August refused the stable boys hand as she pushed herself up into the carriage, the door closing behind her. Her mind couldn't help but race as she felt the sudden jolt of the wheels beneath her. The queen was a rhyle and not only that but Izzy was one too, but none of that was new information for her. In fact she knew from the moment she brought Izzy back to her home that she was special. Her entire body gave off an energy brighter than any other person she had ever met, human or rhyle. So when she saw the dark flecks grow in her eyes when she fought off the rhyles back in the forest, she knew.
The fact that she still didn't know her power existed was nearly proposturous to her. Even as a child, August had merely stumbled across her power, how could the princess not know? But the biggest conundrum was that the king knew, at least about the queen. He knew her secret and it had cost her the lives of an entire village. But for some reason he was prolonging her death. August could see the pain in the Queens eyes. He was killing her, slowly and steadily, as if to send a message. What reason did he have to keep her alive when he sought to kill the rest?
Her train of thought was quickly interrupted when the carriage came to a halt and guards outside began doing their routine checks before opening the gate. August had prepared for this moment mentally but still wasn't sure if she was ready.
When she was younger, after learning of her powers, August's father took his daughter deep into the woods to teach her the ways of her magic. From lifting small objects without lifting a finger to learning how to hide in plain sight.
Disappearing was a skill that took many years for her to even manage and she had no where near perfected it. Her father used to call it "going through", as in fully see through. But in fact, she hadn't attempted to go fully through in years, and even when she could it would barely hold for a few minutes or so.
A sharp knocking came on the outside of the carriage door.
"Aie what's in this one?" One of the guards shouted from the outside, rapping once more on the metal exterior.
"It's empty! We're planning on making a few stops in the neighboring kingdom so we need space to bring back goods!" A muffled voice shouted from the front. August couldn't quite place the voice but could only imagine it belonged to one of the Queen's inside men.
"Doesn't matter kid, you know the rules. It can't leave unless we check. You'd be surprised how many people over the years have tried sneaking fugitives across these lines."
August chuckled to herself. Oh she wasn't surprised at all. In fact she was curious how many things managed to slip under these guards noses.
The clinkling of a set of keys snapped her mind back into focused mode. She was only going to have one chance at getting this right and there wasn't room for error. The locks turned one by one, clicking open. Slowly getting closer to exposing the girl inside, until finally the guard made it to the last one and turned the key.
The door swung open quickly and bounced off of the side of the carriage with a thud. The guard peered his head inside, finding himself met with an empty seat bench beside him. There he stayed for a moment, examining every corner of the carriage until finally determining it's emptiness.
"All clear!" He removed his head and yelled back to the front of the group.
The door just barely managed to close before August saw the tips of her fingers returning to site. And with them came a hand, then an arm, and soon she was fully whole again. She couldn't stop herself from gasping for air, as she had held her breath throughout the entire affair. But most importantly, it had worked. The queen's plan to safely sneak her out of Aldham was working.
August felt the jerk of the wheels starting to turn once more. Her carriage had been sealed in, as to prevent any wandering eyes from realizing her escape, but there was one small crack near the top of the window to her right. It was just large enough for her eye to peek through.
August watched as the tips of the palace towers slowly faded out of her site. She couldn't help but wonder which one held the observatory that she and Izzy had spent their first full night in Aldham on. Where they shared there first kiss. Her heart ached for the princess who surely would be waking up soon only to find her lover not beside her.
"I love you," August whispered into the air. She hoped that if she managed to speak it out into existence than maybe, just maybe, the words would make it back to the princess. Her princess.
The words lingered in the air around her as the large gates began to open and then shut behind them. Sealing her off from the kingdom.
...
Isadora Edwards woke up with the feeling that something was wrong. The air in her room felt, less. Something was missing, and upon opening her eyes it all became horrifyingly clear.
Gone.
August was gone.
Izzy shot up in bed, her head beginning to feel light as she began looking around. Looking for anything to tell her that maybe it wasn't true. Her eyes finally rested on a small steel dagger sitting on her nightstand. It was foreign to her, as she had only seen it once before. But that was confirmation enough.
Her tears came hot, and angry. The princess collapsed to the ground. It was unfair. If anyone deserved to live a magnificent life it was certainly August. She deserved to be in the palace. Izzy wanted her, not some random knight appointed prince. The anger continued to grow inside of her until she felt herself begin to erupt.
The princess quickly stood up, forcefully grabbing the dagger in her hands. The moment it touched her fingers she felt... different. It must have been because it belonged to a rhyle, but the feeling didn't scare her. She embraced whatever it was and started towards the door.
If someone was going to die, she decided, it was going to be the man in the crown playing God. And it was time to inform her father and the rest of the kingdom of the dead princesses miraculous return to Aldham.
Izzy pushed through the door and out into the hall. Had she have looked in the mirror first she would've seen a small change in her eyes. As the bright blue orbs were slowly being overtaken by flecks of black.
