Elizabeta

"Oh, you look absolutely fabulous. Like totally gorgeous."

"Feliks, could you please stop complimenting the pony?" I mumbled, shooting him a questioning look.
Natalya shook her head, going into the abandoned stable. It was the only hideaway we had found within few kilometres. We were on the run after all and luck was on our side, for once. Fortunately we could escape without being seen by any town guards and weren't followed. Natalya's head perked out of the stable, motioning with her hand, that everything was alright.

"No one seems to live in it."
Feliks watched Natalya with an angry expression.
"That means, this beautiful pony was left behind by its owners!? What an abdominal stupid pack."
It was a miracle to find this shelter uninhabited near the village and without any royal guards to control anything.
Remaining here too long would be a suicide mission; we needed to succeed our mission and save my father. Hopefully. Being in Captain Roberts claws was dangerous; almost everyone he had abducted was killed. We must find him.

"Is everything alright, Eliza?"

I hadn't noticed the tiny teardrop on my cheek.
"Yes, I am fine, just thinking too much." I never cried, hardly ever. My tears were silent and if I had the urge to cry, then it happened in private. Sympathy was something I hated; no matter who showed it to me.

"Don't worry, we are going to save him. Look fabulous Misses Pony wants you to pet her."
Feliks' friendly smile heightened my spirits, so did the cute pony.
"You already gave her a name," Natalya shook her head with a sigh, "Always the same."
We entered the stable while the sun was on its way to sleep and the cold wind was picking up.

"We totally need to buy or borrow a dress for you, otherwise the guards won't let you enter the castle."

"But they said that it will be a ball where peasants could attend. So what does it matter what she looks like?" Natalya's question was reasonable.

"Yes, but they will be under the watch of the guards. We cannot afford that. When Lizzie looks like a royal guest, then she can approach the Prince. I could accompany her as her footman or you as her chaperone. And when hell breaks loose and the guards suspect us, they will evacuate the castle and we can pretend to be villagers who just happen to have bought a nice dress for Lizzie and escape the ball. If there is a whole town in the ballroom, then things can be difficult for the guards to handle. Every royal guest is acquainted with each other, but not with the peasants. They don't know everyone and that is a huge advantage for us." Feliks' plan was perfect, except for one thing.

"Mh. And where do we get those royal-looking clothes?" I questioned Feliks again. What kind of dressing shop would sell clothes at that time of hour?

"Oh darn it." Feliks muttered, playing with the end of his dirty white cotton shirt.

"We could abduct one of the female guests and dress you up in her clothes." Natalya suggested.

Silence filled the stable until Feliks' face showed a sign of objection for a few seconds before a mischievous grin replaced it.

"Well, that's the only logical plan we have and we already are a criminal pack of pirates, so it wouldn't hurt to do it."

"Then let's do it."

We made our way through the little forest which separated the barn from the village. Less than an hour later, the castle came into view with its court filled with joyful villagers. Carriages were placed in front of the main entrance. We had a full view of the royal guests and hid behind the nicely cut hedges. The best idea at the moment was to sneak out if the opportunity was given.

"Wow, that's a lot of carriages… and people." Natalya's boring look couldn't beat Feliks' excited look. Oh no… Not that look.

"Oh my Gosh, girl, you totally are going to look fabulous if you would wear that dress! And she doesn't look like a high member of a royal family, more like a rich daughter or wife of some knight." He was pointing his fingers at a beautiful young woman in a dark green empire dress with blonde hair. She left the main entrance, descended the golden stairs, searching for something. Apparently she was looking for her carriage and her footman was following her. Feliks' grin grew wider.

"Oh! Karma is on our side. She must have forgotten something. Let's follow her and then grab her."

We followed her until she was near the carriage in the back of the yard, taking the chance to knock her out before she could react with a high-pitched scream. Natalya took the young woman's footman down. I got in the coach dressing up, while Feliks put on the footman's clothes. Panic came over me, noticing something I wasn't thinking about only 5 minutes ago.

"What if friends of hers who are attending the ball, detect that I am not her? She has blonde hair and well I have brown hair and-"

"Calm down. Normally every aristocratic woman has a supply of wigs. I mean like tons of wigs." He entered the coach, rummaging through trunks of clothing.

"Found one!" He pressed a long blonde wig into my hands, "Just for the record, both of you share the same shade of eye colour. I bet most of the visitors are wasted and wouldn't notice anything." He added with a wink. I adjusted the wig on my head, plucked brown hair strands in it. Feliks helped me with the hairstyling.

That dress was really hard to put on; being dressed like an elegant woman was very unusual. How was I supposed to run in this?

"Feliks, I am going to take care of those two", Natalya pointed at the two unconscious frames, "and you will accompany Elizabeta as her footman."

The plan was spontaneous but it was a plan nonetheless. Carrying her and the footman over both of her shoulders, Natalya made her way out of the courtyard without being seen. She would be looking for our crew on the shore. They already had planned to meet up there when I was lying unconscious in the inn's room. Hopefully they had found a ship.

"Beautiful is really an understatement upon looking at you. You totally need to wear more dresses." Feliks complimented me with a big honest smile.

"You are going to be fine. I will bring you to the entrance and excuse myself to the guard, saying that I need to move our carriage to another place, so I can check up any paths to get out of the castle if we are being chased. I will join you later. If you see the amulet on one's neck, give me a sign and try to distract them, I will bump into them and grab it. We are going to find a way to get it somehow and save your father. I promise you." He hugged me and my mouth formed a happy smile. My friends were simply the best.

He smiled and took my arm as we walked to the main door and stopped in front of it.

"Excuse me Sir, I need to move the carriage. Have a night evening Miss."

"Alright, Elizabeta, you are going to be fine. It's time to act like a wealthy woman." I whispered to myself, ignoring the stare of the guard who completely ignored Feliks.

Gilbert

"And then, he fell from the table because he slipped on an apple! Can you believe it? An apple!" I burst out laughing, hearing Francis' hilarious tale about his friend. Our laughter echoed through the ballroom making the few people around our group turn around and glare at us. How unawesome. I wasn't even drunk. This was only my second drink and I could hold my liquor perfectly. Apparently those royal guests had no good humour.

"I hope that someday something funny like that would happen here." I commented with a giggle.

"If I am here, then believe me, mon ami, the evening is going to be extraordinary. Wait for my cousin; you will be enchanted when you get to know her. Unfortunately I have to leave you now." He tapped on my shoulder, walked to a group of women which accompanied him at the beginning of this ball.

Shaking my head, I went outside on the balcony admiring nature's masterpiece of trees and flowers. I've always loved the garden. Father never cared about it until he met my mother, as she had told me. It was her spirit that caught his attention and he wanted to impress her, saying that the flowers in the garden were reminding him of her. Still those flowers couldn't emphasize her beauty and soul. She always carried me here to watch the stars, admiring the night sky while singing a beautiful lullaby to me.

"Your Royal Highness."

I looked to my right to see one of the royal guards. He had a black eye and seemed to be in a very distressed state. Raising a brow I asked him what had occurred to his eye.

"I am afraid, but I must inform you of some sort of danger."

"Danger? What sort of danger?"

"Well yes. I must tell you, that something happened in the village this afternoon. There was a group of our men who were almost slaughtered down", he breathed nervously but continued nonetheless, "Upon investigation the case, we were on our way to arrest the culprits, two women and a young man who was dressed in feminine-looking clothes, but we were defeated by them. As it turned out, those three are members of a pirate crew-"

"Pirates!?" I swore under my breath.

"Yes. They were hiding in an inn, and-"

"Did you catch them?"

"I am afraid, no Your Highness. They got away and are still on the run."

Great. Pirates invading my country and my guards couldn't catch them, but what would happen if my father will learn of this? Damn. He would refuse to let peasants into the castle and I couldn't let that happen. They deserved to dance, to celebrate to be a Prince or Princess for one night. Just like my mother wanted it.

The guard was watching me with careful eyes; he had a great amount of respect for me.

"Send a few of your best men and the royal infantry to the village. They should guard the shore and castle. Don't tell the king, it will only upset him. If you find them, inform me instantly."

"Yes Your Highness."

Pirates… I never fought against them, but when it comes to protect the people I love and my homeland, than I would battle them. Watching the sun set, I made my way back to the ballroom. It's time to fulfil my role as Prince, spreading my awesomeness through the room.

Translations

Mon ami – my friend