"Your Majesty! You...Your Majesty!" Lady Brooke panted while speaking hurriedly.
"What is the matter?" The King asked calmly before he stood up from his seat and walked over to the door where Lady Brooke was standing.
"The...The Queen! It's the Queen, your Majesty!" Lady Brooke let out a shaky breath before continued. "She is missing!"
His eyebrows furrowed. Missing? Hasn't she caused me enough trouble already? He sighed silently before pacing around the room slowly while asking. "When was the last time you saw her?"
"I was showing her the wedding gift, the white mare..." Lady Brooke swallowed before continued. "Her Majesty wants me to get a brush so she can brush the horse..."
"And when you came back, she is gone?" He asked with a serious face.
Lady Brooke nodded quickly and parted her lips before closing it again as if there was something more she wanted to say.
"Is there something else?"
"Well...When I returned to the stable I found the Queen's crown on the horse's...head" Lady Brooke said while retrieving the tiara from her pocket and handed it the the King.
The King took the crown, not sure whether to be amused that she put the crown on the horse or to feel angry that she place the Royal crown without slight care.
Deciding the latter, he spun on his heels and charged towards the door with Lady Brooke following him closely behind. What would the people think when they know that the Queen is missing? Surely they will be able to joke about it and ruin the King's reputation. He need to find her immediately before someone recognise her as the Queen, or worse, before she causes more trouble.
Gabriella swung her hands back and forth as she walked through the crowded market where everyone was busy selling and buying goods. She may seemed very unladylike but she simple didn't care, because for once in the past few weeks she felt free, no rules to obey, no ladymaids to follow her around, no king to be afraid of...
She smiled while choosing an apple from the seller, she thought about how she tricked Lady Brooke to get the brush so she can sneak out to town through the hardwood door she saw beside the garden. She even placed her crown on the horse because the crown will raise attention, without the crown, no one will know she was the Queen.
It was actually very funny how she thought about sneaking out of the castle, she didn't planned for this, however it happens when she saw the beautiful white horse and wanted to brush her. While she was waiting for Lady brooke to get the brush, she stroked the horse which she named Snow and thought that a beautiful horse like her should be running freely in the wild not being kept in the stable chewing on hay, and that was when she suddenly thought about sneaking out of the Castle. She knew that she would cause a lot of trouble for Lady Brooke so she planned on just to take a short walk around town and return to the castle instantly, but once she stepped out of the Castle, she forgot all about getting back in again.
She payed the seller and was about to take a big bite out of the apple before she heard a man yelled. "You bad girl! How dare you learned to steal at such a young age?"
Gabriella spun around and caught sight of a chubby man clutching a little girl's wrist tightly, the little girl's left hand was holding a piece a bread while behind her stood a younger boy who was shaking and holding the little girl's arm.
"Take the bread and run, little brother!" The little girl screamed and the boy behind her obeyed, he took the bread and dashed off.
"You stop! Stop that boy!" The chubby man who Gabriella guessed was the bread seller yelled before turning towards the girl. "You will pay for this!"
"Please! let me go..." The little girl sobbed helplessly while trying to break free.
Gabriella walked quickly towards the bread seller and hand out a few coins to him. "Is it enough for the bread they took?"
The bread seller looked at Gabriella with shock and said "There is no need to help them, young lady. They have been stealing things from us countless times, we need to teach them a lesson."
Gabriella placed the coins into his hands and said softly. "Now I've paid you, will you please let her go?"
The bread seller frowned a little but he nodded. "Very well then, I will let her go."
Gabriella grinned and thanked him before kneeling down next to the girl who was sobbing pityfully. "Don't worry, you're safe now..."
The little girl nodded but she continues to sob. "I know stealing is bad, b-but I have not choice...M-my b-brother and mother are h-hung-gry..."
Gabriella thought for a moment before asking."Can you show me where is your home? I wish to see your mother and brother..."
The little girl nodded before taking Gabriella's hand and lead her towards a small road.
"Are you certain this is the right place?" The King asked before troting his horse down a muddly road.
"Yes, your Majesty." Lady Brooke replied. "I described her to some people in the town, and one of them says she went this way..."
The King nodded as his eyes wandered around the place. The houses was in bad conditions, some of them doesn't even have a roof. The road is muddy and dirty and it appears to have very few people living here, it makes him wonder why would the Queen be doing here? Then again, he forgot how silly she can be towards things.
His eyes continued to wander and he pulled at the rein gently to stop the horse from walking further as soon as his eyes landed on something ahead of him.
Gabriella took a bowl from an old lady and filled it with some hot vegetable stew before handing back the bowl to the old lady who received it with shaky hands.
"Thank you, young lady, you are too kind..." The old lady smiled before walking away to have her meal.
Gabriella smiled sweetly at the old lady before taking the bowl from a middle aged women who appears to be as sick as the others while calling out. "Everyone please stay in queue, there is plenty of stew for everyone!"
While scooping up some stew from the big pot in front of her, she noticed a figure standing not far away from her. Lifting her head, she glanced towards the figure and froze when her eyes focused on it. Oh Lord, I'm in big trouble...
As if on cue, the people around her bowed instantly at the sight of the man a few feet away from them, but Gabriella couldn't move, she was too busy thinking about how she would be punished when she returned to the Castle.
The little girl who Gabriella soon discovered her name as Kayla tugged at her skirt and whispered. "You are supposed to bow to the King!"
Slowly, Gabriella curtsied and winced when she heard the sound of carriage arrived. Surely, The King don't want to be seen with her by the people. But as soon as she look down at her dress noting her messily rolled up sleeves, the muddy end of her skirt, and her messy bun, she instantly understands the need of the carriage.
The King walked towards her slowly and stopped right in front of the big pot. His stone face and cold eyes almost made her squirm before he said in a low voice. "Lady Brooke, you can take it from here. You come with me."
Quietly, she followed him into the carriage as soon as the door of the carriage closed shut, her eyes was glued to the scenery outside the carriage all the way back to the castle.
