Going away to death.

 There were many sicknesses in the world we lived in and this time, my sister and I were taking advantage of it.

We had taken up the sweating sickness. No one would come near us except the physicians and she knew better than to tell on. The prince was made aware already and the arrangements of the wedding being delayed were made.

That sickness would have me lose consciousness enough that no one would come to meet me given that I was sick, it might be contagious and lastly, I would not be aware of their presence.

It was a win-win so far.

"Your Highness," Merilyn bowed in front of me, and once given permission she stood up, "Are you sure? You could surely send someone else. Those people—Lord knows what happened there and what if-"

Her concerns were overwhelming. After my mother's death on one had shown such concern for me but they only made me fear it more than I felt already. 

"Merilyn, You need to calm yourself. I will be fine." I truly hoped so as I patted her back. "I need to see for myself. What is it that they possess? Why are they doing better?" I held her cheek in one hand and smiled tenderly at her. "You must not let anyone know that I am outside the castle."

She shook her adamantly, clearly opposed to the idea. "I shall go instead. You are the princess! You cannot go!"

I took my hand off of her cheek and moved across to the dressing area. My eyes raked through the different cloaks hanged over the wall. "Which one do you think would blend me in the crowd?" I wondered. No fur, No silk, this one was too thick, which should it be?

I heard her come closer. She was slow but she knew where to stop. "I think you should wear mine. The one I wear when I go home. It's good quality but not enough to get you robbed." She whispered. Her tone gave away that she was still against this.

But the best experience I could have was through the shadows of the public.

"Hmm, bring that one to me." I looked over my shoulder, "and be sadder, I'm sick for all of them, not going away." I winked at her. 

"Going away to death.." she mumbled. Ah, this girl. She cared too much. 

I flicked my hand to her. "Go away. Shoo." She was a sad soul.

The next thing to do now would be board the carriages along with my sister.

As the darkness of night had fallen, I and my sister were ready to leave the castle for inspecting what our enemy did differently to earn the title of the warlords of the world.

We have the same weaponry and if it was advanced then Astria would have traded it or if it was that text then books must have been written about those but there were none.

It was something about them that made them stand out as the different ones.

We were walking through the servant's entrance and exit with our faces covered with the cloaks that we wore, hiding our identities from being recognized. 

This was perhaps the first time that we were ever allowed to travel without our owned carriages which were plated with gold and soft cushions but having to travel in a carriage full of other people and perhaps even animals.

We reached the depot of all the incoming carriages and the ones leaving.

We stood in front of the entrance and reached the reception.

"Sir?" The man looked up, "We have a reservation of seats. The both of us." I pointed to my sister as well who stood next to me.

My mother, Queen Cynthia, had introduced a system of reservations so that we could have more people employed, and also the hassle of overcrowding and crushing of the carriages could be avoided.

She was an exceptional Queen but all on her go down the drain when she was replaced by a concubine.

"Reservations?" The man scoffed in our faces, "Ladies, was a long time ago. For now wherever you get a seat, take it." Spit came out of his mouth when he spoke to us and as he finished he went back to counting his money.

Estelle patted my shoulder and I finally tore my eyes away from the men.

Long ago? Did that mean what my mother had implemented was no longer being carried out?

It had broken the chain. The very thing that she had to warned me of on her death bed.

We moved forward to the carriage and

my heart stilled at what I saw.