Royal AU: Yellow Jessamine

Abdicating Strain

During the night the prince tried to rest without results, eventually sitting up from his bed and sighing deeply. He stood up, still irritated by what happened hours before and tidied up his desk a little. Shortly after he spontaneously decided that it'd be better to leave the castle for a bit to have a clearer mind and some peace. The young man went sat down for a moment and took an empty peace of paper from his desk's drawer before writing a small note with his quill. Once he was done he set everything aside and let the ink on the paper dry as he went ahead to pick up some clothing for his departure, changing into the new outfit and taking everything along that he'd need on his way. He was overall dressed in dark clothing along with a black cape around his shoulders, taking the note and quietly leaving the room. In-between he'd enter the royal kitchen to pack himself something to eat before leaving again right after, coming across Gabriel's room and stopping there for a moment. He lowered himself to the ground with the written note in hand that was neatly folded and flicked it through the open space at the bottom of the door. The prince would continue to then make his way out from the castle and wander towards the mountains on his own.

Flora had finally managed to fall asleep after continuing to be agitated for the prince and wanting to cheer him up somehow, not noticing the note yet. After many hours went by, it was finally early in the morning when she woke up stretching and yawning softly. She took some time to get ready but right when she was about to head out with the intention to check on Skylar, she froze on her steps and looked down at the paper, widening her eyes. "What's this?" She bent down to pick it up and stood again, tilting her head and opening to read its content attentively.

The note that Skylar left for her was to let her know that he was going for a stroll towards Mount Halite to calm his nerves due to having had an argument with Caroline. He had noted that he'd be back at the castle around sunset and that she shouldn't let anyone know about his cause of absence unless in the case of an emergency. Having written all the things that were useful to know he ended the note with kind regards and signed it with his usual signature.

She read attentively over it even a couple of times before sighing heavily, trying not to get too worried at first. It didn't take long until she heard voices all over the castle of servants asking where the king was and gradually panicking, while Caroline shouted at them to stop overreacting and that he must be somewhere in town. Flora furrowed her eyebrows and folded the note with care, lowering to her bed and hiding it in her own bag to keep it away from the rest. She then rushed out of the room and pretended like she was unaware of the situation, talking along the staff. Caroline looked pretty angry at first but with time she began shrugging it off and even ignoring the staff who immediately went looking for him. Flora herself was about to follow them when the ruler suddenly pulled her aside, already raising her voice. "You! You knew him well enough. Go ahead and write the letters for him while he's gone, I don't know where to start!" She ordered irritatingly.
Flora looked at her a bit surprised but her look slowly turned mad, stepping back from the ruler. "I'm here to serve the king, not you." She scoffed, turning around to ignore the queen who quickly grew frustrated and pulled Flora back by her sleeve. "How dare you!" Caroline shouted. At that point Flora harshly glared down at her and gave her a cold stare. "How dare /you/." She said, shoving her arm away from Caroline's grip and stepping up to her. "This is all your fault, your 'highness'. But perhaps I should call you else by now. You don't seem to be worthy of such a label." She said pretty angrily. "If My King gets hurt because of you... trust me, I'll make you pay with your own sweat and tears." She said in a lower voice, clenching her fists as she got face to face "And no one will believe you when you say a mere servant threatened you." She concluded until she finally turned around and left the queen standing there practically speechless and more infuriated than before.

Flora decided to go around with the rest of the servants to pretend to look for the king while also making sure they didn't go for the mountain to avoid bothering him. They stayed out the whole day and a good portion of the night looking for him until they finally headed back to try again the next day. After that, the servant had gotten herself some additional rest. Later on in the night she heard some voices discussing in the king's office, causing her to wake up and listen through the wall attentively.
"Apparently that's where he was seen walking the other morning..." a male voice said, then Caroline replied. "I can give you a part of the money now and the rest once you finished the job. This is my perfect chance to get back at him..." she scoffed "And if you see that servant alone, slit his throat too. It seems I was wrong about him... he seems too devoted to the king." She ordered. The male figure nodded and replied "It will be done. We will wait at the feet of the mountain and ambush him. They won't even find his body, I can assure you" the male chuckled. "That's wonderful news. Go ahead and get ready... update me as soon as possible." She said until footsteps could be heard down the hall, stopping for a moment in front of Gabriel's room as if to listen if he was inside. She held her breath and didn't move at all until she heard the male scoff and walk out of the castle.

She waited a bit to let them leave the castle and quickly began getting ready with some warmer clothing like the same dark blue cape she had already used and a black scarf, with gloves and boots. After an hour or two went by, it was already getting early in the morning with the darkness slowly fading; Flora quickly got on her horse and headed for the mountain, although the rest of the guys were already set in an ambush behind some trees.