TAKE MY HAND | A.K ✔

𝐨𝐧𝐞

"Rebels are in the castle!" a guard shouts.

Everyone becomes frantic. Margaret looks around at everyone running. She's terrified. She glances at her parents and begins running to them. That's when she's pulled away by her guard.

Before she knows it, Margaret runs through the halls as fast as possible. Her blue dress trails behind her as she hears screams. She has to get out of the castle or she's going to die. The rebels are following her. They killed her parents. She had watched in horror as they were decapitated. Her guard dragged her out of the great hall.

She doesn't want to cry. If she cries, she'll be louder than she can be. Her corset digs into her skin, making it hard to breathe.

"Lady, in here," the guard says, pulling her into a room. "The passage should lead you to a carriage. We had a suspicion this would happen. Go, now. You're the only hope for the kingdom."

"What about you?" she questions. "I cannot allow a good man to die."

"I will be fine, Princess." Shouts from the rebels got closer. "You must leave now. I will be close behind."

She hesitates but nods. She pushes the bookshelf to open a secret passage way. The princess runs once again once the bookshelf is back in it's place. The passage is cold and dusty. It smells of mold. She winces at the scream emitting from behind her. Benjamin must have perished.

She knows she doesn't have much time. The rebels will figure out where she is soon enough. A few of them had to have been working closely with her parents. She wonders who could have been the traitor. Edgar, perhaps. He was nowhere to be found during the massacre in the dining hall.

She doesn't have time to think about it. She can hear "this way" coming from far behind her. They're too late, though. She's at the carriage now. With her white dagger in hand, she surveys the area.

"Princess Margaret, we must head to the Kingdom of Sairrutia immediately," the coach says. "The plan is to hide you there."

"Of course," she nods, quickly getting into the carriage.

They hurry off down the cobblestone road. Her body aches, and her feet are calloused. She unties her corset, discarding it to the ground. Margaret slips off her heels. She closes her eyes, her thoughts drifting to her parents. She can't believe they're gone.

Finally, the nineteen year old looses her willpower, tears streaming down her face. It was gone. She has no idea when she'll gain control of her kingdom again, or if she even will be able to become Queen one day. The thought of not being able to help her people made her feel terrible.

Margaret knows she's being hunted. If they find her, she'll be assassinated, meaning the rebels will win. Sairrutia is taking a huge risk by welcoming her into their kingdom. If the rebels find out, they'll take the battle from Wudrienth to Sairrutia. She'll always be on the run if the rebels aren't taken care of.

It takes five days to arrive at Sairrutia. They're cleared to go through the gate by the Rulers. Margaret left her original carriage, joining the King and Queen in theirs.

She worries about looking messy in front of them, so she tries her best to clean up her appearance. She ties her hair back in a ribbon. Her corset is looser than it usually is. She's glad she can breathe a bit.

"Princess Margaret of Wudrienth, it is a pleasure to meet you," King Roscoe greets.

"The pleasure is all mine, sir. It is wonderful to meet you as well, Queen Ginny."

"I am deeply sorry about your parents," she says with a sad expression.

"I assume you are aware of how close we were to them."

"Yes, I am."

"You must also be aware that you are being chased. Sooner or later, they will find out you have hidden away here. In case there are rebels already within the walls of this kingdom, you require a new identity."

"I understand."

"You will work in the castle as 'Anna'. You shall live with the other women in their quarters. Besides Ginny and I, no one knows who you are, and we would like to keep it that way. The more your secret is known, the more vulnerable you become."

"Of course," she agrees.

At the castle, she's snuck in through a series of tunnels. They are much cleaner than the ones at her castle. She isn't sure if she can even consider it her castle anymore. The thought makes her want to cry.

She's given a trunk full of clothes. They're all so much simpler than her usual clothes. Margaret takes a bath, the hard sponge making her skin feel raw. Once she's out of the bath, she changes into her new clothes. As soon as she's done getting ready, she's taken to the staff quarters.

No one is there, and she's internally grateful. She concocts a backstory in her head for "Anna". Anna is nineteen like Margaret is. She was born on a warm summer night. Her parents are Emma and James. She's an only child.

She locks herself in one of the free rooms. It's an incredibly small room. There's a small bed, a bedside table, and a dresser. Margaret sets the trunk of clothes at the foot of the bed. She feels exhausted and just wants to sleep, but she forces herself to put her clothes into the drawers.

That night she cries herself to sleep. Although she cried in the carriage, it just finally hit her like a wave. Here she was pretending to be someone completely different. She had to come up with a new identity. She's not herself anymore. She's Anna. Margaret knows that being "Anna" will keep her safe.

She can't mess this up. If she says one wrong thing, she'll be caught. She wouldn't be surprised if rebels already know she's here. Wudrienth and Sairrutia are, or were, close kingdoms.

She just wants to go home. Margaret wants to hear her Mother's soft voice and listen to her Father's stories. She'll never hear that again. There's no way to get that back, and that makes her feel like all of this work is worthless.

⋆⋅♔⋅⋆

a/n : sorry i had to take
this book down for a bit !

someone was in it before
but i wanted them out of it