A Spy Among Princesses(Prince x reader)

Chapter 1: No Turning Back

Secret passageways, armories, garrisons inside and outside the kingdom...

The thin walls rattled.

Guard schedules, servant schedules, royal schedules...

The carriage rocked back and forth on the windy mountain path. Every pebble on the road snapped me out of my thoughts. This was a simple mission -- espionage. As the only young woman in our rebel group, the Morning Star, without a well-known criminal record, the job was immediately allocated to me and only me. And with the royalty living in such a reclusive and fortified castle, the Princess Competition was an unexpected opportunity. This mission could be a tipping point for the rebellion.

That is, if I passed the first couple of tests. All this would be for nothing if I didn't even make it past the first round. If I did actually make it, I would just have to collect as much information as possible before I leave.

"Oi!" The Coachman called back to me. "How're you doing back there?"

"Just fine!"

"Y'sound nervous lad. Is there something on yer mind?"

"Kinda."

"Is it th' Competition? All those eyes on ya, waitin' fer you to mess up?"

"It is quite stressful."

"And th' other girls? I 'magin its hard to find good friends when they're try'n to bite yer head off."

"That's not the most difficult part."

"That you have to be be'er than all of them to win?"

"I don't need to win, I just wish to stay in the game until I lose. Then I want to go home."

"I like yer spirit, lad. I have two daughters. Proud of them both, but they're a bit too old. 'No one older than his majesty' They said."

"How did they feel about that?"

"Devastated, but they're fine now. Why do ye come all this way if y're not set on marr'ing the prince?"

I chose my words carefully. Venus gave me some advice before I left; they can't catch a lie if you tell the technical truth. "It's not like I'm doing all this to avoid marrying his highness, it's just... It's a test for me, of how qualified I am." A test of my courage, skills, and loyalty to The Morning Star.

"Nice to see ya doin' this fer ya self. Kids these days ne'er stop to reflect."

"Well, It's not really just about myself either. I hope I can get past the first round." I said, as the castle's dreamlike structure came into view past the trees.

"I hope you win, lassie. Good luck! Y'd be a swell Queen."

"Thank you." I hopped out of the cramped carriage and waved goodbye until they were out of sight. There is no going back.

In order to get to the castle, I had to step through the archway. It was a large archway, the kind that makes a person feel important when one steps through it. Although the archway was nothing compared to the magnificence of the castle, which looked even more like a fairytale up close. The smooth feeling of the walls and the satisfying crunch of the leaves on the ground confirmed that this place was real. Across the field were all sorts of people, young women of all sizes and shapes, wearing clothes from distant lands in bright colors. Expensive clothes blinded me, and exotic perfumes filled the air. Men and women cheered on, comforted, and even sang with their daughters in a whirl of noise. I felt a pang of jealousy, knowing that I had come alone.

Turning around, I joined the mass of people swarming around the main entrance. "Papers?" A bored-looking guard asked me.

"Oh! They're in my bag, one sec." I pulled a rolled piece of parchment from my bag, the creation of which was probably the most difficult part of getting into this competition. Each detail had been slaved over to hide any faults that could give away its fraud: the ink stolen from Avidour royalty to copy the blueish back hues, the yellowed parchment from age... Even the broken seal was a perfect duplicate of the king's. Hours were spent on this, making sure no one would doubt my authenticity.