Dawn was about to break in a few moments. Amaya woke up lying next to her prince. She realized that this should never have happened between them, but it did. She couldn't control herself. She always had problems with self-control.
She lay there and watched him sleep peacefully. She wanted to stay a little longer, she told herself. A few more minutes, but she had no time left. She must leave before the sun rises over the horizon.
She quietly slipped out of bed. She stepped carefully so as not to wake the prince. She put on a plain black dress and packed a few things she might need in her bag. She threw the hood of her cloak over her head and disappeared into the dark night.
She managed to elude right in from of the guards. She managed to slip out of the palace unnoticed. No one noticed her. The darkness hid her perfectly.
Mathias was waiting for her behind the walls.
"You're late," he told her.
"Something held me back," Amaya said as she mounted her horse.
"Rather someone," Mathias said with venom on his tongue.
"Don't provoke, Mathias." Amaya gave him a murderous look. "You have nothing to do with what happened between me and Prince Ciaran. I am here. No matter what."
"However, I can see that something has changed in you. You are not the same as in Amorite," said Mathias.
"You keep forgetting we're not in Amorite anymore," Amaya remarked.
"And why are you wearing a dress? It's impractical."
"This is Deira. We have to fit in."
Her eyes fell on Drea. She sat on the third horse in silence and listened to their little argument. She tried to look innocent.
"What is she doing here?" Amaya asked Mathias.
"She said she'll go wherever you go," replied Mathias. "She says she wants to serve you." he couldn't suppress an amused smile.
Amaya turned to her. "Drea, we're not going back to Amorite," she told her. "I'm sure Prince Ciaran won't mind if you stay and we don't have time to get you over the border."
"Miss," Drea spoke. "I don't want to delay you on your way, but I insist on what I once said. There is no future for me at home and there is no point in staying in Hiraeth without you. It will be an honor to serve you wherever that may be."
Mathias sneered. He just stifled a laugh.
"So, your divine majesty, shall we keep her?" he said.
Amaya rolled her eyes. "Let's go before anyone notices us," she said and spurred her horse.
Mathias and Drea followed her. Amaya actually had no idea where she was going. She simply wanted to get as far away from the palace and from Hiraeth as quickly as possible. No one stopped them. No one even noticed that they had disappeared. Before dawn, the night is always darkest, metaphorically and literally. The darkness sheltered them. Hidden under the veil of night, they raced away across the countryside.
Amaya stopped for a moment. She turned around. They were far from the city, but she could still see the palace disappearing into the distance. The night skies were already starting to fade. Dawn was coming slowly. She wondered what Ciaran would think when he woke up in the morning and she wasn't there. She wondered if he would try to catch her or let her be free. She didn't know if he would of his own free will open the door of the cage he was keeping her in and let her fly away. She wondered what would happen to him when King Mael found out she had escaped.
"Everything okay?" Mathias snapped her out of her daydream.
"Of course," she replied.
She pushed all thoughts of the prince out of her head and continued on her way.
⸸
Prince Ciaran woke up in the morning to an empty bed. The place next to him was cold. She must have gotten up early and was already sneaking through the palace corridors again, he thought. He rolled over to where she had been lying before he closed his eyes. The pillow smelled like her. He liked the smell. He sucked it into his lungs.
He remained lying in her bed, hoping that she would return to him. She didn't come. He listened to the sound of the quiet morning, but he didn't even hear her. Apparently, she was not in her chambers at all. Ciaran became suspicious.
But then he heard the door open and heard footsteps. He put his head back on the soft pillow and waited for his beloved to return to him.
The bedroom door opened. However, the one he expected did not come in.
"Miss, you have breakfast on the table." Mareena walked in with the same words she said every morning.
She expected to find Amaya in bed, that she overslept. Usually, she was already up long and killing the time she could have spent in bed. She watched the sunrise. She was playing with the fishes in the pond. For some strange reason, they fascinated her. But she saw Prince Ciaran instead. She stopped.
"I'm sorry, Your Highness," she said. "I didn't expect you here. Is Miss Amaya awake yet?"
"Is she not in her chambers?" asked Ciaran.
"No, Your Highness," she replied. "I thought she is still sleeping. That she overslept after yesterday's celebrations."
Those words stuck in his head. She was neither here nor there. Where is she?
"You can leave," Ciaran told her.
Mareena bowed and left.
Ciaran didn't like it. Where did she go? He got out of bed, got dressed and went to look for her. She was nowhere to be found in her chambers. He checked the bathroom and the wardrobe. He didn't even find her in his own.
"Did you see Amaya coming out of the chambers?" he asked the guards constantly guarding the door to prevent a repeat of the snake incident.
"No, Your Highness. She hasn't come out since you came in with her at night," they replied.
Amaya used to like to use his chambers to escape unnoticed, but none of the guards saw her. He went in with her, she was with him all night, he could feel the warmth of her body pressing against his, but in the morning, when he opened his eyes, she was gone. She evaporated like a mist. Not a trace was left of her.
General Marcellus always trained early in the morning to keep fit. Even more and harder after Amaya defeated him in a duel. Ciaran knew he would find him there.
There were more training soldiers than he expected. Marcellus was not alone, so he called him out. They went into a small room where no one could see or hear them.
"Is something wrong?" Marcellus asked him.
"Have you seen Amaya today?" asked Ciaran.
"No," he replied. "She was with you after all."
"Why are you smiling so stupidly, Marcellus?" Ciaran looked at him blankly.
"News travels fast here," he said. "Probably everyone already knows what happened between you and her last night. The ice has finally melted broken."
"I don't think so," said Ciaran. "I can't find her."
"What do you mean you can't find her?" the general didn't understand.
"I woke up in the morning and she was just gone. The guards did not see her leave the rooms. Like she would evaporate."
"She's definitely just sneaking in somewhere again. She does it all the time."
"Probably not this time. She's nowhere to be found," said Ciaran.
"We'll find her. I'm sure she's still around somewhere, just hiding," Marcellus assured him.
But before he left to look for her, Ciaran stopped him. "No one must know," he said. "The royal guards must not find out that we cannot find her. Try to look for her inconspicuously."
"As much as it is possible," said Marcellus, leaving to look for her.
General Marcellus was sure that Amaya was just hiding somewhere again. She was good at it. But he feared the possibility that the prince's fears might be real, and she disappeared. She would be able to. He was rather surprised that with her talent for sneaking around unnoticed, she hadn't tried it yet.
However, it would not be a pleasant discovery. Not now, a few days before the wedding.
He was looking for her. He looked for her everywhere. However, he could not find her. He went through all the places where she was often seen. He went through the least likely places where she could be. He also called for the help of the guard. They couldn't find her anywhere. He still hoped that she was just hiding somewhere, but it was getting suspicious. She can't be that good at hiding after all.
The fears came true when the guards came to him with what they found.
Marcellus didn't know if he should tell Ciaran or keep it to himself before he calmed down a bit. However, the restless prince needed to know what he found and found him himself forcing the answers from him.
"Did you find her?" he asked him. "Or anything?"
"I have bad news," Marcellus replied. "Three horses disappeared from the stables. Amaya was nowhere to be found. As if the earth would collapse after her. And her friend Mathias is nowhere to be found either."
"So they ran," Ciaran said to himself.
"It seems so," said Marcellus. "They can't be far. Shall I send men after them?'
"Not. If she doesn't want to be found, we won't find her," replied Ciaran.
"We already found her once," remarked General Marcellus.
"But she wasn't hiding," said Ciaran.
"We have to catch her. Don't expect her to come back to you out of love. If she is not here on the wedding day, the king will execute you," Marcellus told him.
"I'll leave that decision up to her," Ciaran objected. "She deserves to decide her fate at least once. So far, others have done it for her.''
"After all, we can't just let her go," Marcellus countered. "Or you fell for her..."
Fortunately, Ciaran didn't have to answer that. General Adrien interrupted them.
"Everything's all right?" he asked them suspiciously.
"Of course," replied Prince Ciaran. "Should something be wrong, General Adrien?"
"I notice there's a bit of a rush here today," remarked General Adrien. "I haven't seen Miss Amaya yet today." He eyed the prince suspiciously.
"She's not feeling well today," said Ciaran.
"Let's hope she gets better soon. You have a big day in a few days." General Adrien said not trusting the prince.
"Shall we tell?" General Marcellus asked Ciaran when they were alone.
"We'll wait," Ciaran said determinedly. "I believe she will return."