Royalty comes with Pride

Chapter 3

The first thing she realised when she woke up was a feeling of hunger and thirst, she hadn't returned to the castle in days nor had she eaten or drank anything. She couldn't just get up, go back and apologise after she'd gotten this far. I'll have to make my way somehow, I'm better at hiding and sneaking than Luna and Damien. I'll start off like that for now. Yumiko got up and, to her surprise and shock, there was a spare change of clothes by the entrance. But it was peasant clothing, not Luna's, it looked new. She changed out of the gown she'd worn for the past few days and came up with a plan. She left the bush garden, it was still dark probably somewhere between 4 and 6 in the morning as you could see the sun peaking over the horizon, and found a bramble patch. Yumiko braced herself before cutting her arm on the prickly bushes, then she wiped the blood over the area of the dress which would have covered over her stomach and ripped shreds off of the dress' hem to use as cleaning rags.

The runaway had a list of things she needed to do:
- Get food and water, probably enough to last a few days
- Cover any tracks or clues on her whereabouts
- Dump the dress in the castle gardens by the gate but on the inside

Yes, she was trying to make everyone think something happened to her and she was hurt and kidnapped somehow. It didn't seem like it would make sense and would probably get a guard or two fired but that would clear any suspicions of her running away. Food and water, food can be taken from shops during market hours and water is found at taps around the village. As she was making her way to the garden gates to dump the dress, she heard crying from the inside. Yumiko carefully made her way past the guards who were playing some card game she was unfamiliar with and left the gown, but not before knowing who was upset. She squinted through the dark and felt guilt rush through her when she realised who it was. "Spencer?" It was almost like he heard it because the shadowy figure by the tree flicked their head up and stopped crying.

She was about to turn and run when she heard the guards getting ready for their switch. 7:00 already? So ran into the gardens, she decided to run out after the two current guards had left but had her plans thwarted by someone pulling her arm. She let out a small squeak of a screech but someone had put their hand over her mouth, it felt rough and cut. A guard had caught me- wait. The person dragged her round so they were hidden by bushes and hill. "Miko?" It was her brother, they both let out sighs of relief and hugged tightly. "God I thought I lost you, then I saw someone standing by the gate and found hope when the moonlight reflected on your hair. I swear we're the only gingers in this Kingdom." It make Yumiko laugh but he was serious, they'd never seen another ginger anywhere before and both of the Guri twins looked as if they'd cry at any second. He needs to know everything, it'll hurt him too much if he doesn't know.

"Spencer, I'm running away." He pulled away from her in shock, 'What' "I need some time, I've got everything covered. I put my dress by the gate with some blood on it to distract everyone, I'm going to live life in the village under the name Arabella Taylor. Play along and don't come looking for me." She gave one last squeeze before running off, the guards had just left so she took the opportunity to leave. She ran through the trees, taking the forest route to the village. Yumiko decided to make her first theft a head scarf as Spencer's remark on her hair was playing on her mind, there was a clothing shop which was in the process of opening. She crept in and, as there wasn't anyone there at that moment, took a bolt of fabric before leaving for the public bathrooms.

Remember, I am Arabella Taylor, a 16 year old servant who recently lost their job due to the death of the boss. In the bathrooms she covered all of her hair and decided she'd make the spare stuff into bedding of some sort. Yumiko was waiting in the queue for the water fountain when a woman came up behind her with a baby, "Please, miss, could my son drink before you? He hasn't drank anything in days." She let the woman and child go before her in the queue, she even considered ripping off a piece of her material for them but they didn't look poor. The woman would have a house at least which would be warmer than the bush-garden that the princess was sleeping in. She passed her day by taking various items that would help her survive, nobody knew about her disappearance yet so she continued with her day. But when she was walking through the roads a castle guard stopped her. "I need to check you over, Ma'am I apologise but this is an emergency." Then it clicked, there are guards trying to find me before they make it public that I'm gone. She knew he'd probably find out. "Miss could you please remove your headscarf." It was most certainly an order not a question but she couldn't. 'I swear we're the only gingers in the whole kingdom...'

"I wish not to give you consent to see me without it." She pushed him off and ran the other way, why did I speak like I do at the castle they'll find out if they think properly. She didn't stop, they would probably have eyes out for her from now on so she'd have to be more careful and it didn't help that she realised a few strands of hair had escaped and were trailing down her face. Yumiko stopped for a split second to put it back under when there were heavy footsteps behind her, they'd have armour on and therefor it would be harder for them to chase her but she wasn't the sporty type and was getting out of breath. She made a hasty choice to dart round a stationary cart, well that's what the guard thought. She had made it look like she ran behind it but had slipped under it and as the guard stood in confusion she made a getaway to the streets.

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It's been weeks of Yumiko being a runaway, and finally there's something big happening to try find her