"Ben," I say after I've dressed following my bath.  I never know how Ben does what he does, but he's never lied to me before. If he says to just say his name and he'll be there, then I believe him.

Sia and Mirriania are laying on my bed, their wings spread out after being confined all day while mine are once again held tight to my body. I sit down at the table with a pen and paper as Ben flies through the window.

"You shouldn't fly around here," I say as I start writing my note to Casimir. I've decided that I'll tell Casimir to meet me at 8:00 instead of 9:00. That will give us an extra hour together, which means we'll be able to do what I'm hoping to do.

"No one has ever seen me before. No one will see me now," Ben replies. He picks up a piece of fruit from the bowl on the table and puts it in his pocket. "So, what does the princess need?"

"The other ladies... do you know their schedules?"

"I know everyone's schedule. That's why I'm here, isn't it?"

"Ben..." I sigh as I put down my pen and look up at him.

"Yes, I know the schedules of the other ladies and yes they're all the same aside from varying times during which they meet with the prince and yes, only yours is different. Would you like me to change it?"

"Obviously."

He hands me a piece of parchment rolled and sealed with the royal crest. I glance at him with a raised eyebrow, then break the seal and unroll the paper. Day 1 looks exactly the same, but Day 2 and every day that follows looks very different. The lessons are replaced with tours, time with the king and queen, time for rest, and socializing with nobles. The difference is astounding.

"Thank you," I say to Ben as I toss the old version of my schedule into the fire.

"Before you ask, I already replaced everyone's schedule with this new one. So your guards and the staff have this as your schedule as well," Ben says. "And make sure both Inaria and Vin are with you when you when you move through the castle in the morning and at night. I haven't found the reason yet, but something is off."

Ben whispers the last part to me, likely knowing that if Sia and Mirriania hear it they'll be too worried. They may be fine with doing this for me and they may possess the skills to fight if the need arises, but both of them would likely feel a lot of anxiety if they heard Ben's warning. Anxious Sia and Mirriania are two people I'd prefer not to be around in this particular situation.

I nod to him slightly and turn my attention back to my pen and paper. "Wait!" I say before he leaves.

"You want me to deliver that," he sighs.

"Will you?"

"I'm not a messenger."

"For me?"

"I'm not a messenger."

"But you'll do it?"

"I'm not doing anything else... you have three minutes."

I smile at him, then quickly start writing my message in Avian:

Dear Casimir,

We are supposed to meet tomorrow at 9:00 tomorrow morning. However, if you would like some extra time and a special surprise with me, then meet me by the door to the East Gardens at 8:00 in the morning. I promise it will be worth it.

Zinnia

I hand roll the paper up and tie it with a ribbon then hand it to Ben. "Thank you," I say with a smile.

"Save some for me," Ben says in response before flying out of the window. I have no idea what he's referring to, but I have too much to do to think about it anyways.

"Sia, Mirriania, I'll be back as soon as possible," I say as I stand up and walk towards the door.

"Are you sure you don't want help?" Mirriania asks.

"No, I have Inaria and Vin if I need anything."  I pull open both doors to my room and step out.

"Ready?" Vin asks.

"Let's go," I respond.

***

I show up to breakfast on time, but I leave soon after. I have to be at the entrance to the East Gardens by 8:00 and before I do that I need to get my basket of food from the kitchen. I only make it halfway to the kitchen before I'm greeted by Sia holding a basket out in front of her.

"Thank you, Sia," I say with a smile as I hug her tightly. "I don't think I would have made it otherwise."

"Just enjoy yourself," she replies with a wink. Then she turns and rushes off in the opposite direction. She's always been a little weird, but I think she's getting weirder every day we spend in this kingdom. I tell Vin and Inaria to leave as well. They aren't happy with my decision, but I remind them that Ben will most likely be nearby watching me anyways and I can handle myself. Besides, they don't know my plan and if I could evade my father's guards when I was seven, I can certainly evade them now. And I'd prefer them not be present to make any remarks as I know they'll both want to do. So with a lot of grumbling and a mumbled declaration that they'll be waiting for me when I return, they leave.

By the time I get to the door leading to the East Gardens, Casimir is already waiting for me. He's early.

"You came," I say as I approach him.

"You knew I would," he replies.

"I thought it was likely."

"And you just assumed I'd know that language?"

"I may have asked your language instructor what language you'd know that most other people wouldn't. I don't think your mother would be too happy about you spending an extra hour with me. After all, it doesn't seem like she even likes me. And after yesterday, I figured anyone who found out would tell her."

He nods as he smiles at me. Then he whispers to me, "I thought that might be the case, which is why we should probably leave as soon as possible. My guards will find me soon enough."

"You evaded your guards?" I question him.

"Kind of..." He motions with his head toward the gardens. I look, but I don't see anything, so I walk closer and look toward where he's motioning. When I'm past the arches, I see two guards who smile and wave at me. "That's Marcus and Julius. Neither of them is supposed to be guarding me, but after I got your message I convinced them to work this morning instead of taking the day off. They're the only two on my guard I know won't say a word to my mother or father."

"They're loyal only to you, then?" I ask.

"Their first loyalty is to me, anyways. But we did evade the rest of my guards and it won't be long before they find us."

"Then we should probably leave soon," I respond as I begin walking toward the stables. I did a lot during my free time last night. I made the food for my time with Casimir and while I waited for the dough to rise I found the stables. I found a horse that allowed me to ride it and I found somewhere for us to sit and enjoy each other's company.

"I was thinking we could go horseback riding," I say when we arrive at the stables.

"Really? Do you have a destination in mind?"

"I do and you will just have to wait and see where it is."

"You won't tell me where we're going?" he asks as he walks up to a horse I assume is his own based on its reaction to him.

"It's a surprise."

"I suppose I should have expected that considering it's all I've done to you." He turns to me with a smile that reaches his eyes. "I'm excited, though. I think this is the first time I've been surprised."

I get on my horse and smile at him as he gets on his.  "Follow me.  If we hurry, we can still see it."

"See what?" He asks, but I know he doesn't expect an answer.  He wouldn't have answered if I'd asked, so I'm sure he doesn't expect an answer from me.

I lead him through a forest behind the castle. I assume it's part of the royal family's territory since it's so easily accessible from the castle itself. Besides, I've heard that there is a forest that doubles as the royal hunting grounds, so I assume that this is it. Despite this fact, I'm relatively confident that no one will look for us in the area I've discovered.

We make our way through the trees and begin to trot up a hill with grass that reaches halfway up my calves even though I'm on horseback. When we get to the top, the trees are more scarce and a cliff comes into view.

I know from experience that height gives way to the most beautiful views of ordinary things. I originally hoped to come for the sunrise, but that was unlikely to happen, so I settled for the bright glow of the recently risen sun over the stream at the bottom of the cliff. I hadn't seen it, but I just knew it would be a magnificent sight, even if not as much so as the zinnias or most views under the moon.

"So this is it?" Casimir asks when we stop just a few feet from the edge. From here we can see the stream far below and the vegetation that seems to thrive there, the trees that stretch in every direction, the various animals that move through those trees, and of course the glow that I'm hoping to show Casimir.

"This is it," I respond.

"I don't think I've been here before."

"I thought that might be true," I say as I smile at him before dismounting from my horse. I show him the basket I've brought with me. "And I also managed to bring the foods you requested."

"You're full of surprises, but now I have so many questions."

"You didn't think I could cook?"

"I didn't think you'd learn to read and write Avian, find somewhere like this, and cook all in such a short amount of time."

"I'm talented... and I had some help." I sit down at the edge of the cliff with my feet hanging over the side. It takes a while for Casimir to join me, so I look back to find him tying the horses to a nearby tree. I completely forgot that humans do that. Mother once mentioned it, but since we always leave our horses to roam freely in Avia, I just did the same when we arrived. I might need to slow down from now on and observe before I act so that I don't accidentally cause suspicion. I might be able to explain some things as normal actions for the common people, but I don't want to rely too much on that excuse.

Once he's done with the horses, Casimir walks over and sits next to me.  "You managed to find a place that's even more beautiful than the garden," he says.  "You continue to surprise me."

"I don't think it's more beautiful than the garden, but I'm biased."  I can feel his eyes on me, so I continue.  "My mother loved Zinnias.  It's where I got my name.  So I kind of feel connected to her in that garden.  I feel like she's there with me, so it's more beautiful to me there.  Besides, this would be more beautiful at sunrise."

"I think that might be the first piece of new information I've learned about you," he says as he turns and lets his eyes settle on me.

I hesitate, but eventually turn to look at him as well.  "Very well.  Ask me anything."

"What do you enjoy doing?"

"I... uh, I..."  I suddenly realize I don't actually know myself all that well.  I practice with my sword often and I practice with my bow and arrows when I can, but I don't necessarily enjoy it.  I'm simply good at it and I had plans to join Cynthia's guard when she became queen.  I flew a lot, but I can't say that I enjoy flying.  I haven't done much else.  Somehow I've managed to avoid all of my responsibilities while also avoiding having any real fun.  When I was younger, I tried to find something I enjoyed, but it was hard with how overprotective father could be paired with the fact that I was a princess.  Even when I managed to escape the castle, I was limited in what I could do since I had to avoid being found.

"I guess I don't know," I finally say with a frown.  "Up until recently, I've just been helping everyone else.  I helped two of my friends communicate so that they could begin courting.  I helped my sister and my best friend begin their relationship.  I planned on helping her follow in my father's footsteps.  I've just been... helping everyone.  I haven't really thought of what's fun for me."

"What about when you sneak out?  Didn't you have fun?"

"Not really," I say in embarrassment.  "When I snuck out, I was avoiding my chores and lessons.  I usually just climbed a tree or went to a river and thought."

"Were you having fun when you climbed a tree to think?"

"It was relaxing, but I don't know about fun.  It makes me happy, but not the same way as other people look when they have fun.  It's just relaxing."

"Zinnia, what do you do in your free time?"

I sigh as I lay back on the grass. "I don't have much free time and when I do have free time I just focus on other people."

"Why not focus on yourself?"

"I'm scared to focus on myself. There's just a chance that when I do, I'll realize that that I don't know who I am or what I want or if I even have a real purpose. It's a scary thought. So I just focus on everyone else. I'm really good at that."

He's silent for a while, so I look over at him to see what he's doing. He's just looking at me, with a smile that's mixed with concern.

"What does that look mean?" I ask.

"I just wish you didn't feel that way, but I'm happy that you shared that with me."

"Well, you share with me a lot. It's only fair that I share some of myself with you too."

"How about this, I won't force you to think about yourself, but I'm going to think about you."

"Meaning...?"

"I'm going to help you find something fun to do in your free time."

"No, you don't-"

"I'm making it my mission to help you find some fun activity to do in your free time. Then after we do that, I'm going to help you realize that who you are is a pretty amazing person."

I laugh a bit as I sit back up and turn towards Casimir.  "Will my protestations make you change your mind?"

"If you really don't want me to, I won't."

I smile as I focus my attention on the basket of food. "You can try if you want. I won't stop you."

"Then I'll make it my mission to find something that you find fun."

"Good luck."