Hauntingly Lovely

Epilogue Chapter 2

Elizabeth's P.O.V.

When I get back to the market I'm surprised to find that my knights are still looking for me, I get close and they rush to me.
"Princess Elizabeth where on earth have you been? Are you Alright?" My knight Issac asks.
"I'm fine, I was just checking out some other store." I tell him.
"Really? Your dress is filthy!" My other knight Torin says, I hear the mockery in his voice.
"I went to some dirty stores, so what?" I reply with just as much sass.
With that, Issac gives us another worried glance and we keep shopping. We find a store with a few costumes and Issac and Torin pick out a witch costume for me that doesn't have a hat but they grab a broom. Because of what happened to the previous Royal children, I'm not allowed to have anything that could cover my head or face. While they turn to pay however, I grab the nearest costume to me and shove it into the pocket of my skirt, which is actually about the size of a medium sized bag. I sewed these large pockets into the inside of all my skirts for taking things to and from the abandoned castle, since I didn't want anyone to question me or know I was ever there. When we get home my parents yell at my knights for taking so long and we eat dinner and I go to my room, since I don't want anyone to find my skeleton costume when they search my room I decide to hide it in the yard. I don't have any windows in my bedroom as to further prevent people from getting in, but there is a small window above the toilet in my connecting bathroom, so I throw the costume as far as I can and it lands in the hedges behind the wooden fence. Then I go to bed.
When I wake up I get dressed and do my daily lessons before getting my witch costume from my knights and going back up to my room. I lock the door and go to my bathroom and lock that door too. I turn on the shower so nobody gets suspicious for a while and open up the bathroom window. It's big enough for me to get through, but a bit too small to be comfortable. Once I've squeezed through the window I dangle from it and hold on for dear life. I look to the side and grab the exposed pipes and slide down to safety, then I quickly run across the yard and climb the fence and jump over the hedges. I grab my real costume and run to the other castle, I go to where I have my small setup and change out of my dress and into my costume, which happens to be a skeleton, I pull the black hood over my hair and decide I'll put on the mask when I'm ready to leave which I plan to do when it gets dark so I can blend in with the crowd. I walk back to the setup from the bathroom where I got changed, when I notice a glare from something in the corner of the room. I walk over to it and see that it's a dusty, cobweb-covered, doorknob sitting in the corner of the room. Who would leave a doorknob here? Then I realize it must have fallen off a door. I run my hands along the dirty wall until I feel a small groove in it, I brush it off with my hand and there is a door here. Knowing I can't use the handle to open it I ready my foot, I then slam my foot into the door as hard as I can. The wood gives way and the door breaks in half, the bottom half I managed to break off flying into the small space. I grab my flashlight and crawl in, standing up once I'm in the small room which looks to be a closet, I guess prisoners had to change sometime. I point the flashlight to my right and see a wall, then I point it to the left and see one shirt left hanging there near the wall. It's a white button-up shirt that's covered in holes and dust from being here so long, but it definitely looks fancier than what a prisoner would wear. I take it down from the hanger and something that looks like paper falls out of the pocket, when I pick it up I realize it's a photo. Now I know I'm not in a prison cell. In the picture are my sister and the prince, I know from seeing other photos of them, but this one is different. In the photo they stand on a basketball field, my sister has her hair all hidden in a dirty old hat, they're dirty and sweaty and they look happier than they usually do in photos. It's obvious this wasn't taken by either of their parents. I flip it over and on the back it says "today was a normal day. Someday, we'll get away from all these rules and be normal every day. Someday we will escape." It was probably written by the prince. Now that I know the room I've been staying in and imagined as a prison cell for so long once belonged to him, the only question I can think of is why?
I put the shirt back on the hanger but I tuck the picture in my hood behind my hair and crawl back out of the room. I put my mask on and leave for the party.