Chapter 4: Two Can Play This Game

The next day...

Martyn stood awkwardly in Michelle's room. She had been attempting to get a dress to fit him and was failing miserably. Her figure is much more thin than his and nothing fit.

"Suck it in!" Michelle was attempting to tie a corset around his bulky waist.

"I can't... do.. it!" He gasped for air as the corset became tighter.

Michelle stood back and admired her work once she had managed to tie the corset. His arms were ready to explode from the sleeves. The corset was ready to bust, he was unable to move, and could barely breathe.

"I don't think it fits." He stood in front of a mirror examining the outfit, gasping for breath.

"We're going shopping."

"Do I really have to go to this 'event'?" He moaned and attempted to remove the the outfit.

"I don't want to go alone. It'll be fun."

Upon attempting to remove the dress, a few seams did rip. "I ah, I'll get you another one?" He apologized.

"No, it was my idea. Come on, let's go find a dress for you."

"I'll never forgive you for this."

They made their way to a shop in their village and began browsing...

"You can't tell them it's for me." Martyn whispered to Michelle, pointing to the shop keepers.

"Don't worry."

She rummaged through a few dresses, mostly the larger sizes. Luckily for Martyn, the shop keeper was busy with another customer and never noticed he was the one going in the dressing room. She insisted he wear something a bit more 'girlie' with lace. He wanted something plain. They argued a bit back and forth until they found one that actually fit him and they both agreed on. Michelle made sure to snatch a wig that matched his hair color as well on her way to the counter.

Martyn pretended to look at something else while Michelle paid for the dress.

The shop keeper examined the dress, a bit confused. "I don't think this is going to fit you, Michelle. It's rather... large." The shop keeper held the dress up and inspected further.

"Oh, it's for a friend of mine." Michelle coughed awkwardly.

"Well, she's very lucky. It's a lovely dress."

"Uh, yeah... she is." Michelle glanced at Martyn who was trying to make a quick escape from the shop. "I really have to get going. Thanks!" She caught Martyn trying to hide somewhere nearby. The man was still a bit disturbed by the idea.

"We have to be there soon, we have to hurry."

Michelle had let her grandmother in on the idea. The older woman found the idea quite humorous and insisted she help with dressing him. Her grandmother viewed it as a challenge.

"Well," Michelle and her grandmother stood, observing Martyn in the dress and wig. This idea wasn't going to fool anyone. "nothing a little bit of make-up can't help." Michelle held some lipstick in his direction.

"Make-up?" He gawked.

Again, he had no say. Michelle covered him in make-up and observed her piece of art. "Perfect, no one would ever suspect you were a man."

"You owe me." He grumbled and looked at himself once more. The dress is a light blue and low enough to cover his manly legs. They had stuffed the top with some cloth to give him a more 'feminine' bust. The wig accented his face very well and with the make-up none would be the wiser, at least Michelle thought so.

Michelle gathered the necessary tools to perform and they left. The entire trip Martyn had been tugging at the dress, attempting to make it more comfortable. He never once stopped complaining about the draft or the weird feeling on his lips from the bright red lipstick.

"Alright." Michelle turned to him once they reached the castle. "Just try your best to sound like a girl."

"Like this?" He spoke in a high pitched voice.

"If that's the best you can do..."

"What if the queen figures out I'm a man!"

The two argued for a moment in the snow covered courtyard until interrupted by a servant girl.

"Oh, Alice." Michelle greeted the young woman that had helped her during the ball.

"Hi again miss Michelle." She greeted the musician. "I see you have a friend."

"Oh yes, this is Martyn-"

"Martyna!" He interrupted Michelle and attempted to bat his eyelashes.

"It's nice to meet you. Come inside, it's cold." Alice guided them into the castle.

Michelle leaned and whispered to Martyn. "Are you flirting with her? Don't forget you're pretending to be someone else."

"Isn't that what girls do? Flutter their eyelashes?"

Alice turned around to speak. "Is there something wrong?"

"No, no. We're fine." Michelle stomped on Martyn's foot to silence him, to which he let out a low squeal.

Michelle could feel a knot her stomach one they entered the castle. Amara would be inside, waiting to give her that glare. But at least Martyn was with her.

"Just this way." Alice led them through a few hallways. Martyn had become a bit sidetracked as he took in the beauty of the castle for himself.

A small crowd of women sat in a room Alice led them into, Amara off by herself in a corner peering outside of a window. Most of the girls here were around the age of about sixteen to early twenties. A few were servants and others appeared to be nobility.

Michelle tried to find a seat with Martyn somewhere without drawing the attention of the princess, which failed. Amara turned around and saw the two sneaking off into another corner.

"Ah, The Siren is here." The deep voice of the princess carried through the room, silencing everyone else. "And she brought a friend." Amara walked to the two and greeted Martyn, raising an eyebrow at him and looking him over.

"This is Martyna." Michelle lied and swallowed a nervous lump in her throat.

"Amara." She introduced herself to the man posing as a woman.

Martyn looked at Michelle nervously, giving her the look of 'she knows'.

"Nice to meet you, Martyna." Amara turned her attention to Michelle for a moment. "Good to see you again, Siren."

Michelle nodded and turned to Martyn; the man was sitting uncomfortably next to her, fidgeting a few times with the outfit. She half expected the princess to embarrass her around the others in the room, but she didn't. Instead, Amara made her way back to the window and peered back through the glass.

"She doesn't seem so bad." He whispered to Michelle.

"She's pretending!"

Their conversation was interrupted when another servant entered and asked for everyone to follow. The servant led the group outside to an area enclosed beneath a gazebo type building. The queen was already waiting here for the group. A few of the girls gathered around the fire that was crackling in the center. Amara made sure to stand agonizingly close to Michelle just to bother her.

The queen had dressed down a bit from her usual royal attire. Something a bit more comfortable and yet elegant in every way. She introduced Michelle as their guest musician that would perform a bit before they would have fun.

Behind the gazebo Michelle noticed a few interesting things. A large maze of bushes over ten feet tall stood in a distance along with other odd... obstacles. She wondered what she had gotten herself into. Martyn tried to distance himself from most of the crowd, trying to avoid as much interaction as possible.

Amara leaned over to Michelle and whispered to her. "Interesting friend you have there."

Perhaps Amara had caught on to the man dressed as a woman.

"A bit uglier than most girls." Amara whispered, dropping a subtle hint that she knew what was going on.

"That was incredibly rude." Michelle tried her best to hold back laughter. She knew Martyn didn't make a pretty girl but he was a handsome man.

Amara let out an amused chuckle and crossed her arms over her chest, clicking her tongue in her mouth in a disapproving fashion.

She knows, I knew she knows. Michelle watched as Alice approached Martyn. He attempted to brush her off a few times by playing shy.

The queen then asked if Michelle was ready to play. To this, she was relieved, she needed to be in her own world and away from the princess. The entire time Michelle played her violin, she kept her eye on both Martyn and Amara. She had a feeling Amara would attempt to reveal his 'secret' somehow. Instead, Amara sat quietly and listened, slightly entertained. Sometimes Amara would even turn to observe Martyn and shake her head at the man.

Eventually she came to a stop in her performance and the queen began to explain what they would be doing. She explained the tradition of the women and girls gathering to have fun. Simple games, and even a maze in the large bushes. Just a day of fun and nothing more.

"Except today, I figured we should do something a bit different." The queen further explained a couple rules. "We'll each have a partner."

Phew, a partner. I'm so glad I brought Martyn.

"So you'll have to use team work." The queen continued. Amara rolled her eyes at the entire event. "But, we decided it would be much more fun if your partners were randomly chosen."

Michelle began to slightly panic. She glanced at the other girls around her. There were about fifteen others then Amara and Martyn, making seventeen and with herself – eighteen. She began to calculate the odds she would be forced to team up with the princess.

"We have all your names right here in this hat." The queen brandished a small hat turned upside down. "Alice, if you would." The queen turned toward Alice and had Alice draw the names while she held the hat.

"Michelle." Alice called out. "And your partner will be..." She reached back into the hat and gave it a good shuffle.

The odds of me being paired with Amara are highly unlikely. I have such a low chance to-

"Amara."

What!

Another humorous chuckle came from the princess. She walked calmly over to Michelle and stood behind her, making sure Michelle was uncomfortable by the closeness. "Looks like it's you and me, Siren." She whispered and let her shoulder bump into Michelle's, causing Michelle to flinch slightly.

Alice continued to read and pair a few others until she reached Martyn. "Martyna, you'll be paired with... me!" She seemed a bit more excited than she should have been. Alice had made it very clear the night of the ball she was a fan of Michelle's and being paired with her friend made her even more happier.

Michelle attempted to take a few steps away from Amara. It couldn't possibly get any worse than this.

And she spoke too soon. The queen then made a second announcement: "To make it a bit more team oriented, you'll also be attached."

Attached!?

Amara wore the same look of shock on her face as Michelle. "Mother." She scoffed at the surprising announcement.

"It'll be fun! It makes you work as a team." The queen spoke with excitement.

Amara stepped closer to Michelle, uncomfortably close, and whispered to her. "She acts like we're still children."

Michelle shuffled away from Amara once more. The queen then opened a small box that held several sets of handcuff like tools. Amara brought her palm to her forehead and made sure to sigh loudly, attracting the attention of her mother.

And that was that. Amara and Michelle argued the entire time they were linked together. This caused them to lose every single event, and by lose- last place every time. But the final event was approaching now: the maze. They would now be stuck together, alone, and Michelle despised the idea completely.

"It's a bit dark in there." Amara said as they stood in front of the maze. The tall bushes had been cut so precise that they covered the top to keep the snow out. A few covered lanterns lit the pathways and yet it still gave off an eerie feeling. "You aren't scared are you?" Amara teased.

Michelle shivered a bit. The two had been at each others throats all day and now they would be forced into this rather large maze, alone. "Of course not."

"Sure you don't want to hold my hand?" Amara further taunted Michelle and grabbed the hand that was linked to her own.

"I'm fine." Michelle struggled to remove her hand from the princess' tight grasp.

"I've done this maze a hundred times. We'll win it, easy."

"Just like we won everything else?"

"Let's go." Amara dragged Michelle into the dark maze. She rounded several corners until they came to a dead end.

"Oh, I thought you knew your way through here." Michelle shot her a sly look with a smirk.

"I do." The princess led her around a few more corners and they came to another dead end.

"You really don't know where you are going. Face it, princess." Michelle then took lead. "Let's try this way."

"We just came from that direction." Amara pulled in the opposite direction.

"No, we just came from the direction you are trying to take us!" Michelle pulled back, creating a game of tug-o-war that lasted a few minutes.

"Stop being such a prude." The princess argued.

"Me, a prude?"

"The way you dress, act, play your violin." Amara attempted to wriggle herself from the cuffs as the next argument began.

"Well this would be a lot better if you weren't being such a brat!"

Amara gasped. "Me? A brat? I should have you beheaded for that comment!" She narrowed her eyes at Michelle and kept a very stern gaze.

"I, ah. I didn't mean that!"

The princess continued to give her that look for a few more seconds before laughing. "I had you going."

"You're... such...a brat."

"I'm not." Amara now had a more serious look in her eyes.

In the moment of silence and calmness Michelle felt she finally saw deeper into the princess. Her eyes were the same as her brother, and even for a moment she could have sworn she saw the same twinkle in her eyes she saw in her brother's.

"You like it." Amara said bluntly and poked her lightly in the shoulder with her index finger.

"What?" Michelle snapped back, confused.

"You heard me." Amara then took her free hand and touched Michelle's cheek.

Michelle swatted the hand away. "If this is your way of flirting with someone, you're completely going about it the wrong way."

"Then enlighten me." Amara purred, drawing close to Michelle's ear.

"You're never going to attract someone with an attitude like that." She shoved the princess back.

"Like what?" Amara wore a look of complete confusion.

"Being stuck up, bratty, arrogant, you're a complete push over." Michelle huffed. "And you don't know how to talk to people. You don't call their most prized possessions trash!"

"You're still stuck on that?" Amara shook her head.

"I just want to get out of here." Michelle pulled in a direction she believed they had not gone in.

"It's not that way." Amara spoke calmly.

"You played me, didn't you?" Michelle sighed. "You knew the way the entire time, didn't you?"

Amara simply smirked without a response and led her into a different direction. This time, they hit no dead ends. The princess guided her with ease until they saw sunlight streaming from the corner. Michelle was relieved to finally be out of the maze, and they came in last – again.

When they reached the exit Michelle picked up her pace, wanting more than ever to be at home.

"Can you keep up?" Amara raised one of her brows and began to sprint.

"I can't run that fast!" Michelle tried to warn her but it was too late. Her leg had become entangled with Amara's and they fell onto the snow covered ground.

This, the princess found most amusing. Amara had landed on her back and Michelle had fallen smack on top of her. The princess never once stopped laughing, entertained by Michelle's bad luck.

"You're so graceful, Siren." She managed to say in her laughter.

"I have a name, you know!" Michelle argued.

"How about you get off me before people get the wrong idea?"

Michelle had an idea though, would she regret it? Probably. She reached for a handful of snow and shoved it into Amara's face, invoking more laughter from the princess. "I'm ready to go home now, your highness." Michelle spoke the instant she was standing, dusting the snow off her dress. Amara was still on the ground covered in snow.

"Alright, alright." Amara caught Michelle off-guard and pulled her down just close enough to return the pleasure. She smeared a handful of snow into Michelle's face as well and continued in fits of laughter.

"Brat." Michelle struggled to wipe the cold snow from her face.

Amara finally stood and brushed herself off as well and leaned uncomfortably close again. "You like it." She cooed into Michelle's ear and found herself being pushed away harshly by the musician.

Finally unlinked, Michelle made a mad dart for Martyn. He was still standing with Alice and was talking to her.

"Oh, Michelle." He squeaked in his best feminine tone.

"Are you ready to go?"

"Well, actually..."

She dragged him away before he could finish to speak to him alone. "How did everything go?"

"Well, my wig fell off in the maze and blew my cover." He shrugged. "She said she wouldn't say anything when I explained what was happening."

"Amara dropped hints all day that she knew you were a man."

"Did she?"

"She said you were uglier than most girls..." Michelle could not hold back laughing at that.

"I don't know if I should be offended or not." He scratched an itch beneath the wig and leaned to her ear. "I'm ready to get out of this."

"I'm sorry! I just can't believe I was actually forced to partner with her all day. At first I thought I would be able to choose when the queen made the announcement. Amara must have rigged the whole thing!"

Martyn had slightly zoned out of the conversation. He had turned back to look at Alice.

"Oh, don't tell me you... you have a thing for her?"

"That's a long story." He smiled in Alice's direction.

The conversation was interrupted when Amara pushed her way into it. "So, have fun?" She said with a hint of sarcasm.

Michelle glanced at the princess, unsure of what to think of the woman she had been fighting with all day. At the end of the maze it seemed something changed between them. She was unsure of what it was though. For just a moment she thought she had figured Amara out. Even the playful argument in the snow was something different, it actually felt kind of nice. Then her thoughts went back to the prince and how she felt about him. Michelle was beginning to foresee the possibility she may be caught in the middle of something. The princess had began to rub off onto her slightly, in a good way. But did she really want to be stuck in an odd love triangle? She sighed to herself, unsure of what all these feelings meant.

"Ahem." Amara cleared her throat to get Michelle's attention.

"Being stuck with you all day? Of course not." Michelle replied in a childish tone, purposely mocking the princess.

This, Amara saw as a challenge. "You liked it." She taunted the musician.

"Martyn, let's go... uh, Martyna." Michelle quickly corrected herself.

She made sure to thank the queen for the invitation. She lied, saying she had a wonderful time. But even as she thought she had lied, she silently questioned herself if she was lying. She had figured out Amara's sarcastic, bratty nature was just her way of flirting – that became obvious at the end of the day.

On the trip back home Martyn had removed the wig. His hair resembled a rat's nest now from wearing the wig all day. He had smeared the red lipstick horribly over his chin and cheeks trying to remove it. Michelle watched him, feeling a bit sorry she had dragged him to the castle dressed that way.

"I'm sorry I made you come with me."

"Nah, it's fine. I had fun. Actually, you don't owe me anything."

"Why not?"

"Ah, you see..." he scratched his neck nervously. "After Alice discovered why I was there we talked a bit. She's really nice and beautiful. She said once she turns eighteen she wanted to leave the castle."

"Servants can do that? I thought they were servants for life or something?" Michelle was a bit confused.

"Technically, she is... she wanted me to help her."

"What? You can't be serious, you would get into so much trouble if they caught you!"

"I really felt a connection with her. She wants to run away with me."

"Oh no." Michelle rubbed her forehead, knowing this would be a bad idea. Their conversation grew silent for a moment. Michelle was thinking about the night before when the four men had tried to kidnap her. "Martyn, there is something I should tell you."

"That you've fallen in loooove with the princess?" He teased.

She coughed awkwardly to avoid that topic. "Last night four men tried to kidnap me... the prince was there and he ran them away."

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Not sure how fast I can get the next one up. My mind has been on something else lately. I have recently got in contact with my father I haven't spoken to or seen since I was about 3 (23 years ago).

Anyways, hope this chapter lived up to your expectations. Let me know. :D