[Day 186] Eugenia part 4

Read part three!

That night, cots came out of the walls, and we slept. Food came periodically, but not often. I didn’t want to count how long we stayed there, but I guessed about a week. One other boy, who I didn’t recognize, was admitted into the room, stony-faced. But he was the last.

Finally, they came for us. The fourteen of us shuffled out of the room and were herded, for lack of a better description, into a large bus. I pretended we were going on a field trip, and whispered my made-up story to Zia. Being mentally somewhere else was a specialty of mine, and it always put my friend at ease.

“I’m so excited to get out of the classroom today!” Zia nodded enthusiastically, readily accepting the story.

“Mrs. Collins has been promising this forever. Aren’t you just in raptures to see the museum?”

“I really am. My goal is to see at least three original DaVinci’s! He’s my favorite.”

“I like him too, but I have to admit I’m a bit more excited to see Manet’s The Luncheon on the Grass. It looks so beautiful in our textbook.”

Zia, the less creative one in our long-held friendship, just nodded, but frowned. “Tell me a story. And make sure no buses or FF or tests are part of it at all.”

Understanding, I took a deep breath. “Once upon a time, in a land far far away…”

Princess Zia paced in her flamboyantly decorated bedroom. “Mother!” she called out finally.

“Yes, dear?” Queen Jackie hurried into the room. “May I come in now?”

“Mother, how could you?”

“He’s a lovely boy, Zia, with quite a large fortune…”

“I don’t care about his money!” the Princess threw a decorative vase at the wall, shattering it. “I have plenty of inheritance! I think I can afford to be romantic.”

“Fiscally, yes. Politically, no. We need this, Zia. A marriage is the only way to bridge the gaps between our countries.”

“I won’t do it.” Turning around to stare sullenly out the window, the princess indicated that the conversation was over. With an exaggerated sigh, the Queen left her daughter to her thoughts.

As Zia continued to pace, her eyes fell upon something nearly hidden near the back of her enormous walk-in closet. She went to investigate, and after much grunting pulled out a medium-sized traveling knapsack from in between an extravagant dollhouse and a trunk of baby clothes.

Inspiration hit her almost at once. “Eureka!”

Knowing she couldn’t afford to be slowed down, she threw three changes of “peasant” clothes into the bag, along with two thick blankets and minimal toiletries. Changing into the trousers and tunic she’d bought from a stable boy, she snuck down to the kitchen and stocked up on light but nonperishable food. After securing enough money to last her for the next four years and stuffing it in various places on her person, she In just two hours, she was ready.

Waiting until most of the castle’s staff had gone to bed, she snuck out her window with a rudimentary rope of bedsheets knotted together, and ran off into the night.

She travelled for several days, keeping her head down as she went through towns, as she was being hunted by the King’s guard for running away. Finally, she went into a small diner because she didn’t want to go through her rations too quickly.

The tables were mostly full, although there was a young man sitting alone near the back. She approached him slowly. “I’m sorry to bother you, but may I sit here?”

He nodded quietly and she sat down. The waiter took her order and disappeared.

For reasons neither of the young people understood, sharing that table formed a traveling bond, and so Princess Zia continued on her journey with a new partner. Over the next few weeks, they fell in love, as it often goes.

His name was Antonio, and he was the most beautiful man she’d ever laid eyes on. His dark hair complimented his light eyes and skin, and there was very little baby-fat left on his strong, muscular frame. The only thing she knew of his past was that he was also fleeing from an arranged marriage.

One day, Antonio went into a shop to buy some food, and Zia waited on the outskirts of town. As she waited, she noticed a sign with a man that looked strangely like Antonio on a nearby tree. Going closer, she read.

“Missing- Prince Antonio of Denmark. Gratuitous reward offered.”

Understanding hit her like a high-speed freight train. The unknown man she had been traveling with was her betrothed!

Antonio appeared then, arms full of new rations. He looked at the sign, looked at Zia, and she watched his face change in understanding.

“Well.” he finally said. “That’s lucky.”

After a few more weeks on the road without responsibilities, the two young people returned to their respective castles and were married within the month. It was a beautiful wedding that set them up for a beautiful happy-ever-after.

“The end.” sighed Zia, smiling as she drifted off to sleep by the gentle rocking of the bus. I smiled too, but it didn’t reach my eyes. My stories could only distract; they couldn’t actually solve anything. In the next few days, both Princess Zia and I were going to die.

Continued in part 5