Merri, called by some Meredith, sat at the edge of the lake with her feet and ankles submerged in the clear calm water. She knew she shouldn't be there at that moment in time, but she always ran away from the manor when her parents left. Right now she needed to enjoy herself as much as she could because she knew that any moment someone would notice she was gone and send a servant to fetch her.

They all knew the routine by now since she had run away countless times. They knew where she went, and Merri didn't bother to find a new spot. She was perfectly content and in the same time in love with the smell coming off the pines around her, the fresh breeze in the air, the sounds of the animals, and many other elements that made it perfect. Simply sitting on the dirt and leaning against a rock was much more relaxing to Merri than the comfiest chair in the manor.

Her thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a distant yell. "Mistress Merri!" came from an obviously distressed, and if Merri didn't know any better was the more than usual frantic voice of her poor old maid, Gertrude.

Of all people to send, send the old woman who is the only one nice to me besides my parents, she thought. Now I can't play my usual game of "pretend like you can't hear them until they are right next to you screaming in your ear. "Coming!" she yelled.

She started to stand but slipped on a rock and fell in the lake. Half of her blue dress was covered with water. At least her chestnut hair didn't get wet. It seemed to take forever for it to dry. "Great," she muttered to herself, "now I can be screamed at even more than usual. As long as we have no guests, I'll be fine." She sat down on the edge of a rock to help squeeze the water out of her dress which was bright sapphire with many under layers who had the sole purpose in this case of collecting more water.

Now that she was drenched she didn't feel nice enough to stand and go to the one calling her. Luckily, just then she was greeted by what did not look like a very cheery Gertrude. Merri noticed she had been crying, and it was extremely abnormal for her not to have made a comment on the awful state she was in. "Is everything alright?" Merri asked, letting a slight note of panic show in her voice.

Trying to cover up any little whimpers that may have been there she replied, "Oh dearie, just please come back to the manor with me and someone will tell you then."

"Okay," Merri muttered. Now she was beginning to become afraid which was an emotion she wasn't used to. Things didn't scare her easily, and not many things caused Gertrude grief. Merri trudged upward on toward the manor, collecting more and more grime on her halfway soaked dress.

Gertrude was now a slight bit calmer, but nowhere near complete wellness. "Dearie, you shouldn't have gotten your dress so dirty. It's my favorite on you. It matches your eyes exactly." Merri had been anticipating a comment on the dress and got a much less harsh one than expected. It appeared though, that it took a lot to make Gertrude stop making them.

"I know it was bad for me to make a mess of myself, and it's my favorite dress also," she said shocking herself and Gertrude. Merri was normally full of remarks that were considered to be talking back or sarcastic. They also never agreed with what the other person was saying. Some people were convinced her favorite thing in life was the ability to disagree. With the mood she was in and the mood set around her though, it seemed the only thing she could say.

On and on they trudged. Merri thought the spot she had been had never seemed like such a hike before. She was averaged-sized but she still took extremely small steps, but she was in shape. It wasn't like her steps could've gotten any smaller. Finally they reached the town. The town Merri lived in was not extremely big, but she liked it that way. She didn't have to deal with all the politics of the government. Her parents knew of all the politics of the government because they traveled frequently and dealt with people of those sorts all the time.

She had been mildly exposed to the larger places in the country she lived in. Her parents had taken her to balls and fancy parties, they had even held their own parties, and she learned she despised them. It wasn't so much the dancing and socializing, but it was the superficiality of all the people around her. She felt it was much better where people said what they thought and acted, as they wanted to.

They neared the townspeople. As her parents were in a way the "lord and lady of the land" here, she was recognized by the passer-bys. Some of the people gave her sympathetic looks as she passed. It was odd and frightening at the same time. The looks registered the fact that they felt sorry for her. She knew most of them hated her for she was in their opinion a spoiled rebellious brat who caused chaos all around. Merri didn't even cause that much trouble.

But if she really thought about it, what did she have? Parents who were hardly ever there. They were as loving as they could be when they were there though. Besides that, what? Servants to wait on her at hand and foot? No she wanted adventure. She wanted something unique and out of the ordinary to happen in her life.

The people looking at her were probably not even giving her looks of pity and sympathy. They were most likely looking disgustedly at the awful state of her dress. When she looked again she thought, No. Those are definitely pitiful looks. But why do they mourn for me? Then it hit her. It's the same reason Gertrude was crying. The way I got that awful feeling as soon as I saw Gertrude. Something awful has happened and I don't know what.

As they neared the manor, Merri spotted a carriage she didn't recognize. "Do we have visitors, Gertrude?" Merri asked.

"Yes mistress, I believe so." She was still upset over what she had been crying over earlier.

"And who is visiting?" Merri asked as if Gertrude should have just explained all she knew since Gertrude had to know more than that. Gertrude had a habit of only answering the direct question asked. It wasn't merely the sad mood she currently inhabited.

Not letting the annoyance in Merri's voice get to her she replied, "Your aunt and uncle."

Which aunt and uncle? I haven't had contact with any of my relatives for some time now. Could this have something to do with why everyone is upset and why I'm scared? Wondering wouldn't work. To get answers you had to ask questions. "And which of my aunts and uncles are visiting? Gertrude could you please explain all of it." Merri talked to her slowly to make sure she got the point. "You know I am 16 and that to me is old enough to take things more than one sentence at a time."

"The Duke Charles of Frell and his lovely wife Doanni, and they came all the way from the capital. They-" she was clearly about to say more as she had been instructed, but Merri cut her off.

"What are they doing here?! I've never met them in my life! Well actually they did come for my birth but that was only because…. I have no idea why they even came then, and besides that doesn't even really count. You know I haven't exactly heard the best things about them and their evil children. Thank God I've never met them! They might be good people because I've heard he's friends with the king or something. Or maybe he's just evil. He's probably cooking up a plan right now to kill the king! Now he probably wants our help. Well he's not getting any! No they're not! Why would they have traveled all the way to Flandyn if it didn't involve something evil? And why is everyone so upset? You all know something bad and won't tell me! I don't think our visitors caused this much disturbance!" Merri could have drawled on for hours: idea after idea, question after question, accusation after accusation and who knew what else.

Gertrude fortunately knew this by now and decided to bring Merri out of her little stage. She was also about to burst out crying hysterically. She slapped Merri's face a little harder than she maybe should have, but it didn't bother Merri because she was used to it by now. It did barely bother Merri though that she was interrupted. "Don't interrupt one of my great speeches next time." She glared angrily at Gertrude but knew that wouldn't get her anywhere. She decided to repeat herself if she hadn't made herself clear enough the first time. "Gertrude why is everyone so upset?! I demand an answer!"

She bursts into tears, "Oh please do not demand this knowledge out of me. Though I can tell you there are no royal assassinations in planning. I am not the right one to tell you, and the answers are to hard for me to bear anyhow."

Now Merri felt bad and was close to tears herself. Something terribly beyond even her imagination had happened, and Gertrude wouldn't or perhaps was not allowed to tell her.

Even at the time of her little "speech" she had known that her visiting relatives had done nothing of the sort but it didn't hurt to say it. Well sometimes she did in fact get in trouble for what she said. She hated to have to wait to ask questions only once she was all the way she was to the manor. It wasn't that far away, but she desperately wanted answers now.

Why on earth would they be here, she thought. I mean they wouldn't do anything if something wasn't in it for them or maybe if they would lose something by not doing it. Maybe the things I've heard about them aren't even true. No, that can't be, I've never heard any good about them ever, and I've heard a lot of talk about them. Even my mother talks ill of her sister. Father doesn't like them at all, but they're his in-laws so that can be expected. And I've heard they do NOT like our family at all. She finally remembered the mess her dress was in. They already don't like us, and now they get to see me and they'll probably talk about me like I'm the village slut. Oh well, whatever they are here for must be important.

Her answers wouldn't have to wait for such a long time because just then they approached the front door of her manor. She always wondered where the time went once she started thinking. Thinking made everything go by very fast. Merri stood still, and decided to let Gertrude get the door. Gertrude knocked the large oak door, and the butler, Henri, came.

"Oh Gertrude, I'm so glad you were able to find her." Henri too appeared to be upset though he hid it well. He let them walk in and then stared at Merri's dress. "What every has happened I suggest you change. Then you can join everyone in the dining hall."

Merri looked at him shocked. "I am not going to change my clothes! I don't care what anyone thinks. I want my answers now!" Both the servants knew not to challenge Merri in a temper so they left well enough alone.

"Very well, Mistress Meredith," Henri said. Because Merri did not want to change, they proceeded into the dining hall. In two of the chairs sat who she assumed to be her aunt and uncle and wear dressed very eloquently. Henri politely said, "Duke Charles and Duchess Doanni of Frell, I have Meredith of Calder as you requested." It bugged her how he insisted upon calling her Meredith.

She studied them for a while since she had never seen them before. The woman, her aunt, was adorned with jewels. Way too many jewels, thought Merri. She had luxurious brown locks, and Merri thought no possible way for them to be real. Her eyes were blue as were her husbands. The blue of their eyes was pale-not nearly as pretty as Merri's bright ocean blue ones. She had tears coming out of them. Her aunt was a good actress, but Merri could right through that act. Merri had pretended or lied enough to know when something wasn't real.

Her uncle had brown hair that was balding at the top. He looked like he might have possibly been handsome in his youth. Now it was hard for her to imagine it, though his wife and other middle-aged women might still find him attractive. He had managed to put a mournful look on his face that was very convincing. Merri, already having prejudices against him from the things she'd heard, didn't believe it to be true unhappiness.

They looked at her dress, but were too proper to make a comment on it. Instead her uncle more commanded than asked, "Meredith take a seat."

"It's Merri," she replied as she sat in the chair farthest from them. Her attention again became focused on the reason for everyone's grief. The Duke and Duchess scared her slightly so she decided to give them a chance to explain it without direction from her.

He gave no acknowledgement of what she said and continued, "Meredith, there's something we need to tell you." Oh here it comes, Merri thought. That dreaded something I've been waiting for. She nodded her head to show that she was ready. "Your parents were killed." Merri froze. She hadn't expected that. She then blamed herself for not even considering it. The wild imagination she possessed should have cooked that up. She must have been losing her touch. She refused to believe it.

"No. No they haven't. This is just some cruel trick some one has played on me. I know I'm not an angel all the time but not bad enough to get a trick like this played on me." It was sad the way she said it. She didn't even believe it was a trick. It was real and it was a nightmare.

Her aunt piped in, "I assure you we tell no lies." Maybe they weren't lying about this, but they definitely tell lies. "There were several witnesses."

"There were witnesses! No one tried to help them?" Merri was now in a rage. "If they saw them die, they could have done something!"

"I suggest you hold your tongue until we finish, young lady," her uncle said apparently losing any patience he had had with her at the beginning of their conversation. "The witnesses were not people who are likely to help anyone. Your parents were killed by bandits so the witnesses are some of the bandits themselves and the others children from the near village who happened to be around at the time."

"And how do you know your so called witnesses were telling the truth?" Merri asked trying to find some way for this not to be true.

"I assure you, your parents are no longer with us," her uncle said with aggravation. "I cannot prove that they were killed by bandits as it's said, but they are dead!"

How could he possibly be so mean? Doesn't he realize that I'm just in shock, which first leads to denial? Even if he didn't he could at least show some sympathy. How did he know that they were dead, anyway? Probably because he watched and laughed at them as they were tortured. I need to stop, shock changes the way I think. She was a little more relaxed now and asked, "Where and why? I know bandits are cruel and evil, but they don't kill without a reason."

"As I'm sure you probably know your parents were carrying quite a deal of money with them. It was known they had money with them. Fortunately they had been leaving Frell so most of that money had been safely stored there."

What was he talking about, "fortunately?" Merri luckily held her tongue, but that didn't mean she couldn't think it. Her parents had died. Nothing was fortunate. Only he was shallow enough to think that at least the money had been saved. Now Merri hated Frell. They certainly did travel a long way though, she thought. Frell is at practically the northernmost ((A/N: I'm just making that up. I have no idea where it is in terms of geographical location.)) tip of Kyrria, and here is as south as you can go. There is a slight possibility they could really care. Very slight, she reminded herself. Merri couldn't get too comfortable and just become not suspicious at all. That wasn't possible, Merri could never let her suspicions drop of anyone.

"Have you been listening to everything we've told you, Meredith?" her aunt asked.

"Yes," she lied. After her uncle's "fortunately" comment she had just sat there not listening to a word they said.

"Good, you shall accompany us back to Frell tomorrow morning. I'm sure your servants can have all your belongings packed by then."

"I'm moving?" Merri asked, becoming more and more shocked with every word that came out of their mouths.

"Yes, bright and early tomorrow morning. You didn't think you could stay here and manage the manor all by yourself did you?" Her aunt had a small point. She hadn't even considered the volume of things that would change with her parents no longer here. She certainly didn't want to live with them. That was the only reason they had traveled all this way: to get her.

"So I have less than 24 hours to say good-bye to the place I have called home for the last 16 years?"

"That is correct," her uncle answered in the driest and what she would have called a "most certainly" voice. She couldn't believe it. It was amazing how your whole life could change so easily.

"And I have no time at all to mourn for the death of my parents?" Merri wondered aloud.

"Oh, you can mourn for them for the rest of your life. It would be nice if you could possibly try to not do it in public." Her uncle's answer to her simple question was more than she could bear. She got up, slammed the door, and ran to her room while drowning in her own tears.

Merri had cried herself to sleep last night in the clothes had worn all day. Gertrude awoke her and quickly left the room. The first thing she noticed was how early it was. She never got up this early. Then she began noticing more, everything in her room was gone except clothes lain out for the coming day. She fell back into the bed; that proved the nightmare had been real. Tears swelled in her eyes causing her vision to blur; she wiped them away. Everything would end up being okay though. She could work out a plan.

She had just finished dressing when her aunt knocked on the door. "Meredith, wake up and come down, now. We're all waiting on you." She would also just have to live with them calling her Meredith for a little while. Only a little while, she told herself because she would escape them. She would escape them if it killed her to do so.

"I'm awake. I'll come down when I want to." She had to be a little bit defiant or else she would die.

"You'll come down now right now or I'll break down this door, Meredith!" Her aunt said as she kicked the door open.

"That was so lady-like," Merri said sarcastically. "You know the door was unlocked. I told you though, I'll come down when I feel it's time." Her aunt was in a very bad mood and glared at her crossly.

"It's time now, and now I feel obligated to make sure you make it all the way down the hallway and the stairs." Her aunt came over to her and held on to the back of her dress. Merri was small and sleep deprived so she could do nothing against her rather large aunt, who was surprisingly very strong. Her aunt dragged her down the hall while she kicked and swat at her.

"I can walk you know!" Merri exclaimed.

"I know that perfectly well, but I felt there was a lesson that needed to be taught."

"You'll never teach me everything I should know to be as proper a young lady as you would like!" Merri would never grasp the concept of just saying, "I've learned my lesson now. Would you please set me down?" That might not have worked in this particular situation, but it wouldn't aggravate it as her comment had.

"We'll see about that. And I'll set you down before anyone is in view. I wouldn't want to cause you or me embarrassment." She set Merri down. "Now please promise me you won't be so disagreeable on our trip to Frell. You certainly wouldn't want someone important to see you like that." I wouldn't care. It would only embarrass you. Merri was learning. That was another comment kept to herself.

"I'll try with my full potential to be well behaved." Her aunt seemed to accept that even though she wasn't quite sure of Merri's full potential. They left the manor and made their way to the extravagant carriage. Her uncle was already over there.

Her aunt pretended as if Merri were not there and commented to her husband, "We'll have to watch out for this one. She a very rebellious little wench."

Since she was ignored as the comment was said, Merri ignored the comment. Merri's eyes began to water when she was struck with a thought. "What is happening to my manor and all the servants?"

Her uncle was the one to answer this time, "Don't worry about the manor. As for the servants, they are all being relocated."

Relocated? There was nothing she could do to stop it, so no sense getting into more trouble. She was made of tough stuff. She could survive this trip. She would and then figure out a plan later.

"All your luggage has been packed so we best be on," her uncle told her.

"I'll sleep the whole way. Don't wake me up," Merri told them.

"Fine, I'll allow you to sleep, but I may need to wake you so we can discuss a few things," her uncle said, surprisingly agreeing to her request, but giving her something else to think about. Discussions? What type of discussions? I guess that's only normal; I mean they need to tell me about life in Frell. Well actually they probably just want to explain how I should not do certain things or perhaps people will mistake me for a commoner. They would consider that simply dreadful!

Merri entered the carriage and lay down on one of the two cushions benches of the carriage. If anyone else wanted to ride they would have to share the other one. Merri would make it as comfortable for herself as possible. "I'm going to sleep now."

She closed her eyes and was almost asleep when the carriage started. You never truly appreciate the stableness of a real bed until your bed is moving. It took her a while to fall asleep, and she was fortunately a sound sleeper so once she was out, she was out.

A couple of hours later, her uncle woke her up. The sun was high, but to her it seemed like she had just fallen asleep. Her uncle told her, "We should discuss things now. The carriage is approximately 2 hours away from Frell."

"Wake me up in 1 hour and 55 minutes. We'll a nice little brief discussion then," Merri said as she flopped back down on the seat.

"You'll discuss now. Well, you will if you know what's best for you." Her uncle was getting fed up.

"Oh, but I don't know what's best for me." He grabbed her arm and pulled her back up to where she was sitting. His face turned red and his ears looked ready to have smoke come out of them. He shot Merri a look that scared her. "Okay, we can talk now."

"Well, before all this misfortune came up we had planned a huge ball," her aunt started. "That ball is set for tomorrow, and we still intend on having that ball tomorrow. Do you understand what I've told you so far?" Merri nodded. It wasn't that hard to understand. "I don't want you to do anything… well, what's the word… mischievous."

"I understand that. I'll be good only for the sake of all the other people that will be there. What I don't get is why you aren't just locking me in my room and pretending I'm not there at all," Merri told them.

"Believe me, we certainly considered that," her aunt explained. "It's just that we felt that with all the people that will be attending…. Believe me there is going to be a lot of people. Well with all the people attending we thought it would be a good time to find you-"

"-an ideal mate," her husband finished.

"A what?" Merri asked alarmed.

Her aunt had clearly now figured out what she wanted to say, "We believe that with all the men that will be at the ball, it will be a good time to find you a husband."

"A husband?!" Merri screamed. She could've fainted only she wasn't the type of girl who did just that. Apparently they didn't want Merri around their house any longer than she had wanted to be.

"Yes Meredith, a husband," her aunt said, surprised Merri was so shocked.

"I'm too young to marry! I don't know anyone in Frell, and no one knows me. I know we don't like each other-more like hate each other-but you can't just marry me off as soon as I get there!"

"Don't waste your breath, child. We do as we please. And you're not too young to marry. Many marry much younger than you. Trust me, this whole ball isn't just for you. We were just happy we could fit you into it. Originally, we planned to find proper suitors for our daughters. They are about your age," her uncle explained as if it were no big deal. "And you better not try anything I've seen you do or the likes, and that's only in the short time I've known you."

"It'll be okay. I'm sure you'll end up with someone you won't despise. You're a beautiful young lady, and all the guys over there would be happy for you to be their wife. You also come from a wealthy and well-respected family." Wow, Merri had to give them credit. Those last few things her aunt said were compliments. Oh well, it didn't matter; she wouldn't marry anyone.

"It'll be exciting. You know, the prince of Kyrria will be there--not that he would go after a slut who's not close to their value." And the compliments come to an abrupt end. I knew they couldn't last very long. "They are around your and our daughters age. Maybe they'll go for Freya or even Adelaide, Charles. Wouldn't that be just splendid?" She continued droning on and on about how great that would be. They seemed to have forgotten that they were talking to her. Merri didn't mind though. She could do without their endless chatter.

Merri tried to fall asleep once again but all of her new thoughts didn't allow her to. She instead began to work out her plan. After much debate with her own self, she decided on one: she would run away the night of the ball. It would work out perfectly. She was sure no one would really pay that much attention to her, and everyone would be too caught up in their own social events to notice her disappearance. At least she hoped no one would notice her disappearance. It wasn't as if she had never run away either. She ran away all the time at her manor, and she wasn't noticed to be gone for hours. But then again, those times she hadn't been running away very far. She supposed it was better experience than nothing. Plus the hardest part was always sneaking away, not the journey itself.

Now all she would have to do was deal with these people for the remainder of this day and the next. How bad could her cousins be? Maybe they hadn't inherited any of their parents' wits and were just stupid blobs. Merri could think and hope but sometimes that didn't always work. Besides, they were probably just as much trouble. At least they were both girls. They would probably just tell her their wishes to become queen, and how beautiful they believed themselves to be. That was the typical girl of the stupid capital, she supposed. Boys on the other hand tended to not care so much about those things and instead about playing evil tricks to humiliate or just make a person look bad. Maybe Merri hadn't been exposed to so many boys in her lifetime but that was her perception of them.

When Merri stopped thinking, she instantaneously fell asleep. It was odd as she had gotten quite a bit of sleep last night and taken a nap this morning. It was hard work fighting a battle against tears. She didn't like to cry in front of people. She felt it made you simply look too weak. Most people would laugh at this notion, but Merri didn't know that. She had a lot of ideas and the ones she kept to herself would never change because nobody would tell her otherwise.

"Wake up!" someone shouted a tad too loud in Merri's ear.

"Oh come on, I'm not that heavy of a sleeper to where you have to attempt permanentally damaging my ear drum."

"My dear child, you would sleep on as the walls of a building burned down around you," replied her aunt who had first yelled to wake her up. And that was every so dainty, Merri thought.

"So what should I do now?" she asked.

"Right now, several servants are carrying your luggage to your room-"

"So I get a room?"

"Of course you get a room. We have to make you presentable if anyone comes over. You'll of course just be staying the guest room. I don't think you'll be staying for too long."

"Oh no, I shall not be staying long," she said. What her aunt said was very true. She would stay there for scarcely more than a day. A lot would go on in that short amount of time.

"And before I was interrupted," her aunt continued. And the attitude fights back. "Some servants are starting your bath and as soon as you see them, you're their responsibility. I've informed them on what to do with you. I don't want to see you until they make you come down for dinner. As for the ball tomorrow I'm sure you have a dress or if not we can adjust one of my daughters dresses."

Before Merri could ask any questions, her aunt walked away. She walked up the stairs and asked a couple of questions to make sure she was headed in the right direction. After she finished bathing, she found her room. Not bad, she thought. If any people do happen to come over it will look like quite hospitable accomindations.

She sat there thinking for a while. Tonight she would have to up with having dinner with the two most likely horrible children in the world. Now why did she already assume they were so evil. Evilness runs in the blood, she told herself. Merri could decide for herself tonight. That was what? Two or so more hours.

Merri put on a red dress that she had brought from home. The main and perhaps only reason she felt like joining them at all was her curiosity to meet their daughters: Adelaide and Freya.

She stepped into the room and the others were already sitting at the table. She observed the two girls, who looked extremely bratty and spoiled. The one that appeared to be younger and about her age was dull blue-eyed (sad that she had obviously inherited her mother and father's color) with brown curly locks. Merri suspected it was another wig. She had a bland look about her: like she was just staring into space. Merri assumed there wasn't all that much happening between her ears.

The older of the two, Merri had to admit, was pretty. Unlike the rest of her family she had somehow gotten blessed with think blonde natural looking hair. She also appeared to be smart. Her eyes were not empty like her sisters; instead they were filled with a demonic little glare. She was one of those people who knew what they wanted and how to get it. Underneath all of her beauty, Merri could see total ice. Merri had a knack of "reading" people just by looking into their eyes. In her opinion, eyes are the most expressive feature of everything.

Her aunt finally spoke, "I'm glad you were able to come down and join us." How can she be so cheery towards me one minute and so dark the next? It's just plain creepy. Her aunt pointed to the elder of her two daughters and said, "This is our lovely daughter, Freya. She just recently turned 18. And this is Adelaide, who's 16. How old are you again?"

"I'm 16," Merri replied. She was in a way crept out with her aunt being this nice. They forewent a while of cheerful conversation, and then their supper came out and with it talk about the ball.

"So Meredith, are you looking forward to the ball?" Freya asked.

"It seems quite exciting," she replied with no enthusiasm at all.

"Of course it shall be exciting. The darling prince shall be there. That man is so charming," Freya started. "Wouldn't you say Prince Andrew is the most lovely man alive?" That wasn't exactly a question you could answer. She would probably jump on her if Merri said she found him handsome, and she would probably yell if she said that he was ugly.

Fortunately Adelaide's eyes lit up with joy as she heard something she recognized. "Everyone has been saying that the prince fancies Freya. That would be so wonderful if she became Queen." At the mention of that Freya's eyes lit up, a fire dancing inside of them. Merri could see how power hungry she truly was. It was frightening. Adelaide continued, "And you're quite right. He is charming and very handsome. I love his freckles." She let out a little giggle after the last statement.

Now Freya's eyes burned with anger. "Do not talk of him like that. You have no right to be saying such things. I am the only one with those special privileges. He fancies me and me alone!" Freya didn't look pretty at all when she yelled, and was obviously very prone to jealousy. Merri doubted any of the things she said were true. Then again, she considered. Royalty is extremely shallow, and it's not as if she's an ugly hag. From what I've seen she certainly a bitch though.

After more screaming, yelling, and arguing, Merri slipped away and into her guest chambers for the night. Apparently, no one even noticed she had left. When she got up tomorrow she had much work to do. She had to pack very lightly and think hard about what to take. She decided not to bother herself with it tonight and to deal with it in the morning.

She slept soundly throughout the night and woke up in the morning to find a rush of servants coming in to pamper her. She had to admit it was nice but at the same time a little alarming. It was odd how her relatives seemed not to like her at all but yet their servants were taking such good care of her. She kept telling herself it was merely the fact that she must look presentable. Merri decided to go ahead and ask one of them, except not exactly in the form of a question. "You sure take good care of your guests here."

"We are accustomed to treat all of our guests to the most of our abilities, and we decided that since you were our lord and lady's niece to take extra good care of you." The servant was very helpful, but not quite bright because to her it seemed like it would be obvious to anyone that the Duke and Duchess did not want any special care towards her. She wasn't going to tell anyone; she may as well enjoy this now and if they did eventually find out she would be long gone, or at least she hopefully would be.

At just about eleven o'clock she had grown extremely tired of having people wait on her hand and foot. She asked them to leave several times; they argued a little, but one tiny glare from Merri sent them quickly away. She didn't really want to scare them, and at the same time knew one of her "looks" would. People who were too exceedingly nice annoyed her.

The ball didn't start for another five hours, and she desperately needed to prepare for her escape. She thought for a while about what she might need, and then set off to collect it. She gathered a few light changes of clothes, boots (she knew slippers would not last long), and a ton of money. Most of the stuff she needed would just end up being bought, such as food, and it didn't make much sense to carry so much stuff. She also carefully snuck around the manor and stole a pouch of money from her relatives. She wasn't necessarily greedy; she just happened to feel that they had too much money and likely wouldn't even notice its absence. She wouldn't use it on herself; just on all deprived people they had never bothered to think about helping. Well perhaps she may use it to buy herself some necessities.

She slyly crept into many of the other rooms, mainly to explore. She couldn't help the feeling of being watched. She pushed it aside knowing it was just her being her usual paranoid self. It wasn't like her uncle would send his guards to spy on what she was doing.

In one of these rooms she found a map of the area, which proved to be very useful. There was a town far enough away where she wouldn't be recognized (it wasn't as though she met many people anyway), yet close enough to where she could reach an inn and be in bed at a fairly decent time. The town she was to be headed was called Hondiel. She pocketed the map. Could anyone surely miss this that much? she wondered. Not likely they'd be traveling in a manner that would allow them to become as lost as I probably will be getting.

Feeling the stares at her back again she turned around and visually searched everywhere in view. No one was there but someone surely had to be. Annoyed she called, "Who the bloody hell is watching me?" No one replied, nothing even stirred mind Merri's own self. "I swear I'm crazy. Someone's going to lock me up one of these days," Merri said as she walked out the door. Little did she know she wasn't crazy (well in this situation) for in the very room she had just left, someone remained. They slowly turned their bright green eyes and left--though not in the same way Merri had.

"So tell me, is there anything I should possess concern over?" the older man asked of the handsome green-eyed man who had just entered the room.

"Nothing I would be concerned over. She seems to be handling things fairly well herself but she did seem a bit well-eccentric and paranoid. I don't know. I thought it was completely normal, and I still don't get why you even care."

"Son, I know you may have your own dealings and other stuff to take care of but… could you just do your old man a favor and keep an eye on her?"

"I'm sure I could fit it in even though I'm still mad at you because you never tell me why you care about things that I'm sure don't have crap to do anything else," the son told him.

"You always find out eventually anyway. You had to inherit some of remarkable skills." The younger man smiled. Most that he learned of being sneaky: stealing, lying, cheating, and various other things he had learned from his father. Not a very good example to be set if you thought about it. He began to leave when his father reminded him once more, "Please just keep your eye on her."

Dusk approached, earlier than it had at her home, and the ball was to start with the coming of night's darkness. Merri ran things over and over in her head as the servants made her dress perfect. The dress of course would be the first thing that came off. It was way too much hassle to try to get away in something like that. She had earlier found a maid's uniform; it was far more convenient to walk around in. And it wasn't as if that many people knew what she looked like. She could pass as a servant while she made her way towards the outskirts of their manor. She would have a cloak also, it wouldn't do to get cold. Then all I have to do is make it to Hondiel; she had money to deal with everything else.

Once the servants had finished she looked at herself in the mirror. Wow this dress is actually fairly nice and well fitted. They must really want to be rid of me. "Once the ball starts you will be properly introduced as I believe you have not before tonight," said one them, she wasn't quite sure who.

Talking to no one in particular she said, "No I haven't." How annoying to have to dance with a few people knowing that only a little after that she would be free of all the madness. Escaping what was surely going to be superficial hell and probably lead to her marriage was cause to celebrate. Too bad she couldn't until she was safely away.

"And don't muss your dress between now and when the ball starts. It wouldn't do very well for us to have to start all over," the one that talked before said. The thought of "starting over" with everything was enough for Merri to behave herself. At least the first time all she did was think about her plan. Now that it was worked out she didn't know what she'd do. Not knowing what to do she just waited-waited for instruction, something she didn't normally do.

What seemed to be hours later to Merri a servant pulled her out of her room and near the stairs where everyone was being announced as they walked down. Merri looked down and saw many people already down in the ballroom. All she really looked for was her aunt. She had to know where she was to make sure her aunt saw her dancing with someone. Otherwise she probably would get suspicious that Merri had done something drastic like run away. After seeing Merri, looking perfecting angelic, a couple of times she would most likely forget about her being busy making the ball perfect.

Turning around she realized someone was telling her to go forward. So off she went towards the stairs. "May I present Meredith of Calder, niece of the Duke and Duchess of the house in which we currently reside in," the herald announcing many other young ladies said. She didn't want to be known as the niece of these people but it surely would not help her one bit if she were to tell the herald that. She began her "journey" down the stairs all the while feeling uncomfortable from all the stairs she received from below. It wasn't attention that bothered her-that never had-it was more the fact that she felt as if all men down there were checking her out-seeing if she was any better of a girl to marry than the others they had seen.

When she was to the floor a young man immediately asked her to dance. She accepted, not ready to turn it down when another man, one with extremely large feet she noticed, was making his way over to her to ask the same. She scolded herself for being so superficial, but she just had a huge fear over things like that ever since she dropped several china plates causing more things to fall along with it and they just happened to land on her feet. And it wasn't that she was altogether sensitive, just that that had plain hurt.

Remembering to make sure her aunt saw her dancing she led her partner over towards them. Another thing you just didn't do was ask Merri how she knew how to dance well enough to lead. One of her good answers would probably be yelling at you about several years of hell. Merri looked around her partner's shoulder and observed other happenings at the ball. She saw Freya standing in front of what seemed to be hundreds of other girls talking-no, definitely flirting-with a tall attractive dark-haired freckled male about her own age. "Eyeing the prince over, eh?" her partner said making her blush.

"No," she said, "well not exactly." The prince, that explains it. I'm becoming slow. She looked outside again and it was fair dark-good enough to get away safely. The song she had been dancing to ended she told him, "I have to go get something."

He let her go but mumbled to himself something that sounded like, "That damn prince. It's not as if he's even looking to find a wife at this ball." It was slightly funny but she wasn't going to laugh. It wasn't meant to be humorous, and she surely didn't consider herself to be that cold. Forgetting him she subtlety left the ballroom and put her plan into action.

He makes me so mad, London thought to himself. And what aggravates me the most is that he doesn't care that I'll eventually know…. It would be so much simpler if he were to tell me there and then. And you see how good he was to his father? Going to keep an eye on the girl when he was mad at him. Maybe not mad but still…

He trudged on and on not really paying attention to anyone or anything around him. Big mistake. Not hearing or seeing the cloaked figure fall right in front of him, he too tripped and landed right next to it.