For the first six days, she rode only during the night, on the Great Road East. Around 4am on the seventh morning, she reached the intersection between the road that lead to Goldenlake and the Great Road East. Turning north, she rode straight for 2 nights and the day in between, reaching Goldenlake during dusk. Trotting through the dusty streets, she received a few apprehensive stares from the people of Goldenlake. It was not everyday an exotic-looking girl rode into the town atop a large and obviously expensive black horse. Zoe silently cursed to herself, knowing she should have chosen one of the smaller, plainer looking horses the palace owned.
"Oh well, too late now." She thought to herself, and dismounted in front of the Bird's Nest, a respectable-looking inn. She secured Nightshade to a post, and went inside. What seemed like a quiet place on the outside was loud and full of commoners and rogues on the inside. Zoe surveyed the area, smirking as she watched flower girls be pulled down onto drunk men's laps, bawdy ballads sung loudly and off-key, and more rounds of drinks being ordered.
"D'ye be needin' any 'elp, miss?" A gruff voice, accented heavily in street speak, questioned on her right. Zoe turned her head back to the main desk.
"Oh, yes. I would like to rent a room for the week." The man nodded,
"D'ye 'ave a 'orse?" Zoe nodded again,
"Yes, she'll need to be kept in a stable." The man nodded, murmuring something to himself softly.
"If ye go back out, 'arrison'll 'elp you. Just lemme 'ave your name, miss?"
"Of course, thank you. My name is.." she fumbled for a moment wracking her mind for a name that would not raise eyebrows when she said it, "Iris. Iris Callasri." The inn owner accepted the name as truth with a nod and a scrawl of his pen. Zoe paid the man when he requested it, and went outside to help the boy named Harrison, who was tending to Nightshade.
Zoe used her week in Goldenlake to her advantage. The first few days were devoted to acquiring a sizable wardrobe of simple clothing, food, and various other objects that would help her completely assume her new identity, Iris Callasri. The end of the work week was dedicated to making up the rest of her life as Iris Callasri. She had been born in Tirragen to a young and wild woman. She knew her father, a Marenite, although her mother never married. At the age of 5, her father had been bitten by the traveling bug, and had left them for the exotic climates and people of The Copper Isles and Carthak. When she was 12, her mother and what would have been a sibling by a new boyfriend, died in the labour process. Iris, having nothing left for her in Tirragen, left and traveled around Tortall and the surrounding countries, only to come upon Goldenlake at this point in her travels. On Saturday, Zoe indulged herself, having a nice meal at one of the more elegant restaurants, and then a long walk near the forests that skirted the Tusaine Mountains.
That evening, as she returned from her walk, she found a piece of paper tacked to the main door of the Bird's Nest. Releasing the handle and taking a step back, she read it and found it was about her. "Attention citizens of Tortall! The fifth Royal Princess, Zoe Annette of Conte, has been reported missing by the King and Queen of Tortall. Princess Zoe has blonde hair and light coloured eyes, stands the height of five feet, five inches and is of the age 14. She rides a large black mare by the name of Nightshade. If any person should see a young girl fitting this description, please send notice of her whereabouts to Corus posthaste. There will be a reward for the safe return of the Princess from the King and Queen personally." Zoe didn't know whether to laugh or to make a break and ride through the night. She studied the parchment for the next few following moments. What if someone made the connection between her new self and her true identity? What if Nightshade gave her away? Zoe couldn't fathom the idea of going back to the palace, facing her mother and father, and the disappointment of her siblings that she had broken free of the mold for a short time, only to be hauled back and married off to some old, dirty noble who undressed little girls with his eyes. No, Zoe would not resign herself to such an awful and undeserved fate. Looking at the parchment once more, she saw some more print that she had skipped the first time. The small paragraph read "Knights and their squires will be scouring Tortall over the following months, making several stops at every fief and recruiting commoners to aid their attempts. Any commoner who locates the Princess with the help of a knight or squire will not be rewarded." Zoe took a deep breath, and headed up to her room, packing quickly. She was leaving that morning, no one would have the time to find her, and once she crossed over the Tortallan borders, she was just another face in the crowds. She slept soundly that night, her rationalizations planted firmly in her head. After a breakfast so early she had to wake the cook herself, she, Nightshade, and her new identity set off for her next destination: Galla.
