Bracken stretched as she closed her bedroom door behind her. She'd managed to slip back into the castle without anyone noticing somehow, so aside from that accomplishment, today had been fun.

Well…

The temporary freedom had been fun…

Sighing, the engineer knew her peace wouldn't last so decided to make the most of it before Roland inevitable found her. Maybe if she was asleep before he got here she'd be okay?

Hmmm…

Or breakfast could never end instead…

Yeah, odds were, she wasn't getting out of this.

Not daring to shower in case Roland really did find her sooner than expected, she quickly changed into her baggy shirt and bottoms before reclining on her bed. She yawned as the fire in her side refused to die down after her little run around earlier. She'd felt worse when she had to fight a dragon and it landed a very lucky hit on her, but this still wasn't pleasant. Just like the temperature.

Seriously though, why was Evermore such a cold place compared to Broadleaf?! Bracken shuffled around on her bed until she was back under the many blankets Leander had managed to find somewhere. She would have to thank him later.

Especially for the pillows.

Honestly, there must have been enough pillows to supply all of Broadleaf cushioning her every movement! She felt like he'd built her a castle of pillows to hide in like when she was younger than Evan! The engineer giggled as she got comfortable.

Leander was such a softie sometimes…

Unable to stop the next yawn, Bracken reached for her Leafbook to check if anyone had noticed she was missing. The moment she opened it, she frowned a little.

There was a picture of Bracken and Min Ti near the Inn she had to pass to get close to the castle and the caption read, 'I found Bracken!' The description section then read, 'Looks like Min Ti found her first. I wonder where she went?'

Huh.

The post directly before that one had been a picture of Leander having the lecture of his life from Roland. Bracken giggled as she read the caption, 'Leander Learns a Valuable Lesson About Poisoning People' and the description that Tani posted made her smile widely.

'Leander's getting another Roland lecture! This time, Roland is going on about how a little slip up led to Bracken passing out and a visit from Queen Nerea! I still don't get what happened but it's funny all the same. Also, Bracken? If you're reading this, I know you snuck out! Better hope I'm the only one!'

Underneath, the comments were filled with sarcastic comments and silly jokes at Roland and his obsession with lecture's and Bracken's inevitable escape. The engineer laughed a little at Zip's comment in particular. 'Bracken, you trouble maker! I swear, one of these days young lady - *garble garble garble*' Typical Zip. Since she was much younger than him, he seemed to like poking fun at her for it.

Choosing to comment on the post too she responded, 'What do you mean trouble maker? I'll have you know, I had permission from the king to leave the castle! I am TOTALLY justified. :P' The response was immediate.

'Bracken, where are you?' That wasn't Zip…

'Relax. I'm in the castle, like I'm supposed to be. I only left for a little while to get my leg fixed.' This wasn't good. Oh no…

'Please don't take my pillows… ;-;' Bracken joked, hoping Leander would see it.

'Did Leander take his coat back? Or did he leave that too?' The engineer smirked at Queen Nerea jumping into the conversation.

'He came back for it just before Roland caught him. He left the pillow fort though.' Bracken snorted at the response she got from that.

'Traitors.' The engineer replied with a simple smiling face. Her previous observation was correct it seems. Leander really had spent too much time with her.

'I hate to interrupt, but Roland's on his way!' And with Tani's warning, Bracken bit her lip.

'Also, Khunbish told him how you went for a run outside the kingdom walls.' The young redhead added onto her last statement.

'WHAT' Bracken had typed on instinct as Zip's next comment showed up.

'BUSTED!' She could already tell he was laughing at her, with his stupid smug face and his maniacal laughter, falling off his big fancy chair and scaring everyone half to death gosh darn it…

'TRAITORS' As that last message sent, a knock was heard at the door. A silent moment passed as Bracken swiftly set her Leafbook back on the bedside and laid back down again, with her back to the door, as if she were asleep.

The creaking of the door opening had her tense slightly as she closed her eyes and breathed deep, calming breaths.

"Bracken." Roland's voice almost echoed throughout the room. She didn't react. "I know you're awake. Don't even try."

"It was worth a try…" She grumbled as she rolled back onto her back so she could actually see him. He sighed and shook his head.

"How old are you again?" He asked rhetorically but she chose to answer anyway.

"How old is Evan again?" He shook his head once more as Evan poked his head around the door.

"Hi, Bracken." Speak of the devil. "Da Xing gave me some more of your medicine. Would you like some now?" He offered as he stepped further into the room with the medicine bottle in his hands. Nodding vigorously, she eagerly shifted into a sitting position, cautious of her injury. He smiled brightly at her as he handed her the medicine. Taking the glass of chocolate milk, Leander had panic-brought her earlier, she took one tablet before setting her glass back down and returning the king's smile.

"You mad at me to?" She asked curiously with a head tilt. He laughed a little.

"You weren't gone as long as Roland makes it out to be but the main thing is that you're safe here, now." Evan spoke as if the over-worldly man wasn't there and Bracken couldn't help but laugh as well.

"Save me?" She tried with a teasing pout of her lips. Evan giggled this time as he shook his head.

"You're beyond help now!" He began to back off towards the door. "Good luck!" He called as he disappeared behind the door.

"Bracken. We need to talk." Here we go… His famous lecture is about to start…

"Do we?" She asked incredulously, knowing what was coming.

"Yes, we do. Do you realise what could have happened to you when you were out there? There's no way you can wield your usual weapons in your state." Bracken sighed. How long was this gonna go on for?

"I have a gun too you know…" She grumbled but Roland just shook his head.

"That's one weapon. You'll need more than a gun to take monsters out. You were unequipped, unprepared and just being, reckless!" He stated with more strength than necessary. She could already feel herself dozing off to his blithering as he went on and on…

"Bracken." The engineer snapped out of her doze at that lower tone. Oh geez now he was mad. He had a look on his face that screamed how she'd disrespected him and she turned her gaze away, awkwardly. Yes, she respected him greatly. He was like a father to them all, or at least he tried to be…

But everyone could tell that Bracken didn't exactly work like that. It was in her nature to rebel when she either saw inequality or unfair behaviour in general.

However, if you asked Zip, he would probably tell you that you couldn't tie Bracken down to too many rules, or she'd break them in a heartbeat, regardless of how important or reasonable they are. Apparently.

She'd never seen it before, but now, as Roland continued to berate her, she could see the merit in that observation.

How had she not noticed this before?

How was Roland still ranting?

Her attention snapped back to him as he took a deep, meaningful breath.

"Whilst you were running off where you pleased, Evan and I had a chat." The grave tone in his voice didn't go unnoticed. This didn't sound good.

"We both agreed that you couldn't be putting yourself at risk like this anymore so we unanimously decided that we would appoint a guard to prevent you from getting hurt more than you already are." Her eyes widened.

"What?!" Bracken stared at him in shock. Why would he do this?! How had Evan agreed to this?!

"Relax. You'll be fine. Just don't do anything silly and this'll all blow over once your injuries have healed." Roland spoke as if he was trying to make her feel better about this.

"This is…! I… You're serious?!" She struggled for words, there were no words. This is insane!

"Yes. Now I'll see you at dinner in a few minutes. Let you stew over that for a bit." And with that, he made to leave.

"Remember…" He paused as he was about to cross the threshold into the hall. "This is for your own good." The door closed, signalling he'd left.

Frustration built like a volcano as she glared at the door. She hadn't felt like this in years.

This was now officially, the worst day, ever.


If Roland was going to keep her locked up in this castle, there was gonna be consequences. Leander had guessed from the start that this would be the case, and so had advised against the idea of a guard to watch Bracken all day. Whilst he could see the merit in the idea, putting this plan into practice would undoubtedly fail.

Bracken hadn't come down for dinner that night. Instead she'd stayed in her room, probably still angry about everything. It was to be expected. Bracken was a free spirit. Her impeccable engineering skills were always put to use in ways that could potentially break the rules of society or the rules of physics. That much was obvious.

Just to ensure he wasn't taking knowledge from nowhere, he contacted Zip before he retired for the night.

Turns out, he was right.

Bracken never liked taking a back seat. Not that she was an attention hog, but she apparently got irritable if she was confined for too long. Too many rules would constitute towards that, no doubt.

She'd gone from practically no rules, to an abundance of them. That must have been hard on her. In any case, he should bring this up to Evan as soon as possible.

This was going to be interesting to say the least…