Clara zoned out as her mother went through the list of party guests for her birthday ball.

  "Then there are the friends of your brother that he wanted to invite... Oh! He's from a very respectable and upper class family! He could be a possible suitor, what about him?" Queen Maria was rattling on and on.

   Clara discreetly rolled her eyes.

 "Oh, there's another respectable family, how about him? Clara?" Queen Maria finally looked up at her daughter.

   "I don't know mother, I haven't met them yet." Clara sighed a little bit.

 "Well, you'll see them on your birthday. It's high time you got married." Queen Maria said. 

   "I know..." Clara went along with what she was saying.

 "Now, where is your sister? I'm supposed to be teaching her some embroidery today..." Queen Maria mused as she stood up gracefully and left the room.

  Clara sighed, standing up and walking towards her vanity table.

 "Is there anything I can help you with, your highness?" A maid asked, coming into the room with a pile of sheets in her hand.

  "Isla, how many times do I have to tell you that when we're alone you're to call me Clara?" Clara pretended to frown but broke out into a smile instead.

  "Apologies, your - I mean, Clara." Isla giggled, "By the way, where were you two days ago? I didn't see you at all during the afternoon." 

   "I went out." Clara replied softly.

  "What?!" Isla spun around to look at the princess.

 Clara, her back to the maid, continued taking off her jewellery. "I went out, into the city." 

   "But your high- I mean Clara, you aren't supposed to go out into the city alone or with out a carriage or anything!" Isla gasped.

   "I know that, but I... I just want to see what it's like out there. And, oh Isla! It's awful. I didn't realise how poor the people were and my father isn't doing anything about it!" Clara finally turned to look at her maid and her best friend.

  "Clara, you have to be careful about what you say... Such words like that can be treason." Isla looked a little nervous.

   "I know, but... I just want to do something to help them! Even though I'm a princess, my power is very limited. What can I do? Even if I tried doing something, it wouldn't be enough to help the all the poor in Paris, never mind the whole of France!" Clara sighed deeply, "I've been doing a lot of sighing today..." She muttered.

  "Well, you'll just have to do your best." Isla tried to reassure her.

  "Thanks Isla, and... could you please help me get out of this gown and into something simpler? I'm going back out into the city." Clara said.

  "You must be mad!" Isla gasped, "What if you get caught this time?" 

 "I won't." Clara assured her.

    Isla sighed, "You must be mad, I must be mad..." 

~*~

   Clara, wearing the same thing she wore two days ago, walked along the poorer streets of Paris, handing out food that the chefs of the palace were more than happy to provide.

  "You're most kind, mademoiselle! Merci!" A lady had thanked her after Clara handed her some food.

  As Clara went around giving food to as much of the poor as she could, she caught sight a man wearing a red jacket doing the same thing, handing out food but also blankets.

  'He's the probably the same man I bumped into!' Clara thought.

 She watched him for a while, and once he had disappeared, she approached a girl.

   "Excuse me, young mademoiselle, but could you tell me who that was?" Clara asked, gesturing in the direction the man had disappeared.

   "Not really. He comes 'ere a lot 'nd hands food 'nd stuff like that to the poor. See, he gave me a doll." The girl lifted up her new toy that looked new.

   "Oh, Merci. And that's a very nice doll." Clara smiled, "Bye!"

  "Bye mademoiselle!" The girl smiled as she waved.

   Clara walked in the direction in which the man had gone, already finished with handing out food. Catching sight of him again, she followed him at a distance. She really didn't mean to stalk him or anything, she was just... she didn't know, curious?

   He seemed to be really into what he was doing, but the more she watched, the more she realised there was something about him that made her feel as if she should run and stand to attention, like at the barracks.

   Suddenly, she felt someone grab her arm harshly, turning her to face them.

  "Hello there, pretty one. How are we this fine afternoon?" A man grinned at her.

  He looked terrible. His hair was half cut off and tangled. His teeth were black and yellow and he smelt awful.

    "Let go of me!" Clara tried to wriggle her arm out of his grasp.

  "Oh no. I've been quite lonely you see..." The man drawled.

  Clara went pale with horror as she realised what was happening. The man thought she was one of the girls who slept with men!

   "You've made a mistake! I'm not one of them! Let me go, I demand that you let me go!" Clara yelled, trying to yank her arm away.

    "Now, now, lovely, we won't have any of that now." The man warned, gripping the girl harder.

   "Let me go, or I'll scream." Clara snapped.

  "That I won't do -" But the man was cut off.

  "Unless you're deaf, the lady said to let her go." A new voice rose up.

 It was the man in the red jacket.

   He was gripping the awful man by the arm so tightly that he did let go of her .

 "Now, you do not hold a lady against her will! Go before I call the cops on you!" The man in red snapped.

   The other man took off without even glancing back.

  Clara rubbed her sore arm. 

    "Merci, monsieur, for your help." Clara thanked him quietly.

  The man turned around.

  Clara stared. He had the most loveliest blue eyes she had ever seen. They were a slightly darker blue then hers.

    "I beg your pardon in advance, mademoiselle, if I'm going to sound rude or blunt." The man started, "but you shouldn't be in this kind of place at all. It's a place filled with -"

   "I know, I know... I was just... I was just handing out food to the poor and then I got lost." Clara said, covering up the last part.

   The man looked at her before sighing. "I haven't got time for this!" He groaned, "You still shouldn't be here. If I wasn't here at the same time, goodness knows what would have happened to you!" He snapped lightly.

  "I know, and I'm sorry. It's my second time in these poorer parts and I got lost." Clara looked down at her hands.

   "Well, I'm done with what I'm doing so come on." The man herded her out of the place.

  The walk was quiet. He kept his distance and only looked her way to check that she was still there.

    They finally arrived at a more suitable place.

  "Here you are. And I suggest you head home. Good day." The man nodded sharply before leaving.

   Clara stared after him.

  'Oh snap, forgot all social manners. Got rescued, hardly thanked him and didn't get his name or introduced myself.' Clara thought, mentally kicking herself.

  "I'm a fool!" Clara groaned out loud. Thankfully, no one heard her.

 ~*~

   "So, how was your time out?" Isla asked, as she brushed Clara's hair that evening.

  "All right. I handed out food to the poor. And I met a mysterious man. I sort of met him before. He wears a red jacket, has golden hair and his eyes are blue. I accidentally bumped into him the first time I went out. And then today he rescued me from another man who was terrible. He was also giving out things to the poor." Clara said.

  "Did he look as if he came from a well-off family?" Isla asked.

 "Yeah, I guess. His clothes certainly looked simple, but I suspect that's how he wanted them. They did have a sense of expense to them. But really, I think he is. He's just got a thing for helping the poor and stuff like that." Clara shrugged.

  "Well, if all of France's nobles were like him and you, perhaps this country would be a better place." Isla mused.

   "Perhaps..." Clara sighed.

  "I'll be going now. And by the way, while I remember, I have tomorrow off as I am visiting my mother. Oh, and your best friend Mademoiselle AJ will be coming here tomorrow to spend the day with you." Isla said.

   "Oh! Really?! It feels like ages since I last saw her! That's fine!  Have a nice time, and say hello to your mother for me!" Clara smiled.

  "I will! Bonne nuit!" Isla waved before shutting the bedroom door after her.

 "Bonne nuit!" Clara called back. 

  Silence followed for a while as Clara sat curled up on her bed reading a book.

 "I have a dream..." She sang quietly, "a song to sing. To help me cope, in everything."

   She put the book down and got up, making her way out onto the balcony. 

  "If you see the wonder, of a fairy tale. You can take the future, even if you fail." She leaned against the railing, watching the stars.

  "I believe in angels, something good in everything I see. I believe in angels, when I know the time is right for me. I'll cross the stream... I have a dream." She closed her eyes as the wind rustled through her hair. 

    "Hey, what are you doing out here?"

  Clara turned to see Sébastien standing in the doorway.

 "Oh, hey. To what do I owe this visit?" Clara teased.

    "Oh, nothing at all. Just wanted to know how my little sister is doing." He grinned, joining her by the railings.

  "I'm good, I guess..." Clara smiled.

 "So, what have you been doing? Or has mother roped you into decorations and all that?" Sébastien cheekily asked.

   "Oh no! We only went through the guest list then she went and taught Adélaïde embroidery for the rest of the day." Clara laughed.

  "So what did you do then?" He asked.

  Clara was silent for a moment before she decided to tell him.

 "If I tell you, will you promise not to tell anyone. Only Isla knows, and AJ when I see her tomorrow." Clara said.

   "Clara... what have you done now?" Sébastien looked at her suspiciously. The last time she had asked him to promise not to tell anyone was when she climbed up onto the roof of the palace. 

  "I went out." She said.

 "Out? You know, going out into the gardens isn't a crime -" He started.

  "No, no. Not out into the gardens. I went out... into the city." Clara said quietly. 

"You did what now?!" Sébastien gasped, head snapping round to face her.

   "I went out into to the city. The first time was two days ago, the day we went to the barracks. The second time was this afternoon." Clara hurriedly exclaimed.

  "Clara, if mother and father find out -" Sébastien started.

  "They won't. I know you won't tell them. And I know Isla won't. And when I tell her, AJ won't wither. Sébastien, please!" Clara pleaded, "I just wanted to see the world outside these walls. And now that I have, I just... I want to do something to help, but what power do I have? Even if I do something to help, there are thousands, millions of people who are poor and hungry." Clara sighed, "When I went out this afternoon, I took as much as I could carry and handed them out, but it's not enough."

   Sébastien looked at her with something in his eyes that she couldn't decipher. "Clara?" 

  "Sébastien, father isn't doing anything to help them. They're his subjects and he's doing nothing!" Clara exclaimed quietly.

  "Clara! Not here, not now. Someone could hear you. We'll talk about this somewhere else." Sébastien hushed her.

   Clara nodded.

  Sébastien sighed before smiling, "You're stubborn, you know that?" He stated.

 "I know!" Clara beamed.

 He laughed. "I'm off. Get some sleep. Bonne nuit!" He hugged her briefly before he left her alone on the balcony.

  "Bonne nuit!" She called after him.

  Turning back to look at the stars, Clara started singing again.

"I have a dream, a fantasy." She sang softly, "To help me through reality. And my destination makes it worth the while. Pushing through the darkness, still another mile."

  Clara smiled.

 "I believe in angels, something good in everything I see. I believe in angels, when I know the time is right for me. I'll cross the stream... I have a dream." 

   After she finished, she stayed on the balcony a moment longer before heading back inside and blowing out the candles.

~|---|~*~|---|~