TW: There is some violence in multiple places in this chapter. It's not graphic or anything, but I'll mark where it starts and stops in bold.

Emmaline paces around the room, searching for items to aid in her plan.

"Emmaline!" Elizabeth grabbed her arm, turning the girl to look down at her. "What are you doing?"

"Leaving." She says shortly, grabbing a larger rock from the collection Elizabeth had, which was kept a secret from their parents. Not very "ladylike" apparently.

"What? You can't leave!" Elizabeth protests, trailing after the older girl. "Why do you have one of my rocks?"

"I need to get into my room," she answers. "Do you have a key to unlock this from the inside?"

"Yes, Father forgot to take it." She nodded and opened a drawer, picking up a key and handing it to Emmaline. "Please stay, Emmaline."

"I can't, you know I can't." She shakes her head sadly, unlocking the door.

"No, please don't leave me!" Elizabeth exclaims, catching Emmaline's hand before she opened the door.

"Come with me," Emmaline urges, making Elizabeth freeze and stare at her silently for a few seconds.

"I- I can't." The younger girl shakes hed head, stepping back.

"Yes, you can. Father will make you marry if I leave, come with me." Emmaline tries to persuade.

"I can't. I'm not like you Emmaline. You're strong, and smart, and independent, and adventurous, and everything I can't be. Royal life is all I know, I won't be good out there. I'll just slow you down."

The sisters stare at each other for a moment, a multitude of emotions rushing between them. Emmaline quickly pulls her into a hug, shocking the younger girl. They were never an affectionate, she can count on one hand how many times she's been embraced.

"Are you sure?" Emmaline whispers as she clutches the younger girls head, who nods.

"I'll miss you." Elizabeth says quietly, holding on tightly to her older sister, the most maternal figure she's had. The two pull apart, and Elizabeth looks at Emmaline in concern

"What will I say to Father? You know he is coming to the room to speak with you soon."

"Tell him to take care of his only daughter." Emmaline orders, and despite the wedge driven between them, she still feels her heart clench at the idea of no longer being her father's daughter.

Emmaline turns the door knob, opening it quietly and peering out to check the corridor. When no one was there, she stepped out.

"Emmaline?"

The princess turns back to see her sister looking at her with tears in her eyes, and for the first and last time in their lives, she whispers three words.

"I love you."

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Emmaline comes to a stop in front of her door, whipping her head around to look for people. When she sees none, she raises Elizabeth's rock high above her head and slams in down onto the doorknob. She smashes it a few more times before it finally breaks away, the room's lock breaking with it.

Emmaline pushes the door open and rushes to her closet, not wanting waste time and risk being caught. She grabs a knapsack from a closet shelf and quickly stuffs an assortment of dresses, pants, and blouses, not paying much attention to the specific piece of clothing grabbed.

She runs around the room, stuffing various things needed for her survival before stopping to delicately grab the sheathed dagger from it's locked case on her desk. It had been a gift from her father a few years ago, though now it would aid her to defy his wishes.

She straps the garter for it onto her thigh, grateful she had chosen a dress with a slit to wear today. She quickly clasps a cloak over her dress, stuffing another one in her bag for Anna.

Emmaline grabs her boots and laces them up quickly, peeking out of the door to check the corridor before shutting the door and stacking furniture in front of it.

Emmaline looks around her room for a second before spotting the rope she used to jump out the window last time, not wanting to risk going downstairs and being caught.

She ties it around her waist and the bed post securely, not wasting any time as she clutches the rope and slides off the edge of the windowsill.

She squeezes her eyes shut until the rope yanks to a stop, dangling her a few feet over the ground. She maneuvers to untie herself from it, falling onto the grass of the garden.

Emmaline stands up quickly and runs to the back of the castle, sneaking in through the servant entrance. She keeps her head down, doing her best to stay unnoticed as she quietly makes her way to the dungeons. She makes it to the stairwell that descends to the cells when she feels an arm wrap around her bicep, yanking her back behind someone.

"Hey, where do you think you're- Your Majesty?"

Emmaline turns to see a castle guard staring down at her in confusion, panic pooling in her stomach.

"Yes, I've come to speak with a prisoner." She says calmy, attempting to keep a level head. "Let me through."

"I wasn't notified by the King-"

"I'm sorry, have you forgotten your place?" Emmaline snaps, internally wincing at the snobiness of the words.

"Of course not." He quickly shakes his head, stepping to the side. "Would you like me to accompany you down?"

"No, I'll be able-"

"James! The King just sent word to keep a lookout for Princess Emmaline, she's not in her room."

The guard, who she assumed to be James, turned back to her with a hard expression and Emmaline's eyes widened. She opened her mouth to try to explain, but when no words came out, the man turned back to go to his superior.

*TW for Violence Starts*

In a moment of panic, Emmaline whips the dagger from her garter and grips his shoulder, slashing the blade across his throat from behind without thinking. He falls to the ground with blood pouring from his throat, splattering onto her shoes.

*TW for Violence over*

Emmaline's hand clasps over her mouth in shock, heart racing. Dread and panic pooled in her stomach at the realization of what she just did. She stands there for a moment im shock, still processing what happened. She bends down to grab the keys hooked to his pants and slides the dagger back into it's garter.

She squeezes her eyes shut and shakes her head before tearing her eyes away from the body and running down the stairs. She needs to help Anna, she can't let anything distract her.

Emmaline sprints down the cells, glancing in each one to see where the girl is. She finally comes to a cell near the end of the hall and spots her. She was laying against the wall, head tilted back to stare at the ceiling.

"Anna!" Emmaline calls quietly as she falls to her knees at the door, grasping the bars. Anna's head snaps over to Emmaline, quickly scrambling to crawl over to the door of the cell.

Now that she's closer to the light, Emmaline can see injuries that were not there when they were in the garden, making more anger bubble in her stomach. Anna's face was cut in multiple places, blood dried under her nose, presumably from a hit to it, and bruises all over her arms.

"Emmaline!" Anna whispers, body pressed as close to the bars as possible. "How are you here?"

"Nevermind that, I'm here to break you out." Emmaline fumbles with the keys, sticking different ones in the lock.

"Emmaline, no, you can't." Anna shakes her head. "I can't let you throw your life away for me."

"I have no life here," Emmaline looks up, sorrow filling both the girls' eyes. "And I cannot let you pay the price for my mistakes."

"It wasn't your fault, you can still be happy and-"

"Anna, I am now a known lesbian and have just killed a man." Emmaline's voice shakes. "My fate is sealed if I stay here."

"You killed a man?" Anna squeaks as Emmaline finally finds the correct key and unlocks the door.

"Let's hope it'll only be one," she mutters as she pushes the door open. She stands and holds a hand out to Anna, who hesitates for a moment before taking it. Emmaline pulls her to her feet, not letting go of Anna's hand.

"Where will we go?" Anna questions.

"Anywhere but here." Emmaline answers bitterly.

The girls break into a run, climbing the stairs again and stopping at the top.

"They're looking for me," Emmaline whispers as she peeks around the corner, tugging Anna to run after her when she sees no people.

*TW: Vague Violence Starts*

They sprint through the corridors, only slowing down when a guard spots them from another hall. He tries to grab them, but Emmaline takes her dagger and slashes at him, not stopping or looking back to see the damage done.

*Vague Violence is Over*

Emmaline can hear the shouting of various men throughout the castle, but she pays no attention to it. She grips the knife tightly in her first as they whip past hallway after hallway, hand in hand.

Emmaline and Anna turn another corner and Emmaline brandishes the knife the sight of a figure at the end of the corridor, but skids to a stop at the sight of a familiar face.

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Who could it be??? I wanna hear you guys' guesses, but I'm not going to tell you if you're right or not ;)

Love you all lots!