I stayed silent all the time we were walking toward Arcadia's capital, Coronata. Sir Frederick was a malicious creature which took the place of the real Sir Frederick, who was probably a Fey by now. He was helpful, sure, and as the Royal Researcher said, changelings weren't all evil. Still, he should've trusted us enough to tell us.

Ryan and Tara looked back and forth between me and Sir Frederick, not willing to fill the rather uncomfortable silence.

Mother trusted him enough, though. Decades of trust should not be stripped away with a single discovery. One of the first things Mother taught me was to always give a second chance if the person deserves it, and Sir Frederick did.

After about an hour, Tara closed her eyes. When she opened them again, her eyes shone an eerie gold. "We're close," she reported. "Everyone put on their disguises."

Sir Frederick morphed into an Eastern traveller. Right, changeling powers. Tara just shifted into a small puppy, and Sir Frederick gripped her leash. Ryan draped a cape over his shoulders, as he wasn't very well known anyway, and I had styled my hair into a bun and covered it with a hooded cloak to pretend that I had short hair. Not a great disguise, but perhaps enough to fool the fake king's soldiers. Perhaps. I can't cut off my hair---it's a symbol of royalty. All pure-blooded females of the Arcadian royal family has had long, brown hair. A pure-blood means someone of purely noble blood. My cousin Isabella was born of Father's little brother, Gregory, and a peasant girl. She ended up having red hair and the typical raven-black skin of an Africana like Sir Frederick, an odd combination. Mysteriously, she died when she was twelve and I was eleven. I loved playing with her. She was a bright ray of sunshine who lit up the entire room with her smile, and we were great friends. The whole country mourned her for a year.

Finally, we reached the fence. I don't remember this---it must be a new addition of the usurper.

We climbed over the fence and landed on the inside of the city's borders, in a dark alleyway. King Terran must be a complete fool if he thought that would stop me.

Suddenly, we heard footsteps. Patrols!

"Oh, shoot," Ryan cursed. "They've got patrols now."

As soon as the footsteps passed, we crept out of the alleyway and into a big street. Danver Road! I remembered it as the location of one of the biggest markets in the Ondalian District. Now, all that remained of the once colourful, noisy market was filth, dust, a few rats scuttling around for scraps of food, downcast villagers wandering around, and some young children running around.

Anger boiled inside me. This was what King Terran had done to my country---reduced it into dull shadows of the vibrant country it had once been. I will never forgive King Terran.

Suddenly, there was a loud ripping sound behind me, and I saw Ryan tearing off a 'WANTED' poster from the wall. There was a reward of twenty million gold coins for... me?

"Looks like the king isn't keeping up the pretence anymore," Tara said grimly. "He's really out to get you. With that sort of reward..." she trailed off.

I pulled my cloak tighter around me. Now, no matter what happened, I couldn't reveal myself.

Suddenly, a young boy ran by, slipping on a muddy puddle and falling. As he fell, he grabbed my cloak for balance, but tore it off instead.

"No!" I cried.

Big mistake.

The villagers took one look at me and started to murmur among themselves. "It's the Queen!" "The Queen is here!" "Isn't there a reward for twenty million gold coins?"

I froze.

The next thing they said shocked me out of my temporary paralysis. "Get her!" a villager yelled.

"Run!" Ryan yelled at me, and we took off as fast as we could. Tara turned into a horse and let Sir Frederick climb on and trotted away, leaving me and Ryan running for our lives.

We turned around a corner and found ourselves in front of a café---Ralliway Restaurant. I'd saved the life of the owners' son once by taking their son to the castle for treatment when I'd visited and learnt that their son had a terrible illness. They wouldn't betray me.

"In!" I urged Ryan, and closed the door behind us. The restaurant was nearly empty except for a few others, most of whom I recognised as Mother's most loyal soldiers.

Mrs Ralliway, one of the owners, trotted down the stairs and welcomed me gratefully. "Dear Rhianna! What brings you here? You haven't visited in almost three years!" she scolded, waving her ladle.

"I'll tell you later," I panted. "Now Ryan and I just need to hide."

She nodded grimly and pushed us towards one of the tables in the back.

"Sit," she ordered. "We'll all cover for you."

I nodded and sat down, dragging Ryan after me.

"Rhia! What do you think you're doing? These people could betray us easily---"

I put a finger to his lips and shushed him. "I saved Mrs Ralliway's son's life once, and most of these customers are Mother's most loyal knights."

Suddenly, Faustan soldiers came barging in. Some of the villagers chasing us must've tipped them off.

Well, desperate times call for desperate measures.

Quickly, I grabbed Ryan's face and kissed him, burying my face in his so that the soldiers wouldn't be able to see my face. His lips tasted like vanilla and honey, with a bit of peppermint, and smelled like morning dew, clean and fresh.

I heard the soldiers demand where we were, then Mrs Ralliway saying that she saw a pair of people running by her restaurant. The soldiers went, and only when their footsteps had completely faded away did I pull away from Ryan.

"Wow," he said, dazed. "What just happened? Do you, like, uh... like me?"

"You are an idiot," I hissed. "I only kissed you so they wouldn't see my face. A royal can never like a mercenary. Ever."

A royal cannot like a mercenary. I had to keep telling myself that.

Then why did I feel a tiny bit sad?