Chapter 5

When the princess walked into the room that had been turned into a painters room a few years ago, the painter was astonished. He knew the princess was beautiful but today she looked ethereal. her hair flowed down her back with braids running through it and a small crown on top of her head, and her cream colored dress hugged her curves perfectly. He just stared in awe for a moment, appreciating the beauty of the young princess.

"Good morning sir, I am her for my portrait" she said with a smile on her face. He smiled right back

"Please, call me Phillipe your highness. Let's get started"

He positioned the girl in a position that enhanced her beauty and made her look even more like a goddess than she already did, made sure she was comfortable, and got to work.

After about nine hours of painting, he was finally finished. He had painted a simple painting of her holding a flower, a sunflower, at the girls request, and sitting with her ankles crossed by her side, as her dress flowed around her, but the extravagance of her dress and her beauty made up for how simple it was.

"I'm finished your highness" he said, looking up from the painting with a smile. She slowly stood up and fixed her dress before she began to stretch her aching muscles from holding the same position for so many hours.

"Thank you Phillipe, may I see the painting?" She inquired

"Yes of course princess" he waved her over to look at the painting. Arya gasped loudly when she saw the painting as her hand went to her mouth.

"Princess is there something wrong with it?" Phillipe asked, his brow furrowed as he searched the painting for any flaws he may have missed.

"No not at all, it's gorgeous" the painting was, in fact, jaw dropping. Every single detail of her dress could be seen. Every last flower and vine. She could see all of the individual hairs on her head, and every single freckle or spot was perfect. She had never seen a more beautiful portrait. The thanked Phillipe profusely for his time and skill, and then left to go back to her room.

When she got there, there was a note and a few other things on her bed. Her brows furrowed as she walked closer to the bed to grab the note.

Dear princess,

I know you are leaving soon, so I thought I would give you a few things to help you on your journey.

Sincerely,

Marie

She looked at the note with wide eyes for a moment before looking at the things on the bed. There was a few shirts, some simple and some a little more extravagant, a few pairs of simple traveling pants, a cloak, a pair of simple travel shoes, and a dress. The dress was simple. It looked like it would cut off above her ankles, making it easy to run in, and the neckline was simple with short, flowy sleeves. It was a pale blue, and had flowers similar to the ones on the dress she was wearing. There was a small, black corset with the dress as well. She smiled and went into her closet to get her bag.

Her bag was a simple leather bag that she could wear on her back under her cloak. It was quite large, and it had many compartments. She had food, clothes, the money that her father had told her about, among a few other things. She was ready to go whenever needed. She just needed to tell her brother her plan.

As she walked down the hall to her brothers room, she looked at the paintings on the wall. Green eyes that's matched her own stared down at her. Her mother's. Her mother was a kind woman. She did not deserve the fate that was forced upon her. Her eyes began to water at the thought. She held back her tears and pulled herself together. She walked the rest of the way to her brothers room and knocked on the door.

Annalise opened the door and smiled at the princess.

"Good afternoon Arya, you look gorgeous. Can I help you?" She said sweetly.

"Yes actually, I need to speak to my brother alone please."

The girl stepped aside as she said,

"I was just about to go down to the gardens anyways, you two be nice". she smiled at Gabriel and walked out the door.

"What's up Arya?" the young man said, looking at his sister curiously.

"I'm ready to leave."

"already?"

"if I wait any longer it might be too late"

"what's your plan?"

The princess explained to her brother her plan to slip out of the after party of his coronation. He looked at her as she spoke, longing for her to change her mind and stay. To stay there with him, her brother, who had always protected her against the evils of the world as much as he could. As he looked into his eyes, he saw his mother, but mostly, he saw the love that she held for him, the love that was in his eyes too. though they fought a lot as kids, he was always there to protect his little sister when she needed him. especially the day their mother died.

He didn't remember much of that day, but he did remember seeing their mother, father, and grandfather in front of a large crowd in front of the castle. he remembers being scared, and ushering his sister to the gardens, where he gave her a sunflower for the first time. He remembers her crying for their mother, and him wanting her too. her smile, her hug, her comfort. They sat in the garden for hours waiting for their mother. She never came back.

Gabriel snapped back into reality as she said that she would tell him right before he slipped out, so that they could say goodbye. When she was done speaking, he nodded his head,

"that's a great plan Arya, I'm just sorry you have to go"

"I know, but the prince I am to marry will be here in two days time and I can't marry him brother, you understand don't you?"

"Of course I understand. I'm going to miss you, that's all"

"I'll miss you too Gabe. I have to go make sure everything is in order now, I will see you at dinner" she smiled, and turned around to leave. Her brother watched her, his eyes glistening, and his lip quivering.

As soon as the door shut behind her, the crown prince fell against the wall, tears streaming down his face. His sister was leaving, and there was nothing he could do about it. His best friend, the girl he had protected for her entire life, was leaving. he was terrified of not being there to protect her, even though he knew she could handle herself. He knew the world was cruel, and that humankind was crueler, and he was scared for her. he wouldn't try to stop her, because he knew she needed to do this, but he wished she would change her mind.

At some point, his wife came back from the garden and saw him crying. she didn't ask questions, just hurried to comfort her husband. She knew something big was going on with him and his sister, but she also knew it wasn't her place to ask, so she just hugged her husband and sat next to him, whispering soft reassurances to make him feel better.