright. We can refill the canteens and eat something. It's a clear night so we don't really need to worry about taking cover but we'll sleep in shifts. There's no telling what wanders these woods at night."
Narcissa worked on refilling our water canteens while I tracked down a few dry sticks to make a fire. The night would be much colder, especially under the canopy of trees, and hopefully the flames would keep any hungry predators away from us.
The fire was easy enough to start, and the other girl watched me whittle a large stick into a spear to fish with. She was fascinated by watching me sheer off pieces of the bark with my small knife, a useful skill my father had taught me growing up. I knew I would be the one keeping us alive and I had never been more grateful for my father's survival lessons than right now.
"Awww you almost had that one!" Narcissa giggled from her spot in the leaves as I awkwardly held up my skirts with one hand to keep them dry and tried in vain to spear fish with the other. They were slippery little buggers.
"I'm going to get one if it kills me!" I yelled back, laughing as I slipped on the rocks underfoot.
Several tries later we had two small trout cooking on our fire and things were looking ok. At least that's what I kept telling myself.
The night was long, neither of us able to sleep more than a couple of hours the entirety of the 10ish hours. The darkness was filled with sounds of animals, big and small, hunting for their next meal.
An owl hooted in the tree we were sitting under, making both Narcissa and I jump at the sudden noise. Leaves crunched underfoot somewhere in the brush, and the sniffing of a larger animal could be heard every so often.
The orange glow from our fire was comforting and warm, however, it also made us an easy target. Many small creatures wandered by looking to see what the strange light in the midnight forest might contain.
The former princess and I each released a sigh of relief at the first sign of morning light, now realizing how close we had gotten during the night. Our shoulders and thighs were pressed together and Narcissa was slightly leaning into me, our fingers knotted tightly together.
"I've never been so happy to see the sunrise." I admitted, a bit exasperated.
"Neither have I. These woods are far scarier than I could have ever imagined." I silently agreed with the other girl before standing up to stretch my aching back. The bark of the large tree had done nothing to help my sore muscles this morning.
"Let's refill the canteens, maybe catch a fish for breakfast to conserve the food in my bag, and carry on our way I suppose."
Narcissa and I assumed the same positions as yesterday, her filling up our water supply while I took to the busy stream to try and spear another fish. I was much more successful this time and had a fairly large salmon cooking over our fire in minuets.
"You know, this might be the only opportunity we get for some time to freshen up." Narcissa had a small smirk on her graceful features and I furrowed my brow in confusion.
"Huh?" I questioned.
"The stream. It might be our last chance to wash off the dirt and sweat of the day for a bit." Without waiting on my response the girl stood up and began removing the many layers of her royal dress.
My eyes never left her elegant form as she slowly peeled off all of her outer clothing, leaving her in just a satin slip. My fingers methodically rolled the stick with our breakfast attached to it, keeping it from burning as I watched the nearly nude princess walk towards the water.
"It's cold!" I called after her, getting a small side glance and nothing more as she stepped off into the shallow bank.
She kept wading out until the water was up to her mid thighs, hands pulling at the fabric of her slip to keep it dry. The farther she moved in the farther up the girl pulled her one article of clothing until finally, she slipped it over her head and sank up to her neck.
Narcissa chucked the slip towards the shore, grinning at me as she bobbed around in the freezing cold stream. I couldn't help but chuckle as she splashed around like a child.
"Come on y/n! It's quite nice once you get over the cold." I shook my head and laughed outright, quickly putting out the fire so our food wouldn't burn and would be there when we returned.
I had far fewer layers to peal off than she did, and was soon standing on the edge of the stream in my own thin slip. I did the same thing she had, removing it slowly as I waded in. Once my entire body was covered with the rushing water I threw the garment onto the shore, moving closer to Narcissa.
"It's absolutely freezing in here!" I could feel goosebumps rising on my skin but I had to admit, it did feel nice to remove the lather of dirt from my skin.
"You're so dramatic." The other girl splashed me with a bit of water and I pretended to be hurt by the action, a look of shock finding a home on my face.
"Oh you're gonna get it now!" A water fight ensued, both of us absolutely drenched from our head to our toes and trying in vain to wipe the liquid from our eyes.
Finally Narcissa began swimming towards the shore, climbing out of the water and I instantly averted my eyes as a heated blush appeared on my cheeks. I knew she was beautiful but damn she was also HOT.
"Well come on then. There's no point in dressing until we get everything across the water now is there?" The other girl turned just enough to give me a full view of her body, the redness on my face deepening further.
I could have sworn I saw a hint of a smirk on her features as I climbed out, eyes quickly roaming over my own body before getting caught. I wasn't particularly self conscious of my body, however, there was something about the way she looked at me that did something. This was something new, something that had never happened with a man.
We sat down in front of each other to share our breakfast, each able to eat our fill before gathering all of our things and getting ready to take to the water once again. The stream was fast, but we were able to cross without too much difficulty, holding our stuff above our heads as we slowly waded to the far shore.
"I don't know about you but I am NOT trying to get all those layers back on until my skin is dry." Narcissa huffed, trying to shake some of the water droplets from her body.
"Not like there's anyone else out here anyways." I chuckled, beginning to walk downstream.
"Let's follow the water and see where it takes us. It has to lead out somewhere." I figured that was a good enough plan as any, at least we'd have a water source and the light from in between the trees.
"I'll go wherever you go." I could have sworn I could hear a smile in Narcissa's tone.
A/N: I have a whole story planned out for this so don't y'all worry, it will continue 😂. I'm also considering once this is done, making it into a full story and slowing it down so y'all might just be reading the outline/rough draft right now lolol.