Ours

Two- The Prisoner With The Princess' Pardon

"No?" Arthur echoed, glancing back at his daughter with a fierce glint in his eyes. "No. He will not be sent to the dungeon for stealing something you did not provide for him." Alice stated, hiding her fear in her strong voice, though her facade was quickly seen through by her father.

"Alice, you are to be queen. You must watch the grownups handle business." Arthur stated, egging her on mockingly."Do not treat me as a child, father!" She snapped, turning her head to look at the aging man. "Although I may not have the experience as an adult, I have common sense. And if that is something I am to lose with age then I do not want to grow up!"

"Alice, you are dismissed."

"Not until you let him go, father." Alice challenged, but the redness of Arthur's face let her and the rest of the crowd know that this was no longer a test of judgement. Ambus, who was peeking out of the satchel, gave a little shiver, obviously sensing the tension in the air. "Fine! Let the boy go! I don't ever want to see him again!" Arthur bellowed, hitting his hands on the throne like a spoiled child.

"Not a problem, pops." Rune, the theif, stated, standing up with a crooked grin towards Alice before spinning on his heel and exiting the throne room. Alice stood up and straightened her dress stiffly with only the slightest hint of smugness. "Alice, a word." Arthur said in a low voice as the audience dismissed themselves quickly.

Alice audibly gulped and sat back down, waiting on her father to start scolding her. "Alice, you are the heir now! My rules are law! You follow them with respect! You may not-"

"-Have freedom? I must be an unjust ruler, correct?" Alice interrupts, pushing herself up once more. "I am not like you, father. I am not Maria, not Arthur, I am Alice! I will not follow in your footsteps as a tyrant." Angry tears welled up in her eyes as the truth rang through the empty throne room, the fire light flickered around Alice as she faced her father.

"I am not a tyrant, Alice! I am a King, and you would do well to treat me as such!" He bellowed, standing up slowly. "You are no king of mine." Alice whispered as she stared into Arthur's worn out face with disgust.

"Then you are no daughter of mine. Go to your room and do not return until you have dealt with your childish attitude." Arthur pointed in the general direction of the exit, huffing so harshly he clamped his mouth shut to hold in a coughing fit. Alice brushed past her father and stomped down the stairs loudly before exiting the room. Maids bowed as she stomped past, ignoring their greetings and questions as she found her room and swung open the door, only to slam it again.

"Whoa. I think the castle rattled a little with that one." Alice's blood ran cold and she fell against the pristine door in her start. 

It only took a minute for her to realize that the voice had came from the criminal from earlier, Rune, who was now sitting on her desk with a stupid grin on his oddly attractive face. "What are you doing here?!" Alice whispered warily. "What do you want from me?"

"Relax, I'm here to thank you." He said, quickly defending himself before hopping down from the desk and offering her a hand. Alice stood up and pushed his hand away, taking a step back from the stranger. "Don't tell me to relax when you just broke into my room!" Alice snapped back, pointing at the open balcony door.

"You didn't lock it." Rune shrugged as if breaking and entering was an everyday thing for him. "I didn't know some fool would waltz on in!" Alice countered, taking another step closer to the door. Rune raised an eyebrow to the foolish escape plan, but a mysterious twinkle in his eye made her even more furious.

"Well, anyway, that was it. Goodbye." He spun on his heel, like he did in the throne room, and quickly fled through the balcony door. Alice sighed with mixed emotions. Although she was relieved that he wasn't out for blood, she was curious too. About him, life outside of the palace, everything beyond her walls.

Maybe it was just the satisfaction of disobeying her father.

Alice inhaled deeply before dashing towards the balcony and peering over the railing. Sure enough, Rune was carefully moving through the gardens to remain undetected by Pure Guards. Alice smirked mischievously before dramatically coughing to catch Rune's attention, and it did.

He placed a finger to his lips as he turned around abruptly, a small, irritated frown playing at his lips. Alice ignored her speeding heartbeat as she put one leg over the railing, followed by the other. The cold night air made her fingers tighten as she wrapped her hands around the railing, watching as Rune got closer to where he could catch her.

Needless to say, Alice was not keen on the implied idea.

"I'm not jumping!" Alice whispered, bewildered that he could think that she trusts him so easily after just a few moments of talking. "Then what are you doing out here, princess?" He countered impatiently. She slowly loosened her grip on the railing, then tightened it and squeezed her eyes shut. "I can't." She whispered, as the feeling of nausea set in. "Are you wasting my time?" Rune growled, looking around the gardens in hopes of it being deserted. "I said I can't!" She hastily whispered back, opening her eyes, only to release her grip in a moment of fear.

Thud.

"Nice... landing." Rune groaned from beneath Alice, who had squished him with her somewhat small form. "Shut it, thief." She responded, pushing herself off of him and rolling onto the grass next to him. He got up and shoved his hands in his pant's pockets and sighed. "Princess, you're going to have to learn that you can't always wear a dress." Alice huffed and pushed herself up so she could glare up at Rune.

"And you're going to have to learn that I'm a royal, I don't own commoner's clothes." She snapped, her fiery brown eyes meeting his alert black ones. He smirked, as if he was teasing her. "I guess we both have things to learn, but you need to listen to my every word until I can get both of us out of here without being detected." He cracks his knuckles and stretches as if he was getting ready to run, but Alice just sighed.

"The palace has guards outside of every exit, thief. We're going to have to take a underground passage." Alice whispers, looking around to see if anyone could overhear them. Rune quirks an eyebrow before bowing mockingly. "Lead the way, your royal highness."

She sighed and reached into her satchel and brought the perky ferret out, laying him on the grass and shushing him. "You brought a rat?" Rune asked, leaning his head towards Ambus. "He's a ferret and you're an idiot." Alice sighed, and nudged Ambus with her foot. "Balcony." She whispered, and Ambus squeaked in response. He proceeded to focus on the railing, and a faint figure of Alice formed, getting more realistic by the second.

It didn't take long for the fake Alice to come to life, winking at the group before walking back into the room and locking the balcony door. Rune seemed frozen in place, his facial expression dripping with awe. "What the hell was that?" He asked, his eyes wide with a mix of terror and excitement.

"Ambus is a 'witches ferret', a rare breed of ferret that is cursed with random powers. Ambus only has one, live illusions. Weird, huh? Any illusion he creates stays alive for two days before it slowly disappears into thin air." Alice explains, picking up Ambus and setting him on her shoulder. Rune nods uneasily, as if Ambus was going to attack him.

"Relax thief. He won't bite." Alice huffs as she pulls her hair tie down, her deep brown hair falling to her waist it a fit of tangles. "I'm more afraid of you biting me, and the name is Rune!"

Alice ran a hand through her matted hair, wincing as she tugged on her tangles. "Yes, I remember your name thief." She grinned at him, suddenly changing attitude.

"The angel statue on the far side of the gardens has a underground tunnel that leads halfway to the nearest town, Ulva. Let's get out of here."